Togo Team Attacked, City Sign Viera, Five EPL Matches Postponed, and More News

Lots of news has occured lately, and with a weekend of action coming up, five Premiership matches were postponed, here is a list of the matches postponed:

Hull City - Chelsea
Burnley - Stoke City
Sunderland - Bolton
Fulham - Portsmouth
Liverpool - Tottenham

Togo National Team Attacked on way to ANC Cup


The Togo National team bus was attacked by gunmen on their way to the African Nations Cup, the driver was killed, and two players were hit by bullets, goalkeeper Obilale Kossi, and Serge Akakpo. The two players seem to be in stable conditions, and the Togo and Manchester City striker Adebayor is not hurt. The bus was under fire for more that 20 minutes, and now it seems that Togo may decide to boycott the African Nations Cup due to security concerns. Hopefully events like this will not happen again.

City Sign Vieira and Napoli Sign Dossena


Manchester City have made their first signing of the winter transfer window, Patrick Vieira, formerly of Inter Milan, has joined Roberto Mancini in his conquest to claim Champions League soccer for Manchester City. Vieira seems happy to have joined City and returned to English football, and although some say he is old and unable to keep up with todays game, Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger and Tottenham coach Harry Redknapp, both say that it is a great signing.

Liverpool have also offloaded their Italian fullback Andrea Dossena to Napoli for 4.25 million euros, with the extra money, Liverpool may be able to put the finishing touches on the Rodriguez deal that could bring Maxi Rodriguez to Liverpool from Atletico Madrid soon.

Owen Coyle Leaves Burnley for Bolton Job


Owen Coyle has taken over at Bolton after Gary Megson was sacked, the Burnley manager was doing great things with Burnley, and it seemed that they would escape relegation. But once Megson was sacked, Coyle was determined to go to Bolton because of the resources the club might have over his former club.

Latest Quote of the Week Out!


Also remember to check out SWU's latest QOTW, this week it is controversial Newcastle player Joey Barton who said, "Most footballers are knobs" a bit ironic that it's Joey Barton saying this, but we accept the news happily, thank you Joey.

What do you think of the latest soccer news? Comment below!

Transfer Wrap Up: Toni Goes on Loan to Roma and Both Sides of Milan Looking at Liverpools Unhappy Gems

With most of the worlds football in a bit of a quiet moment, the transfer news and rumors are really starting to pick up, players are restless and want to be sure they can get in their national sides for the upcoming world cup.


Toni leaves Bayern on loan to Roma


It is official now, on Bayern Munich's official website it says,

"Luca Toni requested to be loaned to AS Roma until the end of the season for personal reasons"

and now Toni's wish was granted, the Italian striker has moved to Roma until the end of this season, hoping to get regular playing time so that he can enter the World Cup squad for 2010. Toni's personal reasons can probably explained by his minimal playing time with the first team, Bayern coach Louis Van Gaal and Toni often had disputes, and Toni was hoping Van Gaal would be sacked, but instead Toni left for Rome.


Beckham already training with AC Milan


Beckham has been reunited with AC Milan, and now the rossoneri's season might start looking up with the addition of the English midfielder. Beckham has high hopes of entering the England squad for 2010, and Capello has recently hinted to Beckham already being a certainty for South Africa 2010.


Inter Milan looking at Gerrard and AC Milan see Torres as an option

With Liverpool's bad spell of results, many of the top players are unsettled and restless, especially the spanish striker Fernando Torres who said that if Liverpool do not grab a Champions League spot then he will leave in the summer. While Torres shows his unhappiness, it seems that Gerrard is keeping his inside, with the bad results Liverpool has had, he might be looking to go abroad for what could be his last move in his career. Inter Milan are looking at Gerrard closely and have supposedly already sent officials to England to oversee the possible transfer.


Manchester City looking for big names to sign over the summer


With Roberto Mancini at the helm of Manchester's blue side, many more players are considering Manchester City a possible option for their career. Mancini has already targeted many Serie A players like Juventus' Buffon and Chiellini, Inter Milan's Cordoba, Napoli's Hamsik, and Palermo's Kjaer. But much bigger names could be on the way like Ribery, Lahm, Sergio Ramos, Gerrard, Mascherano, and Torres. If Manchester City can get Champions League football for next year, many of these players could consider City as a possible option.


Vidic could leave United for Real Madrid, to be replaced by Porto's Bruno Alves


Manchester United have put a 30 million price tag on Nemanja Vidic, and it is possible that the Serbian could leave for Madrid, as Real are having a lot of defensive troubles. If this move were to take place, United are looking at Bruno Alves as the possible replacement, the Porto defender has Champions League experience and could be looking for a big move. Another name for the future would be Palermo's Kjaer, the young Danish defender is tracked by many big clubs.

Goal of the Year Contender: A Spectacular Volley by Cozzolino

With 2009 ending soon, many awards will probably be decided, things like manager of the year, player of the year, team of the year, and goal of the year. While parusing through the internet I fell upon what for me is the goal of the year, what can only be described as an unsavable volley by Cozzolino for me is a serious contender for goal of the year. Lecco vs Como in Italy's Serie C2 provided this fantastic goal shown in the video below, a goal like this will probably never occur again, and this is why we should appreciate it.


What do you think of this goal? Is it worth goal of the year? Comment below!

Happy Holidays from SWU!

Soccer Wrap Up thanks all of its viewers for your support, the blog has grown a lot recently thanks to sites like www.serieatalk.com, www.premiershiptalk.com, www.soccerpro.com, and many more! Hopefully 2010 will be a year of even more views, comments, and more, so thanks for supporting and have happy holidays!

- SWU Staff