Rafael van der Vaart made his debut for Real Madrid and celebrated this event by scoring his first goal wearing the white shirt.

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes will be looking to put speculation about the club´s future behind him with a confidence-boosting friendly victory over AC Milan this weekend.

Lee McCulloch has warned Rangers´ Euro flops that they will have to win the Scottish Premier League to erase the bitter memories of their Champions League humiliation.

South Africa and Argentina go head to head here on Saturday, in a repeat of last year´s World Cup semi-final, with the hosts seeking to hit top form ahead of New Zealand and Australia clashes.

A sense of desperation hangs over the Championship as the race for the Premier League promised land starts again this weekend.

It's less than two years away. It seems like only yesterday that we started this site with a petition to get as many names as possible from South Africa to support the World Cup bid. Well, in the latest step, the Local Organising Committee have announced the appointment of eight of the ten venue managers for the World Cup.

Liverpool, without injured captain Steven Gerrard, beat Lazio 1-0 at Anfield on Friday in a friendly warm-up for next week´s Champions League match with Xabi Alonso in fine form.

Germany´s veteran goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is handing in his international gloves after 10 years´ service, the German football federation (DFB) said on Friday.

Scottish Premier League club Dundee United signed Sunderland striker Roy O´Donovan on a season-long loan on Friday.

Rennes player Sylvain Wiltord, suspended by the club for comments made against coach Guy Lacombe, is demanding to be reinstated, according to the player´s lawyer on Friday.

Sir Alex Ferguson said Friday he was confident Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo will remain with Manchester United for longer than a single season.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists he has no reason to fear the challenge from new Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Lionel Messi was on Friday tipped to be the driving force behind Argentina´s bid for back-to-back Olympic gold after the superstar striker shrugged off a damaging club-or-country controversy.

Senegal midfielder Amdy Faye completed a loan move to Premier League newboys Stoke from Charlton on Friday.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez believes he is paying the price for the team´s Champions League triumph in 2005.

Dutch international Mark van Bommel has been handed the captain´s armband by Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann, the German club said on Friday.

Boavista, who were kicked out of Portugal´s top flight after a match-fixing scandal, had their stadium seized by fiscal authorities on Friday, as the club sink deeper into financial crisis.

Finally, the decision has been taken that the new season of the Ekstraklasa will start this weekend. The season opening will be held on Friday when Lech Poznan host Belchatow and Legia Warsaw face their city rivals Polonia.

There may be a new look to Lyon when the French first division campaign kicks off on Saturday, but it will be business as usual as the champions chase down an unprecedented eighth consecutive league title.