World Soccer News for week of November 14th Drogba investigated over coin throwing Chelsea's great run this season has come to a halt in the fourth round of the Carling Cup against Burnley. While the fans are likely to dismiss the penalty loss as a minor setback, Didier Drogba may find himself out of action should the FA find him guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct. Drogba is investigated for an incident when he threw a coin back at the crowd. The Ivory Coast forward was pelted with coins from the visiting fans' stand after scoring the (ultimately futile) opening goal. He must have thought the Burnley followers had spent too much money and he threw one coin back to the crowd, garnering it with an obscene gesture. Drogba received a yellow card and immediately apologized, saying "it was an incident in the heat of the moment (...) a mistake and nothing more". The apology should be enough for if indeed he is punished for the incident one has to wonder how much the players are expected to take from the hooligans who threaten them with injury by aiming solid objects at them. Ruud van Nistelrooy says adiós to the season Real Madrid's Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will not be playing any more until next summer because of the surgery on his right knee proved to be more complex than expected. Operated in the United States, Van Nistelrooy suffered a partially torn meniscus in a recent game against Juventus in the Champions' League. Last year Spanish top scorer will be sorely missed by Real Madrid, who are now relying on the young gun Gonzalo Higuaín and captain Raúl to provide most of the goals. The Dutchman had already hurt that same knee in 2000 when he performed a clumsy move during a practice with PSV Eindhoven. He sustained an extensive ligament damage which ruled him out for ten months, but he returned in style and went on to enjoy a prosperous career with Manchester United. Antonio Cassano in a scoring spree At 26, Antonio Cassano is a true champion on the field, but under the sheets even more so. The controversial Italian international spoke openly of his eventful life to journalist Pierluigi Pardo, who penned Cassano's biography called "Dico tutto" (I Say It All). The book is bound to be a best-seller, since the Bari-born forward spoke of his turbulent childhood in the crime-ridden southern city and of his wonderful scoring streak since he became a professional footballer. Scoring with women, that is. Cassano admitted to having conquered between 600 and 700 girls, and we can forgive him for this approximation since it is must be hard to keep an accurate count after a while. The fans only wish he had been nearly as prolific in front of goal and the confession will hardly amuse his current girlfriend, the 17-year-old waterpolo player Carolina Marcialis. Antonio is also quoted as saying, "Sex and food – these are my two great passions, a perfect marriage." At least the second part of this statement clearly shows on the size of his butt. England to play in Spain next February The friendly fixture between Spain and England is on after all, in spite of last month's rumours emitted from the FA that the game would be cancelled due to Spain's worrying racism record. According to Marca daily, this week the Spanish FA (RFEF) received a conciliatory message from their English counterparts, confirming that a friendly would go on as planned on February 11th. In October the FA alleged the February date was not suitable for them, making the Spaniards suspect England wanted to ditch the game altogether because of a number of racially coloured incidents that took place in their country. Four years ago RFEF were fined by FIFA because of the infamous racist taunts against Ashley Cole, Wright-Phillips, Ferdinand, Jenas and Defoe. In the meantime, the former national team coach Luis Aragonés alluded at Thierry Henry as a "black shit" and the Lewis Hamilton's trips to Spain were also marred by insults. Still, the FA now said there was a simple misunderstanding regarding the date, and that the fixture was never in question. One of the major proponents of the friendly is Fabio Capello himself, who apparently lobbied with the FA leaders to go ahead with the game. The venue of the match is likely to be Valencia or Sevilla. Corinthians back to the top flight at first attempt Brazilian president's favourite team, Corinthians of Sao Paulo, made sure of their return to the Brazileirao after one year in the second division. With four matches remaining, Corinthians built a 13 points advantage over the second-placed Avai by beating Criciuma 2-0. The Paulistas went down last year amidst the chaos that erupted over discoveries of corruption, match-fixing and money laundering. Supported by a reported 13,2% of the Brazilian soccer fans, Corinthians won their last championship in 2005 thanks to Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano, whose signings were financed by the multinational investment fund MSI. The Brazilian Justice Department became interested in the MSI operations and issued an arrest warrant for the company's chairman Kia Joorabchian, but last August the arrest warrant was suspended. Real Madrid embarrassed in the Spanish Cup Real Unión from the third division upset their somewhat more famous namesakes from Madrid by kicking them out in the fourth round of the King's Cup. The Basque team from the city of Irún went through on away goals rule by winning 3-2 at home and losing 3-4 in the return leg at Santiago Bernabeu. The Spanish press has called the result the biggest disgrace in Real Madrid's history, but the nine-times European champions had already been involved in a couple of resounding slip-ups in the domestic cup competition. After winning their last Cup in 1993, Real lost to second and third division clubs on various occasions. In 1998, they were eliminated by Alavés, then in the Segunda División, also due to the away goals rule. Three years later, the surprise package was called Toledo, from the third division, who defeated Real by 1-0 in a single-leg tie of the the King's Cup's first round. The following lower-league club to stun Madrid in the Cup were Valladolid in 2004/05, again thanks to having scored more away goals (0-0 at home and 1-1 at Bernabeu). Valladolid is incidentally Real's next league rival and the word around Madrid is that coach Bernd Schuster may be sacked in case his team don't win at the Zorrilla stadium next Saturday. 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

Weekly soccer news for week of December 9th Ozren Podnar Drug lords helped Argentina in 1978? Drug cartel from Cali bribed the Peruvian national team in order to help Argentina qualify for the 1978 World Cup, claims Fernando Rodríguez Mondragón, the son of the jailed drug lord Gilberto in his forthcoming book. At that World Cup celebrated in Argentina, the home team had to beat Peru by at least four goals in order to reach the finals on goals' difference ahead of Brazil. The final result of the match in Mendoza was 6-0, for which Mondragón claims the Argentinians should thank his father and his uncle, who had paid off the Peruvians. One of the Argentinian stars, Leopoldo Luque, said he and his mates did not spot anything strange in the Peruvia players' approach, except that they were very bad. "Soccer players are not actors. When they are up to something weird, it becomes obvious very soon. In that game, we noticed nothing of the sort. We were just so much better," remembers Luque, who scored two goals, as well as Mario Kempes. Mondragón also mentioned that his cartel attempted to sign Diego Maradona for América of Cali, but the deal failed to materialize due to superior offers that Maradona had from Europe. "The transfer did not come to fruition, but a lasting friendship remained between both parties," wrote the mafioso's son in the book called "Son of the Chessmaster 2", after his father's nickname. Syomin fourth Dinamo Kiev coach in a season Russian Yuri Syomin has become the fourth Dinamo Kiev's coach in the current season, by replacing the former Ukrainian international Oleg Luzhny. Previously coach to Lokomotiv and Dinamo of Moscow and of the Russian national team, Syomin has been given clear instructions as to what his mission is. "This team must never again embarrass themselves in Europe," said the president Grigory Surkis, referring to Dinamo's dismal campaign in this year's Champions' League. The most popular Ukrainian team started the season under Anatoly Demyanenko, who was soon replaced by Josef Szabo. Eventually, Szabo was succeeded by his assistant Luzhny, who was in turn sacked after five consecutive defeats in the international competition. Policeman injured in fighting with Red Star ultras A plain clothes policeman was severely bruised and burned in a clash with Red Star supporters during a Serb championship match against Hajduk Kula at Belgrade's Marakana stadium. The incident started when the agent attempted to arrest a local fan for lighting a firecracker. Other fans came to their mate's rescue and overpowered the policeman even though he fired two warning shots in the air. One of the hooligans even scorched the fallen man with the firecracker, inflicting him serious burns. The riot police quickly intervened and rescued the agent, who was transported to a hospital in stable condition. Several fans were arrested and will be tried for attempted homicide, but surprisingly three of the Red Star officials were detained as well on suspicion of having failed to provide safety during the match and having enabled the hooligans to smuggle in the pyrotechnical material. Within a separate police investigation, Red Star's secretary general Zoran Damjanovic was also brought in on charges of corruption and embezzlement relative to players' transfers, completing a dismal week for Serb soccer. Giggs makes it a hundred Manchester United's living legend Ryan Giggs scored his 100th Premier League goal in a match against bottom placed Derby County, helping the Red Devils move within a point of leaders Arsenal. United's 4-1 win coupled with a sensational Gunners' defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough means that the race for the Premiership title will be more exciting than thought during the previous weeks. Giggs, the 34-year-old Welsh Wizard, has been a regular feature for Manchester United since 1991 and is the team's most successful player in history as far as the trophies are concerned. Galatasaray want to retire Hakan The best known Turkish international, Hakan Sükür, has been advised to retire at the end of this season in order to cede the place to the players of the new generation. The 36-old forward has been told that he would be undesirable in the future because, as Galatasaray vicepresident Adnan Polat said, of his inability to fit into the new scheme. "We are in the process of creating a new team in which there will be no place for him. I have suggested to him that he should quit at the season's end. Should he fail to do this, we will terminate his contract," announced Polat. Galatasaray and Turkey legend, who scored over 200 goals for the club and 50 for the country, has no intentions of ending his career. "I don't plan to abandon the soccer scene. I wish to play for at least two more seasons," said Sukur, who is still going strong and scores with an astonishing regularity. Drogba undergoes emergency surgery Didier Drogba was surprisingly operated on his knee on Saturday in spite of an agreement with Chelsea directors about postponing the surgery for the forthcoming week. The Iverian forward will be back in action in about five weeks, but the Stamford Bridge faithfuls will not see him before the third week of February! If Drogba recovers in time, he will take part in the African Cup of Nations in Ghana, and if Ivory Coast makes good progress Chelsea will remain deprived of their first-choice striker for over two months. Drogba suffered from a long term problem with his knee, called degeneration of the meniscus, which he aggravated while representing his country. Corinthians like Manchester and Valencia Corinthians of Sao Paulo have become the latest in the string of big clubs to have been relegated in spite of their glamourous traditions. The second most popular Brazilian club, supported by no less a person than the President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, went from winning the title in 2005 to going down at the end of this season. The main reason for Corinthians' downfall is arguably the managerial chaos caused by the trials of the director Alberto Dualib and his associates for money laundering, embezzlement and other financial wrongdoings. While the supporters of their principal enemies, Sao Paulo and Palmeiras, are currently ecstatic over their archrivals' plight, Corinthians' fans believe their beloved team will soon return as most of the soccer greats relegated through results or FA rulings. Relegated giants Manchester Utd. (1974) Tottenham (1977) Milan (1982) Lazio (1985) Valencia (1986) Sevilla (1996) Fluminense (1998) Atletico Madrid (2000) Sampdoria (2000) Botafogo (2002) Leeds (2004) Borussia M. (2007) Forcibly relegated Milan (1980) Lazio (1980) Bordeaux (1991) Olympique Marseille (1994) Fiorentina (2002) Juventus (2006) Note: year of relegation in brackets Copyright Ozren Podnar7Soccerway Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

World Soccer News for week of November 22th Tradition smashed as England exit Euro England's elimination from the European championship was the top story around the world: foreign fans and the media respect English soccer far more than those at home and the failure of the Three Lions has been greeted with as sense of shock and awe. In Croatia, the fans celebrated the triumph with crackers and fireworks, seeing the 3-2 win at Wembley as one of the three greatest ever in the 16-year history of the national team. The other two are the 3-0 thumping of Germany in the 1998 World Cup quarter finals and the 2-0 defeat of England last year in Zagreb. Although England is not at their finest hour, beating them away from home will guarantee a place in the national soccer history for the Croatian team that achieved that.

World Soccers News for the week of October 24 Lehmann "humiliated" by Wenger Arsenal's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann said he felt humiliated by being left out of the team in the past weeks and warned the coach Arsene Wenger that his patience had limits. The veteran goalkeeper has not played after committing a blunder against Blackburn on August 19th. "I have taken all of this as a humiliation," said Lehmann to pay tv Premiere. "But I believe no player should be humiliated for a long time". The beneficiary of Lehmann's situation has been the Spaniard Manuel Almunia, the first choice keeper ever since, with Lukasz Fabianski of Poland on the bench.

Weekly World News Serie A Inter already champs for the bookies!? Last time around, Inter Milan were declared champions two months after the end of the season. This season, they have been sort of awarded the honour with four months to go. The Italian bookmakers Snai started to pay winnings to those who bet on Inter to win the 2006/07 championship...on January 30th. The bookies took the decision after Inter scored their 14th consecutive win at Sampdoria and kept their 11 point advantage over Roma. It is the first time a bookie has "declared" an Italian team champions just into the second part of the season. Inter's chairman Massimo Moratti has warned his players and coaches that the bookies' decision is totally irrelevant as to who will really win the championship.