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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Cassano Deal Looks To Be Done

According to SkySport Italia, Italy forward Antonio Cassano's long running transfer drama looks set to be over. It is reported that Cassano's agent, Sampdoria, and Real Madrid have all agreed on the terms in order for Cassano to join Sampdoria on a permanent basis. According to the report, Sampdoria will pay Real Madrid 7 million euros should they sell Cassano with the next year, while the figure will drop to 5 million should he be sold on afterwards. Cassano will take a pay-cut in order to stay with the Genoa club, bringing his wages down to 3 million euros per season. This is quite the coup for Sampdoria as they just finished a fantastic campaign and will be looking to build around the talented attacker for next season.

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Toronto FC Defeat Montreal

Toronto FC defeated the Montreal Impact by a score of 1-0 last night in the brand new Stade Saputo in Montreal. This was the first match of the Canadian Qualifying Tournament for admittance into the new CONCACAF Champions League for next season. Toronto was initially overwhelmed by the play of the Impact who came out like they had a point to prove and attacked constantly. It was not until Montreal went a man down thanks to a second yellow card to defender Pelosi, did Toronto begin to capitalize. Marco Velez headed home the games only goal off a Laurent Robert free kick. Both teams had various changes to their line-ups as many players were away on international duty or injured. Danny Dichio had to leave the match in the 40th minute as he aggravated his hamstring injury which is worrying for TFC who play this weekend against the LA Galaxy, and will already be without several players through suspension and international duty.

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Italy Name Final 23 For Euro

Italy boss Roberto Donadoni named the final squad for the Euro 2008 tournament today, cutting Riccardo Montolivo from the provisional squab, but keeping him on standby should any of the players get injured between now and the start of the tournament. The squad looks like this:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Livorno), Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)Defenders: Cristian Panucci (Roma), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Marco Materazzi (Inter), Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)

Midfielders: Rino Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini (Milan), Daniele De Rossi, Simone Perrotta, Alberto Aquilani (Roma), Mauro German Camoranesi (Juventus)

Forwards: Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Marco Borriello (Genoa), Antonio Di Natale, Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria)

Standby: Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)

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MLSE Could Be Looking To Buy Leeds United

According to various sources online and an article from the Sunday Mirror, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment may be on the verge of purchasing Leeds United Football Club. The once former Premier League club has had a terrible run of luck over the last few seasons, and has slipped down the table to League 1, essentially the 3rd division. The club does have a large loyal fan base, and excellent Premier League quality facilities, and with the money invested in the club by a big company like MLSE, could join the big boys in the Premier League quickly. If that were the case, MLSE would control a strong Premier League club with massive appeal to build on.

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Sebastian Giovinco Lights Up Toulon

Juventus owned Italy U21 playmaker Sebastian Giovinco has so far proven correct all the accolades he has received over the last year while on national duty at the Toulon Tournament in France. The young star has been called one of the most promising and creative talents in the game, and is coming off a wonderful season on loan at Empoli. While on duty with the Italian U21 squad, the player has scored twice and set up two other goals in only two matches. With skills such as his, many clubs will be regretting the fact that last year the youngster was available to be purchased, however nobody came calling. It is now Juventus' gain as he could become the teams next talisman when Alessandro Del Piero retires in a few years.

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Roma Save Face By Winning Copa Italia

Roma got some well deserved silverware this past weekend after defeating Inter Milan in the Copa Italia final. The two clubs had battled hard against one another during the season, and many within the Roma camp felt that the Serie A championship was lost because of some biased refereeing decisions. Either way, the two clubs met again in the Final, and this time it was Roma who came out on top with a 2-1 win. Despite the victory, Roma will be looking to build on their success next season, and importantly hold on to rising star Aquilani, who has been rumored to be leaving the club this summer for one of Europes top clubs.

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Inzaghi Wants A Call For Olympic Squad

According to reports on Goal.com, AC Milan and Italy Striker Pippo Inzaghi is looking to try an secure a call up to the Italian squad for the upcoming Olympic football tournament in Bejing this August. The rules of the tournament allow for these U23 teams to call up 3 over age players, and Inzaghi hopes to squeeze into the squad after not being called up for the full national team at this summers Euro 2008 tournament. Also looking to be at the Olympic tournament is Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme.

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Man Utd Win The Champions League

Manchester United won the Champions League final in penalties Wednesday, after drawing 1-1 in regulation against a tough Chelsea side. Man Utd pulled ahead in the first half after a lovely set of passes between Wes Brown and Paul Scholes led to a Christiano Ronaldo header. Chelsea replied before half-time when a shot from outside the 18 yard box caused Man U keeper Edwin Van Der Sar to dive before the ball cannoned of Rio Ferdinands back into the path of Frank Lampard who tucked away the goal. The match went to penalties, and looked certain to be a Chelsea victory after Ronaldo missed his shot to put Chelsea in the lead. It was not to be however, and on the final shot for Chelsea to win, John Terry slipped in his run up to the ball and missed his shot wide. The shoot-out went on, with Nioclas Anelka eventually missing after a fine save from Van Der Sar game Man Utd the title.

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Flamini Thinks Milan Can Win Double Next Year

New AC Milan signing Mathieu Flamini has revealed that he thinks Milan will be in a position next season to win both the scudetto and the UEFA cup, and bring back some of the clubs honour that has escaped them this year. Flamini just finished a great year with Arsenal before signing with AC Milan, and he has stated that it was not because of the money which caused him to leave London, but because he now believes that Serie A is the premier league in Europe. Apparently part of the draw to coming to Milan involved the match between Arsenal and AC Milan at the San Siro, where apparently Flamini got chills playing in such a storied stadium.

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Cassano And Del Piero In Italy Squad

After months of speculating who would make the Italian national team squad for the upcoming Euro 2008 tournament, Italian manager Roberto Donadoni surprised everyone by including both former Italian wonder-kid Antonio Cassano and former Italian talisman Alessandro Del Piero. Both players have had fantastic seasons in Serie A this year, however it was believed that there was only room in the squad for one of the two talented forwards. It was believed that Cassano would be left behind due to his history of disrupting the squads he plays for, however over the last several months he had received many votes of confidence from his managers and other people in the game. The Italy squad is definitely a more attacking team then fans will be used to, they have only selected 7 defenenders for the trip, while they will take 6 forwards along.

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Inter Champions, Parma Relegated To Serie B

Inter Milan came out of Sunday's clash with Parma as Serie A champions thanks to a 2-0 win. Inter had been plagued by poor form over the last few months, and could have lost the title on the last day of the season were they to be held by Parma and have Roma win its final match. It was to be a triumphant day for the Inter faithful however, as two second half goals from substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic finished off a dangerous looking Parma squad, and gave Inter its third title in the last 3 years. Parma, who had been playing in Italy's top flight for the last 18 seasons, will now have to fight it out next season in Serie B in order to try and regain their status as a once powerful Italian club.

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Portsmouth Take The FA Cup

Portsmouth defeated Cardiff City by a score of 1-0 to lift the FA Cup trophy Saturday at the new Wembley Stadium. Portsmouth were the favourites going into the match, being the only Premier League team still in the competition at the semi-final stage and having several international stars on the squad, however Cardiff put on an excellent show and made Portsmouth's defence work very hard at keeping the clean sheet, as specially near the end of the match. Portsmouth took the lead through a first half goal by Nigerian striker Kanu, and threatened several other times, but could not add to their goal tally. For manager Harry Redknapp it was the first victory in his first ever appearance at an FA Cup final, and for Portsmouth it is their first silverware since the 1949-1950 season. Pompey now qualify to play in the UEFA cup next season thanks to their victory.

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Inter In Mafia Scandal

Inter Milan have been linked to an interesting mafia scandal Friday after it became know that the teams tailor Domenico Brescia is a convicted murderer and has ties with the Crisafulli organized crime family. According to an article on Goal.com, Brescia has had close contact with Inter head coach Roberto Mancini, and apparently Mancini had been recorded having a conversation with Brescia regarding a mafia associate on the run from the police. Mancini expressed his thoughts regarding what this associate of theirs should do, which many will see as damning evidence of the Inter managers involvement with some less than reputable characters.

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Fowler Would Love To Score In FA Cup Final

Former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler has stated that he would love to score a goal this Saturday in the FA Cup final against Portsmouth. The 32 year old has missed much of the season through injury, but has returned to health just in time to become available for Cardiff's cup push. It is believed that Fowler will be on the bench for Cardiff, but someone with his skill could definitely see time should Cardiff have trouble finding the back of the net in the first 60-70 minutes. Fowler has had experience playing in big matches from when he was at Liverpool, and his leadership could be valuable to his team.

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Zenit Win The UEFA Cup

Zenit St. Petersburg defeated a strong Rangers side Wednesday to lift the UEFA Cup as champions in Manchester. Zenit had a magnificent campaign in the tournament, knocking out many teams favoured to win, including a 4-0 thrashing of Bayern Munich of Germany. Zenit won the match by a score of 2-0 with goals from Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov. This was the second time in four seasons that a Russian side has won the UEFA cup.

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Inter Held By Siena

Inter Milan were ready to celebrate winning the scudetto this past Sunday, but their party was not meant to be thanks to the hard work of Siena. Twice Inter took the lead, and twice Siena equalized with the score ending 2-2. Marco Matterazzi missed a penalty late in the second half that would have brought the title to the Inter faithful at home, which means that the Serie A will come down to the last day of the season. Roma beat Atalanta by a score of 2-1, which pulls them to within one point of Inter for the title. A win for Inter secures the scudetto, but a draw or loss, followed by a Roma win hands the title to the Roman club.

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Manchester United Are Champions of England

Manchester United won the Premier League title Sunday after beating Wigan away by a score of 2-0. United had been tied on points with Chelsea going into the match, but were ahead on goal difference, and therefore needed to make sure that they got a win in order to win the title. Chelsea faltered late in their match against Bolton however, and the 1-1 draw was not enough for the Blues. United and Chelsea will square off on May 21st at the Champions League final in Moscow, with United looking for the Double and Chelsea looking to upstage their opponents and bring home some silverware and finish the season off on a high note.

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Sheffield Wednesday Up For Sale

English Championship club Sheffield Wednesday have gone up for sale after the current owners group announced that they are looking for a like-minded investor who is committed to putting the club back up where it belongs in the Premier League. Wednesday were last in the Premier League back in 2000, and narrowly escaped relegation to the English League One this season. One company that may be interested is Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, the Toronto based company that owns the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL, Toronto Raptors of the NBA, and Toronto FC of the MLS. Members of MLSE were recently in England looking at prospective teams they could invest in, and apparently met with the Sheffield Wednesday owners to discuss the clubs situation.

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New York Signs Andrew Boyens

The New York Red Bulls of the MLS have signed former Toronto FC and current New Zealand international Andrew Boyens. Boyens played his rookie season in MLS with Toronto, featuring in 23 games, starting 21 of them. New York was able to secure the defender quickly as he had only been released by Toronto on April 14 and immediately found himself with a call to come for a trial with the Red Bulls. The young defender will add some more depth to a New York squad that many people believe can challenge for the MLS cup should they get fully fit and avoid anymore major injury problems.

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Wigan May Look To Egypt For Next Season

Wigan manager Steve Bruce traveled to Egypt this past Monday in order to take a look at the highly rated Egyptian striker Amr Zaki who currently plays for the Egyptian club Zamalek. Bruce was apparently quite impressed with the striker who managed to put in two goals in front of the Premier League manager. The fee expected to sign the striker is apparently in the range of £5 million, and according to goal.com, Wigan could face competition for the striker from clubs in France and Portugal. With Wigan assured of survival for next season, Bruce will want to bring in a striker who can contribute goals on a consistent basis next year.

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Jens Lehmann Says Goodbye To Arsenal

Arsenal and Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was allowed Sunday to say goodbye to the club and fans he has represented well over the last 5 years. The keeper was a starter for Arsenal over most of the 5 years he has spent at the club, however lost his starting role this year to Manuel Almunia. Always a controversial figure, unafraid to speak his mind, Lehmann butted heads several times with manager Arsene Wenger but the two always maintained a high level of respect and professionalism. This was evident on Sunday when Wenger informed the keeper that though he was not starting, he would see some playing time in his last ever game at home for Arsenal. Lehmann came on for the final 20 minutes of Arsenal's 1-0 win over Everton, and had a wonderfully warm reception from the Arsenal faithful.

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Chelsea To Set Record In Order To Sign Messi

Chelsea are looking to retool their squad this off-season, and the biggest move that owner Roman Abramovich would like to make is to being in Barcelona star Lionel Messi. Barca have stated that Messi, their new talisman, would not be for sale at any price, however the Chelsea billionaire owner thinks that a fee of 80 Million pounds may help to change their mind. That price is almost double the old record transfer fee paid to Juventus for Zinedine Zidane by Real Madrid in 2001. If Chelsea can pull off this move, it would be a clear sign that the team will be altering their playing tactics to reflect a more skilled, possession oriented game, which is what both Abramovich and manager Grant have been hoping to do.

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Toronto Draw At Home Against Red Bulls

It was a rainy Thursday night in Toronto, and TFC came away with a hard fought point against a strong attacking New York Red Bulls side. The Red Bulls came out firing on all cylinders, and dominated the opening 20 minutes of the match, but it would be Toronto who would strike first. A quickly taken free kick by Laurent Robert allowed Toronto defender Marco Velez an open header on the goal which he easily converted. New York struck back from a free kick of their own, taken by midfielder Dave Van den Bergh, the shot curled around the Toronto wall and into the lower corner of the net. The match went into the second half with an attacking mentality, but eventually the poor conditions due to rain caused the game to close down, with both teams seemingly happy to split the points.

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Michael Essien A Top Choice For Madrid

Real Madrid seem to be looking at possible replacements for the departing Mahamadou Diarra in the midfeild, and apparently coach Bernd Schuster has made it clear that the Chelsea midfielder is his top priority as a replacement. Essien had a goal disallowed in last nights Champions League semi-final, but was impressive playing on the big stage in front of several managers from top European clubs. It would take a large offer to pry him away from Chelsea however, as the blues paid 36 million euros to sign him, and will undoubtedly look for more in order to let him go.

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Madrid To Buy Back Former Player

Real Madrid have confirmed that they will buy back former player and Spanish U21 international midfielder Javi Garcia for 4 million euros from Osasuna. The player was sold to Osasuna a year ago after it was decided by the Madrid coaching staff that he was excess requirements for the squad, but he has since been quite impressive for his new club, playing in 26 matches this season. Madrid did have a buy back clause in his contract with Osasuna and seem willing to pay it in order to get the talented youngster back. Osasuna will make a tidy profit of 1.5 million euros as they only had to pay 2.5 million euros to secure his services this season, however they will miss the talented player in their midfield next season.

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Newcastle Looks At Signing The New 'Drogba'

Newcastle United are monitoring a player that many consider to be the heir apparent to Didier Drogba. Bafetimbi Gomis of St Etienne in France is a 22 year old striker that has impressed in the league over the last few seasons. He has scored 14 goals so far this season, and has gotten himself on the radar of many larger clubs in Europe. Newcastle, who will be investing in a new crop of players for next season, look to be the favourites to sign the young striker, and are prepared to offer upwards of 18 million euros for his services.

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Jardel Admits To Drug Use

Former European golden boot winner and Portugal striker Mario Jardel has admitted to using recreational drugs over the last few seasons in a recent interview. Jardel, who at one point was one of the most dangerous strikers in the world, has had a hard time in recent years settling down at any of the clubs he has played for, appearing for 8 different teams in the last 5 seasons. He says that he is now clean and wishes to try and kick start his career somewhere new. The two time golden boot winner could be a very useful addition in the MLS as it is the perfect place for players looking to start over. Toronto FC has been saying that they were looking for a world class forward, and Jardel who is out of contract could fit that description depending on what type of shape he is in at the moment.

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Buffon Takes Credit For Zidane Red Card

In a recent interview, Italy and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has claimed that it was he who is to thank for the red card which sent Zinedine Zidane off and ultimately helped Italy win the World Cup in 2006. Buffon claims that he was the only person on the field that saw the head-butting incident, and informed the linesman who in turn saw it on the video screens. Zidane's red card in extra time caused the momentum of the match to swing into Italy's favour, and the Azzurri won the match in penalties.

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Cuban Players Look To Start New Life In America

According to an article on mls-rumors.net there has been an update on a few of the 7 Cuban players that recently defected to the United States. According to the article, three of the players, Yenier Bermudez, Jose Manuel Miranda and Yordany Alvarez have recently had a trial with the LA Galaxy, and are now going to possibly try out for Chivas USA. There whereabouts of the other 4 players are unknown at this point, but it was widely believed that they would be playing in the USL-1 most likely with Miami FC, but no word on any signings has happened as of yet.

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