Palermo set to unveil Guidolin

Palermo are reportedly set to unveil Francesco Guidolin as their new coach.
The Serie A side are looking to build on an encouraging season and are believed to be closing in on the Monaco coach.
Guidolin is widely expected to be replaced in the Principality this summer and would therefore be free to take over from Giuseppe Papadopulo at Palermo.
"Guidolin back to Palermo? I think yes," president Maurizio Zamparini told the Italian press.
Papadopulo is contracted to the club for another year, and admitted that he was surprised to hear the rumours.
"The president and I are continuing to talk in a normal way," he insisted.
"I feel in an absurd situation and I think that if a new manager was announced, it would surprise a lot of people.
"But I honestly don't know what to think. If I am let go it would be a really bad professional blow for me."
Meanwhile, Palermo have brought Ascoli midfielder Roberto Guana and out-of-contract goalkeeper in to strengthen their ranks.
25-year-old Guana was a key player for Ascoli last season and will add depth to their squad.
Fontana joins on a free transfer following his release from Chievo at the end of the season.
Fabio Grosso is expected to be sold to Internazionale within the next few days though.
"We met with Palermo and are really close to agreeing a deal for Grosso," confirmed Nerazzurri technical director Marco Branca.

Toni uncertain over future

Italian League top scorer Luca Toni said he is not sure of staying at Fiorentina next season, opening the door wide to speculations that he may be on his way to Inter Milan.
"There are few problems between me and the club at the moment," Toni told Football Italia magazine on Monday.
Toni had a marvelous first-season at Florence, scoring a record of 31 goals and leading Fiorentina to secure a UEFA Champions League place next season.
Inter reportedly target the 29-year-old forward and they are waiting for the results of his talks with the Viola president.
"The president and I have started to talk, but there are few things which we don't agree on right now," Toni said.
"However I can promise the fans that they'll be the first to know how things go as I have nothing to hide.
"The former Palermo striker, who will be leading Italy's attacking force in the World Cup, said that he's concentrating on his training with the national team at the moment.
"We all just want to prepare as best as we can for the World Cup, then I'll discuss things with my club," Toni said.

Italian Championship Stats

A 2-0 win over Reggina has given Juventus its 29th Scudetto, yet the club faces an anxious wait to see whether it will retain this and last season's title, as corruption allegations rock Italian football.
With Reggina's (15th) home ground suspended due to crowd problems, the title decider was played at Bari's Stadio Granillo, with Juventus professionally defeating its semi-hosts through goals to David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero.
Trezeguet nodded in during the 22nd minute after Reggina's defence failed to clear, while Del Piero added an injury time goal to complete the win and temporarily secure the Serie A title.Yet, with tapes released to the media of senior director Luciano Moggi apparently organising referee schedules during last season, a major police sporting corruption investigation could see Juve stripped of its last two titles or even relegated.
Second-placed AC Milan, which defeated Roma (fifth) 2-1 through goals to Kaka and Marcio Amoroso, could therefore be awarded the last two titles, yet the Rossoneri are themselves implicated in the investigation along with Fiorentina and Lazio.
Internazionale (third) had to settle for a final day 2-2 draw with Calgliari (16th), Sardinian goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti denying Inter substitute Ilario Aloe with his feet in the final minute.Luca Toni became the first player in 47 years to score 30 Serie A goals when he opened proceedings in Fiorentina's (fourth) 2-0 win over Chievo (seventh).Tomasso Rocchi's goal was enough for Lazio (sixth) to defeat Parma (tenth) 1-0, while Palermo (eighth) outdid Messina (18th) in the Sicily derby.Livorno (ninth) and Siena (17th) ended 0-0 while Igor Budan's late double gave Ascoli (12th) a 2-1 win over Empoli (11th), with Treviso (last) defeating Udinese (13th) 2-1 as Sampdoria (14th) went down to Lecce (19th) 3-1 with Haouiliais Konan scoring a double.

Juventus 2-1 Palermo

Juventus must wait until the final day of the season to try and secure the Serie A title with Sunday's win over Palermo not enough to see off the challenge of AC Milan, who won at Parma.
Juve remain three points clear of Milan with one game remaining, but the Rossoneri's better head-to-head record mean there is still all to play for next week.
Juve's fans had hoped to seal the deal on home soil and Pavel Nedved raised the first cheer of the day with a 32nd minute opener before Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled the lead six minutes into the second half.
News of an equaliser for Parma then increased the volume, but Milan soon re-took the lead, and Denis Godeas got Palermo back in the game to quieten the crowd who did not seem to be unduly perturbed by the publication of embarrassing stories in the media this week centred around transcripts of telephone calls between Juventus senior director Luciano Moggi and other figures in the football world.
Palermo had set out to win this one, and the Sicilians were claiming a penalty in the fifth minute when Godeas appeared to be impeded by Fabio Cannavaro as both stretched to reach Mariano Gonzalez's cross.
Moments later, the officials played a big hand again, ruling out David Trezeguet's 10th minute strike for offside.
The guests kept up the pressure and had further chances to go ahead through Massimo Mutarelli and Gonzalez, but neither could beat Gianluigi Buffon in the Juve goal.
Nedved tried his luck from 20 yards, but while he failed from distance, he made no mistake from closer range to put Juve ahead in the 32nd minute.
Mauro Camoranesi and David Trezeguet both tried to dribble the ball in, but Nedved chose the more direct route when he received Simone Barone's clearance 10 yards from goal.
Palermo were almost level just two minutes later.
Buffon's clearance fell to Kewullay Conteh on the corner of the 18-yard box and his shot through a crowded penalty area was deflected behind for a corner by Buffon's foot.
Godeas then had another appeal for a penalty turned down as he once again fell under the challenge of Cannavaro.
Juve then finished the first half with another chance from Nedved which the Czech Republic international curled just wide of the far post after a good turn inside the area.
An excellent piece of team play between Ibrahimovic, Trezeguet and Nedved set up the latter for the first chance of the second half with his shot missing the far post by inches.
Ibrahimovic made no mistake minutes later as he doubled Juve's advantage.
Camoranesi spotted the Swede's run forward and threaded the ball invitingly in front of him, leaving just Federico Agliardi to beat, and Ibrahimovic slotted his shot through the Palermo goalkeeper's legs for his first goal since February.
There was an even bigger cheer from the Juve fans when Parma pulled one back against Milan, but some false information minutes later had the Juve fans cheering as if the title was theirs, only for the truth to be revealed that Milan had gone 3-1 up.
The Delle Alpi fell silent when Godeas fired Palermo back into the game in the 62nd minute.
The 31-year-old striker's second goal of the season came from nothing as he fired unstoppably across Buffon into the roof of the net from an angle.
Palermo boss Giuseppe Papadopulo decided to take a risk with 15 minutes remaining, replacing midfielder Gonzalez with striker Stephen Makinwa.
The result was more nervous moments for the Juve fans, particularly when Makinwa fired across goal with Buffon out of his goal with just over 10 minutes remaining.
It was backs to the wall time for Juve, but they held on and need just a point from their final game against Reggina to win the title.

Next week on TV (5-1/5-7)

By Daniel Kline
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

Both the NBA and the NHL close out the first round of their playoffs. In baseball, you’ve got the Orioles and the Blue Jays, matching up in what has to be one of the biggest questions of the baseball season. One of these teams might hang on to challenge the Yankees and Red Sox, but probably not both, making this early season tilt a little more interesting.

*All times Eastern.

Monday, May 1
NFL Europe, Berlin at Rhein (3 p.m., NFL Network)
Stop arguing about who your team drafted and check in on the sport’s minor league with this mid-afternoon match-up. Though NFL Europe might not get the attention of its big brother, the league offers a good chance to figure out which back-up players might break through come the fall.

Tuesday, May 2
Yankees at Red Sox (7:05 p.m., DirecTV, regional)
Every Yankees versus Red Sox match-up gets covered like a playoff game in Boston and New York, so expect tempers to flare in this tilt. The Sox have had the early season advantage, but that’s nothing new, as the Sox always have a division lead in the Summer – the question is whether they can hold it in the Fall.

Wednesday, May 3
Boxing (9 p.m. ESPN2)
Sharmba Mitchell takes on Jose Luis Cruz in a 10-round welterweight tilt. Cruz plays the role of the fighter on the way up, taking on former two-time champion Mitchell, who wants one more shot at the gold. Mitchell was knocked out in the sixth round in his last fight, but that was against Floyd Mayweather – one of the best in the division – so he’s aiming to prove that was a fluke and knock Cruz off the ladder of contention.

Thursday, May 4
Wachovia Open (4 p.m., USA)
A Tiger-less field should leave this one pretty wide open. Vijay Singh attempts to repeat as champion, a title he took last year in a three-way playoff with Sergio Garcia and Jim Furyk.

Friday, May 5
College Volleyball (Midnight, ESPN2)
Catch the men’s semifinal of the NCAA men’s volleyball tournament. This might be your last chance to see some of your favorite players before they turn pro and head out on the lucrative men’s volleyball tour.

Saturday, May 6
Kentucky Derby (6 p.m., NBC)
Horse racing only matters three times a year to the average fan, but the Kentucky captures the best of the sport. Because it’s the first Triple Crown race, every Derby winner stands the chance of being the first horse to bring home racing’s most elusive prize since Affirmed in 1978.

Sunday, May 7
Premier League Soccer (5 p.m., FOXESP)
Two of the big powers in the Premiership face off as Newcastle battles Chelsea in an attempt to cut into Chelsea’s overall lead in the standings. Chelsea did just fall in the FA Cup semifinal, but their big lead in the regular season standings makes clinching the title almost inevitable.


Daniel Kline’s book “50 Things Every Guy Should Know How To Do” is available in bookstores nationwide. He can be reached at dan@notastep.com.
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Palermo 1-0 Fiorentina

Palermo put a huge dent in visiting Fiorentina's Champions League Tournament hopes after recording a hard-earned 1-0 win at the Renzo Barbera.
David Di Michele scored the crucial goal seven minutes into the second period, handing his side their first victory in five and potentially kick-starting a late push for UEFA Cup championship qualification.
For their part, Fiorentina will be extremely disappointed with the defeat after a dominant first-half display, although their cushion above fifth-place Roma has only been cut by one point after Luciano Spalletti's men were held to a draw in a 4-4 thriller with Chievo.
Fiorentina looked bright from the outset and applied some early pressure on the hosts' defence, although Palermo quickly got to grips with their opponents and established a foothold in the game.
The first chance of the game fell to Fiorentina on seven minutes, when Stefano Fiore 's foray down the left wing created a great scoring opportunity that was squandered by Luis Jimenez.
After 21 minutes the visitors again poured forward, this time in a three-on-two counter-attack, but Jimenez was again guilty of poor play, failing to latch onto a pass when clean through on Federico Agliardi's goal.
And Fiorentina again came close just before the half-hour mark, this time Tomas Ujfalusi carving out the shooting chance, but he was off target from 18 yards.
Three minutes later, the Champions League hopefuls were at it again, the lively Fiore once more troubling the Palermo defence with a surge into the box that presented Luca Toni with a shooting chance that was deflected clear by Kewullay Conteh.
The best chance of the half came in injury time, and again it was Fiorentina making all the running.
On this occasion Martin Jorgensen was the architect, crossing perfectly for Toni to meet with his head, but the striker was unlucky to see his effort cannon off the crossbar.
After a lacklustre first half, Palermo looked a little brighter in the second period and immediately set about their task with greater purpose.
And the change in attitude ultimately led to the hosts making the breakthrough after 52 minutes when Di Michele found the net with a sweet strike after a good run and pass by Franco Brienza.
Di Michele might have doubled the lead just three minutes later, but Fiorentina keeper Bogdan Lobont made a smart save.
Fiorentina continued to push, however, and Per Kroldrup was unlucky to see his header from a corner sail wide of the target while Fiore's effort moments later flew high over the bar.
Substitute Valeri Bojinov and the disappointing Jimenez both had chances for an increasingly frustrated Fiorentina as the clock ticked down, but Palermo's defence stood strong and the hosts held on to claim three points they barely deserved.

2006 UEFA CUP Tournament - Soccer

The UEFA Cup is handed over to the Dutch city of Eindhoven, and in preparation for hosting this season's final, golden memories of 1978 will come flooding back.
It was on 9 May 1978 that local side PSV Eindhoven established themselves as a major force in European football as they beat SC Bastia 3-0 at the Philips stadium - the venue for this season's final - to win the UEFA Cup, following a goalless draw in the first leg in Corsica two weeks earlier.
By that time, PSV had already broken the cast-iron grip that the big clubs from the west of the Netherlands - Feyenoord and AFC Ajax - held on the Dutch title by winning the Eredivisie in 1974/75 and 1975/76, but in taking the UEFA Cup, they announced their presence to the whole continent.
With the final being contested over two legs in those days, PSV had not enjoyed an easy time in the opening fixture against Bastia. Heavy rainfall turned the first leg into a boring show. But the second leg, however, was much more one-sided, and with the elements no longer blocking their route to goal, PSV shone with Willy van de Kerkhof, Gerrie Deijkers and Willy van der Kuylen finding the target as they secured a famous victory in front of 27,000 fans.
With Feyenoord and Ajax both having won major European competitions in the early 1970s, PSV were the third Dutch club to triumph in UEFA competition, and added to their trophy cabinet by winning the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1987/88 before reaching the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2004/05.
The memories of that first success back in 1978 will be celebrated as 2004/05 UEFA Cup, against all the Sportsbooks odds. Winners of last year’s cup PFC CSKA Moskva hand the trophy to Eindhoven, with goal scorers Van de Kerkhof and Van der Kuylen in attendance. Sadly Deijkers died of heart failure at the age of 56 back in October 2003.
Deijkers' story was an odd one. He had played as a defender in previous seasons but coach Kees Rijvers - who will also be at the handover - decided to hand him a chance to become a striker as PSV were having attacking problems in 1977/78. He went on to score 18 league goals and six in the UEFA Cup that season. While Deijkers will be missed at the ceremony at the Evoluon building in Eindhoven, plenty of other PSV stars of 1978 will be there to make up the numbers. Among them will be Willy's twin brother René van de Kerkhof, Jan Poortvliet, Adri van Kraay and Kees Krijgh all eager to get their hands on the trophy again.