Real Madrid: Real Madrid have warned that they will show no mercy against troubled Tokyo Verdy in the first of two pre-season friendlies in Japan today. The Spanish giants take on a Verdy side who have conceded 26 goals in their last six games and have just fired Argentine coach Osvaldo Ardiles. "Verdy may have problems but that doesn't concern us," Real captain Raul told a news conference yesterday. Real Madrid beat China's Beijing Guo'an 3-2 on Saturday in the third game on their lucrative six-match pre-season tour.

Murder Probe: Ecuadorean investigators exhumed the body of former national soccer team striker Otilino Tenorio on Friday to check whether he was murdered instead of killed in a car accident as reported in May, a lawyer for his family said. Tenorio was 25 when the car he was driving reportedly smashed head-on into a truck on a highway southwest of the capital, Quito.

Ezquerro: Barcelona midfielder Santi Ezquerro will be sidelined for the rest of the club's tour of Denmark and Asia after tearing a thigh muscle in training, the Primera Liga club said yesterday. The 28-year-old is expected to be out for up to three weeks although the club hope he will be available for the first leg of the Spanish Supercup against Real Betis on August 14.

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