F00TBALl LATEST INFO

Joan Rodrigo Silva Santos didn't come home Monday
night.
When the former professional footballer's wife
opened the door on her way to work the next
morning, she found his severed head on their front
step.
The head was inside a backpack, police said. Santos'
eyes and tongue had been gouged out, according to
Brazilian media reports.
Player stabbed, referee dismembered over soccer
quarrel in Brazil
Now police in Rio de Janeiro are investigating the
grisly killing, though they haven't said who they
believe is behind it.
Santos, 35, was a forward for a number of mostly
second-tier Rio de Janeiro football teams before
retiring and opening a health foods store.
His death comes at a time when football fans
worldwide are shifting their focus toward Brazil,
which will host the World Cup in 2014.
One police official told Brazil's O Globo newspaper
that authorities are investigating whether a recent
post on the store's Facebook page could be
connected to the crime. The post showed
surveillance footage and asked for help catching
shoplifters.
Police plan to compare the images to surveillance
footage taken at the shop Monday night, chief
homicide investigator Rafael Rangel told the
newspaper.
The former football player was last seen Monday
night, when two suspects entered his vehicle, CNN
affiliate TV Record reported.
On Wednesday morning, police said they found parts
of a man's body in a river outside the city and were
testing the DNA to see whether the remains belong
to Santos, TV Record said.
Authorities have interviewed 10 witnesses so far in
the case, police said.
According to local media, Santos' wife, Geisa Silva,
worked for the police in one of Rio's shantytowns,
but as a social worker giving swimming lessons to
children, not as a policewoman.
She told investigators she did not know of any
threats made against her husband, according to TV
Record.
Some of Santos' relatives and neighbors told O Globo
that he didn't have any enemies and said they didn't
know what could have motivated the attack.
Brazil boosts World Cup security budget as crime
rises
Santos started his football career when he was 16
years old, and played for several Brazilian club
teams. He played for the Bangu club team from 1996
to 2005, according to a biography on the club's
unofficial website.
In 1998, he played for Honduras' Olimpia club. And in
2003 he played for Sweden's Oster club, the website
says.
The website calls Santos a "humble hero," describing
how goals he scored brought victory to another club
team he joined.
According to the FutRio.net football news site, Santos
left the field earlier this year to focus on his
business.
The site reported that club players in Rio de Janeiro
on Wednesday honored Santos with a minute of
silence.