By JOHN BOSCHINI
The long-enduring saga of Carlos Tevez at Manchester City took another turn over the weekend with word that Tevez has withdrawn his transfer request and has pledged his future to Manchester City.
Tevez and Manchester City faces Everton this afternoon (3pm, ESPN2).
English media outlets had reported that the Argentinian striker would be stripped of the captain's armband.
Here are some more stories to get you through the day
Inter Milan quiet about Benitez's future
The tumultous reign of Rafael Benitez at Inter Milan could be coming to a close as reports coming out of Italy suggest that the Spanish manager has been sacked.
Benitez disputed the reports on Italian radio but Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti added fuel to the fire by refusing to comment on the reports. Moratti and Benitez's relationship reached a boiling point over the weekend after Benitez criticized the Inter board for not planning to spend money in the January transfer window following the final of the Club World Cup.
"I prefer not to talk today to avoid the risk of creating controversies," Moratti said.
Zenit St. Petersburg coach, Luciano Spalletti, has been suggested as a possible replacement.
Pirlo out for a month with thigh injury
AC Milan will be without midfielder Andrea Pirlo for at least a month after the 31-year-old midfielder picked up a thigh injury during Milan's 1-0 loss to Roma on Saturday. Fortunatly for the Serie A leaders, Milan will be off for the next two weeks for the Italian winter break and Pirlo could miss as little as three league matches.
Brazilian club Greimo interested in Ronaldhino
AC Milan striker Ronaldhino is reportedly eyeing a move back to Gremio, his boyhood club. Club president Paulo Odone confirmed that a package is being put together to bring the 30-year-old striker back to where he started his career. Also bidding for Ronaldhino's services are Pamleiras and Flamengo with the Los Angeles Galaxy also rumored to be interested.
Greek fans chase Panathinaikos off the field
Unhappy with their clubs' 1-0 loss to lowly Volos, fans of the Greek outfit Panathinaikos stormed the pitch and chased the players off the field, pelting them with objects. The 20,000 fans also did extensive damage to the stands and VIP sections. The defending Greek champions sit five points behind Olympiakos.
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What do you think of today's stories? Do you think Benitez has managed his last game at Inter? How will AC Milan cope without Pirlo? Will City be better off without Tevez as captain?
Leave your thoughts below.
Paris Hilton and allure have nothing to do with each other
The Supercoppa and the Club World Cup aren’t much to parade around. By all standards, he’s inherited an Inter team that pretty much steamrolled through Serie A the past few years and has them sitting in a not-so-comfortable 7th place. Most of the trophies you speak of are from years past. He hasn’t produced much in about 5 years. “Nothing but a winner” seems a bit inaccurate in my opinion. Rafa may be a great tactician, but I feel he’s a terrible manager of a squad and players. But that’s my personal view.
i too am hoping for some home-grown hooliganism to add a little color to the game here in the states. maybe soon, we will see fans traveling between rival MLS markets en masse (Amtrak between DC and Philly, maybe) with pepper spray and road flares. can’t wait for the camera to pan through the crowd in the pre-game and see gwrown men with bloddy noses and split lips guzzling down a fifth pint to dull the pain.
check out the blog that finished 2nd to SBI in the best of voting. Trying not to give competing links, Ives…
If rioting were an olympic sport, the Greeks would be golden every four years. They riot about everything over there.
Yeah, Rafa is one of the great tacticians in soccer, unfortunately he has the charmisa of a naked mole rat, which often makes people dislike him despite the accomplishments.
I think Ronaldinho would be a disaster for the Galaxy or any other MLS team. The reason for his lack of playing time at Milan isn’t because he is too old and lost a step, but rather because he is enamoured with partying and night life. When you combine his propensity to party with the LA nightlife, you would have with a superfat dinho wobbling up and down the pitch. The MLS needs good professionals who want to play, and there is no evidence that Dinho is one of those. If LA is even considering him, they haven’t been familiar with his play the last 3 years.
We had a similar problem with kids rioting at Rapids stadium when we ran out of dippin’ dots.
Jones has one of the highest midfield salaries in the Bundesliga.
It is most definitely either he or Dempsey.
highest paid American abroad? Someone wrote on here or Bigsoccer that Jones pulled 4million euros a year? I find that hard to believe. Maybe 2-3 million but definitely no 4.
So is it Friedel or Howard or Dempsey or Cherundolo or Jones?
only 20years away from that
Rafa Benitez needs to go away from Football for a while. He obviously hasn’t learned from his mistakes as mangager of Liverpool towards the end of his reign.
I cant wait until the US soccer gets to the point in time when MLS fans start chasing their teams off the field
Hehe. Got the Greek club correct, but mele(e)…
Way to man up and finally honor your word/contract Tevez
Rafa is a horrible leader of men, let alone manager of talent.
Perhaps if he concentrated more on Inter instead of publicly commenting on Roy Hodgsons job quality at Liverpool, he wouldn’t be getting fired.
LOL, you’re saying this about a manager who has won Segunda (+promotion) with Tenerife, 2 La Liga titles and a UEFA Cup with Valencia, and an FA Cup and UEFA Champions League title with Liverpool. Now with Inter he’s won the Supercoppa, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The guy is nothing but a winner, and he does it in his own way, he’s absolute class.
You sound a bit silly now, do you not?
Does anyone have a link to a video of the Panathinaikos (spelled from memory, thank you very much) mele?
don’t underestimate the allure of our celebutants…
Crissy has already told Ronaldinho how easy it is to get with Paris or a Kardashian
Just as I suspected, Rafael Benitez can’t win and he’s not a good manager. Every time he lost at Liverpool, he would have the excuse of not spending enough on transfers and not having quality players. Now he goes to Inter, and can’t win there either even with a boat load of talent.
As a Galaxy fan, I am disappointed, yet realistic. Ronaldinho will go back to Brazil, not to the Galaxy, hence the drafting of Angel. I still don’t get the Hedjuk pick….ok, maybe I get it, but I don’t like it. Vamos Galaxy!