Football news

Pele has accepted an invitation from Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to act as an honorary ambassador for the 2014 World Cup. The 70-year-old legend said it was an honour that he could not turn down.

“From the first World Cup that I played (in 1958) I’ve been doing this: I defend and promote Brazil. It’s a very big responsibility,” Pele said.

Pele told his compatriots to show their pride in hosting the tournament by putting aside criticism over delays and the slow pace of preparations to stage the best World Cup possible.

Sports Minister Orlando Silva said Pele had been a natural choice because of “all he had done for sport in Brazil. He’s a man who knows a lot about the world of football”.

Injured Robben out of cup tie

Bayern Munich’s Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben is injured and will miss his club’s first fixture of the upcoming season on August 1.

Robben had to be replaced in the 63rd minute of Bayern’s friendly game against Milan late Tuesday (1-1, Bayern won on penalties) after suffering a knock to his thigh.

“I hope it’s nothing serious,” said Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes.

The injury has ruled him out of Monday’s first round cup tie against Eintracht Brunswick.

Bayern will also be without Franck Ribery who suffered a left ankle problem in training.

Cazorla completes move to Malaga

Spain international Santi Cazorla has completed his move to big-spending Malaga.

On Tuesday, Malaga had announced they had reached a deal with Villarreal to sign Cazorla and the 26-year-old yesterday passed his medical and penned a five-year contract with the Andalusian club.

Malaga have placed a €45 million buy-out clause in the midfielder’s contract. No fee has been an-nounced but reports suggest Malaga will pay around €20 million, which would be a club record.

Cazorla becomes the 10th new arrival at La Rosaleda this summer, following the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Joaquin and Jeremy Toulalan.

McCoist confident despite setback

Ally McCoist remains confident that Rangers can get past Malmo in their Champions League third qualifying round even though that will require making club history.

The Scottish champions have never won a European tie after losing the first game at home and they will have to rectify that following their 1-0 defeat to the Swedes.

However the Rangers boss said: “One of the worrying things from our point of view is that we didn’t start the game well.

“I sat here on Saturday and said the same thing after the Hearts game. The standard of goals we are conceding is certainly worrying. But I do believe that we created enough in the second half to indicate that the tie is far from over.”

Xavi in another Fabregas plea

Barcelona midfielder Xavi has reiterated his wish to see Cesc Fabregas move to the Nou Camp from Arsenal this summer.

The Spain international angered Gunners manager Arsene Wenger with similar recent comments, when he said Fabregas was “suffering” because he wanted to join Barcelona.

Arsenal value captain Fabregas at £40 million, and Barcelona have not met the asking price, but Wenger is also keen to keep his star man.

“I hope the saga ends,” Xavi said.

Describing Fabregas as “a piece of the puzzle”, Xavi added: “Cesc is only 24 and his arrival would ensure the current cycle of Barca continues to work. I’m 31 and will retire in two, three or four years. I hope he comes.”

Real ‘more mature’ this season – Ozil

Real Madrid are stronger and more mature than last season, when they failed for a third year to win the league title, German playmaker Mesut Ozil said.

“Real Madrid are stronger and more mature than last year,” Ozil told a news conference.

“We have the potential to beat any rival and our aim this season is to win many titles.”

Ozil declined to discuss the next Super Cup, on August 14 and 17, against Barcelona.

“I don’t want to discuss this subject. We are focused on our preparation phase and our only concern just now is that all the injured players have recovered by August 14,” the 22-year-old German World Cup star said.

Gill not ruling out one last signing

Manchester United chief executive David Gill has left open the possibility the Premier League champions could make one last foray into the transfer market this season.

Alex Ferguson has been adopting a downbeat attitude to bringing in a replacement for Paul Scholes throughout the Red Devils’ three-week tour of the United States amid reports that the overall cost of signing Wesley Sneijder from Inter is proving prohibitive.

“We are looking at one more player to bring in,” Gill told MUTV.

“Nothing is happening and nothing is imminent but we will see what happens when we get home. There will still be 31 days of the transfer window to see if anything develops.