The agony of Spanish cycling

Despite having some of the best riders of current times, the Spanish peloton is floundering and the achievements of Contador, Purito, Valverde, Samuel Sánchez, Ventoso, Dani Moreno and Luis León, among others, have not been enough to return the country's cycling scene to its former splendour.

Nadal: "I will not play in the Australian Open"

Rafa Nadal will finally not play in the Australian Open: "As my team and doctors say, the safest thing to do is to do things well and this virus has delayed my plans of playing these weeks.

Mourinho's defensive headache

Real Madrid seems to have started the new year with low defences. Mourinho has some five players out at the back, meaning he is going to have to shuffle the pack along the rearguard.

Real and CR7, destined to see eye-to-eye

Despite Cristiano and Real Madrid not seeing eye-to-eye right now, logic dictates that in the end, the Portuguese superstar will sign a new deal with ‘Los Blancos’.

Real Madrid's Pepe faces month out

Real Madrid centre-back Pepe has undergone surgery on Wednesday morning and could be out of action for as long as a month.

Cruyff: "For Real Madrid to be 16 points behind Barça is a failure"

Catalonia coach Johan Cruyff, who will take charge of his last game for the autonomous region against Nigeria on Wednesday, has been speaking hours before the game about the current goings on at Real Madrid, whose season he has labelled until now as a "failure". He also claimed, with obvious reference to Iker Casillas, that a goalkeeper does not lose his place in a team overnight.
"At this stage of the season Real Madrid being 16 points behind Barcelona can only be called a failure", Cruyff said from the hotel where his side is staying ahead of the game.
On the contentious substitution of Casillas in the recent Málaga game he was clear that "you don't lose your place overnight".
Cruyff's last appearance on the bench, as he has claimed the Nigeria game will be, comes after a successful coaching career that reached its peak with the Barcelona side of the late 80's and early 90's. During that time the Dutchman won four consecutive league titles and the club's first ever European Cup, among other honours.

Messi: "I hope Tito makes a full recovery"

Lionel Messi's main wish for 2013 is that his coach Tito Vilanova can make a complete recovery. "Tito is one of us and so I hope that he can finally make a complete recovery and his health issues are forgotten forever", he explained in an interview in Argentina with newspaper 'Olé'.
The Argentine star is as ambitious as ever for the new year but he points out that he has no desire to make history with Barcelona. "We just want to keep going and continue improving all the time," he said.
In 2012 he achieved a goalscoring record that suggests he is at the peak of his career.
"To tell you the truth I don't know if it was my best year to date. I always want to keep improving in all aspects of my game", he said.
On his growth as a player he admitted to having made slight adjustments to his game.
"I try not to think about my own sporting career, but obviously I am changing my way of thinking as I continue to improve," he explained.

 

Youssef Msakni signed final contract with Lekhwiya

Youssef Msakni signed final contract with Lekhwiya