Arsene Wenger admits the FA Cup could jeopardize his hopes of winning the Champions League but the Arsenal manager is determined not to disrespect the competition's heritage.
Wenger who takes his team to Championship side Burnley today, has seen past European campaigns run aground as his squad struggled to cope with the weight of the new year fixture list.
But although Wenger plans to rest several of his first team regulars at Turf Moor, he has reiterated his "love" for the cup he has won four times in his Arsenal career.
"The FA Cup is certainly in conflict with the Champions League -- with the number of replays you have if you don't go through first time and the fact they are always positioned in front of Champions League games, it is difficult," Wenger said.
"But I love the FA Cup and we all have a common desire to do well in every competition we play in. We will not sacrifice the competition -- we are highly motivated and if we lose it is because we were beaten by the better team on the day," he said.
BECKS TRAINS WITH ARSENAL
AFP,LONDON
David Beckham trained with Arsenal for the first time on Friday as the England star tries to maintain his fitness for international duty.
Beckham, 32, asked Gunners manager Arsene Wenger for permission to train with the club during LA Galaxy's off-season break and has made his first appearance at their London Colney base.
"We are helping him to work on his fitness and trying to keep it as quiet as possible," Wenger said. "We don't want to make something complicated out of something that is very simple. He doesn't live far away and always loved Arsenal. That's why we help him."
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB