Liverpool 4-0 Toulouse (5-0)

Liverpool made short work of Toulouse to book their place in the group stage of the Champions League. Peter Crouch put the Reds ahead when he stretched to meet Dirk Kuyt’s cross and Liverpool, who were inspired by Yossi Benayoun, went on to dominate.

Crouch missed with two more headers but Sami Hypia did make it 2-0 when he met Benayoun’s corner at the near post.

Kuyt, who also hit the bar, netted with a low shot to make it 3-0 then ran clear to slot home a fourth goal.

It was an emotional night at Anfield, with the Reds paying their own tribute to murdered 11-year-old Everton fan Rhys Jones before kick-off.

Ghana vs Brazil

Just as in every competition, several contenders jostle for position at the starting line but there can be only one winner. At the Gwangyang Soccer Only Field this Wednesday evening, two pedigree teams will be hoping to avoid falling by the wayside.

Ghana and Brazil, respectively double and triple winners of the world’s premier U-17 football trophy, arrived in Korea as strong contenders to reach the Final.

While it has been plain sailing so far for the Auriverde, who booked an early passage to the Round of 16 with two convincing displays, a 7-0 drubbing of New Zealand and a 6-1 thumping of Korea DPR, Ghana have made a meal of their qualification.

Barca ‘convinced’ of keeping Ronaldinho

Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain remains ‘totally convinced’ Ronaldinho will not leave for Chelsea or any other club as rumours persist they are keen to sign Blues target Daniel Alves from Sevilla.

Begiristain shrugged off rumours Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich held two meetings with Ronaldinho’s brother and adviser in a bid to persuade the Barcelona star to join the Blues in the Barclays Premier League.

Begiristain insisted yesterday Ronaldinho, who has three years left on his current contract, is staying at the Nou Camp, while Barca have said nothing about rumours of a move for right-sided full-back Alves.

Begiristain told Catalunya Radio: ‘We do not want to sell him.

‘Ronaldinho is our player and I am totally convinced that he will remain at the club.

Johnson agrees new Man City deal

Manchester City’s England under-21 midfield man Michael Johnson has signed a new four-year contract. The 19-year-old has been a regular under new boss Sven-Goran Eriksson and was a summer target for Liverpool.

Johnson scored his first goal for the club in the 1-0 win against Derby, and earned his first under-21 cap in the 1-1 draw against Romania.

Young defender Shaleum Logan has also signed a new three-year contract with City as Eriksson builds for the future.

FA will probe fans’ Mido ‘abuse’

The Football Association is to investigate claims of abuse directed at Middlesbrough striker Mido by Newcastle supporters in last weekend’s derby. The Egypt striker, who joined Boro in the summer transfer window, faced barracking from the travelling Magpies support during the 2-2 draw.

“We will contact the clubs and get their views of what happened,” an FA spokesman told BBC Sport.

“We will also look at the quotes from the player and take it from there.”

Man Utd striker Solskjaer retires

Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has retired from football. The 34-year-old, who scored the winner in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in 1999, has been battling knee injuries for four years.

“I would like to thank manager Sir Alex Ferguson, the coaching and medical staff and most of all the supporters,” Solskjaer told the club website.

He added: “They have been fantastic and were a real inspiration to me when I was out injured.”

The player’s father Oyvind Solskjaer said: “He would have liked to stay on and was hoping for a 100% recovery.

Puyol Offers Barcelona’s Consolences

Carles Puyol offered Barcelona’s condolences to Sevilla’s Antonio Puerta, who died on Tuesday after being in hospital for three days.

 

 

The news has stunned the world of football and has broken down all barriers as the Betis players and board all visited the hospital over the weekend.

Puerta was unable to be revived by doctors having been kept on life support for 36 hours after collapsing during Sevilla’s game against Getafe on Saturday.

Doctors did all they could for the 22-year-old after he suffered several heart attacks and the tributes have already begun to paid.

FC Barcelona captain Carles Puyol spoke on behalf of the Catalan club when he expressed his condolences after hearing the news.

“Today is a very sad day for everyone in football,” he stated. “On behalf of myself and all my team-mates and would like to offer my support to the Puerta family, to Sevilla, to the fans and to all his colleagues.

“I know that these are very difficult times and one can only look forward, to try and carry on and I would like everyone there to know that everyone at FC Barcelona is with them.”

source:goal.com