Former Real Madrid captain, Raúl, was introduced at German Bundesliga club Schalke 04 on Wednesday, ending the speculation as to which country the Spanish legend would land in.

From the AP:

Longtime Real Madrid forward Raul Gonzalez signed a two-year contract with Bundesliga club Schalke on Wednesday.

Raul joined Schalke on a free transfer after 15 seasons with Madrid, ending lengthy speculation about the move.

The club presented the 33-year-old striker at its stadium in Gelsenkirchen, giving him the No. 7 shirt.

"I'm looking forward to starting on a new challenge," Raul said. "It's an important challenge for me."

Raúl won't miss any time in the top tiers of European soccer. Schalke's second place finish in the Bundesliga last season automatically qualifies them for the group stage of the 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League.

The Spanish striker will be Schalke's replacement for the departed Kevin Kuranyi who transferred to Dynamo Moscow in May.  Kuranyi scored 18 goals for the Royal Blues in last season's campaign.  Raúl is Schalke's second signing from Real Madrid this summer.  They signed German defender Christoph Metzelder in April.  

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The Cleveland area hasn't exactly had a positive summer when it comes to the world of sports. A little bit of good news was announced on Wednesday, however: Tiger Woods will make the trip to Akron to defend his title in the World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Inviational next weekend, August 3-8 at Firestone Country Club.

From the Plain Dealer:

Defending champion Tiger Woods has committed to next week's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, August 3-8 at historic Firestone Country Club, tournament officials today announced. Woods can equal Sam Snead's PGA TOUR record of eight victories in the same event with a win next week.

[...]

Woods earned his seventh-career triumph at the Bridgestone Invitational in 2009, outlasting 54-hole leader Padraig Harrington and Australian Robert Allenby for a four-stroke victory. In 10 previous starts at Firestone Country Club, Woods is a cumulative 103-under-par with 29 rounds in the 60s, and he has never finished lower than T4. Woods will return to action for the first time since he finished T23 at the British Open Championship two weeks ago at St. Andrews.

Bridgestone will be Tiger's eighth start of 2010.  In the previous seven starts, Woods has two top 10 finishes with his fourth place tie at the Masters being his best result.

The tournament will also see the return of 25-year-old American, Anthony Kim, who has been out for the past three months following thumb surgery.  Kim finished third, one spot ahead of Woods, at the Masters.

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Roger Federer lost his No. 1 world ranking to Rafael Nadal following the French Open, and Federer would like it back, thank you very much.  In order to do that, Federer has begun a trial training period with Paul Annacone, Pete Sampras' former full time coach from 1995-2001.

Federer announced the new development on his website in a letter to his fans:

Dear Fans 

I've been looking to add someone to my team and I've decided to spend some days with Paul Annacone. As Paul winds down his responsibilities working for the Lawn Tennis Association, we will explore our relationship through this test period. Paul will work alongside my existing team and I am excited to learn from his experiences. 

See you soon 

Roger

Federer's streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals was snapped this year at the French Open in his quarterfinal loss to Robin Soderling of Sweden.  

From Bloomberg:

Annacone will be leaving his job as head coach of the U.K.'s Lawn Tennis Association at the end of November after more than three years. Before his time with the LTA, the American coached 14-time major winner and former world No. 1 Sampras and Tim Henman, previously British No. 1.

[...]

Federer, holder of a record 16 Grand Slam titles, had been guided by Australian coaches Peter Carter, who died in 2002, and Tony Roche. Since splitting from Roche in 2007, the Swiss has worked with his nation's Davis Cup captain Severin Luthi.

Annacone is also currently Great Britain's Davis Cup team coach but he announced in May that he will step down in November.  

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Vance Veazey sits atop the leader board at the RBC Canadian Open at St. George's Golf & Country Club in Toronto after shooting a 6-under 64 in Thursday's first round. Veazey's score is only the second time that the 45-year-old American has shot a 64 in his PGA Tour career, the first coming in Chicago in 2003. He has four Nationwide Tour titles to his name and one career top ten PGA Tour event finish. Veazey had a single bogey in the round on the third hole but made up for it with seven birdies - including a stretch of five bogeys in seven holes between holes six and 12.

There is a seven-way tie for second at 5-under 65 amongst those currently in the clubhouse and three more tied at 5-under who are still on the course.

South Africans Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman shot identical 3-under 67's on the day while American John Daly shot a 1-under 69.

The full leaderboard can be found at the PGA's official website.

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Just four days after his dominating victory at St. Andrews, South African Louis Oosthizen remained hot, shooting a 5-under 67 in the first round of the Scandinavian Masters at the Bro Hof Slott Golf Course in Stockholm, Sweden on Thursday. His first round score puts him in a three-way tie for the lead with American Dustin Johnson and Australian Richard Green. Oosthuizen is the highest ranked player in the field.

From Golf.com via the AP:

The South African finished the front 9 in 1-under 35. He had five more birdies on the back 9, but was unable to take the overall lead after a bogey at the 13th.

Green reached his 67 after posting three consecutive birdies from the 11th. The Australian is going for his first European Tour win since 2007.

Italian Edoardo Molinari was one shot back in a four-way tie for fourth. Molinari won the Scottish Open in impressive fashion the week before the British Open for his first career European Tour victory.

The full leaderboard can be found on the European Tour's official website.

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Defending U.S. Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro is expected to compete in this year's tournament in Flushing, New York beginning at the end of August. He has been included in the USTA's U.S. Open list of entrants after recovering faster than expected from wrist surgery.  

Del Potro, who has been injured the entire summer, has competed in one just one tournament this year, the Australian Open, where he lost in the fourth round to Marin Cilic. It was expected that the Argentine would miss the remainder of the year after surgery.  Del Potro is the only player other than Rafael Nadal who has defeated Roger Federer in a Grand Slam final.  He won last year's U.S. Open over Federer in five sets to capture his first Grand Slam.

Should Del Potro not be ready for the U.S. Open, he has already confirmed that he will take part in the PTT Thailand Open which begins on September 27.

In Sports Illustrated's most recent Fortunate 50 rankings, it was reported that Tiger Woods lost $22 million in endorsements since his well-documented fall from grace last November. It looks as if that number may continue to drop as one of Tiger's biggest backers, EA Sports, has seen sales of Tiger Woods PGA Tour '11 plummet.  

From Pastapadre:

Late last week NPD released the official sales numbers for June. Tiger Woods 11 saw a huge drop-off from what Tiger 10 sold in its first month. Given the numbers that were on hand I estimated that it had fallen in the 40-50% range. It turns out that the situation was even more dire than anticipated. Sales actually dropped 68% year-over-year for all formats combined while the Wii version specifically fell an almost unbelievable 86%. It went from 272K to 38K.

EA Sports, who have been tied to Woods for over a decade, has acted a bit differently since Tiger's scandal.  While companies like Accenture, TAG Heuer, and Gillette cut ties or reduced Tiger's role as a spokesman, EA Sports has always had an exclusively golf based relationship with Woods, making his personal life of less importance. Apparently that's not the case as Pastapadre points out:

Some are pointing to less in the way of marketing as another reason to consider, though that is a direct symptom of the issue EA faced by keeping Tiger on as the face of the game. They could no longer promote him, and in turn the game, in the same manner and to the same extent as they had in the past. Clearly EA Sports has little choice but to make drastic changes now. Whether that means a rebranding of the franchise remains to be seen.

The drop in sales can be attributed to little else besides the scandal because, as anyone who has ever played the game before knows, it's awesome. Should they choose to cut Tiger free, EA Sports may have already begun to cover their bases. On this year's Tiger Woods PGA Tour '11, Woods shares the cover with 21-year-old Brit, Rory McIlroy - a potential new face for EA's golf platform.

EA Sports has been known to have controversial figures on the covers of their games before, however. There was much ado last year when the company chose to put convicted rapist, Mike Tyson, on the cover of Fight Night 4 with Muhammad Ali. The video game company, in response to the Tyson dilemma, responded by saying that Tyson was one of the greatest fighters of all time and that was what influenced their decision. Woods has dominated golf more than Tyson ever did boxing but, if sales of Tiger Woods PGA Tour '11 continue to falter, EA may have no choice but to find a new face for the platform.

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According to Sports Illustrated's annual Fortunate 50, Tiger Woods has lost roughly $22 million in endorsements since last year due to certain happenings last November. Woods, whose endorsements have dropped from $92 million to $70 million, still remains the highest paid athlete on the planet despite earning $9 million less than in 2009. The tens of millions of dollars Woods lost in endorsements can be attributed to AT&T, Gatorade and Accenture, among others. However, a $10 million bonus from last year's FedEx Cup certainly helped to keep Woods' bottom line relatively stable. 

Woods has been ranked in the top spot for all seven years the magazine has been doing its report. 

The $90,508,163 that Tiger was estimated to have earned is more than $28 million higher than the list's second ranked earner, Phil Mickelson.  

From Golf Week via the AP:

Woods is still No. 1 on the list, as he has been for the rankings' seven years. But his estimated total earnings of more than $90 million are down 30 percent from nearly $128 million two years ago.

Phil Mickelson is again No. 2 with total earnings of more than $61 million. His estimated endorsement income is $52 million, compared with $70 million for Woods.

The American athlete also continues to out-earn their international counterparts. Roger Federer took over the top spot from David Beckham in this year's international rankings but Federer's $61,768,110 in estimated earnings marks him as the only international athlete that would crack the American top four -- rounded out by Floyd Mayweather Jr. and LeBron James.

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Eduardo has completed a move from Arsenal to Ukranian club Shakhtar Donetsk for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around six million pounds (about $9 million).  The Brazilian-born Croatian striker joins FC Shakhtar on a four year deal.

The official release from Shakhtar's website:

Today on 21 July FC Shakhtar have signed a Brazilian-born Croatian forward Eduardo Da Silva from Arsenal London on a 4-year contract being anticipated by all the international media.

All the details were agreed tonight at Donbas Arena in Donetsk.

Within the nearest time the newcomer will be introduced to Ukrainian media representatives as well as to the Pitmen fans.

The 27-year-old began his career in Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb in 2001and with the exception of a one year loan to Croatian lower level team, Inter Zaprešić, stayed with Dinamo for six years. In 2007 he moved to Arsenal where it took him several months to become a fixture in the starting lineup.  In February 2008, Eduardo suffered a gruesome leg injury (DO NOT click link if you do not want to see one of the most horrific injuries in sports), when he broke his left fibula and dislocated his left ankle.

The injury kept him out for just under a year.  Eduardo has still been struggling to find form since returning from his injury and, despite signing a contract extension with Arsenal in November, the club decided to cash in on him.

From BBC Sport:

He ends his spell at the Emirates with a record of 20 goals in 67 appearances for the Gunners.

Shakhtar's Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu said: "We wanted to buy Eduardo before he moved to Arsenal.

"Not everything went his way last season, but he is still a player of very high quality, a real marksman.

"Yes, he had a serious injury, we are aware of the risk, but at the same time we realise he can give a lot to Shakhtar. We expect a lot from Eduardo."

Eduardo will join a Shakhtar team that is the defending Ukrainian Premiere League Champions and the 2009 UEFA Cup champs. FC Shakhtar currently sits in fifth in the league with a win and a draw two games into the season.

Serena Williams, who withdrew from the remainder of the World Team Tennis season last week with a cut on her foot, will now need to undergo foot surgery.  Williams cut her foot accidentally on a piece of broken glass in a restaurant.  The defending Wimbledon champ will also miss three tournaments - Istanbul, Cincinnati, and Montreal - leading up to the U.S. Open, which she plans to be ready for.

From the Washington Examiner:

Said Williams:

"I'm so upset I won't be able to play in the upcoming events because of this foot surgery.  Thank you for all of your support. I can't wait to get back on the courts."

The U.S. Open begins on August 30 in Flushing, NY.

FIFA.com Club Members got the chance to vote for their World Cup All-Star Team and on Thursday the results were released.  Six Spaniards made the lineup and only five countries in total were represented.  

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Michael Ballack was introduced today at his new club, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, with which he signed on June 25 to a two year contact after his contract at Chelsea expired.  Ballack's introduction marks his second tour of duty with Bayer 04. He was with the team from 1999-2002 and it was with the club that he first made his breakthrough.

At his introductory press conference, Ballack ruffled a few feathers when he claimed that the German captain's armband still belonged to him.  Ballack missed the World Cup with an ankle injury he suffered in the FA Cup Final against Portsmouth and Bayern Munich defender, Phillip Lahm, claimed the captain's duties for the tournament.

From AFP:

With Germany reaching the semi-finals, the 26-year-old Lahm went on record to say that he would not hand back the captaincy unless told to do so by coach Joachim Loew.

Ballack, however, who has 98 caps to his name, is not yet ready to call time on his international career and launched a broadside at Lahm while giving his first press conference at new club Bayer Leverkusen.

"I am the captain of the national team," said Ballack. "Philipp Lahm has made his claim at a moment that I feel is inopportune. I was injured and could not defend myself.

"There are hierarchies. I am going to talk to Philipp about this business."

The 33-year-old has captained the national team since 2004.  The situation does not hint to solve itself soon as Loew is currently at the end of his contract and his future is being decided by the German Association.

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Spain re-claimed the top spot in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings, which were released Wednesday.  World Cup runner-up, Netherlands, jumped up two spots from the fourth best team to the second.  Reigning number one, Brazil, rounded out the top three - falling two spots.

The top 10 welcomes three new countries to its ranks with Uruguay moving up 10 spots to sixth after their fourth place finish in the World Cup, Egypt moved into ninth, and Chile claimed the 10th spot.  Egypt, who won the most recent Africa Cup of Nations title, gained three spots in the rankings despite not qualifying for the World Cup.

Paraguay, the surprise quarterfinalists in South Africa, made the biggest jump of anyone previously ranked in the top 50 - moving up 15 spots to the 16th rank.  France tumbled out of the top 20 to the 21st spot for the first time since the rankings were introduced in 1992.

The United States were placed as CONCACAF's highest ranked country at 13th in a tie with Serbia - the highest the U.S. has been ranked since 2005.  The U.S. was ranked 14th last month.

Here's how the new top 10 looks:

1. Spain

2. Netherlands

3. Brazil

4. Germany

5. Argentina

6. Uruguay

7. England

8. Portugal

9. Egypt

10. Chile

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Defending Wimbledon champion, Serena Williams, will miss all four of her World Team Tennis matches this season for the Washington Kastles with a cut on her foot, the league announced Wednesday. 

Williams ... cut her foot earlier this week and was not able to play her first WTT match against the New York Buzz in Glens Falls, N.Y., on Friday, July 9. Williams was also scheduled to play WTT matches for the Kastles in Philadelphia(July 13), Washington, D.C. (July 14) and New York (July 15). [...]

"I'm very disappointed that I won't be able to play in the WTT matches this season," said Williams. "It is always such a fun experience and I love interacting with the fans in the cities that I don't often have the opportunity to play in during the rest of the year."

The Kastles, in their third year of existence, went through all of the trouble during the much anticipated WTT off-season to acquire Venus Williams from the Philadelphia Freedoms in order to keep her sister happy. The pairing wasn't meant to be, however. Serena is being a good sport about it, as the cut on her foot did not stop her from travelling with the team to Glen Falls to sign some autographs.

Nonetheless, the defending champs don't seem worried about their star attraction's injury. From the Kastles' press release:

"We are very sorry that our Kastles teammate Serena William has an injury and won't be able to play this season. She has been an important part of our team, both on and off the court, and we wish her well for a speedy recovery," said owner Mark Ein. "Our team is filled with talent and experience as exhibited by our strong start and five and one record, and each member of the squad remains committed to keeping the WTT crown in Washington, D.C. The crowds at Kastles Stadium have been full, loud and passionate this season and we know we can rely on that kind of home court advantage for our last five home matches."

The Kastles will be giving fans a choice of either a free dinner and beverage, merchandise discounts, or $20 off a future ticket in response to Serena's absence.  

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The days since Michelle Wie was considered a phenom and the future of women's golf have long since passed, but she had always managed to stay in the picture.  Entering the U.S. Women's Open in Oakmont, Pennsylvania on Thursday, Wie was the 10th ranked woman in the world.  That ranking will most likely take a major hit after Wie shot an 11-over 82 to shoot herself out of contention on the first day of the tournament.  

Wie landed in only four of 14 fairways off the tee and made a scant six greens in regulation during a frustrating round in which she had five bogeys and three double bogeys.

It was the 20-year-old Wie's worst round since an 84 at the Evian Masters in 2007.

South African Kelli Shean is the only golfer under par right now.  Shean is at 2-under after her first nine holes.  The world's top female golfer, Cristie Kerr, is currently tied for second through seven holes at an even par.

The full leader board can be found on the LPGA's official website.