Football news

The office Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of software giant Microsoft, denied yesterday that he is in talks to buy Southampton soccer club owner Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc, which said earlier it was considering a preliminary takeover approach.

"To the best of his knowledge, this spokesperson is not aware of any interest," said Michael Nank, Paul Allen's spokesman at Vulcan Ventures, an enterprise owned by Allen.

Southampton shares surged by more than 30 per cent yesterday after the club confirmed the interest of an undisclosed party.

London's Evening Standard newspaper had reported Allen was interested in the club.

Bernabeu to host cup final

The final of the King's Cup will be held at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium for the second year in succession, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has announced.

The RFEF said that representatives of the four semi-finalists Barcelona, Getafe, Sevilla and Deportivo had agreed unanimously to accept Real Madrid's offer to host the final which will take place on June 23.

Each of the finalists will be given 30,000 tickets for their fans, with the remaining 15,000 being distributed through the RFEF.

Angry fan puts Dida up for auction

An angry Milan fan put goalkeeper Dida up for sale on the internet ahead of next week's Champions League semi-final return with Manchester United. The 33-year-old was a hero after the shoot-out win over Juventus in the 2003 Champions League final but his popularity has slumped after a series of errors.

He was criticised following this week's 3-2 first-leg defeat to United at Old Trafford, when he flapped a Cristiano Ronaldo header into his own net and then left his near post exposed for Wayne Rooney to blast home a stoppage-time winner.

Dida failed to attract great interest on eBay. The price, before the Brazilian was removed from the site, had reached 71 euros.

Catania-Ascoli for Verona

The Serie A match between Catania and Ascoli will be played next Wednesday (3 p.m.) in Verona. The Week 33 fixture has been at the centre of controversy, as the Sicilians saw their Stadio Massimino banned until June by the FIGC after the riots at the derby with Palermo.

The Catania TAR civil court overturned the ruling last week, starting a legal challenge with the federation to decide who had jurisdiction over the issue.

The match, originally scheduled for last weekend, was postponed first to May 2, then April 25 and then again to May 2, with the latter date now confirmed by the Football League.

Season over for Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's season at Inter has ended prematurely after undergoing surgery to solve a persistent groin problem.

The striker, who scored 15 Serie A goals this season, confirmed that he was forced to stop because of the pain, but was hoping that he might return for the Coppa Italia final second leg.

Ibrahimovic, 25, is currently in Amsterdam, where the surgery was successfully completed yesterday.

United stars on Asian tour

Manchester United plan to take their star attractions such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs to South Korea in July on its Asian tour, chief executive David Gill said yesterday.

"Rooney, Ronaldo, Giggs and others will all play on the tour. They'll leave you with lasting memories," Gill told reporters in Seoul.

Manchester United's tour will also take them to Japan, China and Malaysia.

Minute's applause for Alan Ball

English teams will pay tribute to Alan Ball with a minute's applause before all this weekend's games. World Cup winner Ball died earlier this week at the age of 61 after suffering a heart attack.

"This will give supporters the chance to pay their own tribute," said Football League boss Andy Williamson.

The Football Association has already announced that England's players will wear black armbands as a tribute to Ball when they face Brazil on June 1 in the first game at the new Wembley Stadium. His funeral will be held at Winchester Cathedral next Thursday.

Werder require 'Weser wonder'

Werder Bremen have been left to pin their UEFA Cup final hopes on another 'wonder at the Weser' after a dreadful 3-0 defeat away to Espanyol in Thursday's semi-final first leg. But, Werder overturned such deficits at their own Weserstadion before.

In 1987-88 they came back from a 4-1 away leg defeat against Spartak Moscow to win 6-2 in the return and reach the last 16 of the UEFA Cup. A year later they lost 3-0 away to Dynamo Berlin in the first round of the European Cup but went through after winning 5-0 at home.

In 1999-2000, they again came back from 3-0, this time away to Lyon in the third round of the UEFA Cup. In the return leg at the Weserstadion they won 4-0 to make it through.

'I believe in Wenger' - Henry

Thierry Henry has committed his future to Arsenal and says he will stay at the club so long as Arsene Wenger remains in charge.

The 29-year-old, who has suffered an injury-plagued season, has been linked on numerous occasions with a move away from the club despite signing a contract until 2010.

"At the end of last season I signed a new contract," Henry said.

"I believe in the boss and what he is trying to do here. As long as he is here then I will be here."