Liverpool ousted from Champions League

Liverpool's dream of retaining their European crown was ended with a frustrating defeat at home to Benfica.
The Merseysiders had early chances to overturn their 1-0 first-leg deficit, with Peter Crouch, Jamie Carragher and Luis Garcia not living up to expectation.

Ruud denies Milan link

Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has refused to discuss stories in the Italian press linking him with a summer move to Milan.
The Red Devils' top scorer was controversially left out of the side that won the Carling Cup final on Sunday, and was overlooked as a substitute despite United coasting to a comfortable 4-0 success.
Milan's Adriano Galliani has already played down rumours that the Rossoneri will sign a new centre forward, but much could depend on the future of Andrei Shevchenko, who continues to be touted as a likely target for Chelsea.
"So far, I haven't played a bad season personally," he told De Telegraaf.
"A form crisis or panic is absolute nonsense.
"I want to concentrate myself here on the Dutch national team. I want to go to the World Cup and I want to produce a good performance there.
culled from SKYsports

Is 'Real' really real ?

Florentino Perez was like an indulgent parent finally admitting he had spoilt his children when he announced his resignation as Real Madrid president on Monday.
"I don't regret bringing the best players in the world to this club," he said.
"But perhaps I wasn't able to make them understand the importance of their responsibilities. Maybe I educated them badly."
Perez had been responsible for the "Galactico" policy of signing the world's best attacking players during his six-year tenure at the Bernebeu.
Yet it was the behaviour of these superstars that ultimately led to his downfall.

REACTION TO PEREZ EXIT
I couldn't care less
Roberto Carlos

It's a sad day - Florentino was the only one who stood up for me at Real
Ronaldo

He has to be congratulated on bringing such great players to the club
David Beckham

A victim of his own stars
Marca newspaperRonaldo and Zinedine Zidane had looked tired and lacklustre as Real were beaten by Arsenal and Real Mallorca inside a week.
And the build-up to the Mallorca match had been tarnished by an embarrassing public spat between Ronaldo and Raul.
It took one of the side's youngest players, central defender Sergio Ramos, to tell the superstars how they should be behaving.
"Unity makes you stronger - it would be different if relations between players were warmer," he said.
Perez's policy had been hugely successful in the first few years of his reign.
He was elected president in 2000 on the back of a promise to bring Luis Figo to Madrid from Barcelona.
Perez was true to his word, landing the Portuguese winger for £37m and Madrid duly won their first league title in four years.
Zinedine Zidane then joined the club for £47m, which is still a world record, in the summer of 2001 and Ronaldo for £33m in 2002.
Real clinched the Champions League in 2002 and their 29th league title in 2003.

Florentino Perez bows to pressure

Florentino Perez has quit his job as president of Real Madrid.
Perez last night threw in the towel to mark the end of a five-and-a-half-year tenure which saw his expensive band of `galacticos' fail to deliver on the pitch.
The 58-year-old saw Real win the Primera Liga twice and Champions League once, but that record was a relative failure for a club who had invested heavily in the world's most glamorous players.
Madrid have not claimed any major silverware since winning the league in 2003 and look likely to finish this season empty-handed following a string of disappointing recent results.
Perez will be replaced with immediate effect by former club vice-president Fernando Martin.
Perez replaced Lorenzo Sanz in 2000 and heralded the "galactico" era at the Bernabeu by buying stars such as Portugal's Luis Figo, Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, Brazilian Ronaldo and England captain David Beckham

Real Madrid are facing another trophyless season following a disappointing series of results.
Perez's resignation comes after a bad week in which the team lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League knock-out tie, then were sunk 2-1 by Real Mallorca on Sunday.
Perez was less than two years into his second term as Real president having been re-elected in July 2004.

Man United Dethroned As Richest Club

Real Madrid have leapfrogged Manchester United to become the world's richest football club in terms of income, according to a report.
After eight years at the top of the Deloitte Football Money League, United were pushed into second place based on revenues from the 2004-5 season.
Real Madrid's income has doubled in the past five years, as players such as David Beckham have boosted shirt sales.
Nine British clubs made it into the list of the world's richest 20 teams.
Liverpool moved up to eighth in the table after their Champions League victory gave a major boost to their income.
The Deloitte review does not include the cost of transfer fees or player wages and concentrates solely on day-to-day income from football business such as ticket sales, merchandising and broadcast revenues.
As a consequence, Chelsea came fifth in the table with income of £149m despite making a record £140m loss last season.

via BBC

Champions league is here again

All across Europe,the passion of the inseparable will be lit once more as Champions league action resumes across various cities in Europe.With the defending champions Liverpool and a host of other great teams such as Real Madrid,Barcelona,Chelsea still in contention, there is great expectation as to what these sides can perform.
But some of the teams have been unimpressive in their domestic leagues;yet it is expected that there will be suprises as thats what many passionate fans will be waiting to see come next week tuesday and wednesday.

Aftermath of the Nations cup and the lessons

Even before the floodlights went out at Cairo's International Stadium on Friday, it was clear that African football has a real dilemma.Even before the floodlights went out at Cairo's International Stadium on Friday, it was clear that African football has a real dilemma.vEven before the floodlights went out at Cairo's International Stadium on Friday, it was clear that African football has a real dilemma.Even before the floodlights went out at Cairo's International Stadium on Friday, it was clear that African football has a real dilemma.
While the standard of African players continues to improve, it appears the same cannot be said for the continent's organisers and administrators.Stadium disasters claimed the lives of almost 200 spectators during a 12 month period, with incidents in Ghana, DR Congo and Zimbabwe.
Here in Egypt the situation was exactly the same.
When Egypt faced Ivory Coast in their final group game, it was claimed that up to eleven thousand extra fans forced their way into the match.

The Cairo International Stadium was refurbished for the Nations CupThe problem for the final was just as bad.
Aisles were blocked, thousands more stood around the top of the stadium leaning over walls, while police sat around soaking up the atmosphere.
At the Military Stadium in Cairo, a television gantry was erected on scaffolding and positioned on a staircase leading from the main stand.
This was pointed out to Fifa's head of security, Walter Gagg, who appeared genuinely shocked.
It was also pointed out to a Caf official, who appeared genuinely surprised that a fuss was being made about it in the first place.
Before the tournament, the Egyptians were keen to shout about how much money had been spent on refurbishing the stadiums.
Sadly, a major international sporting event is not simply about building smart, well-equipped venues. And there lies the problem.
The standards expected by Fifa for all aspects of a major football tournament are not being achieved by Caf , who ultimately must take responsibility.
It's no longer about education.
Time has come to stop patronising African football's administrators.

Sadly, as long as Africa refuses to apply international sporting standards, that's unlikely to happen. I just hope the organisers of Ghana 2008 take heed.

Keshi sacked as Togo coach

Togo's Football Federation (TFF) has sacked national coach Stephen Keshi.
The TFF's decision was announced during a television programme in Lome on Monday.
Federation officials stated that differences between Keshi and key players of the national team had forced them to take the decision.
Keshi, the former Nigeria captain, achieved the unprecendented feat of earning Togo a ticket to this summer's World Cup finals, ahead of Senegal and Zambia.
But the national team's first-round exit at the African Cup of Nations, where Keshi had a row with star player Sheyi Adebayor, had caused key TFF officials to turn against him.
German coach Otto Pfister and Bora Milutinovic, the Serbian that managed Nigeria at the 1998 World Cup finals, are among the candidates in the running to replace Keshi.
Pfister, who managed Ghana at the 1992 Nations Cup finals, has opened talks with TFF officials.

Ronaldinho predicts a classic encounter

World and European Player of the Year Ronaldinho says fans should expect another classic when his Barcelona side take on Chelsea in the choice tie of the last 16 in the Champions League.
At the same stage last season Chelsea recovered from a 2-1 first leg deficit to win the second 4-2 in a superb match and advance 5-4 on aggregate.
The tie was also notable for the row between coaches Frank Rijkaard and Jose Mourinho which led to the latter getting banned for two games.
'It will be another top contest between two coaches with high tactical awareness, we should expect something good,' said Ronaldinho.
The Brazilian said he felt last season's off-pitch antics played no part in the result. 'It was our own mistakes that let us down,' he said.

Chelsea Humiliated

Middlesbrough made a mockery of crisis talk at the Riverside Stadium by handing Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho a stunning 3-0 defeat - his heaviest defeat in English football. Goals from Fabio Rochemback, Stewart Downing and Aiyegbeni Yakubu condemned the Blues to just their second Premiership defeat of the season, and it was every bit as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests.
Chelsea crashed to their first Premiership loss since November - and their heaviest under Jose Mourinho - as struggling Boro were boosted.
Here is what the coach had to say Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho:"When you lose, it is always a bad day, especially when you don't lose a lot.
"In my time at Chelsea, this is the third defeat in the Premiership and you can say it was the worst.
"We lost to Manchester City and didn't deserve it, we lost at Manchester United and didn't deserve it. We lost today 3-0 - and we deserved it."

PHARAOHS CONQUER AFRICA

Egypt won the African Cup of Nations for a record fifth time by beating Ivory Coast 4-2 on penalties after a goalless draw in the final in Cairo.
Goalkeeeper Essam Al Hadary was the hero for the hosts, saving two penalty kicks, while Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba and Bakary Kone missed theirs.
The match ended 0-0 after 120 minutes, with Drogba missing the Ivorians' best chance in regulation time.
Mohammed Aboutrika scored the winning penalty for the North Africans.