Peter Reid

Dick Advocaat

Marcelo Lippi

TEHRAN, Nov. 19--Mohsen Safaei Farahani, head of Iran’s Transitional Committee, has been searching for a top football coach in Europe.
This is while concluding an agreement with a superior coach also demands considering attractive conditions for him.
Winfried Schaefer, former Cameroon coach, is a suitable choice for Iran’s head coach and is currently in talks with bosses of Iran’s football team about coaching the national side, Mehr News Agency reported.
However, names of some big coaches such as Marcelo Lippi, Ruud Gullit, Pim Verbeek, etc are also on the table.
The team had recruited the top coach Miroslav Blazevic, but failed to advance to 2002 world cup.
Safaei Farahani, who is former head of Iran’s Football Federation and appointed the Croatian coach (Blazevic) is currently facing another uphill task to find a top coach for Iran’s team.
Safaei Farahani has also traveled to England to talk with Peter Reid, Goodison Park’s legend and former Leeds United coach which was contrary to promises made by the transitional committee.
Lippi, who succeeded to crown Italy as world cup champion in 2006 is a high class coach and has already ruled out to coach the big clubs, including Real Madrid and Chelsea and no doubt he will also refuse to work with Iran’s national team. Meanwhile, Dick Advocaat of Netherlands is considered by the transitional committee as new head coach as well, however, the federation has not officially announced it.
Although Iranian National Team is awaiting a new coach, it is not known whether the country can provide sufficient facilities for the big coach.

Luka Bonacic

TEHRAN, Nov. 19--Sepahan head coach, Luka Bonacic, is facing prosecution of Croatian police because he accused Croatian football club, Hajduk Split club of pursuing Mafia policies.
Bonacic in an interview with a Croatian reporter in Isfahan on Nov. 5, accused the Croatian team of immoral behaviors that resulted in Bonacic’s exit from Hajduk Split team over last two years, Mehr News Agency reported.
Bonacic told his fellow-countryman (the reporter) that Croatia’s Football is like a pool full of crocodiles and it is as dangerous as walking in Baghdad streets.
The club’s officials are set to pursue Bonacic through Interpol Police.
Sepahan’s current head coach also accused Croatia’s government of supporting the Hajduk and the Croatian police wants to arrest the famous coach over his accusations.

HOMESTEAD, USA, Nov. 19--Jimmie Johnson won his second successive NASCAR championship after defending his points lead over Hendrick Motorsports team mate Jeff Gordon in the final race of the season on Sunday.
According to Reuters, Matt Kenseth of Roush won the 400 mile race but Johnson finished seventh to ensure he ended the championship with a 77 point lead over four-times champion Gordon--who finished fourth.
Johnson went into the race knowing that even if Gordon--who won back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998-won Sunday’s battle he only needed to finish 19th to keep top spot in the standings.
The 32-year-old Johnson, driving a Chevrolet, took few risks in a race which saw Kurt Busch finished second and Denny Hamlin third.
Johnson’s title win was the seventh triumph for Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick and completed an outstanding season for the driver who claimed 10 victories throughout the 36 race season - including four of the last five races.
“I don’t think I have seen a more dominant performance since I have been in racing,“ said Hendrick of Johnson’s season.
“I was in the right frame of mind and focused on the right things and I had great support from my team“ said Johnson who came from 68 points behind Gordon to clinch the title.
The rivalry between the two team mates has always been calmed by friendship and Johnson described Gordon as “a great friend and a great team mate“.

Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood (l) blocks a shot by Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Rick Nash (61) during their NHL hockey game in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 18.

axNEW YORK, Nov. 19--Johan Franzen’s shootout goal lifted the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.
Franzen got the puck past Columbus netminder Pascal Leclaire in the fifth round of the shootout. Detroit’s goaltender Chris Osgood then stopped a shot by Columbus’ David Vyborny as the Red Wings broke a three-game losing streak, Reuters wrote.
“It’s a real big win for us,“ Red Wings coach Mike Babcock told reporters. “Winning on back-to-back nights is hard, especially when they’re waiting for you.“
Osgood made 36 saves for Detroit with Leclaire stopping 31 shots for Columbus.
Pavel Datsyuk’s goal for Detroit 15:10 into the third period forced the overtime.
Detroit led 2-1 after the first period on power play goals by Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom but Columbus needed just 40 seconds of the second period to tie the score as Sergei Fedorov found the net on a power play.
Detroit’s Brett Lebda made it 3-2 a minute later before Columbus’s Rick Nash scored on a power play to even the score.
An even-handed goal by Nikolai Zherdev gave Columbus a 4-3 advantage 13:51 into the third period before Datsyuk got the equalizer less than two minutes later.
“They’re the best team in the Western Conference, but we should have a lot of confidence from this,“ said Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock. “We pushed them to the brink.“

NEW YORK, Nov. 19-- The Orlando Magic became the first team to defeat the Celtics this season, bringing an end to Boston’s eight-game winning streak with a 104-102 home victory on Sunday.
According to Reuters, Orlando (9-2) got off to a fast start before holding off a furious late comeback bid by the last remaining NBA team with a perfect record.
“They couldn’t stop us in the first half, we couldn’t stop them in the second half,“ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters.
Dwight Howard scored 24 points and Rashard Lewis had 22 for the winners while Paul Pierce led Boston with 28 points but missed a three-pointer with a second remaining that would have won the contest.
“I thought I had a good look at a three,“ Pierce said. “I saw about one or two seconds left (on the clock) and I could have drove and tied the game up but I went with my instincts.“
Orlando had enjoyed a 20-point lead on Lewis’s jumper in the second quarter but Boston battled back to lead 88-87 with 6:03 left in the game on back-to-back three-pointers by Eddie House and James Posey.
Orlando then ran off six straight points, capped by Hedo Turkoglu’s three-pointer at 4:51.
The Magic moved into a 103-99 lead on two Lewis free throws with 15 seconds remaining, but Ray Allen hit a three-pointer with seven seconds on the clock to pull Boston within 103-102.
A Lewis free throw then accounted for the game’s final point after a foul by Pierce.

DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 19--The European Tour will stage the richest golf tournament in the world when Dubai hosts a £4.88 million ($10 million) season-ending event from 2009.
The world’s top 60 will compete at the end-of-season final that will be named the Dubai World Championship with the winner set to pocket about £813,800.
Another £4.88 million will be divided among the top 15 in the Order of Merit that will be renamed the Race to Dubai.
The winner of the season-long race will receive a bonus of about £976,000.
“The sums involved are staggering and add to the already rampant inflation that dictates golf prize money,“ said BBC Radio 5 Live golf correspondent Iain Carter. European Tour chief executive George O’Grady added: “It will bring a new dimension to the Tour.
“(It will create) great drama and theatre throughout the year as all the best players in the world are given the opportunity to compete in the world’s richest tournament. “Moreover, as the European Tour has become ever-more global in its outlook it has become increasingly important to us to have an international base in a strategically-placed location.“
The European Tour’s new international headquarters will be established at Jumeirah Golf Estates, which will host the inaugural Dubai World Championship between 19-22 November, 2009.

NOTTINGHAM, UK, Nov. 19--Undisputed world super-middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe has laughed off talk of a fight with Carl Froch.
Undefeated Nottingham man Froch, 30, is up for a final eliminator for Calzaghe’s newly won WBC crown, BBC wrote.
Froch will face Russia’s Denis Inkin in a title eliminator and believes a unification battle with Calzaghe is the fight that all Britain wants to see.
But Newbridge’s Calzaghe described the prospect of an Anglo-Welsh clash against Froch as a “joke“.
Speaking after his victory over Robin Reid, Froch said: “I would like to think Joe will still be there when I get past Inkin.
“But he’s talking about fighting Hopkins up at light-heavyweight now.
“For the moment, I want to keep that dream fight alive.“
However, Calzaghe, writing in his column for the South Wales Argus, dismissed the chance of him facing the Nottinngham fighter.
“Coming off the biggest fight of my life and with my stock as high as it’s ever been, it’s a joke to think I’d fight Froch,“ said the 35-year-old WBO, WBA and WBC champion.
“His performance in beating Robin Reid was very poor in my opinion. Luckily for him Reid was a bit of an embarrassment and has now retired.
“I feel I’ve earned the right to go after the biggest fights possible and I have beaten everyone there is to beat at super-middleweight.
“If Froch fought Mikkel Kessler it’d be a very one-sided fight so what could I possibly get out of fighting Froch now?
“There would be zero interest in America and it’d be a fight I would need a lot of motivating for.“

LONDON, Nov. 19--World anti-doping officials have doubled the potential punishment for those caught using banned substances for the first time.
According to BBC, offenders could now face a ban of up to four years if found guilty in “aggravating circumstances“.
The move is one element in the revised World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) code, which is being ratified in Madrid.
“Nobody thinks the code we have adopted is perfect or final,“ said outgoing Wada president Dick Pound.
“But it’s a big improvement on what we had.“
The definition of “aggravating circumstances“ includes athletes who are found to be:
* involved in a larger doping scheme
* using prohibited substances, including anabolic steroids, on multiple occasions
* enjoying the effects of the prohibited substance for a period longer than his/her ineligibility
* impeding the investigation of an anti-doping offence
The new code was approved on the final day of a three-day international conference on fighting performance-enhancing drugs in sports.
The revised set of rules and sanctions, which also includes reduced punishments for athletes who help authorities catch other drug cheats, will come into effect on 1 January 2009.
Athletes will be considered guilty of a doping violation if they accumulate a combination of three missed tests and/or fail to provide information of their whereabouts within an 18-month period in the new code.
There will also be possible ban reductions for athletes who admit to doping.
And athletes could face lesser sanctions if they can prove the prohibited substance was not intended to enhance performance.
“This is an ongoing process,“ said Pound. “It sends a message to the public that we remain firm in our resolve.“
The Wada code, which first went into effect in 2004, is the central set of drug-testing rules across all sports and countries.
“While we can be understandably proud, I think it’s also fair to say that the fight against doping is a living exercise,“ said Pound said.
“It will never cease. There will always be people out there who will break the rules.

Kaka

MILAN, Italy, Nov. 19-- AC Milan and Brazil playmaker Kaka has said he would vote for Cristiano Ronaldo if he could vote for the European footballer of the year.
Kaka is hot favorite to win the award next month, handed out by magazine France Football, but believes Manchester United’s Portuguese winger deserves the accolade this year, Reuters wrote.
“He is the best, not only for his technical ability but also for what he has done with Portugal,“ Kaka was quoted as saying in Italian media from Brazil on Sunday.
Kaka, 25, also said he hoped to captain his country when Brazil host the 2014 World Cup.
“In 2014 I will still be playing and it would be a marvelous experience to be captain of our national team,“ he said.
However, one of Kaka’s main dreams lies away from soccer.
“I would like to meet Michael Jordan. He has been the best basketball player of all time,“ he added.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Nov. 19--Kaka produced another superb strike to help Brazil draw 1-1 away to Peru in Sunday’s World Cup qualifiers while Marcelo Salas scored his first international goals for more than two years in Chile’s 2-2 away draw to Uruguay.
According to Guardian, Kaka scored with a 30-metre shot which dipped and swerved away from Peru goalkeeper Diego Penny to give the five-times world champions a halftime lead in Lima before Juan Vargas equalized in the second half.
Salas, Chile’s all-time leading scorer who was recalled to the squad in August, took his international tally to 37 goals after scoring twice in 11 minutes in Montevideo.
Uruguay, who had taken the lead through Luis Suarez, snatched a point thanks to a late equalizer from Sebastian Abreu.
Argentina, 3-0 winners over Bolivia on Saturday, are the only team with maximum points after three of the 18 rounds of games in the single South American group.
They are followed by Paraguay (7 points), Brazil and Colombia (5), Uruguay and Chile (4), Venezuela (3), Bolivia and Peru (2) and Ecuador (0).
The top four teams qualify directly for the 2010 finals in South Africa and the fifth plays off against the fourth-placed team from the CONCACAF region.