Former England and Tottenham striker Jimmy Greaves is in intensive care after suffering a severe stroke on Sunday.
A statement from Greaves’s family confirmed that the 75-year-old had been taken ill, having recovered from a minor stroke in 2012.
Greaves scored 44 goals in 57 England games, the fourth-highest total of all time. He also scored 266 goals in 379 matches for Spurs.
Greaves was due to be inducted into the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame on May 13 at a sell-out ceremony at White Hart Lane.
Barcelona hope to extend Alves stay
Barcelona are confident Dani Alves, 31, will remain at the club beyond the end of the season.
The Brazil international has yet to sign a new deal despite his current contract expiring this summer. The right-back has been linked with Manchester United and Manchester City in recent months.
“Alves is much closer to staying at the club than to leaving,” Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said.
“We have asked him to stay and he is eager to continue to fight and work hard.”
Alves has made 42 appearances this season for the Catalans.
No more penalties for Van Persie
Louis van Gaal has relieved Robin van Persie of penalty-taking duties for Manchester United following his miss in the 1-0 defeat to West Brom.
Van Persie took the penalty because Wayne Rooney missed his previous attempt at Liverpool. And now that the former Arsenal striker has failed to score from the spot, Van Gaal is looking for a new penalty-taker.
“No, he is now at the end of the road,” the United boss said when asked if Van Persie would continue taking penalties.
“It is always like that. Wayne has missed so when you miss you are at the bottom again.”
Wenger disagrees with pundit Henry
Manager Arsene Wenger says Thierry Henry is “wrong” to claim Arsenal need to buy four new players and cannot win the title with striker Olivier Giroud.
Following last week’s frustrating goalless draw against leaders Chelsea, former Arsenal striker Henry used his new role as a pundit for Sky Sports to lay into his old club. Wenger feels while the former Arsenal captain is entitled to his opinions, they are unfounded.
“I think he is wrong,” Wenger said before last night’s match against Hull City.
“It doesn’t cost to say that. He’s paid for that. We know all the system now of the modern media, especially on TV. I know how it works, they push you to be controversial because they give you a lot of money.”
Benteke urged to commit to Villa
Tim Sherwood urged Christian Benteke to follow Fabian Delph’s lead and show loyalty to Aston Villa.
The striker took his tally to 11 goals in nine games with a brace to down Everton 3-2 on Saturday. It boosted Villa’s survival hopes.
Benteke has again been linked with a move away after being revived by Sherwood since his arrival in February, but the boss hopes the striker will look at Delph’s example.
“This club might be a lot different (next season),” he said.
“I can’t think of too many footballers who would have signed a four-year deal like Fabian Delph did when he could have gone to the top four. Let’s hope they all follow suit.”
Violence mars state final in Brazil
Police fired percussion grenades inside the Castelao arena as fans fought pitch battles at the 2014 World Cup stadium on Sunday following the end of the Ceara state championship final.
The 2-2 draw gave the title to Fortaleza, who had beaten rivals Ceara 2-1 in the first leg.
Fortaleza fans invaded the pitch to celebrate but attacked their rivals with sticks, seats and even parts of the stage being prepared for the prize-giving ceremony. Police fired smoke bombs in a bid to try and clear the pitch.
“The stadium’s infrastructure wasn’t made for Brazilian football fans,” Lt Col. Aguinaldo, commander of events policing for the state police, said.
“It’s easy for fans to invade the field like this. Holding back a rebellious mob is difficult.”
Boca win derby
Boca Juniors scored twice in the final six minutes to beat River Plate 2-0 in an enthralling Argentine “superclasico” and open a three-point lead in the standings.
Teenage striker Cristian Pavon broke the deadlock in the 84th minute and two minutes later Pablo Perez made sure of the victory.
“That’s the loveliest thing that’s happened to me since I got to Boca,” the 19-year-old Pavon said, while Boca coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena praised the teenager’s initiative.
“Cristian’s goal came from the opposite wing to which I’d asked him to play, that’s the player’s intelligence,” he told reporters.
Boca have 27 points from 11 matches, three points more than River and San Lorenzo.