In the final week of the Seventh Premier League, eight simultaneous matches will be held today, the most sensitive being the grand finale between Persepolis and Isfahan’s Sepahan at Azadi Stadium.
Sepahan, the top team of the league, has 58 points while Persepolis is number two with two points less. Persepolis needs a win to be crowned champion while Sepahan can win the competition with only a draw, MNA reported.

File photo shows Persepolis and Sepahan captains posing for a picture.

In their last encounter, Persepolis lost 4-1 in the playoffs of Winners’ Cup last year. It is expected that 100,000 spectators will pack Azadi Stadium for this match.
Meanwhile, another sensitive match will be held in Abadan, where San’at-e Naft meet the crisis-stricken Esteqlal whose Head Coach Firouz Karimi resigned after the previous week’s 2-1 defeat to Isfahan’s Zob Ahan. San’at-e Naft faces being relegated to First Division.
The team remains in the league only if they beat Esteqlal and Malavan and Pegah lose in their matches. San’at-e Naft has 32 points while Malavan and Pegah each have 35 points.

Vahid Shamsaei

Vahid Shamsaei’s first-half goal was enough to send Iran into the final of the AFC Futsal Championship courtesy of narrow 1-0 victory over Japan.
Shamsaei took advantage of Yusuke Komiyama’s defensive slip to put Iran ahead just before the interval at Nimibutr Stadium and they never relinquished their advantage in what proved to be their toughest test of the competition to date.
His snap shot forced Hisao Sadanaga into a smart save at his near post.
Daisuke Ono then produced a strong run down the right flank that ended with a strike from the Japanese player that Mostafa Nazari did well to keep out low down to his left.
Mohammad Hashemzadeh then drilled a free-kick on the edge of the area wide off the right-hand post before Mohammad Taheri was denied by Sadanaga.
Shamsaei drew another good stop out of Sadanaga low to his right after working a shooting chance for himself.
But Taheri’s effort to score was blocked by a combination of defender and keeper.
But Iran were enjoying the upper-hand in the first-half and took the lead shortly before the break when a terrible defensive error by Komiyama allowed Shamsaei nip in and score with Sadanaga out of position.
Javad Asqari Moqaddam fired narrowly wide after a good run at the start of the second period.
Japan then had a glorious chance to equalize when excellent work from Ono down the right saw him deliver a ball across the box but Yuki Kanayama hit Nazari from point-blank range, although the keeper did not know too much about it.
With time running out, Japan began to pull their keeper and it led to an opening for Kenta Fujii but he fired over when unmarked at the edge of the area before Nazari pulled two more good saves to deny the same player as Japan piled on the pressure but could not find a way through.

Kaka

World-class players Kaka and Robinho will join their five-time world champion Brazilian national team when they play two matches in the United States this year.
Brazil will face Canada at Qwest Field in Seattle on May 31 before traveling to Foxborough, Massachusetts to square off against Venezuela on June 6, Tickernews reported.
The latter contest will be part of a doubleheader as the New England Revolution faces FC Dallas in a Major League Soccer regular-season contest.
The midfielder, Kaka, was named the 2007 FIFA Player of the Year after helping his AC Milan club to the UEFA Champions League title.
The 26-year-old scored 17 goals for AC Milan this season.
Robinho had 11 tallies for Real Madrid this season, helping his club claim the Spanish La Liga crown.
The match in New England will be the third for Brazil, which is making its second appearance in Foxborough. Last year, the South American contingent netted a 2-1 triumph over Mexico on September 12 in front of a record crowd of 67,684 at Gillette Stadium.
The last time Brazil played in the Emerald City was May 1976, when it recorded a 2-0 victory over the USA League XI in the USA Bicentenary Cup.

Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg won their first European silverware when second-half goals from Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov secured a 2-0 victory over Rangers in the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday.
Denisov slotted home after 72 minutes and fellow midfielder Zyrianov sealed victory with a close range effort in stoppage time at the City of Manchester stadium to secure the trophy for Zenit in their first European final.
It was the second UEFA Cup success by a Russian side in four seasons following CSKA Moscow’s triumph in 2005.
“Winning a prize like this does not come often in your life,“ Zenit coach Dick Advocaat told a news conference. “We are very proud that Zenit won tonight and after the way we played in this tournament, we really deserved it.“
Rangers supporters travelled south from Glasgow in their thousands, easily outnumbering the Zenit fans inside the stadium and thronging the city center to watch on big screens.
However, trouble flared when one screen broke down and riot police had to move in to restore order under a hail of bottles. A total of 30 fans were arrested during the evening and one Russian fan was stabbed in the back after the match.
On the pitch, the defeat suffered by Rangers ended their quest for an unlikely quadruple with the Scottish League Cup winners still contesting the league title and also lining up in the Scottish FA Cup final later this month.

Rio Ferdinand

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has signed a new contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until 2013, the English champions announced on Thursday.
The new deal means Ferdinand is likely to spend the remainder of his career with the club he joined in 2002 from West Ham.
“Rio’s contribution this season has been a major factor in our outstanding defensive performance and I am delighted he has signed a new contract,“ said manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson also fuelled a growing belief that the 29-year-old has been earmarked as the club’s next captain.
Ferdinand has taken the skipper’s armband on a regular basis with Ryan Giggs used so sparingly towards the back end of the campaign and is likely to lead United into their Champions League final meeting with Chelsea on May 21.
And though Gary Neville will be back from injury next season, the implication is as soon as the long-serving full-back stands aside, Ferdinand will get the job full-time.
“Rio has matured into his role at the club and has shown, when needed, what a great captain and leader he can be,“ said Ferguson.
Coming just before Manchester United head out to Moscow, aiming to become European Cup winners for the third time, the news offers Ferguson and his men the perfect lift.