Chelsea aim to deny rivals City any festive cheer........

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The omens are good for a Chelsea side heading into Christmas top of the Premier League tree but manager Jose Mourinho does not want to give title rivals Manchester City any reason to cheer over the festive season.
Having beaten Stoke City 2-0 at the Britannia Stadium on Monday, the London club ensured they went into a busy fixture schedule leading the table with 42 points from 17 matches.

The last three times Chelsea have been top on Christmas Day they have gone on to win the title, but with in-form City hot on their heels three points behind, Mourinho is taking nothing for granted with testing matches to come.

Sam Allardyce's fourth-placed West Ham United travel to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge ground on Friday before Mourinho's men head to Southampton on Sunday and then make the short trip across London to face Tottenham Hotspur on New Year's Day.

"Now we have to focus on the three matches we still have until the end of this period," Mourinho told reporters after the victory at Stoke.

"Playing against Big Sam is a hard job for us, we have to cope with it. The three-point lead we have is a little advantage, it is a little pillow we have to protect us.

"We have been top of the league since day one and we are there because we are playing really well. Our Christmas fixtures are more difficult than any other one (club)."

Second-placed City travel to West Bromwich Albion in search of a seventh straight league win but they are still without injured strikers Stevan Jovetic, Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero.

Captain Vincent Kompany is also missing for Manuel Pellegrini's side but midfielder David Silva, having scored twice in City's 3-0 home win over Crystal Palace last weekend, is ready to strike against struggling West Brom.

"I like to play in the middle, even though I can play on both wings," Silva said. "When I play in the middle I get chances to score. That is why I scored the two goals. But I will be happy to help the team when the strikers are back."

Elsewhere on Friday, third-placed Manchester United, whose progress up the league was slowed with a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last weekend, host Newcastle United while Arsenal welcome London rivals Queens Park Rangers to the Emirates.

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Germany ranks first in Fifa's year-end standings........

The German football team topped Fifa's year-end national team rankings released Thursday, a reward for its stupendous performance in Brazil culminating in the World Cup triumph.

Argentina were second and Colombia came third. Belgium were fourth ahead of the Netherlands while Cup hosts Brazil were sixth.

Euro 2016 hosts France ranked seventh, just ahead of Portugal. 2010 Cup champions Spain were placed in the ninth position while Uruguay climbed to the 10th spot.

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Fifa to publish Garcia report in ''appropriate form''

Fifa's executive committee has unanimously agreed to publish an "appropriate" version of a report into the bidding process for the 2018/2022 World Cups but said Russia and Qatar would still stage the tournaments.

"The decision which has been taken on Dec 2, 2010, stands and there is no re-vote to take," Fifa president Blatter told a news conference in a luxury Marrakech hotel.

"We will go on by sticking to our decisions, both tournaments are in our calendar, and we also need to determine when 2022 will take place," he added, referring to the controversy over the timing of the tournament in the Gulf state.

"There must be huge upheaval, new elements come to the fore the change this, but the executive committee sees no need to change anything."

Blatter added that the crisis Fifa has faced since the publication last month of a summary of former investigator Michael Garcia's 18-month investigation was over.

"We have been in a crisis (but) with the decision of the executive committee today, the crisis has stopped."

Football's governing body had previously said it could not publish Garcia's 430-page report for legal reasons.

However, Fifa's ethics committee will now publish the report "in an appropriate form once ongoing procedures against individuals are concluded", Blatter said in a statement issued shortly before a news conference.

Garcia has opened official investigations against a number of individuals, which Blatter confirmed on Friday, including three members of the current Fifa executive committee.

Fifa could not say how long the process would take but Blatter said the ethics committee should speed up.

"The executive committee is asking to the ethics committee to accelerate the movement, to take on more lawyers because we have needed two years to have a first report and we have to accelerate movement," he said.

He also said the disciplinary committee would investigate how the names of the three members were leaked to the media.

Shed light

Football's governing body had been under pressure to publish a redacted version of Garcia's report to help shed light on what happened during the turbulent process for the tournaments awarded to Russia and Qatar respectively.

"I am pleased they have agreed. It has been a long process to arrive at this point and I understand the views of those who have been critical," Blatter said.

"We have always been determined that the truth should be known. That is, after all, why we set up an independent Ethics Committee with an investigatory chamber that has all necessary means to undertake investigations on its own initiative.

"At the same time we also need to remember that while the report is complete, the investigations flowing from it are not. We must ensure that we do not jeopardise those investigations and the proceedings against various individuals already initiated by the independent Ethics Committee."

The decision followed a presentation by Domenico Scala, head of Fifa's audit and compliance committee and one of only six people to have seen the report.

Garcia, who said himself that the report should be published, investigated allegations of corruption in the bidding process, during which he interviewed 75 witnesses.

In November, Fifa's ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert issued a 42-page summary of Garcia's report which identified cases of "inappropriate conduct" in a number of the bids but said there was not enough evidence to justify re-opening the process.

Garcia immediately appealed against Eckert's statement, saying it contained misrepresentations.

His appeal was ruled inadmissible this week, prompting his resignation.

Scala said the decision not to revisit the 2018 and 2022 vote was supported by two independent, legal experts he had consulted.

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San Lorenzo dream of unlikely win over Real Madrid.

San Lorenzo, undeterred by the big gulf that separates them from Real Madrid, have vowed to play with "a knife between our teeth" when they face the European champions in Saturday's Club World Cup final.
 

The champions of South America, who count Pope Francis and Hollywood actor Viggo Mortensen among their supporters, spent three million euros (£2.35 million) in the last transfer window while Real splashed out 80 million euros this year on James Rodriguez alone.

"We'll have to fight for each ball as if it were the last," said San Lorenzo midfielder Leandro Romagnoli. "If we respect them too much it will be impossible.

"If we give them any freedom they will hurt us a lot ... we have to play with a knife between our teeth," he added, repeating a phrase often used by Atletico Madrid coach and former Argentina captain Diego Simeone.

San Lorenzo are attempting to become the first Argentine side to win the tournament since it started in its current format in 2005.

Boca Juniors and Estudiantes have previously reached the final, losing to AC Milan and Barcelona respectively.

That record is a stark contrast to the old Intercontinental Cup, played by the European and South American champions, which Argentine sides won a record nine times, sometimes in less than salubrious circumstances.

David v Goliath

The difference in wealth between South American and European football means the teams from the two continents no longer meet on equal terms and matches have become a David-versus-Goliath affair.

While Real's bench is brimming with internationals, the only member of the San Lorenzo squad who played at the 2014 World Cup is Colombian defender Mario Yepes, 38.

San Lorenzo, backed by an army of 5,000 travelling fans, hardly boosted their credentials in Wednesday's semi-final as they scraped a 2-1 extra-time win over Auckland City's team of part-timers.

"I believe 100 percent in our chances," said coach Edgardo Bauza who led Ecuador's LDU in the 2008 final against Manchester United. "You have to dream of winning."

Real, aiming for a 22nd consecutive victory in all competitions, have never previously taken part in the tournament and had a mixed record in the Intercontinental Cup with three wins and two defeats in five outings.

They lost 2-1 to Argentine opponents Boca Juniors in 2000.

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Pakistan blast 364 in big win over New Zealand.

Pakistan smashed their third highest one-day total of 364 in a crushing 147-run win over New Zealand to move 2-1 up in the five-match series on Sunday.

Ahmed Shehzad notched an intelligent 113 for his sixth one-day ton and stand-in captain Shahid Afridi bludgeoned a trademark 55 off 26 balls to propel Pakistan to the best ODI score seen in Sharjah in 218 matches, and with three wickets to spare.

Afridi was back in charge with Misbah-ul-Haq out injured and although his innings was full of his usual array of crunching shots, Pakistan also showed a rare ability to nurdle singles at almost every opportunity and cut out the silly strokes.

Only Nathan McCullum went for less than six an over for New Zealand, although Matt Henry took three wickets, and their reply of 217 all out with the bat was equally ineffective as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

They were never in the running to match Pakistan's mammoth total although in-form captain Kane Williamson, who starred in the Black Caps' win in Friday's second ODI, again put up a fight with a brisk 46 before being caught and bowled by Haris Sohail.

The fourth and fifth matches takes place in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and Friday as the sides continue their build up for February and March's World Cup in Australia.

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