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Theo Walcott missed half of last season due to injuries. Now he's relishing the thought of playing alongside Arsenal's new signing Alexis Sanchez.
The pair caught up for the first time and Walcott shared a pic on his twitter account with these words 'Watch out PremierLeague Me and Alexis Sanchez will be a deadly force!! Speed matters.'
Lionel Messi and wife have been trying to put their disappointment of the world cup final behind them.
The Nigeria table tennis team were responsible for the best scenes of celebration in the Commonwealth Games so far after Ojo Onaolapo's win over India's Sharath Kamal Achanta sealed a bronze medal.
Onaolapo and Achanta were locked in a tense battle on Monday night at the Scotstoun Sports Campus with a bronze medal on the line before the Nigerian allowed an over-hit shot to pass him by.
The dramatic win saw the Nigerian team rush to Onaolapo in sheer jubilation before lifting the table tennis star into the air.
As the celebrations continued, Onaolapo decided to pull his shorts down to his ankles and lift up his t-shirt as he clenched his fists.
Onaolapo, who is ranked outside of the world's top 300 table tennis players, claimed the victory against world No 40 Achanta to hand Nigeria a 3-1 win against their Indian opponenents.
Neymar is spending his well-earned holidays in Ibiza before joining his team's pre-season training. The Brazilian has to wear this kind of medical corset to protect his injured spine caused by the brutal knee in the back that Colombian Camilo Zuñiga gave him during the past World Cup tournament.
Who says "soccer" isn't gaining grounds in America? After coming up against Roma, Real Madridwill travel to Ann Arbor, in Michigan, to face Manchester United, a game that has really got 'soccer' fans excited in the United States. In fact, it's expected that the fixture will break the attendance record for a football game in the United States.
The selected venue, the University of Michigan Stadium, known as the Big House, really is something else. It's the home stadium of the Michigan Wolverines, and American Football team that plays in the NCAA, and it's the largest stadium in the country and the fourth largest in the world.
Built in 1927 and costing 950,000 dollars, the Big House now has a capacity of 109,901 spectators following its expansion in 2010, and it boasts the record attendance for a sporting event, for ice hockey's Winter Classic from this year, which was watched by 105,591 spectators.
The organisers estimate that the stadium will be filled, meaning that Real Madrid will make history. In Spain, meanwhile, the capacity of the Bernabéu dropped quite a while back, when all stands became seated only, but at no point did the stadium ever fill with that many spectators.
Real Madrid is the club that has caused the greatest interest at the tournament
Arsenal made a double signing on Sunday - with the acquisition of goalkeeper David Ospina and his wife Jesica Sterling.
Ospina completed his £3.2million transfer from Nice to Arsenal and he will move to North London with Jesica Sterling.
The 25-year-old Colombian stopper will challenge Wojciech Sczcesny for Arsenal's No 1 jersey next season.
The couple have been married since 2012, during which time Ospina has played for Nice.
They have a daughter together.
Ospina signed for Nice in 2008 from Atletico Nacional and made 177 league appearances for the French club.
As Arsenal's players gear up for this weekend's Emirates Cup, Mesut Ozil is still relaxing on holiday with his girlfriend.
The 25-year-old was spotted with Mandy Capristo relaxing by the pool of their hotel in Las Vegas.
Winning the World Cup with Germany was the perfect end to a mixed season for the former Real Madrid man, but Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says Ozil will miss the start of the season after his summer exploits.
Polish rider Bartosz Huzarski caused a social media storm on Sunday when he posted a shocking image of his legs on Facebook after the 18th stage.
The 33-year-old was bombarded with abuse, including accusations of doping, following the revelation of his veiny legs.
Huzarski was baffled by the furore, saying: ‘Of course I will not have legs like Victoria’s Secret models, or Mary from a nearby vegetable shop, or anyone working in an office who does a 10km bike ride or an hour run three times a week.
'Unfortunately it does not work like that and this what you see in the picture. It is not unhealthy.’
The condition is also exacerbated by Huzarski standing up as the effect of gravity can cause the veins to fill with blood.
Italian Vincenzo Nibali won the Tour, ahead of Frenchmen Jean-Christophe Peraud and Thibaut Pinot.
New signings have helped to bolster Arsenal's increasingly terrifying midfield. Ozil and Sanchez? Mikel Arteta and Santi Carzola? Wilshire still lurks in the shadows!
Arsene Wenger has had to manage better midfield side especially when you remember Arsenal of yore, but the probably hasn't been anytime when Arsenal midfield has been so diversified with lots and lots of options than now 2014.
General weakness in the team still persists, the striker role upfront isn't exactly looking covered with Giroud the closest thing Arsenal has to a good striker-not much for competition. The defence is looking lukewarm as usual but a very interesting signing of goalkeeper Ospina could just about make the difference.
Arsenal is a rejuvenated new team at last!
Lil Wayne is following in the footsteps of Jay-Z and starting his own sports management company. According to TMZ, the first client Weezy is adding to his rosteris a big one. Some of you know him as Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo and Lil Wayne are apparently friends, and Wayne has wanted to get into the sports management business for a while.
His company will be affiliated with PolarisSports, which is a division of the well-known CAA agency. Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes is a part of CAA.
TMZ reports that Lil Wayne’s new company will handle Ronaldo’s marketing and endorsement deals in the United States. We have all seen how successful Jay-Z’s Roc Nation sports has been and the type of big-name clients the music juggernaut has been able to attract. Having Ronaldo as his first client could lead to the same type of success for Lil Wayne.
David Ospina was filmed crying as he said goodbye to his teammates at Nice.
The Colombian goalkeeper is set to join up with Arsenal next week ahead of finalising his transfer which will see him come in to the club to rival Wojciech Szczesny as the number one Arsenal keeper.
The video is in French but the emotion is clear.
Arsenal have already confirmed the transfer. Arsene Wenger told the official site
David Ospina is an excellent goalkeeper, with good experience and a proven record of performing with Nice and Colombia. He will add strength to our squad and we are very pleased that he will be joining us.
[Hat tip @GFN_France]
Two burglars found out they had decided to rob the wrong person when their attempted housebreak was foiled by former WWE world heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan.
Daniel Bryan, real name Bryan Danielson, was walking back home with his wife, Brie Danielson, to their property in Phoenix, Arizona, when they saw two men making their way out of the house holding a bag of loot.
When the two men realised they had been spotted, they dropped the stolen goods and decided to sprint off down the street.
However, keen to apprehend the two thieves, Bryan gave chase.
The professional athlete soon caught up with one of the thieves, 22 year-old Cesar Sosa, and used all of his wrestling experience by holding Sosa in a “rear naked chokehold” until police arrived.
The other suspect managed to get away.
Speaking at a press conference after the incident, Bryan said that the couple’s first worry was for their two-year-old French bulldog Josie, who they had left in the property.
After making sure that the Josie was ok, Bryan said he was “very angry” when he found out that someone had broken into his property and “out of instinct” gave chase.
Bryan said that after chasing Sosa for 400 feet he was able to catch and take down the “exhausted” burglar.
Holding him until the police came; Bryan said that the burglar gave up very little resistance and repeatedly apologised.
When police arrested Sosa, they found that alongside, he had an outstanding felony warrant for kidnapping against his name.
Reflecting on the incident, Bryan said that he was “borderline ashamed of what he did”, saying that it was “probably not the best thing to do because you don’t know what is going to happen.”
The robbery resulted in Bryan losing a bracelet given to him by his father who passed away earlier this year, but all other things taken from the house were returned to the WWE star and his wife.
Daniel Bryan is a fan favourite in the WWE and is best known for ‘Yes movement’.
Alongside his World Heavyweight Championship success, Bryan can count the Tag Team Championship belt and the United States Championship title as his other achievements in professional wrestling.
David Beckham caught up with some old friends as he visited Real Madrid’s training camp in Los Angeles.
The former Madrid man chatted to present-day galacticos Gareth Bale and Xabi Alonso as well as shaking hands with many of the other players.
Real are playing in the International Champions Cup and face Roma in Dallas on Tuesday.
Beckham told reporters that he thought the current Madrid squad contained ‘special players’ and was excited by the signing of James Rodriguez.
He said: ‘He’s a great player, he had a great World Cup, is a young player who is obviously very talented and he scored for me the best goal of the World Cup.’
Beckham didn’t win the Champions league during his spell in Madrid but he said he was delighted for the manager, the president and the players for last season’s ‘incredible’ achievement.
Chelseahave completed the signing of their form striker Didier Drogba on a one-year deal on Friday.
The former Galatasaray was seen holding the Blues shirt and his deal would come as a massive boost for the fansof the fans of the West London club. After signing a deal with Chelsea, Drogba admitted that it was an easy decision to re-sign with the Stamford Bridgeclub.
“It was an easy decision – I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to work with Jose again. Everyone knows the special relationship I have with this club and it has always felt like home to me,” Drogba told Chelsea’s official website.
“My desire to win is still the same and I look forward to the opportunity to help this team. I am excited for this next chapter of my career.”
*.European champion forced out of Glasgow 2014 for alleged doping offence
*.Williams 'devastated' and in 'shock' at results
*.30-year-old won bronze at Delhi 2010 and European gold in Helsinki
Rhys Williams, Wales' European 400 metres hurdles champion, has been provisionally suspended after being charged with an anti-doping violation.
The 30-year-old son of rugby union great JJ Williams becomes the second Welsh athlete to be forced out of the Commonwealth Games over an alleged doping offence, after 800m runner Gareth Warburton was withdrawn earlier this month.
Welsh Athletics said in a statement: 'Welsh Athletics can confirm the provisional suspension of Rhys Williams after being charged with committing an anti-doping rule violation under the IAAF anti-doping rules.
'Rhys has the opportunity to respond to the charges against him and to have those charges determined at a full hearing before the national anti-doping panel.
'Welsh Athletics strongly supports clean sport and has established a comprehensive education programme for its athletes.
In a statement released through his management company Concept Sports Management, he said: 'I am utterly devastated about the news of this anti-doping rule violation, which has come as a great shock to me. From the outset, I would strongly like to state that I have not knowingly taken any banned substance.
'As a professional athlete, I have always supported and have been an advocate of clean sport. However, I recognise that the responsibility for this situation lies with me and I'm committed to working with UK Anti-Doping and will fully co-operate in the legal process.
'I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all the best to my team-mates at the Commonwealth Games. To be named co-team captain for the Welsh athletics team was a great honour and I am distraught that I won't be able to fulfil this role and join them as part of Team Wales. I wish them all well.
'Finally, in line with this process and until the hearing of the national anti-doping panel, I will not be making any further comment.'
Brazilian superstar Neymar's brain activity while dancing past opponents is less than 10 per cent the level of amateur players, suggesting he plays as if on auto-pilot, according to Japanese neurologists.
Results of brain scans conducted on Neymar in February this year indicated minimal cerebral function when he rotated his ankle and point to the Barcelona striker's wizardry being uncannily natural.
"From MRI images we discovered Neymar's brain activity to be less than 10 per cent of an amateur player," researcher Eiichi Naito said.
"It is possible genetics is a factor, aided by the type of training he does."
The findings were published in the Swiss journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience following a series of motor skills tests carried out on the 22-year-old Neymar and several other athletes in Barcelona in February this year.
Three Spanish second-division footballers and two top-level swimmers were also subjected to the same tests, added Naito of Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology.
Naito concluded in his paper that the test results "provide valuable evidence that the football brain of Neymar recruits very limited neural resources in the motor-cortical foot regions during foot movements".
Asked whether Neymar's Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi or Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo might display similar test results, Naito said: "It is fair to assume they would show similar levels given their footwork and technique."
Naito told Japan's Mainichi Shimbun newspaper: "Reduced brain activity means less burden which allows (the player) to perform many complex movements at once. We believe this gives him the ability to execute his various shimmies."
Neymar carried the hopes of host nation Brazil on his shoulders at the recently ended World Cup but his involvement ended in tears as he fractured a vertebra in the 2-1 quarter-final victory over Colombia.
Without its talisman, who had scored four goals in the tournament, Brazil suffered its most humiliating defeat ever when it was pulverised 7-1 by eventual champions Germany in the semi-final.
Source AFP
Brown Ideye’s first Baggies outing is set to come in the friendly at Nottingham Forest on August 2 after the club decided against flying him to the United States to join their pre-season tour.
West bromwich albion broke their transfer record to sign the dominant foward this summer and many Nigerians already anticipate his first game.
Ideye will follow in the footsteps of Peter Odemwingie who is West brom's premier league all time leading goal scorer.
At around 6pm local time, a table-full of City shirt clad fans broke into a stirring rendition of a now famous Blues chant.
"Sheikh Mansour went to Spain in a Lamborghini, brought us back a manager Manuel Pellegrini!"
The song was a joyous outburst from a group of about 30 City fans who had come from all over America to watch the Blues take on Sporting Kansas City.
The pre-match get together was masterminded by Phil Antilla, a Kansas local and founder of the MCFC Midwest supporters club.
Fans had come up from Dallas, Denver and even as far away as Florida for their chance to watch the Premier League champions in the flesh.
Antilla said: "When I was a kid it was hard to find anyone who wasn't a Real Madrid or Manchester United fan, so when I started playing, all my friends were United fans and I did not want to be like them, and I realised there was a better team in Manchester, and that was in 2004 and it's been a good 10 years."
Two of City's goalscorers from the Sporting KC game are not fully fledged Blues yet. Bruno Zuculini is still to have his deal ratified by the Premier League, and he could well head out on loan when the paperwork is signed off. He was mightily impressive at Sporting Park and looks to have blended in really well with the squad, laughing and joking with them in the mixed zone.
The fact that he is Spanish-speaking Argentinian helps - that is now the most common language in the Blues dressing room. Kelechi Ihaenacho, meanwhile, is with City from the Right to Dream academy based in Ghana. City have close ties with it and are hoping to sort Iheanacho's future after the tour. The 17-year-old Nigerian heads back home now as he's not eligible for the International Champions Cup.
:: The atmosphere in Sporting Park was really good and a near sell-out crowd of over 18,000 turned up to watch. The stadium announce makes a really big deal of announcing the players and there were rousing pre-match fireworks and anthems. Something for the Etihad Stadium hierarchy to consider...
Frank Lampard has completed his move to MLS side New York City FC after he was unveiled on Thursday.
The 36-year-old left Chelsea at the end of last season after 13 seasons and a club record 211 goals.
The midfielder becomes New York City FC's fourth player and second major summer signing following the arrival of David Villa from Atletico Madrid.
Lampard, who has signed a two-year deal with his new club, made 649 appearances for Chelsea since signing from West Ham in 2001. He has played 106 times for England, scoring 29 goals.
He signed a one-year contract extension with the Blues in May 2013 after mulling over a move to Los Angeles Galaxy, who he will now play in opposition from next spring.
New York City FC sporting director Claudio Reyna said Lampard was 'one of the greatest players over the last 15 years' and ;ticked all the boxes' in terms of a signing.
The move appealed to Lampard, too.
Lampard said at a media conference in New York: 'Why not chose New York City? For me talking about it ticking all the boxes, personally for me it does exactly the same.
'It's a very exciting challenge for me in life terms.
'I've seen a real long-term plan and I wanted to be part of that. I want to test myself, I want to carry on challenging myself.
'It was a good time for myself and Chelsea that I moved on.'
Lampard did not speak to former England team-mate and ex-LA Galaxy captain David Beckham about MLS.
'I know David pretty well, but we're not on every day speaking terms,' Lampard added.
'I've spoken to him about his experiences in the MLS (but) the decision was all mine.
'There's a lot of new challenges here, but I'm coming to a great city and I wanted to show people that I can play good football.'
Lampard is still to determine what the immediate future holds, given the season begins in 2015.
After outshining Christiano Ronaldo at the World cup, James Rodriguez has been unveilled as the new Real Madrid big budget signing at a price of £60 million which makes him the 4th most expensive footballer in history!
Real Madrid now have the 1st, 2nd and the 4th most expensive player in the same team. Beat that!
