Alberto Aquilani joins Las Palmas

The 2009 edition of the Confederations Cup kicks off on Sunday, when hosts South Africa take on Asian champions Iraq.

South Africa slowly appear to be getting in better shape ahead of next year s World Cup, and this Confederations Cup will be a great way for them to test how well they cope with the pressure of hosting a tournament. Of course, more is expected from the Bafana Bafana than usual and the players will certainly be aware of this.

Arguably, the best known name in the South African squad is Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar. The only other player that is active in the Premiership is Aaron Mokoena of Blackburn Rovers. Of the 23 selected players, 14 play their club football in South Africa.

Iraq earned their Confederations Cup invitation by winning the 20…

Atletico Madrid are in talks to sign Catania s Alejandro Gomez, according to the Italian club s president Antonino Pulvirenti.

The Argentine signed from San Lorenzo in 2010, and has racked up over 100 appearances at the Stadio Angelo Massimino.

The 25-year-old has played in 35 games this season, scoring eight goals to aid the club to eighth place in Serie A with one fixture remaining.
A string of impressive displays have led to speculation of a move, with Pulvirenti confirming there have been several bids for the player s services.
And it looks likely the winger will be plying his trade at the Vicente Calderon from next season, with Atletico close to tying up a deal.
The negotiations with Atletico Madrid are very advanced, we have some serious bids. I think Gomez will g…

Honduras finish second in Group B of the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2009, following a convincing 4-0 win over Grenada. The USA finish first, and Haiti are through as one of the best numbers three.

The central Americans were never really troubled by their opponents in this final group match. Walter Martinez made it 1-0 after just two minutes and Espinoza doubled the advantage in minute 25.

In the second half, Honduras continued to dominate and Valladares added a third goal in the 56th minute. A penalty caused by Grenada s Mark allowed Carlos Costly to make it 4-0 in the 67th, although the forward did initially have his spot kick saved by keeper Baptiste.

As a result, Honduras move into second place in this group with only the United States ahead. Haiti finish in third but…

(GSM) Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart has named the countries he expects to be in contention for this year s World Cup honours. The Real Madrid midfielder didn t mention his homeland the Netherlands among the favourites.

Spain is one of the favourites along with Argentina and Brazil, said Van der Vaart at a press conference.

Spain is a very good team but the World Cup is different. At Euro 2008 they were lucky because the Netherlands had a bad day against Russia.

The 26-year-old midfielder returned to Real s starting lineup recently, partly because of the injured Kaka s absence. The Brazilian midfielder is on the verge of a return for Los Merengues but Van der Vaart doesn t fear his comeback.

I can also play with Kaka, not a problem, that i…

Kevin-Prince Boateng is happy to be back home training with former club Milan, following his exile from Schalke.

Boateng was indefinitely suspended by Bundesliga outfit Schalke in May and the Ghana international is now training with Milan until the end of 2015 as he searches for a new team.

The 28-year-old, who is contracted to Schalke until the end of this season, has been tipped to join Milan permanently in January, having spent three years at the San Siro before moving to the Veltins-Arena in 2013.

And the former Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth man did not dampen speculation in an interview with Sky Sport, saying: I m fine, I m happy to have this opportunity to train. Milanello is my home.

I like to be here and Milan is the team of my heart.

…

France defender Benjamin Pavard hailed Hugo Lloris performance in Les Bleus 2-0 World Cup victory over Uruguay and insists the goalkeeper has the full backing of his team-mates despite media criticism.

Lloris arrived at the World Cup a man under scrutiny following errors in France s warm-up matches and a number of poor performances for Tottenham across the course of the 2017-18 season.

He has since kept two clean sheets from four matches in Russia, including one in France s 2-0 quarter-final victory over Uruguay in which he pulled off one particularly outstanding save from a Martin Caceres header, diving low to his right for a one-handed reaction stop.

And Pavard says the captain has led by example, telling reporters: He is really an exceptional goalkeeper. He ha…

Carlos Tevez has told Lionel Messi not to retire from international football following Argentina s chaotic World Cup in Russia.

It was a forgettable campaign for Messi and Argentina, who were eliminated by eventual champions France in the last 16 at Russia 2018 as Jorge Sampaoli later departed.

Argentina s tournament was marred by reports of unrest following a 3-0 group-stage defeat to Croatia after a 1-1 draw with Iceland left the South American giants on the brink of a humiliating exit.

Messi – still searching for his first senior international title – and Argentina managed to sneak into the knockout phase thanks to a last-gasp win over Nigeria but the team s shortcomings were exposed against France.

The international future of five-time Ballon d Or…

that Mesut Ozil will wait to see whether or not Arsene Wenger extends his stay at Arsenal before doing the same.

The future of the Germany international has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks, and the Gunners will be extra keen to secure his services following his Champions League heroics on Wednesday evening.

The twenty-eight year old bagged a second-half hat-trick as the North London side thrashed Bulgarian outfit Ludogorets at the Emirates Stadium.

That took Ozil’s goal tally to twenty-six goals in one hundred and twenty-five appearances in all competitions since signing from Real Madrid in the summer of 2014.

He won FA Cup’s in his first two seasons with Arsenal, adding a World Cup winners medal to his collection in-between…

Market: Cagliari draw no bet

Odds: 8/11 @

Hoping to pick up back-to-back Serie B victories on Friday night, Cagliari to the Stadio Renato Curi when they meet a struggling Perugia.

Starting with the hosts, missing out on what was a golden opportunity last week as they eventually had to settle for a 1-1 draw away at Spal, Perugia find themselves in the midst of a major Serie B struggle. Firmly at the heart of a relegation scrap and still tipped as one of the leading relegation contenders in 2023, Fabrizio Castori’s men have come under a huge amount of scrutiny this season. Only showing a string of issues on either side of March’s international break, the Umbria-based outfit have mustered just a single win from any of their last 10 Serie B appearances a run tha…

Former England star Paul Gascoigne has been arrested for the second time in two days, police confirmed Tuesday.

The ex-midfielder was taken into custody along with another man by police called to the Blackwell Grange Hotel in Darlington, northeast England, on Monday night.

Gascoigne was later released without charge after being questioned on suspicion of a public order offence.

The 42-year-old was previously arrested at the weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, police said on Monday.

Gascoigne, who has struggled with alcoholism and depression, was arrested after officers were called to a disturbance at a takeaway restaurant in Leeming Bar, Yorkshire, northern England, on Sunday evening.

As well as his drink-related probl…