data-mm-id=”_ldgd0cj16″>Shohei Ohtani's free agent journey has been unlike any superstar free agency in recent memory because it's been extremely quiet. MLB insiders don't have much to report beyond a vague sense of who the two-way superstar is meeting with. That stands out due to the fact that players of a far lesser caliber have had moment-by-moment reporting following their every move. This week we found out that's because Ohtani's camp is enforcing silence among his free agency suitors by notifying the teams in question that any leaks would be held against them at the negotiating table. Ohtani probably isn't the first player to try and pull that power move but he's definitely the best to ever do so and thus everything has been sealed up tight. Until Dave Roberts told reporters the Los Angeles Dodgers had met with Ohtani, which launched a firestorm of debate about the rules Ohtani's camp has put forth. Chris "Mad Dog" Russo was raring to go on First Take and talk about it on Wednesday. He screamed himself hoarse (of course) about the absurdity of swearing teams to silence and compared the mandate to both the atomic bomb and the Tehran conference of 1943. Chris Russo is not enjoying Shohei Ohtani's free agency tour pic.twitter.com/b6jpmxdsYk— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 6, 2023Bet Russo wishes he could have the atomic bomb comparison back. There are numerous other WWII examples he could have used. One should probably avoid them entirely when speaking about a Japanese baseball player but his Tehran reference suggests he was dead-set on using something from that era. Why not D-Day? That was a big ol' secret. One of the most famous ones in history, really. Anything other than the nuclear bomb, man. The Tehran reference was good. Russo should just go watch Oppenheimer the next time he wants to pine about the atomic bomb, though.
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Malmö FF opened the Swedish 2009 season with a 0-1 win at Häcken Göteborg, while Elfsborg and Hammarby held each other to a 1-1 draw.
The match between Häcken and Malmö almost went by without goals, but 23-year-old defender Miljan Mutavdzi finally broke the deadlock with just five minutes left to play.
Fans at Elfsborg Boras versus Hammarby didn t have to wait as long for a goal to be scored, as Emil Johansson put the away side ahead on 14 minutes. A converted spot kick from Stefan Ishizaki levelled the score shortly after the break.
Defending champions Kalmar FF begin their 2009 campaign at Gefle IF on Monday.
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Spanish giants Real Madrid are scheduled to tour the United States of America as they prepare for the 2009-10 season.
Major League Soccer side DC United confirmed that they will be playing a match with Madrid at FedExField in Landover, Maryland on August 9. Los Blancos are expected to face several other teams during their trip.
Madrid s arch rivals FC Barcelona, who won the Champions League on Wednesday, will also travel to the USA this summer. The Blaugrana are confirmed to face Los Angeles Galaxy and Seattle Sounders in August.
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Colombia will look to end a successful FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign on a good note when they take on Paraguay on Tuesday.
Jose Pekerman s side sit second in South American qualifying group and sealed their spot at next year s World Cup in Brazil with a stunning 3-3 draw against Chile on Friday.
Trailing 3-0 with just 25 minutes to go, Teofilo Gutierrez s strike breathed life into a Colombia side playing in front of their home fans in Barranquilla.
And two late Radamel Falcao penalties saw them claim an unlikely point to clinch qualification and spark wild celebrations as Colombia reached the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.
Key to Colombia s qualification has been their terrific home form, which saw them win five matches in a row before the C…
Borussia Dortmund defender Lukasz Piszczek will undergo hip surgery after Saturday s UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
The Poland international has been nursing the problem for several weeks but has played through the pain barrier, as Dortmund compete for European glory.
He is expected the miss close to five months of action after the operation, meaning he will be absent for the start of next season.
Piszczek endured a similar problem during his time at Hertha Berlin.
The 27-year-old joined Dortmund in 2010 and has since become a key member of Juergen Klopp s team, making 45 appearances in all competitions this term.
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Morgan Schneiderlin is looking towards the exit door at Old Trafford as the French international does not feature in Jose Mourinho’s plans.
Schneiderlin has so far played only eight games for Manchester United this season, only three of which came in the Premier League and the frustrated midfielder is s in search of regular first-team action.
Former Southampton man has been linked with a move to West Bromwich Albion, but Everton emerged as the frontrunners for the French midfielder who could be reunited with former Saints boss Ronald Koeman.
According to reports from , the Toffees have already had their offer rebuffed by Manchester United, as the Red Devils are looking to recoup the majority of the £24 million they invested in the played in July 2015.
Fulham moved just one point behind Championship leaders West Bromwich Albion after securing back-to-back victories with a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers.
Fellow promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest are just one point further back in fourth after they condemned Leeds United to a second straight defeat.
In-form Brentford sit fifth after a thrilling win over Middlesbrough and Preston North End, who complete the top six, won 2-1 at Wigan Athletic.
Elsewhere there were victories for Huddersfield Town, Derby County, Cardiff City and Stoke City, while Barnsley drew 1-1 in their Yorkshire derby with Sheffield Wednesday and Reading were held by the same scoreline at home against Hull City.
CALAMITOUS CASILLA AT FAULT AS LEEDS LOSE AGAIN
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He is unlikely to be impressed
After scoring two goals in England’s win over Belarus and helping his Tottenham team to victory over his old club Portsmouth you could forgive Peter Crouch for feeling pretty pleased with himself. In fact, you could probably forgive him having a couple of glasses of wine with his mates and celebrating the fact that life is looking pretty good.
Disciplinarian
Of course, knowing that England manager Fabio Capello is a hard-line disciplinarian and has gone on record to say that he expects England players to be role models and to avoid alcohol and nightclubs, he wouldn’t be daft enough to get himself photographed at a nightclub, looking the worse for wear, in the early hours of the morning.
On to…
Still one of the best
I have long felt that Manchester United and England’s thirty-year old Rio Ferdinand is one of the, if not the, best centre-backs in the world. In his youth he was a wonderful player capable of playing a central midfield role and had as much potential as any youngster of his generation. He also had a mistake in his locker in most of the games he played, which just held him back from being the best.
Errors
Over the years, Ferdinand has eliminated those errors and become the defender that he promised to be.
Recently, Ferdinand has been receiving a large amount of criticism. He made a horrendous mistake for United against Manchester City which very nearly cost his side two points, his hesitation and error for England against Ukrain…
Chris Coleman has talked up Wales and Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey by claiming he could walk into any team in world football.
The 25-year-old will return for Wales in their World Cup qualifier against Serbia on Saturday, playing his first game for his country since their Euro 2016 quarter-final win over Belgium.
Gareth Bale may be the headline act in Coleman s side, but the manager insists Ramsey has the ability to play for any club he wants.
Because I ve seen him up close, in a tournament, I ve seen the level he s at, he could play for anybody, said Coleman.
There s not a team on the planet he couldn t play for when he s at his best.
That s not a biased opinion because I m a Welshman and we all love Rambo I m looking at it clinically.
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Brendan Rodgers believes Mario Balotelli was right to brand him the worst coach he has worked under during his colourful career.
Rodgers brought Balotelli to Liverpool from AC Milan in August 2014 but the Italy international rarely got close to his best form and returned to San Siro on loan after a season and a solitary Premier League goal for the Anfield club.
Rodgers is now in charge of Celtic and, as Balotelli finds himself back among the goals at Nice in Ligue 1, he hopes the 26-year-old former Manchester City and Inter star might still realise his potential.
Asked about the striker s comments, Rodgers told talkSPORT: He was probably absolutely spot on. I just couldn’t really connect with Mario.
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