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Michael Schumacher  won his third successive victory when he won the German GP at Hockenheim on Sunday. Felipe Massa made it a 1-2 for Ferrari while Kimi Raikkonen,who started on pole,finished third.

Renault had a poor outing as world champion Fernando Alonso finished 5th and Giancarlo Fisichella finished one place behind the Spaniard. The result saw Alonso’s lead in the drivers championship cut down by another 6 points.

Schumacher now has 89 to the Spaniard’s 100.The season will now head to Hungary where Alonso became the youngest driver to win a GP in 2003.

Versatile Tottenham defender Ledley King will be out for upto 2 months after suffering a knee injury in training. King,who missed the bus to Germany because of a foot injury,is now expected not to return till early September.

The injury will come as a big blow to Martin Jol’s side who look as strong contenders for Europe with the sigings of Dimitar Berbatov and Didier Zokora.

Ex Newcastle and England striker Alan Shearer has rejected an offer from new English coach Steve Mclaren to be part of England’s backroom team.

Shearer will continue his work with BBC as a soccer pundit.

Mahela Jayawardene scored 374,the fourth highest score in test cricket behind Matthew Hayden’s 380 ( against Zim) and Brian Lara’s 400 & 375  (against Eng) as Sri Lanka finished on a mammoth 756/5 in response to South Africa’s first innings score of 169 all out.

Kumar Sangakkara who has been very consistent with the bat for the Islanders for quite some time now,fell 13 runs short of a  maiden triple hundred.The duo put on 624 runs,which is the highest ever partnership for any wicket ever in any form of the game.

The partnership beat the Sri Lankan record of 576 set by Jayasuriya and Mahanama against India  ( in Colombo at the Premadasa)and the 577 between Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad for Baroda against Holkar .

Jarno Trulli,who joined Toyota from Renault has signed a contract extension which will see him drive for the team till 2009

Portsmouth have signed midfielder David Thompson on a free transfer.Thompson has previously played for Liverpool,Coventry,Blackburn and spent his last season at the JJB stadium with the Latics ( Wigan).

Thompson was once considered good enough to be a part the English squad but recent injuries have hampered his career.A 1.5 million pound move to Blackburn ended in a free transfer to Wigan.Wigan also released him at the end of last season.He is currently in Fratton Park on a one year deal.

FC Porto striker Benni McCarthy has signed for premiership side Blackburn Rovers .McCarthy who was bought by Porto for 3.5 million euros made the move for an estimated fee of 2.5 million pounds.

McCarthy is best remembered as the player whose two goals led to Manchester United’s exit from the 2004 Champions league,which Porto went on to win. McCarthy is likely to pair up with ex Wigan and WBA player Jason Roberts at Ewood Park.

McCarthy is a regular for South Africa and played for Spanish club Celta Vigo before moving to Porto.The Premiership will represent a stiff challenge for him,though.

Prolific Dutch forward,Ruud Van Nistelrooy has completed his transfer to Real Madrid.German giants Bayern Munich were also in the running for the striker ever since his end season feud with Sir Alex Ferguson,but Real managed to clinch his signature.Van Nistelrooy,30,becomes new Real coach Fabio Capello’s third signing of the new season,after Emerson and Fabio Cannavaro.

Ruud who scored 150 goals in 219 games at Old Trafford ,stormed out of Old Trafford after being left out in favour of Louis Saha for the League Cup final and a transfer always looked imminent.At the Bernabeu,he will pair up with the man off whose crosses used to feed him at Old Trafford,David Beckham. With Ronaldo,Raul and Ruud the three ‘R’s represent the best strikeforce in Europe at this moment,atleast on paper, for Real Madrid.

Van Nistelrooy said that he was happy to play for “the best club in the world”.His signing adds to the galaxy of stars who play in the La Liga,which also include the likes of  Ronaldinho,Villa,Torres……..

With this signing the Real Madrid -Barcelona battle will be one interesting battle to watch in the La Liga this season. Madrid haven’t won a major title for years now,and Capello will be keen to change the trend.But Barcelona with the signings of Zambrotta and Thuram look stronger than ever and won’t give up their title so easily.

Floyd Landis,the third American to win the Tour de France has tested positive for unusually high levels of testosterone.The test was conducted after stage 17,where Landis produced a splendid solo breakaway to emerge from nowhere to be one of the prime contenders for the coveted yellow jersey.

Phonak,the team for whom Landis rode,have suspended him with temporary effect and have requested for an analysis for his ‘B’ sample. If that tests positive too,then the American may be stripped of his title. Only once has that happened before and that was in 1904 ,the person being Maurice Garin.

OK here is the answer

The Three men were Materazzi,Peter Reid and Andy Gray. The club was therefore Everton.

After days of speculation of “will he join ” or “will he not join” Birmingham winger Jermaine Pennant has moved to the club he has always wanted to play for,Liverpool.

Pennant’s signing is the culmination of a search for a right winger by Rafa Benitez.Rafa initially wanted Daniel Alves from Sevilla,but his price proved to be a bit too much for the ex Valencia manager.

Pennant’s move was for an estimated 6.7 million pounds which could go up to 7 with appearances.Pennant had the highest number of crosses in the Premiership last season and it will interesting how he and Peter Crouch will combine.

However with the signing of Pennant,Liverpool have bought another person who has been in the news more for his offfield antics,the other being Craig Bellamy. Given that Benitez is a no nonsense man,Pennant will have to be a good boy
Will the ex Arsenal man be able to endear himself to the Anfield faithful,to the club he supported as a boy ?? Lets wait and find out.

Renowned American tennis coach Brad Gilbert has agreed to a deal with the Lawn Tennis Association which will see him coach Andy Murray.

Murray has often been hailed as the next British saviour after Tim Henman and the Scot has put in some very impressive performances on the Tour. Gilbert has previously coached both Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick and his experience will go a long way in improving Murray’s game.Recently A- Rod announced that the legendary Jimmy Connors would be coaching him.

Apart from coaching Murray,Gilbert will also have a wider coaching role in the LTA.

South Africa midfielder Quinton Fortune has signed a one year deal with Bolton.The move comes after the midfielder impressed Bolton boss Sam Allardyce in his pre season training sessions with Bolton.

Fortune was released by Manchester United in March and was widely expected to join Celtic.Unfortunately that move did not materialise for the ex Atletico Madrid and Mallorca player as the contract length was rumoured to be too short for his liking.

Fortune is a natural left midfielder but can also double up as a left back.He was also employed in the central midfield position at Old Trafford.

An Italian soccer court granted relief to Lazio and Viola fans by allowing them to Serie A insteading of demoting them to Serie B for their role in the match fixing scandal that rocked Italian soccer before the World Cup.

However there was no such reprieve for “The Old Lady of Turin” and Juventus will play in Serie B this season .They will start on minus 17 though ,instead of the original minus 30

AC Milan will remain in the Serie A with a smaller amount of points deducted,minus 8 instead of minus 15.The Rossoneri were punished with a 30 points deduction from their last season tally,instead of 44,which makes them eligible to play the qualifying stages of the Champions League.

Lazio and Fiorentina will start with minus 11 and minus 19 respectively in the new season.Fiorentina will have to play 3 games at neutral venues while Lazio have to do the same for 2,and both the clubs were fined 120,000 euros.

This verdict is bad news for Lecce and Treviso ,who will now go down into Serie B.

This means that Italy’s automatic qualifiers for the Champions League are Inter Milan and Roma, and Milan and Chievo will have to play the third qualifying stage.Palermo,Parma and Livorno will represent the World Cup champions in the UEFA Cup.

I have always been a big fan of the Championship Manager series.Although I like the new FM series,my personal favourite remains CM 03-04.

I will run updates in this thread with screen shots and results.I will be playing CM with the database as it was in 2003 which means that the likes of Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen are still at Everton and Liverpool respectively.

I will choose between Newcastle and Liverpool to manage.

All constructive suggestions will be appreciated.

Quizzes here will test your knowledge of contemporary as well “not so new” sport. Basically I will post one question here every day or every alternate day.The questions will be from various sports
My question for today is a connect —( This one is on soccer )
Connect a “currently very well known “Premiership reject, an Ex Leeds manager and a footballer turned commentator who is well remembered for his comment on a goal scored against Olympiakos in the UEFA champions league.
I want the club and the players if you can guess them

Manchester City starlets Joey Barton and Micah Richards have put pen to paper new contracts which ensures that the pair stays at the City of Manchester stadium and puts to rest doubts that the pair would have ply their trade for different clubs this season.

Barton’s contract had been delayed due to a reported 100,000 pound demand made by his agent,Willie Mckay.City added that Mckay had not been paid any fee.Barton  had earlier handed in a transfer request in the January transfer window which had been rejected by the City management.

Young Micah Richards impressed one and all with his performances last season and was on the wishlist of many clubs this season,including Tottenham and West Ham. With this deal,Richards will stay at the City of Manchester stadium till 2010 . This will give  the City board more muscle power while negotiating bids for him in the future.

The news is a boost for City in their quest for a spot in Europe next season.

Valencia have asked Manchester United to name their price for Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo.The winger attracted the ire of United and English fans in the World Cup quarter final where he had a role in sending Wayne Rooney off.

Valencia have already signed two from the Premiership this season,Asier del Horno from Chelsea and Fernando Morientes from Liverpool.Ronaldo had earlier said that he did not feel safe at United and wished to go to Spain.Whether Sir Alex will let him go is another question,because the departure of Ruud Van Nistelrooy looks imminent.Losing two of their key stars would leave United with gaping holes to fill and I doubt Sir Alex would want that,especially as United aren’t exactly in a position of financial strength .

Ponytailed Croatian forward Dado Prso has decided to call it a day and retire from international soccer. Prso’s decision comes after a disappointing World Cup campaign for Croatia where a late equaliser from Liverpool left winger Harry Kewell snatched them of a spot in the second round.

Prso will however continue to play for Scottish club Rangers until his contract expires at the end of this season. Prso also played for Monaco and was an elementary part of the squad which reached the Champions League finals in the 2003-04 season ,which included a 8-3 drubbing of Spanish giants Deportivo la Coruna.Prso scored 4 in that very game.

Chelsea and Argentina striker Hernan Crespo has said that he wishes to return to Italy.The ex Parma,Lazio and Inter forward has plied most of his trade in the serie A and has often been regarded as a striker who is as much at home in the Serie A as a fish is in water.

Crespo  said that it was not that he wanted to leave Chelsea ,but he simply longed to go back to Italy and was prepared to take a cut in wages. The striker spent one season with Milan on loan in the 2004-2005 season and was impressive in his stint there.

Both Inter and Milan are likely to bid for the striker’s services in case Chelsea do allow him to go.

But with Didier Drogba not being very happy at Stamford Bridge and Ukranian Andrei Shevchenko the only other world class striker left,it is very unlikely that Jose Mourinho will let Crespo go.

Chelsea left back Asier Del Horno has signed for Valencia for a reported fee of 7 and a half million Euros.Del Horno,who was hailed as the next big thing when Mourinho brought him from Bilbao struggled to really make an impression and is best remembered by many football fans as the man who was red carded when he fouled Lionel Messi in a Champions League knockout game at Stamford bridge between Chelsea and Barcelona.

Del Horno’s position will most likely be taken by Wayne Bridge who spent the season at Craven Cottage on loan due to Horno’s arrival. But in keeping with Jose Mourinho’s policy of having two players for each position,Chelsea are likely to sign another left back,with Real Madrid veteran Roberto Carlos looking the most possible target.

Newcastle have confirmed the signing of Irish winger Damien Duff from Chelsea for about 10 million pounds. Duff,who joined Chelsea from Blackburn, reportedly  left because of uncertainty of first team football in Jose Mourinho’s ever expanding galaxy of stars.

Duff scored 19 goals in his career for Chelsea in 125 appearances and is likely to be a regular starter in Glenn Roeder’s first XI.

Newcastle meanwhile are stepping up the chase for Werder Bremen forward Miroslav Klose as a replacement for Alan Shearer. If they do not manage to land Klose then West Ham marksman Dean Ashton is a possible option for them.

Tiger Woods won his 11th major of his career when retained the British Open with a brilliant display of shot making Sunday.

Woods dedicated the victory to his father Earl who died of cancer in May. Chris Di Marco and Ernie Els finished second and third.

Woods is now tied with Walter Hagen on the all time list of championship winners and only  the legendary Jack Nicklaus with 18 is ahead of him.

After Lance Armstrong made the Tour de La France his  own by winning it an unprecented seven times in a row,he decided to retire and not participate in this year’s tour.And the man who suceeded him on Sunday was not his fierce rival Jan Ulrich or Ivan Basso but his own hitherto own compatriot Floyd Landis.

Landis had secured the tour before the final stage and finished 69th in the last stage to become the 3rd American overall to win the coveted yellow jersey and the Tour.Landis rides for the Phonak team and has the great Belgian legend’s son Eddie Merycx’s son Axel as his teammate.

  Final tour de France results :

Yellow:Floyd Landis (USA)

Polka dot jersey : King of the mountains,Michael Rasmussen (Den)

Green jersey : Robbie Mcewen ( sprint)(Aus)

Best young rider : Damiem Cunego  (Ita)

The Canadian Cricket association has said that it will not be able to host the ODI series between India and the West Indies in September.The series is not part of the ICC’s future tours program and was planned to help the cash strapped WICB raise some funds.The West Indian Players Association had threatened to skip the series because it was not part of the tours program.

The Indian cricket board is currently looking at an alternative venue for the event and may be even a different opponent.

Canada is not entirely new to hosting cricket games,with Toronto having hosted some epic encounters between India and Pakistan.

The team:

Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sehwag
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Yuvraj Singh
Mohammad Kaif
S Sreesanth
Irfan Pathan
Suresh Raina
Dinesh Mongia
Rudra Pratap Singh
Munaf Patel
Ajit Agarkar
Harbhajan Singh
Ramesh Powar.

It is a pretty balanced squad and it is nice to see the little Master back.But what still beats me is the omission of Zaheer Khan.The Baroda pacer has recovered from the indifferent form that lead to his omission from the ODI squad  with some fine performances for Worcestershire ,but still cannot get back in.Dinesh Mongia however makes a comeback on virtue of his excellent performances in the English domestic circuit.

South Africa will be without some of their most experienced players and will be captained by Ashwell Prince. Given the fact that the Lankans have played well in recent ODI’s and are on home soil,I would tip them to win this series.

Arsenal have completed their move into their new stadium at Ashburton Grove.This puts an end to a 93 year old association with Highbury which ended with a 4-2 win over Wigan last season.

The stadium will have more seating capacity and Arsenal fans have mixed feelings about moving into their new stadium.Some feel that it should never have been made in the first place considering the emotional significance of the place to the Gunners. Others feel that it is a step for the future represented by the likes of Walcott,Eboue and company.

Anway which ways,players and fans will have a taste of the new stadium when it hosts Ajax .

Both Newcastle and Tottenham were in the fray for the Irish winger but it looks like the Magpies have stolen a march on their rivals.

Newcastle are believed to be ready to offer 1o million pounds for the winger,who will be their first major signing this season.But a lot will depend on whether the Toons beat Lillestrom to confirm European football this season.If Glenn Roeder’s side does manage to do so,that will mean that Duff will probably leave Stamford Bridge for the Tyneside otherwise he will be heading for White Hart Lane where Spurs are guaranteed Uefa Cup football.

Duff’s signing will come as a boost for the Toons as Alan Shearer has retired and Michael Owen will miss most of next season after suffering an injury in the World Cup match against the Swedes.Newcastle have previously been linked with the likes of David Beckham,Ruud Van Nistelrooy and World Cup Golden Boot winner Miroslav Klose,but it looks like those rumours will remain what they were in the beginning-rumours

Barcelona have completed the double signing of Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram from Juventus.

The move stabilises the only part of the Catalans which was considered to be their weakest point,their defence .Zambrotta can play on either side of defence,which gives Frank Riijkard more options in defence.

Veteran centre back Thuram was one of the pillars of the French squad which reached the finals.He can play at right as well.This will now reduce the burden on Carlos Puyol without whom the Barca defence can look quite lost.

Real Madrid were in the running for Zambrotta too and the Catalans will be very pleased to steal him from under the noses of their arch rivals.

With a team that already has the likes of Deco,Ronaldinho,Etoo and company ,this move will make Barcelona a more dominant force in European football.Real Madrid will have their work cut out this season if they have to win the La liga

Spanish club Real Madrid have confirmed the signings of Brazilian midfielder Emerson and Italian skipper Fabio Cannavaro from Juventus.

Emerson and Cannavaro were among the host of Juve stars who were up for grabs after the Old lady got relegated to SerieB for their involvement in the match fixing scandal.

Cannavaro was easily the best defender on view at the World Cup and will add stability to a Madrid defence which lacked any real solidity at the back last season.He has got about 2 years left in him and this will be a great experience for young Sergio Ramos .Ramos is widely regarded as one of the best future fullbacks in the game and playing with Cannavaro will add a whole new dimension to the lad’s game.

Emerson formed a world class pairing with Patrick Vieira at Juventus last season.Although he is on the wrong side of 30,he is still an asset to any side he plays for and his stints with Roma and Juventus have made him  an old warhorse. Playing in the La Liga will mean coming face to face with the likes of Aimar,Ronaldinho,Joaquin and this will be one challenge he will relish.

It is estimated that Real paid 20 million Euros for the pair.The move also means that the pair will reunite with their ex coach at the Delle Alpi,Fabio Capello .

Capello has also said that the club will make three more signings.

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