Football news

The Italian Supercoppa will be held at Beijing’s Olympic stadium in August, the Italian Football League have announced.

The Bird’s Nest is the fourth international venue chosen for the Supercoppa after Washington (1993), Tripoli (2002) and New York (2003).

The game between Serie A champions Milan and Coppa Italia winners Inter is scheduled for August 6.

A statement from the Lega A said: “The Lega Serie A confirms that the 2011 Italian Supercoppa will be played on August 6 in China, at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium.”

Third Blues player heads to Hamburg

Hamburg have completed the signing of Chelsea youngster Gokhan Tore. The 19-year-old winger has signed a three-year deal, following another Stamford Bridge reserve team player, Jacopo Sala, and Michael Mancienne in heading to Hamburg recently.

Turkey U-21 international Tore, an unused substitute for his country’s senior side during Friday’s European Championship qualifier against Belgium, joined the Blues in January 2009 from Bayer Leverkusen.

After completing his move, Tore said: “I will do my best for this club – a club with great tradition, located in a great city.”

Nolan’s Newcastle future in doubt

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew’s hopes of securing his key players before embarking on a recruitment drive have suffered a blow.

Pardew had hoped to tie up the futures of skipper Kevin Nolan, fellow midfielder Joey Barton and left-back Jose Enrique this summer ahead of a foray into the transfer market. However, 28-year-old Nolan is understood to have rejected the contract offer currently on the table just weeks after Barton was told he will not be offered a new deal.

Former Bolton player Nolan, who scored 12 Premier League goals last season, has two years remaining on his current contract, but the breakdown of talks will cause further concern among fans still coming to terms with Barton’s situation.

Argentina set to play in India

Lionel Messi and his Argentina team-mates will travel to India later this year to take on Venezuela in a friendly designed to boost football on the subcontinent.

The FIFA-sanctioned game is scheduled for September 2 in the eastern city of Kolkata and the Argentine team will then travel to Bangladesh where they will take on Nigeria.

The squad will arrive in Kolkata on August 30 and will take part in a number of events, including a charity programme and a football clinic for children during a four-day stay.

It was unclear if Messi, whose club side Barcelona begin their La Liga title defence the day before, would fly out with his Argentina team-mates or join the tour later.

Ventura takes over at Torino

Giampiero Ventura has been given the task to revive the fortunes of fallen giants Torino who are coming from yet another disappointing season in Serie B after failing to make the play-offs for promotion.

Ventura, formerly of Bari, signed a one-year deal.

Stefano Colantuono was another candidate for the job but in the end he opted to stay at Atalanta who play in Serie A next season.

Reports said, Ventura, 63, beat the competition from Massimo Ficcadenti and Delio Rossi to net the job.

Torino appointed Franco Lerda last June but he was sacked on March 9, only to be recalled 11 days later after Giuseppe Papadopulo was quickly dismissed.

Real Madrid eye Benfica’s Coentrao

Benfica left-back Fabio Coentrao could be on his way to Real Madrid, according to a Spanish sports daily, which said the two clubs will meet this week to seal the deal.

Big-spenders Real are ready to pay €25 million while the Lisbon club wants €30 million, the cost of buying out his contract.

The 23-year-old, who starred for Portugal at the World Cup in South Africa, is “one of the priorities” of Real coach Jose Mourinho for next season, Marca said.

Another sports daily, AS, published an interview with Coentrao in which he said his dream is to play for Mourinho, “the best coach in the world.”

Rookie Sannino gets Siena job

Giuseppe Sannino was appointed coach of newly-promoted Serie A side Siena replacing new Juventus handler Antonio Conte.

The 54-year-old was given a warm welcome by club president Massimo Mezzaroma despite him not having coached in Serie A before.

“We welcome with open arms and with great enthusiasm our new coach Giuseppe Sannino,” said Mezzaroma.

“A man who is tenacious, courageous and has the hunger to win.”

Sannino guided Varese to fourth place in Serie B this past season but lost to Padova in the promotion play-offs.