Sahin desperate to catch Mourinho's eye

 

Nuri Sahin played 90 minutes for Turkey in midweek and despite a lack of match sharpness, he still showed some good passing range, leading his national team coach Abdullah Avci to voice his confidence that the midfielder will still be a success with Real Madrid.  

However, after nine months and only a handful of appearances to his name under Jose Mourinho, the 23-year-old must be wondering what he must do to get a start in the Spanish capital.

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Messi king of the hill

 

Lionel Messi went some way to banishing his Argentina demons on Wednesday night after putting on a virtuoso display to inspire his country to a 3-1 victory against Switzerland in Bern. His well-taken hat-trick also took his international goal tally to 22, surpassing legendary striker Mario Kempes and capping off a memorable night for the 24-year-old.

The fleet-footed attacker has been continually criticised by many for failing to replicate his form with Barcelona on the international stage, but his latest performance should see Portuguese counterpart Cristiano Ronaldo look on in envy following the Seleccao's latest disappointing result - a 0-0 draw in Poland.

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Pick on someone your own size!

 

Goalkeeper Joe Hart might be England's last man standing by the time Wednesday night's international friendly against Netherlands at Wembley kicks off, given the rate of withdrawals from the Three Lions' squad.  

Glen Johnson became the fifth player to pull out, joining Darren Bent, Wayne Rooney, Tom Cleverley and Kyle Walker on the injured list..... 

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Could 'The Tinkerman' soon be out in the cold at Inter?

 

Inter president Massimo Moratti has admitted that he is considering the future of current coach Claudio Ranieri but insisted there is a chance the 60-year-old could remain at San Siro. 

With the Nerazzurri on a run of five straight defeats in all competitions, Ranieri's position has come under intense scrutiny of late. 

Moratti will evaluate the current state of affairs at Inter before making a decision as to whether Ranieri will suffer a similar fate to previous trainers Rafael Benitez, Leonardo and Gian Piero Gasperini.

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Adam and Liverpool reach for the sky

 

Despite Charlie Adam and Steven Gerrard's best efforts, Liverpool finally ended six years of hurt on Sunday as Kenny Dalglish's side lifted the League Cup with a 3-2 penalty shoot-out win over Cardiff City. A goal from Martin Skrtel in normal time and another from Dirk Kuyt in extra time earned the Reds the chance to contest the shoot-out, and luckily for Adam, Gerrard and Co. Cardiff's penalties were even shoddier

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Conte and Allegri in linesman tug-of-war

 

Controversial decisions from the officials in the clash between Serie A's top two, AC Milan and Juventus, contributed to the game ending in a 1-1 draw, as Sulley Muntari's header and an incorrect offside decision against Alessandro Matri saw the spoils shared.

The officiating was much to the dislike of both Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri, who were ready to do all in their power to influence the linesmen's decisions  

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SmackDown 2012 - starring Badstuber & Muller

 

Jupp Heynckes was hoping for a 'Backlash' from his Bayern Munich players in Basel on Wednesday night following his side's tame 0-0 draw with Freiburg the previous weekend. The veteran coach was unhappy with their 'Attitude' and wanted to see a little more fight from his 'superstars'.

Unfortunately, Holger Badstuber and Thomas Muller took that instruction a little too literally and ended up having to be pulled apart by their boss after clashing over who was to blame for Basel's winner at St. Jakob Park. The hope now is that there will be no 'Bad Blood' between the pair after the WWE-style 'Bust-up in Basel'. 

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'Psycho' stands guard at the home of football

 

Stuart Pearce, the interim England manager, announced his squad for next week's friendly with the Netherlands on Thursday. As well as surprisingly calling up Sunderland forward Fraizer Campbell, Pearce also offered to lead England at Euro 2012, citing his disastrous Under-21 European Championship campaign last summer as 'big-tournament experience'.

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Reja's Rome departure plan left in ruins

 

News broke on Wednesday that Lazio coach Edy Reja had handed in his resignation at the Rome-based outfit, despite his side sitting in fourth spot in Serie A, only for president Claudio Lotito to reject his offer - the second time the club's supremo has done so already this season. Surely the experienced trainer will be asking himself if he will ever be allowed to leave the Italian capital ...

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AVB's facing the chop

 

Andre Villas-Boas is walking the proverbial tightrope after goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani condemned his error-prone Chelsea side to a damaging defeat at Napoli that leaves their Champions League hopes hanging in the balance. The former Porto coach, whose tactics and team selection in Naples have come under intense criticism, now looks to have exactly 90 minutes of the return leg at Stamford Bridge to salvage his "project" and avoid getting the sack from notoriously impatient owner Roman Abramovich.

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