LeBron James offers Liverpool a Vegas incentive if they win

LeBron James offers Liverpool a Vegas incentive if they win Posted: 03 Sep 2012 04:30 PM PDT Most teams want to do well in a season and most try their hardest, but what if there were further incentives to fight for the win? For Liverpool, there are. NBA superstar LeBron James has offered The Reds a mighty fine deal. The Miami Heat star bought shares of the team in a deal with Fenway Sports Group 17 months ago. So in order to persuade the players to get their season on track, James has offered the players of the Merseyside club a deal if they bring home a trophy. The motivation in question?  A massive party in Las Vegas, Nevada. Where else would one celebrate a victory? A Sin City party hosted by LeBron James along with friend Kayne West and other high profile stars sounds like a good incentive. He has spent time with Steven Gerrard, Liverpool's Captain, and knows that he is very passionate about his team. Over the summer, LeBron James promised Gerrard that he would throw the team a 'lavish' party that the team will never forget. He reportedly told The Sun that: ‘Everybody in sport needs incentive and if the guys at Liverpool win something this year I will give them the best weekend of their life in Vegas.’ Being a shareholder, LeBron realizes that if the team does well, he does well. Who can blame the star for wanting his business arrangements to thrive?

Match Review: Inter Milan vs AS Roma Posted: 03 Sep 2012 01:43 PM PDT (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images) The match of week in the second round of 2012-13 Serie A fixtures did not disappoint. Inter Milan came into the match after a dominating performance against Pescara and AS Roma were coming off a rather disappointing draw against Catania. On paper, it’s a can’t-miss match of the Serie A schedule, and often times matches are unable to live up to their lofty expectations, however, this game did that and more. Roma began the game in a 4-3-3 where they started Maarten Stekelenburg in goal. At the back, Ivan Piris was fielded at right back, Nicolas Burdisso and new signing Leandro Castan were the center back pairing, and Euro 2012 standout Federico Balzaretti was deployed at left back. The three man midfield consisted of youngster Alessandro Florenzi, alongside debutant Panagiotis Tachtsidis and the man known as Capitan Futuro, Daniele De Rossi. The forward line included young star Mattia Destro, Pablo Osvaldo, and their talisman, Francesco Totti. Inter again strayed away from what seemed to be the coach’s favored 4-2-3-1 when they began the game with a diamond midfield. Luca Castellazzi was started as Samir Handanovic, the man who supplanted Julio Cesar, was left off the team sheet due to a knock he picked up. Captain Javier Zanetti retained his right back slot, and has made his career comparable to a fine wine in a sense that he seems to get better with age. Andrea Ranocchia and Matias Silvestre were the center backs and Japanese international Yuto Nagatomo started on the left. Their holding midfielder was Walter Gargano, Fredy Guarin was the right sided midfielder, Alvaro Pereira played on the left, and Wesley Sneijder was the trequartista. Antonio Cassano and Diego Milito were the strike duo. On 15 minutes, captain Francesco Totti got to the byline and played in a beautiful cross that Florenzi dispatched to the back of the net with a glancing header past the Inter goalkeeper. In first half stoppage time, newly acquired Inter striker, Antonio Cassano turned past a defender and struck the ball low and hard from which caused a wicked deflection off a Roma player to go past Stekelenburg as even the score at one. The second half began much like the first with Roma pressing for the lead once again. In the 68th minute, Daniele De Rossi played an incisive pass to beat three defenders that Pablo Osvaldo neatly chipped over the oncoming Castellazzi. Roma put the game out of reach in the 81st minute when Totti again played the provider and placed a pinpoint cross with the outside of his foot to Marquinho who took a touch and hit a half-volley from a hugely difficult angle past Castellazzi. Totti was the man of the match and the Inter squad were humbled after a hotly contested game. The game produced 13 corners, a sending off, 33 shots, 34 fouls and 50 tackles and was truely a cracker. These are two teams who will be challenging for the title and neither look ready to roll over against Juventus. Despite the quality players who made their exodus from Italy this past transfer window, Serie A proved it still boasts impressive teams and is still more than capable of fast-paced, exciting matches that endear world football fans.

2014 World Cup Qualifying: How the Home Nations Will Fare Posted: 03 Sep 2012 11:41 AM PDT In the ever revolving world of football, it seems there's always something to look forward to, and not three months after the marvel that was Euro 2012 came to a close do we have yet another international tournament almost underway. September will see the home nations get their qualifying campaigns started, with Wales and Scotland occupying places in Group A, Northern Ireland battling their way out of Group F, and England attempting to spring from Group H. Political correctness would ensure that we don't always refer to the Republic of Ireland as a "home nation", but the Boys in Green shall be labelled so in this case, as they call Group C their home for now. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) Wales & Scotland Arguably the most difficult pool of the four, Group A will pose a considerable task to Scotland and Wales. The pair's chances look all the more limited when you consider there's only one automatic place to fight for, and both nations will have an astoundingly difficult time claiming it. Wales haven't looked quite the same under the management of Chris Coleman as they had been in the months leading up to the tragic death of then coach, Gary Speed. Elsewhere, Craig Levein's Scots were unlucky not to make it into Euro 2012 and are striving to qualify for their first World Cup since 1998. Belgium, Croatia and Serbia will be the favourites to duke it out for top spot in this group and may be a case of the two British representatives having to settle for a play-off place, if they can manage even that. Picture via Getty Images Republic of Ireland The journey to Euro 2012 for Giovanni Trapattoni and his men was a miraculous trip that will have gone down as an overall success. The tournament itself? Not so much. Regardless of their failure to capture even a single point in Poland and Ukraine, The Boys in Green won't be lingering on their European downfall for too long, and Rio will be safely in their sights. The Republic of Ireland was rocked by the news of Shay Given's international retirement over the summer, and so it's likely that Keiren Westwood will take up residence between the posts. Germany will be favourites to claim top spot, but after giving Italy a good run for their money in Euro 2012 qualification, it seem the Irish don't feel the pressure against the big guns. Sweden should be the only other genuine tests in Group C while the likes of Austria, Kazakhstan and Faroe Islands are very much beatable. Northern Ireland To say Northern Ireland's chances of World Cup progression looked bleak would be an understatement. Michael O'Neill's side were abysmal for stretches of their Euro 2012 qualification and, unless there's been huge improvements, it will be the same case once again. Russia and Portugal will go down as the frontrunners to move on from Group F, but the challenge doesn't necessarily stop there as Israel can prove a challenge on their given day. Other than that, points against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan should be there for the taking, but I'm afraid it won't be enough. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) England Currently struggling with a heap of injuries, even a weakened England side has the depth to make it through to the World Cup finals. The Three Lions already beat Ukraine at Euro 2012 and, while they're struggling to get away from Montenegro, Roy Hodgson's team also recently showed them their mettle too. Poland could pose a challenge after showing the rest of Europe their quality at this summer's international tournament but overall, England should be able to come out of Group H with flying colours. However, it feels like that's the decision made before every major international tournament, just for the 1966 winners to make the job a lot more difficult than it has to be. Moldova and San Marino will be the whipping boys of this pool, and England get their qualifying campaign started against the former this Friday.

Manchester’s powers of recovery Posted: 03 Sep 2012 11:14 AM PDT The team that wins the Premiership is seldom the one that sweeps all-comers aside and never has to overcome adversity. Only those with impregnable defences (such as Chelsea circa 2004-06) never have to prove themselves time and again at chasing difficult situations. It is a thought that will occur to both Manchester United and Manchester City fans after the early matches of this season. For United, this has been a modus operandi dating back years, as much a signature of the Ferguson years as any – the never-say die spirit that turns imminent defeat into victory. The goalscoring brilliance of Robin van Persie – penalty aside – may be a new feature, but as a team, the 3-2 win at Southampton was almost routine. Manchester City are starting to get a reputation for this kind of thing themselves. Most memorably, of course, against Queens Park Rangers in last season’s dramatic finale. But even this term they, like their neighbours, have had to come from 2-1 down to beat Southampton 3-2. Both Manchester sides are being tested at present because they are not keeping clean sheets. The early return of QPR to the Etihad seemed to be offering a much simpler win as the dominant blues strolled to a 1-0 half-time lead. However, a one goal deficit is always precarious and sure enough, the equaliser was soon coming. Once again City’s ability to respond told as Edin Dzeko rapidly put the side back ahead and Carlos Tevez clinched the points late on. So while United were thankful to their new signing for the points, City relied on old hands, albeit one of them being somewhat less than reliable at even getting off the bench last year. Now that the transfer window is closed these situations may be somewhat set in stone. United bought the footballers of the year of England and Germany. Roberto Mancini went one better than the five squad players he wanted, buying that many in the final week to add to the recent acquisition of Jack Rodwell. Scott Sinclair may seem like a mysterious transfer to some, at least those who feel he is no better than the departed Adam Johnson. Richard Wright as third choice keeper is a very curious move. He left Preston North End in the summer citing homesickness with his family living in East Anglia. The other three may be the most interesting. Maicon may be past his best at 31. His reputation as one of the world’s best right backs while at Inter was shredded in the Champions League two years ago by Gareth Bale. But most wingers are not nearly so good and his attacking strengths may be crucial in tight games against sides who park the bus. Javi Garcia may be a particularly exciting signing, having won his first Spanish cap earlier this year. After all, anyone who gets a game in midfield for a country boasting Iniesta, Xavi and Fabregas – not to mention David Silva – must be good. But the best signing must be the Serb teenager from Fiorentina, Matija Nastastic. He may or may not be a better bet than fellow Slav, Stefan Savic. He flew out to Florence in part-exchange – though Mancini will certainly need him to be – but that is not the point. With that surname, the new signing is a sub-editor’s dream; accommodating the prefixes nasty or fantastic with equal ease, depending on everything from a late challenge to a great performance. If he gets a run in the side, the tabloids will love him. So while Manchester United has gone for top quality, City has bulked out the squad. The impact over the full season of these moves will be interesting to assess. The development both sets of fans will be hoping for most is more defensive stability, or those powers of recovery will be tested far too often for comfort.

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