(@TRK_Gerrard)

David Beckham has announced that he will retire at the end of this season and Sky Sports News was all over the story, making sure that no matter where your eyeballs are looking, you know the news. Except for the part of the screen with former England manager Steve McClaren looking forlorn.

Beckham released a statement on his Facebook page to announce his decision. Here it is in full:

I'm thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level. If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over one hundred times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy. I'm fortunate to have realised those dreams.

To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country. I knew every time I wore the Three Lions shirt, I was not only following

Following a brief retirement, Juan Roman Riquelme is back with Boca Juniors and he's up to his old tricks. In the 25th minute of the second leg of Boca's Copa Libertadores round of 16 tie against Corinthians, Riquelme launched a shot from distance that floated over the diving keeper and into to far side of the net.

Though Corinthians would score early in the second half, Riquelme's goal proved to be the difference as Boca won by an aggregate score of 2-1. Things could've gone differently if Pato didn't have a costly freakout on a golden scoring chance late in the game, though. Have a look...

(Getty)

Congratulations, Rafa. You have proven that you can win the Europa League with the reigning champions of Europe. This is as impressive as Cristiano Ronaldo winning a handsome competition held under a bridge. You did something that should happen. And now you want credit for it like a 15-year-old looking to be commended for not wetting the bed during sleep time. So I will give you as much as you deserve.

People say you have vindicated yourself, Rafa. But what have you done at Chelsea? Win the Premier League twice, the FA Cup once and the League Cup twice? No. That was me. When you rubbed a magic lamp and asked the genie to turn you from a blog person back into a manager last November, Chelsea were four points out of first place and had four trophies to compete for. Then you showed up with your 1998 goatee and everything got worse.

First, you signed a contract to be the "interim manager" even though you did not want to be called "interim." Then you could not fit into any of the club's

Chelsea are now the first club to ever hold the Champions League title and Europa League titles at the same time (for 10 days, anyway) by beating Benfica 2-1 in the Europa League final. For Benfica, it extends their streak of seven European finals without a win. The Bela Guttman curse lives on.

After an ugly first half dominated by Benfica's supernatural inability to finish, Chelsea went on the attack and Fernando Torres opened the scoring in the 59th minute with a vintage move around the keeper before burying the ball in the far side of the net (gif here). Nine minutes later, Benfica equalized with a penalty from a Cesar Azpiliqueta handball. The match seemed destined for extra time after several near misses and ignored penalty shouts, but Branislav Ivanovic floated in a glorious header off a corner kick in the third minute of injury time to give Chelsea the historic win.

It was a match that perpetuated a number of oddities. Fernando Torres' goal was brilliant and his sixth in as

Lyon, who won every match and only allowed five goals in their 20-match French Division 1 Feminine season, have offered to replay their French Cup semifinal against Montpellier after a referee mistake tainted the deciding shootout. Lyon won the shootout 6-5 after Montpellier's Rumi Utsugi had her first successful attempt disallowed because the ball moved just before she took her shot and her second successful attempt disallowed because the ref ruled the ball dead for hitting the post, even though it then went off the keeper's arm and in the net.

Montpellier were understandably aggrieved by this outcome and Lyon, who obviously have had no trouble winning without the help of the referee all season, have displayed an admirable level of sportsmanship by offering to replay the whole match.

From Reuters:

"Olympique Lyon confirm they have offered Montpellier a replay of their French Cup semi-final... (for reasons of) fair-play and taking into account the good relationship between the clubs,"

Zurich scores the only goal of the derby. (Reuters)

Fans attending last weekend's derby between FC Zurich and Grasshoppers agreed to enter the stadium 10 minutes after kick-off as a protest against increased security measures. Despite the nearly empty stands at the start of the match, chants from the non-existant crowd during this period could be heard in the highlights aired by Swiss broadcaster SRF. This, obviously, was not possible without the help of some editing room trickery, which SRF has now admitted.

From Reuters:

"In order to make the report as attractive as possible, the chants of the fans were subsequently edited into highlights of the game," SRF said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The decision was taken under great time pressure. It was wrong, we apologize for it. Manipulation of sounds or images is not allowed."

This is the part where you suggest your least favorite team with a quiet ground try this and then smugly chuckle to yourself.

(Getty)

There was a time not too long ago when any team on the planet would've wanted Wayne Rooney in their starting XI. But several years, a hair transplant and two transfer demands later and that isn't the case anymore. Now the teams that want him can't afford him and the teams that can afford him don't seem to want him.

Bayern Munich, for example, were recently rumored to be the 28-year-old striker's destination of choice. Matthias Sammer, the German champions' sporting director has made it clear that they're not interested, though.

From the Guardian:

"I don't know what Rooney would bring to the Bundesliga," Sammer said. "I can't answer that. I can answer that we have great respect for Wayne Rooney but there has been no contact with him. There is no contact and he's not on the agenda. No, no. Absolutely not."

When Mario Gomez, a guy who was the Bundesliga's second best scorer last season with 26 goals, can't even get regular starts then you know Sammer isn't just talking a big game.

Richard Swanson (breakawaybrazil.com)

A man attempting to dribble a ball from Seattle to Sao Paulo, Brazil in time for the 2014 World Cup was hit by a car and killed in Lincoln City, Oregon just 14 days into his journey. Richard Swanson, a 42-year-old Seattle Sounders fan, began his trip on May 1 and planned visit 11 countries during his year-long adventure. He maintained a website dedicated to the experience at breakawaybrazil.com. Sadly, he didn't make it very far.

From The News Guard:

According to police, Swanson was walking south along the south bound shoulder of Highway 101 near the south city limits of Lincoln City. Swanson was struck from behind by a 1995 Nissan pickup operated by Scott Van Hiatt, 52, of Neskowin. Mr. Hiatt remained at the scene and has been cooperating with the investigation.

Medics from Pacific West Ambulance transported Swanson to Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital, where Swanson was declared deceased.

According to The Oregonian, the blue ball pictured right was found with him.

In a video