Bolton ease relegation fears with victory at Reading

Bolton beat Reading 2-0 here on Saturday thanks to goals from Kevin Nolan and Heidar Helguson to ease their relegation worries. It was their first away win in the league and intensified the home side's own worries about the drop as Reading have now lost their last six in the Premier League.

Egypt loss spurred Cameroon on says Bikey

Cameroon's painful opening game loss to Egypt spurred the team into the African Nations cup quarter-finals, defender Andre Bikey believes.

The four-time champions looked to be heading for a shock early exit after that 4-2 defeat to the defending titleholders, but Otto Pfister's side raised their game to beat Zambia 5-1 and Sudan 3-0 and clinch a last-eight place. "We did not start the competition off in the way we would have liked to," Reading defender Bikey told mtnfootball.com on Saturday. "After the first match we all sat down before the next training session and we said that it is not possible for a team like ours to leave the tournament early,"

The end of the regular season

The regular season is over and the best 16 teams will find out their opponents soon in Top 16 campaign. Madrid will host the Draw of Top 16 on Monday, February 4, at the Real Casa de Correos in the famous Puerta del Sol. CSKA ended their Euroealgue regular season campaign with yet another confident victory. The Russian favorites overwhelmed Italian La Fortezza to complete a 12-2 record on top of Group A.

Partizan Igokea revenged defeat against Fenerbahce Ulker in Belgrade. They beat Fener in Turkey 91-86 and proved that spot in Euroleague TOP 16 is not a coincidence. After nice played first quarter by the hosts Partizan made run 16-0 and at the half way of the second period they had plus 5. Partizan totally out rebounded their rivals in the first half as they had 23 rebounds matched with only 10 by Fener.

La Fortezza - CSKA 68:92 CSKA ended their Euroealgue regular season campaign with yet another confident victory. The Russian favorites overwhelmed Italian La Fortezza to complete a 12-2 record on top of Group A. La Fortezza on the contrary suffered 12th defeat and completed the action at the bottom of the group. The crowd in Bologna warmly welcomes the local native Ettore Messina . He however was not about to give away presents for La Fortezza.

Gilberto completes Spurs switch

Brazilian international defender Gilberto joined Tottenham on Thursday from Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin, the English Premier League side announced.The left-back spent three and a half years in Germany where he made 101 appearances for Hertha after joining from Sao Caetano in Brazil. The 31-year-old has won 27 caps and was a member of the Brazil squads that won the 2004 and 2007 Copa America, as well as the Confederations Cup in 2005.He also featured in the 2006 World Cup and scored his first international goal against Japan. "We are delighted to announce we have reached agreement with Hertha Berlin for the transfer of Brazilian international Gilberto," said a statement on the Spus website.Earlier in the day, it was reported in Germany that Gilberto had failed a medical and was staying in Berlin.According to reports in the German press, Spurs had been willing to pay 2.6 million euros (3.8 million US dollars) for Gilberto.

Chelsea´s Drogba still wants to join Real Madrid

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba would still like to leave the English Premiership side to join Spanish giants Real Madrid next season, sports daily Marca reported Friday.The 29-year-old Ivory Coast star's agents contacted Real officials last week once again to express the player's interest and this time the defending Spanish champions were more receptive, the paper said without citing sources.In previous contacts between the player and the club, as reported by the Spanish and British press, Real Madrid reacted coolly because of Drogba's age and Chelsea's asking price of over 40 million euros (60 million US dollars).But according to Marca, the striker's insistence on joining Real had swayed the club's officials who are nonetheless willing to pay Chelsea only 20 million euros for the player.Drogba, who is under contract with Chelsea until 2010, has expressed his desire to leave the club on several occasions since Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho left Stamford Bridge in September.He will play for Ivory Coast on Sunday in an African Nations Cup quarter-final match against Guinea.