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European Ticker: Pep extends Barca contract, Neville flips Tevez the bird and more

Pep Guardiola (Reuters)

By AVI CREDITOR

Speculation at the Nou Camp will be silenced for at least another year.

Pep Guardiola has agreed to stay on as coach of FC Barcelona through the 2010/2011 season, although the deal won't be signed until this summer.

Guardiola, long-rumored to be looking for a club change, still admits that he won't be staying with the UEFA Champions League title holders forever, but the one-year extension should ease apprehension among Barca supporters.

Last season Guardiola guided Barcelona to a treble of Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey titles, and although the team was bounced by Sevilla in the Copa del Rey last week, it remains five points clear of second-place Real Madrid in La Liga and advanced to the knockout stage of the Champions League.

Here are a few more newsworthy items to help you get through your Wednesday:

Neville under FA investigation

Manchester United's Gary Neville was caught on camera giving the middle finger to former teammate Carlos Tevez during Tuesday's Carling Cup semifinal at Eastlands, and now he faces potential punishment by the Football Association.

Tevez, who scored twice in Manchester City's 2-1, first-leg victory over United, celebrated his goals by taunting his old squad and Neville responded with a one-fingered salute.

The Red Devils will get a chance for redemption in the second leg, slated for Jan. 27 at Old Trafford. Aston Villa and Blackburn play their second leg this afternoon. Villa took the first leg 1-0 last Thursday.

Campbell sues Portsmouth

As if the financial situation at Portsmouth wasn't bad enough, now Pompey is being sued by former player Sol Campbell.

The 35-year-old Campbell, who returned to Arsenal over the weekend on a deal through the end of the season, is suing for 1.67 million pounds (about $2.72 million) in allegedly unpaid image-rights fees and bonuses.

Portsmouth has already had issues with paying its current players on time this season.

Hull City lands Zaki

Beleaguered Egyptian international Amr Zaki is back in the Premier League after being loaned to Hull City from Egyptian side Zamalek FC for the remainder of the season.

Zaki scored 11 goals for Wigan Athletic last season, but he was chastised for his attitude and work ethic by former Wigan coach Steve Bruce. The striker was unfit for the African Cup of Nations, where Egypt has advanced to the quarterfinals.

Relieved to see some stability at Barcelona? Amazed at Carlos Tevez' current form? Have any cash to donate to Portsmouth? Afraid of what Zaki's arrival means for Jozy Altidore?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. he was off and on as a starter anyhow, i dont see how this hurts him any. If anything he’ll come back with peace of mind and ready to play. Compared to a Jozy with mental termoil if he stayed and played.

    There will be a place for him to play even if he’s not seeing PT with Hull. His career is far from over. 2 games guy, 2 games. Oh noes!

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  2. different incidents all together. With CD, Jozy knew exactly what happened and how he was. Jozy left for haiti b/c he had no news from his family.

    comparing the two is ridiculous

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  3. If Brown is smart he’d put Jozy and Zaki out there together. They’d make a great pairing. Zaki’s ability to score, Jozy’s ability to get the ball down and into space. I think the only way you get the most out of Jozy is by partnering him with a big goal scoring striker (like Jones).

    Hull are in danger of the drop; they must be a more attacking side the second half of the season.

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  4. Probably just wants to find different challenges. Not everyone is satisfied always perching at the top of the table with the same team every year.

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  5. “I don’t understand why he would be on leave. Okay, his homeland suffered a major earthquake but over the weekend other Haitian athletes participated in the NFL playoffs. I really think Jozy is over-rated. He has potential but when I watch him play, he seems to not put in 100%, except for the Spain & CR matches.”

    who is this guy, ives? total ignorance to what matters.

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  6. JOZY IS 19!

    JOZY IS 19!

    JOZY IS 19!

    NOT ONE PERSON HAS MENTIONED THAT!

    You cant expect a 19 year old to play at his best when something horrible happens….dont even mention CD, 1) his friend, not family 2) didnt die 3) he was a team mate and Charlie wanted everybody to play at their best for him, he would much rather them beat costa rica than come see him

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  7. his parents and siblings could be sitting at home right now asking why this had to happen to them…..they have family members that could be dead and they barely have any way of finding out

    i cant see any 19 year old playing through two or more possible deaths in his family

    people like you expect way too much out of players like Altidore and Adu….this is ethical ignorance at its finest

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  8. many of his family members are still there….its not just like he was born there and hes upset

    him and his parents are still in the process of trying to figure out if i believe his cousins are still even alive

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  9. It is amazing to me some people’s reaction to Jozy taking time off to try to help his family and the country his parents came from. He’s clearly making a decision that he’s thought through that this is more important to him than soccer.

    I applaud him for that.

    You may not like it because he may not get minutes and may not be tip top for the World Cup, but quite frankly our input as fans and supporters of him means nothing at this point. It may affect his earning potential later in his career, he may not get playing time this season. I’m sure he understands that. He’s made a decision that the people he cares about are more important to him than his career. It isn’t responsible to compare him to other athletes in similar situations because every single person is different and every single situation is different.

    Get off his back; he’s doing something I wish more people would do.

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  10. He needs to do what he feels is right.

    That said, he could easily lose his place and see more bench time. Soccer is a business and it’s out of sight, out of mind.

    He knows the situation better than all of us, though, so I think it’s silly to fault him in any way.

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  11. Well, you’ll notice I didn’t say he got more playing time then Berbatov. Obviously Berbatov played more, but when Berbatov was injured Tevez started quite a few games, and he also played in the vast majority of every game. Bottom line he missed a lot of goals last season that he’s scoring this season. Berbatov wasn’t exactly excellent either last year, but he did have more goals and led the entire league in assists…

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  12. Well the last I read he was given leave for an undisclosed period of time, so I assume it is up to him. As for the other Haitian athletes, everyone is affected differently. And Jozy has family and friends in Haiti, not sure about the NFL guys.

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