Manchester United will see the best of Falcao - Pekerman.

The Colombia striker recently hit out at reports that his fitness woes would scupper a permanent move to Old Trafford and his national boss is confident that he will be a success.

Colombia coach Jose Pekerman is in no doubt that Radamel Falcao will find his feet at Manchester United.

Falcao has scored just once since moving to Old Trafford on loan this summer, the winner against Everton in October, and has missed the club's last three matches through injury.

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50/1	Radamel Falcao is 50/1 with PaddyPower to be the Premier League's top scorer

On Monday, the 29-year-old was forced to deny reports that a permanent move was to be scuppered thanks to his fitness woes, and Pekerman is confident that he will adapt to English football and be successful.

"Falcao is at one of the best clubs in the world, in one of the best leagues and with one of the best managers under Louis van Gaal," he told reporters.

"Playing in England is clearly a new experience for him - but everywhere he has been he has adapted and excelled, achieved great things.

"That was the case in South America and also in Europe in Spain and at Monaco. There is no doubting his ability.

"And I am sure that Manchester United fans will see him at his very best once he has got through this difficult moment with injuries."

Falcao is on a one-year loan deal from Monaco and Goal understands that the terms of a permanent transfer were put in place and agreed upon back in September.

Ronaldo inducted into Goal Hall of Fame.

The former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter forward is the last of five legendary names to be recognised in the Class of 2014 this week

Former Brazil striker Ronaldo has been named as the fifth inductee into the Goal Hall of Fame.

The Rio-born forward was one of the icons of the game in the 1990s and early 2000s, during which his powerful style yielded stunning scoring figures for a raft of top European sides, including Barcelona, Inter and Real Madrid.

Ronaldo's success was not merely confined to the domestic stage, though, as he scored two goals in the World Cup final of 2002, which gave Brazil their fifth title. Four years earlier, he had been one of the stars of France 98 before a mysterious affliction before the final hampered his performance in a 3-0 loss against the hosts.

Goal's worldwide team of experts produced a shortlist of 15 names for our first batch of inductees and we asked you, the readers, to pick which legends should be included.

Over 100,000 of you from all over the world voted and the Goal Hall of Fame opens its doors this week, with Ronaldo joining Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona, Pele and Ferenc Puskas as the inaugural inductees.

We have exclusive interviews, features, galleries and videos celebrating the careers of our top five. You can also share your thoughts throughout the week on social media using the Hashtag #GoalHOF.

Kenyatta: Gor Mahia to have sponsor next season.

Kenya President Kenyatta pledges to secure title sponsor for K’Ogalo and gives team Sh1million and a further Sh2m to be channeled to the club.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has pledged that he will personally intervene to ensure that Kenyan Premier League champions Gor Mahia have a sponsor for next season.
President Kenyatta, who received the team at State House on Friday to congratulate them for winning a record 14th league title, gave the team Sh1million and a further Sh2m to be channeled to the club.
Chairman Ambrose Rachier told Goal that President Kenyatta assured them his full support, saying "leave the issue of sponsorship to me."
"The President was very categorical that he will intervene to ensure we have a title sponsor," said Rachier.
The Head of State expressed concern over hooliganism but said the government will ensure that the vice is a thing of the past. "Security agencies are going to deal with that issue of hooliganism," said President Kenyatta.
"Please help us deal with this hooliganism by arresting and prosecuting those culprits," Rachier had asked the President.

President Kenyatta appoints Jaro Soja to SSMB board.

K'Ogalo fan Jaro Soja has landed a job at (SSMB) handed by President Uhuru Kenyatta after champions Gor Mahia visited State House on Friday.

Talk of how football fanatism can benefit a supporter and Gor Mahia die-hard supporter Jaro Soja now knows that too well.

Think of the joy of supporting a winning team and his family would live to tell the tale, perhaps for the rest of their lifes. The idea of meeting a Head of State, who has a passion for sports and football for that matter and this man has a testimony to offer his church this weekend.

How fortunes can change when one can seize an opportunity. That is the story of one Jared Abong'o, the self-proclaimed chief of K'Ogalo Defence Forces.

Jaro, 34, has earned great fame for his passionate support for league champions, Gor Mahia, was part of the delegation that met president Uhuru Kenyatta at State House.

"When he got the chance to speak to the President, Jaro knew exactly what to ask from him," said Billy Arocho, a close friend of the president, who was at the meeting.

"The man just said he needed a job and CS Wario suggested that he be employed by Sports Stadia Management Board which the president agreed.

And the moral of the story is, whatever you do do it like you would need do it again. "I am very glad that the president has given me the chance to be employed. I will forever be grateful to him," Jaro told Goal.

Details of his appointment will be concluded ahead of startin his new job at Kasarani Stadium next week.

Why Danny Sserunkuma missed out on top award.

Gor Mahia striker Dan Sserunkuma was not short-listed for top Kenyan Premier League (KPL) award due to controversy over some of his goals.

Gor Mahia striker Dan Sserunkuma was a surprise omission from list of nominess to nominess for this year's footballer of the year award but it is now emerging that this could have been due to some controversial goals he scored during the season.

Sserunkuma was left out despite having emerged the top scorer in the just concluded season. Traditionally, top scorers have always been in the short-list and majority of them have won in the past.

But a coach who took part in the nominations but did not want to be named claimed they locked out the Ugandan due to the controversial nature of some of the goals he scored and did not want to legitimise the same.

He told Goal:"He may have emerged the top scorer but we also looked at how some of the goals were scored. Out of 16 goals, he scored three penalties and in our opinion some were not genuine. Furthermore, we felt that some of the goals he scored were from an off-side position. If the referees did not see it, we did and took note."

"Furthermore, it is not necessary that a top scorer is on the list of best players." Those listed in the top  award are Godfrey Kizito (Gor Mahia), Kizito Ndolo (Sofapaka), Osborne Monday (Ulinzi Stars), Stephen Waruru (Ulinzi Stars) and Enock Agwanda (Sofapaka).

AFC Leopards chairman: We owe KRA Sh8million.

AFC Leopards chairman Allan Kasavuli has said the club is grappling with a Sh8million debt owed to Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) from 2008 season.

AFC Leopards chairman Allan Kasavuli has said the club is grappling with a Sh8million debt owed to the tax men and is the reason they have not paid their players.

Kasavuli told Goal, his administration inherited the debt from previous officie and are doing everything possible to clear it.

"We have had many financial challenges and the biggest one is this Sh8million debt owed to KRA. At the monet we are negotiating with them to see how best to clear it. It has been tough on the club and it is the reason for delay in paying player's salaries and allowances."

He promised that the offciails are making every effort to clear the debt. He also revealed that they are planning to drop four players in a bid to retain a squad of 25 players for next season.

Regarding the future of coach Pieter De Jongh, Kasavuli said the Dutchman still has six months pending on his contract and there is no plan to replace him.

"He is still our coach and at the appropriate time we will sit down and review his performance but for now, his contract is still running. We are planning to issue a comprehensive statement on performance of the club on November 25 where we will also give a way forward on the future."

How the Premier League is failing in Europe again

English clubs are again struggling in the Champions League this season and the top flight can no longer be described as the best league in the world.

The self-proclaimed title of the ‘best league in the world’ has quietly faded from the Premier League lexicon over the last few years.

After all, it would be a hard label to justify following the all-Spanish Champions League final last season and the all-German final for Europe’s top prize in 2013.

Instead, we choose to talk to English football’s competitiveness and entertainment factor rather than its quality. That’s because the days of the Premier League’s dominance in Europe are long gone.

Between 2005 and 2009, England produced finalists every year in the Champions League. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all reached the final hurdle and twice Premier League sides conquered Europe.

English clubs remained competitive for a few more years, with United reaching the final in 2011 and Chelsea winning the Champions League in 2012.

Since though, only one team – Chelsea last season – has even made it as far as the semi-finals of the competition.

The drop in quality of English teams has been most marked in Manchester City’s performances. Having qualified from their group just once in three attempts, the Premier League champions are again staring down the barrel of an early exit.



City are supposed to represent the best we have to offer, yet they have just two points from their first three games in their latest Champions League campaign and manager Manuel Pellegrini has acknowledged that they need to win all of their remaining games, starting at home to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday.

Arsenal’s defeat away at Dortmund highlighted the Gunners’ usual weaknesses against high-quality European opposition and their Champions League campaigns have been played on repeat in recent seasons. We know how it ends – Arsene Wenger’s team will be knocked out early in the knockout stages as soon as they come up against a leading side.

Liverpool, back in the Champions League for the first time since the 2009-10 season, are fighting to make sure their return is not short-lived. With just three points from their first three matches and an away fixture at Real Madrid next, their chances are likely to hinge on their final group match at home against Basel in December.

Chelsea are the only side that have not struggled so far, and last season’s semi-finalists will fancy their chances of going far in the competition again - although winning the Premier League has become the priority for Jose Mourinho.

Even then, the Blues – so dominant domestically in the early part of the season – could only manage a draw at home with a struggling Schalke side in their Group G opener.

The Premier League simply isn’t that strong anymore. The World Cup winners and Champions League winners – the best players on the planet – are based in Spain or Germany. The last two players of the year in England are now playing for Real Madrid and Barcelona.

In 2009, the Premier League accounted for three of the four Champions League semi-finalists; but it will be a long time before that happens again.

While five Premier League players are on this year’s 23-man Ballon D’Or shortlist, three of them – Angel Di Maria, Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois – are there because of their achievements with Spanish clubs last season.

When the Champions League was first introduced in 1992, English clubs were seen as complete no-hopers with no chance of winning the competition for several years.

The financial muscle of the Premier League means that won’t happen again. But the decline on the big stage is there for all to see.

Ancelotti: Don't blame Balotelli for all of Liverpool's problems.

The Blancos boss feels that his fellow Italian has been made a scapegoat for the Premier League club's disastrous start to the 2014-15 campaign.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti feels it is far too easy to blame Mario Balotelli for Liverpool's problems this season, arguing that the Anfield outfit's current issues are more "complex".
The Reds were the story of last season's Premier League, going so close to a first title triumph since 1990 only to suffer a dramatic collapse in the closing stages of a thrilling campaign.
Brendan Rodgers' men nonetheless received many plaudits for their wonderful attacking play and were even talked up as potential dark horses for this season's Champions League, but they have struggled horribly both in Europe and domestically so far this season.
The sale of Luis Suarez, who hit 31 goals in 33 games last term, has been keenly felt, as has an injury to fellow forward Daniel Sturridge, with summer signing Balotelli copping plenty of criticism for failing to fill the void, with the Italian notching just two goals since arriving from AC Milan for €20 million.
However, Ancelotti finds it unfair that his compatriot is being made a scapegoat by the British media for Liverpool's dip in form.
"We speak about Mario so much - too much," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport on the eve of Madrid's Champions League meeting with the Reds at the Santiago Bernabeu.
"Balotelli is a quality player who has found himself in a team that have lost Suarez and must therefore find different solutions.
"Liverpool's problem is not only Balotelli. It's a complex question.
"Sure, he must help the team to rediscover the good form of last season, but you cannot pin all of the blame for some results on Mario."
Balotelli was heavily criticised by ex-Liverpool players for swapping shirts with Madrid defender Pepe as the pair walked off the pitch at half-time in the club's 3-0 loss to Madrid at Anfield last time out.
The gesture was viewed as emblematic of the 24-year-old's lack of focus and professionalism, but Ancelotti felt it was much ado about nothing.
"It's such a common gesture," the former AC Milan boss argued. "I wouldn't send one of my players home if he swapped shirts."
Madrid boast a 100 per cent record after three rounds of action in Champions League Group B and can seal their place in the last 16 of the Champions League win a win over Liverpool, who currently sit third in the table after back-to-back defeats, away to Basel and at home to the Blancos.

Ajax should not fear Messi, Neymar and Suarez - De Boer.

The former defender believes the Uruguay international will be "emotional" upon his return to the Amsterdam ArenA but is adamant his side should play with confidence.

Frank de Boer has told his Ajax side to show no fear when they come up against a star-studded Barcelona attack on Wednesday.
The Dutch champions welcome the Spanish giants to the Amsterdam Arena in the Champions League knowing a defeat could see them eliminated from Group F.
Barcelona won the reverse clash 3-1 a fortnight ago and boast a stellar forward line of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez, who is in line for his first Champions League appearance of the season against his former club.
However, coach De Boer believes his team should take confidence from a 2-1 victory over the Catalans in Amsterdam in last season's group stages.
"You always have to show respect [to your opponents] but that doesn't mean you need to fear them," he said.
"We showed last year [against Barcelona] that we can play against top teams. I want to see confidence from my team tomorrow.
"The most important thing is that we keep playing as a team and someone is always close to [Lionel] Messi. They shouldn't be afraid to play against Messi, Suarez or Neymar."
For Suarez, the match marks a return to a club where he spent three-and-a-half years, scoring 111 goals in 159 games before moving to Liverpool in January 2011.
De Boer added: "I think it will be emotional for Suarez to come back to the Arena to play his first Champions League match [this season] at his former home. It's good for him. He's a fighter, who scores easily. It will be an interesting match."
Barca have endured back-to-back defeats in La Liga and De Boer is wary that Luis Enrique's side will be desperate to return to top form - especially given the way they were outplayed by Real Madrid in the Clasico.
"They have a lot of experience. They've lost more than once twice in a row. It’s the same for us. If we lose twice there will be pressure. That’s part of being a big club like Ajax or Barcelona," he added.
"They want to get a good result. It hurts them that Real Madrid was a better team for more than an hour. They love that in Madrid, I’m sure about that. But the other way around it’s the same story. I think Barcelona want to get back in their flow as soon as possible, no matter what. They will be very motivated.”

'Racist tweets' aimed at Manchester City star Toure.

The Cote d'Ivoire international reactivated his social media account on Monday but was subjected to abusive messages after the 1-0 win over Manchester United.

Kick It Out has alerted police to "racist tweets" sent to Manchester City's Yaya Toure in the aftermath of Sunday's Manchester derby.

The midfielder reactivated his Twitter account on Monday following his side's 1-0 victory over rivals Manchester United at the weekend.

The Ivorian posted: "Great to be back on Twitter after a good win yesterday. Now my focus is on the next game...Happy Monday everyone!!"

In a statement released on Tuesday, English football's anti-racism campaigners Kick It Out said that Toure received "racist messages" shortly after making his post, which were duly "brought to the attention" of the campaign group.

A spokesperson for Kick It Out commented: "We received complaints about two separate tweets of a racist nature aimed at Yaya Toure yesterday [Monday] evening.

"We have informed the police via True Vision, the online reporting facility, and have also alerted Twitter.

"Yaya Toure has been back on Twitter for a matter of hours and he has already received abuse of an appalling nature.

"We are disturbed by the fact that someone can be treated this way. It makes footballers start to question why they should use these platforms.

"We are offering Yaya Toure our full support."

Van Gaal refutes Fellaini spit claim.

The Belgian stooped over Sergio Aguero following a rejected penalty appeal but his manager says it was natural and "when you shout there is saliva".

Louis van Gaal has defended Marouane Fellaini following claims that he spat at Sergio Aguero during the Manchester derby.

Manchester United were defeated 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium thanks to a brilliant finish from the Argentine after a first half that saw two penalty claims denied and Chris Smalling red-carded.

Yet Van Gaal was forced to defend his midfielder after footage emerged after the game of Fellaini appearing to spit in the direction of Aguero following a rejected penalty appeal.

When asked by reporters if the Belgian had spat at Aguero, Van Gaal said: "I’ve heard it’s a question on social media but also I’ve heard on TV he is shouting. And when you shout there is saliva."

A similar incident occured at the KC Stadium in March this year and led to George Boyd earning a three-game suspension for allegedly spitting at Joe Hart.

'It's never easy with him' - Arsenal open contract talks with Walcott.

The Gunners boss is keen to tie the 25-year-old down during his "peak years" but admits negotiations are difficult to complete with the England international.

Arsene Wenger has revealed Arsenal are in negotiations with Theo Walcott over a new contract.

The 25-year-old has been at the club since joining from Southampton in 2006 and made his return against Burnley on Saturday after being sidelined for nine months with a knee injury.

Walcott signed a three-and-a-half year contract in January 2013 and with his current deal set to expire in the summer of 2016, Wenger is keen for the England international to commit his “peak years” to the Gunners.

“We are starting to sit down with him,” Wenger told reporters.

“I think he has one-and-a-half years to go in December. It is never an easy job with him.

"It should be his peak years because he is 25. It's the best years now, so hopefully we can profit from that."

Gor Mahia move KRA match to Moi Stadium Kisumu.

K'Ogalo secretary Chris Omondi reveals to Goal that they have asked KPL to shift decisive match to Kisumu owing to security concerns at City Stadium.

Kenyan Premier League champions Gor Mahia have shifted their decisive league match against Kenya Revenue Authority to Kisumu Stadium on Saturday.
Gor Mahia secretary Chris Omondi has revealed to Goal that the change has been neccesitated owing to security concerns at previous venue – City Stadium.
“We have received reliable information that some hired goons are planning to cause chaos yet again if the match is played at City Stadium. We don’t want this to happen because Gor Mahia ends up being blamed.
“We have written to KPL asking for change of venue. We want the match played at Moi Kisumu Stadium because there is a great atmosphere and we will also be able to keep the goons at bay.
"The same goons caused trouble after our match against Sofapaka in Machakos. The information we have is that they will repeat the same if we play at City Stadium."
Gor Mahia are fighting to win a succesive title against rivals Sofapaka, who play Tusker in their final league match of the season at Ruaraka grounds on Saturday. K’Ogalo have 57 points, one adrift of Batoto ba Mungu.
Gor Mahia have played at the refurbished Kisumu Stadium twice. Their first match at the venue ended in defeat after they were eliminated by GFE 105 from Eldoret in GOtv Shield tournament.
Last Saturday, they returned to the venue and hammered Muhoroni Youth 3-1 with Ugandan trio of Dan Sserunkuma, “Baba” Kizito and Geoffrey Walusimbi scoring for the champions.