VELEZ SARSFIELD CROWNED ARGENTINA SUPER CHAMPIONS

Velez Sarsfield were crowned Argentina’s Super champions on Saturday after a 1-0 victory over Newell’s Old Boys in Mendoza.

Lucas Pratto’s first-half strike proved enough to see Velez claim the first overall league championship play-off in Argentina since 1991 – when Marcelo Bielsa’s Newell’s defeated Boca Juniors on penalties - after Ignacio Scocco saw his penalty saved by Sebastian Sosa in the Velez goal shortly before half-time.

“We beat a good team,” said Velez coach Ricardo Gareca. “The heart of my team is incredible.

"We came through a very difficult match. This is for the fans because it was a very tough year.”

Pratto echoed his coach’s sentiments, adding that he felt his side had a point to prove after surrendering a 1-0 first-leg lead to Newell’s in the Copa Libertadores last month.

“We wanted to prove that we could beat them,” he said. “They’re a great team and very good on the ball.

“After Sosa saved the penalty [we believed].”

The result means Torneo Inical champions Velez qualify for the 2013 Copa Sudamericana and will also join Newell’s in the 2014 edition of the Copa Libertadores.

CAVANI ANGERED BY TRANSFER SAGA

Edinson Cavani says he is angered by persistent rumours surrounding his future as he looks to fire Uruguay to victory in their Confederations Cup third-place play-off against Italy on Sunday.

The Napoli striker has been linked with a whole host of clubs across Europe, with Real Madrid and Manchester City both reported to hold a strong interest in acquiring his services.

But the 26-year-old has grown tired of the persistent rumours and has refused to discuss his future anymore in a bid to focus on his next international test.

"Your talking at the beginning didn't disturb me but now I have to confess these rumours are bothering me," he told reporters.

"You're talking too much about things you shouldn't be talking about now. I'm still engaged in this competition and just thinking about the next game [versus Italy].

"I play in Italy, I know all of them. I was expecting them to play a great tournament, so I must congratulate them. But tomorrow, we want to win. I want to raise my country in the world standings as much as possible."

Oscar Tabarez echoed his striker's words: "We are facing a strong side but at this stage anything can happen. We want to try to the end and finish this competition in the best possible way."

Luis Suarez and Diego Godin then revealed they would be using the clash with the Azzurri as an opportunity to exorcise their demons from losing the World Cup 2010 third place play-off to Germany.

"Every time we pull on the Celeste shirt we want to win and claiming third place would really mean a lot to us," Suarez revealed to Fifa.com.

"What’s more, it still rankles that we didn’t finish on the podium at South Africa 2010, when we lost to Germany."

"It was really painful for us all, because we came so close to reaching the final," Godin reiterated. "All we’re thinking about now is beating Italy. Finishing fourth is not the same as finishing third."

ROBSON: ARSENAL NEED FELLAINI NOT ROONEY

Former Arsenal midfielder Stewart Robson feels the Gunners should buy Marouane Fellaini and not Wayne Rooney if they are to end their trophy drought this season.

 Rooney is determined to leave the Red Devils this summer, but Robson feels he is not quite the right fit for Arsenal.

“To take Wayne Rooney, who everybody says that the problem he had with Sir Alex Ferguson was concerned with his fitness levels and how he was looking after himself, now I’m not sure that Arsene Wenger is the sort of confrontational manager who is going to pull Wayne Rooney to one side and say, I’m not happy with this I’m going to leave you out of the side because of this," he told talkSPORT.

“So I think it might be be a problem and Wayne Rooney I think, is slightly on the wane, he’s lost a yard of pace. Would he be a good player for Arsenal? Would he take them to the next level? I think he would improve them, I’m just not sure he’s the player Arsenal need to go on to become champions of Europe or champions of the Premier League."

Arsenal have already made Fellaini a contract offer after activating his release clause and Robson feels he would be a great signing and would bring balance to the Gunners.

“Arsenal need a real strong backbone in that midfield. I would go and get Fellaini if he’s available," he added.

"I’ve seen him play many different roles for Everton. I’ve seen him come to the Emirates before and play a defensive role and he’s been the outstanding player on the field. I’ve seen him go and play as an attacking midfielder and go and show good strength and win balls in the air.

"He does things simply on the ball. He’s not going to be an expansive passer but Arsenal have got those expansive players, they need to now get a balance between the creative side and the more destructive side, the more dynamic side of the game, you can't have one without the other."

LUIZ: PAULINHO WILL BE A HIT IN ENGLAND

Chelsea defender David Luiz is keen to see fellow Brazil international Paulinho join him in England this summer, as the midfielder admitted Tottenham had contacted him.

The Corinthians star has lit up the Confederations Cup with his all-action displays, causing his stock to rise as links with the Premier League outfit intensify.

And Luiz is adamant the Selecao hero has what it takes to star at White Hart Lane, while hailing him as an asset to the Brazil squad.

"If he gets to play in England, he will definitely go far," the stopper noted to Fifa.com. "His game fits perfectly with the pace of English football.

"It’s incredibly valuable to have someone like that in your side. Especially when the team [Brazil] is getting along together as well as ours is."

Paulinho underlined the only contact he has received came from Spurs, and denied any attempts made by Real Madrid, though admitting he was aware of the rumours.

"Tottenham is the only club to have made an official offer. We'll wait for the Confederations Cup to finish and then we'll decide," he told Marca.

"I'm up to date with what has been written about Real Madrid, but the fact is that Madrid has not phoned me. There is no record of any offer."

The 24-year-old headed in Brazil's late winner during the 2-1 semi-final victory against Uruguay on Wednesday and also revealed what he believes to be the strongest parts of his game.

"It really is one of my qualities, moving into different areas of the field, picking up opponents as well as helping to attack," the midfielder resumed to Fifa.com.

"I try to help in every possible way and I’ll try to keep on doing that, both for my club and the national side, because that's how I've always had success."

Luiz Felipe Scolari's men now prepare to face Spain in the penultimate match on Sunday, after la Roja beat Italy 7-6 on penalties in their corresponding semi-final.

PRANDELLI: EL SHAARAWY NEEDS TO SHOW MORE CHARACTER

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli says Stephan El Shaarawy "needs to show more character" and may not start in the Confederations Cup third-place play-off against Uruguay.

The AC Milan forward has featured just once in the tournament - in the 4-2 defeat to Brazil - and watched on from the bench as the Azzurri were beaten 7-6 on penalties in the semi-final clash with Spain.

And Prandelli has voiced his concerns over the 20-year-old's mentality and cast doubt over his involvement on Sunday, despite Mario Balotelli's absence and concerns over Alberto Gilardino's fitness.

"I'm convinced this experience has been a good one for him," Prandelli said to reporters. "He needs more character. I talked to him in Coverciano and he was mentally exhausted.

"We will evaluate him tomorrow and decide whether he can start at the final moment."

Uruguay were beaten 2-1 by Brazil in their last four tie, but the 53-year-old coach retains the utmost respect for his side's next opponents and highlighted their attacking talents as their greatest strength.

He added: "Uruguay have great quality and an extraordinary attack. We hope to add consistency to our game plan by gaining experience against a team that is second to none tempermentally.

"We respect and admire their spirit."

The Azzurri's semi-final defeat to Spain came at a high cost, with Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio joining Andrea Barzagli and Balotelli on the sidelines, leading Prandelli to note the need for his side to improve physically ahead of World Cup 2014.

He said: "This Confederations Cup has taught us we need to be on top of our game physically for next year's World Cup."

"We are struggling with recovering players from injury. It would help to gather them once or twice in a season and work with them. People have been running near the brink all year.

"It's good that if we are physically fit for the World Cup, that we can put pressure on any opponent if we use the right tactics. We must bring home the knowledge that it all depends on us and our approach.

XAVI DENIES UNDERMINING DEL BOSQUE

Xavi has dismissed claims he has undermined coach Vicente del Bosque and ordered him to name certain players in Spain's starting XI.

The 62-year-old has rotated his pack during the Confederations Cup, with Xavi criticised after reports he voiced his displeasure at the line-ups and undermined his trainer's authority.

But after Del Bosque and assistant Jose Grande insisted their playmaker had always been mindful of his place, the Barcelona star himself underlined that he has never once attempted to question decisions regarding personnel.

"I wouldn't dream of telling the manager who I have to play with," Xavi emphasised to Spanish television channel Cuatro.

"I've never done it, and never will as long as I live. Everyone has a voice here, and no one is above anyone else.

"We always speak with the gaffer about what's best for the team, but not about who should play. Never about that."

La Roja are currently preparing to face Brazil in the Confederations Cup final at the Maracana on Sunday.

Del Bosque's men go into the game after beating Italy 7-6 on penalties, while the tournament hosts dispatched neighbours Uruguay 2-1.

DE GEA TO SIGN NEW MAN UTD CONTRACT

Manchester United are preparing to offer David De Gea a pay rise and contract extension to ward off interest from Barcelona.

The 22-year-old was in fine form as the Red Devils stormed to their 20th league title last season, and the club are keen to tie him down for the long term.

De Gea currently earns €64,000 per week on a contract that expires in 2016, but United want to extend that for a further two years and bump his pay to €88,000 per week.

United will sit down with the Spaniard's representatives when he returns to pre-season training with the first team on Wednesday.

Following Victor Valdes' announcement that he will leave Camp Nou at the end of his contract in 2014, rumours surfaced in Spain that the Blaugrana would turn their attentions to the United shot-stopper.

Edurne Garcia, De Gea's girlfriend, stated in January that it is a "dream" for the goalkeeper to play for Barcelona, and United are concerned that they could lose their star goalkeeper.

The former Atletico Madrid man won the European Under-21 Championship with Spain this summer, and has been undertaking a personal training regime to stay in shape.

ENGLAND OUT OF UNDER 20 WORLD CUP

Uruguay defeated Uzbekistan 4-0 to secure a place in the Under-20 World Cup knockout stage on Saturday.
Gino Acevedo scored with a low 25-meter shot in the 38th minute, and Nicolas Lopez, Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Ruben Bentancourt added in the second half.
Uruguay finished Group F second to Croatia, and will take on Nigeria in the playoffs. Uzbekistan also advanced as one of the best third-placed teams and will meet Greece.

Croatia, already qualified, beat New Zealand 2-1 with goals from Stipe Perica and Ante Rebic. Louis Fenton scored New Zealand's only goal in the tournament from the penalty spot in the 84th.
Iraq beat Chile 2-1 to win Group E. Both teams were already through to the last 16. Iraq will face Paraguay, while Chile is up against Croatia.
Egypt beat England 2-0 and finished third but came up one goal short of advancing. Instead, Ghana went through to the first knockout round as the 16th and last team because of a better goal difference and will play Portugal.
England hasn't won a match in the competition since 1997, and stretched its winless streak to 17 games.
England dominated the match but was thwarted by poor finishing and strong saves from Egypt goalkeeper Awad Mossad.
Trezeget gave Egypt the lead in the 79th, and Ahmed Hassan doubled the score in injury time.
The U20 World Cup continues on Tuesday with the first four matches of the knockout stage, including tournament favorite Spain against Mexico.

BAYERN WIN ON GUARDIOLA DEBUT

Bayern Munich earned a comprehensive 15-1 victory in a friendly match against a team of local fans on Saturday, during what was Pep Guardiola's first game in the dugout.

The Bavarian's hosted their Wildenau-based supporters and were already 3-0 up in the first period, thanks to goals from Thomas Muller as well as youth prospects Oliver Markoutz and Vladimir Rankovic.

Die Roten opened the floodgates in the second-half as Patrick Weihrauch, Julian Green, Franck Ribery, Mitchell Weiser and Toni Kroos struck.

Germany Under-19 international Weihrauch will have done his first-team prospects no harm after his four-goal haul, while fellow starlet Green, who was born in Florida, impressed with his display and subsequent hat-trick.

Guardiola will also be pleased to welcome back Kroos, after the playmaker missed the tail-end of last season through injury.

The 23-year-old turned out beside Ribery and Jerome Boateng in the second-half.

PRANDELLI: 3RD PLACE GAMES HAVE NO VALUE

Struggling to find players fit enough after a draining loss to Spain, Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has suggested that FIFA review the worth of third-place games at the Confederations Cup.
Italy face Uruguay on Sunday at the Arena Fonte Nova but less than 24 hours before kickoff Prandelli was still trying to determine which players would be fit enough to play.
''In a tournament with eight squads maybe the third-place match should be put under review,'' Prandelli said Saturday. ''That said, we will honor the match.''

With Mario Balotelli and Ignazio Abate already having been sent home injured before the semifinal, key playmaker Andrea Pirlo, center back Andrea Barzagli and midfielder Claudio Marchisio have now been ruled out with muscle problems.
Also, Daniele De Rossi, Giorgio Chiellini and Alberto Gilardino have not recovered from Thursday's game vs. Spain, which Italy lost 7-6 in the penalty shootout after extra time ended 0-0.
The Spain match was played in searing heat and humidity and the third-place match could be a sweaty affair, too.
With a 1 p.m, it's the only game of the tournament that will start in the middle of the day.
''I've got three players out and three others who haven't recuperated yet,'' Prandelli said. ''Right now it's difficult to say who will play.''

Prandelli will likely resort to forwards like Stephan El Shaarawy, Alessandro Diamanti and Alessio Cerci, who have seen little action thus far. Defender Davide Astori, the only outfield player who has not seen action yet, could also be an option, and Salvatore Sirigu or Federico Marchetti will likely replace captain Gianluigi Buffon in goal.
''It's an opportunity to gain some experience,'' Prandelli said. ''Because we're facing a squad that has a lot of character.''
Entering the tournament, the 20-year-old El Shaarawy was expected to pair with Balotelli in attack like at AC Milan but his only action thus far were the final 18 minutes in the final group game vs. Brazil.
El Shaarawy led Italy's Serie A with 14 goals in the first half of the recently concluded Serie A season but managed only two after Balotelli transferred to Milan in January.
''He had a long season and when as a young kid you reach certain objectives it's difficult to bounce back and do it again,'' Prandelli said. ''If he plays tomorrow he needs to be ready. We'll see.''
South American champion Uruguay features three experienced and talented forwards in Diego Forlan, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez.
Playing for Napoli, Cavani led Serie A this past season with 29 goals.

''It's a squad we respect a lot, a squad that has shown it is able to adapt to any opponent,'' Prandelli said. ''Tactically, this is the toughest match to prepare.''
The Spain match was also a challenge, one that Italy won tactically by many standards, but Prandelli feels this game is tougher because of the physical state of his squad.
''Right now I'm having trouble putting players in place,'' the coach said. ''These are two completely different matches.''
Uruguay lost its semifinal 2-1 to Brazil on Wednesday, a day earlier than the Spain-Italy match.
''It would be ideal if you could organize a tournament where everyone has the same chance,'' Prandelli said. ''If one squad has fewer transfers and more days to recuperate that's an advantage.'

DRAXLER TURNS DOWN MOVE ABROAD

Julian Draxler has turned down a lucrative move away from Schalke, according to Germany's Bild newspaper.

The 19-year-old put pen to paper on a new five-year contract only a month ago, but the deal is reported to include a release clause of 45.5million euros.

According to Bild, several top European clubs were willing to pay that sum to secure his services and pay him more than he is earning in Gelsenkirchen, but the Germany international has turned down the move.
"This is going to be the shortest season of my career, so far which is why I don't want to move elsewhere and have to settle in to new surroundings," he said.
"I'd rather play for Schalke in the Champions League and then fly out to Brazil for the World Cup with the national team."
Only Friday, Schalke president Clemens Tonnies admitted Draxler could leave his club in spite of his long-term contract.
"Of course we want to keep hold of him, Julian is an important figure in Schalke," he told the Express newspaper.
"But if we want to be fair with him, then maybe we have got to consider letting him move abroad sooner or later."

TORRES: SPAIN LUCKY TO HAVE CASILLAS

Fernando Torres has expressed his relief that Spain have goalkeeper Iker Casillas following his impressive performance versus Italy in their Confederations Cup semi-final.

The Real Madrid skipper pulled off a number of stops to keep la Roja in the game against the Azzurri, despite being sidelined on the Santiago Bernabeu bench in recent months.

Torres is delighted for the veteran Spaniard and looked ahead to the final against hosts Brazil, against whom he believes the world and European champions will need to perform with trademark confidence.

"He put in one of those performances which just make you think that we’re so lucky to have a keeper like him. He was decisive for us and saved us when Italy were making us suffer. He brought us luck and I am thrilled for him," the Chelsea striker told AS.
"It’s our dream [to win] and the reason why we have come to Brazil. It’s the only trophy which we have never won and this generation badly wants to win it.

"Everyone is talking about what an amazing final is in store between Brazil and Spain. It’s going to be a match to enjoy. We know all about what qualities they have, what a great team they are and both of us are the only teams who are unbeaten in the tournament.

"They will have their fans egging them on but we will go out there to show our style - with the same confidence which has brought us success in recent years."

Torres has scored five times in the tournament - four goals of which came in Spain's 10-0 victory over Tahiti - and is the favourite to grab the golden boot ahead of Sunday's final, with kick-off at 23:00BST.

US INTERNATIONAL WANTS PREMIER LEAGUE MOVE

Former Hull City forward Jozy Altidore, who is now on the books of AZ Alkmaar, claims he would consider a return to the Premier League.

The USA international spent a season on loan at the KC Stadium in 2009/10, but struggled to produce his best as the Tigers were relegated from the Premier League.
He has, however, recaptured top form in Holland - netting 31 times in all competitions for AZ last season.

Altidore is now reported to be attracting interest from afar, with Sunderland among those said to be weighing up an approach.
Still only 23 years of age, a man who has also spent time in Spain and Turkey admits he would be willing to listen to offers.
"It is a fantastic league, anyone will tell you that," Altidore told NASN.
"If you look at everything, the Premier League is probably the biggest league in the world. Everybody knows that and it would be a pleasure to play in a league like that again."
On his time at Hull, which brought just one goal, he added: "I think I was 19 or just turned 20 and I had not played in Europe before that. It is a totally different style from the MLS.
"I have come a long way since then. I am almost a different player and I have learned a lot. So I don't think there is any resemblance to that time if I went back to the league any time soon.
"I have played 100-plus games (since leaving Hull). Playing there at that age and playing in the best league in the world, you can't expect to hit the ground running.
"Some of my performances at Hull were not as bad as people think, some of them were actually pretty good.
"I don't look back at it as a sad experience. It was a great experience because I got to see what the highest level was like."

WEST BROM EYE EX CHELSEA PLAYER

 Benayoun's agent spoke about his client;

West Brom have registered their interest (in Yossi Benayoun) and now we are just waiting to see what other options are available.
We have been negotiating with another club in the Premier League and clubs in Germany and Spain, so Yossi will have to make a decision very soon.
He has been playing in England for a long time now so it has become like a second home to him.

– Yossi Benayoun's agent Ronen Katzev

ALMERIA APOINT NEW BOSS

Newly-promoted Primera Division side Almeria have named Francisco Rodriguez as their new head coach.

The 34-year-old, who has been in charge of Almeria's reserve side for the last two seasons in Segunda Division B, replaces Javi Gracia who it was announced on Friday would be leaving the club after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract.