Ronaldo wins FIFA's player of the year award

ZURICH - Cristiano Ronaldo won FIFA's player of the year award for the fourth time on Monday, beating his old rival Lionel Messi who was pulled out of the ceremony only a few hours earlier by his club Barcelona.

Italian Claudio Ranieri won the coach of the year award for leading rank outsiders Leicester City to the English Premier League title.

Ronaldo was rewarded for his performance in 2016 when he won the Champions League with his club Real Madrid and then Euro 2016 with Portugal. Five-times winner and four-times runner-up Messi was second and Frenchman Antoine Griezmann third.

Barcelona said that Wednesday's game against Athletic Bilbao would take priority over the ceremony and that none of their invited players would travel, which disappointed Ronaldo.


"I would like Messi to have been here today but they have an important game on Wednesday and we can understand that," he said after accepting the award from FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

"I don't have much more to say, I think the awards speak for themselves," he added. "I'm very happy and I can say that 2016 was the best year of my career, the trophy shows that people aren't blind and watch the games."

FIFA, which organised the award jointly with France Football magazine from 2010 to 2015 when it was named the Ballon d'Or, rebranded it as "The Best" this year after splitting with the French publication.

France Football continued with its own award which was also won by Ronaldo last month.

The ceremony, previously held at the Kongresshaus theatre in central Zurich, this year took place in the much more modest setting of a television studio on an industrial estate near the airport.

Ronaldo previously won in 2008, 2013, 2014 with Messi second on each occasion. Messi won from 2009-12 and then again in 2015 with Ronaldo second on every occasion except in 2010 when Andres Iniesta was runner-up.

Ranieri said he was "crazy" after winning the coach's award ahead of Fernando Santos, who led Portugal to the Euro 2016 title.

"I am crazy now," he said. "What happened last season in England was something strange. The football gods said Leicester must win."

Colombian side Atletico Nacional were given the Fair Play Award for conceding to Copa Sudamericana title to Brazilian side Chapecoense, whose team was decimated when a plane taking to the final crashed, killing 71 people.

"We did nothing more than what we had to do....handing them this trophy as a gesture of hope," said club president Juan Carlos de La Cuesta.

American Carli Lloyd won the women's player of the year award for the second year in a row.

Mohd Faiz Subri, of Malaysian Super League side Penang, won the goal of the year award for a 35-metre free kick in which the ball dipped and swung in a bewildering fashion to leave the goalkeeper stranded.

(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Catherine Evans)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Old Trafford gives Mourinho raucous welcome

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom -- Jose Mourinho enjoyed a raucous reception as he watched a charity match from the stands on Sunday in his first appearance at Old Trafford since being named Manchester United manager.

Just nine days after the official confirmation of Mourinho's appointment, the 53-year-old was in Manchester to give his support to Unicef, who use the Soccer Aid friendly to raise money for children in danger across the world.

The former Chelsea boss originally agreed to manage an "England" team consisting of former internationals, musicians, actors and other celebrities, against a Rest of the World team coached by Leicester's Claudio Ranieri and featuring a host of retired legends.

But, following his move to United, Mourinho decided to save his first game on the home bench for the club's clash with Everton in Wayne Rooney's testimonial on August 3.

Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce took care of the match-day management duties instead, while Mourinho watched from the directors box as England won 3-2.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more involved tonight, but I'm so happy and involved at the beginning of my job at Manchester United that all the time I have right now is working time," Mourinho wrote in the match programme.

"But I love the boys at Soccer Aid so much -- the atmosphere and especially the cause -- that I couldn't be away on the day of the game."

Plenty of fans were waiting outside Old Trafford to greet Mourinho when he got off the England team bus and some in the stands held aloft signs and banners bearing his name.

Mourinho, hired to replace Louis van Gaal on a three-year deal, was given a loud reception from supporters, some of whom snapped up scarfs emblazoned with the new United manager's name and face, and it didn't take long for the Portuguese to make himself at home.

- New house -

Pele was Unicef's guest of honour and Mourinho posted a photo on his Instagram account of him and the Brazil legend as they shook hands in front of a Manchester United badge in the players' tunnel.

The caption to Mourinho's photo read: "An honour to host Pele at my new house" and he also posted a picture of himself standing in the tunnel looking towards the pitch.

Mourinho gave an interview to ITV before kick-off, but his microphone broke before he could get into full flow.

"I'm very happy to be here, and especially alongside Ranieri, who won the Premier League, and Sam, who saved Sunderland from relegation," Mourinho said.

"It's a shame I've really not had a chance to enjoy this season as much as they did."

Sunderland forward Jermain Defoe scored twice for an England side including Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher, as well as pop star Robbie Williams and One Direction's Louis Tomlinson.

Ronaldinho, Cafu, Jaap Stam and Edgar Davids starred for the Rest of the World, whose goals were scored by former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov.

Mourinho will take charge of his first game as United boss when they face Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on July 22.

With his charity commitments out of the way, Mourinho has to focus on a less pleasant distraction as the employment tribunal brought by former Chelsea first-team doctor Eva Carneiro begins on Monday.

Carneiro is claiming constructive dismissal against Chelsea and Mourinho could be called as a witness.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Man City, Arsenal the big winners in dramatic finale

LONDON - Manchester City secured fourth place and Arsenal overhauled their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur to come second on a dramatic final day of the Premier League season when a bomb scare rocked Old Trafford on Sunday.

After Manchester United's game against Bournemouth was abandoned due to a security alert, Manchester City drew 1-1 at Swansea City, Arsenal crushed Aston Villa 4-0 and Spurs capitulated 5-1 at 10-man Newcastle United to blow their chance of finishing above their neighbours for the first time since 1995.

"First of all I would like to apologise to our fans," Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said.

"I think they don't deserve all that happened today on the pitch and I apologise."

Champions Leicester City drew 1-1 at Chelsea to end the campaign 10 points ahead of the chasing pack, another staggering achievement in a remarkable season for Claudio Ranieri's team.

Manchester City needed a point to make sure of claiming the final Champions League qualifying spot but their game at Swansea started in a strange atmosphere caused by the events at Old Trafford.

Two stands were evacuated 20 minutes ahead of kickoff and the game was abandoned shortly before the scheduled 1400 GMT start. A controlled explosion was later carried out on a suspect package, described by police as "an incredibly lifelike explosive device".

Manchester City made the perfect start when Kelechi Iheanacho fired them ahead after five minutes.

Swansea equalised on the stroke of halftime through Andre Ayew's deflected free kick and the visitors endured a few nervy moments in Manuel Pellegrini's last match in charge before celebrating the point they needed.

"Well into this season we were well in the title race, but we let ourselves down, we will take positives of a trophy and semi-final of the Champions League, which was history for our club," City goalkeeper Joe Hart said.

"I have enjoyed our time under Manuel, it was important we finished off a good three years working with him."

DISMAL AFTERNOON

Spurs, Leicester's closest challengers in the last few weeks, endured a dismal afternoon at relegated Newcastle.

Georginio Wijnaldum and Aleksandar Mitrovic put the hosts 2-0 up at halftime before Erik Lamela pulled one back.

Mitrovic was shown a straight red card for a dangerous foul but Wijnaldum scored his second from the penalty spot and Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat completed the scoring at a disbelieving St James' Park.

Arsenal took an early lead against relegated Villa through Olivier Giroud and the French striker added two late goals to complete his hat-trick before Mark Bunn's stoppage-time own goal completed the rout.

Arsene Wenger's side finished in the top two for the first time since 2005 after a difficult campaign in which the French manager has been heavily criticised.

"We kept our togetherness and that is part of the DNA of this club," said Wenger, who led his team into the Champions League for the 19th consecutive season.

"We kept fighting until the end. Many big teams finished outside the top four this year."

Cesc Fabregas's second-half penalty for Chelsea looked set to condemn Leicester to only their fourth defeat of the season but Danny Drinkwater rescued a point for the champions with a stunning long-distance strike.

"It was a warm welcome for me, it was fantastic at the beginning and the end," Ranieri said on his return to his former club.

"A draw is OK because we have only lost three times this season and that is an amazing achievement."

Southampton climbed to fifth with a 4-1 victory over FA Cup finalists Crystal Palace and West Ham United's hopes of a top-six finish ended following a 2-1 loss at Stoke City.

(Editing by Toby Davis)

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PREMIER LEAGUE: Champions Leicester and struggling Sunderland party

LONDON - Leicester City celebrated their gloriously unlikely Premier League triumph in a fitting manner with a 3-1 victory over Everton in front of their overjoyed, partying fans at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Jamie Vardy, with a double, and Andy King scored the goals that left the home supporters in raptures even before they could savour the almost unthinkable sight of captain Wes Morgan and manager Claudio Ranieri lifting the trophy after the final whistle.

There were more celebrations at the Stadium of Light where Jermain Defoe was again the toast of Sunderland after his winner in a 3-2 victory over Chelsea lifted them out of the relegation zone, leaving Newcastle United and Norwich City on the verge of the drop.

Rafa Benitez's Newcastle, a point behind north-east neighbours Sunderland in 18th place having played a game more, would then be relegated along with Norwich who are second from bottom.

After the nerve-shredding drama at the other end of the table, Leicester were able to relax in the day's late game and revel in the triumph that has been making headlines all over the world.

Free pizzas and beer for the fans and a stirring rendition of Nessun Dorma by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli in a Leicester shirt was the order of a surreal day before the Foxes showed no ill-effects from their week's heady celebrations since being crowned champions on Monday.

The "Jamie Vardy's having a party" chant was belted out by the supporters as the England striker took his season's goal tally in the league to 24.

The only false note came when the forward blasted his second penalty of the day high over the bar in the 72nd minute with Leicester already cruising at 3-0.

CLUB STALWART

It seemed perfect that the goals should arrive from Vardy, whose amazing rise from minor-league obscurity reflects City's own soaring journey, and King who has been a club stalwart through the thinnest of times.

Leicester's victory gave them a 10-point lead at the top of the table with the champions having one game to go, at Ranieri's former club Chelsea next weekend.

United's win at Norwich, courtesy of Juan Mata's fifth goal against the Canaries, left them in fifth place, one point behind neighbours Manchester City who occupy the fourth Champions League qualification spot and face fellow contenders Arsenal on Sunday.

West Ham United's push to play Champions League football in their first season in the Olympic Stadium looked bleak following a surprising 4-1 hammering by Swansea City in their final Saturday afternoon game at the Boleyn Ground.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce was full of praise for former England marksman Defoe after a result that he felt demonstrated the depth of his side's character.

"You give Jermain Defoe a chance and generally he at least hits the target," said Allardyce.

"We've crawled out of the bottom three by the number of goals he's scored. Without him I dread to think where we'd be as a team."

Twice Sunderland had to come from behind, first after Diego Costa had put Chelsea ahead and then, following Wahbi Khazri's equaliser, after Nemanja Matic had put the visitors 2-1 up on the stroke of halftime.

Three minutes after Fabio Borini's 67th-minute equaliser, Defoe, capitalising on a poor clearance from John Obi Mikel, smashed home the winner.

Terry received his marching orders deep into injury time for a second bookable offence, a decision Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink called "a little bit over the top".

Benitez sounded almost resigned to Newcastle's fate after their failure to dent a surprisingly resolute Villa rearguard.

"It was an opportunity to stay ahead of Sunderland and we couldn't do it," said the Spaniard. "We are disappointed."

(Editing by Tony Jimenez and Clare Fallon)

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PREMIER LEAGUE: Leicester stretch lead as Sanchez frustrates Spurs

LONDON -- Leicester moved a step closer to fulfilling their improbable dream of winning the Premier League as Riyad Mahrez gave the surprise leaders a 1-0 win at Watford, while 10-man Arsenal rescued a 2-2 draw against title rivals Tottenham on Saturday.

Claudio Ranieri's side extended their lead over second placed Tottenham to five points thanks to the latest moment of magic from Footballer of the Year contender Mahrez.

The Algeria winger lashed a fine finish past Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes from just inside the penalty area in the 56th minute.

With just nine games remaining, the unfancied Foxes are closing in on the most unlikely title triumph in the history of English football.

"An important win, a big battle," said Ranieri, who eased injury fears over Mahrez after he limped off in the final minutes.

"We are so happy. We wanted to show what we have inside. The desire is so high and we have a great opportunity.

"The title is not ours. We have to fight a lot and keep our feet on the ground."

Leicester's title charge had already received a boost earlier in the day when Tottenham squandered the lead in a pulsating north London derby at White Hart Lane.

With Gunners midfielder Francis Coquelin sent off after Aaron Ramsey's 39th minute opener, Arsenal looked in trouble when Tottenham hit back with two goals in three minutes from Toby Alderweireld and Harry Kane after the interval.

But Arsenal, criticised after successive league defeats this week, recovered to equalise through Alexis Sanchez with 14 minutes remaining.

"I am proud of the spirit, but going down to 10 men was the big regret for the day and it was hard to take," said boss Arsene Wenger, whose side are eight points behind Leicester.

Although they wasted a chance to go top for the first time in seven years, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino was still satisfied.

"I am pleased. It's true, when it was 2-1 I am little bit disappointed with the result, but we have to be happy we keep the three-point gap to Arsenal," Pochettino said.

At Eastlands, Manchester City ended a run of three successive league defeats with a 4-0 rout of Aston Villa at Eastlands.

Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure broke the deadlock in the 48th minute and Sergio Aguero doubled the lead two minutes later.

Aguero struck again in the 60th minute and Raheem Sterling added the fourth six minutes later before Aguero squandered a chance for a hat-trick when his penalty hit a post.

Manuel Pellegrini's fourth-placed side remain 10 points behind Leicester, while woeful Villa are slipping closer to playing in the second tier for the first time since 1988 after their fourth consecutive defeat.

- Beleaguered -

Chelsea warmed up for their crucial Champions League showdown against Paris Saint Germain with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Stoke at Stamford Bridge.

With Diego Costa rested ahead of the last 16, second leg against PSG, who hold a 2-1 advantage, Burkina Faso forward Bertrand Traore bagged his fourth goal in his last five appearances in the 39th minute.

But Chelsea were pegged back five minutes from full-time when Stoke forward Mame Biram Diouf headed home.

Bournemouth piled more pressure on beleaguered Newcastle manager Steve McClaren with a 3-1 win over the crisis-torn Magpies at St James' Park.

After a week that featured reports of a dressing room rebellion against McClaren, who also became embroiled in an angry exchange with a journalist on Friday, Newcastle fell behind in the 28th minute through Steven Taylor's own goal.

Josh King increased Bournemouth's lead in the 70th minute and although Ayoze Perez got one back in the 80th minute, it was too late for second-from-bottom Newcastle, who are one point from safety, because Charlie Daniels added the visitors' third deep into stoppage-time.

"I'm very disappointed. That was definitely a poor performance and 'going down' material," McClaren said.

West Ham staged a superb fightback to remain in the hunt for a Champions League berth with a 3-2 win at 10-man Everton.

Romelu Lukaku struck in the 13th minute and, despite Kevin Mirallas's dismissal, Aaron Lennon doubled Everton's lead in the 56th minute.

But Lukaku saw a penalty saved by Adrian and Michail Antonio reduced the deficit in the 78th minute.

Diafra Sakho equalised three minutes later and Dimitri Payet won it in the last minute.

Struggling Sunderland had to settle for a 1-1 draw at 10-man Southampton, while Swansea climbed nine points clear of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over third bottom Norwich at the Liberty stadium.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

PREMIER LEAGUE: Leicester rock Man City to race clear, Spurs second

LONDON - Leicester City's unlikely assault on a first Premier League title gathered momentum with a ruthless 3-1 demolition of Manchester City helping them storm five points clear at the top on Saturday.

Defender Robert Huth scored twice and Algerian magician Riyad Mahrez fired his 14th league goal of the season as Leicester sent a clear message of intent to those who still doubt they have the quality to become champions.

Bookmakers have now made Claudio Ranieri's men, 5,000-1 outsiders at the start of the campaign, favorites to go all the way.

Tottenham Hotspur moved above Manchester City into second place, Kieran Trippier scoring in a 1-0 win over Watford at White Hart Lane.



Leicester have 53 points from 25 games. Spurs are on 48, one ahead of Manchester City. Fourth-placed Arsenal, who visit Bournemouth on Sunday, have 45.

Elsewhere, Newcastle United clawed their way out of the relegation zone after Aleksandar Mitrovic netted in a 1-0 home victory over West Bromwich Albion.

Norwich City dropped into the bottom three after a 2-0 defeat at basement club Aston Villa while Sunderland, in 19th place, scored twice in the final eight minutes to draw 2-2 at Liverpool.

Ranieri's Leicester face Arsenal at the Emirates next weekend and the Italian said all the pressure was now on the league's big guns in this most unpredictable of seasons.

"We have to try in this crazy league but there are some big teams who have to win," he told reporters.

"The spirit is fantastic but I've said this from my first moment here in Leicester."

TOO HOT TO HANDLE

Leicester's energy and attacking verve proved too hot for City to handle at the Etihad Stadium, the hosts perhaps still digesting the news that Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola would be replacing Manuel Pellegrini as manager next season.

Poor marking allowed Huth to convert Mahrez's free kick after three minutes to rock the home team who struggled to respond in rain-lashed Manchester.

Mahrez then showed why he, along with team mate Jamie Vardy, should be a leading contender for Player of the Year honours when he doubled Leicester's lead following a swift break, taking N'Golo Kante's pass to advance and fire the ball past Joe Hart.

Huth's header from a corner on the hour made it 3-0, ensuring Sergio Aguero's late reply proved of no consequence.

Pellegrini made no excuses for Manchester City's chastening defeat.

"A lot of things went wrong. We played against a very good team," the Chilean said. "It's fair to give them the merit they have."

Like Leicester fans, followers of Spurs will dare to dream that their side can finally land a first top-flight title since 1961.

Full back Trippier, set up by substitute Dele Alli, scored his first goal for the club after 64 minutes to extend Spurs' winning run to six games in all competitions.

"We need to be calm. We are in a very good position in the league but the philosophy from the beginning of the season has been to go step by step," said manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Sunderland staged the comeback of the day at Anfield where thousands of Liverpool fans walked out in the 77th minute in protest against rising ticket prices, the timing symbolic with the club intending to charge a top price of 77 pounds ($111.65)next season.

Liverpool, with goals from Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana, were 2-0 up when many of the home fans left and they at least missed their side's capitulation as efforts by Adam Johnson and Jermain Defoe, a minute from time, earned Sunderland a point.

Anfield boss Juergen Klopp missed the game after suffering suspected appendicitis.

Everton struck three times in the first half on the way to a comfortable 3-0 victory at Stoke City while Southampton beat West Ham United 1-0 despite having Victor Wanyama sent off in the 54th minute.

($1 = 0.6897 pounds) (Editing by Tony Jimenez)

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Chelsea crisis after defeat in Mourinho's absence

LONDON - Jose Mourinho's future at Chelsea was pushed further under the spotlight on Saturday when the manager, absent through a stadium ban, may have watched in solitary misery as the champions lost yet again at Stoke City.

On a day when Jamie Vardy kept his amazing scoring exploits going for Leicester City to help Claudio Ranieri's side join Manchester City and Arsenal on 25 points at the top of the Premier League, the latest crisis for Mourinho still eclipsed all else.

The Portuguese had said his one-match suspension might force him to watch the match on a street corner on his iPad but, if media reports that he saw it at a nearby hotel are to be believed, Marko Arnautovic's 53rd-minute volley in Stoke's 1-0 home win will have made for wretched viewing.

It meant Mourinho was left surveying the wreckage of his worst-ever season in management, an unprecedented seventh league defeat in 12 matches being sealed by Arnautovic's acrobatic close-range effort.

Mourinho, who received the FA ban for making abusive comments to referee Jon Moss during last month's defeat at West Ham United, will have gone through agonies after Pedro hit the post with a curling shot as Chelsea piled on late pressure.

The defeat dropped Chelsea to fifth from bottom, astonishingly hovering three points above the relegation zone and placing further question marks over the manager's future at the club he led to championship glory just six months ago.

Goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who was back at his former club Stoke on Saturday, said Mourinho remained the "right man" for Chelsea.

"We are behind the manager, you can see that from our performances," said Begovic.

"His spirit and his presence is always there. We wanted to get a result for him."

Leicester became unlikely bedfellows with giants Manchester City and Arsenal at the top as Vardy hammered home a 65th-minute penalty to score for the ninth consecutive league match and secure a 2-1 victory over Watford.

Ranieri's Leicester are third on goal difference behind City and Arsenal who both play on Sunday.

VAN NISTELROOY RECORD

Vardy needs to find the target in his next game at Newcastle United to equal the record of Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy who netted in 10 successive matches in 2003.

Riyad Mahrez, the usual Leicester penalty taker, handed the ball over when Vardy was brought down by keeper Heurelho Gomes and the home crowd bayed for the striker to be given the chance.

"Of course Jamie wanted to score, that's normal," Ranieri said. "Van Nistelrooy was a fantastic striker and, like him, Jamie has everything to achieve at the highest level."

The Italian manager's surprise packages, who spent last season struggling for survival, had gone ahead when midfielder N'Golo Kante was amazed to see his weak 52nd-minute effort roll under accident-prone Gomes' hands.

Troy Deeney's 75th-minute penalty for Watford proved in vain.

Manchester United kept up the pressure on the pacesetters when a terrific goal from youngster Jesse Lingard helped them to a 2-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion, putting the Old Trafford club within a point of the leaders.

Juan Mata sealed the deal with a stoppage-time penalty after Gareth McAuley was sent off for hauling down Anthony Martial.

West Ham United missed the chance to close on the leaders after Romelu Lukaku scored against the Hammers at Upton Park to earn Everton a 1-1 draw after on-loan Argentine Manuel Lanzini had put the home side ahead.

Lukaku has now netted in all seven games he has played against the London outfit.

Sunderland's struggles at the foot of the table continued as Southampton earned a deserved 1-0 triumph at the Stadium of Light, Dusan Tadic hammering home a 69th-minute penalty.

Newcastle earned an important and highly improbable 1-0 victory at Bournemouth, scoring completely against the run of play thanks to a 27th-minute Ayoze Perez goal.

Norwich City pulled clear of the danger zone with a 70th-minute Jonny Howson header clinching a 1-0 win at home to Swansea City. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com