The sixth round of the J. League throws up two significant clashes, with the eleventh Tokyo derby competing for headlines along with the eternal classic between Urawa Reds and Kashima Antlers. Fallen giants Tokyo Verdy host their Ajinomoto Stadium co-tenants FC Tokyo on April 12, with Verdy having only just registered their first win in the league since winning promotion back to the top flight. They won away at Vissel Kobe in Round 5 thanks to 18-year-old Hiroki Kawano's volley, but it is the return of striker Hulk that could prove key to Verdy's chances of maintaining their top flight status. The 21-year-old Brazilian propelled Tokyo Verdy to promotion by scoring 37 league goals in 42 appearances in J2 last season, but after failing to settle at Kawasaki Frontale, Hulk has made a permanent switch across the Tama River for a reputed fee of around 500 million yen. On Sunday the highlight clash of the day undoubtedly takes place at Saitama Stadium, when bitter rivals Urawa Reds host defending J. League champions Kashima Antlers. There is plenty of history between these two clubs, but another chapter was added on an extraordinary final day last season when Kashima pipped Urawa to the post to lift the league trophy in thrilling circumstances. The Reds will be aching for revenge against their arch-nemesis, although they will have their work cut out for them against a Kashima side that has won all five of their league fixtures at a canter this season. In other highlight Round 6 fixtures, Consadole Sapporo look to crack their first home win of the season in the league when they host Jubilo Iwata at the Sapporo Dome, struggling JEF United welcome Omiya Ardija to the Fukuda Denshi Arena, Tokai rivals Shimizu S-Pulse and Nagoya Grampus face off at Nihondaira Stadium, while there's a Kansai derby between Kyoto Sanga FC and Vissel Kobe at what will be a packed Nishikyogoku Stadium in Kyoto. Relegated Sanfrecce Hiroshima lead the way in J2, although they are level on points with Sagan Tosu as the early jostling for promotion places kicks off in earnest. Yokohama FC and Vegalta Sendai are hot on their heels, but it has been a disappointing start for Pierre Littbarski's Avispa Fukuoka, with the Kyushu outfit currently lying in ninth following their latest 3-1 loss away at Tokushima Vortis. This weekend Fukuoka host newcomers FC Gifu at Hakata no Mori, while the other highlight clashes see Vegalta Sendai take on Tokushima Vortis, Shonan Bellmare welcome relegated Ventforet Kofu to Hiratsuka, while there's a clash of the big guns when Sanfrecce Hiroshima take on Cerezo Osaka at Big Arch Stadium in Hiroshima. AFC Champions League Kashima Antlers look set to cruise beyond the group stage of the AFC Champions League, after the Ibaraki side maintained their one hundred percent record with a 1-0 victory over Beijing Guoan FC on April 9. Former Sao Paulo midfielder Danilo scored the only goal of the game as Kashima notched up their third straight win in the competition, although there was a blow for coach Oswaldo de Oliveira as Japan international Atsuto Uchida was forced to leave the field with a back injury late in the second half. Meanwhile a last-minute winner from substitute Lucas Severino saw Gamba Osaka beat Melbourne Victory 4-3 in a thriller watched by 23,857 fans at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne. The A-League side raced out to an early lead through Danny Allsopp, however Gamba pegged back the hosts thanks to goals from long-range specialist Takahiro Futagawa and the predatory Bare. There was controversy when Gamba captain Satoshi Yamaguchi appeared to be fouled in the build-up to Melbourne's equaliser - which Roddy Vargas headed home, and Bare then had a goal ruled out after officials judged that his header had not crossed the line after bouncing down off the crossbar. Melbourne retook the lead midway through the second half through the ubiquitous Allsopp, but Gamba roared back as Yamaguchi equalised with a trademark header. The stage was set for a winner, and Gamba duly conjured it as teenager Michihiro Yasuda crossed for substitute Lucas Severino to head home in the final minute. The victory leaves Gamba three points clear of Chonburi FC at the top of Group G, with Melbourne Victory and Chunnam Dragons both locked on three points at the bottom of the group. The next round of fixtures scheduled to take place on April 23. Japan National Team Japan slumped to a 1-0 defeat in hot and humid conditions in Bahrain on March 26, in their second qualifying game for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Takashi Okada spared Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura the trip to the Middle-East, while Urawa Reds striker Naohiro Takahara picked up an injury on the eve of the match. Their absences failed to mask a desperately poor showing from the Blue Samurai, with many questioning why not a single Kashima Antlers player was used despite the Ibaraki side lifting last season's J. League trophy. Japan now turn their attention to the annual Kirin Cup, where they will face the Ivory Coast at Toyota Stadium on May 24, before taking on Paraguay at Saitama Stadium three days later. Their World Cup campaign resumes on June 2 when they take on Oman in Yokohama. Japanese players overseas Takayuki Morimoto : Catania

World Soccer News for the week of 04/11/08 Liverpool after "Croatian Cruyff", Luka Modric Dinamo Zagreb have received the first formal offer for their star midfielder Luka Modric. The offer came from five time European champions, Liverpool, according to leading Croatian daily, Vecernji list . The Croatian press recently published reports that Newcastle, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal all expressed interest in the 22-year-old midfield schemer, but Liverpool seems to have made the first concrete move to seize Modric. The player carries a 23 million euros price tag, but Dinamo may be willing to offload him for a mere 20 million. Should the prospective buyers wait until the end of the European Championship, the price could rise in accordance to Modric's performance. The youngster bearing an uncanny physical resemblance to Johan Cruyff is a creative, goal-scoring midfielder who has won so far two League titles, one FA Cup and one Croatian supercup, and a third consecutive league championship is virtually secure, as well as a second successive place in the FA Cup finals. "I am truly honoured if it is true that Liverpool want me. I watched them break Arsenal. That was a magnificent game. Only the biggest teams can play so well against an opponent as strong as Arsenal," said Modric. Porto celebrate title, but is it too early? FC Porto have become the first team from a major European soccer league to have secured this season's title...unless the Portuguese FA strip them of six points as punishment for attempted corruption. Porto have already celebrated their third consecutive title after beating Estrela Amadora 6-0 last Sunday, but the celebrations could prove premature if the disciplinary procedure within the FA is finalized during the next couple of weeks. It seems that during the 2003/04 season Porto arranged for certain referees to direct two of their League games, which in the eyes of the FA constitutes an attempt at corruption. Maximum punishment for this is the subtraction of six points, but Porto are certain to clinch the title even without these points seeing that their advantage over Benfica and Sporting is so huge. The club's chairman Pinto da Costa on the other hand faces a two year suspension. Playing at high altitude could be fatal, say doctors The Brazilian side Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro claim to have collected evidence of the dangers of playing at high altitude. The red and blacks received a facsimile from a group of Bolivian and Mexican doctors who had concluded that playing high above sea level could prove fatal. The doctors reached this conclusion after studying the death of a 23-year-old soccer player last year during a game in the Bolivian mountain city of Potosí. The physicians performed all sorts of heart and blood tests on various players who had played at altitudes of above 2500 meters and determined that athletes indeed can die in such conditions. The Brazilian media claim the Bolivian authorities tried to prevent the publication of the said report since their country's FA is struggling to persuade FIFA to withdraw the ban on playing international matches above 2700 meters. Other countries involved in the struggle against FIFA are Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, while Brazil and Argentina largely support the ruling. According to the medical science, athletes should have to spend two weeks adapting to high altitude before playing a soccer match, which is impracticable due to the condensed playing schedule. Mijatovic tries to lure Cristiano Ronaldo to Madrid Real Madrid's sports director Predrag Mijatovic travelled to Manchester last week to discuss a possible transfer with Cristiano Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes. According to Spanish tv station Sexta, Real Madrid are prepared to play no less than 125 million euros for the magnificent Portuguese player, which is five million more than the Spaniards had previously offered. Last summer Manchester United were unwilling to accept 120 million euros, so it is unclear how five million more could make a difference. Still, Real Madrid hope Cristiano could be theirs for much less in two years time, when he would be able to invoke UEFA's controversial Webster ruling, allowing players over 23 to buy off their contract by simply paying the club their remaining wages. Getafe protests over favouritism towards Valencia Angel Torres, chairman of Madrid giant killers Getafe, is furious over the Spanish League's treatment of his team in view of the forthcoming Cup finals to be held on April 16th. What angers Torres is the fact that the League allowed Valencia to bring forward their League game against Rácing from next Sunday to Saturday. Curiously, the League also said it would allow Getafe to play against Zaragoza on Saturday, but that change of date would not mean anything to the Madrid team. In fact, it would complicate their life rather than make it easier. The reason is Getafe played their UEFA Cup quarterfinals second leg against Bayern on Thursday, so meeting Zaragoza on Saturday would be a terrible ordeal for them. "A solution would be fielding juniors against Zaragoza, but we are not going to do that in order not to hurt other clubs. Therefore we shall ask for the resignation of the League chairman José Luis Astiazaran," said Torres. Since Zaragoza is a relegation threatened team, Getafe vows to field a full team to guarantee the regularity of the competition. Copyright Ozren Podnar & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Georgian striker Shota Arveladze announced to be retiring at the end of this season, after a more than disappointing year at Levante in Spain.

Queen of the South caused one of Scottish football´s greatest shocks on Saturday with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup at Hampden to book their first ever appearance in the final.

Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing showed Tottenham what they are missing as his equaliser earned a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane on Saturday.

Just when Derby County thought their season couldn´t get any worse they were thrashed 6-0 at home to Midlands rivals Aston Villa at Pride Park here Saturday.

Werder Bremen thrashed Schalke 04 5-1 in the German championship on Saturday to inherit their second place behind leaders Bayern Munich.

A report in Saturday´s Gazzetta dello Sport claimed that Brazil forward Ronaldinho has reached an agreement with Milan on a possible summer transfer.

Financial pressures have squeezed former Brazilian international Juninho out of Australian A-League club Sydney FC, reports said Saturday.

Bolton´s bid to avoid the drop received a welcome boost on Saturday with a 1-0 home win over West Ham which left them two points away from safety.

Three goals in the last 11 minutes at the Stadium of Light here Saturday brought an otherwise mundane Premier League clash to life as Manchester City snatched an undeserved 2-1 win away to Sunderland.

Fulham kept alive their slender hopes of avoiding relegation and finally ended their away-day misery with a 2-0 win at Reading on Saturday.

Argentinian substitute Mauro Zarate earned Birmingham City a precious point in their quest for Premier League survival with a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Everton at St Andrews here on Saturday.