Argentine club Banfield have completed the signing of defender Jonathan Maidana on a year long loan from Ukrainian outfit Metalist Kharkiv. Banfield also have the option to make Maidana s transfer permanent.
The 24 year old Maidana is a Los Andes youth product and made 37 appearances for the capital club before making a big money switch to Boca Juniors in 2005. He won two Copa Sudamericana titles and one Copa Libertadores title before joining Metalist in August 2008.
Maidana has been capped for Argentina at U-20 and U-21 levels. He is Banfield s second major signing of 2010 after forward Ruben Ramirez, who joined El Taladro from Racing Club de Avellaneda.
Maidana said that it was a great honour to don Banfield colours. Banfield won the 2009 Apertura, narro…
(GSM) Sevilla and Racing Santander booked their spots in the 2009-10 Copa del Rey semifinals on Wednesday with aggregate victories over Deportivo La Coruña and Osasuna, respectively.
Sevilla dropped a 1-0 result at home to the Galician side on Wednesday, but won 3-1 on aggregate thanks to a strong performance in last week s opener at the Riazor.
Needing a strong performance to overcome the deficit, and they managed to open the scoring a minute before halftime as Rodolfo Bodipo got on the end of Pablo Álvarez s cross for the finish past a helpless Javi Varas.
Bodipo missed another chance in the second half when the striker s header missed the target, but he was forced off due to injury in the 67th minute, giving Depor no chance at the comeback.
While Se…
Former Barcelona captain Xavi is eager for Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and head coach Luis Enrique to remain at the club beyond this season.
The future of Argentina star Messi remains the subject of debate as there has yet to be a breakthrough in discussions over a new contract at Camp Nou.
Current Camp Nou skipper Iniesta has only 18 months left on his contract, while reports in Spain have claimed that Barca have already earmarked potential successors to Luis Enrique, who has refused to guarantee he will extend his own deal that expires at the end of the season.
But Xavi, who won the treble in his last season with the club and Luis Enrique s first as coach in 2014-15, hopes all three commit their futures before the end of the season.
I d like to see In…
The Italian forward Manolo Gabbiadini is widely expected to be offloaded by Napoli during the winter transfer market and the host of clubs have already expressed their interest in the out-of-favour 25-year-old.
Gabbiadini joined Napoli in the 2014/15 season from Sampdoria for a fee believed to be in the region of €12.5 million and, according to the reports coming from Italy, Partenopei are prepared to sell their player for amounts around €20 million.
Italian media outlet have learned that Premier League clubs Leicester City, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion stand locked in the fight for the Italian international, with the Baggies believed to be leading the frontline for the forward.
Manolo Gabbiadini has made only 7 Serie A starts this season for club an…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 3/4 @
Two sides who are looking to extend on their EFL Cup run on Tuesday night, Wigan will welcome Sunderland to the DW Stadium for what could be a lively affair.
Starting with the hosts, while Wigan might have only just about managed to hang onto their League One status last season, the Latics have enjoyed a stunning rise under Head Coach Leam Richardson. With the mood in their camp at a red-hot high, they were last seen over the weekend when putting in another rampant display on the travels. Breezing past local rivals Accrington Stanley and hitting them for four, Wigan have skyrocketed their way to the top of the third-tier table. Extending on their EFL Cup run last month as they came past Bolton, Richardson finds his side en…
Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi believes his team need to play with aggression and determination against Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Inzaghi is under fire after a run that has seen Inter lose four of their last six in all competitions, with a 2-1 home defeat to Roma at the weekend leaving the Nerazzurri ninth in Serie A, already eight points behind joint-leaders Napoli and Atalanta.
And Tuesday s match will see them host a Barcelona side in red-hot form, top of LaLiga and yet to lose a league match this season under the leadership of former midfielder Xavi.
In his pre-match press conference, Inzaghi outlined just how tough a task the game was going to be, while explaining how his team need to play at the San Siro if they are to get a result.
…
Four candidates will stand on Sunday in an election to replace Joan Laporta as the chairman of Spanish champions Barcelona in an internal vote in the midst of World Cup fever.
Laporta, 47, cannot stand for election again after holding the position since 2003.
Under his guidance Barcelona won the Champions League twice in 2006 and 2009 and the Spanish league four times in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010 making it the most successful period in the club s history.
Barcelona s outgoing vice-president Jaume Ferrer is the only one of the four candidates in the race who has the backing of Laporta. The 46-year-old has been part of the club s board since 2003.
The other candidates are Sandro Rosell, 46, who was part of the board of the club between 2003 and 2005 during…
Spain and Holland, who meet in Sunday s World Cup final, can both thank one man for inspiring their soccer style Johan Cruyff.
Cruyff was in the Dutch side which lost the 1974 final to Germany, but his influence can be seen today on the Spanish just as much as on his own countrymen, thanks to his spell at Barcelona.
I represent a time when beautiful football was entertaining and moreover, successful, said the creative fulcrum of the Dutch side which wowed the world with their flowing total football three decades ago, whereby players could comfortably slip in and out of several roles.
Cruyff likes the current Dutch generation.
So, too, does Oscar Tabarez, whose Uruguay could not prevent Holland from edging them out in their semi-final to reach a third fi…
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has said that he would be interested in bringing Gareth Bale back to White Hart Lane, .
A leaked document has claimed to show that the North London club have first refusal on the Wales international should Real decide to sell.
The clause means that if the La Liga giants accept a bid before June 30th 2019, Spurs would have 72 hours to match the offer which would have to be accepted.
Bale moved to Madrid in a world record deal in the summer of 2013 and has since racked up one hundred and nine appearances in all competitions, scoring fifty-two goals while he was part of the squad that triumphed in both the Copa Del Rey and Champions League in 2014.
He has been capped fifty-four times for his country, scorin…
Competition: Premier League
Market: Crystal Palace to finish in the top-10
Odds:
Crystal Palace have picked up where they left off last season in the Premier League, with the Eagles sitting pretty in 6th place after seven games. Four wins in the division this campaign sees Alan Pardew’s side in a Europa League place early on, and they’ve already beaten defending champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Last season, Palace finished 10th in the table, improving upon their first campaign in the Premier League (11th) following their promotion from the Championship in 2012/13. Surprisingly, the Londoners’ away form has been better than on home soil in the last nine months, and the ease they’re picking up results against stellar opposition really highlights …