When Sergio Aguero was first capped by Argentina several years ago, skeptics claimed it was nepotism because Aguero was the son-in-law of national coach Diego Maradona.

But Aguero, who turns 24 on June 2, has proven his worth and then some.

On Sunday, Aguero scored the goal of a lifetime as he climaxed the comeback of a lifetime as Manchester City capped its season with not one, but two memorable come-from-behind performances.

Considered dead in English Premier League waters, eight points behind archrival Manchester United with six games remaining at the beginning of April, City endured to win its first championship in 44 years.

In similar fashion, City made history with a late comeback for the ages, scoring twice in stoppage time, including Aguero’s game-winner in the 94th minute that boosted Manchester to a rather improbable 3-2 triumph over Queens Park Rangers at Etihad Stadium.

“I was so happy that the ball fell to Sergio,” City manager Roberto Mancini told the Mirror. “I think it’s only right that he scored the last goal.”

Edin Dzezo had equalized two minutes into added time.

Aguero, who signed with City in a $60 million transfer from Atletico Madrid last summer, took a pass from Mario Balotelli, weaved through the defense before beating goalkeeper from the right side to secure the win with the 30th goal of the season.

“The ball fell at my feet and my only thought was to hit the target,” he said. “Thankfully it went in. For sure it was the most important goal of my career.

“To score in the last minute to win the title? I’m not sure that is ever going to happen again.”

After he scored, Aguero whipped off his shirt in celebration.

“It is one big blur,” City captain Vincent Kompany said. “I remember jumping on top of Sergio when he scored the goal. He was crying on the floor.”

Another lethal Argentine international, Carlos Tévez, also played a role in the match, although he did not score. He induced QPR midfielder Joey Barton to throw an elbow at him and kneeing Aguero as he left the field after getting red-carded in the 55th minute.

England

Javier Hernández

Chicharito, who was deemed so valuable by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson that he was denied permission to play for El Tri in the Olympics, did not get off the bench in the 1-0 season-ending win over Sunderland in English Premier League action. Chicharito finished the season with 12 goals in 22 matches. Broken down that was 10 goals in 18 EPL appearances and two goals in Europa Cup games.

Angel Rangel

The Spaniard helped set up Swansea’s lone goal in the 86th minute in its 1-0 win over Liverpool. Rangel found Scott Sinclair, who passed to Danny Graham for his 14th goal of the season.

Spain

Lionel Messi

In a game in which he fired blanks, Messi did not score in Barcelona’s season-ending 2-2 deadlock at Real Betis in coach Pep Guardiola’s final league game. The Argentine international striker finished the season with a La Liga record 50 goals. Seydou Keita scored in stoppage time to lift 10-man Barca to the tie. Messi and company are not finished as they play Atheltic Bilbao for the Copa del Rey crown on May 25.

Gonzalo Higuaín, Gonzalo Castro

Higuaín did not score in Real Madrid’s 4-1 victory over Mallorca as La Liga champions broke the 100-point barrier as Cristian Ronaldo scored his 46th goal of the season. But the Argentine international may have played his last game for Los Blancos. After the game, Higuaín said he may leave the team with speculation that he could wind up with Paris Saint-Germain next season. Castro, a Uruguayan, scored a second-half goal for Mallorca.

José Rondón

The Venezuelan tallied the lone goal for Malaga in its 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon that guaranteed it will play in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. After hitting the post with a header in the first half, Rondón went back to work four minutes into the second half, heading in a corner kick.

Ramadel Falcao

Only days after scoring twice for Atlético Madrid in its Europa Cup final triumph, the Colombian tallied in the 88th minute to boost his team to a 1-0 win, which relegated Villarreal to the Segunda Division.

Carlos Vela

The Mexican international did not find the back of the net in 86 minutes of action for Real Sociedad in its 1-0 win over Valencia, but he finished the season with 12 goals and seven assists in 34 appearances.

Pablo Barrera

Barrera, another Mexican National Team player, played only two minutes for Real Zaragoza in its 2-0 victory over Getafe.

Héctor Moreno

The Mexican international defender went the full 90 minutes for Espanyol in its 1-1 tie with Sevilla.

Andrés Guardado

For the second consecutive game, the Mexican international scored for Déportivo la Coruña. Guardado converted a 51st-minute penalty kick to put the finishing touches on Deportivo’s 3-0 victory over Numancía FC in the Spanish Second Division. After Alex Bergantinos (15th minute) and Lassad Nouioui (18th minute) lifted the visitors into a two-goal advantage, Guardado scored his 11th goal of the season. The penalty kick was set up when Numancía central defender Manuel Pavón blocked a Juan Carlos Valerón shot with an elbow as the hosts were forced to play the rest of the match with only 10 men. With five games remaining in the season, Déportivo leads the Second Division with a 26-8-4 mark and 79 points, four more than second-place Real Valladolid (21-5-12, 75).

France

Guillermo Ochoa

The Mexican international goalkeeper and his Ajaccio teammates find themselves on the wrong side of the relegation zone with one precious game remaining in their season. Ajaccio could only register a 1-1 home tie with Lyon in French Ligue 1 on Sunday. The Coriscan club is in 18th place out of 20 teams with an 8-15-14 record and 38 points. Lyon (19-11-7, 64 points) is in fourth place.

It certainly did not help the hosts that French international Yoann Gourcuff was sent off in the 50th minute, meaning that he will miss next week’s regular-season finale at eighth-place Toulouse FC (15-11-11, 56) on Sunday. Baretimbi Gomis lifted Lyon into the lead in the 54th minute, but Ajaccio leveled the game on a penalty kick from Ecuardo five minutes later. Ochoa was solid in the net as he stopped Gueida Fofana’s low, driving shot. Gomis and Maxime Gonalons tested Ochoa in the second half, but the keeper was up to the task.

Italy

Santiago García

García, an Argentine playing on loan to Novara, scored in the 20th minute to give his relegated side a 1-0 lead, but A.C. Milan rallied for two goals en route to a 3-1 victory.

Qatar

Raúl

The former Spanish international striker signed with Al Sadd for next season. Raul, 34, decided to leave Schalke 04, despite having two solid years in the German Bundesliga.

Italy

Mario Yepes

The Colombian central defender has extended his contract with A.C. Milan for another year. The 36-year-old Yepes has earned 80 caps for Colombia, scoring four times.

Portugal

James Rodríguez

Rodríguez, a Colombian, helped start First Division champion FC Porto to a 5-2 romp at Rio Ave. Brazilian striker Kleber led the way with a hat-trick.

Turkey

Pablo Batalla

The Argentine tallied twice in the opening half to power Bursapor to a 4-0 triumph over Istanbul Buyuksehir BSK to qualify for next season’s UEFA Europa League.

Denmark

Cristian Bolaños

Bolaños, a Costa Rican international, helped FC Copenhagen overcome a two-goal deficit to register a 2-2 draw at Sonderyuske. The first-place club’s quest for the Danish championship, however, suffered a setback because it failed to secure the full three points and could lose the lead if Nordsjaelland defeats Odense on Monday. The hosts grabbed a two-goal lead on goals by Eyjolfur Hedinsson and Lasse Vibe. But Bolanos sliced the deficit in half in the 76th minute and Solvi Ottesen equalized in the 85th minute.

Scotland

Emilio Izaguirre

The Honduran international went the entire way at midfield for Celtic FC in its 5-0 season-ending triumph over Hearts at Celtic Park. Izaguirre normally is an outside fullback. Gary Hooper struck for five goals — a hat-trick in the first half — in the Scottish Premier League season finale for both teams.

Mexico

José María Basanta, Aldo de Nigris, Oribe Peralta, Héctor Mancilla

The Mexican Clausura final will have a familiar ring to it as the CONCACAF Champions League finalists will tussle for the title this weekend. Two-time CCL champion Monterrey and runner-up Santos Laguna won their semifinal series.

Monterrey recorded a 2-0 win over Club America in the second leg of the semifinals to capture the series by the same score. The club will face Tigres or Santos Laguna in the final. Monterrey had bested Santos for the CCL crown last month. The teams had played to a scoreless draw in the first game. Basanta gave Monterrey all the scoring it needed in the ninth minute and de Nigris added an insurance goal in the 52nd minute.

Peralta’s late brace lifted Santos Laguna over Tigres Monterrey. Tigres, which had recorded a 1-1 tie in the first leg, had grabbed a 2-0 advantage behind Mancilla’s two goals in the opening 30 minutes on Sunday. But Peralta, a Mexican international tallied in the 86th and 89th minutes to level the game at 2-2 and the aggregate goals at 3-3. Because Laguna had a better regular-season record, it reached the final.

Mexican National Team

Defender Ráfa Márquez, midfielders Andrés Guardado and Giovani dos Santos, and Javier Hernández were among eight players based in Europe and the United States that will form part of the Mexican roster that will play in three international friendlies in the U.S. prior to World Cup qualifying.

Brazil meet Denmark and United States in May and Mexico and arch-rivals Argentina in June with an eye on the Olympic Games soccer tournament in July and August.

Pato was named in coach Mano Menezes’s 23-man squad on Friday which is made up largely of under-23 players as Brazil look to try and win the Olympic gold medal for the first time and complete their collection of top trophies.

Also included were Santos duo Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso who were in scintillating form when the South American champions crushed Bolivar of Bolivia 8-0 on Thursday night to book a place in the Libertadores Cup quarter-finals.

Pato, who has been missing for Brazil since the middle of last year after suffering injuries playing for Milan, is being given the chance to prove he is fit for the London Games.

Menezes held a joint news conference with Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Jose Maria Marin who had controversially said he wanted to see the squad list before it was announced.

Marin said on Friday he had “full confidence” in the coach, adding his list was “intact … I didn’t make any suggestions”.

Brazil face Denmark in Hamburg on May 26, the U.S. in Washington on May 30, Mexico in Dallas on June 3 and Argentina in New Jersey on June 9.

Players in the squad who are over 23 are goalkeeper Jefferson and defenders Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Marcelo and Daniel Alves. Menezes said he would take the permitted three over-age players to the Games.

Former FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho, who played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for Brazil, was expected to be among the over-age players again for London but his form for Flamengo this year has been patchy.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Jefferson (Botafogo), Neto (Fiorentina), Rafael (Santos)

Defenders: Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Danilo, Alex Sandro (both Porto), Thiago Silva (AC Milan), David Luiz (Chelsea), Bruno Uvini (Tottenham Hotspur), Juan (Inter Milan)

Midfielders: Casemiro, Lucas (both Sao Paulo), Sandro (Tottenham Hotspur), Romulo (Vasco da Gama), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Oscar (Internacional), Giuliano (Dnipropetrovsk)

Forwards: Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Hulk (Porto), Leandro Damiao (Internacional), Neymar (Santos), Wellington Nem (Fluminense) (Reporting by Pedro Fonseca; writing by Rex Gowar; editing by Tony Jimenez)

Juventus won the Italian league soccer title for a record-extending 28th time as it beat Cagliari 2-0 and AC Milan lost 4-2 to city rival Inter. Paris Saint-Germain took the lead in France’s Ligue 1.

Mirko Vucinic’s sixth-minute strike and an own goal by Michele Canini last night secured the win that lifted Juventus four points clear of AC Milan with one game remaining.

Turin-based Juventus, which was stripped of the 2005 and 2006 titles for its part in a match-fixing scandal, can cap its first Serie A championship since 2003 with an unbeaten season by avoiding defeat against Atalanta on May 13.

“It’s a fantastic feeling, a great joy after a wonderful year and an extraordinary season,” Juventus coach Antonio Conte said on his team’s website. “We have not lost in 37 games and we hope to finish the season undefeated because it will be something historical.”

Defending champion AC Milan lost to Inter for the second time in the league this season. Diego Milito scored three goals as Inter rallied from 2-1 down following Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s double. Maicon added Inter’s fourth.

Udinese is favorite to clinch third spot and Champions League qualification after a 2-0 win over Genoa which keeps the club two points ahead of Lazio, a 2-0 winner at Atalanta. Napoli lost 2-0 at Bologna and is another point back.

Lecce lost 1-0 against Fiorentina two days ago and must win its final game to have a chance of overhauling Genoa in the standings to avoid relegation.
PSG Rallies

In France, PSG rallied from 2-0 down to beat Valenciennes 4-3 last night and move ahead of Montpellier at the top because it has a superior goal difference.

Nene, Maxwell, Blaise Matuidi and Jeremy Menez scored for PSG, which is seeking its first title since 1994. Montpellier, which has played one game fewer, is at Rennes today.

“It was difficult at the start, but we came back quickly and never let go,” Nene said. “This was a huge win.”

Two days ago, Lionel Messi scored all the goals as Barcelona routed Espanyol 4-0 to push his season total to 72 — including 50 in Spain’s La Liga.

Real Madrid, which last week clinched its record-extending 32nd league title and first since 2008, beat Granada 2-1. Valencia is now assured of third spot with one round of matches to play after it defeated Villarreal 1-0 and Malaga lost 2-1 at Atletico Madrid.

Champion Borussia Dortmund set a record for points in a German Bundesliga season after a 4-0 win against Freiburg lifted its final tally to 81.

Cologne was relegated after a 4-1 home defeat by second- place Bayern Munich. Hertha Berlin moved ahead of Cologne with a 3-1 win against Hoffenheim and will playoff against a second- division team to stay in the top flight.

Dutch champion Ajax completed its league campaign yesterday with a 3-1 win at Vitesse Arnhem to finish six points ahead of second-place Feyenoord, which beat Heerenveen 3-2.

Papiss Cisse’s goal against Chelsea Wednesday night was many things; a beautiful first touch, a wonderful turn and an emphatic volley in to the top-right corner of Petr Cech’s net. But it signified a change in the make up of the game.

Cisse’s goalscoring comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed his career before his move to St James Park — the Senegalese forward had a goal ratio of just over one in every other games for his Bundesliga team, Freiburg — but the seamless adjustment from Bundesliga to Premier League has gone far to reinforce the words on many fan’s lips; the Bundesliga is quickly gaining on England’s Premier League.

Transition, as a process of change, is inevitable in soccer. With an ecosystem contrived of hundreds of small associations and leagues; the landscape of soccer shifts and changes from season to season to the stern request of thousands of variables. Like diffusion, the process which enables simple life on this planet, money and talent flow from one league to the next, to the sport’s delight.

Throughout the past generation we have seen Italy’s Serie A at its peak throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s, to eventually be overcome by the exploitative marketing of the financially absurd Premier League which calls its claim to the Iron throne of the beautiful game. Until now, that is.

For all the Premier League’s excitement and bold claims throughout the years, it was always built upon the foundations of profit margins and capitalism’s ability to demand each man look after his own interests first. From its bright birth in 1992 as a sports franchise, hoping to model and emulate the success of the N.F.L., it now relies upon foreign billionaires and audiences from the other side of the world to keep its margins high.

In contrast, Germany’s Bundesliga has always been a safe haven for purists. Based on a sound and prudent financial mind-set and its priorities firmly focused on the fans, the league has continued to grow in not only a financial sense, but in terms of admiration and quality on the field.

Yet never before has the Bundesliga, as a league, held such an influence over the fortune of European and world soccer. Now the league with the highest average attendance, and second only to the N.F.L. in all of sports. The new TV deal signed by Sky Sports this year is worth a reported $826 million per year till 2017 — a 52 percent increase on the last deal. If the Premier League demands all the glitz and glamor of Broadway, then the Bundesliga can lay claim to a financial and development powerhouse worthy of Wall Street.
Papiss Cisse after his wonderful “wonder” goal against Chelsea last Wednesday.Andy Rain/European Pressphoto AgencyPapiss Cisse after his wonderful “wonder” goal against Chelsea last Wednesday.

A great team may last for three or five years, indulging in beautiful soccer, stunning moments of magic, and memories that will forever be associated with the club. But a great league is something different — it is a movement, a progression, a revolution; a great team may dominate a sport, but a great league can change it entirely.

Bayern Munich’s unexpected victory over Real Madrid in last week’s Champions League semifinals not only depicted a team with great courage and organization, but a soccer club that believed it deserved its spot in the final. This sentiment echoed through a Leverkusen team that topped its group above Bayern’s challengers, Chelsea, before it was knocked out to a then-mighty Barcelona.

To add to this German assault on European favor, was the exploits of Bundesliga teams in Europe’s second tier continental competition this season. Despite its unfair criticism, the Europa League is a fair indication of a league’s strength in depth, with a competition largely consisting of fallen league leaders from the Champions League, and midtable teams, hungry for cup success. Both Schalke and Hannover made it to the quarterfinals this year, unfortunately going out to eventual finalists Athletic Bilbao and Atlético Madrid.

Of course, such European excursions are not the only strings to the Bundesliga’s mighty bow. A league can only claim to be as good as the sum of its parts, and in terms of a soccer league, that means the quality of players on show. The German national squad — the one team that most can foresee overcoming Spain in this summer’s Euro 2012 — is almost entirely composed of home-based players, with only Miroslav Klose at Lazio, and Mesut Özil; Sami Khedira at Real Madrid exempt from that pattern. A young squad it may be, but a young squad returning as European champions may well be the final line in the Bundesliga’s case as Europe’s new premier league.

It is still early, and things may not go Bayern’s way on May 19, or Germany’s this summer, but both teams are where they are today because of the continued growth of the league in which they depend upon.

All this while Papiss Cisse and Newcastle are girding for Sunday’s Premier League showdown with Manchester City.

Ukraine described threats by European powers to shun the Euro soccer championship it will host in June as a return to Cold War tactics on Monday, after several leaders called off their visits over the treatment of a leading opposition politician.

Relations between Ukraine and the European Union have been strained by the conviction of Yulia Tymoshenko – the main political rival of President Viktor Yanukovich – last October, a case her supporters say was politically driven.

A German government spokesman said any visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel during the tournament would be linked to Tymoshenko’s fate. Several other leaders also said they would scrap plans to visit Ukraine over the case.

“I would not like to think that German state leaders can reanimate methods of the Cold War period and make sports a hostage of politics,” Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleh Voloshin told Interfax news agency.

Earlier, Czech President Vaclav Klaus joined German President Joachim Gauck in cancelling participation at a summit of central European presidents in the Ukrainian Black Sea resort of Yalta on May 11-12 over Tymoshenko’s case.

And in Brussels, a spokeswoman for European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he would not visit Ukraine because of Tymoshenko’s treatment.

“As far as the president is concerned, it is clear that as things stand now, the president has no intention of going to Ukraine or indeed participating in events in Ukraine at this point in time,” Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told a briefing.

Tymoshenko, 51, who was jailed for seven years after a court ruled she exceeded her powers as prime minister, is in a prison in the city of Kharkiv – one of the venues of the championship.

POTENTIAL BOYCOTTS

Ukraine is co-hosting the Euro-2012 soccer tournament – one of the continent’s main sports events – together with Poland, and hopes to improve its image and boost tourism by attracting an estimated 1 million sports fans.

The championship is set to become the biggest sports event to be held during Yanukovich’s current term in office and is a matter of both prestige and business for the ex-Soviet nation.

But it now faces more potential boycotts by European politicians. EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding urged Michel Platini, president of European football’s governing body UEFA, to raise the issue of Tymoshenko with Ukraine.

But German Olympic Sport confederation chief Thomas Bach sided with Voloshin, urging officials to avoid sports event boycotts which he said were not productive in politics.

Relations between Ukraine and the EU soured further this month by Tymoshenko’s allegations that she had been beaten up by prison guards – an accusation denied by Ukrainian authorities.

Tymoshenko helped lead the 2004 Orange Revolution which doomed Yanukovich’s first bid for the presidency, and has since served twice as prime minister but lost the 2010 presidential vote to Yanukovich in a close run-off.

The European Union has warned Kiev its members will not ratify milestone deals on political association and free trade with it as long as Tymoshenko remains in prison.

Yanukovich, who Tymoshenko says has personally orchestrated her conviction, has refused to intervene and prosecutors have heaped more charges on Tymoshenko leading to a new tax evasion trial which opened this month.

On the security front, a series of blasts in the city of Dnipropetrovsk last week which injured 30 people, have also added to concerns about the tournament.

The government said they had been organized by forces seeking to destabilize the nation. Hryhory Surkis, head of Ukraine’s football union, has said the bombings targeted the championship itself.

Opposition leaders, on the other hand, have accused the government of trying to use the attack to divert public attention, both at home and abroad, from Tymoshenko’s fate.

A wave of violence has jolted soccer in Israel, resulting in police investigations, stiff punishments and the postponement of more than a dozen matches.

The violence, highlighted by a brawl caught live on national TV last weekend, has involved players, fans and coaches. It even drew the attention of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has ordered his sports minister to end the fighting.

“We must defeat violence on football pitches. We cannot see such kicking and fisticuffs,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet this week. “We want to see football. If there is violence, there will not be football. Therefore, this violence must be uprooted in order to return the game that Israelis, myself included, love very much.”

The escalation started at the March 5 derby between Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv, which ended with Hapoel fans pelting players with flag poles and garbage in the final minutes after two players were sent off. The players, Salim Toama and Avihai Yadin, added to the heated atmosphere by arguing with the referee as they left the field. Hapoel lost the match for the first time since 2008.

Two weeks later, supporters of Beitar Jerusalem, a team known for anti-Arab fans, were filmed participating in a rampage at a nearby mall following a team victory. More than a dozen fans were arrested and subsequently banned from stadiums.

Early this month, a brawl broke out between players and coaches of Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel Haifa at the end of their Premier League relegation match. One Haifa player was briefly hospitalized after being headbutted by an opposing coach, and Petah Tikva was docked three points for the fight.

So when a free-for-all broke out after a crucial second-division game last Friday, in which dozens of players and coaches from Hapoel Ramat Gan and Bnei Lod punched and kicked each other on live television, the Israel Football Association decided it had had enough.

The association’s chairman, Avi Luzon, called off the entire schedule of weekend games in the top two divisions as footage of the fighting was repeatedly broadcast and analyzed on Israeli news shows. All eight Premier League games and the five remaining second division games were postponed to next week.

At a hastily organized news conference on Sunday, Luzon announced plans to form a committee to recommend ways of improving soccer and the struggle against violence.

His organization subsequently suspended five Bnei Lod players and seven Ramat Gan players for two to seven matches. Both teams were docked three points in the standings. It also handed an eight-month ban to Bnei Lod coach Saliman Azerbarga, who was seen attacking opposition players during the brawl Friday.

Israeli police have recommended that 13 players involved in the brawl be charged with assault and public disorder. A decision on whether to indict is expected in the coming weeks.

After meeting with the national police chief, Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat said this week that changes will be made to punish anyone who riots or fights on soccer fields.

“The violence at stadiums has reached levels that require a different approach than has previously been employed,” Livnat said. “The field has become a battleground, involving not only fans but also players, coaches, officials … it is impossible to stay silent.”

One option considered is returning police to soccer stadiums. Two years ago, the league allowed private security guards to handle the games.

Maccabi Haifa Chairman Jacob Shahar on Monday turned down Luzon’s offer to chair the committee but said he would be willing to assist.

Although Shahar agreed the escalation of violence has been problematic, he insisted there have only been a few isolated incidents. He said the situation is not as bad as in other countries such as Greece and Turkey, where stadiums have been closed because of fan violence on a number of occasions in recent years. He added even Israel experienced far worse violence in the 1980s.

“The first thing to do is significantly increase the punishments,” Shahar said. “I have been talking about this for more than 20 years, and that was a time football was much more violent.”

A teenager who lost his home in Japan’s devastating tsunami now knows that one prized possession survived: a soccer ball that made it all the way to Alaska.

Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the ball is one of the first pieces of debris from last year’s tsunami to wash up on the other side of the Pacific.

A man found the ball while beachcombing on an Alaskan island, and his wife, who is Japanese, talked with its owner, 16-year-old Misaki Murakami, by phone over the weekend. They plan to send the ball back to him soon.

Murakami, from the town of Rikuzentakata, is surprised and thankful the ball has been found more than 3,000 miles away.

“It was a big surprise. I’ve never imagined that my ball has reached Alaska,” Murakami told public broadcaster NHK. “I’ve lost everything in the tsunami. So I’m delighted,” he said. “I really want to say thank you for finding the ball.”

He was particularly glad because all furniture and sentimental items in his home had been washed away in the March 11, 2011, tsunami, which devastated a long stretch of Japan’s northeastern coast and killed about 19,000 people.

The ball, which also had messages of encouragement written on it, was given to him in 2005, when Murakami was in third grade, as a good-bye gift when he transferred to another school.

Debris from the tsunami initially formed a thick mass in the ocean off Japan’s northeastern coast and has since spread out across the Pacific. In February, NOAA said currents would carry much of the debris to the coasts of Alaska, Canada, Washington and Oregon between March 2013 and 2014, though they noted that some of it could arrive this year.

Earlier this month, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter fired on and sank a fishing boat in the Gulf of Alaska that had drifted from Japan after the tsunami. Authorities had deemed the ship it a hazard to shipping and to the coastline.

David Baxter, a radar technician from Kasilof, Alaska, found Murakami’s ball while beachcombing in March on Middleton Island, 70 miles south of the Alaskan mainland.

“When I first saw the soccer ball I was excited to see it and I thought it was possible it came from the tsunami zone,” Baxter told The Associated Press by email. He also found a volleyball that appears to be from Japan, but its owner has not been found.

Baxter’s wife, Yumi, reached Murakami with help from a Japanese reporter. Murakami expressed his gratitude to the couple for “for wanting to take the time to even try to find him,” David Baxter said.

The couple plans to visit Japan in May but do not plan to deliver the ball directly to Murakami. They are somewhat reluctant to visit him because they don’t want to create too much of a commotion, Baxter said.

Singapore businessman Bill Ng pulled out of the bidding for Scotland’s Rangers on Friday in the latest blow to administrators seeking to rescue the debt-laden Glasgow club.

In a statement carried on the Straits Times website, Ng said his five-man consortium had become “increasingly frustrated with the process of dealing with the club administrators”.

However, the report added that he could relaunch his bid if administrators Duff and Phelps failed to reach a deal with other potential bidders.

Sources close to the talks in Britain confirmed that Ng had pulled out. He is chairman of Hougang United, a professional team in Singapore’s small S-League.

Rangers, Scottish champions a record 54 times, went into administration in February over unpaid tax bills. They suffered a 10-point penalty and have recently lost their league title to Glasgow rivals Celtic.

Ng’s group emerged as a front-runner this week when the administrators said the Blue Knights consortium led by former Rangers director Paul Murray were withdrawing from the bidding.

However, reports have said the Blue Knights would be ready to revive their interest.

Brian Kennedy, a Scottish businessman who owns English rugby club Sale Sharks, has made a verbal offer and a U.S. consortium is also still in contention.

There are a number of issues complicating efforts to rescue Rangers. The club owes around 9 million pounds ($14.5 million) in unpaid taxes and faces a much larger potential liability in another tax dispute dating back over a decade.

Craig Whyte, who bought an 85 percent stake in the club a year ago for a nominal 1 pound, also raised more than 20 million pounds against future season ticket sales in a deal with a company called Ticketus.

The Scottish Premier League is also meeting at the end of the month to decide if clubs which go insolvent and are then reformed should be docked points in future seasons.

Players at an Italian soccer team have pledged to look after the severely-disabled sister of their former team-mate Piermario Morosini, who died on Saturday after collapsing on the pitch during a game.

Antonio Di Natale, player for Serie A side Udinese, said Monday he and colleagues would provide financial and emotional support to the Maria Carla, for whom Morosini was the main carer.
Morosini, who was on loan to Serie B side Livorno, collapsed during a game against Pescara on Saturday and died on his way to the hospital at the age of 25.

He was orphaned in his teens. His mother died when he was 15 and his father died two years later. His brother, also disabled, committed suicide shortly after that.

Di Natale promised the other players, and the club’s affiliated charity Udinese For Life, will now look after her.

“We know the situation of his sister and we as a team, the club, and Udinese for Life have decided to help her because she is in real need,” Di Natale told the club’s website.

“It is essential to stay by the side of Piermario’s sister for her entire life. She needs us and we want to help,” he said.

“When I saw the scene on the television it was immediately clear that it was something serious. It was a very bad moment. He was an exceptional lad, so full of life. Despite all the problems he had, he was always at the disposal of the team and every day he gave us all strength.”

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The site also gave details of a fund created to pay for her care, noting that this was only the latest tragedy to hit the family.

The BBC reported that Serie A, Italy’s top football league, cancelled all its matches on the weekend after his death.

Meanwhile England soccer player Fabrice Muamba was discharged Monday from the hospital where he had been treated since collapsing from a cardiac arrest during a game less than a month ago.

The former England under-21 international had been in the London Chest Hospital since collapsing on March 17. His heart stopped beating on its own for 78 minutes while doctors worked to resuscitate him and his prospects of survival were uncertain.

It is still unclear whether Muamba will be able to play professionally again.

Soccer fans in the United States don’t have to wait long to begin their weekends. Two different games give you plenty reason to leave the office a bit early on Friday afternoon. The highlight of the weekend may be two FA Cup semi-final contests, but a plethora of early morning and late afternoon live games allow you to watch soccer regardless of your sleep patterns. As always, you’ll want to be sure to check the ESPN3 schedule throughout the weekend. After all, what’s better than watching a game on TV? Watching a game on TV AND watching a different game on your computer all at the same time.

All times listed below are ET

Live soccer games on US TV for April 13

FOX Soccer Plus: FOX Soccer doesn’t have a live game this Friday, but FSP begins the channel’s weekend with an afternoon npower Championship contest. Coverage of the Southampton vs. Reading contest begins at 2:40 pm.

GolTV: GolTV has two live games on Friday. Stuttgart vs. Werder Bremen starts at 2:30 pm. Tune back into GolTV on Friday evening, when Correcaminos UAT play against Irapuato at 9:30 pm.

Live soccer games on US TV for April 14

FOX Soccer: The FOX Soccer weekend begins much earlier than normal. Central Coast take on Perth Glory in an A-League Grand Final qualifier, and coverage of that game starts at 3:00 am. The first of two FA Cup semi-final contests starts at 7:30 am, when Liverpool take on Everton. Swansea City vs. Blackburn starts at 10:00 am. AC Milan vs. Genoa immediately follows at noon. After a brief break, Udinese take on Inter Milan at 2:30 pm.

FOX Soccer Plus: FSP has two live soccer games on Saturday. The first contest, West Brom vs. Queens Park Rangers, begins at 9:53 am. Tune back to FSP at 3:00 pm for the French League Cup Final, when Olympique Lyonnais take on Olympique de Marseille.

GolTV: GolTV will air three lives games on Saturday. Schalke 04 take on Borussia Dortmund in a Bundesliga game on 9:30 am. Later on in the day, Real Madrid host Sporting at 2:00 pm. The station’s final live match, River Plate vs. Huracan, begins at 5:00 pm.

ESPN2/ESPN: ESPN2 has the Premier League match of the week on Saturday afternoon. Manchester City look to keep their title hopes alive with an away win against Norwich City, and coverage of that match starts at 7:30 am. Tune into ESPN at 3:55 pm, when Levante host Barcelona.

NBC Sports Network: The Philadelphia Union host the Columbus Crew in the NBCSN Major League Soccer match of the week at 3:30 pm.

Live soccer games on US TV for April 15

FOX Soccer: FOX Soccer has back-to-back-to-back games on Sunday. Cesena host Juventus at 9:00 am. Manchester United host Aston Villa at 11:00 am. The channel’s final live game of the weekend, an FA Cup semi-final involving Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, begins at 1:00 pm.

FOX Soccer Plus: FOX Soccer Plus has two live games on Sunday. Novara take on Lazio at 6:25 am. Tune back into FSP at 2:55 pm, when AJ Auxerre host Paris Saint-Germain.

GolTV: GolTV’s day begins at noon, when Ath. Bilbao play against Mallorca. Ponte Preta vs. Corinthians starts at 3:00 pm. Tigre take on Boca Juniors at 7:00 pm.

Galavision: Galavision has one MLS match on Sunday evening. Chicago Fire host Houston Dynamo, and that match starts at 7:00 pm.

As always, check your local listings for channel availability and for a list of live soccer games showing on TV throughout the weekend.