Chelsea confirm Maniche departure
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Article summary
News round-up: Maniche has left Chelsea FC as Michael Dawson replaces the injured Luke Young on standby for England's FIFA World Cup squad.
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Chelsea FC
Watford FC will be playing Premiership football next season after beating Leeds United AFC 3-0 in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Jay DeMerit opened the scoring with a header before second-half goals from James Chambers and Darius Henderson, from the penalty spot, sealed victory. They will be joined in the top flight by Reading FC and Sheffield United FC, both of whom were promoted automatically. Watford were relegated in 1999/00.
Tottenham Hotspur FC's Michael Dawson has been called into England's World Cup squad as a standby. The 22-year-old defender replaces Charlton Athletic FC's Luke Young, who withdrew with an ankle injury on Saturday. Uncapped at senior level, the centre-back was formerly a mainstay for England Under-21s and will join Sven-Göran Eriksson's squad when they meet up in Watford on Monday.
Blackburn Rovers FC
Norwegian striker Rune Lange has ended a successful five-year stint at Belgian side Club Brugge KV, after joining Vålerenga IF. The 28-year-old, who was limited to just two substitute apperances by a succession of injuries last season, has committed to the Oslo outfit until the end of the 2009 campaign. "I also considered an offer from my old side Tromsø [IL], but I felt Vålerenga had more to offer," Lange said.
Motherwell FC
Romania coach Victor Piturca has handed international recalls to Costin Soava and Marius Niculae after naming an injury-hit squad for the forthcoming tour of the United States. Romania will face Uruguay, Northern Ireland and Columbia in the space of five days in the tournament that begins on Tuesday in Los Angeles, and Piturca is hoping to fine-tune his team ahead of this autumn's UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers. With Cristian Chivu, Razvan Rat, Florentin Petre, Dorinel Munteanu and Ciprian Marica all injured, Piturca has ended Soava's two-year spell in the wilderness while Niculae is in line to earn his 27th cap almost 12 months after making his 26th appearance against Armenia. FC Dinamo Bucuresti defender Cristian Pulhac has also received a first call-up.
