SOCCER FOOTBALL 24H

The Mexican has been implicated in a match-fixing scandal that took place when he was the manager of La Liga club Zaragoza, and he will have to appear in court to testify later this year. The Samurai Blue are currently doing well in their title defence at the Asian Cup, and authorities have decided to wait until after the competition to address the matter. JFA president Kuniya Daini said: "Last night it was reported that the case involving Aguirre had been accepted by the court. We are trying to confirm whether that is official or not, and as yet we haven't been able to do so. We can presume from the details that it is true. "We have discussed what we as a federation should do, and we have decided that the priority should be on allowing the team to concentrate solely on defending its Asian Cup title. The matter is closed for now, and I hope you understand. "Once the Asian Cup has finished, then we will explain how we will respond. We are still gathering in...

DANIEL STURRIDGE has clocked back on for training with Liverpool. Sturridge is back from the US where he has undergone a special rehabilitation programme following a nightmare first half of the season. A succession of thigh and muscle injuries has so far limited the 25-year-old to just three appearances for the Reds this season and he has not played since being injured on England duty in September. But he was back at Liverpool's Melwood training base yesterday. Sturridge joined up with captain Steven Gerrard, who was receiving treatment for a hamstring strain picked up in Saturday's 1-0 win at Sunderland. Gerrard could be fit to face Aston Villa on Saturday, when Raheem Sterling should also be available after his sunshine break to Jamaica. That game will come too soon for Sturridge as he is nursed back to full match fitness. But boss Brendan Rodgers hopes to have his star striker back before the end of the month. With the Reds up to eighth in the Premier Leag...

Japan's Keisuke Honda tore into the standard of officiating at the Asian Cup after the defending champions overpowered Palestine 4-0 in their opening match in Newcastle on Monday. Qatari referee Abdulrahman Hussain dished out five cards to Palestine players for some over-exuberant challenges and also sent off Ahmed Mahajna but clearly did not go far enough, according to Honda. "It was like playing basketball," Honda said. "I don't want to complain but something has to be done about the level of refereeing here. "There's no point saying anything during the game because it's a waste of energy but every time we touched them it was a foul, just like basketball." Honda, who scored Japan's third goal from the penalty spot but was off target with two free kicks from dangerous positions, claimed the Blue Samurai should have been given more protection from the referee after some agricultural tackling from the Palestinia...

With a squad ravaged by illness and injury, that saw seven players who started the tournament opener against Oman left out of the match day squad altogether, Korea Republic were unconvincing for large patches of Tuesday's game against Kuwait, but nevertheless scored the contest's only goal through Nam Tae-hee on 36 minutes. Kuwait did come within inches of a leveler early in the second half after a powerful shot from midfielder Ali Al Maqseed that rattled the frame of the goal, but they were unable to find a breakthrough despite an open and end-to-end final half hour. The 1-0 victory means Korea now progress to the second round of the tournament as a result of their superior head-to-head record over Kuwait and Oman, regardless of the outcome of their final match with Australia on Saturday. However, Stielike was extremely pessimistic about his side's chances going forward. "With a performance like today you cannot go far in this tournament,...

Saturday, 10 January 2015 F T Sunderland 0 - 1 Liverpool F T Burnley 2 - 1 Queens Park Rangers F T Chelsea 2 - 0 Newcastle United F T Everton 1 - 1 Manchester City F T Leicester City 1 - 0 Aston Villa F T Swansea City 1 - 1 West Ham United F T West Bromwich Albion 1 - 0 Hull City Sunday, 11 January 2015 F T Crystal Palace 2 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur F T Arsenal 3 - 0 Stoke City F T Manchester United 0 - 1 Southampton # Team Name P W D L F A GD PTS 1 Chelsea 21 15 4 2 46 19 +27 49 2 Manchester City 21 14 5 2 45 20 +25 47 3 Southampton 21 12 3 6 35 15 +20 39 4 Manchester United 21 10 7 4 34 21 +13 37 5 Arsenal 21 10 6 5 37 25 +12 36 6 Tottenham Hotspur 21 10 4 7 30 29 +1 34 7 West Ham United 21 9 6 6 32 25 +7 33 8 Liverpool 21 9 5 7 29 27 +2 32 9 Swansea City 21 8 6 7 26 25 +1 30 10 Newcastle United 21 7 6 8 25 33 –8 27 11 Stoke City 21 7 5 9 2...