TRANSFER GOSSIP
Highly rated Brazilian 18-year-old Neymar claims Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Juventus are all trying to prise him away from Santos, but the striker says he would prefer a move to the Turin club.Full story: Daily Mail
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is convinced that his Spain team-mate Cesc Fabregas still wants to move the Nou Camp, although it is believed the Catalan giants will not be able to afford the Arsenal midfielder.
Full story: Daily Mail
Ipswich boss Roy Keane will attempt to land Scotland left-back Stephen Crainey from Blackpool.
Full story: Daily Mirror
West Ham manager Avram Grant is eyeing a move for Kaiserslautern's Croatian 27-year-old striker Srdan Lakic, valued at around £2m by the German outfit.
Full story: Daily Mirror
OTHER GOSSIP
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has quashed speculation he might retire at the end of the season. "If my health deteriorated it would be different but retirement is for young people - they can do something else," the Scot, 68, told a sport conference in Doha.Full story: The Guardian
AND FINALLY
Clarence House insist princess-to-be Kate Middleton will not be joining her new fiance Prince William with lobbying for England's 2018 World Cup bid. Full story: The Guardian
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY ROUND-UP
French revolution, Messi beats Brazil, and many more.
Andy Carroll made a promising debut but England were outplayed for long periods as they were beaten 2-1 by France at Wembley.
A Lionel Messi wonder goal saw Argentina narrowly edge out Brazil 1-0 in a friendly in Doha to register their first win over their arch-rivals in five years.
Messi settled an even contest in the final minute, the Barcelona star picking up Ezequiel Lavezzi's pass before slaloming past four defenders and stroking the ball home into the corner of the net.
AC Milan playmaker Ronaldinho, back in the Brazil squad for the first time in 19 months, enjoyed a solid performance on his return to the team but failed to cap it with a goal as Sergio Romero enjoyed a good night in the Argentina goal.
Portugal gained a measure of revenge for their World Cup exit at the hands of Spain by inflicting a humiliating 4-0 defeat on their Iberian neighbours in Lisbon.
Goals from Jorge Carlos Martins, Spain defender Sergio Ramos, who put into his own net, Helder Postiga and Hugo Almeida sealed a deserved win for the Portuguese.
Belgium eased to a 2-0 win over Russia in Voronezh. Romelu Lukaku proved the difference between the two sides with a goal in each half, first tapping home after two minutes when Eden Hazard dispossessed Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and centred for the Anderlecht striker. Lukaku added his second 17 minutes from time with a low drive from just inside the area.
A late penalty from Rory Patterson spared Northern Ireland goalkeeper Alan Blayney's blushes in a low-key 1-1 draw with Morocco. Substitute Blayney handed the visitors the lead on a wet and windy night at Windsor Park when he miscontrolled a backpass and his clearance rebounded into the net off Arsenal's Marouane Chamakh. Blayney then partially redeemed himself by tipping a fierce Adil Hermach drive onto the bar and Patterson stepped up to force a draw after Josh McQuoid was fouled five minutes from time.
Morten Gamst Pedersen ruined Shay Given's big night as Norway came from behind to snatch a 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
The Blackburn midfielder curled a superb 34th-minute free-kick past Given, who was making a record 109th appearance for his country, to cancel out Shane Long's fifth-minute penalty. However, Pedersen was not finished and it was he who provided the cross from which striker Erik Huseklepp fired the visitors to victory four minutes from time.
An own goal from Ciprian Marica handed Italy a deserved 1-1 draw against Romania. Marica nodded the ball into his own net in the 83rd minute after substitute Fabio Quagliarella had managed to get a touch to Andrea Pirlo's corner. Marica had earlier been poised to emerge as the hero for Romania after scoring the opener in the first half, but finished with a goal at both ends as the Azzurri battled back late on.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored the only goal as Holland defeated Turkey in Amsterdam. Huntelaar struck after 52 minutes when he found the net from the edge of the area.
Sweden and Germany ground out a yawn-inducing 0-0 draw. Star names were missing from both sides, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic absent for the hosts and Mesut Ozil, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski all out for their opponents. The game missed their quality, with neither side seriously threatening despite a handful of hopeful efforts.
Former Italy coach Marcello Lippi was present at Stade de Geneve as Ukraine drew 2-2 with Switzerland. Lippi has been strongly tipped to take charge of Ukraine for Euro 2012 but saw his suitors twice fall behind to strikes either side of the break by Switzerland captain Alexander Frei.
Ukraine pulled level at 1-1 through Oleksandr Aliyev after 48th, and after Frei had restored the hosts' lead, Yvgenii Konoplianka popped up with a superb effort 15 minutes from time to seal the draw.
Bosnia-Herzegovina defeated Slovakia 3-2 in an entertaining encounter in Bratislava. Filip Sebo fired Slovakia ahead after three minutes but Haris Medunjanin levelled shortly before the half-hour. Miralem Pjanic fired Bosnia ahead after 50 minutes and Edin Dzeko made it 3-1 on the hour, before Peter Grajciar pulled one back for the hosts 24 minutes from time.
Birmingham striker Nikola Zigic proved the difference as Serbia posted a 1-0 win over Bulgaria, the giant striker firing home from inside the area 10 minutes from time.
Georgios Fotakis enjoyed a dream debut as he led Greece to a 2-1 win over Austria. PAOK midfielder Fotakis set up Greece's opener for Georgios Samaras after 48 minutes, and after Christian Fuchs had levelled for Austria, Fotakis popped up with his first international goal nine minutes from time to seal victory.
Denmark were left to rue Michael Krohn-Dehli's penalty miss as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to the Czech Republic.
Tamas Priskin and Balazs Dzsudzsak were on target as Hungary beat Lithuania 2-0, while Israel were 3-2 winners against Iceland with Georgia 2-1 winners over Slovenia.
Strikes from Ahmed Abdul-Zaher, Mohamed Nagy and Mohamed Zidan saw Egypt to a comfortable 3-0 win over Australia and Montenegro beat Azerbaijan 2-0 with goals from Luka Pejovic and Fatos Beciraj.
Goalless draws came from Albania against Macedonia and Luxembourg vs. Algeria.
Roque Santa Cruz scored twice as Paraguay crushed Hong Kong 7-0 in a friendly encounter on Wednesday. The Manchester City forward, who is set to leave the club in January after making just two appearances this season, opened the scoring for the World Cup quarter-finalists after just five minutes.
Edgar Barreto added a second just after the half-hour before Santa Cruz completed his brace in the 33rd minute. Nestor Ortigoza made it 4-0 two minutes into the second half and the midfielder scored again in the 54th minute. Late goals from Marcos Riveros and Cristian Riveros completed the rout.
Oman suffered a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Belarus at Al Seeb stadium. The home side fell behind after only five minutes when Alyaksandr Martynovich scored, and the 23-year-old defender added his second goal of the night six minutes later. Vyacheslav Hleb added the third goal for Belarus after 35 minutes before Vitali Rodionov scored the fourth in the 57th minute.
Saudi Arabia completed their preparations for the Gulf Cup as they held Ghana to a goalless draw in a friendly at Al Maktoum stadium in the United Arab Emirates. The draw was the second in a row for the Saudis after their scoreless stalemate with Uganda on Tuesday. The Saudis have been drawn in Group A of the Gulf Cup along with Yemen, Kuwait and Qatar, while they will play in Group B of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup along with Syria, Jordan and Japan.
Kuwait were held to a draw by Asian champions Iraq in their international friendly match at Bani Yas stadium. Iraq opened the scoring in the final minute of the first half through their striker Younis Mahmoud before Kuwait levelled the scores seven minutes after the hour mark when Mesaed Nada netted.
China needed a last gasp strike from Xu Yang to overcome Latvia 1-0, while Iran against Nigeria was postponed.
Robert Lewandowski bagged a brace in Poland's 3-1 win over Ivory Coast. Lewandowski opened the scoring in the 19th minute before Gervinho pulled one back for the Ivorians on the stroke of the break. Ludovic Obraniak's free-kick restored Poland's lead before Lewandowski made sure of the win 10 minutes from time.
In all-African friendly encounters, Senegal were 2-1 winners over Gabon, Mali beat DR Congo 3-1, Mozambique went down to a 3-1 loss to Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso posted a 2-1 victory over Guinea.
Karim Benzema and Mathieu Valbuena were on target for France who dominated for long spells against an inexperienced England side. Substitute Peter Crouch scored his 22nd goal for England as a late substitute.
Messi settled an even contest in the final minute, the Barcelona star picking up Ezequiel Lavezzi's pass before slaloming past four defenders and stroking the ball home into the corner of the net.
AC Milan playmaker Ronaldinho, back in the Brazil squad for the first time in 19 months, enjoyed a solid performance on his return to the team but failed to cap it with a goal as Sergio Romero enjoyed a good night in the Argentina goal.
Portugal gained a measure of revenge for their World Cup exit at the hands of Spain by inflicting a humiliating 4-0 defeat on their Iberian neighbours in Lisbon.
Goals from Jorge Carlos Martins, Spain defender Sergio Ramos, who put into his own net, Helder Postiga and Hugo Almeida sealed a deserved win for the Portuguese.
Belgium eased to a 2-0 win over Russia in Voronezh. Romelu Lukaku proved the difference between the two sides with a goal in each half, first tapping home after two minutes when Eden Hazard dispossessed Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and centred for the Anderlecht striker. Lukaku added his second 17 minutes from time with a low drive from just inside the area.
A late penalty from Rory Patterson spared Northern Ireland goalkeeper Alan Blayney's blushes in a low-key 1-1 draw with Morocco. Substitute Blayney handed the visitors the lead on a wet and windy night at Windsor Park when he miscontrolled a backpass and his clearance rebounded into the net off Arsenal's Marouane Chamakh. Blayney then partially redeemed himself by tipping a fierce Adil Hermach drive onto the bar and Patterson stepped up to force a draw after Josh McQuoid was fouled five minutes from time.
Morten Gamst Pedersen ruined Shay Given's big night as Norway came from behind to snatch a 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
The Blackburn midfielder curled a superb 34th-minute free-kick past Given, who was making a record 109th appearance for his country, to cancel out Shane Long's fifth-minute penalty. However, Pedersen was not finished and it was he who provided the cross from which striker Erik Huseklepp fired the visitors to victory four minutes from time.
An own goal from Ciprian Marica handed Italy a deserved 1-1 draw against Romania. Marica nodded the ball into his own net in the 83rd minute after substitute Fabio Quagliarella had managed to get a touch to Andrea Pirlo's corner. Marica had earlier been poised to emerge as the hero for Romania after scoring the opener in the first half, but finished with a goal at both ends as the Azzurri battled back late on.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored the only goal as Holland defeated Turkey in Amsterdam. Huntelaar struck after 52 minutes when he found the net from the edge of the area.
Sweden and Germany ground out a yawn-inducing 0-0 draw. Star names were missing from both sides, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic absent for the hosts and Mesut Ozil, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski all out for their opponents. The game missed their quality, with neither side seriously threatening despite a handful of hopeful efforts.
Former Italy coach Marcello Lippi was present at Stade de Geneve as Ukraine drew 2-2 with Switzerland. Lippi has been strongly tipped to take charge of Ukraine for Euro 2012 but saw his suitors twice fall behind to strikes either side of the break by Switzerland captain Alexander Frei.
Ukraine pulled level at 1-1 through Oleksandr Aliyev after 48th, and after Frei had restored the hosts' lead, Yvgenii Konoplianka popped up with a superb effort 15 minutes from time to seal the draw.
Bosnia-Herzegovina defeated Slovakia 3-2 in an entertaining encounter in Bratislava. Filip Sebo fired Slovakia ahead after three minutes but Haris Medunjanin levelled shortly before the half-hour. Miralem Pjanic fired Bosnia ahead after 50 minutes and Edin Dzeko made it 3-1 on the hour, before Peter Grajciar pulled one back for the hosts 24 minutes from time.
Birmingham striker Nikola Zigic proved the difference as Serbia posted a 1-0 win over Bulgaria, the giant striker firing home from inside the area 10 minutes from time.
Georgios Fotakis enjoyed a dream debut as he led Greece to a 2-1 win over Austria. PAOK midfielder Fotakis set up Greece's opener for Georgios Samaras after 48 minutes, and after Christian Fuchs had levelled for Austria, Fotakis popped up with his first international goal nine minutes from time to seal victory.
Denmark were left to rue Michael Krohn-Dehli's penalty miss as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to the Czech Republic.
Tamas Priskin and Balazs Dzsudzsak were on target as Hungary beat Lithuania 2-0, while Israel were 3-2 winners against Iceland with Georgia 2-1 winners over Slovenia.
Strikes from Ahmed Abdul-Zaher, Mohamed Nagy and Mohamed Zidan saw Egypt to a comfortable 3-0 win over Australia and Montenegro beat Azerbaijan 2-0 with goals from Luka Pejovic and Fatos Beciraj.
Goalless draws came from Albania against Macedonia and Luxembourg vs. Algeria.
Juan Agudelo became the youngest USA player to score in the modern era, giving the Americans a 1-0 victory over South Africa on Wednesday that allowed them to avoid finishing the year with a losing record.
Edgar Barreto added a second just after the half-hour before Santa Cruz completed his brace in the 33rd minute. Nestor Ortigoza made it 4-0 two minutes into the second half and the midfielder scored again in the 54th minute. Late goals from Marcos Riveros and Cristian Riveros completed the rout.
Oman suffered a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Belarus at Al Seeb stadium. The home side fell behind after only five minutes when Alyaksandr Martynovich scored, and the 23-year-old defender added his second goal of the night six minutes later. Vyacheslav Hleb added the third goal for Belarus after 35 minutes before Vitali Rodionov scored the fourth in the 57th minute.
Saudi Arabia completed their preparations for the Gulf Cup as they held Ghana to a goalless draw in a friendly at Al Maktoum stadium in the United Arab Emirates. The draw was the second in a row for the Saudis after their scoreless stalemate with Uganda on Tuesday. The Saudis have been drawn in Group A of the Gulf Cup along with Yemen, Kuwait and Qatar, while they will play in Group B of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup along with Syria, Jordan and Japan.
Kuwait were held to a draw by Asian champions Iraq in their international friendly match at Bani Yas stadium. Iraq opened the scoring in the final minute of the first half through their striker Younis Mahmoud before Kuwait levelled the scores seven minutes after the hour mark when Mesaed Nada netted.
China needed a last gasp strike from Xu Yang to overcome Latvia 1-0, while Iran against Nigeria was postponed.
Robert Lewandowski bagged a brace in Poland's 3-1 win over Ivory Coast. Lewandowski opened the scoring in the 19th minute before Gervinho pulled one back for the Ivorians on the stroke of the break. Ludovic Obraniak's free-kick restored Poland's lead before Lewandowski made sure of the win 10 minutes from time.
In all-African friendly encounters, Senegal were 2-1 winners over Gabon, Mali beat DR Congo 3-1, Mozambique went down to a 3-1 loss to Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso posted a 2-1 victory over Guinea.
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