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/ 27 May 2008

Blatter presses on with foreign quota plan

Fifa president Sepp Blatter will forge ahead with plans to curb the number of foreign players at soccer clubs, saying on Tuesday that the organisation should coral the world of sport into helping make it happen. The Swiss head of world soccer’s governing body insisted that Fifa would not be ”going into confrontation” with any employment laws.

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/ 21 May 2008

Moscow placed on an invasion footing

Thousands of English fans arrived in Moscow on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester United at the Luzhniki stadium. The Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper pointed out it was the biggest invasion since the Germans besieged the city in World War II.

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/ 15 May 2008

Zenit lift Uefa Cup after 2-0 win over Rangers

Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg won their first European silverware when second-half goals from Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov secured a 2-0 victory over Rangers in the Uefa Cup final on Wednesday night. Denisov slotted home after 72 minutes and fellow midfielder Zyrianov sealed victory with a close-range effort in stoppage time.

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/ 11 May 2008

United clinch title as Chelsea falter

Manchester United clinched their 17th English championship on Sunday by beating Wigan 2-0 in a nail-biting finale to the most thrilling Premier League title battle in years. Pushed to the wire by Chelsea, United claimed the 10th title of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign by two points after their rivals were held to a 1-1 draw by Bolton in their final match.

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/ 21 March 2008

Tunisian giants enter battleground

The giants enter the African club battleground this weekend as second round combat begins in the two major competitions. Both title holders hail from Tunisia and enjoy home advantage with Etoile Sahel playing AS Douanes of Senegal in the African Champions League while CS Sfaxien meet JSM Bejaia of Algeria in the African Confederation Cup.

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/ 17 March 2008

Everton lose at Fulham in traditional style

Everton lost ground in the race for a Champions League place on Sunday when they lost 1-0 to struggling Fulham at Craven Cottage, a ground where the Merseysiders have not mustered a point in 42 years. Fulham, second-last in the standings but now only three points from safety, won a scrappy game in the 67th minute.

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/ 5 March 2008

Gunners fire up English sides

Arsenal produced one of their finest performances under Arsene Wenger on Tuesday to dethrone AC Milan, beating the Champions League holders 2-0 on the night and on aggregate in their last 16 second leg clash. Arsenal’s great Premiership rivals Manchester United also eased through with a 1-0 victory.

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/ 4 March 2008

Benni keen to extend stay at Blackburn

Benni McCarthy has moved to end speculation over his future by insisting that he is ready to remain with Premiership outfit Blackburn Rovers for the rest of his career. The South African striker has two years left to run on his current contract at Ewood Park, but has continually been linked with a move away from the club since his arrival in July 2006.

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/ 25 February 2008

Ramos savours Tottenham glory

Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos savoured the sweet taste of success after beating Chelsea 2-1 in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday. ”It’s always a tremendous satisfaction to win a trophy but I would say this one has a special flavour to it because it was against a team who are supposedly superior to us,” said the Spaniard.

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/ 15 February 2008

Black mark for racism reform

Another week, another chance to gauge how our fine governing bodies are combating racism, with everyone’s favourite test case still England’s 2004 friendly against Spain in Madrid. Yet what’s often overlooked is that it was world soccer governing body Fifa that imposed the paltry £44 750 fine on the Spanish FA for the racist chanting.

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/ 15 February 2008

Fifa opposes Premier League expansion abroad

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has opposed plans by the Premier League to play matches abroad and warned that the proposal could harm England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. ”This is abuse. The rich Premier League is trying to get richer and wants to expand the importance of that league,” Blatter told the BBC.

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/ 15 February 2008

The riddle of the sphinx

First things first: the best team won. Many, including myself, dismissed Egypt’s chances of defending their crown because of a ropey qualifying campaign and because they lost a number of important players from their 2006 squad. But the Pharaohs showed that their domestic league continues to cultivate quality footballers.