Bamford joins Burnley on loan

The final groups for Asian qualifying for World Cup 2010 will take place on Friday after Qatar and United Arab Emirates booked their spots in the last phase on Sunday.

Needing victory over Iraq in Dubai, Qatar got a 77th-minute goal from Al-Arabi striker Sayed Ali Bechir to send them through as runners-up in Group 1 along with Australia.

The UAE, meanwhile, held on by the skin of their teeth to advance to the final stage of qualifying, finishing as Group 5 runners-up despite falling 3-1 at home to Syria.

Jehad al-Hussein scored goals on 34 and 51 minute to put Syria 2-0 up, but they needed to win by at least three goals in order to advance. Ismail Matar put them up against it 10 minutes from time when he netted from the spot for the Emirates, and not even a late…

Members of America s Olympic gold medal-winning women s football team learned on Tuesday what clubs they would be joining in the new Women s Professional Soccer league.

At a ceremony hosted by National Basketball Association All-Star and WPS part-owner Steve Nash, seven teams received three players apiece from the US national team.

Today has been a truly exciting and important day for the league and for the entire sport of women s soccer, said Nash, who is also among a group financially supporting the bid of the Vancouver Whitecaps, a United Soccer League First Division side in its bid to join the MLS.

The number of close games during the Olympics were a fantastic showcase of how the women s level of competition continues to grow globally.

And here i…

Juventus chief executive Giuseppe Marotta hopes that the club s transfer-window business can help translate their domestic dominance into the Champions League.

The Bianconeri have won five consecutive Serie A titles but, after losing the 2014-15 Champions League final to Barcelona, they were cruelly knocked out by Bayern Munich in the last-16 last season.

Paul Pogba has joined Manchester United in a world-record deal in the current window, but the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Miralem Pjanic, Mehdi Benatia and Dani Alves have arrived to strengthen Juve while Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi has been tipped to make the move to Italy.

Sevilla, Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb provide the opposition in Group H, and Marotta is confident that Juve can be a contender in…

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Meeting for the second time in a matter of days, Southampton will once again welcome Arsenal to an empty St. Mary s on Tuesday night.

Southampton

Starting with the hosts, after getting hit with a 2-0 defeat against Leicester last time out on Premier League duties, Southampton will take plenty of solace from their recent FA Cup bounce. Putting in a professional display over the weekend and booking their showdown with Wolves in the fifth-round of this year s tournament, the Saints landed themselves a 1-0 win against the Gunners on Saturday lunchtime. Gaining a string of plaudits since opening the 2020/21 campaign and with some in Ralph Hasenhüttl s camp still dreaming of a stunning European charge, the former RB Leipzig boss will now …

Porto have completed the signing of Colombia midfielder Matheus Uribe from Club America in a reported €10million deal.

Liga MX giants America announced on Sunday a fee had been agreed with Porto, before confirmation of the player s signature followed on Monday.

Uribe, 28, put pen to paper on a four-year deal in Portugal after spending two full seasons with America.

He has 21 caps for Colombia, playing three times at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and making the same number of appearances at this year s Copa America.

Matheus Uribe
Médio
28 anos
Internacional A pela Colômbia
1 Liga da Colômbia, 1 Taça da Colômbia, 2 Ligas do México e 1 Supertaça do México

— FC Porto (@FCPorto)

Porto signed America s Argentina international g…

Championship club Southampton are on the brink of becoming English football s first major casualty of the credit crunch after missing an end-of-March deadline to secure new financing.

Trading in the shares of the club s parent company, Southampton Leisure Holdings, were suspended on Wednesday, a day after the expiry of the deadline for securing new funds.

The company warned that it would not be viable without fresh funds, which are likely to prove difficult to find in the current economic climate.

The company is currently in discussions with a number of parties concerning the injection of additional finance into its business, Southampton Leisure Holdings said in a statement.

Unless this funding is secured, the company will be unable to continue as a vi…

Reviving a women s pro football league in the United States during harsh economic times has been a challenge, but Women s Pro Soccer (WPS) is on course to meet goals for quality and stability.

The seven-team league reaches the midpoint of its inaugural season this week with elite talent from around the world, an average of about 5,400 fans a match and two expansion teams paying one million dollars each to start in 2010.

It s thrilling and exhausting at the same time, WPS commissioner Tonya Antonucci said. Anyone in any start up finds that surge and excitement. You get passionate about the sport.

After a collegiate career as a Stanford midfielder, long-time business executive Antonucci has picked up the pieces from the Women s United Soccer Association that fol…

Antonio Conte has been urged to stay at Juventus and resist the lure of coaching elsewhere by the club s former manager Giovanni Trapattoni.

Conte, who played under Trapattoni at Juve, has guided the Turin club to successive Serie A titles since returning to the club in a managerial capacity in May 2011.

The 44-year-old former Italy international has recently been mooted in the media as a possible successor to Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

But Trapattoni believes Conte is well placed to enjoy more success domestically and in Europe if he remains with Juve, who are third in Serie A behind leaders Roma and Napoli.

I do feel ready to give him some advice: the longer he resists the fascination of trying a different league, the better, Trapattoni told Tuttosport.

I …

Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed he is to leave Malaga at the end of the season.

The Chilean has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester City following the departure of Roberto Mancini and had previously spoken about how unlikely it was that he would remain at Malaga.
However, he confirmed this morning that he and his coaching staff will leave the club, having been there since 2010.
My coaching staff and I are separating from Malaga but our union with this city will be eternal, he is quoted as saying by Spanish newspaper website Marca.com.
I m going for sporting reasons, he added.
Pellegrini guided Malaga to the UEFA Champions League semi-final this season, where they were knocked out by Borussia Dortmund.
…

Spanish side Valencia are reportedly keen on Serbia international Filip Kostic.

The 25-year-old pacey winger is one of the highest earners at the German club Hamburger SV and looks set to lead the exodus following the relegation to Bundesliga 2.

Valencia have been long-term admirers of Kostic having followed him closely for the past two years and will look to exploit the fact HSV will sell their biggest stars during the summer transfer window.

According to the latest reports coming from European papers, negotiations between the two sides are already advanced. Premier League side Southampton were said to be in the running for his signature but the prospect of playing the Champions League in Spain looks too tempting.

Valencia are expected to pay around €…