Juventus upset Korea fans with Ronaldo no-show in friendly

Juventus drew 3-3 in a friendly with a K League all-star team yesterday but 60,000 spectators couldn’t hide their upset after Cristiano Ronaldo failed to play. Ronaldo remained on the bench throughout the game ignoring appeals from the crowd to lace up his boots.It was understandable on the Portuguese superstar’s part because the Italian team arrived in South Korea in mid-afternoon on a delayed flight from Nanzing, China, with the match scheduled only five hours later.The kick-off was delayed an hour and Spanish midfielder Osmar Barba, who plays for Seoul FC, quickly put the all-stars ahead. Simone Muratore pulled one back for the Italian champions. Then in the 44th minute, Brazilian forward Cesinha of Daegu FC put the K League team 2-1 up and Australian Adam Taggart of Suwon Bluewings widened the lead in the 49th minute. Midfielder Blaise Matuidi reduced the deficit in the 77th minute and two minutes later Matheus Pereira got the equaliser.Former Roma skipper De Rossi joins Boca JuniorsDaniele De Rossi has joined Boca Juniors on a free transfer following the Italian midfielder’s departure from Serie A side AS Roma after nearly two decades, the Argentine club have announced. De Rossi, who turned 36 on Wednesday, led Roma for the final time in a 2-1 victory over Parma at the Stadio Olimpico in May and finished his stint in the Italian capital with 616 appearances in 18 years.Boca confirmed the transfer in a series of social media posts with pictures of De Rossi wearing the club’s blue and yellow colours.World Cup winner De Rossi, behind only Francesco Totti (786) in appearances for Roma, had rejected a director’s role at the Italian club last season after his contract was not renewed.De Rossi won Coppa Italia titles with Roma in 2007 and 2008 and narrowly missed out on a Serie A crown in 2010, when they led the table with four games to go only to be overhauled by Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan.He played 117 games for Italy, making him their fourth most-capped player, and came on as a second-half substitute in the 2006 World Cup title clash in which they beat France on penalties after a 1-1 draw.Vermaelen signs for Japanese side Vissel KobeBelgian international defender Thomas Vermaelen has become the latest high profile player to move to Japanese team Vissel Kobe, according to a report in the Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws. The 33-year-old, whose contract with Barcelona has now expired, will team up with David Silva, Lucas Podolski and his former Barca captain Andres Iniesta. Vermaelen, who is reported to have turned down an offer to join Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht, passed his medical and visited the club’s training complex. Vermaelen began his career at Ajax before moving on to Arsenal and Barcelona with a loan spell at Roma. He has played 74 times for Belgium, most recently in the 3-0 Euro qualifier win against Scotland in June. Vissel Kobe are currently 15th in the 18-team J-league.Man City’s Herrera joins GranadaNewly-promoted Granada have signed midfielder Yangel Herrera on loan from Manchester City for a season, the Spanish club said. “Granada and Manchester City have reached agreement for the loan of midfielder Yangel Herrera for one season, with an option to buy at the end of the period” when his City contract expires, Granada said in a statement.The 21-year-old Venezuela international played in La Liga last season on a loan spell for Huesca, who were relegated at the end of the campaign. Herrera played for his country in the recently concluded Copa America and also featured in the side’s failed bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He joined City’s youth academy in 2017 from Atletico Venezuela and was promptly loaned out to Major League Soccer club New York City FC for a season prior to his move to Huesca.Aston Villa sign Brazilian midfielder LuizAston Villa have signed Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz from champions Manchester City for an undisclosed fee, the promoted Premier League club have said. Villa did not give financial details but a report said the deal for the 21-year-old was worth 15mn pounds ($18.66mn) which took their close season spending past 100mn pounds for 10 new players.Luiz, who came through the ranks at hometown club Vasco da Gama, joined City in 2017 but never played for Pep Guardiola’s side, spending the last two seasons on loan in Spain’s Girona. Villa, who are preparing for their first season back in the English top flight since 2016, visit Tottenham Hotspur in their opening league fixture on Aug. 10.Wolves mark return to Europe after 39 years with victoryWolves marked their return to European football after a 39-year absence with a 2-0 home win over Crusaders of Northern Ireland in the Europa League second qualifying round on Thursday. Diogo Jota and Ruben Vinagre were on target at Molineux in the first leg clash.However, it was a nervous evening for the Premier League side with Vinagre’s goal only coming in injury time after a mistake by goalkeeper Sean O’Neill. Rangers were also 2-0 winners over bogey team Progres Niederkorn at Ibrox.The part-timers from Luxembourg dished out one of the biggest upsets in Rangers’ history when they dumped Pedro Caixinha’s side out of the same competition two years ago. Joe Aribo and on-loan Liverpool youngster Sheyi Ojo were on the scoresheet in a game which saw skipper James Tavernier miss a second-half penalty.