Cristiano Ronaldo: “I am happy, I hope to retire in Real Madrid”

“Cristiano Ronaldo is and will eternally be madridista”, said Florentino Perez at the ceremony held to sign the Portuguese striker’s five-year extension

Realmadrid.com

Cristiano Ronaldo renewed his contract with Real Madrid this afternoon at a much-anticipated ceremony at the Santiago Bernabeu’s director’s box. The Real player, who extends his commitment to the club for the next five seasons, was extremely happy about the agreement: “It’s a very special day for me. I want to thank my teammates, the coach, and, above all, the president. This contract makes me really happy and it’s a privilege to continue in this house. It’s given me a lot. For me it’s as if today were my first day here. I’m always going to give my best for this shirt. I hope that I’m here until I retire. This is a great club”. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez explained that today is one of those special days that marks Real’s history: “This is a great day for the club. We’ve made the dream of all madridistas come true. Cristiano is and will eternally be madridista”. 

After making his Reds debut, Marouane Fellaini said

Marouane Fellaini has thanked the Manchester United fans for their support during his Reds debut on Saturday; a comfortable 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. 

After making his Reds debut, Marouane Fellaini said:
“I am happy to have started at Old Trafford with the crowd who supported me,” Marouane said. “It was a fantastic debut and we won, which was most important. I was both nervous and excited. I thought I had to play my game and with my quality.
“I would like to say thank you to the supporters, it was good for me. The supporters helped me, it was important for me. Every time I will give my maximum for the club and for my team-mates.
“It was a good win, not hard or easy, just a good win. Man United want to win every game and we won today so it was good for our confidence ahead of the next game - because the next game is a big game, it is a Champions League game. So this is good for the confidence.”

Manager David Moyes was understandably pleased for Fellaini to take his bow and explained why his arrival to the action was key to securing three points.

An OnBoard photo of ‪MarcMarquez‬ crashing in ‪MotoGP‬ Warm Up at ‪Misano

An OnBoard photo of ‪MarcMarquez‬ crashing in ‪MotoGP‬ Warm Up at ‪Misano. He escaped injury and starts on pole this afternoon.

Bale scores on debut but Real Madrid held by Villarreal

Gareth Bale scored on his long-awaited Real Madrid debut on Saturday, but it still wasn't enough to give his side all three points as they were held 2-2 at Villarreal.

The Welshman, who joined Madrid from Tottenham for a reported world record fee of around £80 million ($124 million, 94 million euros) earlier this month, turned home Dani Carvajal's cross five minutes from half-time to send Madrid in level at the break after Cani had given Villarreal a deserved lead.

Bale was then withdrawn to make way for Angel Di Maria on the hour mark, but the visitors were in front just two minutes later when Cristiano Ronaldo's effort ricocheted past Sergio Asenjo in the Villarreal goal.

However, Giovani Dos Santos, another former Tottenham player, swept home after Diego Lopez had denied Cani a second 21 minutes from time to preserve Villarreal's unbeaten record on their return to the top flight as Real fell two points behind Atletico Madrid and Barcelona at the top of the table.

Indian wrestlers set for World Championships

BUDAPEST: Buoyed by wrestling's re-inclusion in the Olympic Games, a 22-strong Indian team of grapplers will fight out it against a strong international field in the World Championships starting on Monday.

After bagging two medals at the London Olympics, Indian wrestlers would be hoping to script another success story at the week-long championships.

The sport received a massive boost after it was endorsed by the International Olympic Committee to rejoin the Olympic movement as an additional sport for the 2020 and 2024 Games. Squad:

Freestyle: Amit Kumar (55kg), Bajrang (60kg), Arun Kumar/Sushil Kumar (66kg), Narsingh Pancham Yadav (74kg), Pawan Kumar (84kg), Satyawart Kadian (96kg) and Hitender (120kg).

Greco Roman: Gaurav Sharma (55kg), Ravinder Singh (60kg), Sandeep Tulsi Yadav (66kg), Rajbir Chhikara (74kg), Harpreet Singh (84kg), Hardeep (96kg) and Naveen (120kg).

Female: Nirmala Devi (48kg), Vinesh (51kg), Pooja Dhanda (55kg), Geeta (59kg), Geetika Jakhar (63kg), Navjot Kaur (67kg) and Jyoti (72kg).

Yuvraj hits 123 runs helps India A to 312/4 against West Indies A

Yuvraj Singh on Sunday staked claim for national team selection as he struck a brutal 89-ball 123 to lead India 'A' to a formidable 312 for four from 42 overs in the first of the three-match unofficial ODI series against West Indies 'A'.

Yuvraj, who played his last international match in January, produced a sensational exhibition of strokeplay to tear apart the West Indies 'A' bowlers as he struck eight fours and seven sixes in his scintillating innings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.123 runs 89 balls 8(4s) 7(6s) 138.20(sr)Mandeep Singh and Yusuf Pathan played perfect second fiddle to help themselves to 67 (78 balls; 7x4, 1x6) and 70 not out (32 balls; 4x4, 6x6) after West Indies 'A' chose to field as the match was reduced to a 42-over-a-side affair after wet outfields forced its start to be delayed by one hour and 45 minutes.

Sturridge fit and ready to fire- Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has backed in-form striker Daniel Sturridge to add to his rising reputation when his side play Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on Monday.

England striker Sturridge has hit 16 goals in 20 matches since the Reds bought him from Chelsea for £12 million ($19 million, 14.3 million euros) in January.

The 24-year-old's goals have fired Liverpool to three wins from their first three matches and earned him the Player of the Month award for August.

The forward struggled to get in the starting line-up at Manchester City and Chelsea, but his new boss expects him to shine now he is getting game-time.

"You never know how it is going to go but I felt if you gave him an opportunity...I think he has shown in his career if he is given the opportunity he is a natural goalscorer," said Rodgers.

"At this stage of his career, aged 24, he has all the things to his game to be a top striker.

"Since coming here he has had the confidence he is going to play and we work on him on a daily basis -- on and of the field -- to make him the best he can be.

"Standards are set throughout European football now and if you want to be a top striker you have to get in the goals."

Sturridge missed England's midweek World Cup qualifier against Ukraine due to a thigh strain, but has been declared fit for Monday's game.

Rodgers stressed that Sturridge was disappointed to miss out on playing for England, but pointed out that "the medical experts made the decision, not Daniel Sturridge.

"He should not be held up, if he does play on Monday, as being someone who has turned down his country because that is not the case at all."

But opposing manager Michael Laudrup, whose side beat West Brom 2-0 in their last league outing, expressed surprise at Sturridge's quick recovery from injury.

"I was a little surprised," the Swansea chief said. "When we talk about England and young players and the importance of the game (in Ukraine), I was surprised to read less than 48 hours after such a crucial game that he is fit to play against us.

"I thought there were some rules that if you were injured you couldn't just play with your team three of four days later."