Sampdoria Midfielder Dies

This morning at around 8:00 am in Italy, Sampdoria midfielder Gionata Mingozzi died in a terrible car accident. He was traveling to take his medical in preparation for the up coming season, when his Porsche collided head first with a lorry near Venice. Mingozzi had played for Ravenna, Perugia, Lecce, and had his contract co-owned by Sampdoria and Treviso. The young midfielder was 23 years old.

Toronto Draw In Vancouver

Toronto FC let their lead slip in the dying minutes of last nights Canadian Champions League Qualifier, drawing 2-2 with the Vancouver Whitecaps, setting up the showdown with Montreal on July 22. Vancouver took the lead through a great passing play finished off by Eduardo Sebrango. Toronto drew level in the second half off a nice passing play of their own, finished by Maurice Edu. Rohan Ricketts put Toronto in front with a powerful shot to the right of the Vancouver keeper, but it was not to be. Sebrango rounded Greg Sutton and slotted the ball home in the last 5 minutes of the match. Toronto will now play Montreal on July 22 in Toronto. Should Toronto win, they will represent Canada in this years CONCACAF Champions League, but a Montreal win, or a draw, will put Montreal in the Champions League.


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Ronaldinho Is Going To The Olympics No Matter What

According to several reports, Barcelona and Brazil star Ronaldinho has told his club that he will be going to play for Brazil in this summer's Olympic Football Tournament no matter what they say. Barca had previously told Ronaldinho that he was surplus requirements to the club, but have since stated that he must report for training in order to prepare for the clubs Champions League Qualifiers in August. There has been a summer long saga over where the player will end up next season, and it seems that he must already have one foot out the door because of the confidence he has shown in order to defy his current club.

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Crespo Could Join Roma

According to a report of Goal.com, Hernan Crespo could soon find himself playing for Roma at the Olympic Stadium next season. The Argentine striker was recently released from his contract by Chelsea, and Roma who have been searching for a new striker, would be able to sign Crespo for a free transfer. The likelihood of the move is not very high, but should Roma be able to sign Crespo, it would be a major coup to pick up such a talented and prolific striker for a free transfer.

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Joseph Yobo's Brother Kidnapped

The brother of Everton and Nigeria defender Joseph Yobo was kidnapped this past Saturday after Norum Yobo and two friends left a night club in the Port Harcourt area in Rivers State, Nigeria. The two friends were released, but Yobo was not most likely due to his brothers high profile profession. At this point it is not known what will come of this tragic occurrence, however this type of issue has arisen quite often in the developing world, with family members of players from south and central America, as well as Africa being taken for ransom.

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San Marino Champs Looking At Romario

According to a report on Goal.com, San Marino champions Murata are currently looking at signing former Brazil National team member Romario in their bid to advance past the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions Leagues this year. Last year the club signed former Roma and Brazil defender Aldiar who is now helping the club in their negotiations to bring the Brazilian striker to San Marino. In a bizarre twist, there is also the possibility that Murata my sign former Ferrari F1 driver Michael Schumacher as well. It is known that Schumacher is quite a good player, and he already holds a San Marino passport which would help in the process of his signing.

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Toronto FC Downed By New England

Toronto FC's road woes continued Saturday in New England when the Revolution came out 2-1 winners. New England took the lead through two Steve Ralston goals, but Toronto clawed itself back into the match through a goal from Maurice Edu off a Amada Guevaro free kick. Toronto could have drawn level late in the match when a scrum took place in front of the New England net and Jarrod Smith's header was cleared off the line by a defender and the rebound fell into the arms of goal keeper Matt Reis. Toronto's next match is Tuesday July 1 against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Canadian Championship.

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Impact Draw Against Seattle

The Montreal Impact drew this past Saturday against the soon to be MLS Seattle Sounders in Seattle. Montreal has been struggling this year after being a major power in the USL First Division over the last several years. The two goals were both scored in the last 10 minutes of the match, with Montreal clawing back through defender Stefano Pesoli who headed in off a corner kick. Seattle had taken the lead through forward Andre Schmid in the 80th minute. Montreal's next match is on July 6th against the Puerto Rico Islanders.

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Big Moves Ahead

According to an article on Goal.com, three major transfers are almost complete which will set off this summers massive post Euro transfer market. According to the article, Deco looks set to sign for Chelsea in order to join Luiz Felipe Scolari for around 10 million euros. Ronaldinho on the other hand looks to be leaning back towards Serie A after rumors had come up with him being linked to Chelsea as well, and Manchester City. AC Milan look set to sign the star Brazilian, who the club have admired for many years. Finally, Samuel Eto'o looks set to join Ronaldinho in Serie A with crosstown rivals Inter Milan.

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Cassano On Big Three's Radar

Antonio Cassano has been a revelation this season after his loan move from Real Madrid back to Italy with Sampdoria. His recall and subsequent fantastic form for the Italian National Team has caused the big clubs in Italy to once again take notice of the talented player. Cassano just signed on a permanent basis with Sampdoria, but apparently has a 15 million euro buyout clause in his contract that could see the player become available should Juventus, AC Milan, or Inter come calling. It is believed that Cassano will stay one more season at Sampdoria, and then try his luck at one of the bigger clubs that will surely be watching his progress over the next several months.

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Italy Qualify For Spain Showdown

Italy had something to prove to themselves yesterday when they took on France for the right to advance to the Euro 2008 quarter finals. Both teams needed help from Holland, and the Dutch defeat of Romania allowed for the winner of the France-Italy showdown to advance with Holland past the group stages. Italy came out with an attacking game plan that saw the introduction of Antonio Cassano into attack with Luca Toni. Toni missed several good scoring opportunities, but Italy would not be denied. After Toni was taken down in the penalty box, Abidal received a red card, and Pirlo put Italy ahead from the penalty spot. The second half saw Daniele De Rossi score from a free kick that was deflected in by French forward Thierry Henry, and Italy rolled on for a 2-0 win. They will now face Spain on Sunday in the quarter finals.

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Italy To Make More Changes

According to many reports coming out of the Italian camp, Manager Roberto Donadoni may be getting ready to make more changes to his squad ahead of their up-coming do or die match against France on Tuesday. Donadoni made wholesale changes to his squad after their defeat at the hands of Holland, but were only able to manage a draw against Romania. Antonio Cassano looks to have made enough of an impact in order to make the starting line-up against France, while recently named captain Alessandro Del Piero may be back on the bench with Buffon taking the captains armband.

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Man Utd To Lodge Complaint With FIFA

Manchester United look set to lodge a formal complaint to FIFA regarding the conduct of Real Madrid officials in their quest to lure away United's superstar winger Christiano Ronaldo. Madrid have constantly been in the press stating that they want the player, and the Spanish media has baited the player into making several statements that seem to show the players desire to come to play in Madrid. Man Utd manager Sir. Alex Ferguson has been frustrated at the Madrid brass for attempting to circumvent the rules regarding the legal transfer of players between clubs, and has been attempting to get in contact with Ronaldo who is with the Portuguese National Team for Euro 2008.

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Eto'o Apologises For Head-Butting Incident

Barcelona and Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o has been involved in some controversy as of late due to an incident in which he attacked a reporter in his home country. In protest to the lack of access to the National team, the reporters decided to boycott the Cameroon squads press conference. There was a scuffle, and it seems Eto'o head-butted Phillipe Boney. Eto'o has now apologised to his teammates and has visited and apologised to Boney and is looking to sort out his future as it has been widely rumoured that he will leave Barca this summer for one of several major European clubs.

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Porto Out Of The Champions League

According to various reports on goal.com and eurosport.com, FC Porto could be out of the Champions League next season as the team has been found guilty of participating in a match fixing scandal that took place during the 2003-2004 season. UEFA looked at the findings and decided that Porto must face some punishment for their actions, and therefore have lost their right to take part in next seasons Champions League. This opens the door for Benfica who finished fourth in the Portugeuse league last season to take Porto's place. Porto have stated that they will appeal this decision.

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Mourinho To Sell 5 Inter Stars

Jose Mourinho has already decided to sell several Inter Milan stars just days after he took over the club according to Goal.com. The biggest of the bunch that will go up for sale has to be Dejan Stankovic, who has been an attacking main-stay within the team over the last few years. Other big names that could be sold on include Hernan Crespo, Adriano, David Suazo and defender Nicolas Burdisso. Looking at those 5 names, 3 are strikers and 1 an attacking midfielder, which opens up more speculation over the possibilities of Mourinho bringing in several of his former players including Didier Drogba and possibly Michael Essien as well. Another player rumoured to be following 'the Special One' is Frank Lampard.

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The MISL Is No More

The Major Indoor Soccer League shut down over this past weekend. The league which operated in 9 franchises in its final season, closed its doors this past weekend, but did leave open the possibility that a similar league could resurface in time for the start of what would be the new season in the fall. With the growth of Futsal all around the world, there have been arguments made that the United States should synchronize its indoor sport with that of the rest of the world, however there is still the possibility that a variation of the traditional indoor soccer format will surface again.

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Mourinho Announced As The New Inter Milan Manager

Today it was finally announced that Jose Mourinho has taken over as the manager of Italian Champions Inter Milan after much speculation over the last few months. It had been widely rumoured that Mourinho would take over as manager after several bust-ups between Roberto Mancini and both his players and the owners of Inter. Despite Mancini's ability to deliver 3 Serie A championships in 3 years, there seemed to be too much conflict in the dressing room, and a change became necessary when several big name players began to speak out against their manager. It will be interesting to see what changes Mourinho will bring to the squad as he has widely been rumoured to be lining up several of his former players a Chelsea, including Didier Drogba, as possible transfer targets. Mourinho has signed a 3 year deal with Inter, and will be announced at a press conference Tuesday.

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Beckham Named Captain In England Win

David Beckham was handed the captains armband by coach Fabio Capello Sunday, as England defeated Trinidad and Tobago by a score of 3-0 in an international friendly. Beckham was surprised by the Italian managers decision after it had been widely rumoured that Gareth Barry would be given the armband. Beckham had resigned as his countries captain after the World Cup in 2006, but has sensationally made his return both to the national team and now the captaincy in 2008. Capello looks to be attempting to decide who is best suited to lead England as captain over the next World Cup qualifying campaign, as he has passed the honour around to a different person in each of his four matches in charge so far.

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Toronto FC Beat LA Again

Once again Toronto FC proved too much for the LA Galaxy defence to take, as the home team ran out the victors in a one sided match, half spent in the pouring rain. Toronto defeated the Galaxy by a score of 2-0 with goals from Julius James and Jeff Cunningham, and could have scored several more were it not for some terrible finishing from Cunningham and Jarrod Smith on several other occasions. Even winger Rohan Ricketts had a few shots he should have done better with, but all things considered, the win was exactly what TFC needed. Both teams were seriously depleted through injury and international call-ups, and the depth of TFC was able to show its talent in coming up with the win. The Galaxy were without both Landon Donovan and David Beckham, and struggled to find that creative presence on the attack, coming up with little in the way of a legitimate threat on the Toronto goal. Toronto has now 5 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws for a total of 17 points.

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