A round-up of today's soccer shorts in brief
Kaka crowned world's best
Milan's Brazilian superstar Kaka was yesterday crowned as FIFA's world player of the year, beating off competition from Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Kaka has had a glittering year for AC Milan, during which they won the Champions League, and has won the Ballon d'Or award for the European footballer of the year, FIFPro's world player of the year voted by fellow professionals and World Soccer's player of the year.
Barcelona's Argentina forward Messi came second, and Manchester United's Portuguese winger Ronaldo was in third place.
Keane off hook
Roy Keane seems likely to escape censure from the English Football Association in the wake of his alleged confrontation with the referee Steve Bennett in the Stadium of Light's tunnel following Sunderland's 1-1 draw with Aston Villa. Sunderland's Danny Collins saw a late goal disallowed for a foul on Scott Carson on Saturday and Keane was reported to have confronted the referee about his decision.
Bennett, however, made no complaints and did not mention Keane in the report he submitted to the FA yesterday, the referee making no comments on the form provided for raising concerns about the match. According to those close to the tunnel, although Sunderland's manager made his displeasure plain, nothing untoward occurred and Keane did not lose control.
After the match Keane delivered a damning, carefully worded, verdict on Bennett's officiating and, in particular, his decision to disallow Collins' late strike. Although the FA has not studied his reflections in detail, they probably fell within the bounds of "fair comment" and "reasonable opinion".
Bennett's performance at Sunderland has been widely criticised and there were suggestions that he might be dropped temporarily from the Premier League list, but Bennett has been selected to take charge of Blackburn Rovers' match against Chelsea at Ewood Park on Sunday.
Derby too soon for Owen
Michael Owen's recovery from a thigh injury sustained while playing for England last month is proving slower than expected and he may not make his comeback for Newcastle United on Sunday. Sam Allardyce had pencilled in the striker for the weekend's home game against Derby County but yesterday the Newcastle manager admitted that could be optimistic.
"Hopefully Michael's going to get back into some form of training this week," said Allardyce, who has been without Owen since he damaged his thigh during the friendly in Austria. "We'll keep our fingers crossed but Derby might be a bit soon for him." Owen has received treatment in Germany from Hans Muller-Wohlfarth, the Bayern Munich club doctor and a pioneer in the treatment of sports injuries.
Today's soccer fixtures
