Arsenal vs Nagoya Grampus July 22, 2013

After two successful performances already on the preseason tour, Arsenal will look to keep up the momentum against Nagoya Grampus.

In matches against the Indonesia Dream Team and Vietnam, Arsenal have won by a combined total of 14-1. They will now face Nagoya Grampus, a Japanese squad that was managed by Arsene Wenger in the mid-1990s.

Nagoya Grampus have been in contention for a J-League title almost every year recently and will be a much tougher challenge than Arsenal's previous matches. Additionally, the club will have more cohesion than any all-star team.

The Premier League club has to be prepared for a tough fight in this one. Make sure you catch every second of the match by using this guide.


When: Monday, July 22

Time: 11:30 a.m. BST

Where: Toyota Stadium, Nagoya, Japan

Some pre-season friendlies are more 'friendly' than others, and there's no doubt there's a huge amount of mutual respect between the two teams - and managers - that will go head-to-head in the Toyota Stadium here in Nagoya on Monday.
Grampus Nagoya coach Dragan 'Piksi' Stojkovic played under Arsène Wenger for nearly two years when the Frenchman managed the J-League side in 1995 and 1996, and now the Serbian former Yugoslav international is in charge of the team himself - a position he's held since 2008.

The two were reunited at a press conference in Nagoya on Thursday afternoon, and it's clear that the 48 year-old Grampus coach holds Wenger in the highest esteem.

"Arsène Wenger is the best example for a football manager," the ex-Red Star Belgrade and Marseille man said. "He is intelligent, he loves football - it's a real passion for him - and he's very loyal. He works for and loves his club 110 per cent.
"He's somebody who has a gift: he can see something that other people don't. This is the power of Arsène Wenger.
"He had a lot of influence on me to become a coach. This is not a joke, it's a very serious story.

"Of course to be Arsène Wenger is impossible, to replace him is very difficult, but to follow the way he works - yes I agree absolutely with that. This is my way of working too, and exactly what I'm doing with my team is practically the same as what he is doing with Arsenal. He is the best example for me and I want to follow that direction.

"So I was really lucky to work with him as a player, because I recognised how football can be really, really nice under his control. With other managers though it was very hard."

'Piksi' has had his own success already. In 2010 he led Nagoya Grampus to their first ever J-League title - surpassing even Wenger's achievements with the club. Then, the following year, he won the Japanese Super Cup - something Grampus had only managed once previously, under Wenger in 1996.

So it's no surprise that the Arsenal boss was equally glowing in his appraisal of Stojkovic: "He is a young manager, so we have lots of hope for him. He has his future in front of him. He's 48 and has had his first positive experience.
"I believe the next five or six years will decide the course of his career as a manager. As a player he obviously proved himself as one of the best.

"He has had a good start as a coach and now it's important that his next stage is a positive one, because a career is about continuity. He has had a strong start, now he must take advantage of that. He has made a reputation as a manager, now his next decision, his next step, will be important. But I believe he has the qualities for an exceptional career. I hope he achieves it."
There were even questions in the press conference, from local journalists, as to whether 'Piksi' could one day tread the same path as Wenger did, and leave Grampus Nagoya to become Arsenal manager.

"Well, I have not finished yet!" Wenger responded. "Anyway, it will be the people on the Arsenal board who will decide that, not me."

As for Stojkovic – the man who won the Champions League as a player in 1993 – he was relatively coy, saying only "why not?" before adding with a smile "I think I will have to wait 10 years for the chance!"
Arsenal have waited more than 10 years for the chance to play in Japan again. It's 45 years, to be exact, since the Gunners were last in this country. They won three out of three friendlies back in 1968, the last match of which was played in front of a then record crowd in the country of 70,000.

Another sell-out is expected this Monday at Grampus Nagoya's 45,000-capacity Toyota Stadium, as Arsenal look to make it three straight wins on the Asia Tour 2013.

The goals have been flying in so far - Olivier Giroud (five) and Chuba Akpom (three) are the goalscorers in form, but eight different players have got on the scoresheet in the two matches, and each of the 24-man touring squad has featured at some point.

Arsenal have stepped up their preparations in the last few days, and with good reason. Grampus are exactly halfway through their league season, and are 12th out of 18 in the J-League at the moment. They beat bottom team Oita Trinita 2-1 away in their last match on Wednesday, for their third win in the last four.

Anzoategui x FC Porto 21-07-2013

O F.C. Porto joga na Venezuela a partir das 23 horas e Paulo Fonseca escolheu a seguinte equipa:

Fabiano Freitas; Fucile, Maicon, Mangala e Alex Sandro; Fernando, Carlos Eduardo e Defour; Varela, Ghilas e Iturbe.

Três jogos, 23 golos e marcados e ainda nenhum sofrido. Segue assim, convincente, a pré-temporada do F.C. Porto, avaliada em adversários de diferentes graus de dificuldade. O quarto teste está agendado para este domingo.

Os tricampeões jogam na Venezuela frente ao Deportivo Anzoátegui, segundo classificado da liga local, debaixo de enorme humidade e num relvado com alguns problemas. Seja como for, o técnico portista promete «espetáculo» e espera continuar a aplaudir a «enorme» entrega dos atletas.

Varela, o goleador; Fucile e Nico, os mais utilizados

Se incluirmos o jogo-treino frente ao Valadares, equipa dos distritais da AF Porto, os dragões já fizeram 23 golos e Silvestre Varela é o melhor marcador, com cinco remates certeiros. O exremo fez um «poker» no primeiro amigável.

No que diz respeito ao tempo de jogo dado aos atletas, o destaque vai para Jorge Fucile e Nico Otamendi, ambos com 149 minutos de ação.

Ricardo e Juan Quintero procuram ainda a estreia, sendo que o primeiro terá essa oportunidade, à partida, já este domingo contra o Deportivo Anzoátegui. 

Honduras vs Costa Rica July 21, 2013

The most evenly matched quarterfinal in Gold Cup is the last one. Honduras and Costa Rica meet in Baltimore for the right to face the USA-El Salvador winner.

A strong start to the Gold Cup has given way to a couple of lackluster performances for Costa Rica, and they're slight underdogs against Honduras in what will likely be the best of the quarterfinal matches.

The Ticos downed Cuba 3-0 to start the tournament, but only managed a 1-0 win over Belize and lost to the United States while Jurgen Klinsmann was sitting some of his top players. Honduras, on the other hand, beat two much tougher opponents in Haiti and El Salvador to start the competition. They dropped their most recent game against Trinidad and Tobago, but only after they had already clinched first place in Group B.

Honduras have made one change to their squad from the group stage, bringing in Erick Norales for Johnny Palacios. Costa Rica have opted to make no changes to their team for the knockout stage.

Match date/time: Sunday, 7 p.m. ET

Venue: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md.

US MOTOGP 2013 July 21, 2013

Stefan Bradl has pole for the 2013 US MotoGP Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. The 23-year-old LCR Honda rider posted 1:21.176 to grab his first ever pole position, after finishing third and second in the morning's free practice sessions.

Honda locked out the front row of the grid, with championship leader Marc Marquez and Alvaro Bautista putting Repsol Honda and Honda Gresnini second and third respectively. Marquez's second place time was only 0.017s behind Bradl.

Marquez led the way in the first practice session on Saturday, with 1:21.568 to lead Valentino Rossi on his Yamaha and Bradl, with Bautista and Britain's Cal Crutchlow rounding out the top five. The 20-year-old Spaniard is on an understandable high after romping to a second win of the season at the Sachsenring in Germany in the last race, in his MotoGP debut.

And he retained top spot through the second practice session of the day, clocking 1:21.680 to beat Bradl's 1:21.890. Crutchlow and Bautista finished third and fourth in that session, with Spain's Dani Pedrosa coming in fifth.

A word, though, about Pedrosa and defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Repsol Honda and Yamaha riders were doubts for this race, with collarbone injuries at Germany. Following physiotherapy for Pedrosa and emergency surgery for Lorenzo, both riders were confirmed for the race pending medical evaluations, which happened trackside on Friday.

Pedrosa sat out the first and third practice sessions but produced blisteringly fast laps when critical and will start the race from seventh, with a best of 1:21.728.

Lorenzo, meanwhile, has kept a low profile through most of the weekend so far, with a best of 1:22.221 in practice and 1:21.453 in qualifying; he starts sixth, which should make the race very interesting indeed.

Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso finished eighth and Tech 3 Yamaha's Bradley smith was ninth with Nicky Hayden 10th on his Ducati.

The 3.602km Laguna Seca circuit consist of 11 turns. The circuit record lap belongs to Pedrosa, who posted 1:21.229 last year. The 2012 race was won Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner, with Lorenzo second and Pedrosa third. This year's pole position man, Bradly, finished seventh.

Marquez leads the championship with 138 points. Pedrosa is two points behind and Lorenzo a further 11. Crutchlow and Rossi round out the top five, with 107 and 101 points respectively.

USA vs El Salvador July 21, 2013

The United States looked all set for a quarterfinal matchup with Martinique until Cuba spoiled the party, defeating Belize by four goals to grab the last quarterfinal spot. That meant that the United States, instead of facing the weakest team in the quarterfinals, would have to face a reasonably formidable El Salvador side in the Gold Cup quarters.

El Salvador are hardly world beaters -- they dropped points to Guyana in the third round of World Cup qualifying and missed the Hex -- but they're certainly stronger than Cuba and Martinique. They've played well so far in this tournament, drawing fellow quarterfinalists Trinidad and Tobago and defeating Haiti. They nearly grabbed a draw from Honduras, which could have sent them through in first or second place, but conceded a winner to Jorge Claros in stoppage time.

The United States has called in four new players for the quarterfinals, per tournament rules, although they're the only team to call in more than one new reinforcement. Alan Gordon, Eddie Johnson and Matt Besler did not play for their MLS teams on Saturday and will be available right away, while Omar Gonzalez played on Saturday night and will join up with the team for the semifinals if they defeat El Salvador.

Who Jurgen Klinsmann starts is anyone's guess. He said that he would play his best team against Costa Rica, but opted to make some unexpected changes and give a rest to a few of his starters. Besler and Johnson have established themselves as regulars for the main U.S. squad and probably have a better shot at starting than Gordon does. Gordon has a knack for scoring or assisting late in matches when brought off the bench and he's probably been called into the team to fill that role.

Match date/time: Sunday, 4 p.m. ET

Venue: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md.

British Open 2013 July 21, 2013

The 2013 British Open Championship moved on to its third day with still lots of holes to be contested on the extremely difficult layout at Muirfield Golf.

Miguel Angel Jiminez, who served as the vice captain for the Europeans in last year Ryder Cup, took the clubhouse lead after shooting an even-par 71 in the second round.

Yet, the top spot on the leaderboard is far from being secured. Former world's No.1 Lee Westwood had a solid day on the field Friday as he shot a 3-under 68 to jump into a four-way tie with Henrik Stemson, Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods, who has put himself in prime position despite dealing with elbow problems throughout the first two rounds of competition.

Disappointments and frustrations are all over the playing field with two-time champion Rory McIlroy not making it to the next round after shooting a 79 in the first round and 75 in the second round. Other high-profile players that did not make it to the third day of play are Vijay Singh, Justin Rose, Nick Watney, and Jim Furyk.

Third Round

The third round will be as crucial as the last day of the tournament as competitors attempt to finish the day on a high note and keep themselves in great spot for Sunday's championship play. Of course, all eyes will be on Woods, who hasn't been doing great in round three and four of the last six majors tourney he participated. According to ESPN, Woods usually shot better in the first two rounds with combined score of 11-under. However, his performance faltered in the last two rounds, finishing 30 shots worse over that stretch.

T.V Coverage of the 2013 British Open will start at 4:00 a.m ET on ESPN.

Bournemouth vs Real Madrid July 21, 2013

Tras una semana de entrenamientos, el Real Madrid ha viajado con todos los jugadores que tiene a disposición para jugar el primer amistoso de la pretemporada.

Carlo Ancelotti dirigirá así su primer partido como entrenador del Real Madrid, teniendo las ausencias de los internacionales de la Copa Confederaciones (Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Álvaro Arbeloa y Marcelo). A esas bajas hay que sumar las del francés Raphael Varane y Xabi Alonso, ambos por lesión.

El Real Madrid, cincuenta días después del último partido oficial, regresa con ilusiones renovadas y con el objetivo de que el nuevo proyecto funcione, dejando atrás la mala pasada temporada vivida con José Mourinho.

Los aficionados blancos centrarán sus miradas en las nuevas incorporaciones. Illarramendi, Carvajal e Isco tendrán minutos.

Por su parte, el Bournemouth, equipo de la Segunda División inglesa y club con 114 años de vida, lleva jugados siete amistosos en lo que va de verano. A falta de dos semanas para que comience la temporada, el equipo inglés llega al partido mucho más rodado que el Real Madrid.

La defensa blanca deberá estar pendiente de Brett Pitman, jugador que será referencia en el ataque rival.

Ficha técnica.

Hora: 20:45 horas de España.

Estadio: Goldsands Stadium.

Posible alineación del Real Madrid: Diego López, Carvajal, Pepe, Nacho, Coentrao, Modric, Khedira, Ozil, Isco, Cristiano Ronaldo e Higuaín.

Chelsea vs Malaysia XI July 21, 2013

Chelsea's Asian preseason tour moves to Malaysia as the Blues take on a Malaysia XI side on Sunday.

The club had a bit of a hard time against Singha All-Stars, but its 1-0 win was much better than the 1-0 loss Manchester United suffered against the same team earlier this summer.

With Chelsea making some moves this summer and welcoming in players from loan, the preseason is a great chance for Jose Mourinho to get an idea of which players he'll be calling upon in the upcoming season. Everybody knows how important the likes of Juan Mata, Ashley Cole, Petr Cech, Eden Hazard and Ramires will be. There are a lot of players, though, whose roles in the club are still up in the air.

Although you can't read too much into preseason friendlies, it's much better for supporters to see the club show some cohesion on the pitch and the younger players start establishing themselves.

Here's the viewing info for Chelsea's upcoming friendly with Malaysia XI, followed by three players to watch.



When: Sunday, July 21, at 2:45 BST (9:45 a.m. ET)

Where: Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia

Contact

matchtopic@gmail.com