Football news

Andre Villas-Boas has rejected recent reports linking him with the vacant manager’s job at Tottenham as “lies”.

The former Chelsea boss is the odds-on favourite to be appointed at White Hart Lane following the shock departure of Harry Redknapp earlier this month.

Widespread reports suggested the Portuguese was the leading choice of Spurs chairman Daniel Levy but there had been suggestions that Villas-Boas was unhappy at the way in which Spurs were considering other candidates.

And the former Porto boss left little area for doubt when asked about the Tottenham speculation by the Portuguese press.

He was quoted as saying: “There is nothing, it is all lies.”

River promoted

River Plate returned to the Argentine first division last weekend, a year after they were relegated for the first time in their illustrious history.

David Trezeguet scored twice as River Plate beat Almirante Brown 2-0.

Twelve months ago, River Plate were relegated from the top division for the first time in their 110-year history, amid tears and scenes of violent mayhem.

The Buenos Aires team are Argentina’s most successful club with 33 championships to their name, and their rivalry with Boca Juniors, based in the same city, is one of the most intense in all sport.

Phil Neville wants Donovan back

Everton captain Phil Neville has revealed he is trying to persuade forward Landon Donovan to join the club. The 30-year-old United States international has had two spells with the Goodison Park side in the last couple of years.

“If there is a chance, I make sure that I try (to tempt him to Everton) every time I speak to him,” Neville said.

“That’s the first thing I say to him. Towards the end of his spell back in January I even tried to kidnap him for a while and keep him in England! I’m telling the truth here when I say the last two times he’s been over he’s totally transformed our season.”

Bayern drawn against local rivals

Bayern Munich will travel to Bavarian rivals Jahn Regensburg in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, which will take place a week before the start of the Bundesliga season on June 17-20.

Holders Borussia Dortmund travel to fourth-division side FC Oberneuland from Bremen while the lowest-ranked side in the draw, seventh-division outfit SV Falkensee-Finkenburg, drew Europa League participants Stuttgart.

The draw was made by Germany’s national team general manager Oliver Bierhoff and Germany women’s national team player Viola Odebracht.

Kewell returns to England

Australia international Harry Kewell, 33, has quit A-League side Melbourne Victory and returned to England for family reasons.

The former Leeds and Liverpool forward was close to signing a new contract but is going back to England to support the mother of Kewell’s wife, who is gravely ill, reports said.

The club confirmed that the player would not be returning for a second season.

“It was one of the toughest decisions we’ve had to make,” Kewell said.

“I enjoyed playing for Victory but family comes first and together we made a decision that it was best for us to remain close to our family at this time.”

New contract for Valencia’s Soldado

Roberto Soldado has extended his contract with Valencia until the summer of 2017.

Soldado was the joint top-scoring Spaniard in the Primera Liga along with Fernando Llorente last season as his 17 goals helped guide Los Che to their third consecutive third-place finish.

The former Real Madrid man also scored seven times in European competition as Valencia progressed to the Europa League semi-finals.

But after scoring only once in his last 10 games, Soldado was overlooked by Vicente del Bosque for the Spanish squad at the Euros as his former club boss instead opted for Llorente, Alvaro Negredo and Fernando Torres.

Eusebio set to return home

Portugal football legend Eusebio was given the all clear yesterday after being taken to hospital because of high blood pressure on Saturday after falling ill at his hotel in Poland.

It is the fourth time this year that the 70-year-old 1965 Ballon d’Or winner has been hospitalised. However, the team doctor Henrique Jones told reporters that Eusebio would be able to leave hospital today.

He said Eusebio would return to Portugal before the Euro 2012 semi-final against Spain on Wednesday.

“Given the status of his heart, it is preferable that he doesn’t stay for the match,” he said.