Ignazio Abate has signalled he wants to end his career at Milan as he approaches the end of his present contract.
The Italy defender has yet to sign an extension to his deal that ends next summer but insists he intends to stay at the San Siro.
“My priority is Milan,” Abate told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I will stay here as long as I can.
“This is my home, although I know in football you can always be moved.
“I want to stay here and finish my career. I couldn’t see myself in another jersey, at least not in Italy. At most I will go abroad.”
Sporting want Schalke rematch
Sporting Lisbon have lodged a protest with UEFA and deman-ded a rematch with Schalke 04 after a last-gasp penalty gave the Germans a 4-3 win in their Champions League game on Tuesday.
Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting converted the penalty, awarded deep in stoppage time for what Russian referee Sergei Karasev said was a handball by Sporting’s Jonathan Silva.
TV replays showed the player made contact with his head rather than his arm. The Portuguese had earlier come from two goals down to level 3-3.
Robson: Keane’s book ‘unnecessary’
Roy Keane’s autobiography, with its criticism of major figures at Manchester United, was unnecessary and the prevalence of such books unwelcome, according to former captain Bryan Robson.
“Is it necessary? If you are going to come about with a book, why not talk about the history of what you have done in the game, the good things about the game, rather than criticise people when there is no need to criticise people,” Robson said at the Soccerex Americas Forum in Barbados.
“Roy is just an example. There are a lot of people doing that, they come out and criticise people in their books – is there any need especially when you are making a great living out of the sport anyway?”
Griezmann singled out for praise
Atletico Madrid’s 5-0 Champions League win at home to Malmo on Wednesday may have been engineered by playmaker Koke but coach Diego Simeone reserved the most effusive praise for Antoine Griezmann.
The talented Frenchman is taking time to settle with the Spanish champions and his goal against the Swedish side was his first at the Calderon and only his second for the club.
“Beyond the goal, what I liked most was his work rate, his attitude, his participation in defence, that he was involved according to what the team needed,” Simeone said of Griezmann.
Balotelli’s shirt swap irks Rodgers
Mario Balotelli’s misfiring career at Anfield took another turn for the worse against Real Madrid on Wednesday with a half-time shirt-swap that did not impress manager Brendan Rodgers.
With Liverpool 3-0 down and being outclassed by the champions, Balotelli was spotted by TV cameras exchanging shirts with Real’s Pepe in the tunnel.
On being told of the episode after the game by a TV interviewer, Rodgers, who took off the ineffective striker at the break, said he did not like it.
Rodgers said: “That’s the first I’ve heard of it but if that’s the case then I wouldn’t like it.
“It’s something that I don’t like to see, I’ve seen it happen in other leagues and other countries but it’s certainly something that doesn’t happen here and shouldn’t happen.”
Iniesta hypes up Clasico clash
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta has acknowledged there is much more than just three points at stake in tomorrow’s first Clasico of the season at the Bernabeu.
Luis Enrique’s unbeaten side head to the Spanish capital top of the league and knowing a win would open up a seven-point cushion over rivals Real Madrid nine games into the season.
“It’s not just any other game – it never is. If you win, it makes you feel great,” Iniesta was quoted as saying at a press conference yesterday.
“The Clasico is always a battle in footballing terms. You have to be the best in everything to win.”
Water failure leaves players dirty
Players with Brazilian top-flight clubs Corinthians and Vitoria could not wash or shower after a match at a stadium used for the World Cup finals because the water system had broken down, red-faced officials admitted.
“The match ended and there was no water in the toilets, no water in the dressing rooms,” Victoria manager Ney Franco told globoesporte.com, one of Brazil’s biggest sports portals.
Officials in Cuiaba, where four matches were played during the World Cup at the Arena Pantanal, confirmed the complaints but could not explain how such basic problems have occurred just months after the $200 million stadium was inaugurated.