A knee injury kept Nicolas Anelka from playing his highly-anticipated first match in the Chinese league and it is uncertain when he will return to the field, his club said yesterday.
The striker, the most high-profile foreign footballer ever to sign for the Super League, had been scheduled to take to the field on Saturday for his new club, Shanghai Shenhua.
“Doctors are taking care of his injury, which is not serious,” a Shenhua club official said.
“It is difficult to say whether he will attend the next match as it depends on his condition,” he said, adding the injury took place during training a week ago.
Anelka has signed a two-year contract worth €270,000-a-week at Shanghai Shenhua.
Werder’s Pizarro sorry for slap
Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro has apologised for striking Hanover’s Emanuel Pogatetz in the face during Sunday’s clash, insisting he did not intend to make contact.
Pizarro scored his side’s opening goal in the 3-0 victory but was also involved in an incident with Pogatetz. The Peruvian appeared to slap the Hanover defender after a clash between the pair and since the referee did not deal out any punishment, Pizarro could be banned retrospectively.
He said: “I just wanted to move my hand away and I slapped him a bit, but I didn’t want to. I have apologised and I did not mean to do it.”
Lucky Genoa
Genoa president Enrico Preziosi admitted his side were “very fortunate” to come away with a point against Juventus on Sunday.
Juventus hit the post three times but were held to a goalless draw at the Luigi Ferraris stadium.
“Juventus clearly deserved to win,” Preziosi said.
“We had a few chances but Juve were a class above from the first to the final minute. If it had ended 2-0 in favour of Juve, we would have had few complaints.
“I am holding on tight to this point that I consider very fortunate in the circumstances.”
The result was Juve’s sixth draw in their last seven league games.
Teixeira resigns
Ricardo Teixeira, mired in corruption allegations, has resigned both as president of the Brazilian Football Confederation and as head of the organising committee for the 2014 World Cup.
Teixeira, who had been CBF president since 1989, has faced accusations that he embezzled millions of dollars worth of bribes in the 1990s from the Switzerland-based ISL sports marketing company that later went bankrupt. He was also accused of diverting public funds from a friendly match played by Brazil in 2008.
Teixeira, 64, named Jose Maria Marin, 79, as his successor.
Suarez, Cavani admit PSG interest
Uruguay team-mates Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani both expressed interest in playing for PSG during a report on French TV late Sunday.
Both players were speaking in a segment about their Uruguay team-mate Diego Lugano, who is currently playing for PSG.
“It would be very tempting to come to Paris SG,” said Napoli striker Cavani.
“I’d love for us to play together, in the same team.”
Liverpool forward Suarez said he would “love to play at the same club as (Lugano)” and admitted he could be tempted by a move to Parc des Princes in the future.
Celtic target undefeated finish
Joe Ledley says the Celtic players want to remain undefeated until the end of the season as they eased into the Scottish Cup semi-final draw courtesy of a 4-0 win over Dundee United.
Midfielder Ledley said his team-mates, who face Kilmarnock in the League Cup final next Sunday and have a 21-point lead in the SPL, are determined to finish the season in style.
“We have got a winning mentality and we just want to keep it going until the end of the season and hopefully we can do that,” Ledley said.
“Obviously it’s going to be difficult as we have some hard games coming up but we just need to keep ticking over and see what happens.”
United say Pogba still undecided
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson told reporters that unsettled midfielder Paul Pogba is still undecided on his future and rubbished reports that the young Frenchman had already signed for Juventus.
Reports said the 18-year-old had already decided to move to Turin once his contract expires in June. However, Ferguson insists Pogba could sign a new deal at Old Trafford.
“The boy is still trying to make his mind up, but he knows where he should be.
“He has shown again the potential he has got and he is a first-team player – there is no question about that,” Ferguson said.