Tottenham Hotspur 1-4 Villareal: Rossi hat-trick

**Tottenham Hotspur's crushing defeat at Villarreal entertain at White Hart Lane. Spurs lost 1-4 with three goals for the 'Yellow Submarine' was made by Giuseppe Rossi.

At the beginning of the game, the Spurs actually appear promising. Vedran Corluka length in the direction of feed off Robbie Keane, who directly threaten the Villarreal goal. However, the captain still could denied Diego Lopez effort.

After that opportunity, Spurs rarely threatened again in the first half and instead they were Heurelho Gomes who have trouble securing the Spurs goal.

Could successfully restrain Santi Cazorla and David Fuster, Gomes finally subdued at minute 22. Cazorla successfully passed a breakthrough bait Rossi who then sent the ball into the Spurs goal.

Ten minutes later, Rossi made two goals in this game after Michael Dawson take advantage of a mistake in his attempt dispel the skin round the bait Marcos Senna.

Left behind two goals, seven changes made Spurs manager Harry Redknapp. One of the changes he's doing is to draw Jermain Defoe and Keane to be replaced by Giovani dos Santos and Peter Crouch.

Both players then that's managed to contribute one goal for Spurs. In collaboration with Crouch, Giovani successfully cut missed at minute 56.

Trying to equalize the score, even Spurs conceded a goal again in minute 70. Spurs goalkeeper Rossi surged back to fulfill a hat-tricknya, through hard kick from outside the penalty box who had time to hit the Corluka in its speed toward the goal.

Four minutes before dispersal, Borja Valero cross successfully transmitted to Ruben , a new two-minute entry into the field, to make the final score finished 4-1 to win Villarreal.

Line-Ups:

Spurs : Gomes (Button, 46); Hutton (Walker, 46), Dawson (Bassong, 46), Corluka, Naughton (Assou-Ekotto, 46), Lennon (Bale, 46), Huddlestone ( Parrett, 78), Jenas (Rose, 19), Kranjcar (Taarabt, 81), Defoe (Giovani, 46), Keane (Crouch, 46)

Villarreal : Diego Lopez, Angel Lopez (Gaspar, 61), Musacchio (Kiko, 46), Català (Castellani, 88), Oriol (Gullon, 84), Senna (Ruben, 61), Soriano (Insa, 78); Cani (Montero, 61), Fuster (Valero, 46), Cazorla (Cristobal, 46); Rossi (Perez, 78)

MLS All Stars 2-5 Manchester United: Macheda double, Hernandez debut goal

**Manchester United reap big victory in the third game in the series toured the United States. Facing the MLS All Stars, The Red Devils finish with a win 5-2 games.

This convincing victory was as a retaliation for the bad results obtained previously MU. Four days ago, Sir Alex Ferguson's protégé subjugated Kansas City Wizards with a thin score 1-2.

Match at Reliant Stadium, Houston, Thursday (7/29/2010) , the MU show kicked off since the first whistle sounded by the referee. The result is a goal that scored by Federico Macheda in the minutes of prime game.

Italian young striker returned to record his name on the scoreboard. Precisely in the 12th minute, goalkeeper tore Macheda MLS All Stars to change the position to be 2-0.

Two-goal advantage 'Red Devils' is to survive until the break. In the current round of increasingly fierce competition, a total of five goals in 45 minutes created a second, with three of them made Manchester United and two players come from MLS All Stars.

Brian Ching is the time to turn up the MLS All Stars when he was hacking into the goalkeeper Edwin van Der Sar on 62 minutes. But MU directly react with all three goals. This time it came from Darron Gibson great free-kick 69 minutes when the game went.

Tom Cleverley enlarge MU advantage to 4-1 when the match went 72 minutes. Club holder of 18 English league titles it fulfilled a 5-2 victory over Javier Hernandez Balcazar debut in 82 minutes.

One minute before the game completely, United conceded a goal for the second time. Dwayne De Rosario is a break through Van der Sar in goal for the second time to change the position to be 5-2.

This is the third victory from four matches MU had they lived in a series of tours to the United States. The Red Devils' previous win over Celtic (3-1) and Philadelphia Union (1-0) and toppled over Kansas City (1-2).

MU is still going to have two races left to face CD Guadalajara and the League of Ireland XI before returning to England and challenge Chelsea in the Community Shield competition.

Line-Ups:

MLS All Stars: Ricketts; Alston, Olave, Marshall, Pearce, Joseph, Le Toux, Morales, Schelotto, Pappa, Angel

Manchester United: Obertan(Cleverley), Macheda(Welbeck), O'Shea,Giggs(Gibson), Almeida(Hernandez), Fletcher,Pereira (Scholes), Evans, Brown, van der Sar

SC Neusiedl 0-4 Arsenal: Marouane Chamakh grabs

**Marouane Chamakh scored his first goal for Arsenal in the feast of victory over SC Neusiedl. Faced with the Austrian team, the Gunners won 4-0 with Chamakh contributed one goal.

In a match on Tuesday (07/27/2010) , the new Arsenal succeeded in opening victory over two minutes ahead of Theo Walcott and a half hours of game time.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas successfully handed the ball to Samir Nasri who then pass to Walcott. Without wasting any chance, the ball was sent into the opponent's goal.

Not long ago, Walcott had another chance despite his lob kick still widening. In the 30th minute before Arsenal scored after the bait drop adds Kieran Gibbs scored by Emmanuel-Thomas.

Five minutes after the halftime break, Arsenal relisted golden opportunity after the referee pointed to the white dot was dropped after Chamakh Mark Dombi. Chamakh appear to be the executor and completed the job perfectly.

Goal feast Arsenal's Carlos Vela finally closed by the 65th minute. From the touch of Nasri, Vela had escaped from the Guard and conquer the opponent goalkeeper opponent. 4-0 Arsenal.

This was Arsenal's third victory in a pre-season games. Before this they shave Barnet Grind Sturm Graz 4-0 and 3-0.

Defeat MU 2-1 Kansas City Wizards delighted large

**Manchester United's pre-season campaign suffered a setback with a shock 2-1 defeat to 10-man Kansas City Wizards in the United States.
Davy Arnaud opened the scoring for the MLS side after 11 minutes before Dimitar Berbatov equalised from the spot and Jimmy Conrad was sent-off four minutes before the break.

But Kansas City hit back less than two minutes later through Kei Kamara to subject United to an embarrassing defeat.

Paul Scholes forced the first save of the match when his right-footed effort from outside the box was kept out by Jimmy Nielsen.

But it was Kansas City who took a shock lead when captain Arnaud beat the offside trap before coolly slotting home past Ben Amos in the United goal.

And the hosts looked to exploit a shaky Red Devils back four - Rafael, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling and Ritchie De Laet - with former Millwall man Ryan Smith and Canadian Teal Bunbury both going close in quick succession.

Nani was making his first start of United's pre-season tour after injuring himself ahead of Portugal World Cup campaign and the tricky winger looked most likely to haul the visitors level, forcing a fingertip save from Nielsen from his glancing header.

But it took the intervention of referee Terry Vaughn to draw United level after Berbatov was brought down in the box by Conrad after a superb through-ball by Ryan Giggs.

Despite the game being designed to be a crucial pre-season test for United, Conrad was inexplicably shown a red card before Berbatov dusted himself off to casually convert the spot-kick.

But the 10-man Wizards were soon back in front when the unmarked Kamara powered home an unstoppable header from a corner to leave Sir Alex Ferguson with plenty of talking to do at half-time.

United, despite the one-man advantage, looked devoid of ideas after the break and their performance was summed up with Mame Biram Diouf scuffing two good opportunities within minutes of each other.

Despite dominating large spells of possession, United failed to really test substitute keeper Eric Kronberg in the second half.

Substitute Danny Welbeck proved a menace down the left flank but twice the 19-year-old forward fired in a low cross without finding a United team-mate.

And, in fact, it was the Wizards who were more likely to score again with Jack Jewsbury and Stephane Auvray both going close from distance as the home side registered a famous result.
George Scott / Eurosport

Source: uk.eurosport.com

Line-Ups:

Kansas City: Nielsen, Thomas, Conrad, Harrington, Smith, Rocastle, Auvray, Arnaud, Espinoza, Kamara, Bunbury

Manchester United: Amos, Rafael, Smalling, J.Evans, De Laet, Nani, Scholes, Gibson, Giggs, Berbatov, Diouf

Defeat for young team : Kaiserlautern 1-0 Liverpool

**Liverpool again failed to reap victories in both test matches. Roy Hodgson's landing forces bent Kaiserlautern with the score 0-1.

After the first trial held under the tutelage of Grasshopper 0-0 Hodgson, Liverpool at home to face the opponent Kaiserslautern, Fritz Walter Stadium, Saturday (07/24/2010).

In that game, Liverpool has been reinforced by a number of major players such as Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Lucas Leiva and David N'Gog, as well as new players, Milan Jovanovic.

Liverpool's official website announces the game for quite balanced. However Kaiserslautern became the only team that managed to score a goal through Iilan Mickanski in minute 32.

This goal stems from a successful action Bilkey Jiri outwit the keeper, Daniel Ayala. Bilkey and then remove the cross that a flick header by Mickanski uncontrollably by goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri.

Line-Ups:

Kaiserslautern: Sippel; Bugera (Stulin 83), Amedick, Francisco, Dick (Hornig 88); Amri (Fuchs 75), Bilek (Kirch 57), Tiffert (Rivic 56), Ilicevic; Micanski, Nemec

Liverpool: Cavalieri, Darby, Ayala, Kyrgiakos (Irwin 77), Kelly (Ince 68), Jovanovic (Degen 46), Spearing (Palsson 76), Lucas (Shelvey 74), Amoo; Ngog (Della Valle 73), Eccleston (Robinson 82)

Young Chelsea too easy for Ajax

**Chelsea's young players gain valuable lessons from Ajax Amsterdam. Premier League defending champions 1-3 this submission from the Dutch club in a trial match.

Against Ajax is part of Chelsea's pre-season games to prepare themselves retain his title. In the match in Amsterdam Arena, manager Carlo Ancelotti tried to play some younger players.

Meanwhile goalkeeper played Ross Turnbull to replace Petr Cech. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Bruma replace Alex in defense and Michael Essien as Chelsea kapetn in this friendly match.

However, Ajax appear to dominate in this fight. When a new game was six minutes besutan squad after Martin Jol was superior to Bruma's header into the goalkeeper but his own.

However, Chelsea had risen and leveled to 1-1 on 24 minutes through a kick Daniel Sturridge. Ajax, however it only takes two minutes to get the lead back.

Siem De Jong past the goalkeeper Turnbull and netted the ball into the empty goal. Ajax scored three goals while players of South Korea Hyun Jun Suk finish Daley Blind crossing before the end of matches.

Line-Ups:

Chelsea : Turnbull (Hilario ht), B Clifford (Chalobah ht), Bruma, Bertrand, Van Aanholt (Ince 64), Mikel (C Clifford 83), Essien (c) (Cork 73), Matic ; McEachran (Sinclair ht); Sturridge, The Saint (Lalkovic 64)

Ajax : Stekelenburg, Oleguer (Blind 64), Alderweireld, Vertonghen (Capt), Anita (Emanuelson 64), Enoh (Bonevacia 73), Lindgren, Sarpong, Eriksen (De Zeeuw 70), Zeegelaar , De Jong

Thierry Henry marks debut with a goal

**Thierry Henry marked his debut for Red Bull New York team with a goal. But his team had to end the game with a 1-2 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur.

Red Bull host Spurs in game that was held at the Red Bull Arena, Thursday (7/22/2010).

In this fight, the former French national player Thierry Henry make his debut with the team. Action dribel former Monaco player, Juventus, Arsenal, and Barcelona is amazing 20 thousand pairs of eyes that see directly on the Red Bull Arena.

Henry managed to provide a positive first impression thanks to his goals that kept the Spurs goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini in the 25th minute. This goal started from a bait failed Joel Lindpere prevented by Alan Hutton. Henry, who successfully passed the convoy opened fire Verdan Corluka successfully brought Red Bull to lead 1-0.

This is Henry's first goal after the last time he scored a goal on April 24th ago when delivering clamped Xerez 3-1 Barcelona in La Liga.

Titi epithet players are only played in the first round. In the rest, Henry swapped shirts with Spurs Luka Modric.

In the second half, Spurs managed to record two goals within ten minutes. Robbie Keane had scored equalizer in the 62nd minute after goalkeeper exploit anticipation errors Greg Sutton corner disposed toward Townsend.

Vice Premier League winning goal by Gareth Bale packed. Error backpass ytang done Jeremy Hall Bale easy to record the winning goal. Score 2-1 for The Lilywhites last until game is closed.

Spurs next game will perform tests against Benfica in Lisbon on July 25. Who's on the same date, the Red Bull team will face another Premier League is Manchester City.

Line-Ups:

Spurs: Cudicini, Bale, Corluka, Walker, Naughton, Hutton; Jenas, Kranjcar, Modric, Huddlestone, and Keane

Red Bulls: Coundoul; Miller, Albright, Mendes, Ream; Richards, Stammler, Lindpere, Robinson, Henry, and Kandji

Obertan ensures USA tour win : Philadelphia Union 0-1 Manchester United

**Manchester United ground out a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union at Lincoln Financial Field thanks to a 75th minute strike from Gabriel Obertan.
The MLS's newest team, the Philadelphia Union, welcomed Manchester United and 44,000 fans to the Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles.
United started the game with a mixture of youth and experience, but failed to gain control of the match in the first half, and had to wait until the 75th minute for Obertan to break the deadlock.
Paul Scholes pulled the strings for United in the opening ten minutes, repeatedly searching for Obertan on the right wing with a series of stunning diagonal balls.
The Frenchman provided the first threat of the game for Sir Alex Ferguson's side in the eighth minute, after good work from Danny Welbeck.
The young forward picked out Obertan at the far post with a delicate cross, only for the 21-year-old to hammer the ball wide of goal with a thunderous volley.
The initial signs were ominous for a Union side which has lost eight of the first 14 games of its inaugural MLS season.

However, the hard-working hosts fought their way back into the game, with 19-year-old Danny Mwanga a constant menace to United's defensive line.
After a narrow miss from Welbeck at one end on the half-hour mark, the Union almost scored the opening goal just two minutes late, with Mwanga again at the heart of the threat.
The young Union striker played an arching diagonal ball to Sebastien Le Toux in the United penalty area, who laid the ball off for Alejandro Moreno to shoot.
The Venezuelan's shot was well blocked by Jonny Evans, though, and United somehow survived the attack.
With the Union beginning to attack with real purpose, gaps emerged at the back for United's speedy forward line to exploit, and Welbeck very nearly did just that in the 35th minute.
Ryan Giggs and Fabio combined well on the left before the latter picked out Welbeck in space in the centre.
The 19-year-old looked certain to score when he shot low to the keeper's left, but Brad Knighton produced a tremendous save to somehow get a hand to the ball.
United's frustration began to show towards the end of the half, with Scholes receiving a yellow card for a trademark, clumsy challenge, before the Union again came close to breaking the deadlock after Mwanga released Le Toux clean through on goal, only for the Frenchman to drag his shot wide of the far post.
Ferguson bucked the trend of pre-season friendlies by refusing to make a change at half-time, while the Union made seven.
However, despite the massively changed personnel, the Union continued to ask questions of the United defence.
Mwanga again pulled the strings, sending substitute Nick Zimmerman free on the right, only for the American to see his shot flash wide of the post.
United could, and perhaps should, have had a penalty in the 65th minute, after Obertan was clearly obstructed in the area, but the Frenchman finally made the decisive breakthrough just 10 minutes later, clipping Welbeck's delicate through-ball under the body of Brian Perk, the onrushing goalkeeper.
United substitute Dimitar Berbatov almost doubled the lead four minutes later, thundering a fabulous shot-on-the-turn against the crossbar.
United saw one more penalty appeal fall on deaf ears in the 83rd minute, and held on for a hard-earned, but ultimately deserved 1-0 victory.
Eurosport

Source: uk.eurosport.com

Line-Ups:

Philadelphia Union: Knighton; Fiscal, Arrieta, Califf, Harvey; Le Toux, Miglioranzi, Coudet, Fred; Moreno, and Mwanga1

Manchester United: Kuszczak; O'Shea, Evans, Brown, Fabio; Obertan, Scholes, Giggs, Cleverley; Macheda, and Welbeck

Sturm Graz 0-3 Arsenal: Nasri brilliant double

**Samir Nasri appears to be a star when Arsenal face Sturm Graz. French players are not called to the 2010 World Cup made it two goals in a 3-0 victory for the Gunners.

Sturm Graz entertained in SUPC Arena, Wednesday (21/07/2010) , Arsenal win by convincing enough after the first half 2-0 up thanks to a Nasri directly goal .

Arsenal soon took the initiative from the outset and threatened attacks Graz goalkeeper who last season won the Austrian Cup and finish in fourth position the Austrian league.

The first goal was born on 16 minutes through Marouane Chamakh Nasri combination. Having failed to control the ball Chamakh bait results Nasri, the player controlled the ball back to France which then sends the ball into the goal.

Cooperation both re-born and nearly made the score 2-0 turned into football a few minutes later when a corner was met Chamakh Nasri successful. Bad luck for Arsenal, Thomas Burgstaller can dispel the ball at the goal line Graz.

Graz and then try to retaliate and some times dangerous Arsenal. However, the guest team that later fact double advantage.

Two minutes before the break, Arsenal get a free kick just outside the penalty area. Nasri can go forward and kick without a goalkeeper Silvije Cavlina driven.

In the second half, Arsene Wenger to make seven substitutions. One of these was Henri Lansbury who later became the third Arsenal goal scorer.

Gol 19-year-old player was born on 57 minutes after the bait welcome Jay Emmanuel-Thomas who is also a new entry in the second half. Calmly Lansbury who was in pole Arsenal win 3-0 away to close.

It was Arsenal's second victory in the pre-season games. Before this they shave Barnet 4-0.

According to the schedule on the Arsenal website, the next 'The Gunner' will met SC Neusiedl 1919 will be tested on July 27 before the involved parties cons Emirates Cup AC Milan and Celtic on July 31-August 1. Arsenal will finish pre-season game of counter Legia Warsaw on August 7.

Line-Ups:

Arsenal: Fabianski (Szczesny 46), Vermaelen (Koscielny 46), Nordveit, Djourou, Traore (Gibbs 46), Nasri (Rosicky 46), Walcott, Frimpong (Eastmond 46), Wilshere; Arshavin (Lansbury 46), Chamakh (Emmanuel- Thomas 46).

Sturm Graz: Cavlina; Weber, Burgstaller, Standfest, Schildenfeld, Muratovic, Kainz, Stangl, Saiko Kujabi, Szabics, Weinberger.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea: Essien come-back goal

**Michael Essien absurdly happy. Grazing for the first time after recovering from injury, Chelsea is a direct single scored his team victory over Crystal Palace in the game tests.

Facing the Crystal Palace, Saturday (07/17/2010) , Chelsea star not reinforced majority who still break after competing in the World Cup in 2010. As a result, the Blues a lot of young players down there though still Essien, Alex, Mikel John Obi and goalkeeper Petr Cech.

This is the first action on the gridiron Essien bandaged after a hamstring injury in December 2009. Consequently, this Ghanaian players can only play until the third season with Chelsea plus the lost opportunity to defend his country in the World Cup in 2010.

Chelsea are on the paper would win easily, it was not so in reality. Palace Carlo Ancelotti is able to force the troops to wait until almost an hour to be able to open the scoring.

Essien is Chelsea who managed to break the deadlock. From cooperation Josch McEachran and Daniel Sturridge, the ball is fed to Essien who successfully broke into a flat wicket spurn Palace in 58 minutes. Essien single goal is to be the only goal in this fight as well as a victory for 'The Blue'.

"It feels amazing. It's a long time but I am back in full training now, everything feels good and there was no reaction from the exercise so it was all very well for me," Essien said the club's official website that was launched from Sky Sports.

"I did not experience a vacation because they have to rehab but this would be a good thing to start the season and I look forward to all my colleagues to return as soon as possible," he concluded.

Line-Ups:

Crystal Palace: Julian Speroni, David Wright, Alexsander Radosavlijevic, Adam Barrett, Paddy McCarthy, Anthony Ouasafane, Neil Danns, Davide Baiocco, Alan Lee, Darren Ambrose, Andy Dorman.

Chelsea: Petr Cech, Jeffrey Buma, Ryan Bertrand, Patrick Van Aanholt, Michael Essien, Alex, John Obi Mikel, Nemanja matic. Daniel Sturridge, Joshua McEachran, Franco Di Santo.

Barnet 0-4 Arsenal: Arshavin sharpen goal

**Arsenal had won 4-0 in pre-season trial match against the home team another London, Barnet. Young players, Jay Simpson became a star by creating two goals.

Matches are held in cages Barnet, Underhill Stadium on Saturday (17/07/2010) . Arsenal, who appears dominated by young players also feature two new players; Laurent Koscielny and Marouane Chamakh persist despite well-known faces such as Thomas Vermalen and Samir Nasri, Andrei Arshavin.

Arsenal are far superior in every way no difficulty in dampening opposition teams are competing in League Two. Entered the match just 90 seconds, which was escorted Barnet goalkeeper Jake Cole has conceded.

Was Arshavin who made the first goal Arsenal. Starting from a joint one-two with Thomas Rosicky outside the penalty box, Arshavin's easy to deceive Cole and struck the ball into the goal.

Not long ago, or exactly at minute 16, Cole was forced back to pick up the ball from his own goalkeeper. Jack Wilshere send the bait in the penalty box and managed to kick Simpson was greeted by nesting in the lower corner of Barnet goal.

Twenty minutes later, Arsenal again bombard defense Barnet. Wilshere gets a chance to do the shooting on the edge of the box unfortunately the ball is still widening.

Then on 45 minutes Arsenal had increased his lead to 3-0. Through cooperation with the Arshavin-Wilshere, Simpson successfully ripped goalkeeper Cole also concluded the first round.

Barnet almost not slightly to face Arsenal. Premier League team is very inconvenient opponent with creates three but still failed to convert chances into goals.

But Arsenal did not have to wait long to get back to score goals. Nasri take advantage of a mistake defense that let the other team without a guard dribble. In minute 75, this French player then makes a goal makes the score is now 4-0 at the same time.

Opportunities Gunners back into the injury time of birth. Kieron Gibbs breakthrough bait to Conor Henderson and released with a crossing that can not be reached Nacer Barazite.

This score did not change until dissolved. In this game, Arsenal replace 11 players at a time when the second round two-minute walk.


Line-Ups:

Arsenal: Lukasz Fabianski, Havard Nordtveit, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Armand Traore, Emmanuel Frimpong, Tomas Rosicky, Jack Wilshere, Andrey Arshavin, Jay Simpson, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
Subs: Wojciech Szczesny, Vito Mannone, Ignasi Miquel, Johan Djourou, Kieran Gibbs, Craig Eastmond, Samir Nasri, Conor Henderson, Henri Lansbury, Nacer Barazite, Theo Walcott, Marouane Chamakh

Barnet: Jake Cole, Sam Cox, Jordan Parkes, Mark Hughes, Anwar Uddin, Darren Dennehy, Glen Southam, Glenn Poole, Ricky Holmes, Danny Kelly, Mark Byrne.
Subs: Joe Devera, Rossi Jarvis, Charlie Stimson, Reece Yorke, Danny Hart, Jack Giddens, Daniel Leach, Mark Marshall, Clovis Kamdjo, John McGicks

Glasgow Celtic 1-3 Manchester United: Berbatov brilliant

**Manchester United kicked-off their tour of North America with a hard fought 3-1 victory over SPL giants Celtic in Toronto, Canada on Friday,16/07/2010.

Dimitar Berbatov proved the difference in a tight first half, controlling Mame Biram Diouf's low cross superbly before clipping the ball past Lukasz Zaluska in the 33rd minute.

The Bulgarian's vision and awareness was a constant nuisance to the Celtic defence and he should have opened his account as soon as the 10th minute, when he met Diouf's high ball into the box with a firm header at the far post.

With Ryan Giggs waiting on the line to see the ball home, Berbatov instead went to power the ball towards the near post, and instead sent his header flying over the crossbar.

Berbatov and Gabriel Obertan proved a constant menace in the final third for United, and both came within inches of scoring on the half-hour mark.

Obertan - who used his electric pace on the right flank to repeatedly skin Celtic left-back Charlie Mulgrew - failed to hit the target when Fabio released him clean through on goal, before Berbatov rifled the ball wide from the edge of the area mere seconds later.

Celtic almost made United pay for their profligacy in the dying minutes of the half, with Mulgrew slamming the ball into the post from an acute angle.

United made a host of changes at half-time, while Celtic brought on a single player - Georgios Samaras - and instantly saw the Greek striker make a game-changing impact.

Samaras had the ball in the back of the net just three minutes after his introduction, but saw the goal rightly chalked off for offside.

He got a second chance in the 60th minute, however, when Manchester United debutant Chris Smalling hauled down Joe Ledley in the box to concede a penalty.

Samaras stepped up and confidently slammed the ball into the top-right corner, giving the Scottish side an unlikely equaliser.

With the Rogers Centre's sticky playing surface and summer heat sapping both sides' strength, the match looked to be heading for penalties until Berbatov again provided the crucial breakthrough in the 78th minute.

The Bulgarian drew Zaluska out to the right of the area, before squaring for substitute Danny Welbeck to tap into Celtic's empty net.

If the goal was harsh on Celtic, who had battled manfully throughout the second half to stay on level terms, then United third was simply cruel.

20-year-old substitute Tom Cleverley played a lovely one-two with Berbatov on the edge of the area, before his shot took a massive deflection to deceive Zaluska and nestle in the bottom corner of his net.

Manchester United travel to the USA tomorrow, before facing MLS new boys the Philadelphia Union on Thursday.

Celtic, meanwhile, face a tough Champions League Qualifying match against Braga, on Tuesday.

Eurosport

Source: uk.eurosport.com

Time Line-up:

Glasgow Celtic: Zaluska; Wilson, Rogne, O'Dea, Mulgrew; Brown, Crosas, Ledley; Forrest, Fortune, and Maloney.

Manchester United:Van der Sar; Rafael, Smalling, Evans, Fabio; Obertan, Scholes, Fletcher, Giggs; Berbatov, and Diouf.

Spain's midfielder Andres Iniesta scored the crucial goal : Spain 1-0 Netherland

Spain won the World Cup for the first time in history after defeating the Netherlands 1-0 in the championship's final match in South Africa.

One may believe in oracles or not, but Paul the Octopus's prediction proved to be true again: it's Vicente del Bosque's team who will take home the 2010 World Cup gilded trophy.

Red and yellow flags enveloped Johannesburg's Soccer City Stadium when Spain's midfielder Andres Iniesta scored the crucial goal in the 116th minute. The game went into extra time as both Spain and the Netherlands failed to score in regulation time.

Netherlands' defender Johnny Heitinga received a red card in the 109 minute of the game.

TV reports showed crowds of happy Spanish supporters in Johannesburg and Madrid singing, chanting and tooting their car horns, celebrating their team's long-awaited victory.

Spain reached the World Cup final for the first time after defeating Germany 1-0 in the semifinals on Thursday. The Netherlands made it into the final with a 3-2 win over Uruguay on Wednesday.

The Dutch struggled for the World Cup for the third time: they lost their two previous finals to West Germany and Argentina in 1974 and 1978, respectively.

On Saturday night, three-time champions Germany finished third after beating Uruguay 3-2. Germany was also third at the 2006 World Cup hosted by the country.

Line-Ups:

Netherlands: Maarten Stekelenburg, Gregory van der Wiel, John Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Edson Braafheid 105), Dirk Kuyt (Eljero Elia 71), Mark van Bommel, Wesley Sneijder, Nigel de Jong (Rafael van der Vaart 99), Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie.

Spain: Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevila, Xabi Alonso (Cesc Fabregas 87), Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Pedro (Jesus Navas 60), David Villa (Fernando Torres 106).

Germany defeated Uruguay 3-2 to clinch third place in the World Cup.

Germany defeated Uruguay 3-2 Saturday to clinch third place in the World Cup.

Midfielder Sami Khedira headed home the winner eight minutes from time in front of a crowd of 36,250 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.

Germany opened the scoring in the 19th minute when Thomas Mueller coolly taped in the ball from eight metres after Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera parried a shot from captain Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Uruguay equalized nine minutes later when Diego Perez dispossessed Schweinsteiger on the half-way line and passed to Luis Suarez, who set up Edinson Cavani to steer the ball home from inside the area.

Striker Diego Forlan volleyed home his fifth goal of the tournament on 51 minutes to put the South Americans ahead, but a header by Germany’s Marcel Jansen levelled the scores five minutes later.

Khedira’s winner in the 82nd minute meant that Germany finished third for the second World Cup in a row after narrowly failing to reach the final both in South Africa and on home soil four years ago.

Line-Ups:

Uruguay: Fernando Muslera, Diego Lugano, Diego Godin, Jorge Fucile, Maximiliano Pereira, Diego Perez (Walter Gargano 76'), Egidio Arevalo, Edinson Cavani (Sebastian Abreu 88'), Martin Caceres, Luis Suarez, Diego Forlan.

Germany: Hans-Joerg Butt, Marcell Jansen (Toni Kroos 81'), Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Jerome Boateng, Thomas Mueller, Dennis Aogo, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Cacau (Stefan Kiessling 73'), Mesut Ozil (Serdar Tasci 90').

Carles Puyol heroes !!! make Spain have a chance to win : Spain 1-0 Germany

Carles Puyol's header has given Spain a 1-0 lead over Germany in their World Cup semifinal on Wednesday night.

The Spain defender connected on Xavi's corner kick in the 73rd minute. Spain has had the best chances in the match in Durban.

David Villa's close-range shot from a pass by Pedro was blocked by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer in the sixth minute. Neuer stopped Pedro's shot in the 58th, and Andres Iniesta missed from a tough angle moments later.

German substitute Toni Kroos tested Iker Casillas with a shot in the 69th, but the goalkeeper blocked it with his palms.

Casillas also saved Piotr Trowchowski's long-distance shot in the 32nd.

The winner will play the Netherlands in Sunday's World Cup final.

Line-Ups:

Germany: Manuel Neuer, Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Jerome Boateng (Marcell Jansen 52'), Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira (Mario Gomez 80'), Mesut Oezil, Lukas Podolski, Piotr Trochowski (Toni Kroos 61'), Miroslav Klose

Spain: Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Joan Capdevila, Sergio Ramos, Sergio Busquets, Xabi Alonso (Carlos Marchena 92'), Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, David Villa (Fernando Torres 80'), Pedro (David Silva 85')

Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Arjen Robben scored Wesley Sneijder scored his fifth goal : Netherland 3-2 Uruguay

The Netherlands would advance to the final of the World Cup with a 3-2 win over South American side Uruguay.

Wesley Sneijder scored his fifth goal in South Africa and Giovanni van Bronckhorst added one of the goals of the tournament as the Dutch reached their first World Cup final in 32 years.

Van Bronckhorst scored with a blistering shot in the 18th minute, but Diego Forlan equalized in the 41st with his fourth goal of the tournament.

In the second half, the Dutch took control of the match with two goals in a three minute span. Wesley Sneijder would score in the 70th minute and Arjen Robben added another in the 73rd minute with a great header. The score was 3-1 but Uruguay would make it interesting in stoppage time. Maxi Pereira would score in stoppage time as Uruguay cut the lead to 3-2 but that’s as close as it would get.

The Dutch will now play the winner of Spain/Germany in the final while Uruguay will place the loser in the third place match.

Line-Ups:

Uruguay: Fernando Muslera, Diego Godin, Mauricio Victorino, Walter Gargano, Maximiliano Pereira, Martin Caceres, Diego Perez, Alvaro Pereira (Sebastian Abreu 77'), Egidio Arevalo, Edinson Cavani, Diego Forlan (Sebastian Fernandez 83')

Netherlands: Maarten Stekelenburg, Khalid Boulahrouz, John Heitinga, Joris Mathijsen, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Dirk Kuyt, Mark van Bommel, Wesley Sneijder, Academy de Zeeuw (Rafael van der Vaart 46'), Arjen Robben (Eljero Elia') Robin van Persie

David Villa striker is the first Spanish player to score in four consecutive World Cup matches : Spain 1-0 Paraguay

Villa scored in the 83rd minute of today's 1-0 quarterfinal win over Paraguay at Ellis Park with a shot that ricocheted off both posts before spinning over the line.

The Barcelona-bound striker is the first Spanish player to score in four consecutive World Cup matches, and has moved within one goal of matching Raul Gonzalez' national record of 44.

Torres said Villa has been doing a fine job, scoring five of the team's six goals at the tournament so far.

"He's been very, very important for us, a key for Spain scoring a lot of goals," said Torres. "He gives us the opportunity to go forward and think about winning the World Cup."

Like Del Bosque, Villa backed his strike partner ahead of Wednesday's semifinal match against Germany, the same team Spain beat in the 2008 European Championship final — due to Torres' lone goal.

"We're not at all (worried about Torres), since we know what a great player he is," Villa said. "Surely he'll be back to his best as he was against Germany (in the 2008 final). For sure in the next game, he'll reappear and help us get to the final."

Line-Ups:
Spain: Casillas, Ramos, Pique, Puyol (Marchena 84), Capdevila, Xavi, Busquets, Alonso (Pedro 75), Iniesta, Torres (Fabregas 56), Villa

Paraguay: Villar, Veron, Da Silva, Alcaraz, Morel; Barreto (Vera 64), Riveros, Caceres (Lucas 84), Santana; Cardozo, Valdez (Santa Cruz 72)

Thomas Muller opener goal, Arne Friedrich scores and Miroslav Klose double : Der Panzer destroyed Tango squad

Germany's disciplined defense and clinical counter attacks proved far superior to Argentina's creative flair Saturday, earning a convincing 4-0 win that ended Diego Maradona's hopes of becoming the third person to win the World Cup both as a player and coach.

Germany repeated history by beating Argentina in the World Cup quarterfinals for the second tournament in a row, and this time it never looked likely to need penalties to reach the semis.

Thomas Mueller gave Germany an early lead and Miroslav Klose scored two second-half goals either side of Arne Friedrich's simple tap-in as the Germans scored four goals for the third time this tournament.

"What the team showed, it was not only international level, but the level of champions," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "It was absolute class."

Klose's two goals in his 100th international gives him 14 total World Cup scores, putting him level with fellow German Gerd Mueller on the all-time list. Brazil's Ronaldo tops the list with 15, but Klose will have two more games at this tournament to surpass him.

Argentina entered the game with perhaps the tournament's most potent attacking lineup, but neither Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez or Gonzalo Higuain managed to break down the compact wall of German defenders.

Instead it was Argentina's defense that repeatedly cracked as all three of Germany's second-half goals came on well-constructed counter attacks.

After Mueller's third-minute header, Klose added a simple tap-in in the 68th minute. Friedrich then raced from defense to strike home the third in the 74th, and Klose added his second in the 89th.

Line-Ups:

Argentina: Sergio Romero, Nicolas Burdisso, Martin Demichelis, Javier Mascherano, Gabriel Heinze, Nicolas Otamendi (Javier Pastore 69'), Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria (Sergio Aguero 75'), Maxi Rodriguez, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez

Germany: Manuel Neuer, Arne Friedrich, Per Mertesacker, Jerome Boateng (Marcell Jansen 71'), Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira (Toni Kroos 77'), Mesut Oezil, Lukas Podolski, Thomas Mueller (Piotr Trochowski 83'), Miroslav Klose

Uruguay reaches World Cup semifinals, beating Ghana 4-2 in penalty shootout

Uruguay reached the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time since 1970, but ended the hopes of Africa after winning a truly extraordinary match at Soccer City on a penalty shoot-out.

Ghana seemed certain to become the first African side to reach the last four of the competition when Luis Suarez saw red after handling on the line in the dying seconds of extra-time.

However, striker Asamoah Gyan, who had already converted two penalties in South Africa, skimmed the crossbar with the last kick of the game.

Gyan showed incredible guts to take the first spot-kick of the shoot-out but John Mensah and Dominic Adiyiah both had their low strikes saved by Fernando Muslera.

And Sebsatian Abreu then showed ice-cold composure to dink the decisive penalty beyond Richard Kingson as Uruguay sealed a semi-final tie against the Netherlands.

Suarez's deliberate handball, which came seconds after he had legitimately blocked one goal-bound effort with his knee, was a gamble that paid handsome dividends.

It was a truly remarkable final few minutes, surely some of the most dramatic in World Cup history, and came at the end of an engrossing and occasionally bad-tempered contest.

Both teams enjoyed periods in the ascendancy - and both were guilty of wasting numerous opportunities.

Sulley Muntari, almost kicked out of the squad after criticising coach Milovan Rajevac earlier in the competition, struck a long-range opener on the stroke of half-time, while the impressive Diego Forlan equalised with a free-kick 10 minutes after the restart.

La Celeste controlled the early part of the contest and their early endeavours twice brought them close to scoring but each time they were denied by Kingson.

The first was a reaction save after John Mensah inadvertently deflected a corner towards his own goal and the second an athletic finger-tip effort to deny Suarez, who will be suspended for the semi-final, after the striker capitalised on a slip by Isaac Vorsah.

But the South American side, already without injured defender Diego Godin, lost skipper Diego Lugano to injury towards the end of the first half, his withdrawal coming at a time when the Black Stars had started to find a foothold in the match.

Rajevac's side had offered almost nothing in attack until Vorsah, recalled in defence in place of the suspended Jonathan Mensah, headed wide from a corner just before the half-hour mark.

Gyan then narrowly missed after the industrious Kevin-Prince Boateng picked him out in front of the deep-sitting Uruguay defence with a square ball, while Mutari headed wide after latching on to a raking pass.

Even so, it looked as though the match would be goalless at the break until Muntari, gifted the time to assess his options, unleashed a vicious 40-yard strike that caught Muslera off guard.

Uruguay brought on Nicolas Lodeiro at the break and the game quickly became stretched as Tabarez's team searched for an equaliser.

Edinson Cavani felt he should have been awarded a penalty after he went down under a challenge from Vorsah, but there was no doubt about Forlan's free-kick from a wide angle that drew his team level.

Ghana had repeated opportunities to strike on the counter, but they wasted a series of excellent positions with poor pass selection, while Gyan tangled repeatedly with several different members of the Uruguay defence.

Uruguay created two good chances for Suarez but he could only guide a cross from Forlan into the side-netting at the far post and drill in a strike that Kingson palmed over.

Andres Scotti blocked a shot from Gyan in the first half of extra-time and, minutes before the shoot-out, almost kicked the ball into his own net as he tried to clear it away from the dangerous Ghana striker.

The Black Stars were dominant in the closing minutes of extra-time as their opponents visibly tired and, after Suarez legally denied Steven Appiah and then Adiyiah - illegally - the match took its dramatic final twist.

Line-Ups:

Uruguay: Fernando Muslera, Mauricio Victorino Diego Lugano (C)(Andres Scotti 37'), Jorge Fucile, Maxi Pereira, Egidio Arevalo, Diego Perez, Luis Suarez, Diego Forlan, Alvaro Fernandez (Nicolas Lodeiro 45'), Edinson Cavani (Sebastian Abreu 75')

Ghana: Richard Kingson, John Mensah (C), Isaac Vorsah, Hans Sarpei, John Pantsil, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Anthony Annan, Asamoah Gyan, Kwadwo Asamoah, Sulley Muntari (Dominic Adiyah 88'), Samuel Inkoom (Stephen Appiah 74')

Wesley Sneijder great header when Netherland beat Brazil 2-1

Soccer's perennial World Cup underachievers from the Netherlands knocked off mighty Brazil on Friday, stamping the Dutch as a strong contender to finally win that elusive title.

Wesley Sneijder, one of the shortest players on the field, scored in the 68th minute on a header for a stunning 2-1 quarterfinals win over the five-time champions.

"It just slipped through from my bald head and it was a great feeling," Sneijder said.

Brazil, which also went out in this round four years ago against France, lost its composure after falling behind, and defender Felipe Melo was ejected in the 73rd minute for stomping on the leg of Arjen Robben.

The Dutch made the championship match in 1974 and '78, lost both, and rarely have lived up to their talent in other World Cups. They did this time, helped by an own goal off the head of unfortunate Felipe Melo that brought them into a 1-1 tie in the 53rd.

Robinho gave the Brazilians the lead on Felipe Melo's brilliant low pass up the middle of the field that the striker put home with a low shot.

But soon, the Dutch took control, and the end of the match presented the unusual sight of the Brazilians scrambling wildly to find an equalizer.

It never came.

Instead, it was the Oranje and their fans doing the dancing.

The majority of the fans inside the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium were clad in Brazilian yellow — even though the team wore blue Friday. Many of the fans were wearing South Africa jerseys of the same color, though.

But long after the match ended, the only fans remaining were orange-shirted Netherlands supporters, waving their country's red-white-and-blue flags and chanting "Oranje."

"It was an amazing game. I think we showed the whole world how we can play," Sneijder said. "Finally we won, we beat Brazil."

After scoring, Sneijder sprinted around the field, tapping the front of his head, then ran to a TV camera and tapped the lens. He was in the middle of all the postgame celebrating, too, as his teammates swarmed him when the final whistle blew.

A few yards away, several Brazilian players lay on the turf, bewildered and beaten.

The Netherlands reached the semifinals for the first time since losing to Brazil on penalty kicks at the 1998 World Cup, and will next face either Uruguay or Ghana, which plays later Friday.

Having won all five matches so far, the Netherlands extended its team-record unbeaten streak to 24 games, stretching back to a September 2008 loss to Australia.

On a warm afternoon before a sellout crowd of 42,286 at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Brazil dominated the first 45 minutes, then fell apart. Before the Dutch comeback, goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg timed his leap perfectly to deflect a shot by Kaka that was headed into the right corner of the net.

The one-goal lead wasn't enough. Brazil began to unravel when Felipe Melo jumped in front of keeper Julio Cesar and inadvertently headed the ball into his net.

Sneijder's goal followed a corner kick from Robben. Dirk Kuyt flicked the ball with his head to Sneijder in the middle of the 6-yard box and he rose high enough to deflect it into the left corner of the goal.

Source : deccanchronicle

Line-Ups:

Netherlands: Maarten Stekelenburg, Andre Ooijer, John Heitinga, Giovanni van Bronckhorst (C), Gregory Van Der Wiel, Nigel de Jong, Mark Van Bommel, Wesley Sneijder, Dirk Kuyt, Arjen Robben, Robin Van Persie (Klas Jan Huntelaar 84')

Brazil: Julio Cesar, Juan, Lucio (C), Michel Bastos (Gilberto Melo 61'), Maicon, Felipe Melo, Gilberto Silva, Kaka, Robinho Dani Alves, Luis Fabiano (Nilmar 76')