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Leonardo replaces Rafael Benitez as Inter Milan coach

Inter Milan have appointed 41-year-old former AC Milan boss Leonardo to succeed Rafael Benitez as coach.

The Brazilian World Cup winner Leonardo will take up the managers job on 29 December and his contract runs for 18 months until June 2012.

Benitez was sacked after six months in the job after asking the Inter board to back him in the transfer market.

Cricket - 4th Ashes Test : England dominate the Aussies on day one

England put themselves in a remarkably dominant position after day one of the fourth Ashes Test having bowled out Australia for just 98 in Melbourne.

Chris Tremlett and James Anderson swung the ball beautifully to take four wickets each for England after captain Andrew Strauss had won an important toss.

In Australia's mitigation was the fact that cool, cloudy conditions up until tea had turned the early exchanges into something more akin to a May Test match in England, with bowlers able to extract swing and seam movement.

Tremlett returned to wrap up the tail and Australia were all out in 42.5 overs. Every dismissal had been as a result of a catch behind the wicket.

After tea the clouds melted away as Strauss (64no) and Cook (80no) strode to the crease. And apart from one or two early deliveries from Ben Hilfenhaus the ball did not swing for the Australians.

Strauss and Alastair Cook pushed England along to a very healthy 157-0 in reply at stumps - 59 runs ahead with all 10 wickets in hand.

Fourth Ashes Test : (stumps, day one)
Australia 98 v England 157-0

===============

A Christmas Treat - video of Bergkamp goals while at Arsenal

As Christmas is the time for reminising and remembering good times, how about a trip down memory lane to see on of the worlds best players showing his skills at Highbury.

Nine minutes of Dennis Bergkamp brilliance - taken from Arsenal's 501 Greatest Goals video.

UK Freezing Weather to hit Boxing Day Football and Horses

The cold weather is continuing to cause major problems for Britain's sporting schedule going into the festive Christmas period.

Several English Football League and Scottish Football League matches have been called off.

English League One :
Tranmere v Sheffield Wednesday

English League Two :
Accrington Stanley v Crewe
Bradford v Chesterfield
Macclesfield v Morecambe
Stockport v Rotherham

Scottish Football League Division One :
Ross County v Cowdenbeath
Queen of the South v Dundee
Stirling v Morton

Scottish Football League Division Two :
Aidrie Utd v East Fife
Brechin v Ayr
Dumbarton v Forfar
Peterhead v Stenhousemuir

Scottish Football League Division Three :
Annan Athletic v Berwick Rangers
Elgin v Clyde

==============

Racing continues to be hit by frost and snow, with Huntingdon, Wincanton and Wetherby's Boxing Day cards called off.

The Welsh National, due to take place at Chepstow on 27 December, has been postponed until Sunday, 8 January.

Officials at Kempton, meanwhile, have scheduled a noon inspection for Christmas Eve to decide if their Boxing Day card featuring the King George VI Chase will go ahead.

================

Rafa Benitez on verge of getting the sack from Inter milan

Rafael Benitez's six-month reign as Inter Milan coach will come to an end on Wednesday after he had his contract terminated by the European champions on Tuesday night.

The Guardian is reporting that the parting of the ways set to be formally confirmed in the next 24 hours.

The Italian club's president, Massimo Moratti, is in the process of negotiating the manager's payoff with the pair's relationship having been destroyed after Benitez effectively served Moratti with an ultimatum to back him in the transfer market next month or sack him after winning the club world cup.

Meanwhile the Gazzetta dello Sport is saying (in English) that "Benitez stays" .. although it's then inferred that this is only until a new manager is sorted out ... and suggests that Inter Milan are trying to reduce the amount of compensation that they will have to pay Benitez.

=========

Man City lose at home to Everton - drift out of title race

Manchester City have lost ground in the English Premier League title race after a 2-1 defeat to Everton at Eastlands on Monday night.

Man City had a chance to sit top of the table at Christmas, but the home loss means that this honour goes to Manchester United instead, who are 5/4 favourites to lift the trophy in May.

Manchester City started slowly and found themselves 2-0 down inside 20 minutes with Cahill and Baines both scoring for Everton.

Although City dominated the game, with 25 shots to 4, the home side could only pull one goal back in the second-half - via a Jagielka deflection for an own-goal - and Everton hung on to win despite being down to 10 men.

Premier League Top of Table

P TEAM      PL  GD PTS 
1 Man Utd   16 +20  34 
2 Arsenal   17 +15  32 
3 Man City  18 +10  32 
4 Chelsea   17 +19  31 
5 Tottenham 17  +3  27

Premier League Outright winner Odds

2.38 Manchester United to win @ Bet365
3.00 Chelsea to win @ Betsson
6.00 Arsenal to win @ Victor Chandler
13.00 Man City to win @ Victor Chandler
41.00 Tottenham to win at Victor Chandler

Snow stops play in Belgium - snowballs pelt players

The big game in Belgium was forced to be suspended on Sunday due to snow - but unlike Britain where it was natural - this snowstorm was entirely man-made.

Club Brugge fans forced the referee to suspend the match against Anderlecht after pelting them with snowballs during the early stages of today's Jupiler League match.

Play was suspended after seven minutes when the Anderlecht players Jonathan Legear and Mbark Boussoufa were unable to take corners under a barrage from the home support.

Legear later celebrated the 2-0 victory by Anderlecht by lobbing snowballs in the direction of his own fans, had to be aided by two team-mates after he was restrained and then shoved by a Brugge steward.

Video of Snowballs in Brugge v Anderlecht

Latest Belgium League Table

POS TEAM        PL  GD Pts
1st Genk        20 +32  43 
2nd Anderlecht  19 +24  41 
3rd AA Gent     19 +11  38 
4th Std Liege  20 +12  33 
5th Lokeren     18 +6   33 
6th Club Brugge 19 +11  30 

Big Freeze cancels Sunday EPL fixtures including Chelsea v Man Utd

The freezing conditions across Britain have once again led to the postponement of a host of weekend sporting fixtures.

Sunday's Premier League showdown between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, has been called off following heavy snow in London.

Blackpool's home game against Tottenham and the Black Country derby between West Brom and Wolves were Sunday's other matches to be called off.

Saturday's Premier League games at Arsenal, Liverpool, Birmingham and Wigan, were all postponed as well.

Europa League Draw : Liverpool face Sparta Prague

Liverpool visit the Czech Republic capital to play Sparta Prague in the last 32 of the Europa League.

Scottish Premier League champions Rangers have been drawn against Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon.

Manchester City, who are third in the Premier League, will travel to Greece to play Aris Salonika for the first leg. Aris beat Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital with a 3-2 away win, a result which knocked the holders out.

Other tasty ties include Seville against Porto, who between them won three of the five Uefa Cup finals between 2003 and 2007, while Ajax take on Anderlecht of Belgium.

All first legs will be played on 7 February with the return games taking place a week later, while the last 16 is scheduled for March 10 and 17.

2011 Europa League draw (last 32) :

===================================
Napoli v Villarreal
Rangers v Sporting
Sparta Prague v Liverpool
Anderlecht v Ajax
Lech Poznan v Braga
Besiktas v Dynamo Kiev
Basle v Spartak Moscow
Young Boys v Zenit St Petersburg
Aris Salonika v Man City
PAOK Salonika v CSKA Moscow
Sevilla v FC Porto
Rubin Kazan v FC Twente
Lille v PSV
Benfica v VfB Stuttgart
Bate Borisov v PSG
FC Metalist Kharkiv v Bayer Leverkusen

Champions League draw : Arsenal drawn against Barcelona

Arsenal have been drawn against Spanish champions Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League, with the first leg at the Emirates Stadium in February 2011.

Fellow North London club Tottenham also have been handed a headline tie after being paired against AC Milan, with the first game at the San Siro.

And the interest continues as 2010 Champions Inter Milan face Germany's Bayern Munich in a repeat of last year's final.

Manchester United face French side Marseille, while Chelsea have been draw against Danish outfit FC Copenhagen.

Full 2011 Champions League Second Round Draw

===================================
Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
AC Milan v Tottenham Hotspur
Valencia v Schalke
Inter Milan v Bayern Munich
Lyon v Real Madrid
Arsenal v Barcelona
Marseille v Manchester United
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea

TP Mazembe beat Brazil's Internacional to reach World Club Final

TP Mazembe have become the first African side to reach the Club World Cup final after a 2-0 win over Brazil's Internacional in Abu Dhabi.

Mulota Kabangu opened the scoring with a superb strike in the 53rd minute.

Alain Kaluyituka produced a brilliant individual effort late in the game to extend the team from DR Congo's lead.

Mazembe are also the first team from outside Europe and South America to reach the final of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Mazembe will meet the winners of Wednesday's semi-final match between Champions League winners Inter Milan of Italy or Seongnam Ilhwa of South Korea in the final on Saturday.

Man Utd defeat Arsenal 1-0 to go top of Premier League

Ji-Sung Park's first-half effort earned Manchester United a hard-fought victory over Arsenal that enabled them to take top spot from their title rivals.

The South Korean improvised superbly to head Nani's deflected cross beyond the reach of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Wayne Rooney could have doubled the lead when he took a harshly awarded penalty after Gael Clichy had been adjudged to have handled, but Rooney wildly blazed the spot kick over the bar

Arsenal's best efforts fell to Marouane Chamakh, who missed with a header and had a shot blocked by Nemanja Vidic - but it was an ineffective performance from the visitors overall.

Arsenal have failed to beat either Man United or Chelsea in ANY of their last 11 league meetings now - an obvious indicator that the Gunners still have work to do to catch up to these clubs who have split the last six league titles between them.

Top of Premier League Table

  Team      Pl  GD PTS 
1 Man Utd   16 +20  34 
2 Arsenal   17 +15  32 
3 Man City  17 +11  32 
4 Chelsea   17 +19  31 
5 Tottenham 17  +3  27

Walrus harpooned as "Big Fat Sam" given the boot at Blackburn Rovers

English Premier League club Blackburn Rover have announced they have sacked manager Sam Allardyce.

Allardyce was dismissed from the club along with his assistant Neil McDonald by the club's new owners, the Venky's Group from India. The club announced that the first-team coach Steve Kean will take temporary charge of the club.

Rovers have lost three of their last five games, including a 2-1 defeat by his former club Bolton on Sunday.

Allardyce - also known as The Big Fat Walrus - brings a dire brand of football to EVERY club that he manages - producing a defensive, dour, depressing style of game to watch all in the name of ginding out 0-0 draws to avoid relegation.

The only mildly entertaining thing about Allardyce's football career is listening to the private fantasy world that the Walrus lives in when he gives an inteview after the game to explain how unlucky his latest club were to slid to a 0-3 defeat - and it was only the referee (who was poor) / an offside goal / a lucky bounce / or home advantage of the "big clubs" that caused this latest defeat.

It will be most football fans wish that he gets nowhere near a Premier League club again.

Former Tottenham boss Martin Jol, who who resigned as Ajax manager last week, ex-Aston Villa and Leicester City manager Martin O'Neill and former Rovers favourite Alan Shearer have been linked with the Ewood Park job.

Interwetten sportsbook restricted to European players

European sportsbook operator Interwetten has decided to reduce the number of countries that it will accept sports bets from - in order to focus on their core products.

Players from the following 17 countries are still eligible to bet on sports at Interwetten.

AUT Austria,
DEU Germany
CHE Switzerland
ESP Spain
ITA Italy
GRC Greece
BEL Belgium
CYP Cyprus
NLD Netherlands
LIE Lichtenstein
LUX Luxemburg
HUN Hungary
CZE Czech Republic
SVK Slovakia
MCO Monaco
DNK Denmark
PRT Portugal

Newcastle United sack manager Chris Hughton

Newcastle have parted company with Chris Hughton and are looking to appoint a new boss with 'more managerial experience'.

Hughton lead the Magpies back into the Premier League last season, but his services have now been dispensed with following Sunday's 3-1 defeat at West Brom.

The Tyneside club are currently in 11th place in the Premier League table and have enjoyed some good results with a 5-1 derby romp against bitter local rivals Sunderland, beaten Arsenal at Emirates Stadium and held champions Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at home.

But owner Mike Ashley has decided that the time has come to make a change at the helm and the search is now on for a new man to step through the seemingly revolving door to the manager's office at St James' Park.

Bet365 have West Ham favourites for the Premier League drop

West Ham were cut for relegation from the Premier League at Bet365 after going down to a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland on Sunday.

The Hammers had raised fans hopes of turning a corner with a 4-0 home demolition of a reserve-stacked Manchester United side in the Carling Cup in midweek but West Ham found things much more difficult on their travels to the North East, going down to Jordan Henderson's first-half goal.

bet365 have cut West Ham from 4/5 to 4/6, and the Midlands-based firm now have three teams odds-on for the drop in what, according to the prices, looks a four-horse race.

Wolves (8/13) and Wigan (8/11) are the others odds-on - both are currently in the bottom three - with Blackpool out from 10/11 to 6/5.

Fourth-bottom Fulham come next in the market at 7/2.

Premier League Relegation Standings

Pos            Pl G.D Pts
15 Everton     16  -2  17 
16 Aston Villa 15  -7  17 
17 Fulham      16  -4  15 
-------------------------
18 Wigan       16 -15  15 
19 Wolves      16 -13  12 
20 West Ham    16 -13  12 

Check out all the latest football betting odds at bet365 now.

Betsson competition - win a trip to AC Milan as a VIP guest

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Freezing weather hits English and Scottish football fixtures

This weekend's sporting schedule has been heavily affected by the snow and freezing temperatures across Britain.

Scotland is worst hit, with all Premier League football off and only one lower league game - at Alloa - still on.

In England, Manchester United's Premier League match at Blackpool was postponed while many Football League fixtures also fell victim to the harsh weather.

English Premier League

Blackpool v Manchester United

English Championship

Doncaster v Barnsley
Hull v QPR
Nottingham Forest v Bristol City
Portsmouth v Burnley
Sheffield United v Reading

English League One

Brentford v Notts County
Brighton v Colchester
Brentford v Notts County
Dagenham & Redbridge v Huddersfield
Hartlepool v Southampton
Leyton Orient v Carlisle
MK Dons v Plymouth
Rochdale v Charlton
Walsall v Oldham
Yeovil v Peterborough

English League Two

Accrington Stanley v Shrewsbury
Aldershot v Bradford
Bury v Chesterfield
Cheltenham v Lincoln City
Crewe v Wycombe
Gillingham v Rotherham
Hereford v Morecambe
Port Vale v Stevenage
Southend v Macclesfield
Torquay v Burton Albion

Scottish Premier League

Aberdeen v Celtic
Hibernian v St Mirren
Inverness CT v Dundee Utd
Motherwell v Kilmarnock
Rangers v Hearts
St Johnstone v Hamilton

Scottish First Division

Dundee v Cowdenbeath
Dunfermline v Partick
Falkirk v Raith
Queen of South v Stirling
Ross County v Morton

Scottish Second Division

Airdrie Utd v Forfar
Brechin v Dumbarton
East Fife v Livingston
Stenhousemuir v Ayr

Scottish Third Division

Arbroath v Stranraer
Berwick v East Stirling
Clyde v Montrose
Elgin v Albion
Queens Park v Annan Athletic

And the World Cup goes to ... Russia ... and ... Qatar?

FIFA's executive committee have made their choices for hosts of the next to World Cups and the winners are Russia in 2018, and, and Qatar (!?!) in 2022.

Russia was selected to host the 2018 event in Europe ahead of co-bidders Spain-Portugal and Holland-Belgium and England, which won only two votes.

This was not a surprise to most people, with Russia having the financial ability to create the stadia, and with the Russian delegation pointing out that despite Europe hosting 10 previous World Cups - NONE had been held in Eastern Europe.

The outcry in England has been loud, but let's be honest, other than a pile of patriotic press did anyone REALLY think that England had the political clout within FIFA to swing 12 or more votes required to win?!

Much of the noise has come from the stinging realisation that despite England having the best technical bid, and the most profitable bid for FIFA, and the established support structures to be a quality host ... the English bid only secured two votes - one from the English delegate - and one other thought to have come from either Cameroon or Japan.

It's a "slap in the face" for the members of the English FA, as there was plainly nothing wrong with the technical aspects of the bid- it was simply a reflection of England's political status within FIFA ... almost non-existent.

2018 host 2nd round voting : Netherlands-Belgium 2; Spain-Portugal 7; Russia 13
(England already eliminated with 2 votes)

Then in the 2022 vote FIFA went for the tiny Gulf state of Qatar (population 1.7m) who will have to renovate three stadiums and build nine new ones, and battle with temperatures as high as 50C during the two hottest months of the year?!

2022 host 4th round voting : United States 8; Qatar 14
(Australia eliminated with 1 vote, Japan eliminated with 2 votes, South Korea eliminated with 5 votes)

Admittedly, the choices were limited for 2022, with South Korea and Japan both having co-hosted in 2002 and seen as far too soon to repeat, and Australia being the wrong timezone for European TV.

But given the final round choice of the United States, or Qatar, surely the only sensible choice had to be to go for the 1984 hosts to repeat again. How on earth did Qatar get the nod?

*cough* suitcase of cash *cough* ??

Anyway, FIFA have chosen to take the World Cup to new countries, and as most of us will probably watch the whole thing on TV anyway ... let's just hope that they get the TV coverage sorted ... and have none of those damn vuvuzuelas eh?!
;-)

Ipswich Town shock WBA - and are 12/1 to win the Carling Cup

Ipswich Town are as short as 12/1 to win the Carling Cup after pulling off a quarter-final shock.

The under-fire Ipswich manager Roy Keane guided his side, from the npower Championship, into the last four with a 1-0 win over top-flight West Brom, Grant Leadbitter scoring the only goal.

If the Tractor Boys are to go on and win the competition they will have to do it the hard way, though, after being paired with Arsenal in the semi-finals.

Arsene Wenger's Arsenal side are the odds-on favourites with all the bookmakers, priced at 4/7 generally.

While Ipswich were beating West Brom, Nikola Zigic put Birmingham through to their first Carling Cup semi-final for nine years as they beat fierce rivals Aston Villa 2-1.

Birmingham City are rated 4/1 shots ahead of their semi-final encounter with fellow Premier League side West Ham, who are available at 5/1 to go on and win the competition