Martinez charged with improper conduct

Roberto Martinez, the Wigan Athletic shirts manager, has been charged with improper conduct after he accused referee Stuart Attwell of 'lying'.

The FA have confirmed the Spaniard will face punishment for comments made in the wake of the 3-0 defeat by Manchester City as the game turned on the second-half dismissal of Gary Caldwell.

The Scotland international defender was sent off in the 56th minute, while the score was 0-0, for a challenge on Carlos Tevez. The Argentina international then went on to score a 12-minute hat-trick as City eased to victory against ten men.

Martinez lambasted Attwell, the Premier League's youngest referee, for making the decision despite not being able to see the tackle properly. "I cannot understand how you can give something you can't see," he said after the match. "To give a red card you have to be certain.

"Gary said he went in really strong and got the ball. Carlos Tevez saw it and jumped off the ground, he is the one who left both feet in.

"We are all human beings and we all make mistakes but to give a decision after something you don't see, that is lying. You are making it up. That is hard to take. He [the referee] said he saw Gary Caldwell with both feet off the ground. That's why he gave the red card. But Gary Caldwell only went with one foot. That is a real injustice."

The FA wrote to Martinez asking him to explain his comments and have now issued an improper conduct charge.

Schalke move top

Kevin Kuranyi scored twice as Schalke beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 to move past Bayern Munich to the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday and get on course for its first championship in 52 years.

Earlier, Stuttgart sent Bayern Munich to its second straight Bundesliga loss -- and first home defeat in 11 months -- with a come-from-behind 2-1 win.

Kuranyi's strikes brought his total to a league-high 17 goals, with both goals coming off passes from Jefferson Farfan.

Schalke now has a two-point lead over Bayern with six matches remaining -- and can all but clinch the championship if its beats Bayern next week at home.

"If we beat them next week, we have a good chance of winning the title, but we won't be home dry," said Schalke's coach Felix Magath, who won the title with Wolfsburg last season.

Schalke now has 58 points, two more than Bayern and five ahead of Bayer Leverkusen shirt.

"It hurts a lot," Bayern coach Louis van Gaal said of his team's defeat.

Leverkusen went a record 24 games undefeated but has lost three of its last four. It sorely missed injured top striker Stefan Kiessling, who has 16 goals.

Kuranyi pulled even when he picked up Farfan's pass and curled the ball inside the left post and then pulled ahead with a header in the 27th.

"We got well into the game and the early goals helped." Magath said. "It was a big win after a strong performance."

Leverkusen's coach Jupp Heynckes said Schalke had a good chance of winning the title.

"They were superior in all aspects, especially in the first half," Heynckes said.

After taking the early two-goal lead, Schalke rarely allowed Leverkusen to get close. With 22 goals allowed, Schalke has the stingiest defence.

In other games, Werder Bremen beat Nuremberg 4-2, Cologne won 4-1 in Hannover, Wolfsburg was a 2-0 winner in Mainz and Borussia Dortmund drew 0-0 at Hertha Berlin.

In Munich, Ivica Olic put Bayern ahead but Christian Traesch and Ciprian Marica scored for Stuttgart to hand Bayern its first loss in 17 home games. Bayern's afternoon got worse when Dutch international Arjen Robben pulled up with a left-calf injury, an injury that could prove costly ahead of Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United.

Van Gaal started with Robben and France playmaker Franck Ribery on the bench after Wednesday's extra-time 1-0 win over Schalke in their German Cup semifinal. Both came on after the break but neither made much of an impact.

Stuttgart started brightly against the Bundesliga leaders, Sami Khedira forcing goalkeeper Joerg Butt into a save in the 24th minute. At the other end, Daniel van Buyten came close for Bayern.

Olic opened the scoring for Bayern in the 32nd, connecting with a low cross from Croatia teammate Danijel Pranjic to bury the ball into the roof of the net.

But Stuttgart was uncowed and Traesch equalized in the 41st when his shot from 20 metres was deflected past Butt and into the net.

Stuttgart kept pressing. Timo Gebhart tested Butt, who barely managed to turn away his shot, before Marica scored the winner in the 50th.

Bayern's defence failed to clear a corner and Cacau floated a cross to the far post, where the unmarked Marica nodded the ball home.

Bayern should have tied it when Miroslav Klose's header off a cross from Philipp Lahm hit Stuttgart goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, but was also fortunate when Zdravko Kuzmanovic narrowly missed the target in the 78th after shaking off Bayern defender Diego Contento.

"Stuttgart is a good team and it created chances," van Gaal said. "We conceded an unlucky goal on a deflected shot and we were unlucky in front of Stuttgart's goal."

Bayern faces a series of decisive games, with another trip to Schalke on April 3, the return leg at Manchester United, and a visit to third-place Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

Lehmann, the Stuttgart goalkeeper, said Bayern, which lost 2-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt last week, could be feeling the burden of playing in three competitions.

"We have only one game a week and maybe we were the fresher team," said Lehmann, whose team won in Munich for the first time since September 1999.

"It was time to win here again," Stuttgart's coach Christian Gross said.

Street kids topple Brazil

Never – until a spunky group of street kids from Metro Manila, who flew to Durban, South Africa on the wings of several generous souls, beat the Brazilian team, 6-2, in a heart-tugging match last Thursday.

After Wednesday’s tearful 0-2 loss to Tanzania, the team, dubbed the Philippine Street Child “Miracle” team, came back with a vengeance to beat world football superpower Brazil shirt in their final group A match of the Deloitte Street Child World Cup in Durban, an indoor international football tournament for street children. The Miracle team led 4-1 at the break.

As RP Women’s football team captain Marielle Benitez put it after hearing the news of the Pinoy streetkids’ victory, “Tinikling footwork beat Samba footwork.” Benitez, a member of Bayanihan, was one of those who gave the kids tinikling lessons for a dance presentation they did at the opening of the Deloitte Street Child World Cup last Tuesday.

Although the victory will not be enough to bring home the Deloitte-Street Child World Cup trophy, the Pinoy street kids, whose inspiring campaign is sponsored by British charity Angus Lawson Memorial Trust under the auspices of The Henry V. Moran Foundation, will now vie for the Street Child World Shield, a secondary trophy to the Street Child World Cup.

“We are a football team from a ‘basketball’ country that’s participating in a football tournament made up of teams from ‘football’ countries,” says Ed Formoso, manager of the team. “So how much of a chance do we really have in this event? It’s a question asked of me by so, so many. But when you believe so much in a project, and especially when you pray, you learn to believe that miracles might-can-will happen. So, will winning games in South Africa be a miracle? This is a team built on prayer and it has already won by getting as far as this. This far, these kids - it’s a miracle team already.”

Formoso and co-manager Craig Burrows recruited these street children from different shelters in Metro Manila. Jess Landagan, the head coach of the team, is a former street child himself. Soft spoken and humble, he knows his football and has lived the kind of life some of his players are living.

For the Deloitte-SCWC tournament in South Africa, Jess’ assistants and trainers were all former street kids and homeless players who represented the country in the 2008 Melbourne and 2009 Milan Homeless World Cup teams, two projects that were supported by The Henry V. Moran Foundation in partnership with the UOFC Foundation of American social entrepreneur Bill Shaw.

Before the kids left for South Africa, weekend football camps were held at the Tuloy sa Don Bosco Street Children Village under the supervision of Tuloy president and founder Salesian priest Rocky Evangelista.

Father Rocky played a lot of football in his youth and is a familiar footballer with many of the Filipino national players of his day. Father Rocky’s role was to turn this team into a football family. Several donors from the private sector pitched in to buy clothes, food and vitamins for the children. Practice games were sponsored at the International School and Brent School, to familiarize the street kids with taller opponents.

The Pinoys finished third in Group A, dubbed the group of death, with qualifiers UK and Tanzania ahead of them in this indoor international football tournament for street children. They were unlucky in their match against Tanzania and were thus eliminated from the main event, which is the Street Child World Cup.

Observers predict that the UK and Tanzania will meet in the finals on Sunday; both teams beat the Philippine team, 2-4 and 0-2 respectively.

The secondary semi-final crossover stage begins with the RP kids playing Ukraine in the SCW Shield while the Brazilians take on the South Africans. The winners of both games will play in the finals.

AC Milan chase Misimovic

According to reports in Italy, AC Milan shirt have set their sights on Wolfsburg playmaker Zvjezdan Misimovic and hope to tempt both him and club-mate Edin Dzeko to San Siro in the summer.

Tuttomercatoweb reports that Milan are ready to dish out €14 million for the 27-year-old midfielder this summer.

The Italians have been heavily linked with Dzeko all season with reports suggesting that they have long been planning a summer swoop for the Bosnian international and hope to finally agree a fee with the German club after the World Cup.

However, Rossoneri vice-president Adriano Galliani may now be heading to Germany to seal a double signing as Milan look to refresh an ageing squad that saw them crash out of the Champions League to Manchester United last week.

With Misimovic’s current contract set to run until 2013 and considering Wolfsburg’s reluctance to part with Dzeko, sealing a double-swoop this summer will not be an easy task.

Roosters come out of trials unscathed

The Sydney Roosters posted two positives results on Sunday at the Sydney Football Stadium and importantly had no casualties out of either encounter.

The Sydney Roosters Jersey Toyota Cup side defeated last year’s grand finalists Wests Tigers 30-16, despite the visitors fielding a fresh team in either half.

It was a boost for NYC coach Scott Murray as his side was without several impressive youngsters who played in other matches over the weekend.

The under 20 Roosters side led the Tigers first team at the break 18-12 before keeping the second team scoreless until the final minutes of the game.

In first grade the Roosters claimed early silverware after they beat a strong Wests Tigers outfit to claim their fourth consecutive Foundation Cup.

Todd Carney escaped injury after he copped some late treatment from former Rooster Jason Cayless who was put on report for the late contact.

The Roosters team saw several youngsters take their place for some first grade experience, with Braith Anasta and Jason Ryles being rested.

Bilbao ready for Barca challenge

Athletic Bilbao captain Joseba Etxeberria has declared that a draw against Barcelona in the Primera Liga this weekend would be a good result for his side.



The two teams meet at the San Mames on Saturday night and Etxeberria says that while a draw would be a favourable outcome, Athletic Bilbao shirt will be doing all the can to beat the treble champions.



"The truth is that this game is very difficult, but the timing may be ideal for us because the team is doing well in the league and we also have had time to prepare well, which they have not because they have many internationals, and that gives us a small advantage," he told AS.



"We must go after them from the first move and everything will be difficult. But if we keep waiting and see what they do with the ball, then there is nothing to be gained.



"Against Barcelona, a draw can be a good result but you cannot take to the field thinking about a draw. Barcelona is the favourite in every game they play.



"We're talking about a great team, one of the best teams in history."



Etxeberria is also hoping that the home support give a hostile Barca a reception at San Mames because he fears that if Barca feel at home, they will win.

Aston Villa need Milner

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has hailed his 'Mr Versatile', James Milner, and insisted the winger could eventually find himself in central midfield for the Villians in the future.

The 23-year-old, who arrived at Aston Villa shirt in an £12million deal from Newcastle United in 2008, featured in England's disappointing 1-0 defeat to Brazil on Saturday, but Three Lions boss Fabio Capello praised Milner's efforts.

"James Milner is improving, Maicon is one of the best right-backs in the world. He is very fast. He is a good defender and when he goes forward he is really dangerous. But Milner played well. He is a good player too," Capello told Sky Sports News.

O'Neill has also been delighted with Milner's impact since joining the club and he has admitted he may be used in a more central role in the future.

"He has got a good football knowledge and a good football brain. In terms of other positions, I feel he can move infield as well," O'Neill told the club's official website.

"I think because he is not concerned about receiving the ball under pressure at some stage between now and the end of the season he will play in there for us," he added.

O'Neill's prediction may be due to the return to training of summer signing Stewart Downing, who is looking to make his return to competitive action next month.

Ironically, Villa have potentially three wingers battling out for one of Capello's World Cup places next summer with Milner, Downing and Ashley Young desperately seeking to be included in the squad.

With this positional move in mind, Milner's undoubted versatility could prove to be the deciding factor on his ticket to South Africa.