TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Sydney boosted by Aloisi return Joint A-League leaders Sydney FC will be boosted by the return of star striker John Aloisi for Sunday's clash with Adelaide at the Sydney Football Stadium. foxsports.com.au |
Metzelder unlikely to extend Real stay La Liga: Real Madrid defender Christoph Metzelder does not expect his contract to be extended next season guardian.co.uk |
Vieira's City debut put on hold by injury • Midfielder's City debut delayed by calf injury• Premier League return likely in Everton gamePatrick Vieira's career at Manchester City has begun with a false start. The French midfielder has been ruled out of tomorrow's Premier League game against Blackburn Rovers because of injury.Roberto Mancini's first signing is Âstruggling with a calf problem, despite passing a medical examination from City's fitness staff on Thursday. His first game back in English football after a four-and-a-half-year absence is now likely to be at Everton on Saturday.Vieira has been struggling with the injury since taking a kick in his last appearance for Internazionale, in a 1-0 victory over Chievo at the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi last Wednesday. The former Arsenal midfielder was unable to train fully with the rest of his new team-mates today and was restricted to light work in the gymnasium. He has undergone a scan and City's doctors have told ÂMancini that it would be too risky to play him against Blackburn.Vieira had been due to go straight into the team – probably at the expense of either Nigel de Jong or Gareth Barry – and possibly to take over as captain, given that Kolo Touré is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast and City's vice-captain, Stephen Ireland, is out of action with a hamstring strain.Instead he has joined an already extensive injury list that includes Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge and missed an Âopportunity to show that he can be as influential as he was when he was the Âfulcrum of Arsène Wenger's title-winning Arsenal sides.Vieira was particularly keen to stress at his introductory press conference last ÂFriday that he was not a player on the wane after two of his former Arsenal team-mates, Nigel Winterburn and Lee Dixon, expressed misgivings about the longevity of a man who won three Premier League titles while at Highbury. Dixon was Âparticularly sceptical about whether a player who will turn 34 in June would be able to play every week."Patrick gets a few little niggles and hasn't got a classically fit footballer's body, where you know he's an athlete who can go on and on," he said. "He might look like he has that body, but he hasn't. He always needed a long time to recover after games, longer than some of the older lads."Manchester CityPremier LeagueDaniel Taylorguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Milner Gives Villa Advantage in League Cup Semi-Final Aston Villa took a step towards next month’s League Cup final at when a James Milner goal gave them a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers in the first leg of their semi-final. feeds.nytimes.com |
Bolton 1 Burnley 0: match report Owen Coyle enjoyed a sweet win over his old Burnley side on Tuesday night. telegraph.co.uk |