Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has failed a doping test after taking a medicine that contained the banned substance cortisone.

The former World Player of the Year was allegedly stung by a wasp and took a medicine that contained cortisone.

He requested an exemption on the grounds of having taken a medication in the case of an emergency but his request was missing a document and while awaiting a decision he was subjected to an anti-doping test, which returned a positive result.

Sources close to his club Juventus have claimed he took nothing more than an anti-allergy medicine.

Cannavaro is currently on international duty preparing for Italy's last two World Cup qualifiers against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday and then at home to Cyprus on Wednesday.

Cannavaro is suspended for the Ireland match but was expected to return to the team he captained to World Cup glory in 2006 for the Cyprus game.

He is due to be interviewed by the Italian Olympic Committee's (Coni) anti-doping prosecutor Etorre Torri on Friday morning in Turin.

Coni released a statement on its website explaining the circumstances of the positive test without revealing if any action has been taken against the player.

(AFP via Eurosport)

 Good Thursday morning everyone! So, while making my rounds during English class today, I came across this. It is really odd, but it shows the beauty...if you can say that....about transfer rumors and deals and the window.

According to ESPN, Diego (pictured here) has not left Werder and will not. The whole idea is just another rumor that has been started.

"There has been a meeting between Juventus and Werder, but we can confirm that no agreement was reached," stated Bremen's director of sport Klaus Allofs

Juventus have reported to have agreed with Diego's agent, but have fallen a little bit below the asking price of the struggling Bundesliga team.

Diego has been on the radar for many bigger named teams such as Bayern. The rumor is that Bayern are ready to put in a bid over the 30 million euro asking price for Diego. This would mean that Munich would have their replacement for Frank Ribery, who has been linked to Barcelona, Chelsea, and Manchester United.

The Turin club have dropped out of the title race having not won in five Serie A games but coach Claudio Ranieri has been told his job is safe until the end of the season.

Other signings are expected to boost their prospects next term. Winger Pavel Nedved is due to retire at the end of this season.

Then, you come to another story from our friends at Soccerway that have claimed that the deal is done and Diego is getting his bags packed, heading for Italy.

According to the website, Juve offered 25 million euros for the Brazilian playmaker.

So, will he, or won't he? We will have to see.

Gooooooood Wednesday morning everyone! (Yes, it is still morning here.) Anyway, I have been making my rounds today and I came across this little snip of news. So, enjoy. Once again, thank you to the lovely ladies at Kickette for this. :)

Reports coming from Chi magazine are saying that Gigi's girlfriend Alena is expecting another baby! Gender is yet to be known, so she can't be to far in. The couple already has a son named Louis, who will be 2 in December.

CONGRATS!! From everyone here at the blog! ^^

More to come later, I MUST (<===notice the sarcasim) get back to my homework.

(Match to be played Tuesday)

Juventus assured themselves of a place in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds with home and away victories against Real Madrid CF so the focus for their Matchday 5 game in Russia is trained firmly on FC Zenit St. Petersburg, who will be hoping they can overtake the Spanish champions to move into second place in Group H.

• To do that the Russian hosts must beat Juventus and hope Madrid lose at FC BATE Borisov. A maiden UEFA Champions League victory against BATE on Matchday 4 will put Zenit in good heart and they will be ready to take advantage should Juventus be tempted to ease up now they are assured of going beyond the group stage.

• A superb goal in each half from captain Alessandro Del Piero gave the Turin club a notable victory at the Santiago Bernabéu on Matchday 4 and completed a memorable double for Claudio Ranieri's team. Del Piero took advantage of hesitant Madrid defending to curl in the opener early in the first half and then effectively ended the home challenge with a trademark free-kick midway through the second period.

• On the same evening Pavel Pogrebnyak ended his goal drought with a finely taken first-half strike to silence the Dinamo Stadium and set up Zenit's 2-0 victory away to the newly-crowned Belarussian champions BATE. Sébastien Puygrenier was sent off midway through the second half but Dick Advocaat's team stayed in charge and Danny scored the second goal four minutes into stoppage time.

• Zenit gave a good account of themselves in the Turin meeting between the teams on Matchday 1 and only looked under threat from set-pieces. That ultimately led to their defeat, Del Piero scoring from a direct free-kick with 14 minutes remaining. After that, at home to Madrid, the UEFA Cup holders were put on the back foot by an Tomáš Hubočan own goal. Danny equalised before the nine-time European champions got their noses in front again as Ruud van Nistelrooy took advantage of more defensive uncertainty and that was enough to secure the points for the visitors.

• In Zenit's first game with BATE, a home defeat looked on the cards after substitute Pavel Nekhaychik had scored on 53 minutes. Zenit had earlier struck the woodwork twice and passed up a host of other opportunities, but finally drew level when Fatih Tekke evaded the offside trap to fire past Sergei Veremko.

• Meanwhile the Bianconeri followed up their defeat of Zenit on 17 September by drawing 2-2 away to BATE, although even a point looked beyond them after 23 minutes when they trailed 2-0 to goals by Sergei Kryvets and Igor Stasevich. Then Vincenzo Iaquinta put away a header followed by a low shot, both before half-time, to earn the visitors a draw.

• Zenit's only previous contest with an Italian team came in the 1999/00 UEFA Cup first round when they lost 3-0 at home to Bologna FC in the first leg. Some respectability was restored as the Russian side drew 2-2 in Italy.

• Juventus have met Russian opponents on two previous occasions in European competition and have a 100 per cent record in the away matches. In the first round of the 1993/94 UEFA Cup they faced FC Lokomotiv Moskva and had things mostly their own way, winning 3-0 at home and 1-0 away. Their 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup semi-final with FC Rostov proved even more comfortable, the Italian side recording a 4-0 away victory before a 5-1 success at home.

End Of Match: Well, that is it everyone. Thankies for joining me. Sadly, we didnt get the win, but we are still sitting pretty in our group. Thanks for joining me! HALA MADRID!

90' (+4):

Heinze gives away the free kick...

90' (+2): Wes takes the free kick, but it goes straight into the wall.

90' (+1): Marco Marchionni commits the foul on Sneijder.

88': The 36-year old Pavel Nedved looks as fresh as anyone on the field and the Czech midfielder beats the substitute Drenthe in a race to keep hold of possession for his side.

88': Sergio Ramos fouls

87':  Roysten Drenthe wins a free-kick after drawing Del Piero into a clumsy tackle, but Sneijder's free-kick is missed by Ramos at the back post.

86':

Iaquinta commits the foul on Pepe

85':

Drenthe is offside

84': Pepe fouls....

82': Schuster has switched his starlet Robben to the right wing to test Cristian Molianari's mettle. The Dutchman immdediately beats his man to the byline but his final ball is poor.

81': Gago has his shot blocked.

80': Heinze is offside.

78': Iaquinta comes in for Amauri.

77':

Robben misses the shot, but it was very close.

76': Real continue to press forward, with Juventus camped-out inside their own half, unable or unwilling to advance further upfield.

76': Drenthe comes in for Rafa Van Der Vaart

73': Very nice save by Iker!!

70': Heinze, who prior to the goal had been almost anonymous in the opposing half, is now marauding down the left for Real at will, posing all sorts of problems for Grygera.

70':  A raking cross-field pass by Arjen Robben almost finds Van Nistelrooy at the back-post but is just too high for the big striker.

68': Alessandro Del Piero has a dangerous free-kick for Juventus from 20-yards out, but the forward wastefully sends it sailing over the bar.

67': No sooner had Real reduced their arreas, but their defensive vulnerabilities were exposed once again, Marco Marchionni reached the right byline and his cross narrowly evaded Oliviera in the six-yard box.

66': Sorry everyone. I had a bit of a delay.....welcome one and all!! Lets bring you up to date. Real are down 2-0 to Juve. Del Piero and Amauri are on the scoring sheet.

65': GOAL!!! A cross by Gabriel Heinze is met with a bullet header by Ruud van Nistelrooy! It is no less than Real Madrid deserved after relentless pressure since the second Juve goal.