The J. League gears up for a five week recess following this weekend's round of action, with plenty at stake for clubs at both ends of the table. Consadole Sapporo kick off the weekend against Nagoya Grampus, and the two sides could hardly be experiencing more contrasting fortunes. Sapporo remain second-from-bottom despite their most recent 2-1 win away at Omiya Ardija. Second placed Nagoya were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Vissel Kobe in their most recent clash, with both of those matches taking place in atrocious conditions as wet weather continues to plague the league. There's a high profile clash at Saitama Stadium as Urawa Reds host Gamba Osaka, and the Reds can thank an errant linesman's flag for their 1-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale at a packed Todoroki Stadium last weekend. Edmilson had opened the scoring from the penalty spot for Urawa, however Kawasaki looked to have equalised through Hiroyuki Taniguchi - only for his effort to be chalked off due to an offside flag, despite the fact that Urawa midfielder Nobuhisa Yamada appeared to be playing Taniguchi onside. Kyoto Sanga FC have dropped into the relegation zone following a 1-0 defeat away at bottom club JEF United, and they will take on Yokohama F. Marinos in the unfamiliar surrounds of Kagoshima's Kamoike Stadium. Kyoto have attracted large crowds to their Nishikyogoku Stadium home this season, however they cannot rely on home advantage when they 'host' Marinos at the 36,000-capacity Kamoike Stadium on the southern island of Kyushu - hundreds of kilometres from their Kyoto base. Elsewhere Jubilo Iwata take on high-flying FC Tokyo at Yamaha Stadium, Kashima Antlers host Kashiwa Reysol, bottom club JEF United welcome Oita Trinita to the Fukuda Denshi Arena, Kawasaki Frontale take on Omiya Ardija at Todoroki Stadium, while on Sunday Vissel Kobe take on Albirex Niigata and Tokyo Verdy welcome Shimizu S-Pulse to Ajinomoto Stadium looking to avenge a recent 5-0 thrashing in the League Cup. In J2 the highlight fixtures see Sagan Tosu host Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Cerezo Osaka welcome second placed Shonan Bellmare to Nagai Stadium, Vegalta Sendai take on mid-table Montedio Yamagata, while Yokohama FC clash with Avispa Fukuoka at Mitsuzawa Stadium. J1 clubs will return to league action on June 28, however the three final group stage games of the Nabisco League Cup are set down for May 25, May 31 and June 8. Alex Miller signs on as coach of JEF United Having sacked Croatian coach Josip Kuze just 24-hours after claiming that he had the club's full support, JEF United have signed former Rangers star and Liverpool first-team coach Alex Miller to take over as coach of the embattled Chiba side. Miller watched from the stands as United beat Kyoto Sanga FC under the watchful eye of assistant coach Shigeo Sawairi, but the Scotsman will need to make a swift transition from the English Premier League to the J. League, with the Chiba Dogs still five points behind Consadole Sapporo at the foot of the table. The cashed-up United will reportedly pay Miller an annual salary of 500,000 pounds and they are also keen on trying to lure unsettled Newcastle United striker Michael Owen to the J. League. Owen came through the ranks at Liverpool during Miller's time as first-team coach, and with the Chiba side desperate to find a goalscorer - they've scored a paltry nine goals in 12 games played this season, United could be set to launch an audacious bid for the England star. AFC Champions League Gamba Osaka booked their place in the knock-out stages of the AFC Champions League by beating Thai outfit Chonburi FC 2-0 at Supachalasai Stadium in Bangkok on May 7. Substitute Masato Yamazaki opened the scoring for the Osakans just seconds after entering the fray, before Lucas Severino wrapped up the points with a late second. Gamba have an unassailable lead at the top of Group G with one match remaining. Kashima Antlers, meanwhile, are locked in a neck-and-neck battle with Beijing Guoan FC for a place in the final eight. The two sides are locked on 12 points with one game remaining, however with Kashima possessing a vastly superior goal difference, the Ibaraki outfit will progress should the two teams remain level on points at the end of the group stage. Defending champions Urawa Reds will join the competition at the quarter-final stage, with the draw set to be announced on May 24. Japan National Teams Takeshi Okada has named his squad for the upcoming Kirin Cup set to take place between May 22 - 27, with European-based trio Shunsuke Nakamura, Daisuke Matsui and Makoto Hasebe all receiving call-ups. Kawasaki Frontale defender Yusuke Igawa was the only surprise inclusion, although Urawa midfielder Keita Suzuki and strikers Seiichiro Maki and Ryoichi Maeda of JEF United and Jubilo Iwata were also called up, despite having missed much of the season through injury so far. Japan take on the Ivory Coast on May 24, before clashing with Paraguay three days later. Meanwhile Japan under-23 coach Yasuharu Sorimachi has dropped lanky FC Tokyo striker Sota Hirayama from a squad that will take part in an international tournament at the end of the month, preferring instead to call up Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto and Urawa Reds youngster Sergio Escudero. Japan take on the Netherlands, hosts France and Chile at the Toulon international tournament, with particular interest in the clash between the Netherlands and Japan, who face each other in Group B of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The USA and Nigeria are Japan's other opponents at the Olympics, with Sorimachi's team looking to become the first to win a medal since Japan claimed bronze at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com J.League News Tags Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Netherlands boss Marco van Basten has dropped several players from his pre-selection for the European Championships, and added defender Khalid Bouhlarouz.

FC Groningen will have to pay 15,000 Euros for the events that caused their match with Ajax, on April 13th, to be postponed.

Austria manager Josef Hickersberger is positive about his decision to include the experienced Ivica Vastic for the upcoming European Championships.

Real Madrid will want to end their successful season in style, preferably with a convincing win over last-placed UD Levante on Sunday.

Real Madrid will want to end their successful season in style, preferably with a convincing win over last-placed UD Levante on Sunday.

In the only Primera Division match scheduled for Saturday, Barcelona need a point to secure a spot in next season's Championship preliminary round.

Atletico de Madrid still have a small chance of finishing in third place in the Primera Division. A win at Valencia and a mistake by Barcelona are needed to achieve that goal.

Real Zaragoza have only one chance left to avoid relegation, and that chance will be against Real Mallorca on Sunday. A win and some luck will be needed to spend another season in the top flight.

Veteran Brazilian defender Cafu, a World Cup winner in 1994 and 2002, said on Friday he was quitting Italian giants AC Milan after six years with the club.

Germany defender Philipp Lahm said Friday conversations with new coach Jurgen Klinsmann had persuaded him to extended his contract at Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich until 2012.

Manchester United have postponed plans for a homecoming parade should they capture the Champions League trophy after violence flared in the city following the UEFA Cup final.

Portsmouth play Cardiff for the FA Cup on Saturday in their first major Wembley final for 69 years. For Harry Redknapp, their 61-year-old manager, the wait has been almost as long.

When the German season concludes on Saturday, Bayern Munich´s stalwarts Oliver Kahn and Ottmar Hitzfeld will take their Bundesliga bows.

Lyon´s big match nerves will be tested to the full on Saturday as they play their final French league match of the season with a seventh successive title at stake.

They came, they saw, they conquered Manchester. But the first Scottish invasion of England since Bonnie Prince Charlie's in 1745 ended in tears once again. Rangers were deservedly beaten 2-0 in the UEFA Cup Final by the sleek Russians of Zenit St Petersburg, coached by former 'Gers manager Dick Advocaat. Zenit took 72 minutes to unlock the stubborn Rangers defence, but it was no more than they deserved for their skilful play, which had demolished Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. The Glaswegians should console themselves with reaching the final in the first place, after dispatching superior opposition such as Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina on the way thanks to Walter Smith's shrewd tactics. Once more, the UEFA Cup looked decidedly second best to the Champions League however. Since the second, third and even fourth-best teams in each country have won passsge to the CL, the UEFA Cup has lost a lot of its shine. Its interminable group stages are redolent of the misguided experiment taken by the Champions League in the early 1990s. What made this final go down in history was instead the violence outside the stadium pre and post-match. It is hard to recall the last time a British city-centre witnessed such distressing scenes of football-related trouble, such have been the leaps in improving the game's image since the dark days of the 1980s. Perhaps the riot in Trafalgar Square in London after England were knocked out of Euro '96 was the last. There might have been over 100,000 well-behaved Rangers supporters in Manchester, but their club's whole reputation was sullied by the few hundred who decided to get violent after a big screen failed to work. To cite that as an excuse for lobbing missiles, smashing cars, looting shops and attacking policemen was ludicrous but several fans unbelievably tried to justify the prolonged violence. The dynamite was certainly sitting there primed given the numbers of fans, warm weather and the fact that Glaswegians are tough by nature, are fond of the odd drink (central Manchester ran dry by 4pm) and Rangers then lost the game. So tragic then that an unforeseeable technical failure should have been the spark for such ugly mayhem. Thank god the worst injuries were only bruises and a knife wound. At least now we in England will have some ammunition to return the repetitive Scottish accusations of blame when it comes to hooliganism. For years now the Tartan Army has sought to distance itself from the misbehaving Sassenachs south of the border when it comes to international football games. Having witnessed it myself, I can vouch for the fact that watching Scotland play overseas is an immeasurably more pleasant experience than watching England. While the English invariably end up causing some trouble, whether provoked by the police and local thugs or not, the Scots these days always make friends and have a good time with their hosts. In one foreign country, I even saw the local coppers asking to pose for photos with the kilted invaders. Claims that the Scots have always been lillywhite are all a bit rich however, when one recalls the yearly violence of the Scotland v England clash in the 1970s and '80s, most famously encapsulated by Scottish fans tearing up the turf and breaking the crossbar at Wembley in 1977. Only in the dark days of English 1980s hooliganism did the Tartan Army decide to distance itself in foreign eyes from their neighbours to the south. That Rangers yobs ran amok in Manchester is thus a black mark on Scottish football culture in general, after so many years of good PR. One can only wonder if the boneheads charging after a policeman before bringing him down and kicking him mercilessly, as so horrifically captured on CCTV in Manchester, could care less what others think of their neanderthal comportment. Rangers fans have a repuation in the rest of the soccer world for being headcases - belligerently sporting the Union Jack and Ulster flags instead of Scotland's while chanting of being 'up to our knees in Fenian blood - surrender or you'll die!' Doubtless, those in the know will recall city rivals Celtic invading Seville in vast numbers for the 2003 UEFA Cup Final but without such excruciating scenes in the streets. I felt ashamed to see the UK's being sported so prominently on the backs of those hoodlums, knowing the pictures would go around Europe and many viewers would mistakenly think it was England's flag instead. You can bet half of them are Scottish nationalists too and don't understand it is silly to be flying the Union flag at the same time. To the good Rangers fans who obeyed the law, thank you and I regret you lost the final. To the yobs who caused so much misery in Manchester, thank you for dragging all British football fans' reputations internationally into the mire once again. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Bosnia-Herzegovina and national team manager Meho Kodro will be parting ways. The coach refused to participate in a friendly match with Iran.