Mark Hughes, the manager of Manchester City, has been told by the Premier Legaue club´s new owners he has a central role in their plans for a decade of success at Eastlands.

Newcastle captain Michael Owen has said he and his team-mates were "saddened" to see manager Kevin Keegan quit but warned the Magpies they had to "snap out of the doom".

Lyon have slapped a 100 million euro price tag on France international starlet Karim Benzema, according to club president Jean-Michel Aulas on Tuesday.

The Iraqi national football team was seen training in Baghdad on Tuesday for the first time since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein five years ago.

Dietmar Hopp, the backer of newly-promoted Bundesliga side Hoffenheim, said Tuesday he will press charges against a Borussia Dortmund fan arrested for displaying a banner threatening to kill him.

Rangers defender Steven Whittaker is set to undergo knee surgery to alleviate a problem that has kept him sidelined for much of this season.

Zakumi, a dreadlocked leopard has been unveiled as the official World Cup mascot for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Zakumi, born on June 16, 1994, when new South Africa emerged after the apartheid regime, is a party-loving animal we are told. The name is supposedly a composition of "Za", the common abbreviation for South Africa and "kumi" meaning "friend" in various African languages. The mascot was designed by Andries Odendaal in Cape Town. World Cup Willie was the first World Cup mascot, created for the 1966 World Cup in England. Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags World Cup mascot Zakumi South Africa

Germany defender Heiko Westermann hit two second-half goals to seal Schalke 04´s 2-0 win over Hanover and put the Royal Blues into the German Cup´s third round alongside Werder Bremen on Tuesday.

Arsene Wenger enjoyed a night to savour as another generation of young stars stepped off the Arsenal production line to inflict a 6-0 drubbing on an experienced Sheffield United side on Tuesday.

Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are all through to the fourth round of the English League Cup.

There were no major surprises in Tuesday's Dutch Cup fixtures, as both AZ Alkmaar and PSV Eindhoven made it through to the next round.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson branded Emanuel Pogatetz´s challenge on Rodrigo Possebon "horrendous" after the young Brazilian was left with a suspected broken leg on his debut for the English and European champions.

Former Germany captain Oliver Kahn on Tuesday defended Bayern Munich´s under-fire goalkeeper Michael Rensing who made several errors in their shock 5-2 home defeat against Werder Bremen last weekend.