BARCELONA, Spain - Tito Vilanova, the coach who succeeded Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and won the Spanish league title in his only season in charge, died Friday following a long battle with throat cancer. cheap nfl jerseys . He was 45. Vilanova, who has battled a recurring tumour in a saliva gland, was admitted to a local hospital in Barcelona last week. He reportedly had emergency surgery on Thursday. "It is with sadness that Barcelona must announce that Francesc Tito Vilanova has died today at the age of 45," Barcelona said in a statement on its website. "The death of our former coach occurred this afternoon when he could not overcome this disease which he had battled since 2011." Vilanovas death prompted an outpouring of condolences from players and coaches across Europe. Barcelona star Lionel Messi posted a photograph of himself with Vilanova on his Facebook page with the message: "We will always remember you. All my sympathy goes to Titos family." Former Barcelona defender Eric Abidal, who recovered from liver cancer and a liver transplant to help hoist the 2012-13 league trophy with Vilanova, wrote on Twitter: "For everything we went through together, I will always remember you, my friend. Thanks for fighting." Spains royal family and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also sent telegrams to Vilanovas family and Barcelona, according to the Europa Press news agency. Vilanova first became ill in November 2011, while still an assistant to Guardiola, and took a leave of absence after undergoing surgery. The soft-spoken Vilanova returned and took over from Guardiola the next season, when he led Barcelona to the Spanish league title with a record-tying 100 points. Vilanova had a second tumour removed in December 2012 and travelled to New York several times during the season to receive further treatment before returning to the sidelines. In April 2013, Vilanova said he felt fine and "had never thought about quitting." He finished the season before suddenly being forced to resign following a relapse in July. As an assistant, Vilanova helped Guardiola propel Barcelona into its most successful period and transform a team led by Messi into the worlds best. With a team that also included several of the players that led Spain to the World Cup title in 2010, Barcelona won 14 of a possible 19 major trophies from 2008-12 under Guardiola before adding the league title with Vilanova in 2013. Despite the impressive league display, Vilanova was unable to win another Champions League title last season. Barcelona lost to eventual champion Bayern Munich 7-0 on aggregate in the semifinals, one of its most humbling results of the last decade. As Guardiolas assistant, Vilanova provided the tactical know-how that helped the coach build one of the best teams in the history of the sport — winning two Champions League titles in its impressive haul. Vilanova will also be remembered for his role in a brawl in the 2010 Spanish Super Cup won by Barcelona, when Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho poked him in the eye. Mourinho, who is now at Chelsea, also sent his condolences "at this most difficult time." "Tito Vilanovas passing is a sad day for football, for Barcelona and most importantly for his family and friends," Mourinho said. Born in the Catalan village of Bellcaire dEmporda, Vilanova began his career as a player at Barcelonas training academy from 1984-89 but never made it to the first team. Instead, he went on to play for clubs such as Celta Vigo and Mallorca before his career was cut short by a serious knee injury. Vilanova then went into coaching and got a job in Barcelonas youth system, tutoring current players Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas and Messi. Vilanova left to work as sport director at third-division club Terrassa before returning to Barcelona to take over the clubs "Barca B" feeder team. His funeral will be on Monday at Barcelonas cathedral. Vilanova is survived by his wife, Montse Chaure, and two children. His son Adrian is currently in Barcelonas youth academy. AP Sports Writer Paul Logothetis contributed to this report from Madrid. cheap wholesale jerseys .C. -- Canadians Vivian Tsui and Jennifer Kirby are tied for the lead after Thursdays third round of the Royale Cup Canadian Womens Amateur Championship. cheap nfl jerseys from china . Attfield will chase a record ninth win in the 1 1/4-mile race at Woodbine Racetrack, his last coming in 2008 with Not Bourbon. His horse, Check Your Soul, is the 3-1 early favourite and will leave from the No.PRETORIA, South Africa -- Using witness accounts of a panicked nighttime phone call from Oscar Pistorius begging for help and his desperate pleas for Reeva Steenkamp to stay alive, the defence at his murder trial tried to reinforce its case Monday that the double-amputee Olympian fatally shot his girlfriend in a tragic error of judgment. Johan Stander and his daughter Carice Viljoen, neighbours and friends of Pistorius, testified that they were at the runners villa soon after the shooting on Feb. 14, 2013 and that Pistorius was praying, trying to help Steenkamp breathe and urging her to live. Viljoen testified that Pistorius was saying to Steenkamp as she lay on the floor with multiple gunshot wounds: "Stay with me, my love, stay with me." The world-famous disabled runner had shot four times through a toilet cubicle door with his 9 mm pistol minutes earlier, hitting Steenkamp in the hip, arm and head. He claims he thought she was a dangerous intruder in the cubicle in his darkened bathroom. Prosecutors maintain Pistorius, 27, is lying about the perceived trespasser, and his story is designed to cover up that he killed the 29-year-old model intentionally in the midst of a heated argument. The first amputee to run at the Olympics in 2012, Pistorius faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of a premeditated murder charge. The testimonies from the neighbours began the seventh week of proceedings in the globally televised trial, which resumed after a two-week recess. Stander testified that Pistorius phoned him at around 3:19 a.m. -- about two minutes after the shooting. Pistorius told him he had thought Steenkamp was an intruder and shot her, Stander testified, and Stander and his daughter went to Pistorius house after the world-famous runner pleaded for him to come and help. "I saw the truth there that morning. I saw it and I feel it," Stander testified, saying he believed that the shooting was accidental because of Pistorius desperation when they found him carrying a bloodied Steenkamp downstairs from the upstairs bathroom. Pistorius was "really crying. He was in pain," Stander said. Standers own voice shook at one point and he became emotional as he described Pistorius state. "He was torn apart, broken, desperate, pleading," Stander said. "Its difficult really to describe." The defence was trying to underline its scenario that Pistorius was emotionally distressed after shooting Steenkamp by mistake.dddddddddddd Pistorius lawyers were also trying to regain some momentum after chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel put Pistorius under intense pressure during the runners own testimony, which appeared to show some inconsistencies in his story. The prosecution has preferred to focus on events before the killing -- and not Pistorius demeanour afterward -- to try and show that his version is a fabrication, including that he never attempted to locate Steenkamp despite knowing she was awake before walking to the bathroom on his stumps and firing through the toilet door. Pistorius slumped forward in the Pretoria courtroom Monday with his head in his hands as details of what may have been Steenkamps last moments alive were discussed. Cross-examining Stander, Nel questioned if he was a good friend of Pistorius and therefore trying to "assist" the defence. Stander said he had known Pistorius since 2009 and looked after his home and dogs when he was away. Nel asked if the friendship led him to back Pistorius story. Stander said he also knew Steenkamp. "Im here to give the truth," Stander said. "And I think Ive given the truth, what I saw that morning." Nels manner in cross-examining both Stander and Viljoen was relatively subdued in contrast to his aggressive questioning during his five-day questioning of Pistorius, and of two expert witnesses for the defence. Stander earlier recounted the telephone call from Pistorius that woke him up in the pre-dawn hours of Valentines Day. "He (Pistorius) said on the call, Johan, please, please, please come to my house. Please. I shot Reeva. I thought she was an intruder. Please come quick," Stander said. Viljoen testified that when they arrived at the house, Pistorius begged her to help him get Steenkamp into a car so they could take her to a hospital. Viljoen said she urged Pistorius to "just put her down" so they could try and stop the bleeding. As Viljoen spoke, her voice broke and she became tearful. "I just saw blood everywhere," she said. Her father stepped outside to telephone an ambulance, Viljoen said, and she went upstairs to fetch towels to stop the bleeding. Pistorius was pleading for Steenkamp to stay alive, she said. "He kept on egging Reeva to just stay with him," she testified. ' ' '
