Guardiola fails second test

Suspended Spanish international Josep Guardiola has given a second positive test for the banned steroid nandrolone.

Two tests
The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), which announced last week that the Brescia Calcio midfield player had tested positive after a Serie A match on 21 October, said on Wednesday that Guardiola gave another positive sample after a game on 4 November.

Protested innocence
Speaking after the result of the first test was revealed last week, Guardiola, 30, was confident he would clear his name, saying: "I haven't taken anything and I hope that the counter-analysis will prove it.

'Very unhappy'
"I am very unhappy but I am convinced that I will win because I believe in all that I have done in all these years as a professional. There is a machine that says I have taken nandrolone and there is a man at the side of the machine who says it is not true."

Club support
Brescia have pledged to stand by their player, and Guardiola's former club FC Barcelona have also offered their full support. He became the second Serie A player to test positive this month after S.S. Lazio's Dutch international Jaap Stam also failed a nandrolone test, according to CONI.