Manchester U to play MLS All-Stars in July

Manchester United will play in Major League Soccer's All-Star game for the second straight year. The game, part of the Red Devils' preseason tour, will be played July 27 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. Last July 28, Manchester United beat the MLS All-Stars 5-2 at Houston's Reliant Stadium. # Jeff Agoos, the MLS Defender of the Year with the Earthquakes in 2001 and a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, has been hired by the league as technical director of competition.

# Six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Chad Ochocinco seemed willing but unpolished during a practice game Monday, the fifth day of his tryout with the MLS' Sporting Kansas City. He will meet with coach Peter Vermes on Tuesday and neither man sounded optimistic that his hope of playing professionally would go much further than Monday's reserve game against the Kansas City Brass, an area development team.

NFL: Four former NFL players, including Hall of Fame defensive end Carl Eller and former All-Pro running back Priest Holmes, sued the NFL in hope of joining current players in their antitrust fight against the league and halting the lockout. The 44-page complaint filed in federal court in Minneapolis seeks class-action status on behalf of all retired or former NFL players who receive health, retirement or other benefits from the league or its subsidized plans, arguing those benefits will be jeopardized by the # loss of NFL revenue in an extended lockout.

# Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams guarantees the NFL will play the 2011 season. "It's going to be a few months here, but we'll be playing this year," Adams said Monday night in Nashville, Tenn. "I guarantee we'll be playing."

Miscellany: The SaberCats signed three-time All-Arena Football League defensive back Eddie Moten. The team also announced it has placed WR/DB Rodney Wright on reassignment at his request due to family concerns.

# Stanford announced the appointment of Ron Crook as tight ends and offensive tackles coach. Crook, a 22-year college coaching veteran, spent the past eight seasons as offensive line coach at Harvard.

# China Team became the seventh syndicate to publicly announce it will challenge for the America's Cup in 2013 in San Francisco. Thursday is the deadline for entering the 34th America's Cup. The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series will meet defending champion Oracle Racing of San Francisco.

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Moratti: Forget Sneijder, Man United

The Dutch international is no stranger to speculation linking him away from the reigning European champions with Old Trafford being one of the possible destinations. United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is known to be a huge admirer of the 26-year-old and sees him as the perfect replacement for the retiring Paul Scholes. And Inter president Massimo Moratti has revealed contact from the Red Devils regarding Sneijder but insisted the midfielder is going nowhere.

"The interest from Manchester United in Sneijder is real," said Moratti, according to The Daily Mirror. "But I didn't look into it. My only interest is seeing Sneijder play here for many more years to come."A deal for Sneijder remains possible though, but United must be prepared to meet the player's valuation of £40 million on top of his £140,000-a-week wages demands as his contract only expires in 2015.

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Manchester United winger Nani claims there is lack of freedom under Sir Alex Ferguson

Manchester United winger Nani has said he has not been able to fully express himself on the pitch under manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The Portuguese international has been told by his club boss to stop using as many tricks during games, something which the 24-year-old understands must be part of his responsibility to the team.

Speaking to Spanish sports magazine Don Balon, Nani said: "I try to enjoy playing now, but it is not always possible because I have a responsibility to the team. "But something of the street remains in me. It is not easy to show at United because Sir Alex does not allow very much freedom and I cannot do the tricks and things I did with my friends. "But when the game is under control I take a risk and it makes me very happy if things work out."

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Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand will not retire from England duty after losing captaincy to John Terry

Rio Ferdinand will not retire from international duty despite losing the England captaincy to John Terry, according to reports. The Manchester United defender was named as the successor to Terry after the Chelsea centre-back was stripped of the armband following allegations surrounding his private life.

Ferdinand has struggled with injury this season though, and Terry was reinstated as captain by manager Fabio Capello last week. BBC Sport claims Ferdinand will not rule himself out of selection for the national side once he has recovered from a long-term calf problem, however.

England face Wales in Cardiff on Saturday in a crucial Euro 2012 qualifier, before facing Ghana in a friendly on Wembley, with Terry set to captain the side on both occasions. Ferdinand, meanwhile, could be out for the rest of the season, according to his club.

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Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti wants to kick Manchester United out of the Champions League

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is relishing the opportunity to kick Manchester United out of the Champions League in the same way he did when he was at the helm at AC Milan four years ago. The Blues have been drawn to face Sir Alex Ferguson’s side in what should be a pulsating last-eight stage of the European competition, and the Italian is prepared to recreate the feat achieved with his former club.

Ancelotti told: "Winning the second leg 3-0 in the San Siro to win 5-2 on aggregate [in 2007] was one of my greatest achievements as a coach. "It was a fantastic evening for Milan and a bad one for Manchester. "They were surprised by the way we started that game but it was a tie that was always in the balance."AC Milan were crowned European champions that year after beating Liverpool in Athens.

Ancelotti is now faced with the challenge of becoming the first Chelsea manager to bring the European Cup to Stamford Bridge, with the club’s owner Roman Abramovich thought to be keen on securing continental recognition.

"Winning the Champions League is not an obsession for Chelsea, it is a dream," said the 51-year-old manager. "At Milan the Champions League was the most important thing every year. We didn't focus on winning Serie A.

"Losing to Inter last year was a bad moment for everyone at Chelsea. Now we have to see if we deserve to be in the semis again."The Italian boss also admitted that he is looking forward to lock horns once again in a tactical battle with his United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson in the beginning of April. He added: "I am always happy to play against United because you know it will be a fantastic game with fair play.

"Sir Alex is one of the greatest managers ever. What I like most about him is that even though he has won a lot of trophies he has always maintained his humility."

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United blighted by defensive crisis

A string of injuries has left the Manchester United manager down to his bare bones ahead of Saturday’s visit of Bolton. If the thought of his five-match touchline ban wasn’t enough, Ferguson has been left counting the cost of their midweek Champions League win over Marseille.

With Rio Ferdinand already joining Nemanja Vidic on the sidelines, John O'Shea and Rafael have been added to the growing injury list. And having to cope with a mountain of defensive problems, the veteran Scot admits the latest setbacks is the last thing his depleted squad needed.

"It has been a bad spell for us," Ferguson said. "Only a few weeks ago we had every defender fit and things were looking great. "It has all just fallen apart in the last week or so. Hopefully Jonny Evans may be fit.

"He has trained all week but it's a bit of a rick as he's been out for such a long time. "The bonus of someone like Wes Brown, for instance, who can play right back or centre back, is a big plus and bringing in Chris Smalling, in the way he has performed hopefully we will get round it.

"The hope we've got, that the international break might give us a chance to get one or two patched up and in a better shape by the time we get to the West Ham game."Midfielder Michael Carrick is just hoping he is not pressed into service as an emergency defender once again.

With 11 players in all doubtful, it's a similar position to the one United found themselves in last season, when both Carrick and Darren Fletcher found themselves in defence for a match in a crushing loss at Fulham.

United face Bolton having lost their last two league games, defeats which have seen their lead over Arsenal reduced to three points. Carrick is hoping to avoid more defensive duties in the search for a solution to United's injury woes.

"It did get a mention in the changing room," he said. "I said to Mike Phelan (assistant manager) 'I don't fancy that again'. "It is never nice to get the injuries of course. It is disappointing when you pick up a number in a similar position.

"But I don't think we are that desperate yet and hopefully I won't."Ferguson has warned that United can ill-afford to take anything for granted with an upwardly-mobile Bolton side who booked their place in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend.

"Bolton always give you a hard game and it’s a local derby so nothing will change," he said. "They've done extremely well this season. "It's a big one for us. They have improved and are challenging for a European place and are in the FA Cup semi-finals. They will come with a degree of confidence."

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