Iran football players in a training session

Osasuna duo Javad Nekounam and Masoud Shojaei have been included in Iran’s 31-man squad for their training camp in Spain, where Ali Daei’s side will play three matches against local clubs.
According to AFC, Osasuna coach Jose Angel Zingada has allowed the duo to leave the Pamplona-based club’s preseason training to hook up with the Iran national team in the southern Spanish city of Marbella, where the three-time Asian champions are slated to take on local sides Union Deportivo Marbella and Malaga as well as English Championship side Charlton Athletic.
Iran will be in Spain o July 10-20 after which they head to the Czech Republic, where they will continue to prepare for the 2010 World Cup qualifying final round opener against Saudi Arabia on September 6 with games against local sides Bohemians 1905 and Slavia Praha (Prague), the 2007 Gambrinus Liga champions.
Meanwhile, on August 1 Daei’s team will meet Kenya at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, ISNA reported. In FIFA monthly rankings, Kenya stands 92nd and after that on August 7 will play against Palestine who stands at the 172nd place. Ahead of West Asian Semifinals on August 13, national team hosts Qatar on August 11. The final of the West Asian Games is scheduled for August 15. On August 20, Iran is due to play against Egypt in UAE. The last game for Iran before heading to Jeddah is on August 26 and it has to face Bahrain at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium
Also on Iran’s football Ali Daei head coach of Iran’s football has called 30 players for the West Asian Games. According to Mehr News Agency, Iran players heading for the West Asian Games are as follows:
Mehdi Rahmati, Ebrahim Mirzapour, Rahman Ahmadi, Vaheed Taleblou, Hossein Kabi, Jalal Hosseini, Hadi Aqili, Mojtaba Shiri, Mohsen Bengar, Mohammad Nosrati, Majid Gholamnejad, Sattar Zare, Ebrahim Sadeqi, Mojtaba Jabbari, Mohammadreza Khalatbari, Ehsan Hajsafi, Milad Meydavoudi, Gholamreza Rezaei, Mohsen Khalili, Hossein Kazemi, Kianoush Rahmati, Mohammad Parvin, Bahman Tahmasebi, Mohammad Nouri, Hossein Ebrahimi, Milad Zenidpour, Vahid Omaraei, Ahmad Alenemeh, Jalal Rafkhaei and Ali Hamoudi.

Michael Ballack

Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack said he is in no rush to sign a new contract with Chelsea, but insists that he is keen to stay at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are already back in training but Ballack, who has a year to run on his current contract, has opted to holiday in Sardinia following his country’s Euro 2008 final defeat to Spain just over a week ago.
The 31-year-old will not return to London for another couple of weeks but he believes there is still plenty of time to consider his future.
“I have a contract until 2009 and there is an option to extend it, so there is no need to rush,“ he told Bild newspaper. “We will just wait and see what happens.“
Although he narrowly missed out on silverware last season, conceding the Premier League and Champions League titles to Manchester United, Ballack believes being at Chelsea gives him the best chance of glory.

Frank Lampard

Chelsea has rejected a formal approach from Inter Milan to sign midfielder Frank Lampard, the club has confirmed.
A statement on the club’s website read: “Chelsea have informed Inter that we will not enter into any discussions regarding the transfer of Lampard.“
Lampard’s current contract at Stamford Bridge expires next summer.
Should he fail to agree on a new deal with Chelsea before then, the 30-year-old would be free to leave the club without his new club paying a fee?
That appears to be reflected in Inter’s valuation of the midfielder with reports suggesting they were preparing a £6.5m bid, but the Blues appear reluctant to allow Lampard to leave now. And BBC football correspondent Jonathan Legard said on Monday that Chelsea still expect Lampard to see out the final year of his contract and, if anything, sign a new longer-term deal.
Lampard met new Chelsea boss, Luiz Felipe Scolari, on Monday as the Chelsea squad returned to their Cobham base for preseason training.

Romain Feillu

France’s Romain Feillu took the yellow jersey as compatriot Samuel Dumoulin claimed a thrilling win in a dramatic third stage of the Tour de France.
Feillu and Dumoulin were part of a four-man group that broke clear early in the 208-km stage and hung on before Dumoulin won the sprint for the line, Reuters said.
Britain’s Mark Cavendish and David Millar were both in the first peloton and finished 10th and 27th in Nantes.
Feillu replaces Spain’s Alejandro Valverde as the Tour’s overall leader.
The Agritubel rider, a silver medalist in the U-23 world championships in 2006, holds a 35-second advantage over Italy’s Paolo Longo Borghini, with America’s Will Frischkorn one minute and 42 seconds back in the third place.
Longo Borghini and Frischkorn were the other two riders to join Dumoulin and Feillu in an early break in the first five kilometers after the race had left Saint-Malo.
The maximum lead they held was almost 15 minutes when the peloton was at the 64- km mark, but it appeared that they would be quickly reeled in.
But in a stage disrupted by a protest, horrendous weather and a crash that forced Spanish rider Angel Gomez to abandon the race, the quartet courageously hung on.
The peloton was split just after the crash that forced Gomez out but it was unclear whether that or the strong wind had contributed to around 50 riders breaking away.
It soon became clear that they would not be able to catch the front four, who fought out their own pulsating finish after just over five hours in the saddle.

Anthony Kim

AC Milan’s Brazilian technical director, Leonardo, admitted Monday the Italian club was running the rule over Chelsea striker, Didier Drogba and Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor.
“It’s no secret we’re interested in signing a forward and are studying candidates. Drogba is a fine player and Adebayor is a player I really like. We are waiting for the right time to move,“ Leonardo told the BBC.
Togo striker, Adebayor, last week expressed an interest in joining Barcelona but has also said Italy would appeal, hinting he feels it was time to move on.
Milan is after reinforcements after offloading Alberto Gilardino to Fiorentina, while veteran Ronaldo has a serious knee injury.
Milan vice-president, Adriano Galliani, last month said he had made Adebayor his club’s “sole transfer target“ of the summer, while suggesting the Togolese would prove too expensive with Barca also in the hunt and, unlike the Italians, in the Champions League.
Ivory Coast forward Drogba has meanwhile been linked with AC Milan but also city rivals Inter and Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Leonardo meanwhile insisted that Brazilian playmaker Kaka was not for sale, despite reports Sunday quoting AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani as saying Chelsea have put a big-money offer on the table for him.

Anthony Kim was waiting by the scoring trailer for the other golfers to finish, his victory at Tiger Woods’ tournament, the AT&T National, seemingly well in hand.
The man was former Green Beret and noted sports therapist Jim Weathers, who has spent this year working Kim’s muscles into shape before and after every round. Yet, when asked why his client is now one of the hottest young golfers on the tour, Weathers focused not on biceps but instead on partying, AP reported.
“The guy’s staying in at night,“ Weathers said. He is taking it very seriously.
Kim couldn’t agree more. On Sunday, he became the first American under 25 since Woods to win at least twice in the same year on the PGA Tour, shooting a bogey-free round of 5-under 65 for a two-shot victory over Fredrik Jacobson.
“I think it’s easier to mature faster as a golfer, but definitely, as a person, I feel like I’ve come a long way,“ said Kim, who turned 23 last month. “I’m making a lot better decisions off the course. I’m staying away from bad people and staying away from bad places.“
The victory moved Kim up to No. 6 in the Ryder Cup standings, virtually assuring himself a spot on the American team in September, and put him on a short list of potential challengers to Woods when the world’s top golfer returns from knee surgery.
Woods apparently concurs with that assessment. Unable to be at Congressional to present the trophy, he called Kim to offer congratulations.