MANCHESTER City wametwaa ubingwa wa kwanza wa Ligi Kuu ya England baada ya kupita miaka 44, kwa kuifunga Queens Park Rangers 3-2 katika mechi ya mwisho.
Mshambuliaji Sergio Aguero alifunga bao la tatu na ushindi katika dakika za majeruhi na kurudisha shangwe za mashabiki wa City uwanjani hapo.
Bao hilo liliingia sekunde chache baada ya Manchester United kuichapa Sunderland 1-0, hivyo ubingwa huo wa Manchester City umepatikana kwa tofauti ya mabao.
Zabaleta alifunga bao la kwanza kabla ya Edin Dzeko na Aguero waliokuwa mashujaa wa City kwenye uwanja wake wa Etihad kufunga mabao.
"Kushinda kwa aina hii ni kitu kizuri. Sijawahi kuona mechi ya mwisho ngumu kama hii. Baada ya miaka 44 tumefanikiwa kutoa zawadi kwa mashabiki wetu wote," alisema kocha wa City, Roberto Mancini.
Arsenal imemaliza nafasi ya tatu baada ya kuichapa West Bromwich Albion 3-2, wakati huo mkiani Bolton Wanderers imekuwa timu ya mwisho kushuka daraja baada ya kulazimishwa sare 2-2 na Stoke City.
Wakati huohuo;Juventus imevunja rekodi ya AC Milan ya kucheza mechi 42 bila ya kufungwa na kumaliza msimu mzima wa ligi bila ya kupoteza baada ya kushinda 3-1 dhidi ya Atalanta jana.
Pia, mechi hiyo ilikuwa ni sherehe nzuri ya kumuaga nahodha wao aliyetumiakia klabu hiyo kwa miaka19, Alessandro Del Piero, ambaye alifunga kitambaa cha unahodha kwenye mchezo huo wa mwisho wa Serie A akiwa na jezi ya Juventus pia alifunga la bao la pili kwenye mchezo huo.
Ushindi huo umeifanya Juve kucheza michezo 43 bila ya kupoteza kwenye mashindano yote msimu huu.
Hii ni mara ya kwanza katika Serie A tangu Milan ilipofanya hivyo mwaka 1992 na mara ya kwanza tangu ligi ya Italia ilipoongeza timu za kucheza ligi hiyo kutoka 18 hadi 20.
Ufaransa yatolewa jasho na Uruguay
Ufaransa na Uruguay zimetoka sare 0-0 kwenye mechi ya pili ya kundi A katika siku ya ufunguzi ya Kombe la Dunia.
Matokeo hayo yana maana kwamba timu zote katika kundi A zina pointi moja kila moja, baada ya wenyeji Afrika Kusini na Mexico kutoka sare 1-1 katika mechi ya ufunguzi.
Uruguay walimaliza mchuano wakiwa wachezaji 10 baada ya Nicholas Lodeiro kupewa kadi nyekundu alipomchezea vibaya mlinzi wa Ufaransa, Bacary Sagna.
Ufaransa walifanya mashambulizi mengi bila mafanikio, na katika kipindi cha pili walifanya mabadiliko, akaingia nahodha wao Thierry Henry badala ya Nicholas Anelka, lakini lango la Uruguay likawa halifunguki.
Mkwaju mkali wa mshambuliaji wa Atletico Madrid, Diego Forlan, uliokolewa na kipa wa Ufaransa katika kipindi cha kwanza.
Kaka out of Taifa Stars clash
TANZANIAN football fans have been denied the opportunity to see Brazilian star Ricardo Kaka in action at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam after it was revealed today that the Real Madrid playmaker has been ruled out of the forthcoming much-awaited friendly match against Taifa Stars.
Reports from South Africa claimed today that Kaka sustained a slight injury during a training session and will not be playing in the forthcoming friendly matches against Zimbabwe and Tanzania on June 2 and 7 respectively.
It said that Kaka refused to go on with the training session following a crunch tackle from Felipe Melo at their Randburg High School base which resulted to a spark between the two key players in Brazil squad.
According to Estado de Sao Paulo, the Juventus midfielder went in hard on Kaka during a training match which left the Real Madrid man furious, so much that he stormed off the pitch, despite swift apologies from his team-mate.
Tension was high as fevered temperatures increased and it took the action of Brazil's staff and entourage to defuse the situation and restore tranquillity. Kaka was not impressed, and clearly shaken up by the incident having returned to training following a recent injury.
Though he is still expected to make the trip, his omission from the squad that would play against Stars will definitely hurt most football fans who are eagerly waiting for the lifetime opportunity to see Kaka play on Tanzanian soil.
The born-again Christian is definitely topping the list of celebrated players in the current Brazil squad set to visit the country next weekend. Kaka played a pivotal role in Brazil's qualification campaign.
Ominously, he was named player of the tournament in this year's Confederations Cup, which Brazil won, the curtain-raiser to the World Cup and is potentially the defining star of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) announced yesterday that fans have to part with some 200,000/- as the highest fee to watch the match between Taifa Stars and star-studded Brazil on Monday.
The lowest fee will be 30,000/- for Blue and Yellow seats. TFF General Secretary Fredrick Mwakalebela said yesterday that the match fee were set in order to at least meet high costs of bringing the world top ranking team to Tanzanian soil.
Already, Mwakalebela said, order for all VIP A tickets have been received Mwakalebela said that the TFF belives that the fee was reasonable compared to the actual fact, when a team of Brazil status play in other nations where entrance fee are always pegged a bit higher than that.
“As the TFF president Leodegar Tenga said last week, the costs of bringing Brazil into Tanzania are high, so the public and the football loving community had to shoulder the burden through gate fees. We at TFF believe that due to the huge demand to watch the game the fee would be reasonable to most soccer loving fans,” he said.
He said the VIP B tickets would be available at 150,000/-, while VIP C tickets will cost fans 100,000/-, Orange seats close to VIP will be available for 80,000/- as some Orange Curve tickets will go for 50,000/-. He said arrangements to print the tickets was on the final stage and would be made public soon.
Brazil set for exhibitions in Zimbabwe, Tanzania
Email Print JOHANNESBURG (AP)—As soon as Brazil’s soccer team arrived in South Africa for the World Cup, the five-time champions said they will be leaving for warmup matches against Zimbabwe and Tanzania next week.
Brazil said Thursday it will play Zimbabwe in Harare on June 2 and against Tanzania on June 7.
In Zimbabwe, tourism minister Walter Mzembi also said Brazil would visit but would not say exactly how much Zimbabwe had paid Brazil—only that part of it was funded by the government and part by sponsors.
Mzembi said earlier this month that Brazil had asked for a $1.8 million appearance fee to play in Zimbabwe.
Jose in hunt for England duo
JOSE MOURINHO has hinted that England midfielders Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard would be his top targets if he takes over at Real Madrid.
The Spanish giants sacked Manuel Pellegrini on Wednesday and are expected to announce Mourinho as the new boss in the next few days.
And the current Inter Milan chief, 47, has hinted that Gerrard and Lampard are two players he would love to join him at the Bernabeu.
He said: "Both Gerrard and Lampard are great players who always give everything.
"I like players in the final part of their careers. I love to have some players who are 33 or 34 years old — they are players you buy and you won't recover this money, but if they give you good performances for two or three years you've got your money's worth."
Mourinho won two Premier League titles with Lampard, 31, at Chelsea and tried to bring Liverpool skipper Gerrard, 29, to Stamford Bridge.
The Portuguese is currently trying to negotiate a release from his Inter deal, which has two years left to run, so he can take the Real Madrid hotseat.
He would be handed a huge transfer warchest at the Bernabeu and players like Gerrard and Lampard would be well within his budget.
Muimbaji ufunguzi Kombe la Dunia afariki
Muimbaji wa mtindo wa opera aliyeteuliwa na Nelson Mandela kuimba wakati wa sherehe za ufunguzi wa Kombe la Dunia amefariki dunia baada ya kuuguwa homa ya uti wa mgongo.
Siphiwo Ntshebe
Siphiwo Ntshebe, mwenye umri wa miaka 34, alilazwa hospitali mjini Port Elizabeth wiki iliyopita na alifariki dunia siku ya Jumaanne kwa mujibu wa kampuni inayouza nyimbo zake, Epic Records.
Alitazamiwa kuimba wimbo wake mpya "hope" katika sherehe za ufunguzi tarehe 11 mwezi wa Juni mjini Johannesburg. Wimbo huo una ujumbe maalum wa matumaini na imani uliotungwa na kutolewa na Bwana Mandela.
Mwaandishi wa BBC mjini Johannesburg, Pumza Fihlani anasema Ntshebe hakuwa maarufu sana nchini Afrika Kusini. Hata hivyo kwa yeye kutumbuiza katika sherehe za Kombe la Dunia kungempa fursa ya kujulikana zaidi nchini mwake
