messi receives golden boot as europe' top scorer

Messi Receives Golden Boot As Europe’s Top Scorer

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has been presented with his second Golden Boot award in recognition for scoring the most goals in Europe’s domestic leagues last season.The 25-year-old Messi scored a Spanish-league record 50 goals for Barcelona, beating fellow Spanish league star Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid by four goals.

Messi dedicated the award to his teammates, saying ”it is a prize for scoring goals, but without my teammates I couldn’t have scored them.”The Argentina international won his first Golden Boot in 2010 for his 34 goals that helped Barcelona win the league title. Messi is among the favorites to win the 2012 Ballon d’Or for the world’s best player.

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SOUTH AFRICA TO SPEND $53 MILLION ON 2013 AFRICA CUP OF NATION

          SOUTH AFRICA TO SPEND $53 MILLION ON 2013 AFRICA CUP OF NATION

South Africa on Thursday said it will spend R461 million ($53 million, 41 million to stage the Africa Cup of Nations next year but denied it was a “vanity project” in tough economic times.South Africa stepped in after the football showcase was shifted from conflict torn Libya and had to find the funds to pick up the hosting tab amid a slowing economy and rising debt levels.

“We are ensuring that we cut out any form of extravagance,” Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene told reporters, saying the tournament had not been budgeted for in the current financial year.

“What we have approved for funding for Afcon, we have cut it absolutely to the bone…I don’t think we can regard it as a vanity project.”

South Africa was only due to stage the continent’s championship in 2017 but the country’s lauded 2010 World Cup, which saw a building boom on stadiums, roads and airports, would help with hosting duties, he said.The costs for the tournament, which runs from January 19 to February 10, were outlined in the medium term budget policy statement which was tabled on Thursday.

Funds were diverted from reprioritised spending and will go to areas such as to host cities, security and health.The tournament will be played in five host cities and towns -Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Nelspruit and the mining town Rustenburg. South Africa is also to take over the 2014 African Nations Championship for local-based

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Man Utd claim controversial win

Man Utd claim controversial win



London – Javier Hernandez’s controversial winning goal gave Manchester United a dramatic 3-2 victory against nine-man Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The result ensured Alex Ferguson’s side reduced the gap on Roberto Di Matteo’s English Premier League leaders to just one point, but the Blues were left fuming at the performance of referee Mark Clattenburg.

Chelsea had recovered from falling behind to a David Luiz own goal and a Robin van Persie strike to level through goals from Juan Mata and Ramires when Branislav Ivanovic was sent off for a 63rd-minute foul on Ashley Young.

More contentious, though, was the second yellow card shown to Fernando Torres five minutes later, after the referee had decided the striker dived following a challenge by Jonny Evans.

Replays suggested there had been contact between the two players and the decision sparked fury on the Chelsea bench that led to a touchline altercation between Ferguson and Di Matteo’s staff.

Worse was to come for the home side, with substitute Hernandez clinching victory in the 75th minute with a close-range finish from what appeared to be an offside position.

The events of the final half hour ensured the match ended in controversy but before that it had already been a thrilling encounter.

The pre-match handshake between Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole, together with the absence of John Terry — who is serving a four-match ban for racially abusing Ferdinand’s brother, Anton — removed a potential flashpoint.

But the subsequent 90 minutes more than made up for it.

It was United who started the game with the greater urgency and were clearly driven by the motivation to keep Di Matteo’s side within their sights at the head of the table.

While United quickly got into their stride, attacking fluently down their right-hand flank, Chelsea’s defence looked disjointed and nervous, and the absence of Terry was telling.

Petr Cech was called into action after less than three minutes when van Persie drilled in a stinging left-foot shot from outside the area.

HERNANDEZ MANCHESTERBut the home goalkeeper had no chance of preventing United taking the lead 60 seconds later after Wayne Rooney had worked his way to the byline and pulled back for van Persie, whose shot crashed off the post and into the net via the back of Luiz.

The second came just eight minutes later after another lightning move down the United right.

Goalkeeper David De Gea started the move by rolling the ball out to Ferdinand and it ended with van Persie sweeping the ball home from Antonio Valencia’s low cross.

Chelsea looked in desperate trouble, while United were rampant.

Slowly, though, the home side worked their way back into the game and when they were finally able to play to their strengths in the attacking third, the momentum of the game shifted dramatically.

Suddenly it was De Gea who was the busier of the two keepers and the young Spaniard kept his side in it before Mata eventually halved the deficit shortly before the interval.

Rooney fouled Eden Hazard on the edge of the United area, allowing Mata to curl a precise free-kick around the wall and beyond the reach of De Gea.

Di Matteo’s side continued where they had left off after the break and were level eight minutes into the second period when Ramires headed home from Oscar’s cross.

At that point the game was perfectly poised, before an incident-packed five-minute spell left Chelsea with nine men and United poised for victory.

Ivanovic was first to see red in the 63rd minute when he tripped Young as the United winger was bearing down on goal after being played in by van Persie.

And when Torres followed five minutes later, it was always going to be an enormous task for Chelsea to hold on.

But their sense of injustice was further fuelled by Hernandez’s strike after the Mexico forward turned home Rafael’s drilled cross.

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AC Milan owner,Silvio Berlusconi jailed for tax fraud

 

AC Milan supremo, Silvio Berlusconi,has been sentenced to a jail term,after he was found guilty of committing tax fraud.
The Former Italian Prime Minister was initailly handed a four-year jail sentence,but it was reduced to a year, because of the provisions of an amnesty law.
Reacting to the verdict,Berlusconi said that the sentence was an “intolerable judicial harassment.”
Berlusconi alongside others,was found guilty of buying US film rights at inflated prices via two offshore companies that was directly under his control.
The court ordered Berlusconi and his co-defendants to pay the sum of 10m euros (£8m) in damages and he was equally banned from holding public office for three years.
“It is without any doubt a political verdict just as all the cases invented against me are political,” Berlusconi said on one of the TV staions he owns.
This is not the first time that the 76-year old, Berlusconi has been in the news, he is equally facing a scandal,as he was alleged to have slept with teenage girls

 

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EPL: Arteta’s Strike Ends QPR’s Resistance

EPL: Arteta’s Strike Ends QPR’s Resistance

Mikel Arteta's late winner finally ended bottom-club QPR's resistance as Arsenal ended a turbulent week with a vital Premier League win.

Arteta poked in from close range, after his initial header hit the QPR crossbar, as Arsenal bounced back from defeats by Norwich and Schalke.

The winner came moments after QPR's Stephane M'Bia was sent off for kicking out at Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen, reports the BBC.

QPR's Esteban Granero and Jamie Mackie spurned glorious injury-time chances.

England midfielder Jack Wilshere played 67 minutes as he made his first senior Arsenal appearance for 17 months.

In other games, Fulham battled Reading to a 3-3 draw, while, while Stoke and Sunderland played goalless and Wigan survived a late West Ham rally to win 2-1.

In the early kick off Aston Villa and Norwich played 1-1.

EPL RESULTS

Aston Villa 1 - 1 Norwich

Arsenal 1 - 0 QPR

Reading 3 - 3 Fulham

Stoke 0 - 0 Sunderland

Wigan 2 - 1 West Ham

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AFCON 2013: CAF Release Match Fixtures and Time

AFCON 2013: CAF Release Match Fixtures and TimeAfrica’s football governing body Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released the fixtures for next year’s championship to be held in South Africa.

The tournament which starts on Saturday, January 19, 2013 and ends on Sunday, February 10 has the following venues, dates and times:

Group A (Durban unless stated)

Jan 19 At Johannesburg South Africa v Cape Verde 1600, Angola v Morocco 1900

Jan 23 South Africa v Angola 1500, Morocco v Cape Verde 1800

Jan 27 South Africa v Morocco 1700 At Port Elizabeth Cape Verde v Angola 1700

Group B (Port Elizabeth unless noted)

Jan 20 Ghana v DR Congo 1500, Mali v Niger 1800

Jan 24 Ghana v Mali 1500, Niger v DR Congo 1800

Jan 28 Ghana v Niger 1700 At Durban DR Congo v Mali 1700

Group C (Nelspruit unless noted)

Jan 21 Zambia v Ethiopia 1500, Nigeria v Burkina Faso 1800

Jan 25 Zambia v Nigeria 1500, Burkina Faso v Ethiopia 1800

Jan 29 Zambia v Burkina Faso 1700 At Rustenburg Ethiopia v Nigeria 1700

Group D (Rustenburg unless noted)

Jan 22 Ivory Coast v Togo 1500, Tunisia v Algeria 1800

Jan 26 Ivory Coast v Tunisia 1500, Algeria v Togo 1800

Jan 30 Ivory Coast v Algeria 1700 At Nelspruit Togo v Tunisia 1700

Quarter-finals

Feb 2 At Port Elizabeth (1) Gp B winners v Gp A runners-up 1500 At Durban (2) Gp A winners v Gp B runners-up 1830

Feb 3 At Rustenburg (3) Gp D winners v Gp C runners-up 1500 At Nelspruit (4) Gp C winners v Gp D runners-up 1830

Semi-finals

Feb 6 At Durban Winners quarter-final 2 v winners quarter-final 3 1500

At Nelspruit Winners quarter-final 4 v winners quarter-final 1 1830

Third place

Feb 9 At Port Elizabeth Semi-finals losers 1800

Final

Feb 10 At Johannesburg Semi-finals winners 1800

Match venues

Johannesburg: Soccer City (94,000 capacity)

Durban: Moses Mabhida Stadium (54,000)

Nelspruit: Mbombela Stadium (41,000)

Port Elizabeth: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (48,500)

Rustenburg: Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace (42,000)

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JOSE MOURINHO:KEEPS PSG DOOR OPEN

Jose Mourinho, keeps PSG door open

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has again spoken out about the growing speculation that he will someday manage Paris Saint-Germain.

The 49-year-old had been linked with the post following Les Parisiens shaky start to the season, but a change in form means they are only three points off league leaders Marseille.

PSG are yet to be defeated domestically this season which has calmed the pressure on Carlo Ancelotti and Mourinho insists that recent comments he made about the PSG post have been skewed by the media.

“I do not exclude PSG. Or almost anything. But the last time I was asked about PSG, I said initially there was a great coach and they did not need me,” he told France Football.

“They (the media) have manipulated what I have said previously. I like where I am and I like it here. That is the truth.”

On reports that he will someday go back to England to coach the Real Madrid manager said, “Without predicting the future, I’m just saying that I think going back to England is a possibility, but at the earliest it would be 2016.”

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