WORLD SPORT

FOOTBALL - NEWCASTLE GET THEIR MAN

2010-08-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

Newcastle United have confirmed the loan capture of Marseille's Hatem Ben Arfa.

The Magpies have long been linked with a move for the midfielder as they look to reinforce for the 2010/11 Premier League season.

And the 23-year-old France international has now sealed a season-long loan switch to St James' Park.

It had been suggested Ben Arfa, who joined Marseille from Lyon in 2008, was bound for Germany, but the winger has insisted he always had his heart set on Newcastle.

"It was always my first choice to come here and I'm delighted to be here," he told the club's official website.

"I've paid real attention to the history of the club and the great players to have played for it, and particularly the supporters and I want to showcase my skills in Newcastle.

"All I'm waiting for is to show what I can do in front of the public in Newcastle. A lot of my friends in France already know the fans' reputation. The stadium has an ambience that is unique and I feel very lucky to have his opportunity."

Manager Chris Hughton said: "Hatem is a player who we have been tracking for a long time, and what is important is that he is not only a young player who should continue to improve, but somebody who already has a great reputation in the game.

"We think he will add flair to the squad and we're confident he'll fit in well with the team that we have put together here. He will, I am sure, prove to be a great addition.

"He won't be available to face Wolves at the weekend, but he'll come into my thinking for the next game at home to Blackpool. He's someone who will excite the fans here, who of course have always identified with skilful, attacking players."

FOOTBALL - CARLING CUP SCORES

2010-08-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 24th August

Blackburn Rovers 3 - 1 Norwich City
(Half-time 1 - 0)
Diouf (29) Askou (90)
Diouf (80)
Diouf (84)

Final Result from Ewood Park, Attendance 9,235

Reading 3 - 3 Northampton Town
Penalty shootout score 2 - 4
(Half-time 1 - 1)
Mills (16) Holt (20)
Robson-Kanu (62) Thornton (64)
Mills (113) Mills (og 120)

Final Result from Madejski Stadium, Attendance 6,986

Bradford City 1 - 2 Preston North End
(Half-time 0 - 1)
Speight (83) Coutts (45)
Treacy (109)

Final Result from Valley Parade, Attendance 4,221

Brentford 2 - 1 Hull City
(Half-time 1 - 1)
Simpson (20)
Bean (88) Cullen (6)

Final Result from Griffin Park, Attendance 3,335

Crewe Alexandra 0 - 1 Ipswich Town
(Half-time 0 - 0)
Norris (101)

Final Result from Alexandra Stadium, Attendance 3,309

Hartlepool United 0 - 3 Wigan Athletic
(Half-time 0 - 1)
Collins (og 3)
Jordi Gomez (76)
Moses (86)

Final Result from Victoria Park, Attendance 3,196

Leeds United 1 - 2 Leicester City
(Half-time 1 - 0)
Somma (32) Wellens (66)
Howard (pen 89)

Final Result from Elland Road, Attendance 16,509

Leyton Orient 0 - 2 West Bromwich Albion
(Half-time 0 - 1)
Pablo (29)
Wood (90)

Final Result from Matchroom Stadium, Attendance 2,349

Millwall 2 - 1 Middlesbrough
(Half-time 2 - 0)
Morison (pen 29) McDonald (89)
Trotter (39)

Final Result from New Den Stadium, Attendance 6,704

Milton Keynes 4 - 3 Blackpool F.C.
(Half-time 1 - 0)
Baldock (1) Omerod (52)
Easter (55) Sylvestre (58)
Easter (57) Adam (pen 82)
Guy (110)

Final Result from Stadium MK

Morecambe 1 - 3 Burnley F.C.
(Half-time 1 - 1)
Jevons (12) Eagles (30)
Thompson (pen 61)
McDonald (83)

Final Result from Christie Park

Peterborough United 2 - 1 Cardiff City
(Half-time 0 - 1)
Mackail-Smith (74) Bothroyd (31)
Boyd (88)

Final Result from London Road, Attendance 3,806

Portsmouth 1 - 1 Crystal Palace
Penalty shootout score 4 - 3
(Half-time 0 - 0)
Nugent (57) Sonko (og 81)
Zaha (sent off 86)

Final Result from Fratton Park, Attendance 8,412

Scunthorpe United 4 - 2 Sheffield Wednesday
(Half-time 1 - 0)
Collins (45) Hinds (sent off 67)
Dagnall (49) Tudgay (pen 74)
O'Connor (pen 68) Mellor (83)
Dagnall (82)

Final Result from Glanford Park, Attendance 4,680

Southampton 0 - 1 Bolton Wanderers
(Half-time 0 - 1)
Klasnic (31)

Final Result from St. Mary's Stadium, Attendance 10,251

Stoke City 2 - 1 Shrewsbury Town
(Half-time 2 - 0)
Walters (26)
Leslie (79)

Final Result from Britannia Stadium, Attendance 11,995

Sunderland 2 - 0 Colchester United
(Half-time 2 - 0)
Bent (19)
Bent (37)

Final Result from Stadium Of Light, Attendance 13,532

Tranmere Rovers 1 - 3 Swansea City
(Half-time 1 - 0)
Showunmi (22) Van der Gun (73)
Sinclair (74)
Kuqi (90)

Final Result from Prenton Park, Attendance 2,450

Watford 1 - 2 Notts County
(Half-time 0 - 0)
Deeney (78) Davies (46)
Smith (67)

Final Result from Vicarage Road

West Ham United 1 - 0 Oxford United
(Half-time 0 - 0)
Parker (90)

Final Result from Upton Park, Attendance 20,902

Wolverhampton 2 - 1 Southend United
(Half-time 1 - 0)
Milijas (pen 27) Easton (80)
Stearman (120)

Final Result from Molineux, Attendance 10,284

FOOTBALL - BECKAMS PLAYING CAREER

2010-08-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English footballer who currently plays in midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Milan, as well as the England national team, for whom he holds the all-time appearance record for an outfield player.

Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons, clinching the La Liga championship in his final season with the club. In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid for the Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy, signing a five-year contract with them on 1 July 2007. While a Galaxy player, he has also spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010.

In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996 aged 21. He was made captain from 15 November 2000 until the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, during which he played 58 times. He earned a much-publicised hundredth cap against France on 26 March 2008. He became the all-time outfield player appearance record holder on 28 March 2009 when he surpassed Bobby Moore's total of 108 caps. With 115 career appearances to date he has stated that does not intend to retire from international football, having missed the 2010 World Cup through injury and not featuring in England manager Fabio Capello's post-World Cup plans.

Beckham has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer when taking into account salary and advertising deals. Beckham was the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches. He was Google's most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004. With such global recognition he has become an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon. When joining the MLS in 2007 he was given the highest player salary in the league's history, with his playing contract with the Galaxy over the next three years being worth $6.5m per year.

Beckham is married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. The couple have three sons and currently reside in Beverly Hills, California.

FOOTBALL - MANCHESTER CITY V LIVERPOOL TEAMSHEETS

2010-08-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

LIVERPOOL MANCHESTER CITY

   REINA HART
   JOHNSON ZABAELETA
   CARRAGHER K .TOURE
   SKRTEL KOMPANY
   AURELIO LESCOTT
   GERRARD Y.TOURE
   KUYT DE JONG
   LUCAS BARRY
   MASCHERANO MILNER
   JOVANOVIC SILVA
   TORRES TEVEZ

FOOTBALL - RAMPANT CHELSEA

2010-08-15T06:30:00.000-07:00

Chelsea began the defence of their Premier League title with a crushing 6-0 victory over West Brom as Didier Drogba scored a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge.

The Baggies looked bright in possession throughout but were taught a harsh lesson about life in the top flight as Chelsea ruthlessly capitalised on defensive mistakes.

Scott Carson was the first to falter as he spilled a Drogba free-kick after just six minutes, allowing John Obi Mikel to turn the ball back to Florent Malouda for the simplest of finishes.

Drogba then slammed another free-kick straight through a West Brom wall that had parted embarrassingly to double Chelsea's advantage on the stroke of half-time.

The Ivory Coast striker made it 3-0 from close range in the 55th minute after West Brom had failed to clear a corner, before Frank Lampard slotted home following a neat move.

A deflected effort gave Drogba his treble and Malouda then completed the scoring just before the final whistle after rounding Carson.

OFFICIAL CHELSEA MERCHANDISE

FOOTBALL - LIVERPOOL V ARSENAL TEAMSHEETS

2010-08-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

LIVERPOOL ARSENAL

REINA ALMUNIA

AGGER SAGNA

CARRAGHER VERMAELEN

SHRTEL KOSCIELNY

JOHNSON CLICHY

GERRARD DIABY

LUCAS NASRI

COLE FABREGAS

RODRIGUEZ ARSHAVIN

NGOG WALCOTT

JOVANOVIC CHAMAKH

Ofiicial LIVERPOOL And ARSENAL Merchandise

MULLER TAKES ALL

2010-07-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Thomas Muller has been rewarded for an excellent World Cup campaign by being named the tournament's best young player and also winning the golden boot.

Muller's 5 goals and 2 assists in South Africa saw the young Bayern Munich attacker finish with the golden boot ahead of David Villa of Spain, Diego Forlan of Uruguay and Wesley Schneider of Holland who all had 5 goals but fewer assists.
He also won the young player award by beating players such as Giovani dos Santos of Mexico, Andre Ayew of Ghana and team mate Mesut Ozil.

The 20-year-old, who had missed the semi-final defeat by Spain through suspension, was a key figure in Germany finishing third in the World Cup.

He scored a brace in the last 16 thrashing of England, opened the scoring in the quarter-final mauling of Argentina and repeated the trick in the third-placed play-off win over Uruguay.

"The honour will be with me for all time," said Muller.
"It's a terrific confirmation of the work I've put in over the last year, and it's a huge honour to be part of a group including the likes of Beckenbauer and Pele."

MAGPIES SIGN EVERTON STAR

2010-07-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Newcastle United have completed a suprise deal for Everton runaway Dan Gosling.

The England under-21 starlet also had talks with West Ham, Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland before opting for Toon in a switch worth £5.5million over four years.
Gosling was allowed to leave Everton for nothing because of an administrative blunder by the Mersey men, who verbally offered him a new deal but crucially had nothing in writing before a premier league deadline.
He would have earned around £15,000 a week at Everton but is picking closer to £25,000 a week at Newcastle because there was no transfer fee involved.

The club managed by Chris Hughton were the one of the interested sides to promise £4m-rated Gosling that they would sign him even if they had to pay a transfer feeonce an Everton appeal is heard.

Newcastle rushed the deal through even though the 20 year old midfielder is injured and will miss the first three months of the season following knee surgery.

OFFICIAL NEWCASTLE UNITED MERCHANDISE

FIELDER WIPES PIGEON OUT WITH

2010-07-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

BEST WORLD CUP GOALS 2010

2010-07-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

BEST WORLD CUP GOALS FROM
THIS SUMMER

ENGLAND MAKE THE WORLD CUP FINAL

2010-07-08T12:41:00.000-07:00

England's Howard Webb will be the referee for the World Cup final.

The 38-year-old from Rotherham has been chosen for the final by FIFA's referees committee.

Webb and his assistants Darren Cann and Michael Mullarkey will officiate in the final on Sunday the 11th of July between Spain and Holland at Johannesburg's Soccer City. He will become the first Englishman to referee the final since Jack Taylor in 1974.

Webb has refereed three matches in this World Cup so far, starting off with Spain's shock defeat by Switzerland and has yet to award a red card or a penalty.

There was some unhappiness in Spain but Webb's team really impressed in Italy's clash with Slovakia where Cann was spot on with a tight call to rule out a Fabio Quagliarella equaliser.

He also refereed Brazil's 3-0 second-round victory against Chile, where assistant Mullarkey was praised for his decision to allow Luis Fabiano's goal to stand while Chile defenders were claiming offside.

Webb will make a little piece of football history in that he will become the first person to have refereed the Champions League or European Cup final and the World Cup final in the same year.

The Yorkshireman has emerged as the Premier League's leading referee following the retirement of Graham Poll, the last World Cup referee from England.

Poll's World Cup in 2006 ended in disaster when he booked the same player three times.

Webb is currently on a five-year break from South Yorkshire Police, where he was serving as a sergeant in the force.

WHO'S THESE WORLD FAMOUS FOOTBALLERS ???

2010-07-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

If you think you can name these five famous footballers then simply write your answers down in the comment box below, Don't forget to pass it on to friends to see who knows best in the world of football.

We will be running other quizes on a daily basis so be sure to keep on coming back. Good luck

LIVERPOOL GET THEIR MAN

2010-07-01T13:12:00.001-07:00

Roy Hodgson has finally been confirmed as Rafael Benitez's successor in the Liverpool hotseat on Thursday morning where he is thought to have signed a three-year contract.

The great success at Craven Cottage in the following year has convinced Liverpool to turn their gaze in his direction after the departure of Benitez who had a disappointing 2009/2010 season.

An agreement was reached with Fulham for a compensation package and Hodgson is now looking forward to starting his new role.

He was presented to the media for the first time as the Liverpool manager, where he began by talking about how honoured he was to take the job and is not worried what might happen if the club was sold.

Asked whether his main aim was the Premier League title, Hodgson said "I think you are probably being unfair there. The ambitions of this club should always be of the very highest level and that is where we are going to be aspiring to.
He also said "I am here for the long haul. I am here to do the job that needs to be done, hopefully winning trophies very, very quickly, and if we can't then I will have to hope the club has patience with me."

WESTWOOD FIT AS A FIDDLE

2010-06-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

Lee Westwood is said to be delighted after being told he does not have a blood clot in his calf.
The world number three had a real scare when he was told by the physio's at Le Golf National that the sweeling in his right calf could be a blood clot.

A spokesman for Westwood said the doctor has decided it isnt deep vein thrombosis or a blood clot and it could be a reaction to the heat.

Its thought that Lee will wear an anti-inflammatory dressing over his right calf and if he takes it easy tonight the selling should go down enough for him to play tomorrow. However he isnt going to make the decision untill he gets on the course in the morning.

The Le Golf National is scheduled to be his last tour event before the open at St Andrews as he is skipping the Scottish Open this year

FEDERER KNOCKED OUT

2010-06-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Defending champion Roger Federer failed to reach the Wimbledon final for the first time since 2002 after losing in four sets to Czech Thomas Berdych at the quarter-final stage.

Over the last seven years the Swiss world number two had won six titles and lost in the 2008 final, but fell to a shock defeat to the 12th seed on Centre Court, losing 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4.

Berdych will face Novak Djokovic in his first Wimbledon semi-final on Friday.

WESTWOOD TAKEN TO HOSPITAL

2010-06-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

World number three Lee Westwood was taken to hospital on wednesday after feeling pain in the calf which had also swollen. Westwood was busy preparing for the French Open when he decided to get it checked out in the physio truck.

After being treated he did not wish to comment and left with wife Laurae but a spokesman

from Lee's management said he has not pulled out of the tournamnet yet as he feels he's playing some of the best golf of his career at the moment.

A decision will be made when both Lee and the doctor have the results of the tests but with the Open coming up later this year we wouldnt be surprised if he was'nt there unless he is certain it's not a major problem.

ROY HODGSON FOR LIVERPOOL

2010-06-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

Roy Hodgson is set to be unveiled as the new Liverpool manager this week. Fulham are thought to have offered him a new bumper contract of £1 million a year, but is likely to turn down the offer for a dream move to the merseysiders who have been after him for some time following the departure of Rafael Benitez to Inter Milan. This will be a big blow for the club as Hodgson enjoyed great success at the club last season leading them to the Europa league final for the first time in there clubs history.

ARGENTINE ACE GOING NOWHERE

2010-06-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

Jonas Gutierrez's agent has squashed claims his client will be leaving newcastle united this summer. As speculation grew over Gutierrez's future on tyneside his agent released a statement stating that jonas is very happy at newcastle and is just focusing on the world cup with argentina at the moment.

Gutierrez who plays as a left-winger for newcastle can also play right-wing and right-back where maradona has him playing for argentina, was believed to be on the hit list of serie A giants lazio.

Gutierrez still has 3 years left on his current contract and with newcastle needing to stay in the premier league next season we cant see him going anywhere.

The serie A outfit have been linked to many stars from this world cup as they try to recover from what can only be described as dismal 2009 season.

Ok so lazio seem certain to miss out on gutierrez this time round but it has been suggested that they are hoping to complete a double swooop for Kevin-Prince Boateng and Nadir Belhdj of Portsmouth, Its likely to cost Lazio around the £8million mark and with Portsmouth having some financial troubles they could well cash in.