Manager Alex Ferguson wants Manchester United to clinch the Premier League crown at title rivals Chelsea on April 26. United all but ended Arsenal’s hopes by beating Arsene Wenger’s men 2-1 at Old Trafford on Sunday, moving nine points clear of the Gunners with four matches left.
England improved dramatically as the match progressed to give Italian Fabio Capello a winning start as coach with a 2-1 victory over Switzerland in a friendly international at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday. Midfielder Jermaine Jenas scored his first England goal and the first of the Capello era with a first-time left foot shot.
Kevin Keegan has been appointed as manager of Newcastle United for the second time in his career, the Premier League club said on Wednesday. Keegan (56), who played for the club in the 1980s and managed them for five years in the 1990s, succeeds Sam Allardyce, who left the club last week.
Italian Fabio Capello was named as the new England head coach until 2012 by the Football Association on Friday. The FA confirmed his appointment on a four-and-a-half year contract in a statement on its website. The 61-year-old succeeds Steve McClaren who was sacked last month after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
While sporting attention is turned to the draw for the preliminary round of the 2010 Soccer World Cup this weekend, a different view of soccer in South Africa is being premiered in front of a celebrity audience on Friday. Director Junaid Ahmed’s film More Than Just a Game tells the story of how political prisoners on Robben Island used soccer as one of the means of survival.
Brazil, the only bidding country, were named as the host nation of the 2014 Soccer World Cup finals by Fifa, world soccer’s governing body, on Tuesday. Brazil, who have won the World Cup a record five times and are the only country to have played in all 18 World Cup finals tournaments, last staged the event in 1950.
Tottenham Hotspur have sacked their Dutch manager, Martin Jol, the Premier League club said in a statement on Thursday. ”We can confirm that the board has this evening asked Martin Jol, the club manager, and Chris Hughton, the first team coach, to stand down from their positions with immediate effect,” the statement read.
Sepp Blatter was given a third term as president of world soccer’s governing body by acclamation after standing as the only candidate at Thursday’s Fifa congress. ”I accept this mandate and I thank you for your continuing trust in me,” he told delegates from Fifa’s 208 member associations who gave him a four-year term until 2011.
AC Milan beat Liverpool 2-1 with two goals from Filippo Inzaghi to win the European Cup for the seventh time on Wednesday and avenge their defeat on penalties by the English team in the final two years ago. Liverpool, who looked down and out, pulled a goal back in the 89th minute with a Dirk Kuyt header but could not repeat their famous Istanbul fight-back.
The FA Cup final, one of the landmark events in the global sporting year, finally returns home to Wembley Stadium on Saturday after a seven-year absence. Although a few matches have been played there, the stadium officially opens its doors for the first time when Manchester United meet Chelsea in the final for the second time in 13 years.