Former Australia captain Mark Viduka has turned down the chance to join the Socceroos in their remaining three World Cup qualifiers.
Australia coach Pim Verbeek told Viduka he could join the squad if he was willing to make a full commitment to the side.
But the striker, out of contract after his English club Newcastle United were relegated from the Premier League last week, told Verbeek he had decided to skip the qualifiers while he contemplated his future.
Chelsea have won England’s FA Cup with a 2-1 victory over Everton at Wembley.
Midfielder Frank Lampard capped a dominant display with a stunning second half goal to win Chelsea’s first piece of silverware since 2007.
Lampard’s goal on 72 minutes put his side ahead after Didier Drogba had equalised in the first half after Louis Saha’s stunner opener for Everton after just 25 seconds.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has warned the Spanish Football Federation not to risk midfielder Andres Iniesta’s health at next month’s Confederations Cup.
Iniesta returned from a right thigh injury to star in Barcelona’s 2-0 Champions League final win over Manchester United on Wednesday.
Guardiola is worried the Spain international may be rushed back too soon for the tournament in South Africa. Barcelona said their medical staff was already in contact with the national team to oversee a training plan for the coming weeks.
Barcelona’s “killer” first goal and their ability to control a game once in front were decisive in their 2-0 Champions League final victory Wednesday, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said.
“I think the first goal was a killer for us,” Ferguson told ITV. “We started brightly too. We got a bit nervous after that.”
United did make a good start but Samuel Eto’o netted after 10 minutes and the English side faded badly, with their defence looking especially shaky, and Lionel Messi wrapped up victory midway through the second half.
Patience, flair and a brilliant game of keep-away prevailed over force Wednesday night when Barcelona dominated Manchester United, 2-0, to win the European Champions League title, Europe’s most prestigious club soccer tournament.
Barcelona controlled the ball for long stretches with its unhurried and clever passing, attacked incessantly, held tight with a patchwork defense and made a tactical switch at forward, placing Lionel Messi as a central striker and shifting Samuel Eto’o to the right wing. Eventually, Messi drifted into midfield to secure possession. Both he and Eto’o delivered goals as Barcelona won its third European title and second in four years.
Protestant supporters of a Scottish football team beat to death a Catholic man in an outbreak of sectarian bloodshed in Northern Ireland.
Witnesses said more than 20 Protestant supporters of Rangers, many of them wearing team coloured jerseys and scarves, drove into a Catholic district of the town of Coleraine after Rangers clinched the Scottish Premier League championship on Monday NZT.
Billy Leonard, a former policeman and politician from the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, said several carloads of anti-Catholic extremists came armed with clubs “and literally attacked the first person they came across”.
FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC are ready to put on a spectacle worthy of a place in history when they meet in the UEFA Champions League final in Rome, the Eternal City.
Stirring finale
Two of European football’s most evocative names, the newly crowned champions of England and Spain, cross paths at the Stadio Olimpico with United aiming to become the first team in 19 years to successfully defend the European Champion Clubs’ Cup and the first in the UEFA Champions League era. Having already lifted the Liga and Copa del Rey this month Barcelona have the chance to claim an unprecedented Spanish treble. It promises to be one of the more stylish gladiatorial contests staged in the city of the Colosseum, with Sir Alex Ferguson saying simply: “It has the capability to be a fantastic final.”
