INT Global Football

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Balaji Rao, managing director of Blackburn owners Venky's, has revealed the club will announce their new manager after Saturday's clash with Barnsley.

The Lancashire club parted ways with Henning Berg on Thursday, just 57 days into his tenure as Steve Kean's replacement at Ewood Park.

 

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England - League Championship Result

Huddersfield T. 0 - 0 Sheffield W.

Hull C. 2 - 0 Leeds U.

Barnsley 1 - 3 Blackburn R.

Bolton W. 3 - 1 Birmingham C.

Bristol C. 4 - 2 Peterborough U.

Burnley 0 - 1 Leicester C.

Cardiff C. 1 - 0 Millwall

Charlton Athletic 1 - 1 Derby County

Middlesbrough 4 - 2 Blackpool

Nottingham F. 2 - 2 Crystal Palace

Wolverhampton W. 0 - 2 Ipswich T.

Brighton & Hove A. 1 - 3 Watford

 

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England - League One Result

Bournemouth 3 - 0 Crawley

Carlisle U. 2 - 1 Bury

Postp. Colchester U. ? - ? Swindon T.

Leyton Orient 2 - 1 Walsall

Milton Keynes Dons 2 - 3 Coventry C.

Oldham Athletic 1 - 2 Crewe Alexandra

Portsmouth 1 - 2 Yeovil

Preston North End 0 - 3 Doncaster R.

Sheffield U. 2 - 3 Hartlepool U.

Shrewsbury T. 0 - 0 Brentford

Postp. Stevenage ? - ? Notts County

Tranmere R. 1 - 0 Scunthorpe U.

 

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England - League Two Result

AFC Wimbledon 0 - 3 Oxford U.

Postp. Aldershot T. ? - ? Torquay U.

Bradford C. 2 - 4 Rochdale

Burton 2 - 0 Southend U.

Postp. Cheltenham ? - ? Bristol R.

Chesterfield 1 - 1 Morecambe

Dagenham & R'bridge 2 - 3 Port Vale

Exeter C. 2 - 2 Barnet

Fleetwood 0 - 0 York C.

Postp. Gillingham ? - ? Northampton T.

Plymouth Argyle 0 - 1 Wycombe W.

Rotherham U. 4 - 1 Accrington

 

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Ronaldinho has reiterated that he wants to be in the Brazil squad at the next World Cup.

The former Barcelona attacker hopes he can take part in the tournament in 18 months' time, which will be staged in his home country, and believes a return to the national set-up is not impossible.

 

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Judan Ali has swayed reports of him taking over as head coach of Blackburn Rovers after it had been widely speculated that Shebby Singh was looking to appoint him following the sacking of Henning Berg.

The 39-year old has had experience on the amateur and youth scene and there were also talks of former Aston Villa assistant manager Kevin McDonald joining him on the coaching staff.

However, Ali has denied these rumours, insisting that he merely approached the club in a bid to further himself as a coach, and has stated he doesn't see himself in a managerial role at the Lancashire outfit.

 

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Johor Darul Takzim FC (JDTFC) have surprised everyone in their failure to win the Tunku Mahkota Johor Cup, a quadrangular football tournament. The star-studded team were narrowly beaten in the final by Premier League side, and neighbours, Johor United.

Despite a line-up containing Safee Sali, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Safiq Rahim and former Spain international Daniel Guiza, the Super league team lost 2-1 to their rivals. Nurul Azwan Roya gave the lead to JDTFC in the 44th minute, but Johor fought back through two second half goals by Argentine Muriel Orlando to clinch the title.

Speaking to Bernama, Johor FA president Tunku Mahkota of Johor Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, was not worried by the team's performance. "Yesterday was not our answer. Action speaks louder than words and that will start on January 8th and (in) the whole season."

Despite failing to win the championship, Tunku was happy that Johor have strong teams in both the Super League and the Premier League.

 

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Kelantan coach Bojan Hodak is confident his team will qualify for the last 16 stage in next season’s AFC Cup, which will kick-off in March 2013.

The Croatian believes the Red Warriors will start as favourites in Group G alongside SHB Da Nang of Vietnam.

The AFC Cup draw took place on December 6 and saw two of the biggest names in Malaysian football; Kelantan and Selangor being drawn in Group G and H respectively. Both of them will kick-off their campaign on March 6.

Kelantan will welcome Maldives’ Maziah SRC to Kota Bharu, whereas Selangor will travel to Kolkata to play Kingfisher East Bengal of India.

 

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Joachim Low has urged his Germany players to move on from their heartbreaks in 2012 and channel all of their energies into the year ahead.

Die Mannschaft won plaudits for their growth over the past 12 months, including an unbeaten qualification campaign for Euro 2012, but they suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Italy in the semi-final of the tournament before squandering a four-goal lead against Sweden in October.

When quizzed about Germany's future prospects, their coach admitted that the spine of the team needs to strengthen, but maintained his belief that the nation can win the World Cup in two years' time.

 

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Iraq have appointed Hakeem Shakir as the new head coach of the national team, bringing to an end speculation linking Diego Maradona with the role.

It revealed earlier this month that the Argentina legend was keen on taking over the side for their bid to reach World Cup 2014, after Zico had resigned from the post in November.

However, it was announced on the AFC website on Friday that Iraq had appointed interim boss Shakir on a permanent basis, after he impressed in guiding his side to the final of the AFC Under-19 championships earlier this year.