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Ljungberg happy at West Ham

Freddie Ljungberg's agent has rubbished reports linking the West Hammidfielder with a move to Olympiakos.The 31-year-old has been linkedwith a switch to Greece, while Roma have also been rumoured to haveshown interest in the player over the summer.
However, Ljungberg's agent Claes Elefalk insists the former Sweden international is happy at Upton Park.
"I can promise that we haven't received any offer," Elefalk told the Swedish media.
"He is truly enjoying himself in England. He is one of the best paid players in England and I don't believe they (Olympiakos) have got the finances for it, either."

Inter fined over "existential damage"

Italian champions Internazionale have been ordered to pay a Napoli fan1,500 euros (£1,187) for "existential damage" caused by banners callingNaples the "sewer of Italy" displayed at the Giuseppe Meazza lastOctober.
Italian news agencies said that a Naples court had ordered Inter topay the fan, identified only by initials, compensation and legal costsfor insults which refer to a refuse crisis that left garbage rotting inNaples' streets.
"Ciao cholera sufferers!" read another of thebanners seen at the October 6 game which the fan's lawyer, Raffaele DiMonda, said had made his client feel "indignant and deeply hurt".
Inter,who won the game 2-1, had already been punished by the Italian leaguewith the closure of the sections of the Giuseppe Meazza where thebanners had been shown for the following home match.
The club fought against the lawsuit, arguing that the Naples court did not have jurisdiction.

Van Der Sar Reveals Juve Hopes

Juventus old-boy Edwin van der Sar hopes the Serie A giants have learned their lesson from the match-fixing scandal that saw them relegated two years ago.
After a year in the second tier of Italian football, the disgracedTurin outfit finished third last term, confirming their entry back intothe Champions League, where they will face either Artmedia or Tamperein the third qualifying round.
And while Van der Sar is happy for his former team-mates, he wantsJuventus to remain one of Italy's major clubs - but free from scandal.
"I am glad they are back for the players," said the giant Dutchman,who spent two years at the club around the turn of the millennium,ahead of tonight's friendly clash between the sides.
"But of course the allegations and certain things that happened were not nice.
"I just hope they learn from it and they will be part of the Italian elite again."
It is one of Sir Alex Ferguson's major regrets that he did not snapVan der Sar up when he decided to leave Ajax in 1999 and, as thingsturned out, the keeper might have been better advised to join the OldTrafford outfit.
Yet Van der Sar still feels he made the right move.
"Maybe it did not end the way I wanted but it was a great experience," he said.
"I never played to my full potential. It was my first time abroadand Juventus played quite differently to the way we played at Ajax.
"I had to get used to a lot of different things and although I wasable to speak the language in about three months, sometimes on thepitch I was half a second late shouting something and the moment hadgone, which was unfortunate.
"A lot of people say that I should have gone to United instead but Ihad already had two meetings with Juventus before United came in.
"It was not like I was talking to Palermo or Fiorentina. They weretwo great clubs on the same level and you cannot make choices with thebenefit of hindsight."
United should welcome back skipper Gary Neville after the calf strain that kept him out of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's testimonial on Saturday and Monday's encounter with Peterborough.
However, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves and Ben Foster are still sidelined, while Cristiano Ronaldo is hoping to get the green light to step his recovery from an ankle operation once he visits his specialist in Amsterdam.

Concern for Klinsmann after Inter win

Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann has much to ponder after InterMilan won the Franz Beckenbauer Trophy with a 1-0 win at the AllianzArena.A goal from Mancini in the 52nd minute was enough to decide thegame for Jose Mourinho's side.
It is the second year running that Bayern have lost their lastmajor friendly at home 1-0, having gone down to Barcelona a year ago.
Their competitive season begins on Sunday with a visit to third division club Erfurt in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
Inter are not in serious action until the end of the month, when they start their Serie A campaign at Sampdoria.
But with almost four weeks still to go to that game, Mourinho already appears to have his team in good shape, and they tested Michael Rensing on several occasions.
The goal came in the 52nd minute when Mancini broke the offsidetrap before lifting an angled shot over Rensing. He needed some helpthough, and the ball struck the underside of the bar, the post and theleg of Bayern defender Daniel van Buyton on its way into the net.
Bayern tested Inter's veteran stopper Francesco Toldo in the second half but could not find a way through.
There was also cause for concern after Martin Demicheliswas brought off in the first half with a slight muscle injury, althoughit is thought the substitution was made as a precaution.

Mourinho: Stankovic is staying

Speculation in recent weeks has linked the Serbian (pictured) with aswitch to fierce rivals Juventus, but Mourinho has poured scorn on thereports.
"Juve can think what they want but I have put things straight with them," Mourinho said.
"You can read whatever you like about Stankovic in the newspapers but it doesn't matter to me.
"I like Stankovic, I like the way he plays and his personality and I think that Dejan will be happy to work with me.
"Lotsof people think that that midfield position must be played defensively,but I think that the player must have good vision and be technicallygifted."
Despite his intention to keep Stankovic, however, Mourinho says he cannot be guaranteed a starting berth.
"If Esteban Cambiassois available it is his position, but Stankovic can play there as welland he can also fill in for other positions in the midfield."

Moggi banned for SIM card scam

Former Juventus general manager LucianoMoggi, banned from football for five years for his part in Italy's 2006match-fixing scandal, has been given an extra 14-month suspension aftera second investigation into the case.

The Italian football federation said in a statement thatMoggi, who tried to procure favourable referees for Juve matches, hadbeen sanctioned for running a secret network of communication usingSwiss mobile phone SIM cards.
The former director of therecently-defunct Messina, Angelo Fabiani, has been banned from footballfor four years for his part in the scandal with a number of refereesgiven varying suspensions for owning the SIM cards.
Someofficials had already been punished in the original affair, which ledto Juventus being demoted from Serie A and having their 2005 and 2006titles stripped.
Juventus accepted a 300,000 euro (£238,000) fine in June to settle charges linked to the SIM card probe.
Moggi is also at the centre of a criminal court case involving the match-fixing scandal, among other probes.

Voronin volley hands Reds late win

The Kop left Rafael Benitez in no doubt about what they thought of speculation that Xabi Alonsocould be sold during the 1-0 win over Lazio.One of the heroes ofIstanbul three years ago, Alonso was treated to a display of affectionand support that the Reds manager could not have failed to understand.
Songs outlining what the Anfield faithful felt about a deal for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry were frankly unrepeatable - but the message was clear.
Liverpoolfans chanted Alonso's name constantly during the game against acompetitive Italian side, and the Spaniard responded with a fineall-action display of passing and running.
There was no Steven Gerrard but this was as strong a side as Benitez could put out.
The captain will probably not make Wednesday's Champions Leaguequalifier at Standard Liege due to a thigh problem, but it appears theAnfield boss settled on something similar to the side that will takethe field in Belgium.
Liverpool were crisp and assertive, with Alonso pulling the strings in front of a 43,062 crowd.
They made it eight pre-season games unbeaten, the winner comingin injury-time when Andriy Voronin volleyed home from Jay Spearing'spass.
Fernando Torres had two long-range efforts and a clever header go wide before being replaced at the break by new boy David Ngog.
Torres could have had a couple of first-half penalties following charges by former Newcastle defender David Rozehnal and Stefan Radu, while Robbie Keane and Dirk Kuyt also went close.
In the second period Alonso had a free-kick deflected wide,while Lazio surged forward to see Jose Reina make fine saves fromsubstitute Pasquale Foggia, Stephen Makinwa and former Birmingham loan player Mauro Zarate.
Alonso got another ovation when he was substituted, Benitezshaking his hand warmly. Liverpool made six changes at that point, withStephen Darby, Diego Cavalieri, Sami Hyypia, Emiliano Insua, Nabil El Zhar and Spearing also getting run-outs.
Jermaine Pennant, Krisztian Nemeth, Steve Finnan and Voronin all soon followed, with Keane one of the players replaced.
His efforts had been appreciated by the Kop, who lapsed into a'Keano' chant - a word few thought they would ever hear in aLiverpudlian accent.

Ancelotti worried about Nesta

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said he was more concerned about defender Alessandro Nesta's back problem than Brazil forward Kaka's nagging knee injury.

"I'm more worried about Nesta's situation than Kaka's because his problem is more complicated," Ancelotti said.
Italianmedia reported that Kaka must rest for 10 days after feeling pain inhis left knee, which was operated on in June after troubling theplaymaker last season.
"Nesta probably has quite a serious back problem that we're trying to resolve," Ancelotti continued.
"I don't know what the possible recovery times are, but up until now an operation has not been mentioned."

Pascali poised for Killie debut

Manuel Pascali will make his Kilmarnock debut against Hibernianin their Scottish Premier League clash at Rugby Park on Saturday.The26-year-old midfielder signed this week from Parma for an undisclosedfee on a three-year deal.
Boss Jim Jefferies' other new signings Gavin Skelton and ConorSammon are also in contention although Alan Russell, brought in fromAirdrie United, is out with a knee injury.
Killie (from): Rascle, Harpur, Hay, Fowler, Wright, Skelton,Pascali, O'Leary, Lilley, Ford, Hamill, Murray, Fernandez, Sammon,Taouil, Bryson, Gibson, Flannigan.

Mourinho: No tears over Lampard

Internazionale coach Jose Mourinho insists he is not about to cry after losing out in the quest to sign Chelsea's Frank Lampard.

The Englandmidfielder was a target for the Serie A club, now managed by the formerBlues boss, but instead opted to remain at Stamford Bridge.
But Mourinho says he is looking to the future and is happy to have secured the transfer of Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari from Portsmouth.
He told Sky Sports: "I am not the sort of manager who cries. I look forward and move on.
"I could have waited until August 31 to see what could happen, I am not that type of person.
"When we were sensing the situation was not going to happen, we made our decision and I am very happy to have Muntari.
"Heis a good boy, a good player, I always like players who previouslyworked with good managers and he worked with one of the best in Englishfootball, so he will have learned a lot with Harry [Redknapp].
"I prefer to think about Sulley than about Frank Lampard.
"He will be in Chelsea, it is because he will be happy, and I have no more comment about it."
Interpresident Massimo Moratti, meanwhile, has expressed his regret at theclub's failure to sign Lampard but insists the squad is now complete -ruling out the arrival of Porto winger Ricardo Quaresma.
Moratti believes the Italians were right to opt for Muntari instead of persisting with their pursuit of Lampard.
"There was a big problem with the kid, in that he belonged to Chelsea," he told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
"The club wouldn't let him go and so it wouldn't have been easy for him to come.
"Everythingthat potentially seemed possible turned out not to be so, and thereforeit appeared to us that there was no point chasing someone for sixmonths and we went for the alternative we had which was Muntari, who isshowing himself to be a great acquisition."
As for Quaresma,the Italian champions have been linked with a move for the Portugalstar since the arrival of his compatriot Mourinho as coach of theGiuseppe Meazza outfit.
However, Moratti claims the Nerazzurri are unlikely to dip back into the summer transfer market.
"I don't think we'll go back into the market. I don't think Mourinho has any other intentions," he said.
"We have a lot of faith in the players already here and we also hope our injured players will be back soon."

Roma eye Ljungberg

Freddie Ljungberg's future could lie in Italy after West Ham technical director Gianluca Nani said he had fielded a number of calls for him.

Nani has fielded a number of calls from Italy for the former Sweden international, who has been linked with Roma.

Ljungberg left the Hammers on Wednesday after only 12 months, despite having one year and an option for another to run on his contract.

Injuries have slowed the former Arsenal star's career in recent seasons and he failed to make much of an impact in 25 appearances with the Hammers last term.

But Nani has hinted that a number of Italian clubs have been in contact, telling Il Romanista: "I have received calls from every part of Italy - Florence, Milan - and to be honest I have no idea where he (Ljungberg) will end up.

"I knew Roma liked him, but I don't know whether this has changed. Ljungberg has a high wage demand and it may be difficult for the Giallorossi to get him."
Valari Bojinov continued to impress on his return from a near 12-month lay-off as he netted the only goal for Manchester City in their pre-season friendly against Italian giants AC Milan at Eastlands.The Bulgarian, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Manchester derby last August, latched onto a Michael Ball throw-in to lash a left-footed shot in off the woodwork.
The Blues had a handball penalty shout turned down after Darius Vassell's cross was charged down and Brazilian playmaker Elano wasted a good chance to score before Bojinov obliged.
The win was a small measure of revenge for Mark Hughes' side, whohad lost out to the Rossoneri in the race to sign Brazilian star Ronaldinho earlier in the summer.

Baggio could make Brescia return

Serie A and Italy legend Roberto Baggiocould make a return to the game as manager of Brescia, according to theclub's president.

The former Juventus, Internazionale and Milan playmaker spentthe final four years of his career with the Rondinelle between 2000 and2004, and helped them to an eighth-placed finish in Serie A in 2001.
Aftertaking time out of the game following his retirement, Baggio could beready to make his return to the club - now in Serie B - according toclub president Gino Corioni.
Corioni said: "When he stopped playing he told me that he would take a break with his family and then consider his next move.
"He is still in that phase of consideration, but we expect him to return in a managerial role."
Afterlosing out on a return to the top flight via a play-off defeat at thehands of Albinoleffe, Corioni is desperate to end Brescia's four-yearstay on Serie B.
"This is our fourth consecutive season in Serie B," Corioni said. "The humiliation of a fifth would be too much.
"Wehave had an attitude of superiority. We were so sure that we were thestrongest and we underestimated this division last year."

Mutu makes his mark at Fiorentina

Adrian Mutuunderlined his importance to Fiorentina as he scored the opener in a2-0 Champions League qualifying victory over Slavia Prague.The Romaniastriker was continually linked with a move to Roma over the summer butended up staying in Florence and needed just three minutes of Tuesdaynight's third qualifying round, first-leg tie at the Artemio Franchi toopen his account for the season from the edge of the area.
The Viola extended the advantage after 57 minutes through Alberto Gilardino after he was set up by Mario Santana.
Fiorentina travel to Prague for the reverse leg on August 27.

No Silva lining up for United - Emery

Valencia have reiterated that David Silva will remain with the club amid reported interest from European champions Manchester United.Silva demonstrated the quality which has attracted the attention of United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea, Roma and Internazionale with two goals as Los Che defeated Vitesse Arnhem 3-1 in a friendly at the Mestalla on Tuesday night.
He put the hosts ahead with a delightful 20-yard curlerfollowing a quickly-taken free-kick and then killed the contest with aneatly-taken strike, rounding the keeper and to slot into an empty neton 75 minutes.
The playmaker has been linked with a transfer to Old Trafford,with Sir Alex Ferguson looking to add firepower ahead of the opening ofUnited's Champions League and Premier League title defences.
Indeed his agent claimed Valencia had rejected a bid from the Red Devils for the Spain international.
But the 22-year-old is two years into a seven-year contract and coach Unai Emery maintains his future lies with Valencia.
"Silva is my player," said Emery. "We are going to build a team and it's not possible for him to go to another club.
"Valencia is a very big club with all the possibilities for him to achieve what he wants."
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