Sutjeska Niksic 1 - MTZ-RIPO Minsk 1 (Europa League qualification first-round, July 1, 2009) Drazen Medjedovic put the Montenegrins ahead just after the interval but the visitors equalised through Anton Bubnov’s snap-shot from outside the box.

FC Lahti 4 - Dinamo Tirana 1 (Europa League qualification first-round, July 1, 2009) Jari Litmanen’s FC Lahti cruised to victory over their Albanian counterparts, Rafael chipping in with a brace for the Finns.

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Austria Karnten 1 - CSKA Sofia 0 (Friendly, July 1, 2009)

A reported 3,000 fans turned up at what appeared to be a parking lot to burn flares, wave scarfs and enthusiastically sing in anticipation of the former England striker. Obviously no-one appeared to have told then that Vassell only scored one goal last season, to add to his rather pathetic overall record of eighteen goals in his last four years at City.

When Vassell finally appeared the crowd erupted into chaos, and the has-been striker was mobbed by the hysterical Ankaragucu fans who draped him in scarfs and flags. Unsurprisingly, Vassell looked visibly taken-aback as the crowd chanted his name and let off flares.

And the fans weren’t stopping with that.

In scenes more accustomed to stars like David Beckham, around 50 buses and 250 cars then caravanned behind Vassell’s car as the player travelled from the airport to hotel.

The bizarre scenes welcoming Darius Vassell to Ankaragucu can be seen here.

(We enjoyed the placard shown at 1.30 minutes, noticably one of the few signs shown of the film, which spelt Darius’ name wrong.)

Perhaps due to the two-way format of the Argentinean league (Apertura and Clausura), there always seems to be some crazy last day drama to keep fans on the end edge of their seat.

The Apertura championship in December went to a three-way play-off between San Lorenzo, Boca Juniors and Tigre and the Clausura is set for a thrilling finale with the top two facing off on the final day of the campaign. Huracan are currently first on 38 points with hosts Velez just a point behind.

Huracan, under coach Angel Cappa, have been the team of the Clausura in Argentina playing some scintillating attacking football that has had even the neutrals purring. The biggest clubs in Argentina have struggled in recent times due to the global economic issues, and Huracan, one of the poorest clubs in the country, have taken advantage.

Three players have been credited with steering Huracan to the top of the table, defensive midfielder Mario Bolatti (on loan from FC Porto) and attacking players Javier Pastore and Matias De Federico.

All three players are expected to move on in the coming weeks and Pastore and De Federico could well be moving to Europe. Pastore could be the heir to the Argentina number 10 shirt and looks to be a playmaker of real class whilst De Federico has been labeled the “new Messi” due to his similar playing style, quick footwork and fine pace.

Huracan set up this title clash with a 3-0 home win over Arsenal Sarandi which marked their fifth successive win, they have won all but one of their last ten games which included a 4-0 thrashing of River Plate.

Velez though, are slight favourites going into this match with home support and they also have a fine recent record. Ricardo Gareca’s side have won three of their last four (including a 2-0 defeat of Boca Juniors) and the 1-1 draw at Lanus two weeks ago, playing with just ten men, kept them off top spot going into the final day.

Like Huracan, Velez have some fine attacking talent that has emerged over the past few months. Uruguayan striker Hernan Lopez, 31, is the third top goal scorer in the Clausura whilst 20-year-old Jontahan Cristaldo is a forward who could be the future of the Argentinean national team. Sadly for Velez he will be missing from this game after injuring his knee against Lanus.

Velez also carry the reputation of knowing to play good football and have a depth and strength to their squad that could prove the difference against minnows Huracan. As Cappa puts it: “What one Velez player is worth is Huracan’s budget for two years. But in football terms we are equal.”

The majority of the headlines and feature stories on this match have concentrated on the Huracan fairytale and the opportunity to clinch only the second title ever, with the first one coming under Cesar Luis Menotti in 1973.

After Huracan’s last match, two fans were killed in the violence that seems to dominate in Argentinean football, this match won’t be for the faint of heart and Huracan’s talented youngsters will be put to the test.

Velez Sarsfield 11/10, Draw: 9/4, Huracan: 2/1

101gg predicts: Velez Sarsfield 1 – Huracan 2

The first video finds Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick, Edwin van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand and Park Ji-sung taking their seats in a classroom as they are taught some basic Bahasia Indonesia ahead of their trip.

The video starts with the female teacher asking the players to recite the phrase “Ini Budi” meaning “This is Budi” [a common male name]. Next the players learn the sentence “Budi bermain bola” which translates to “Budi is playing [foot]ball.” Then cue the childish giggles.

The video can be seen here.

The second video, which is far less funny and far more marketing and business orientated, sees South Korea look to hype up locals ahead of United’s arrival. Unfortunately, all the footballers are asked to do on the video is hold up small white boards which all start with the sentence “Seoul is…” while a glossy montage of Manchester United plays out to the sound of electric guitars.

The South Korean promotional video can be seen here.

[Dirty Tackle]

Alberto turns 17 in September and is still on amateur terms at Sevilla but is expected to break into the first team next season.

Sevilla sporting director Ramon Rodriquez Monchi said: “We are prepared to present an interesting proposition to Luis Alberto and to confirm his continuity in our club.”

However, The Sun quote a “close friend of the player” who said: “while it is Luis’s dream to make a big impact in Spain he wants to know about the Liverpool proposition.”

Liverpool scouts were present to see Luis Alberto star in the recent Copa de Rey junior tournament in Malaga, which Sevilla won 3-2 in the final against Atletico Madrid (pictured). Video highlights of the final can be seen below, including Luis Alberto’s equaliser to level the scores at 1-1, which can be seen at 1.25.

Video evidence of Luis Alberto can be seen here.

The Copa do Brasil final played out on Wednesday night between Internacional and Corinthians descended into a mass brawl as emotions and tempers quickly flared up in the second half.

The incident came out of left-field. After the hosts Internacional had managed to pull back the second-leg to 2-2 on the night, cameras picked up footage of a coming together between two Corinthians players in which one player was clearly seen pushing over his teammate onto the turf.

Although the Internacional players were celebrating their equaliser at the time, on seeing the clash between their opposition teammates a flock of home players quickly dashed over to the scene of the incident. This in turn caused the intensity of the situation to quickly and dramatically rise.

D’Alessandro found himself at the heart of the trouble from the off as the dinky Internacional midfielder, wearing the number 10 shirt, immediately thrusted himself in the melee. Then, after several minutes of confusion and disorder on the pitch, something happened to send pint-sized D’Alessandro over the edge and the tiny playmaker began chasing after Corinthians’ William looking for a fight.

As may have been expected, more disorder and chaos then burst out all over the pitch. Eventually four red cards were brandished by the ref as D’Alessandro and Elias of Corinthians were given early baths along with both coaches, Tite of Inter and Mano Menezes of Corinthians.

Footage of the Brazilian bust-up can be seen here.

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Staying on the Copa do Brasil theme, there are two more videos which we are happy to bring you.

First off there is the video collating the top five goals scored in this season’s competition (watch here), and then we have a special video the pieces together the top five bizarre/memorable moments from the knock-oput tournament (watch here).

Both Ham-Kam and Moss have had a disappointing start to the season. After 12 matches the sides held seventh and tenth spot respectively, and so their coming together on Tuesday night was not exactly the top-of-the-table clash which both sets of supporters had been expecting.

With both sides needing the points to move up the table a tense affair played out, and it took over an hour before the deadlock was eventually broken. In the end Moss’ centre-half Lars Ovrebo (pictured) finally put the ball in the back of the net, but his goal left an indelible mark which has since spread around Scandinavia.

With a dangerous cross floating in from the right hand side, Ovrebo scored an amazing flicked half-volley that shot straight into the keeper’s far corner and was immediately considered one of the goals of the season in Norway.

Unfortunately for both Ovrebo and Moss though, it was Ham-Kam who were left celebrating the wonder-flick.

Lars Ovrebo’s memorable goal can be seen here.

Quote of the day: “If someone’s paying you [Beckham] more than anybody in the league, more than double anybody in the league, the least we expect is that you show up to every game, whether you’re suspended or not. Show up and train hard. Show up and play hard. Maybe he’s not a leader, maybe he’s not a captain. Fair enough. But at a minimum you should bust your ass every day. That hasn’t happened. And I don’t think that’s too much for us to expect. Especially when he’s brought all this on us. I can’t even say he’s a good team-mate any more. He’s not shown that. I can’t think of another guy where I’d say he wasn’t a good team-mate, he didn’t give everything through all this, he didn’t still care. But with Beckham, I’d say no, he wasn’t committed. Let’s say he does stay here three more years. I’m not going to spend the next three years of my life doing it this way… I don’t want to have soccer be this way. I’ve got to confront it somehow. If that’s the way he’s going to be, fine, then hold him accountable. Bench him. Just say, ‘We’re not going to play you, we don’t think you’re committed.”‘ - Landon Donovan.

Runner-up: “The player [Benzema] wishes to take the opportunity offered to him by Real Madrid to become one of the key players in an ambitious new policy involving several of the world’s biggest players. Lyon has accepted Karim Benzema’s decision and negotiated the terms of a transfer which satisfies all sides.” - A statement from Lyon.

Today’s overview: The big transfer news this Thursday is that Real Madrid, and not Manchester United have signed Karim Benzema from Lyon.

According to Jason Burt, United simply could not attract the attention of Benzema. “Once United became aware that Lyon had accepted Real’s bid they then submitted an offer of 40 million euros (£35 million). However Benzema was already too far progressed in his discussions with Real, having also spoken to United, and the Spanish club were also willing to add extra payments, depending on targets and bonuses, which meant their bid came in slightly higher than United’s. Benzema has agreed a six-year deal.”

And it gets worse. Rory Smith makes the case that “Manchester United have £80 million to spend but nobody to buy,” while delivering news that no United fan will want to hear James Ducker warns the Red Devils that no new strikers may be in the offing. “Some well-placed sources have claimed that Ferguson may not even sign a striker this summer and will instead look to Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov to spearhead United’s attack next season. Injuries to either player, however, would leave his front line severely depleted.”

But that does not stop others trying to play matchmaker for United. A typically faceless article in the Daily Mail prints “United are thought to be in discussions with Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, but the little-known young Chile star would hardly excite the Old Trafford faithful and suggestions that Udinese’s asking price has risen to more than £20m is a barrier to a deal.” Over in the Mirror Kevin Francis claims that “Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac [is] a realistic option” for the champions.

Amazingly, after suggesting that United could turn attention to Zlatan or Eto’o, Ian Herbert then makes the case for Michael Owen to move to Old Trafford. “Michael Owen as a short-term measure? The prospect is an intriguing one. Ferguson tried to sign the 29-year-old as a youngster and there have been rumours that he has returned with inquiries since. The £40,000 a week Owen might be prepared to accept will certainly not hurt United and there are enough attacking options at Old Trafford to make the risk of injuries to which Owen has become prone less of a problem than at most other clubs.”

Speaking with Arsenal’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis, the Guardian’s David Conn learns about the Gunners’ ambitions of self-sufficiency. “That means spending within its means, from the booming revenues at the Emirates, and that none of the billionaires like Kroenke, or millionaires like Fiszman, are expected to put their money into the club itself.” In a separate article David Conn focuses on Gazidis’ belief that the Premier League should have a salary cap, and why such an idea appears a non-starter. “The idea of a salary cap has never gained support with Premier League owners, who have always preferred the free and unregulated system in which they can pour in money to buy the players they want, and then pay them what they want.”

Keeping with the North Londoners Dominic Fifield reports on William Gallas’ decision to see out the final year of his contract at the Emirates. “[Wenger] may decide to seek a fee for the player now rather than risk losing him for nothing in a year.” And it looks like Wenger has moved quickly to shift his centre-half as over in the Telegraph Jason Burt reports that “Chelsea’s deal to sell Ricardo Carvalho and Deco to Inter Milan is close to collapse… Inter are now turning their attentions to signing William Gallas from Arsenal, who may be sold for around £4 million.”

Sick of hearing his complaints, Lawrence Donegan lays into Carlos Tevez for his “self-regard and sour grapes.” “Carlos Tevez is not the first player to believe his own publicity but he might be the only man alive who thinks he, too, possesses the hindsight that allowed Lord Griffiths to pronounce on football matters not as they were but as they might have been had they not been as they were.”

Moving over to Eastlands and Rob Kelly pokes fun at the figures involved in the propsed transfer of Samuel Eto’o. “At £200,000 a week I would want him to score a hat-trick in every match, find a solution to swine flu and restore Michael Jackson to rude health… Eto’o is notorious for possessing an ego large enough that he has to check it in separately at airports.”

The Independent’s daily transfer column today reports “David Villa is closing in on a move to Barcelona after reportedly meeting the Catalans’ sporting director Txiki Beguristain. Barca are also set to turn their attentions once more to Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas.”

What is it about the Daily Mail refusing to have hacks sign their names to crappy transfer stories. Does the tabloid not realise how shady these articles look?! That said the pseudo-tabloid today coughs the lies that Dean Ashton may be on his way to Stoke, that “Aston Villa have inquired about Middlesbrough’s England winger Stewart Downing,” and that Wolves are interested in Monaco’s £1.5m-rated midfielder Jerko Leko.

Sadly the nameless articles are also a staple of today’s nonsense spouted in The Sun. The red-top manages to churn out several articles which seem to have little substance including news that “Clint Dempsey is in line for a shock switch to Everton after he turned down Fulham’s latest offer of a new two-year contract.” Elsewhere we learn that Steve Bruce is also closing in on Reading’s Steven Hunt and £6.5million Chile forward Humberto Suazo, new Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti remains on the case of signing Alexandre Pato, while Patrick Vieira has apparently been given a final £100,000-a-week offer by Birmingham.

Arsenal fans have been wondering when Wenger will sign a player similar to Liverpool’s Daniel Agger or Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic. Well Arsenal fans your wait may be over and your club may be about to sign a central defender who has the physical strength to handle Didier Drogba as well as deal with Roque Santa Cruz’s aerial threat.

Naldo is a 6ft 3inch central defender currently excelling at Werder Breman. Since his arrival in 2005 he has been an almost ever-present in the first team and has become its defensive linchpin. He has made 124 appearances netting 14 goals with five of those coming last season, and has even scored a hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt. (Watch here and here.) In the international arena, Naldo has won eight caps for Brazil.

The Die Grün-Weißen have enjoyed success with Naldo marshalling the defence. They finished runners-up in the Bundersliga for two successive seasons and finished as UEFA Cup runners-up last year losing in extra-time to Shakhtar Donetsk, a game in which Naldo scored. (Watch here.)

Christened “the ox,” Naldo possesses great athleticism combined with physical strength. His aforementioned aerial ability makes him a threat at corners and set pieces as well as enabling him to win battles at the back.

According to the gossip columns Naldo is available for €10 million - which looks like a bargain for a proven international with Champions League experience who still has the best years of his career ahead of him.

His coach Thomas Schaaf believes that he is one of the most talented defenders he has seen and is quoted on the record as saying that Arsenal are interested in Naldo and that the club is willing to do business.

Schaaf: “Naldo is a great athlete and could do well at the right club, unfortunately he doesn’t fit the direction we’re planning to move in any longer. We expect to move him for somewhere in the region of €10 million, and English side Arsenal is as of now the most likely destination.”

This quote can be seen as trying to instigate a bidding war for the defender and Wenger may have to act quickly. He should get his tent out and not leave until he has finally signed a successor to Sol Campbell.

“Cristiano has been a marvellous player for Manchester United. His six years at Old Trafford have seen him develop into the best footballer in the world. He has been a major factor in the club’s success and everyone here wishes him well in his future.” - Sir Alex Ferguson.

With his world record transfer to Real Madrid now completed, Manchester United’s in-house television station, MUTV, have produced an official tribute to their former number seven, Cristiano Ronaldo.

The tribute traces Ronaldo’s arrival at Old Trafford and includes many stepovers and all the goals that have now become etched in Manchester United folklore.

The official Manchester United tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo’s time at Manchester United can be seen in three parts here, here and here.