World News for Week of Oct 16th
Piksi Stojkovic ditches Red Star, returns to Japan
Dragan Stojkovic has stepped down from the presidential position in Red Star Belgrade and is about to take over as sporting director at his old club Nagoya Grampus. According to Japan Today, Piksi will rejoin Grampus, for whom he played during eight glorious seasons in the J-League, in December.
Club representative Yoshiro Fukushima was a bit more cautious:
"He is one of the candidates we have spoken to. He has strong ties to our club and plans his future here."
The former highly honoured Serb international leaves Red Star after a less than impressive start to the new season for the champions, amid the turnmoil currently affecting Serb soccer.
Piksi (a nickname coming from Pixie, a cartoon character) said no-one had pressured him to step down and that he did not feel betrayed or disappointed.
Buffon leaves stadium in a trunk
Juventus and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon explained why he had left the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence in the trunk of his car on October 7th.
"There were some controversial plays during the match and the atmosphere was tense. I had a friend of mine drive me in such a position in order to avoid conflict with discontented Fiorentina fans. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was better than facing an angry crowd," said 194 cm tall Buffon.
The keeper also departed from the same stadium in an unorthodox fashion eight years ago.
"After Parma's FA Cup victory at Fiorentina I left the premises with a clown mask on. This way I went past the home supporters with no problem whatsoever."
Kanouté attacked with a belt!
One of the best centre-forwards in the world, Sevilla's Frederic Kanouté, was injured in mass fighting after the Togo vs Mali game in the qualifications for the African 2008 Nations' Cup in Ghana.
The match in Lomé was won by Mali 2-0, but the local hooligans responded with a collective charge on the visiting players and fans.
Kanouté was struck with a belt on his arm, suffering a cut which had to be sewn up with three stitches. Stoke's Mamadi Sidibé also found himself on the receiving end, being stabbed with a knife in his arm.
Mali's coach Jean-Francois Jodar described the situation as a "battlefield".
"In the dressing rooms where our players took refuge there was blood everywhere."
Vágner Love loses a €40,000 earring
Russian clubs pay very, very well. Brazil forward Vágner Love lost an earring worth 40,000 euros during a practice at Granja Comary, preparing for WC qualifying games against Colombia and Ecuador.
Vágner was desperate not only over the price but because such an earring can only be purchased in Russia so he will have to wait until he returns to Moscow before he completes the pair.
"I really lost it during training. I hope the Russians agree to sell me just one piece," said the CSKA player aware that he may have to buy a whole new pair at €80,000.
Barca's chairman urges players to spare effors on national duty
"I expect Barcelona internationals to calm their efforts while they are on national duty," said Barca chairman Joan Laporta to his players Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández and Carles Puyol during the League break for Spain's Euro qualifying games against Denmark and Sweden.
The statement caused shock in Spain and there were comments that Laporta, a noted Catalonian nationalist, would not require the same of his players were a prospective Catalonian national team in question.
"The internationals are capable of both playing for their country and relaxing," said Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Ramos with respect to Laporta's "advice".
Valencia's Miguel Ángel Angulo was even more explicit.
"My club has given no such instructions to Valencia's internationals. Sparing efforts while playing for Spain is not an option. Besides, the season is young and our legs are still fresh," said Angulo, whose club provides the most players for Luis Aragones's team.
Croatia top overall qualifiers table ahead of Scotland
By beating Israel 1-0 the Croatian national team went on top of the table including all teams taking part in the current Euro 2008 qualifiers. Slaven Bilic's team is the only one with 26 points, two more than Scotland and Poland, the latter with two games more played.
Croatia also lead the table based on point percentage, with 86.7%, while Germany and Romania share the second and the third spot with 85.2%. These teams are the only ones to have dropped just four points, but Croatia's result is superior due to having played a game more.
Euro qualifiers table
1. Croatia 26 points/10 games
2. Scotland 24/10
3. Poland 24/12
4. Germany 23/9
5. England 23/10
6. Romania 23/9
7. Italy 23/10
PREDICTIONS
Sweden, Czechia and Croatia almost through
Only Germany have mathematically made sure of qualifying but several other teams are just an inch away from Austria and Switzerland. Sweden, Czech Republic and Croatia are among them, while England and Scotland could be there if they win on Wednesday.
Groups A and B
None
Group C
Greece (1st). Need three points from three remaining games. Plays Malta at home.
Group D
Czechia (2nd). A point from their next three games will see them through.
Group E
Croatia (1st). In the worst case just need to avoid losing 0-2 or by more goals in England.
Group F
Sweden (1st). One point from three games will suffice.
Spain (2nd). One point from two games will be enough.
Group G
Romania (1st) Just have to beat Luxembourg and Albania.
Hanging by a thread
Among the big teams whose qualification is less than certain are Italy and Turkey.
Group A
Serbia (4th spot). Needs three wins but also for Poland or Portugal to slip up at home.
Group B
Italy (2nd). Probably have to beat Scotland in Glasgow unless the Scots fail to win in Georgia.
Group C
Turkey (2nd). Imperative to defeat Greece at home but also avoid defeat in Norway.
Group E
Russia (3rd). Needs all three wins including against England and in Israel.
Group G
Bulgaria (3rd). Not even beating Romania guarantees a safe passage.
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Showing posts with label World Soccer News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World Soccer News. Show all posts
Monday, October 15, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
World Soccer News 29/09/2007
Title over sex, booze and holidays
Numerous English soccer fans would be willing to renounce to sex, alcohol and holidays if that was to guarantee success of their favourite teams.
The poll conducted by Virgin Money from a sample of 2500 fans showed that sex and alcohol would be the first victims the fans would be ready to sacrifice for the sake of their teams' results. Next in line people would dispense with are time with family and summer holidays.
The most willing to renounce pleasure for success are Newcastle United followers provided that would give their team a Premiership title. Such an attitude is likely a result of a 38-year wait since the Magpies' last trophy, the Intercity Fairs' Cup won in 1969.
The Toon Army are followed by Birmingham City, Sunderland, Wigan and Manchester United fans. Arsenal fans are ninth and Liverpool followers are not in the top ten.
On the other end of the table are Bolton fans, who are the least willing to give up on anything for their team to win. Possibly because of the awareness that no sacrifice would suffice.
A year in prison over a rough foul
The regional court in the northern Argentinian province of Salti sentenced an amateur soccer player to a year in jail over a very rough foul which almost permanently blinded a rival player.
The aggressive or reckless Marcelo Cil (37) was also sentenced to pay 7000 USD in damages to the injured player whom he smashed in the head with his forearm, inflicting him with severe injuries.
The provincial soccer association concurred with the assessment of the gravity of the injury and suspended Cil for five years.
The convict claims the foul was unintentional and that he was sent off just once in 15 years and "not even over foul play but because of time wasting."
Don't shoot to hard at Casillas
Real Madrid's goalkeeper Iker Casillas has insured his arms for 7.5 million euros in exchange for endorsing the Groupama insurance company.
According to the agreement between Casillas and Groupama, the insurance policy will run until the end of the current season and covers all injuries sustained under any circumstances, including outside the soccer field.
Groupama representatives joked during the contract signing ceremony in Madrid, asking all the players of Primera División to "refrain from shooting hard towards Iker's goal," while the 27-year-old responded that even if he injured his knee, he would report an injury to his arms.
Uli Höness warns Lukas Podolski
Bayern Munich GM, Uli Höness, said his international forward Lukas Podolski had to change his way of thinking if he had the ambition of making a career in the Bavarian team.
"I read his interview in which he said he had nothing to prove to anybody. And I have to say he is much mistaken. On the contrary, he has plenty to prove because he has not achieved anything," said the former World Cup winner to "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
Podolski, one of the leading young strikers in Germany, joined Bayern from Köln after last year's World Cup in Germany where he starred alongside Miroslav Klose.
The Polish-born player regularly features for Germany (40 caps, 23 goals) but is having a hard time winning a place in Bayern's starting eleven – partly due to a nagging knee injury.
New guys Klose and Luca Toni have scored nine goals in the first six League matches, keeping Podolski far from Ottmar Hitzfeld's line-up.
"If he does not change his attitude radically, he will not succeed here. In the next six to eight months it will be clear if he has succeeded or not," added Höness, describing Podolski's left foot as "his only weapon."
The youngster responded by saying he would prove his worth if he could finally get seven or eight games in a row.
Golden Ball becomes a global affair
Milan's Kaká is reportedly fancied to win this year's France Football's Golden Ball, but as of this season this prize will also be available to his fellow countrymen who play outside Europe.
Until this year, the magnificent offensive midfielder would have been eligible as a member of an European club, but now the club affiliation is no longer a criterion.
The French magazine that has been awarding the prize since 1956 has announced that the Golden Ball will now be a recognition for the world's best player and the jury has been expanded from 53 to 96 members from all over the globe.
This is the second major change in the rules that govern the eligibility for the Golden Ball. The first was introduced in 1995 extending the right to participate to non-European footballers playing in Europe. The new rule seemed tailor made for the Liberian George Weah, who came out on top that year.
Last year's winner was Italy's Fabio Cannavaro thanks to a grand display at the World Cup.
Mário Zagallo finally retires
The most successful personality in World Cup history, the legendary Mário Zagallo, has announced his retirement at 76.
"I will not coach again at club or international level. Sincerely, I have not been watching soccer much lately," said the former great player, head coach and assistant coach of the Brazilian soccer team.
His last job was technical coordinator of Brazil's World Cup team in Germany.
"If they had asked me to continue, I probably would have kept on working," said "Lobo" (Wolf) Zagallo.
The revered veteran won two world titles as a player together with Pelé, Vavá and Garrincha (1958 and 1962), one as the coach (1970) and one as assistant coach (1994).
"It will be hard for anybody to emulate these achievements. I was lucky to have become manager soon after retiring as a player," concluded the popular Brazilian.
Laporta withdraws support for the Prime Minister
Barcelona waited for a long time for a Spanish Prime Minister who was also a Barca fan. He finally came in 2004 in the person of José Luis Zapatero.
Therefore it was no surprise that the club's chairman Joan Laporta dedicated to him among other people the Champions' League won in 2006 against Arsenal.
Now Laporta claims he is sorry for the gesture, since Zapatero has failed to fulfill his expectations regarding the rights of the Catalans.
"Then I believed he was a champion for Spain as a multi-ethnic country, whereas now I realize he has not moved far as far as Catalonia's national rights are concerned. (...) Spain needs us only for the money," said the controversial Barcelona chairman, not hiding his political preferences for the future.
"I hope Catalonia one days appears in a World Cup as an independent country."
Following this episode, many people all over Spain are accusing Laporta of abusing his presidential position in Barcelona in order to enhance his stature with a view to a possible future involvement in politics.
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Numerous English soccer fans would be willing to renounce to sex, alcohol and holidays if that was to guarantee success of their favourite teams.
The poll conducted by Virgin Money from a sample of 2500 fans showed that sex and alcohol would be the first victims the fans would be ready to sacrifice for the sake of their teams' results. Next in line people would dispense with are time with family and summer holidays.
The most willing to renounce pleasure for success are Newcastle United followers provided that would give their team a Premiership title. Such an attitude is likely a result of a 38-year wait since the Magpies' last trophy, the Intercity Fairs' Cup won in 1969.
The Toon Army are followed by Birmingham City, Sunderland, Wigan and Manchester United fans. Arsenal fans are ninth and Liverpool followers are not in the top ten.
On the other end of the table are Bolton fans, who are the least willing to give up on anything for their team to win. Possibly because of the awareness that no sacrifice would suffice.
A year in prison over a rough foul
The regional court in the northern Argentinian province of Salti sentenced an amateur soccer player to a year in jail over a very rough foul which almost permanently blinded a rival player.
The aggressive or reckless Marcelo Cil (37) was also sentenced to pay 7000 USD in damages to the injured player whom he smashed in the head with his forearm, inflicting him with severe injuries.
The provincial soccer association concurred with the assessment of the gravity of the injury and suspended Cil for five years.
The convict claims the foul was unintentional and that he was sent off just once in 15 years and "not even over foul play but because of time wasting."
Don't shoot to hard at Casillas
Real Madrid's goalkeeper Iker Casillas has insured his arms for 7.5 million euros in exchange for endorsing the Groupama insurance company.
According to the agreement between Casillas and Groupama, the insurance policy will run until the end of the current season and covers all injuries sustained under any circumstances, including outside the soccer field.
Groupama representatives joked during the contract signing ceremony in Madrid, asking all the players of Primera División to "refrain from shooting hard towards Iker's goal," while the 27-year-old responded that even if he injured his knee, he would report an injury to his arms.
Uli Höness warns Lukas Podolski
Bayern Munich GM, Uli Höness, said his international forward Lukas Podolski had to change his way of thinking if he had the ambition of making a career in the Bavarian team.
"I read his interview in which he said he had nothing to prove to anybody. And I have to say he is much mistaken. On the contrary, he has plenty to prove because he has not achieved anything," said the former World Cup winner to "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
Podolski, one of the leading young strikers in Germany, joined Bayern from Köln after last year's World Cup in Germany where he starred alongside Miroslav Klose.
The Polish-born player regularly features for Germany (40 caps, 23 goals) but is having a hard time winning a place in Bayern's starting eleven – partly due to a nagging knee injury.
New guys Klose and Luca Toni have scored nine goals in the first six League matches, keeping Podolski far from Ottmar Hitzfeld's line-up.
"If he does not change his attitude radically, he will not succeed here. In the next six to eight months it will be clear if he has succeeded or not," added Höness, describing Podolski's left foot as "his only weapon."
The youngster responded by saying he would prove his worth if he could finally get seven or eight games in a row.
Golden Ball becomes a global affair
Milan's Kaká is reportedly fancied to win this year's France Football's Golden Ball, but as of this season this prize will also be available to his fellow countrymen who play outside Europe.
Until this year, the magnificent offensive midfielder would have been eligible as a member of an European club, but now the club affiliation is no longer a criterion.
The French magazine that has been awarding the prize since 1956 has announced that the Golden Ball will now be a recognition for the world's best player and the jury has been expanded from 53 to 96 members from all over the globe.
This is the second major change in the rules that govern the eligibility for the Golden Ball. The first was introduced in 1995 extending the right to participate to non-European footballers playing in Europe. The new rule seemed tailor made for the Liberian George Weah, who came out on top that year.
Last year's winner was Italy's Fabio Cannavaro thanks to a grand display at the World Cup.
Mário Zagallo finally retires
The most successful personality in World Cup history, the legendary Mário Zagallo, has announced his retirement at 76.
"I will not coach again at club or international level. Sincerely, I have not been watching soccer much lately," said the former great player, head coach and assistant coach of the Brazilian soccer team.
His last job was technical coordinator of Brazil's World Cup team in Germany.
"If they had asked me to continue, I probably would have kept on working," said "Lobo" (Wolf) Zagallo.
The revered veteran won two world titles as a player together with Pelé, Vavá and Garrincha (1958 and 1962), one as the coach (1970) and one as assistant coach (1994).
"It will be hard for anybody to emulate these achievements. I was lucky to have become manager soon after retiring as a player," concluded the popular Brazilian.
Laporta withdraws support for the Prime Minister
Barcelona waited for a long time for a Spanish Prime Minister who was also a Barca fan. He finally came in 2004 in the person of José Luis Zapatero.
Therefore it was no surprise that the club's chairman Joan Laporta dedicated to him among other people the Champions' League won in 2006 against Arsenal.
Now Laporta claims he is sorry for the gesture, since Zapatero has failed to fulfill his expectations regarding the rights of the Catalans.
"Then I believed he was a champion for Spain as a multi-ethnic country, whereas now I realize he has not moved far as far as Catalonia's national rights are concerned. (...) Spain needs us only for the money," said the controversial Barcelona chairman, not hiding his political preferences for the future.
"I hope Catalonia one days appears in a World Cup as an independent country."
Following this episode, many people all over Spain are accusing Laporta of abusing his presidential position in Barcelona in order to enhance his stature with a view to a possible future involvement in politics.
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Saturday, September 22, 2007
World Soccer News 23/09/2007
Platini seeks help from politicians
Michel Platini, UEFA's president, has launched a desperate plea to the leaders of all European countries asking them for help in the battle against ruthless soccer capitalists.
"A serious threat hangs over the development of European football. (...) Money has never been the ultimate objective of football: the main purpose has always been to win trophies. For the first time we may be entering an era in which financial profit alone will be the measure of sporting success," wrote Platini in his letter to the only people who could stop several dozen tycoons from bringing all the best world's players to several dozen West European clubs leaving the rest with nothing.
Platini knows that it is the EU politicians who have enabled the businessmen to treat soccer as just another branch of industry disregarding its particularities as a sporting competition with strong ties to local communities.
The interests of tens of millions of fans from less affluent parts of the world are being largely ignored by EU legislators and their protégés.
Quality soccer has been played for decades in hundreds of clubs over five continents but the unstoppable onslaught of magnates investing in English, Spanish, Italian and German team threatens to turn all other territories into a soccer desert.
UEFA's president believes that English soccer is the most threatened due to the increaing interest of foreign billionaires investing in the Premier League, but it is really soccer elsewhere in the world that is being endangered by the situation, since hundreds of quality players pour into the Premiership draining other sources.
But, will any legislator put the long-term interest of soccer (and the fans) ahead of the profit of the football fat cats?
Alex Del Piero gives Donadoni a semi-ultimatum
Juventus' captain Alessandro Del Piero is disappointed with his display against France (0-0) in the wide left role, but even more so by coach Robert Donadoni's decision to play him where he doesn't feel right.
"I accepted to play on the left flank, but it was the last time I have played where I don't belong. It is not blackmail but a statement of facts. As a forward, I can do certain things that I cannot do as a midfielder. Let Donadoni play me upfront or not at all," said Del Piero.
The coach has chosen the latter option by leaving the veteran out of the team for Ukraine in Kiev.
The Italian media suspect that this semi-ultimatum is Del Piero's tactic to sneak out of the national team as both Alessandro Nesta and Francesco Totti have done recently.
Still, the "Juventino" says: "I would like to complete this cycle and play at Euro 2008."
Mourinho leaves Chelsea with plenty of money
José Mourinho leaves Chelsea. The consensual termination of his contract will make the Portuguese coach a very wealthy man, as the severance pay may reach 35 million euros. Mourinho brought Chelsea to two League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups, but also made the team less than popular among rival and neutral fans thanks to his antics and arrogant comments in the press.
The former Porto coach said goodbye to all in a statement published on the club's web site, declaring himself proud of having worked at Chelsea and of the job he had done. The wording of the statement was uncharacteristically polite for Mourinho who proclaimed a never-ending love between himself and the fans.
Doubtlessly, this successful yet sometimes not quite likeable coach will soon secure another phenomenally paid job, but it will be much harder for Roman Abramovich to find someone quite as hard-nosed as José Mourinho. Maybe he should try with Luiz Felipe Scolari.
A fortuneteller "saves" Rosario: "Ditch number 14 and you will win"
The Argentinians of Rosario Central had a weak start to the championship with four draws and four losses in eight games. Fan leaders thought they could ask a local fortuneteller for advice.
A complete ingorance of the game of soccer did not prevent the lady in question from offering a solution:
"The player with number 14 must not play".
Indeed, for the next game the regular left back Andrés Imperiale, Rosario's no. 14, was left out of the team. He was not even on the bench, and the media believe the fans and the fortuneteller had something to do with it.
Amazingly, without the no. 14 Rosario scored their first win of the season and against no less a rival than their nemesis Newell's Old Boys. Rosario won 1-0 although they had two players sent off and coach Carlos Ischia was ecstatic: "This is one of my favourite wins ever. We deserved the points and we had a little luck."
If the coach really believes the no. 14 brings him bad luck, Imperiale could be left out of action until the end of the season, because that is the only time when Argentinian clubs can change shirt numbers.
Mexico change green colour to "stand out from the grass"
Mexico, one of the best soccer nations in the world, plans to abandon the traditional green colour of their shirts. Reason? The players are not sufficiently visible against the turf.
"In the future we shall wear white shirts at home games, and red shirts away from home, because in green uniforms our players do not stand out from the pitch," said the coach Hugo Sánchez.
"We have been considering this for a long time. The people responsible in the FA have agreed with my assesment that the green colour creates a feeling that our players are outnumbered on the pitch. Since the Mexican flag contains white and red, I have persuaded them that our team should wear all white or all red uniforms," added the greatest Mexican player in history.
Some media have hinted that Sánchez pleads for the white shirts because of his unforgotten love for Real Madrid, where he played for seven seasons.
"I like this colour because it is featured on our flag and it is a coincidence that Real Madrid wears it too. Soon it will seem there are 12 or 13 of us on the pitch rather than 10."
The FA may approve the definitive change of colours in December or January.
Dinamo Zagreb closes in on Benfica's record
The Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb could match Benfica's record for the number of consecutive league wins if they overcome Varteks in Varazdin on Sunday.
The Blue Lions have won their last 28 league games – 20 in the past season and eight in the current campaign, coming within one win of Benfica's 35 years old record.
In the meantime, Dinamo have extended their perfect domestic home record to an amazing 30 wins in a row. Since March 24th 2006 until last week's game with Slaven (4-0), the Zagreb team has won 25 league games, four in the FA Cup and one in the Supercup, scoring 80 and conceding only 15 goals.
A fire-cracker kills a boy in Ecuador
An 11-year old Barcelona Guayaquil fan, died from a fire-cracker that perforated his lungs before the big game in Ecuador between Barcelona and Emelec.
Little Carlos Cedeno passed away as the doctors attempted to resuscitate him. The police started an inquiry because pyrotechnic devices are banned from Ecuadorian stadia. All the fans from the grandstand from which the missile was probably fired were identified by club officials.
The fire-cracker was fired by an unknown fan towards an already full stand at the Monumental Stadium, in spite of hundreds of stewards trying to maintain order at the venue.
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Michel Platini, UEFA's president, has launched a desperate plea to the leaders of all European countries asking them for help in the battle against ruthless soccer capitalists.
"A serious threat hangs over the development of European football. (...) Money has never been the ultimate objective of football: the main purpose has always been to win trophies. For the first time we may be entering an era in which financial profit alone will be the measure of sporting success," wrote Platini in his letter to the only people who could stop several dozen tycoons from bringing all the best world's players to several dozen West European clubs leaving the rest with nothing.
Platini knows that it is the EU politicians who have enabled the businessmen to treat soccer as just another branch of industry disregarding its particularities as a sporting competition with strong ties to local communities.
The interests of tens of millions of fans from less affluent parts of the world are being largely ignored by EU legislators and their protégés.
Quality soccer has been played for decades in hundreds of clubs over five continents but the unstoppable onslaught of magnates investing in English, Spanish, Italian and German team threatens to turn all other territories into a soccer desert.
UEFA's president believes that English soccer is the most threatened due to the increaing interest of foreign billionaires investing in the Premier League, but it is really soccer elsewhere in the world that is being endangered by the situation, since hundreds of quality players pour into the Premiership draining other sources.
But, will any legislator put the long-term interest of soccer (and the fans) ahead of the profit of the football fat cats?
Alex Del Piero gives Donadoni a semi-ultimatum
Juventus' captain Alessandro Del Piero is disappointed with his display against France (0-0) in the wide left role, but even more so by coach Robert Donadoni's decision to play him where he doesn't feel right.
"I accepted to play on the left flank, but it was the last time I have played where I don't belong. It is not blackmail but a statement of facts. As a forward, I can do certain things that I cannot do as a midfielder. Let Donadoni play me upfront or not at all," said Del Piero.
The coach has chosen the latter option by leaving the veteran out of the team for Ukraine in Kiev.
The Italian media suspect that this semi-ultimatum is Del Piero's tactic to sneak out of the national team as both Alessandro Nesta and Francesco Totti have done recently.
Still, the "Juventino" says: "I would like to complete this cycle and play at Euro 2008."
Mourinho leaves Chelsea with plenty of money
José Mourinho leaves Chelsea. The consensual termination of his contract will make the Portuguese coach a very wealthy man, as the severance pay may reach 35 million euros. Mourinho brought Chelsea to two League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups, but also made the team less than popular among rival and neutral fans thanks to his antics and arrogant comments in the press.
The former Porto coach said goodbye to all in a statement published on the club's web site, declaring himself proud of having worked at Chelsea and of the job he had done. The wording of the statement was uncharacteristically polite for Mourinho who proclaimed a never-ending love between himself and the fans.
Doubtlessly, this successful yet sometimes not quite likeable coach will soon secure another phenomenally paid job, but it will be much harder for Roman Abramovich to find someone quite as hard-nosed as José Mourinho. Maybe he should try with Luiz Felipe Scolari.
A fortuneteller "saves" Rosario: "Ditch number 14 and you will win"
The Argentinians of Rosario Central had a weak start to the championship with four draws and four losses in eight games. Fan leaders thought they could ask a local fortuneteller for advice.
A complete ingorance of the game of soccer did not prevent the lady in question from offering a solution:
"The player with number 14 must not play".
Indeed, for the next game the regular left back Andrés Imperiale, Rosario's no. 14, was left out of the team. He was not even on the bench, and the media believe the fans and the fortuneteller had something to do with it.
Amazingly, without the no. 14 Rosario scored their first win of the season and against no less a rival than their nemesis Newell's Old Boys. Rosario won 1-0 although they had two players sent off and coach Carlos Ischia was ecstatic: "This is one of my favourite wins ever. We deserved the points and we had a little luck."
If the coach really believes the no. 14 brings him bad luck, Imperiale could be left out of action until the end of the season, because that is the only time when Argentinian clubs can change shirt numbers.
Mexico change green colour to "stand out from the grass"
Mexico, one of the best soccer nations in the world, plans to abandon the traditional green colour of their shirts. Reason? The players are not sufficiently visible against the turf.
"In the future we shall wear white shirts at home games, and red shirts away from home, because in green uniforms our players do not stand out from the pitch," said the coach Hugo Sánchez.
"We have been considering this for a long time. The people responsible in the FA have agreed with my assesment that the green colour creates a feeling that our players are outnumbered on the pitch. Since the Mexican flag contains white and red, I have persuaded them that our team should wear all white or all red uniforms," added the greatest Mexican player in history.
Some media have hinted that Sánchez pleads for the white shirts because of his unforgotten love for Real Madrid, where he played for seven seasons.
"I like this colour because it is featured on our flag and it is a coincidence that Real Madrid wears it too. Soon it will seem there are 12 or 13 of us on the pitch rather than 10."
The FA may approve the definitive change of colours in December or January.
Dinamo Zagreb closes in on Benfica's record
The Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb could match Benfica's record for the number of consecutive league wins if they overcome Varteks in Varazdin on Sunday.
The Blue Lions have won their last 28 league games – 20 in the past season and eight in the current campaign, coming within one win of Benfica's 35 years old record.
In the meantime, Dinamo have extended their perfect domestic home record to an amazing 30 wins in a row. Since March 24th 2006 until last week's game with Slaven (4-0), the Zagreb team has won 25 league games, four in the FA Cup and one in the Supercup, scoring 80 and conceding only 15 goals.
A fire-cracker kills a boy in Ecuador
An 11-year old Barcelona Guayaquil fan, died from a fire-cracker that perforated his lungs before the big game in Ecuador between Barcelona and Emelec.
Little Carlos Cedeno passed away as the doctors attempted to resuscitate him. The police started an inquiry because pyrotechnic devices are banned from Ecuadorian stadia. All the fans from the grandstand from which the missile was probably fired were identified by club officials.
The fire-cracker was fired by an unknown fan towards an already full stand at the Monumental Stadium, in spite of hundreds of stewards trying to maintain order at the venue.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Fifa World Rankings Sept 2007
Italy are top of the FIFA World Rankings followed by Argentina and Brazil. England are up to 9th place after two wins in Euro 2008 qualifying matches. Croatia, likely to top England's group, are 10th. Scotland rise to 14th after beating France (6th) in Paris.
1 Italy
2 Argentina
3 Brazil
4 Germany
5 Netherlands
6 France
7 Spain
8 Portugal
9 England
10 Croatia
11 Czech Republic
12 Romania
13 Mexico
14 Scotland
15 Greece
16 Poland
17 Ukraine
18 USA
19 Uruguay
20 Sweden
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1 Italy
2 Argentina
3 Brazil
4 Germany
5 Netherlands
6 France
7 Spain
8 Portugal
9 England
10 Croatia
11 Czech Republic
12 Romania
13 Mexico
14 Scotland
15 Greece
16 Poland
17 Ukraine
18 USA
19 Uruguay
20 Sweden
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World Soccer News 19/09/2007
Did Nastase take the money?
Dinamo Bucharest's Valentin Nastase has been accused by a Romanian daily, Fanatic, of having been paid by Lazio Rome to cause a penalty in favour of the Italians in their recent Champions' League preliminary tie.
The penalty early in the second half enabled Lazio to draw level and start a turnaround on the way to a 3-1 away win.
While the Italians qualified with a 4-2 aggregate score, Nastase has to defend himself.
"I am being massacred from all sides. I have sent a note of denial to all Romanian newspapers, but they don't want to print it. I have sued the paper that published the lie. I'm not interested in money, only in truth and an apology," said the former Genoa, Palermo, Bologna and Ascoli player.
Curiously, last season while playing in Ascoli, Nastase also gave away a penalty in Lazio's favour!
Coco from Inter to Hollywood!
The former Italian international Francesco Coco has quit football aged only 30 in order to pursue an acting career!
One of the most handsome Italian players rescinded his contract with Internazionale, which was due to run until July 2009, convinced he could achieve significant success on the acting stage.
"I have received important offers from US film companies. I would like to make my second dream come true, because my soccer dream has already become reality," Coco told the ANSA agency.
It looks as though Coco has played his last games last season in Torino on loan from Inter.
"I have been contemplating this for a long time. This decision is a well thought-out one. I left the doors to soccer open this summer, but in the meantime I realized it was the moment to take a different direction."
The former wing-back for Milan, Torino, Livorno and Barcelona has lately been appearing in the news more due to his amorous conquests of beauties Manuela Arcuri and Francesca Lodo.
Benfica aim at 200,000 members
The most popular Portuguese club, Benfica, are the world record holders in the number of registered members with 170,000 card holders. Still, the Eagles aim to soar to even greater hights.
"Our next goal is 200,000 members. We plan to reach this mark by the end of the season, and we believe it will be done if we win the League title," said marketing director Miguel Bento.
Benfica have members in 48 countries, and over the last three years it has increased club membership by 75,000.
"By the end of 2005/06 we had 150,000, and last spring 160,000, when we entered the Guinness Book of Records," added Bento.
Benfica have won 31 League titles, 24 FA Cups and two Champions' Cups.
Ramos forgiven a yellow card over Puerta
The Competition Committee of the Spanish FA rescinded the yellow card Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos received against Villarreal for the offence of taking his shirt off.
The pardon was given because under the team shirt Ramos wore another with the inscription, "Puerta, brother, rest in peace, we shall not forget you."
"It was a sincere hommage to the late Antonio Puerta, which gave us the right to cancel this yellow card," explained the Committee.
Ramos was admonished in the 50th minute while celebrating Van Nistelrooy's goal in Real's 5-0 win.
Afonso refuses to be "a slave"
The Brazilian Afonso Alves, who last season scored 34 goals for Heerenveen, as many as Eduardo da Silva at Dinamo Zagreb, claims he is a "slave" in Holland and an object of "racist harrassment".
"Much is been said about slavery in Brazil. These accusations are, alas, true. But, even in some parts of the liberal Netherlands there flourish slave-owning organizations while the 21st century is well underway," wrote the international on his web site.
This could be read as an allusion to his team, Heerenveen, which do not want to release Afonso to a bigger club, in spite of alluring offers, like one from Premier League Middlesbrough.
"The board members are shortsighted amateurs, who turned down the offers," claims Afonso.
The player did not apear at the Dutch League best player award-giving ceremony because of racist insults he had suffered.
"Some Heerenveen fans, blinded by Nazi illusions, have been calling me an ape," added the Brazilian.
Argentinian police arrest 127 fans
The police in Buenos Aires has detained 127 River Plate fans, including the leader of the ultra group "Borrachos del tablón" (Drunkards from the terrace), while they were on the premises of their club. The arrests were made in order to prevent a fight between the Drunkards and rival fan groups. The motive of the agreed fight among various River fan groups was over control of gathering spaces and bars in the vicinty of River's Monumental stadium.
Ronaldo target of antidoping agency
The therapy Ronaldo received in Brazil for his left thigh injury has concerned the Italian Antidoping Commission.
The therapy in question is the "growth factor technique" consisting of extracting protein from the patient's blood and injecting the purified blood in to the injured spot.
Unfortunately. the World Antidoping Agency (WADA) has not pronounced yet regarding the therapy so the Italians have not approved it either.
The chairman of the Antidoping Commission, Ettore Torri, has asked the doctors of the Italian Olympic Committee for an opinion, and they replied that the growth factor technique was in fact a form of doping.
"We consider doping to be whatever can help an athlete to improve his or her performance," said Luigi Frati of the Italian Olympic Committee.
The injured Brazilian is not expected to return to fitness before mid October.
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Dinamo Bucharest's Valentin Nastase has been accused by a Romanian daily, Fanatic, of having been paid by Lazio Rome to cause a penalty in favour of the Italians in their recent Champions' League preliminary tie.
The penalty early in the second half enabled Lazio to draw level and start a turnaround on the way to a 3-1 away win.
While the Italians qualified with a 4-2 aggregate score, Nastase has to defend himself.
"I am being massacred from all sides. I have sent a note of denial to all Romanian newspapers, but they don't want to print it. I have sued the paper that published the lie. I'm not interested in money, only in truth and an apology," said the former Genoa, Palermo, Bologna and Ascoli player.
Curiously, last season while playing in Ascoli, Nastase also gave away a penalty in Lazio's favour!
Coco from Inter to Hollywood!
The former Italian international Francesco Coco has quit football aged only 30 in order to pursue an acting career!
One of the most handsome Italian players rescinded his contract with Internazionale, which was due to run until July 2009, convinced he could achieve significant success on the acting stage.
"I have received important offers from US film companies. I would like to make my second dream come true, because my soccer dream has already become reality," Coco told the ANSA agency.
It looks as though Coco has played his last games last season in Torino on loan from Inter.
"I have been contemplating this for a long time. This decision is a well thought-out one. I left the doors to soccer open this summer, but in the meantime I realized it was the moment to take a different direction."
The former wing-back for Milan, Torino, Livorno and Barcelona has lately been appearing in the news more due to his amorous conquests of beauties Manuela Arcuri and Francesca Lodo.
Benfica aim at 200,000 members
The most popular Portuguese club, Benfica, are the world record holders in the number of registered members with 170,000 card holders. Still, the Eagles aim to soar to even greater hights.
"Our next goal is 200,000 members. We plan to reach this mark by the end of the season, and we believe it will be done if we win the League title," said marketing director Miguel Bento.
Benfica have members in 48 countries, and over the last three years it has increased club membership by 75,000.
"By the end of 2005/06 we had 150,000, and last spring 160,000, when we entered the Guinness Book of Records," added Bento.
Benfica have won 31 League titles, 24 FA Cups and two Champions' Cups.
Ramos forgiven a yellow card over Puerta
The Competition Committee of the Spanish FA rescinded the yellow card Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos received against Villarreal for the offence of taking his shirt off.
The pardon was given because under the team shirt Ramos wore another with the inscription, "Puerta, brother, rest in peace, we shall not forget you."
"It was a sincere hommage to the late Antonio Puerta, which gave us the right to cancel this yellow card," explained the Committee.
Ramos was admonished in the 50th minute while celebrating Van Nistelrooy's goal in Real's 5-0 win.
Afonso refuses to be "a slave"
The Brazilian Afonso Alves, who last season scored 34 goals for Heerenveen, as many as Eduardo da Silva at Dinamo Zagreb, claims he is a "slave" in Holland and an object of "racist harrassment".
"Much is been said about slavery in Brazil. These accusations are, alas, true. But, even in some parts of the liberal Netherlands there flourish slave-owning organizations while the 21st century is well underway," wrote the international on his web site.
This could be read as an allusion to his team, Heerenveen, which do not want to release Afonso to a bigger club, in spite of alluring offers, like one from Premier League Middlesbrough.
"The board members are shortsighted amateurs, who turned down the offers," claims Afonso.
The player did not apear at the Dutch League best player award-giving ceremony because of racist insults he had suffered.
"Some Heerenveen fans, blinded by Nazi illusions, have been calling me an ape," added the Brazilian.
Argentinian police arrest 127 fans
The police in Buenos Aires has detained 127 River Plate fans, including the leader of the ultra group "Borrachos del tablón" (Drunkards from the terrace), while they were on the premises of their club. The arrests were made in order to prevent a fight between the Drunkards and rival fan groups. The motive of the agreed fight among various River fan groups was over control of gathering spaces and bars in the vicinty of River's Monumental stadium.
Ronaldo target of antidoping agency
The therapy Ronaldo received in Brazil for his left thigh injury has concerned the Italian Antidoping Commission.
The therapy in question is the "growth factor technique" consisting of extracting protein from the patient's blood and injecting the purified blood in to the injured spot.
Unfortunately. the World Antidoping Agency (WADA) has not pronounced yet regarding the therapy so the Italians have not approved it either.
The chairman of the Antidoping Commission, Ettore Torri, has asked the doctors of the Italian Olympic Committee for an opinion, and they replied that the growth factor technique was in fact a form of doping.
"We consider doping to be whatever can help an athlete to improve his or her performance," said Luigi Frati of the Italian Olympic Committee.
The injured Brazilian is not expected to return to fitness before mid October.
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Thursday, June 14, 2007
Japanese Soccer News
J-League News: Gamba open up seven point gap over inactive Urawa
With four games remaining until the mid-season break, Gamba Osaka have opened up a seven point gap over nearest rivals Urawa Reds.
Gamba's last match was a case of top versus bottom, but they had a tough time against Yokohama FC, eventually winning 2-1 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 19,752 fans at Expo '70 Stadium in Osaka.
Kawasaki Frontale lost ground when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Nagoya Grampus Eight in front of 21,190 fans at Toyota Stadium. Veteran midfielder Toshiya Fujita opened the scoring for Nagoya from the penalty spot less than sixty seconds into the match, before Juninho equalised for the visitors after twenty-two minutes. Norwegian international Frode Johnsen restored Nagoya's lead after sixty-five minutes, but just two minutes later young Korean substitute Chong Te-se ensured that Kawasaki went home with a share of the spoils.
Albirex Niigata were the big movers, coming from behind to beat Vissel Kobe 3-1 in front of 38,667 fans at Big Swan Stadium and moving up to fourth place in the J-League as a result. They leapfrogged Kashiwa Reysol, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Omiya Ardija at Kashiwanoha Stadium. That was Omiya's fifth match unbeaten - although they have only won once during that run - a 1-0 win over bottom club Yokohama FC.
Oita Trinita pulled off a coup recently by announcing that they had re-signed talented midfielder Tsukasa Umesaki from Grenoble, as well as young Sanfrecce Hiroshima striker Shunsuke Maeda on loan. They had to come from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Kashima Antlers in front of 21,804 fans at the Kyushu Oil Dome in their most recent J-League fixture, although it was midfielder Daisuke Takahashi who scored twice - including a last minute goal, to salvage a point for the hosts.
Shimizu S-Pulse and FC Tokyo put on a clinic of long-range finishing at Nihondaira Stadium on June 10, but it was the club from the capital who came out on top, triumphing 3-1 over their hosts.
FC Tokyo opened the lead when the pacy Norio Suzuki burst through down the left hand side and crashed an unstoppable left-foot drive passed Yohei Nishibe in the Shimizu goal. Not to be outdone, Shimizu midfielder Akihiro Hyodo then produced a candidate for goal of the season, beating Yoichi Doi with a fabulous left-foot strike from all of thirty yards, just seconds before the half-time whistle.
The turning point of this match came barely sixty seconds after the half-time whistle, when Norio Suzuki once again broke clear down the left hand side and deceived Nishibe with a cool finish that beat the S-Pulse shot-stopper at his near post. Substitute Yuta Baba then cracked home a curling long range strike that crashed down off the crossbar and in off the back of the hapless Nishibe.
Jubilo Iwata fans were celebrating the return of long-term injury casualty Ryoichi Maeda at Kose Sports Park Stadium in Kofu. Making his first start of the season, Maeda scored twice as Jubilo thrashed home team Ventforet Kofu 6-1. Yoshiaki Ota also scored a double, while midfielders Fabricio and Naoya Kikuchi scored one each, with Jubilo coach Adilson afforded the luxury of resting Japan Olympic team striker Bobby Cullen, thanks to the return of Maeda.
Consadole Sapporo still lead the way in J2, despite becoming the latest big-name team to lose to lowly Ehime FC. Sapporo lost 2-1 at Ehime Athletics Stadium in the midweek round of matches on June 13, and nearest challenger Vegalta Sendai took advantage by beating Avispa Fukuoka 1-0 in front of 11,301 fans at Yurtec Sendai Stadium.
Cerezo Osaka recorded a much-needed away victory, hammering Tokushima Vortis 4-0, but third-placed Kyoto Sanga FC crashed 2-0 away at Sagan Tosu, while Thespa Kusatsu held Tokyo Verdy to a 0-0 draw.
Naoya Kikuchi arrested
Jubilo Iwata midfielder Naoya Kikuchi was arrested on June 13 on suspicion of having sex with a minor.
Kikuchi has admitted to having sex with a 15 year old girl in late May, in violation of local laws. The encounter came to light after Kikuchi attempted to hand the girl 10,000 yen in cash, and accidentally left his wallet in the basket of the girl's bicycle.
The girl was allegedly unaware that the 22 year old Kikuchi was a professional footballer, and after handing his wallet in to police, the member of Japan's 2004 Olympic squad in Athens was questioned and ultimately arrested.
Atsuhiro Miura suspended
Former Japan international Atsuhiro Miura has been suspended by his club Vissel Kobe for making derogatory comments directed at Kobe coach Hiroshi Matsuda.
After returning from a broken toe, Miura has been unable to force his way back into the Kobe starting eleven.
He allegedly made the comments after a reserve-team Satellite League game against Nagoya Grampus Eight on June 3. Miura has voluntarily stepped down as captain of Vissel Kobe.
A3 Champions Cup
The A3 Champions Cup took place in Jinan, China this week, with 2006 J-League champions Urawa Reds representing the J-League.
The tournament, which pits the champions of Japan, Korea and China - plus one other team from the host nation against each other, saw Urawa take on K-League champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Chinese Super League champions Shandong Luneng and runners-up Shanghai Shenhua United.
Urawa lost their first match to Shandong 4-3, before beating Seongnam 1-0 in a spiteful encounter. Ryota Tsuzuki saved a penalty from Seongnam's Brazilian striker Mota in that match, before sparking a wild melee by standing over the striker who was lying disconsolate on the ground. Shanghai Shenhua were knocked out of the AFC Champions League by Urawa, but they extracted a measure of revenge by beating the Reds 3-1 in their final A3 Champions Cup match.
The scheduling of the tournament forced the postponement until Wednesday, August 1 of Urawa's Round 14 J-League clash with Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Saitama Stadium. Urawa's next J-League match is a tough encounter with near-neighbours FC Tokyo at Ajinomoto Stadium on June 17.
Japan National Teams
Japan
Two encouraging performances in the Kirin Cup have renewed the confidence of Japan fans ahead of the upcoming Asian Cup.
Japan beat Montenegro 2-0 at Ecopa Stadium in Fukuroi on June 2, courtesy of goals from Yokohama F. Marinos defender Yuji Nakazawa and Eintracht Frankfurt striker Naohiro Takahara.
The Blue Samurai overwhelmed their opponents, and they took the lead when Nakazawa produced a towering header from Yasuhito Endo's cross after twenty-three minutes. Fifteen minutes later the impressive Yuichi Komano delivered a pinpoint cross for Takahara to flick home at the near post, as Montenegro had no answer to Japan's attacking football.
The closest the visitors came was in the sixty-seventh minute, but captain Igor Burzanovic rolled a spot-kick wide after he had been brought down in the box.
Japan turned in an even more impressive performance three days later, but they were unable to break the deadlock in a 0-0 draw with Colombia at Saitama Stadium. That result was enough to see Japan lift the Kirin Cup, but fans will be more pleased with the stylish football offered by "Osim's Japan," with Naohiro Takahara in particularly good form.
Japan Olympic Team
After winning all six of their opening group matches in the gruelling Olympic qualification tournament, Japan have been rewarded with a tough-looking Final Round draw in their bid to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Japan have been drawn in Group C with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Vietnam. The Saudi's relegated Australia into second place in their opening group, while Vietnam edged out Lebanon into top spot in their group.
The four group winners will join hosts China as Asia's football representatives at the Olympics.
Japan Women's Team
Nadeshiko Japan lead their Final Round Group A with ten points from four games played. Japan dropped their first points of the campaign by drawing 2-2 with Korea Republic at Bucheon Stadium on June 10.
Japan next travel to Vietnam on August 4, before returning to Japan to play what could be a decisive final group match against second-placed Thailand on August 12.
Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com
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With four games remaining until the mid-season break, Gamba Osaka have opened up a seven point gap over nearest rivals Urawa Reds.
Gamba's last match was a case of top versus bottom, but they had a tough time against Yokohama FC, eventually winning 2-1 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 19,752 fans at Expo '70 Stadium in Osaka.
Kawasaki Frontale lost ground when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Nagoya Grampus Eight in front of 21,190 fans at Toyota Stadium. Veteran midfielder Toshiya Fujita opened the scoring for Nagoya from the penalty spot less than sixty seconds into the match, before Juninho equalised for the visitors after twenty-two minutes. Norwegian international Frode Johnsen restored Nagoya's lead after sixty-five minutes, but just two minutes later young Korean substitute Chong Te-se ensured that Kawasaki went home with a share of the spoils.
Albirex Niigata were the big movers, coming from behind to beat Vissel Kobe 3-1 in front of 38,667 fans at Big Swan Stadium and moving up to fourth place in the J-League as a result. They leapfrogged Kashiwa Reysol, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Omiya Ardija at Kashiwanoha Stadium. That was Omiya's fifth match unbeaten - although they have only won once during that run - a 1-0 win over bottom club Yokohama FC.
Oita Trinita pulled off a coup recently by announcing that they had re-signed talented midfielder Tsukasa Umesaki from Grenoble, as well as young Sanfrecce Hiroshima striker Shunsuke Maeda on loan. They had to come from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Kashima Antlers in front of 21,804 fans at the Kyushu Oil Dome in their most recent J-League fixture, although it was midfielder Daisuke Takahashi who scored twice - including a last minute goal, to salvage a point for the hosts.
Shimizu S-Pulse and FC Tokyo put on a clinic of long-range finishing at Nihondaira Stadium on June 10, but it was the club from the capital who came out on top, triumphing 3-1 over their hosts.
FC Tokyo opened the lead when the pacy Norio Suzuki burst through down the left hand side and crashed an unstoppable left-foot drive passed Yohei Nishibe in the Shimizu goal. Not to be outdone, Shimizu midfielder Akihiro Hyodo then produced a candidate for goal of the season, beating Yoichi Doi with a fabulous left-foot strike from all of thirty yards, just seconds before the half-time whistle.
The turning point of this match came barely sixty seconds after the half-time whistle, when Norio Suzuki once again broke clear down the left hand side and deceived Nishibe with a cool finish that beat the S-Pulse shot-stopper at his near post. Substitute Yuta Baba then cracked home a curling long range strike that crashed down off the crossbar and in off the back of the hapless Nishibe.
Jubilo Iwata fans were celebrating the return of long-term injury casualty Ryoichi Maeda at Kose Sports Park Stadium in Kofu. Making his first start of the season, Maeda scored twice as Jubilo thrashed home team Ventforet Kofu 6-1. Yoshiaki Ota also scored a double, while midfielders Fabricio and Naoya Kikuchi scored one each, with Jubilo coach Adilson afforded the luxury of resting Japan Olympic team striker Bobby Cullen, thanks to the return of Maeda.
Consadole Sapporo still lead the way in J2, despite becoming the latest big-name team to lose to lowly Ehime FC. Sapporo lost 2-1 at Ehime Athletics Stadium in the midweek round of matches on June 13, and nearest challenger Vegalta Sendai took advantage by beating Avispa Fukuoka 1-0 in front of 11,301 fans at Yurtec Sendai Stadium.
Cerezo Osaka recorded a much-needed away victory, hammering Tokushima Vortis 4-0, but third-placed Kyoto Sanga FC crashed 2-0 away at Sagan Tosu, while Thespa Kusatsu held Tokyo Verdy to a 0-0 draw.
Naoya Kikuchi arrested
Jubilo Iwata midfielder Naoya Kikuchi was arrested on June 13 on suspicion of having sex with a minor.
Kikuchi has admitted to having sex with a 15 year old girl in late May, in violation of local laws. The encounter came to light after Kikuchi attempted to hand the girl 10,000 yen in cash, and accidentally left his wallet in the basket of the girl's bicycle.
The girl was allegedly unaware that the 22 year old Kikuchi was a professional footballer, and after handing his wallet in to police, the member of Japan's 2004 Olympic squad in Athens was questioned and ultimately arrested.
Atsuhiro Miura suspended
Former Japan international Atsuhiro Miura has been suspended by his club Vissel Kobe for making derogatory comments directed at Kobe coach Hiroshi Matsuda.
After returning from a broken toe, Miura has been unable to force his way back into the Kobe starting eleven.
He allegedly made the comments after a reserve-team Satellite League game against Nagoya Grampus Eight on June 3. Miura has voluntarily stepped down as captain of Vissel Kobe.
A3 Champions Cup
The A3 Champions Cup took place in Jinan, China this week, with 2006 J-League champions Urawa Reds representing the J-League.
The tournament, which pits the champions of Japan, Korea and China - plus one other team from the host nation against each other, saw Urawa take on K-League champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Chinese Super League champions Shandong Luneng and runners-up Shanghai Shenhua United.
Urawa lost their first match to Shandong 4-3, before beating Seongnam 1-0 in a spiteful encounter. Ryota Tsuzuki saved a penalty from Seongnam's Brazilian striker Mota in that match, before sparking a wild melee by standing over the striker who was lying disconsolate on the ground. Shanghai Shenhua were knocked out of the AFC Champions League by Urawa, but they extracted a measure of revenge by beating the Reds 3-1 in their final A3 Champions Cup match.
The scheduling of the tournament forced the postponement until Wednesday, August 1 of Urawa's Round 14 J-League clash with Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Saitama Stadium. Urawa's next J-League match is a tough encounter with near-neighbours FC Tokyo at Ajinomoto Stadium on June 17.
Japan National Teams
Japan
Two encouraging performances in the Kirin Cup have renewed the confidence of Japan fans ahead of the upcoming Asian Cup.
Japan beat Montenegro 2-0 at Ecopa Stadium in Fukuroi on June 2, courtesy of goals from Yokohama F. Marinos defender Yuji Nakazawa and Eintracht Frankfurt striker Naohiro Takahara.
The Blue Samurai overwhelmed their opponents, and they took the lead when Nakazawa produced a towering header from Yasuhito Endo's cross after twenty-three minutes. Fifteen minutes later the impressive Yuichi Komano delivered a pinpoint cross for Takahara to flick home at the near post, as Montenegro had no answer to Japan's attacking football.
The closest the visitors came was in the sixty-seventh minute, but captain Igor Burzanovic rolled a spot-kick wide after he had been brought down in the box.
Japan turned in an even more impressive performance three days later, but they were unable to break the deadlock in a 0-0 draw with Colombia at Saitama Stadium. That result was enough to see Japan lift the Kirin Cup, but fans will be more pleased with the stylish football offered by "Osim's Japan," with Naohiro Takahara in particularly good form.
Japan Olympic Team
After winning all six of their opening group matches in the gruelling Olympic qualification tournament, Japan have been rewarded with a tough-looking Final Round draw in their bid to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Japan have been drawn in Group C with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Vietnam. The Saudi's relegated Australia into second place in their opening group, while Vietnam edged out Lebanon into top spot in their group.
The four group winners will join hosts China as Asia's football representatives at the Olympics.
Japan Women's Team
Nadeshiko Japan lead their Final Round Group A with ten points from four games played. Japan dropped their first points of the campaign by drawing 2-2 with Korea Republic at Bucheon Stadium on June 10.
Japan next travel to Vietnam on August 4, before returning to Japan to play what could be a decisive final group match against second-placed Thailand on August 12.
Copyright © Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com
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Friday, May 4, 2007
World Soccer News
World Soccer News 05/04/07
European soccer leagues Twenty two titles awarded
No less than 22 league championships throughout Europe have been resolved to date, including those in the countries where the competitions are played within a calendar year. League titles have been decided in France, Italy, Holland, Scotland and Greece, while dramatic outcomes are expected in Spain, Germany, Poland and Czechia.
The most dramatic finish occurred in Holland, where AZ Alkmaar under Louis van Gaal had all the trumps in their hands to win the league for the first time in 26 years. Of the three clubs going into the last day even on points, AZ had by far the best goal difference and needed any win away to lowly Excelsior to clinch the title. On the other hand, PSV were in the worst position having let slip an eight point advantage over AZ and ten points' over Ajax in the past two months.
Miraculously, AZ were beaten by Excelsior, on their way to the play-offs to avoid relegation, while Ajax beat Willem II with an insufficient 2-0 in Tillburg. In the meantime, PSV thrashed Vitesse 5-1, edging Ajax by a single goal for their third successive title. In fact, if Ajax had won by three goals they would have been champions!
League champions
Armenia: Pyunik Erevan (for 2006)
Austria: Salzburg
Belarus: Bate Borisov (for 2006)
Cyprus: Apoel Nikosia
Estonia: Levadia Tallinn (for 2006)
Faroe Islands: Hb Torshavn (for 2006)
Finland: Tampere Utd. (for 2006)
France: Lyon
Greece: Olympiacos
Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb
Ireland: Shelbourne (for 2006)
Iceland: Hafnarfjordur (for 2006)
Italy: Inter
Kazakhstan: Astana (for 2006)
Latvia: Ventspils (for 2006)
Lithuania: Kaunas (for 2006)
Netherlands: PSV (by a single goal over Ajax)
Norway: Rosenborg (for 2006)
Romania: Dinamo Bucharest
Russia: CSKA (for 2006)
Scotland: Celtic
Sweden: Elfsborg (for 2006)
Races nearly resolved
Just a step separates FC Kobenhavn from the Danish title, since no team have ever dropped a 16 points' advantage with six matches to go. Slovenia's Domzale and Serbia's Red Star have all but clinched their respective titles having ten points more than their immediate persuers.
Denmark: Kobenhavn +16 over Midtjylland
Luxembourg: Dudelange +11 over Etzella and Differdange
Hungary: Debrecen + 8 over MTK
Malta: Marsaxlokk +12 over Sliema
Moldavia: Sheriff +17 over Zimbru
Slovenia: Domzale +10 over Gorica
Serbia: Red Star +10 over Partizan
Drama in sight
In Germany, Schalke and Werder are competing at wasting chances of securing the title and Stuttgart's bid is gaining momentum with three matches to go as two points separate three teams. In Portugal, champions Porto have already lost five games but neither Sporting nor Benfica have capitalized. Anderlecht look like a safe bet in Belgium in spite of just a two point lead over Racing Genk, while the Polish and Czech champions will not be known until the last day.
Belgium: Anderlecht +2 over Genk
Czechia: Slovan Liberec +1 over Sparta and +2 over Slavia
England: Manchester Utd. +5 over Chelsea
Germany: Schalke +1 over Stuttgart, +2 over Werder
Poland: Belchatow and Zaglebie (L) tied
Portugal: Porto +3 over Sporting:
Spain: Barcelona +1 over Sevilla, +2 over Real Madrid
Switzerland: Zurich +3 over Basel
Ukraine: Dinamo Kijev +3 over Shakhtar
Angelo Peruzzi bids farewell
Lazio goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi (37) announced the end of his playing career last Sunday after a goalless derby with Roma. The former Roma, Juventus and Inter keeper had planned to quit at the end of the season, but an injury to a finger sped up his decision with four matches to go. Peruzzi played 31 times for Italy and gained notoriety in 1990 when he was suspended for eight months due to a positive doping test.
Sepp Blatter: "South Africa is FIFA's plan A and B"
FIFA's threats to strip South Africa of the 2010 World Cup upset the whole African continent, prompting chairman Sepp Blatter to go back on his words criticizing the pace at which the designated hosts have been making progress with the infrastructure.
"Our plan A is South Africa, the plan B is also South Africa and there is no plan C," said Blatter, who had previously warned that FIFA was eyeing other options such as Mexico and Spain which already have the facilities in place.
"Yes, there are certain difficulties over items like security, but I am fully convinced it will be a precious World Cup," said Blatter.
It will be curious to note whether there will be similar concern within FIFA's pals UEFA in two years time when the sensationally elected Euro 2012 hosts Poland and Ukraine present delays in all aspects regarding infrastructure.
Erwin Koeman quits Feyenoord
Erwin and Ronald Koeman used to win things simultaneously. In 1988 their clubs, KV Mechelen and PSV Eindhoven, respectively, collected the European Cup Winners' Cup and the Champions' Cup. The same year both of them starred in the Dutch squad that won the European Championship in Western Germany. This season Ronald won the Dutch league with PSV, but Erwin's Feyenoord finished a dismal seventh, which prompted the elder brother to resign.
"After such a poor finish, I cannot be a hundred-percent motivated to coach the team in the playoffs for the UEFA Cup, which is of crucial significance for Feyenoord," admitted Koeman, who had taken over from Ruud Gullit two years ago.
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European soccer leagues Twenty two titles awarded
No less than 22 league championships throughout Europe have been resolved to date, including those in the countries where the competitions are played within a calendar year. League titles have been decided in France, Italy, Holland, Scotland and Greece, while dramatic outcomes are expected in Spain, Germany, Poland and Czechia.
The most dramatic finish occurred in Holland, where AZ Alkmaar under Louis van Gaal had all the trumps in their hands to win the league for the first time in 26 years. Of the three clubs going into the last day even on points, AZ had by far the best goal difference and needed any win away to lowly Excelsior to clinch the title. On the other hand, PSV were in the worst position having let slip an eight point advantage over AZ and ten points' over Ajax in the past two months.
Miraculously, AZ were beaten by Excelsior, on their way to the play-offs to avoid relegation, while Ajax beat Willem II with an insufficient 2-0 in Tillburg. In the meantime, PSV thrashed Vitesse 5-1, edging Ajax by a single goal for their third successive title. In fact, if Ajax had won by three goals they would have been champions!
League champions
Armenia: Pyunik Erevan (for 2006)
Austria: Salzburg
Belarus: Bate Borisov (for 2006)
Cyprus: Apoel Nikosia
Estonia: Levadia Tallinn (for 2006)
Faroe Islands: Hb Torshavn (for 2006)
Finland: Tampere Utd. (for 2006)
France: Lyon
Greece: Olympiacos
Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb
Ireland: Shelbourne (for 2006)
Iceland: Hafnarfjordur (for 2006)
Italy: Inter
Kazakhstan: Astana (for 2006)
Latvia: Ventspils (for 2006)
Lithuania: Kaunas (for 2006)
Netherlands: PSV (by a single goal over Ajax)
Norway: Rosenborg (for 2006)
Romania: Dinamo Bucharest
Russia: CSKA (for 2006)
Scotland: Celtic
Sweden: Elfsborg (for 2006)
Races nearly resolved
Just a step separates FC Kobenhavn from the Danish title, since no team have ever dropped a 16 points' advantage with six matches to go. Slovenia's Domzale and Serbia's Red Star have all but clinched their respective titles having ten points more than their immediate persuers.
Denmark: Kobenhavn +16 over Midtjylland
Luxembourg: Dudelange +11 over Etzella and Differdange
Hungary: Debrecen + 8 over MTK
Malta: Marsaxlokk +12 over Sliema
Moldavia: Sheriff +17 over Zimbru
Slovenia: Domzale +10 over Gorica
Serbia: Red Star +10 over Partizan
Drama in sight
In Germany, Schalke and Werder are competing at wasting chances of securing the title and Stuttgart's bid is gaining momentum with three matches to go as two points separate three teams. In Portugal, champions Porto have already lost five games but neither Sporting nor Benfica have capitalized. Anderlecht look like a safe bet in Belgium in spite of just a two point lead over Racing Genk, while the Polish and Czech champions will not be known until the last day.
Belgium: Anderlecht +2 over Genk
Czechia: Slovan Liberec +1 over Sparta and +2 over Slavia
England: Manchester Utd. +5 over Chelsea
Germany: Schalke +1 over Stuttgart, +2 over Werder
Poland: Belchatow and Zaglebie (L) tied
Portugal: Porto +3 over Sporting:
Spain: Barcelona +1 over Sevilla, +2 over Real Madrid
Switzerland: Zurich +3 over Basel
Ukraine: Dinamo Kijev +3 over Shakhtar
Angelo Peruzzi bids farewell
Lazio goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi (37) announced the end of his playing career last Sunday after a goalless derby with Roma. The former Roma, Juventus and Inter keeper had planned to quit at the end of the season, but an injury to a finger sped up his decision with four matches to go. Peruzzi played 31 times for Italy and gained notoriety in 1990 when he was suspended for eight months due to a positive doping test.
Sepp Blatter: "South Africa is FIFA's plan A and B"
FIFA's threats to strip South Africa of the 2010 World Cup upset the whole African continent, prompting chairman Sepp Blatter to go back on his words criticizing the pace at which the designated hosts have been making progress with the infrastructure.
"Our plan A is South Africa, the plan B is also South Africa and there is no plan C," said Blatter, who had previously warned that FIFA was eyeing other options such as Mexico and Spain which already have the facilities in place.
"Yes, there are certain difficulties over items like security, but I am fully convinced it will be a precious World Cup," said Blatter.
It will be curious to note whether there will be similar concern within FIFA's pals UEFA in two years time when the sensationally elected Euro 2012 hosts Poland and Ukraine present delays in all aspects regarding infrastructure.
Erwin Koeman quits Feyenoord
Erwin and Ronald Koeman used to win things simultaneously. In 1988 their clubs, KV Mechelen and PSV Eindhoven, respectively, collected the European Cup Winners' Cup and the Champions' Cup. The same year both of them starred in the Dutch squad that won the European Championship in Western Germany. This season Ronald won the Dutch league with PSV, but Erwin's Feyenoord finished a dismal seventh, which prompted the elder brother to resign.
"After such a poor finish, I cannot be a hundred-percent motivated to coach the team in the playoffs for the UEFA Cup, which is of crucial significance for Feyenoord," admitted Koeman, who had taken over from Ruud Gullit two years ago.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Soccer News 4/17/2007
World news roundup 04/17/2007
It's D-day for Euro 2012
UEFA's Executive Council will declare the host of the 2012 European Championship on Wednesday, April 18th, in Cardiff. The three candidates are Italy, Croatia/Hungary and Poland/Ukraine, with the Italians as hot favourites on paper – that is, if UEFA's leaders forget about a seemingly endless string of scandals and violent incidents that have hit calcio over the past 11 months.
Franco Carraro, the same man who presided over the Italian FA when the damning discoveries were published as to how various top-clubs "worked" with the referees' organization in order to have the "most suitable" refs appointed for their games, is still a member of the Executive Council.
Carraro has no right to vote on this occasion, just like his Ukrainian colleague Grigoriy Surkis, but they have no doubt abundantly used their right to lobby with their fellow members.
The joint Croatian/Hungarian bid may be the only one free of scandals and controversies, but their market is far smaller than the Italian, and joint Polish and Ukrainian bids, with modest political weight to match.
The Croatian FA chairman, Vlatko Markovic, said that "giving Euro to Italy would be a sign of UEFA's moral collapse," but should the economic arguments prevail, it should be another win for the Azzurri ahead of Poland/Ukraine.
Levski Sofia tops Manchester United regarding goal difference
While the Croats of Dinamo Zagreb still have the highest percentage of points won in all European leagues, with a supreme 91%, the top team regarding goal difference is Levski Sofia. The Bulgarians, who did not do so well in this season's Champions' League, have scored 68 and conceded just five goals in 22 national championship games.
Manchester United is in second position with +52 goals, which carries far more merit in view of the equality prevailing in the Premier League. The least equality is apparently present in the Dutch League, whose three representatives – AZ Alkmaar, PSV and Ajax – are in the top five in the best goal difference chart.
1. Levski Sofia 68 - 5 (+63)
2. Manchester Utd. 75 -23 (+52)
3. AZ Alkmaar 78 -27 (+51)
4. PSV Eindhoven 69 -23 (+46)
5. Ajax Amsterdam 77 -33 (+44)
6. Dinamo Zagreb 62 -21 (+41)
6. Salzburg 58 -17 (+41)
8. Inter Milan 65 -25 (+40)
9. Porto 54 -15 (+39)
10. Shakthar D. 48 -10 (+38)
10. Žilina 50 -12 (+38)
Amazing luck for Barcelona
Things could not have gone better for Spanish champs and leaders Barcelona. All three matches involving the top teams went their way, when all of them could have finished with opposite results.
* Barca themselves beat Mallorca 1-0 with Navarro's own goal in the 89th minute. Previously Mallorca missed a penalty through Jonas.
* Sevilla lost away to Valencia 2-0, but at 0-0 they had a penalty missed by Enzo Maresca.
* Real Madrid lost to Racing 2-1 thanks to two dubious penalties for the home side. Also, two Real's players were sent off.
Barcelona now leads Sevilla by four and Madrid by five points with eight games to go.
Times, they are a-changing for Real
The times have certainly changed for Real Madrid. The once fancied team have collected the most yellow cards this season, 103, which is eight more than second-placed Levante. Real also received nine red cards, which places them third on this particular ranking. The most recent Real players to have been sent off were Mejías and Helguera, during the infamous Santander game in which Rácing won 2-1 with two strange penalties.
The referee Javier Turienzo Alvarez has become the target of Madrid's fans' wrath. Some of them apparently phoned his wife and threatened to kill Turienzo, who denounced the unknown individuals to the police.
Trapattoni's German amuses again
Ten years ago Giovanni Trapattoni, as Bayern Munich's coach, held a legendary press conference in which he slammed several of his players for a lack on commitment. Trap's funny German was the most entertaining feature of a lengthy tirade against Thomas Strunz and a couple of teammates.
Last week the Italian coach performed a similar show in Salzburg before the Austrian reporters. Asked why his team displays poor fitness, Trap replied in his hilarious version of German, which we shall try to render into English.
"People no understand nothing of training. They write, criticize coaching systems. Instead of blabbing, bla-bla-bla behind backs, why not come and say thing in the face? You just go qua-qua-qua. We top the table with this system!"
By the way, Trapattoni's Salzburg are runaway leaders and virtual champions of Austria.
It's Manchester United and Chelsea on three fronts
This may just prove to be the most exhilarating season so far in English soccer, as two gigantic teams brace themselves for a showdown in two domestic competitions and the Champions' League.
Chelsea will host Manchester United on May 9th at Stamford Bridge in what may turn out to be the decisive championship-clinching game, but the two teams will also meet at Wembley in the FA Cup final and may even clash in the Champions' League finals in Athens, all in space of under three weeks.
Of course, for that to happen Chelsea must eliminate Liverpool and Manchester Utd. must knock out Milan in two ties that can go either way.
In the FA Cup semifinals, at least, the big two did fulfil their part of the bargain. Man United crushed Watford 4-1 while Chelsea had a more difficult job of overcoming Blackburn 2-1 in extra-time.
Schuster fancies Mourinho to take over Real
Bernd Schuster sounded disgusted when a German sports agency announced that he had signed a pre-contract with Real Madrid for next season.
The current Getafe coach denied the claim and slammed the media.
"I don't see how a German agency could think they know better than the Spanish media as to what is happening in Madrid. I have no pre-contract with Real and it is José Mourinho who has the most chances of taking over there. I believe he will win the race for Real's bench," said the former Barca and Real star.
Renato quits over playing Romário
Renato Gaúcho has presented his resignation as Vasco da Gama coach due to poor results in the Rio de Janeiro Federal state championship and the favouritism with which he allegedly treated Romário. The 41-year-old striker is struggling to score his 1000th career goal and Renato gave him too many opportunities for the team's own good.
The new coach, Caio Roth, has already stated he also plans to help Romário fulfil his dream, but the veteran could be on his way to Mexico. Necaxa of Mexico City are contemplating hiring the player in the Libertadores Cup round of 16. If that comes to fruition, the old man's 1000th goal could come in the most prestigious South American competition.
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It's D-day for Euro 2012
UEFA's Executive Council will declare the host of the 2012 European Championship on Wednesday, April 18th, in Cardiff. The three candidates are Italy, Croatia/Hungary and Poland/Ukraine, with the Italians as hot favourites on paper – that is, if UEFA's leaders forget about a seemingly endless string of scandals and violent incidents that have hit calcio over the past 11 months.
Franco Carraro, the same man who presided over the Italian FA when the damning discoveries were published as to how various top-clubs "worked" with the referees' organization in order to have the "most suitable" refs appointed for their games, is still a member of the Executive Council.
Carraro has no right to vote on this occasion, just like his Ukrainian colleague Grigoriy Surkis, but they have no doubt abundantly used their right to lobby with their fellow members.
The joint Croatian/Hungarian bid may be the only one free of scandals and controversies, but their market is far smaller than the Italian, and joint Polish and Ukrainian bids, with modest political weight to match.
The Croatian FA chairman, Vlatko Markovic, said that "giving Euro to Italy would be a sign of UEFA's moral collapse," but should the economic arguments prevail, it should be another win for the Azzurri ahead of Poland/Ukraine.
Levski Sofia tops Manchester United regarding goal difference
While the Croats of Dinamo Zagreb still have the highest percentage of points won in all European leagues, with a supreme 91%, the top team regarding goal difference is Levski Sofia. The Bulgarians, who did not do so well in this season's Champions' League, have scored 68 and conceded just five goals in 22 national championship games.
Manchester United is in second position with +52 goals, which carries far more merit in view of the equality prevailing in the Premier League. The least equality is apparently present in the Dutch League, whose three representatives – AZ Alkmaar, PSV and Ajax – are in the top five in the best goal difference chart.
1. Levski Sofia 68 - 5 (+63)
2. Manchester Utd. 75 -23 (+52)
3. AZ Alkmaar 78 -27 (+51)
4. PSV Eindhoven 69 -23 (+46)
5. Ajax Amsterdam 77 -33 (+44)
6. Dinamo Zagreb 62 -21 (+41)
6. Salzburg 58 -17 (+41)
8. Inter Milan 65 -25 (+40)
9. Porto 54 -15 (+39)
10. Shakthar D. 48 -10 (+38)
10. Žilina 50 -12 (+38)
Amazing luck for Barcelona
Things could not have gone better for Spanish champs and leaders Barcelona. All three matches involving the top teams went their way, when all of them could have finished with opposite results.
* Barca themselves beat Mallorca 1-0 with Navarro's own goal in the 89th minute. Previously Mallorca missed a penalty through Jonas.
* Sevilla lost away to Valencia 2-0, but at 0-0 they had a penalty missed by Enzo Maresca.
* Real Madrid lost to Racing 2-1 thanks to two dubious penalties for the home side. Also, two Real's players were sent off.
Barcelona now leads Sevilla by four and Madrid by five points with eight games to go.
Times, they are a-changing for Real
The times have certainly changed for Real Madrid. The once fancied team have collected the most yellow cards this season, 103, which is eight more than second-placed Levante. Real also received nine red cards, which places them third on this particular ranking. The most recent Real players to have been sent off were Mejías and Helguera, during the infamous Santander game in which Rácing won 2-1 with two strange penalties.
The referee Javier Turienzo Alvarez has become the target of Madrid's fans' wrath. Some of them apparently phoned his wife and threatened to kill Turienzo, who denounced the unknown individuals to the police.
Trapattoni's German amuses again
Ten years ago Giovanni Trapattoni, as Bayern Munich's coach, held a legendary press conference in which he slammed several of his players for a lack on commitment. Trap's funny German was the most entertaining feature of a lengthy tirade against Thomas Strunz and a couple of teammates.
Last week the Italian coach performed a similar show in Salzburg before the Austrian reporters. Asked why his team displays poor fitness, Trap replied in his hilarious version of German, which we shall try to render into English.
"People no understand nothing of training. They write, criticize coaching systems. Instead of blabbing, bla-bla-bla behind backs, why not come and say thing in the face? You just go qua-qua-qua. We top the table with this system!"
By the way, Trapattoni's Salzburg are runaway leaders and virtual champions of Austria.
It's Manchester United and Chelsea on three fronts
This may just prove to be the most exhilarating season so far in English soccer, as two gigantic teams brace themselves for a showdown in two domestic competitions and the Champions' League.
Chelsea will host Manchester United on May 9th at Stamford Bridge in what may turn out to be the decisive championship-clinching game, but the two teams will also meet at Wembley in the FA Cup final and may even clash in the Champions' League finals in Athens, all in space of under three weeks.
Of course, for that to happen Chelsea must eliminate Liverpool and Manchester Utd. must knock out Milan in two ties that can go either way.
In the FA Cup semifinals, at least, the big two did fulfil their part of the bargain. Man United crushed Watford 4-1 while Chelsea had a more difficult job of overcoming Blackburn 2-1 in extra-time.
Schuster fancies Mourinho to take over Real
Bernd Schuster sounded disgusted when a German sports agency announced that he had signed a pre-contract with Real Madrid for next season.
The current Getafe coach denied the claim and slammed the media.
"I don't see how a German agency could think they know better than the Spanish media as to what is happening in Madrid. I have no pre-contract with Real and it is José Mourinho who has the most chances of taking over there. I believe he will win the race for Real's bench," said the former Barca and Real star.
Renato quits over playing Romário
Renato Gaúcho has presented his resignation as Vasco da Gama coach due to poor results in the Rio de Janeiro Federal state championship and the favouritism with which he allegedly treated Romário. The 41-year-old striker is struggling to score his 1000th career goal and Renato gave him too many opportunities for the team's own good.
The new coach, Caio Roth, has already stated he also plans to help Romário fulfil his dream, but the veteran could be on his way to Mexico. Necaxa of Mexico City are contemplating hiring the player in the Libertadores Cup round of 16. If that comes to fruition, the old man's 1000th goal could come in the most prestigious South American competition.
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Sunday, April 1, 2007
England Given Euro 2008 Bye
England Given Euro 2008 Bye
With the England national team in danger of not making the finals of Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, UEFA has decided to act.
UEFA President, the newly-elected Michel Platini has granted England an automatic bye into the finals. At a specially arranged press conference in Paris, Platini explained his decision:
"England have received direct, automatic qualification to the final stages of Euro2008," said the 57-year-old Frenchman.
"The financial success of the whole tournament depends on England's participation. We could not afford to jeopardize the future security of our federation," added the new UEFA supremo.
"England supporters' spending power gives a real boost to local economies and everyone from policemen, publicans to prostitutes would suffer if England were not there," added the diminutive Frenchman.
"All the other national associations are in full agreement. We all know England will not win the tournament. They arrive, play poorly and always lose in the quarterfinals on penalties."
England will be placed in Group A along with co-hosts Switzerland making a group of five teams in that group and 17 teams overall in the tournament.
Local reaction has been fully supportive of the UEFA directive. Hans Lagerback, a local bar owner in Zurich, said:
"I'm so happy that UEFA has seen sense and let the English in. We were all worried we would not have had a successful tournament if only Italian and Spanish fans were drinking here. We need the English fans and their money."
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With the England national team in danger of not making the finals of Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, UEFA has decided to act.
UEFA President, the newly-elected Michel Platini has granted England an automatic bye into the finals. At a specially arranged press conference in Paris, Platini explained his decision:
"England have received direct, automatic qualification to the final stages of Euro2008," said the 57-year-old Frenchman.
"The financial success of the whole tournament depends on England's participation. We could not afford to jeopardize the future security of our federation," added the new UEFA supremo.
"England supporters' spending power gives a real boost to local economies and everyone from policemen, publicans to prostitutes would suffer if England were not there," added the diminutive Frenchman.
"All the other national associations are in full agreement. We all know England will not win the tournament. They arrive, play poorly and always lose in the quarterfinals on penalties."
England will be placed in Group A along with co-hosts Switzerland making a group of five teams in that group and 17 teams overall in the tournament.
Local reaction has been fully supportive of the UEFA directive. Hans Lagerback, a local bar owner in Zurich, said:
"I'm so happy that UEFA has seen sense and let the English in. We were all worried we would not have had a successful tournament if only Italian and Spanish fans were drinking here. We need the English fans and their money."
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Saturday, March 17, 2007
Weekly Football News Roundup
03/17/07
Inter Milan going at 90% !
There is no doubt that the Italian Serie A is among the strongest leagues in the world and if a team from that league have won 90% of the points in play, now that is something. Internazionale of Milan currently lead the table with 23 wins and 4 draws after 27 games played, which means that Roberto Mancini's team collect nine points out of every ten. The most efficient British team are Manchester United with 72 out of 87 possible points, half a percentage point above the Scottish leaders Celtic.
This table shows the percentage of the points won and the ratio between the points won and maximum possible points.
Team Percentage Points ratio
1. Inter Milano 90% (73/81)
2. Dinamo Zagreb 89,4% (59/66)
3. Levski Sofija 88,2% (45/51)
4. Dinamo Bucharest 86,36% (57/66)
5. Dinamo Kyiv 85% (46/54)
6. Manchester Utd. 82,7% (72/87)
7. Olympiacos 82,67% (62/75)
8. Porto 82,5% (52/63)
9. APOEL Nikozija 82,5 % (52/63)
10. Celtic 82,2% (74/90)
Juventus hope for Lampard coup
Firmly on course for a Serie A return, Juventus of Turin are already sounding the market for reinforcements and among them Chelsea's Frank Lampard figures prominently. The Zebras have set aside a sum of a 100 million euros, which indicates that a couple of big names will be heading to Delle Alpi stadium next season.
After failing to convince Chelsea of the need for a significant pay rise, Lampard is rumoured to be considering making use of a lesser known FIFA rule regarding the buy-out clause.
According to Lampard's legal advisors, he could buy his freedom by depositing 8 million pounds, the amount equivalent to the wages he would earn at Chelsea for the remainder of his contract, expiring in 2008.
Chelsea reportedly disputes Lampard's interpretation of the FIFA rule and threatens to denounce Juventus to the footballing authorities for approaching a player before the last six months of his contract.
Not unrelated to the issue, a court in Portugal ruled this week that a player's buyout clause cannot exceed the amount of wages that a club would pay until the contract expires. The logic behind this is clear: a player worth as much to the club as it is willing to pay him, which is reflected in the player's wages.
The Portuguese professional players' union has already voiced its satisfaction with the ruling and has expressed belief that the court's ruling will set a precedent within the European Union, soon to be applied in all member states.
Hertha luring Lehmann from Arsenal
Jens Lehmann could be on his way back to the Bundesliga, specifically to Hertha, who are looking for a goalkeeper superior to the curent custodian, Christian Fiedler, whose contract expires in 2008.
The Bild daily reports Lehmann's recently expressed wish to return to Germany and claims that Hertha could pull off the deal regardless of their 46.2 million € deficit.
The Berlin club apparently count on a secret sponsor to finance the deal, which could become reality over the next few weeks.
Lehmann (37) came to Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in 2003 and played in all Arsenal's games in the 2003/04 championship winning season when the club went undefeated through the season.
Raymond Domenech dismisses Wenger's moans
Arsene Wenger's perennial wailing have won him another "friend", this time the French coach Raymond Domenech, who was sick to hear the Arsenal's coach's lament over Thierry Henry's injury.
In reply to Wenger's claim that the French FA and national team were to blame for Henry's season-ending injury, Domenech said his compatriot was inventing a problem to deflect attention from Arsenal's recent disasters.
Wenger blamed his captain's health problems on Domenech for playing the striker in every international friendly this season, including against Bosnia in August.
"I don't want to listen to lectures. Mr Wenger is starting to seriously tire me. He tires a lot of people. He does not know everything. When he talks about an injury in March caused by a match in August, he forgets to say that every time Thierry Henry plays a game for the France team, three days later, he plays for Arsenal. And he has never been injured on international duty."
According to Domenech, Wenger has criticised Roger Lemerre when he was coach, and also Michel Platini.
"There comes a moment when enough is enough. He should better analyse the problem. We aren't to blame."
Beckham ready to travel from the USA to play for England
Rumours that Steve McClaren could recall David Beckham to the national team have delighted the former captain, a few months before his announced transfer to Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS.
"Playing in the MLS would not be an impediment for my availability. I could travel from the States to play for England," said Becks to the Spanish Sport daily.
"If I play well there, I'm sure I won't go unnoticed. I will always be available for my country if it needs me. That's the way I am as a person and a soccer player. Still, if it does not happen, I'll still be proud of having played the games I have played and captained on many occasions."
Before going to Galaxy, he still hopes to finish his last Spanish season on a high note.
"We can still win the League this season. It would be magnificent to do something important before I go. Even if I don't, I'll always remember my time in Madrid as a success."
Barca and Besiktas in war over a 12-year old genius
The Turkish midfielder Muhammed Demirci is destined to become the most expensive child footballer ever after his club Besiktas of Istanbul have put him a price tag of five million euros.
The 12-year-old Besiktas starlet nicknamed "Muha" amazed during his trial last month's with Barcelona at Camp Nou, prompting the Catalans to offer three million dollars to Besiktas.
After learning of Barcelona's fervent interest in the boy, Besiktas changed their initial decision to sell and raised the price to a prohibitive level.
"The boy first has to provide services to Besiktas. Later on the club could make more money on him," said the Black Eagles' chairman Demirören.
"The problem is that Besiktas does not want Muhammed to go," confirmed Muha's agent Seyit Ates to the Spanish EFE Agency.
Barcelona already have two boy wonders, a bit older than Muha, though: the Serb-born Bojan Krkic and the Mexican Giovanni dos Santos, who are both on the brink of breaking in to the first team.
Jimenez claims Figo hacked him on purpose
Zaragoza's César Jiménez said goodbye to football this week after two years of unsuccessful treatment for the terrible injury on his left knee caused by Luis Figo.
"It was not a struggle for the ball. Figo tackled me with a foot uprisen and his sole to the front. I couldn't say if he was angered by something that had happened to him earlier in the game.
With a tackle on a pitch level I would not have been injured, but he struck my knee and it cracked," Jiménez told As.
Figo's intent was not so much obvious to Jiménez during play, but once he saw the action on television, he went "Oh, my God. (...) He tackled me in order to hurt me."
Amazingly, the referee Losantos did not punish the Portuguese in any way.
"He was six yards away. If a card had to be shown, it had to be a red one. I believe he saw the deliberatedness of the kick, but he chickened out. So Figo came away unpunished. At least the disciplinary committee could have acted in the line of duty. There should be a mechanism protecting players injured like this, by compensating the victim and sanctioning the perpetrator who puts an end to one's career."
Interpol after Rincón over drugs and laundering charges
The famed Colombian international Freddy Rincón has been declared fair game in 186 countries cooperating with Interpol after charges have been brought against him over his alleged involvement with drug smuggling and money laundering.
Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Rincón this week at the request of Panama's authorities, who want to bring the player to trial. The former Napoli, Corinthians and Santos star is accused of having laundered money through a catering business and a fishing company for the Colombian drug lord Pablo Rayo Montańo, captured last year in Brazil.
"Let the Colombian people know that if they heard negative news about me, they will also hear news of my innocence," said Rincón from Brazil, where he has lived since hanging his boots.
The 40-year-old has refused to say whether he will turn himself in to the Panamenian authorities or how he plans to resolve his situation. He admits to having invested 200,000 dolars in business ventures in Panama, but claims that the money comes from his soccer related earnings. After all, a player who represented Colombia on 84 occasions, played in World Cups and won a World Club Championship will have earned much more than the sum in question.
Interestingly, Rincón does not hide his friendship with Rayo Montańo, but says he never asked him what his business interests were. Still, among 61 real estate units confiscated from the drug lord by the Colombian governments are two estates, two flats and one luxury house registered in Rincón's name.
Will Abramovich's divorce affect Chelsea?
Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich and his wife Irina have divorced in Russia on a consensual basis and have agreed terms in respect of their children and a financial settlement.
Their spokesman said Chelsea would not be affected by the divorce proceedings, although the Russian mogul will part with a huge chunk of his wealth estimated at 15.5 billion euros.
Reports of the size of the settlement vary from 1.5 billion to 7.75 billion euros. While plenty of money would still remain for various Abramovich's interests, for all we know the loss of up to half of his fortune may make him more thrifty and reluctant to pour further nine-figure sums in what is essentially no more than a plaything for him.
Irina and Roman were married for 15 years and have five children.
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Inter Milan going at 90% !
There is no doubt that the Italian Serie A is among the strongest leagues in the world and if a team from that league have won 90% of the points in play, now that is something. Internazionale of Milan currently lead the table with 23 wins and 4 draws after 27 games played, which means that Roberto Mancini's team collect nine points out of every ten. The most efficient British team are Manchester United with 72 out of 87 possible points, half a percentage point above the Scottish leaders Celtic.
This table shows the percentage of the points won and the ratio between the points won and maximum possible points.
Team Percentage Points ratio
1. Inter Milano 90% (73/81)
2. Dinamo Zagreb 89,4% (59/66)
3. Levski Sofija 88,2% (45/51)
4. Dinamo Bucharest 86,36% (57/66)
5. Dinamo Kyiv 85% (46/54)
6. Manchester Utd. 82,7% (72/87)
7. Olympiacos 82,67% (62/75)
8. Porto 82,5% (52/63)
9. APOEL Nikozija 82,5 % (52/63)
10. Celtic 82,2% (74/90)
Juventus hope for Lampard coup
Firmly on course for a Serie A return, Juventus of Turin are already sounding the market for reinforcements and among them Chelsea's Frank Lampard figures prominently. The Zebras have set aside a sum of a 100 million euros, which indicates that a couple of big names will be heading to Delle Alpi stadium next season.
After failing to convince Chelsea of the need for a significant pay rise, Lampard is rumoured to be considering making use of a lesser known FIFA rule regarding the buy-out clause.
According to Lampard's legal advisors, he could buy his freedom by depositing 8 million pounds, the amount equivalent to the wages he would earn at Chelsea for the remainder of his contract, expiring in 2008.
Chelsea reportedly disputes Lampard's interpretation of the FIFA rule and threatens to denounce Juventus to the footballing authorities for approaching a player before the last six months of his contract.
Not unrelated to the issue, a court in Portugal ruled this week that a player's buyout clause cannot exceed the amount of wages that a club would pay until the contract expires. The logic behind this is clear: a player worth as much to the club as it is willing to pay him, which is reflected in the player's wages.
The Portuguese professional players' union has already voiced its satisfaction with the ruling and has expressed belief that the court's ruling will set a precedent within the European Union, soon to be applied in all member states.
Hertha luring Lehmann from Arsenal
Jens Lehmann could be on his way back to the Bundesliga, specifically to Hertha, who are looking for a goalkeeper superior to the curent custodian, Christian Fiedler, whose contract expires in 2008.
The Bild daily reports Lehmann's recently expressed wish to return to Germany and claims that Hertha could pull off the deal regardless of their 46.2 million € deficit.
The Berlin club apparently count on a secret sponsor to finance the deal, which could become reality over the next few weeks.
Lehmann (37) came to Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in 2003 and played in all Arsenal's games in the 2003/04 championship winning season when the club went undefeated through the season.
Raymond Domenech dismisses Wenger's moans
Arsene Wenger's perennial wailing have won him another "friend", this time the French coach Raymond Domenech, who was sick to hear the Arsenal's coach's lament over Thierry Henry's injury.
In reply to Wenger's claim that the French FA and national team were to blame for Henry's season-ending injury, Domenech said his compatriot was inventing a problem to deflect attention from Arsenal's recent disasters.
Wenger blamed his captain's health problems on Domenech for playing the striker in every international friendly this season, including against Bosnia in August.
"I don't want to listen to lectures. Mr Wenger is starting to seriously tire me. He tires a lot of people. He does not know everything. When he talks about an injury in March caused by a match in August, he forgets to say that every time Thierry Henry plays a game for the France team, three days later, he plays for Arsenal. And he has never been injured on international duty."
According to Domenech, Wenger has criticised Roger Lemerre when he was coach, and also Michel Platini.
"There comes a moment when enough is enough. He should better analyse the problem. We aren't to blame."
Beckham ready to travel from the USA to play for England
Rumours that Steve McClaren could recall David Beckham to the national team have delighted the former captain, a few months before his announced transfer to Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS.
"Playing in the MLS would not be an impediment for my availability. I could travel from the States to play for England," said Becks to the Spanish Sport daily.
"If I play well there, I'm sure I won't go unnoticed. I will always be available for my country if it needs me. That's the way I am as a person and a soccer player. Still, if it does not happen, I'll still be proud of having played the games I have played and captained on many occasions."
Before going to Galaxy, he still hopes to finish his last Spanish season on a high note.
"We can still win the League this season. It would be magnificent to do something important before I go. Even if I don't, I'll always remember my time in Madrid as a success."
Barca and Besiktas in war over a 12-year old genius
The Turkish midfielder Muhammed Demirci is destined to become the most expensive child footballer ever after his club Besiktas of Istanbul have put him a price tag of five million euros.
The 12-year-old Besiktas starlet nicknamed "Muha" amazed during his trial last month's with Barcelona at Camp Nou, prompting the Catalans to offer three million dollars to Besiktas.
After learning of Barcelona's fervent interest in the boy, Besiktas changed their initial decision to sell and raised the price to a prohibitive level.
"The boy first has to provide services to Besiktas. Later on the club could make more money on him," said the Black Eagles' chairman Demirören.
"The problem is that Besiktas does not want Muhammed to go," confirmed Muha's agent Seyit Ates to the Spanish EFE Agency.
Barcelona already have two boy wonders, a bit older than Muha, though: the Serb-born Bojan Krkic and the Mexican Giovanni dos Santos, who are both on the brink of breaking in to the first team.
Jimenez claims Figo hacked him on purpose
Zaragoza's César Jiménez said goodbye to football this week after two years of unsuccessful treatment for the terrible injury on his left knee caused by Luis Figo.
"It was not a struggle for the ball. Figo tackled me with a foot uprisen and his sole to the front. I couldn't say if he was angered by something that had happened to him earlier in the game.
With a tackle on a pitch level I would not have been injured, but he struck my knee and it cracked," Jiménez told As.
Figo's intent was not so much obvious to Jiménez during play, but once he saw the action on television, he went "Oh, my God. (...) He tackled me in order to hurt me."
Amazingly, the referee Losantos did not punish the Portuguese in any way.
"He was six yards away. If a card had to be shown, it had to be a red one. I believe he saw the deliberatedness of the kick, but he chickened out. So Figo came away unpunished. At least the disciplinary committee could have acted in the line of duty. There should be a mechanism protecting players injured like this, by compensating the victim and sanctioning the perpetrator who puts an end to one's career."
Interpol after Rincón over drugs and laundering charges
The famed Colombian international Freddy Rincón has been declared fair game in 186 countries cooperating with Interpol after charges have been brought against him over his alleged involvement with drug smuggling and money laundering.
Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Rincón this week at the request of Panama's authorities, who want to bring the player to trial. The former Napoli, Corinthians and Santos star is accused of having laundered money through a catering business and a fishing company for the Colombian drug lord Pablo Rayo Montańo, captured last year in Brazil.
"Let the Colombian people know that if they heard negative news about me, they will also hear news of my innocence," said Rincón from Brazil, where he has lived since hanging his boots.
The 40-year-old has refused to say whether he will turn himself in to the Panamenian authorities or how he plans to resolve his situation. He admits to having invested 200,000 dolars in business ventures in Panama, but claims that the money comes from his soccer related earnings. After all, a player who represented Colombia on 84 occasions, played in World Cups and won a World Club Championship will have earned much more than the sum in question.
Interestingly, Rincón does not hide his friendship with Rayo Montańo, but says he never asked him what his business interests were. Still, among 61 real estate units confiscated from the drug lord by the Colombian governments are two estates, two flats and one luxury house registered in Rincón's name.
Will Abramovich's divorce affect Chelsea?
Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich and his wife Irina have divorced in Russia on a consensual basis and have agreed terms in respect of their children and a financial settlement.
Their spokesman said Chelsea would not be affected by the divorce proceedings, although the Russian mogul will part with a huge chunk of his wealth estimated at 15.5 billion euros.
Reports of the size of the settlement vary from 1.5 billion to 7.75 billion euros. While plenty of money would still remain for various Abramovich's interests, for all we know the loss of up to half of his fortune may make him more thrifty and reluctant to pour further nine-figure sums in what is essentially no more than a plaything for him.
Irina and Roman were married for 15 years and have five children.
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Friday, March 9, 2007
World Soccer News
03/08/07
Platini prepares an expansion of the European Championship
New UEFA chairman Michel Platini has announced plans to expand the European Championship final phase from 16 do 24 teams, starting from 2016.
"A UEFA commission is studying the proposal to increase the number of participants
in the final stage," said Platini on a press conference in Tbilisi, Georgia.
"There are UEFA members in favour and against the idea. In any case, if a positive decision is taken, the increase would take place in the 2016 finals."
The plan to postpone the expansion until 2016 has been welcomed both in Croatia and Hungary, candidates to stage the 2012 event, because an increase to 24 as early as 2012 would clearly fancy their rivals Italy, who would legitimately argue that only they can meet the requirements for a tournament that large.
Platini has also assured that he does not plan to pressure various national federations to cut the number of teams in their first divisions to 16 or 18, or to shift the competition calendar from autumn-spring to spring-autumn, in order to have an unified schedule on the continent.
"I won't insist on this topic. The number of teams involved or a calendar of the competition is down to the federation of each member country," added the Frenchman.
Maradona investigated for money laundering
The Argentinian Central Bank (BCRA), the country's tax authority, has denounced the former soccer great Diego Maradona for suspected money laundering. BCRA has asked the authorities to investigate the movements of Maradona's funds in various banking and credit institutions.
Over the last months Maradona's principal source of revenue is playing showball, a variant of indoor soccer, which he plays along with other former Argentina internationals.
After his lenghty recovery from drug addiction and a cardiovascular illness, Maradona started to work on his own television show called "La noche del 10" (The night of the ten), which is an allusion to the number he usually wore in his heyday. In the 13 weeks he hosted the program, he entertained Pele, Mike Tyson and Fidel Castro, among others.
Teddy Sheringham could go "down under"
Nearing his 41th birthday, Teddy Sheringham has received an offer from Sydney FC of the Australian A-League to join them for the next season due to start in August.
The former Manchester United and Tottenham striker is still going strong for West Ham, but if the Hammers go down they would probably be willing to release the star, whom Sydney is planning to pay a reported 1 million AUD per year.
"Sheringham still plays at the highest level in England, is an excellent soccer player and has plenty of experience", said Sydney's executive manager George Perry to The Daily Telegraph.
Last autumn the Brazilian veteran Romario had a middlingly successful stint at Adelaide United.
Mourinho: "If they kick me out, I'll be a millionaire"
José Mourinho knows he will not be sacked from Chelsea, specially not after his side made it to the Champions' League quarterfinals agains his old team Porto. But, even if Abramovich and Kenyon chose to terminate his contract any time soon, Mourinho would not be terribly upset.
"If the club sacks you due to bad results, it's part of the game. If that happens, I'll be a millionaire and in a couple of months I'd be working for another club. I cannot win every week nor every year, but I have a family, my children are healthy and I have a lot of friends. I have a good life so I don't feel any pressure."
Seeing that Chelsea have already won the League Cup and that they are still in race for the Premiership, Champions' League and the FA Cup, Mourinho has also asked for respect for his men.
"Taking into account the injuries we have suffered this season, my players deserve respect."
Ronaldo calls Capello "a man in trouble"
The former Real Madrid player, Ronaldo Nazario Lima, did not mince his words when talking about his ex-coaches Fabio Capello and Héctor Cúper.
"One should not trust Fabio Capello. He is a man in trouble, whose relationships with players leave a lot to be desired. This is not a time for coaches who act like generals," said Il Fenomeno to the Italian weekly Panorama.
The Brazilian forward expressed an even more negative opinion about the Argentinian Héctor Cúper, under whom he worked at Inter before joining Real Madrid in 2002.
"Cúper was worse, because Capello at least has a history to back him up. But, what has Cúper won?"
With regards to his alleged excess weight, Ronaldo promised to "have a nude photo made soon to put an end to all the speculations."
Argentinian FA found responsible for a man's loss of sight
The Argentinian Supreme Court has sentenced the Argentinian Football Federation (AFA) and the club Lanús to pay an undisclosed sum to a man as damages for an injury that cost him an eye sustained during incidents at a soccer game in 1996.
The victim was Hugo Arnaldo Mosca, who was hit on the head by a stone during one match between Lanús and Independiente and suffered a complete loss of sight in his left eye.
Just a month ago, after another series of incidents, Julio Grondona, the AFA chairman, said that he was responsible for soccer, but not for security issues. The Supreme Court has ruled quite the opposite.
The Court believes that the AFA is "the organizer" and "the beneficiary" of the sporting events in which Mosca lost sight on one eye, and that therefore cannot elude legal responsibility.
"The idea that the organizers should be concerned just with the sport and their revenue, while the security should be the Government's obligation is untenable in terms of our constitution," wrote the judges in the verdict, as if they wanted to give a direct reply to the AFA chairman.
Uribe returns as Peru's coach
Julio César Uribe, the current Cienciano Cuzco coach, has been appointed to manage the Peruvian national team yet again. The appointment of Uribe has ended the possibility of Juan Carlos Oblitas' returning to the national team bench.
Uribe returns to coaching Peru five years after quitting because of not being able to take the team to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea.
The former Sporting Cristal player will make his second debut on March 24th in a friendly against Japan.
Champions' League winner's curse continues
A tremendous equality of the Champions' League has been reflected in two ways. In the round of sixteen no team have scored a win larger than 2-0 or qualified by a margin higher than two goals on aggregate. In fact, only Manchester United achieved two wins, both by 1-0 over Lille (the first one being highly controversial).
The other proof of equality is the fact that it is now 17 seasons since the last European champion retained their title. The last time that happened was in 1990, when Milan defeated Benfica in Vienna by 1-0.
In the meantime, the closest anyone came to the defence of the title was the finals. Milan, Ajax and Juventus all lost in the finals in the season after winning the Champions' League or Cup.
Last time anyone won the premier trophy three times in a row was between 1974 and 1976, when Bayern achieved that feat.
History of failures
Season Defending champ Result
1990/91 Milan quarterfinals
1991/92 Red Star Belgrade semifinals
1992/93 Barcelona round of 16
1993/94 Marseille suspended
1994/95 Milan finals
1995/96 Ajax finals
1996/97 Juventus finals
1997/98 Borussia Dortmund semifinals
1998/99 Real Madrid quarterfinals
1999/2000 Manchester Utd. quarterfinals
2000/01 Real Madrid semifinals
2001/02 Bayern quarterfinals
2002/03 Real Madrid semifinals
2003/04 Milan quarterfinals
2004/05 Porto round of 16
2005/06 Liverpool round of 16
2006/07 Barcelona round of 16
Platini prepares an expansion of the European Championship
New UEFA chairman Michel Platini has announced plans to expand the European Championship final phase from 16 do 24 teams, starting from 2016.
"A UEFA commission is studying the proposal to increase the number of participants
in the final stage," said Platini on a press conference in Tbilisi, Georgia.
"There are UEFA members in favour and against the idea. In any case, if a positive decision is taken, the increase would take place in the 2016 finals."
The plan to postpone the expansion until 2016 has been welcomed both in Croatia and Hungary, candidates to stage the 2012 event, because an increase to 24 as early as 2012 would clearly fancy their rivals Italy, who would legitimately argue that only they can meet the requirements for a tournament that large.
Platini has also assured that he does not plan to pressure various national federations to cut the number of teams in their first divisions to 16 or 18, or to shift the competition calendar from autumn-spring to spring-autumn, in order to have an unified schedule on the continent.
"I won't insist on this topic. The number of teams involved or a calendar of the competition is down to the federation of each member country," added the Frenchman.
Maradona investigated for money laundering
The Argentinian Central Bank (BCRA), the country's tax authority, has denounced the former soccer great Diego Maradona for suspected money laundering. BCRA has asked the authorities to investigate the movements of Maradona's funds in various banking and credit institutions.
Over the last months Maradona's principal source of revenue is playing showball, a variant of indoor soccer, which he plays along with other former Argentina internationals.
After his lenghty recovery from drug addiction and a cardiovascular illness, Maradona started to work on his own television show called "La noche del 10" (The night of the ten), which is an allusion to the number he usually wore in his heyday. In the 13 weeks he hosted the program, he entertained Pele, Mike Tyson and Fidel Castro, among others.
Teddy Sheringham could go "down under"
Nearing his 41th birthday, Teddy Sheringham has received an offer from Sydney FC of the Australian A-League to join them for the next season due to start in August.
The former Manchester United and Tottenham striker is still going strong for West Ham, but if the Hammers go down they would probably be willing to release the star, whom Sydney is planning to pay a reported 1 million AUD per year.
"Sheringham still plays at the highest level in England, is an excellent soccer player and has plenty of experience", said Sydney's executive manager George Perry to The Daily Telegraph.
Last autumn the Brazilian veteran Romario had a middlingly successful stint at Adelaide United.
Mourinho: "If they kick me out, I'll be a millionaire"
José Mourinho knows he will not be sacked from Chelsea, specially not after his side made it to the Champions' League quarterfinals agains his old team Porto. But, even if Abramovich and Kenyon chose to terminate his contract any time soon, Mourinho would not be terribly upset.
"If the club sacks you due to bad results, it's part of the game. If that happens, I'll be a millionaire and in a couple of months I'd be working for another club. I cannot win every week nor every year, but I have a family, my children are healthy and I have a lot of friends. I have a good life so I don't feel any pressure."
Seeing that Chelsea have already won the League Cup and that they are still in race for the Premiership, Champions' League and the FA Cup, Mourinho has also asked for respect for his men.
"Taking into account the injuries we have suffered this season, my players deserve respect."
Ronaldo calls Capello "a man in trouble"
The former Real Madrid player, Ronaldo Nazario Lima, did not mince his words when talking about his ex-coaches Fabio Capello and Héctor Cúper.
"One should not trust Fabio Capello. He is a man in trouble, whose relationships with players leave a lot to be desired. This is not a time for coaches who act like generals," said Il Fenomeno to the Italian weekly Panorama.
The Brazilian forward expressed an even more negative opinion about the Argentinian Héctor Cúper, under whom he worked at Inter before joining Real Madrid in 2002.
"Cúper was worse, because Capello at least has a history to back him up. But, what has Cúper won?"
With regards to his alleged excess weight, Ronaldo promised to "have a nude photo made soon to put an end to all the speculations."
Argentinian FA found responsible for a man's loss of sight
The Argentinian Supreme Court has sentenced the Argentinian Football Federation (AFA) and the club Lanús to pay an undisclosed sum to a man as damages for an injury that cost him an eye sustained during incidents at a soccer game in 1996.
The victim was Hugo Arnaldo Mosca, who was hit on the head by a stone during one match between Lanús and Independiente and suffered a complete loss of sight in his left eye.
Just a month ago, after another series of incidents, Julio Grondona, the AFA chairman, said that he was responsible for soccer, but not for security issues. The Supreme Court has ruled quite the opposite.
The Court believes that the AFA is "the organizer" and "the beneficiary" of the sporting events in which Mosca lost sight on one eye, and that therefore cannot elude legal responsibility.
"The idea that the organizers should be concerned just with the sport and their revenue, while the security should be the Government's obligation is untenable in terms of our constitution," wrote the judges in the verdict, as if they wanted to give a direct reply to the AFA chairman.
Uribe returns as Peru's coach
Julio César Uribe, the current Cienciano Cuzco coach, has been appointed to manage the Peruvian national team yet again. The appointment of Uribe has ended the possibility of Juan Carlos Oblitas' returning to the national team bench.
Uribe returns to coaching Peru five years after quitting because of not being able to take the team to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea.
The former Sporting Cristal player will make his second debut on March 24th in a friendly against Japan.
Champions' League winner's curse continues
A tremendous equality of the Champions' League has been reflected in two ways. In the round of sixteen no team have scored a win larger than 2-0 or qualified by a margin higher than two goals on aggregate. In fact, only Manchester United achieved two wins, both by 1-0 over Lille (the first one being highly controversial).
The other proof of equality is the fact that it is now 17 seasons since the last European champion retained their title. The last time that happened was in 1990, when Milan defeated Benfica in Vienna by 1-0.
In the meantime, the closest anyone came to the defence of the title was the finals. Milan, Ajax and Juventus all lost in the finals in the season after winning the Champions' League or Cup.
Last time anyone won the premier trophy three times in a row was between 1974 and 1976, when Bayern achieved that feat.
History of failures
Season Defending champ Result
1990/91 Milan quarterfinals
1991/92 Red Star Belgrade semifinals
1992/93 Barcelona round of 16
1993/94 Marseille suspended
1994/95 Milan finals
1995/96 Ajax finals
1996/97 Juventus finals
1997/98 Borussia Dortmund semifinals
1998/99 Real Madrid quarterfinals
1999/2000 Manchester Utd. quarterfinals
2000/01 Real Madrid semifinals
2001/02 Bayern quarterfinals
2002/03 Real Madrid semifinals
2003/04 Milan quarterfinals
2004/05 Porto round of 16
2005/06 Liverpool round of 16
2006/07 Barcelona round of 16
Thursday, February 22, 2007
World Soccer News
Soccer news 02/22/2007
Fans have been dealt with, now it's the players' turn
The strict legal norms in force in the United Kingdom have largely restrained once frightening soccer fans. It is not entirely impossible that soccer players will one day be put under control as well. That additional legal and educational measures are indicated has been confirmed again by the bulk of the Liverpool squad that ran riot in Portugal.
Several days before their triumphant display at Nou Camp, 15 players took advantage of coach Rafael Benítez's absence and left the camp in Vale do Lobo to have a little fun at a night club. The usual effects of alcohol did not take too long to set in and Craig Bellamy even beat up John Arne Riise with a golf club when the Norwegian refused his plea to sing caraoke.
Since not even the noble attempts of captain Steven Gerrard were enough to calm the naughty players down, the police were called to escort the squad to their training camp, but the trouble continued. The most intoxicated among the players, Dudek, Fowler and Pennant, took it out on cars, power boxes and the interiors of their rooms with the help of golf clubs. The police have intervened again and Dudek had to be cuffed to be put under control. Liverpool fined all the 15 merry partygoers and ordered them to play better than usual against Barcelona, which they did, especially Bellamy and Riise who conspired to score the winning goal at a venue infrequently conquered by visitors.
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Lineker dissuades Cristiano from joining Barcelona
The former Barcelona striker Gary Lineker disappointed his one-time employers by giving unsolicited advice to Cristiano Ronaldo regarding his career moves.
"Although it is true that he could earn more in Italy or Spain, he would do best to stay in the Premiership. Camp Nou is a huge stadium, but unless Real Madrid play, it is mostly silent. Cristiano would miss the Old Trafford ambience every week," said Lineker, explaining that his advice was only designed to keep the best players in the Premier League, rather than denying Barcelona a player the Catalans desire.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are two of the clubs linked with Cristiano Ronaldo and it has even been rumoured that Barça would be ready to sell Ronaldinho or Eto'o in order to raise funds to pay Manchester United for the Portuguese superstar.
Italy overthrow Brazil on FIFA's chart
The world champions Italy have finally climbed to the top of the FIFA's world ranking, replacing Brazil, who spent 55 months leading the bunch. There is a usual delay between the time a team achieves a result on the field and the moment the result is reflected on the FIFA's chart. This explains why it has taken Italy seven months to overtake Brazil, eliminated in the quarterfinals of the last World Cup.
France, beaten World Cup finalists, have yet to see their achievement recognized by FIFA's sophisticated mathematicians and statisticians, since they are currently ranked fourth, behind Argentina and ahead of Germany. England are sixth while their toughest rivals in Euro 2008 qualifiers Croatia climbed from 15th to 12th.
Lothar Matthäus awaiting Beckenbauer's call to take over at Bayern
The unforgettable German international and a long-serving Bayern's soldier Lothar Matthäus says he would like to return to the club with which he reaped much success.
"I feel completely ready to become Bayern's coach and I only wait for chairman Franz Beckenbauer to give me a call. I follow events in Bundesliga on a daily basis and I plan to win the German championship as coach as well," Matthäus told German tabloid Bild.
The current Salzburg coach has won seven German titles, all of them with the Bavarians (1985, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1997, 1999 and 2000).
The current Bayern coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld, agrees with Matthäus, foreseeing a great coaching career for his former player. "He will coach Bayern sooner or later," said Hitzfeld. Seeing how he's been doing in his second mandate in Munich, his prediction might just become reality sooner than he thinks.
Bolivia want to finish off Brazil with thin air
In order to defeat Brazil in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, to start later this year, Bolivia plans to entertain the five-time winners in the town of Potosí, at 4000 meters above the sea.
"If we are to play in Rio de Janeiro, at the temperature of 40° C and the humidity of 95%, then we have the right to chose the venue for our home game," said the coach Erwin "Platini" Sánchez. The Brazilians believe that playing on 4000 meters above the sea level could be dangerous for unadapted players, and certainly detrimental for the sporting interests of the visiting teams.
Last week Flamengo played a Copa Libertadores game against the local Real in Potosí (2-2), swearing they would never return to such heights again, but Conmebol said they had no legal grounds to ban the Potosí ground with respect to its geographical location.
Capello misses help from the referees
Fabio Capello used strange words while making a comment on the refereeing of Real's home game with Betis which ended goalless.
"We haven't been receiving too much help from the refs," said the Italian, more or less repeating the statement from two weeks earlier when his team were beaten 0-1 by Levante.
Real's soccer director Predrag Mijatovic was even more direct in his condemnation of the men in black or whatever colour they wear.
"I have a feeling referees are against us. We are given calls and handed cards no one understands," said the Montenegrin referring to David Beckham's sending-off against Betis. Incidentally, Real used to be the one satisfied with refs' calls, and the rival fans could only despair and chant the slogan "así, así, así gana el Madrid" (loosely, "that's the way Madrid win").
Pele dares Romario to prove his goals tally
The King of soccer and arguably the greatest of all time, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelé, is not all that convinced of Romario's claims he has scored 990 goals in his career. Only goals in official games (which includes full friendlies) should count, but it is suspected Romario has put in goals of all sorts, while the Brazilian FA tolerate it because they do not keep accurate stats.
"I would like him to score a thousand goals, but to prove his count is correct. For instance, I keep all the reports from my matches and the records of each and every one of the 1282 goals I scored. I suppose Romario also has such documents," taunted Pelé, not missing the occasion to remind his younger colleague that he scored his 1000th goal at 29, while Romario has yet to achieve such a feat at 41...even by his own calculations.
Ranieri put a foot with a killer metaphore
Parma, winners of four European trophies, is languishing deep in the Italian relegation zone. That's the fate of the club whose gigantic sponsor, Parmalat, went down a couple of years ago.
When the experienced coach Claudio Ranieri was brought in as saviour, during the presentation he told the players they need to kill their rivals. "Wounding will not do, only killing will." Since the words came only a few weeks after two deaths in the Italian soccer, the media objected to Ranieri's rhetoric.
"I am sorry I used a wrong metaphor, which is common in international soccer. I just wanted to encourage the relegation threatened team," a contrite Ranieri added later.
River's stadium closed for five games after fan trouble
Argentina giant River Plate will have to play five home games behind closed doors because of violent clashes between two ultra groups in the club's offices. Rival groups fought over the way money for fans should be shared, which incensed the country's FA and led them to pass the severe punishment.
In the meantime, the club stripped six prominent ultra leaders of their membership, virtually banning them from coming to see the home games at Monumental – once the gates reopen for fans.
River's chairman, José María Aguilar, rejected accusations he used to pay for ultra leaders' trips and that he had given them a percentage of Gonzalo Higuaín's transfer to Real Madrid, presumably to keep them quiet over losing a major star.
"All of this are lies, and River is the safest club in all of Argentina," concluded Aguilar.
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Fans have been dealt with, now it's the players' turn
The strict legal norms in force in the United Kingdom have largely restrained once frightening soccer fans. It is not entirely impossible that soccer players will one day be put under control as well. That additional legal and educational measures are indicated has been confirmed again by the bulk of the Liverpool squad that ran riot in Portugal.
Several days before their triumphant display at Nou Camp, 15 players took advantage of coach Rafael Benítez's absence and left the camp in Vale do Lobo to have a little fun at a night club. The usual effects of alcohol did not take too long to set in and Craig Bellamy even beat up John Arne Riise with a golf club when the Norwegian refused his plea to sing caraoke.
Since not even the noble attempts of captain Steven Gerrard were enough to calm the naughty players down, the police were called to escort the squad to their training camp, but the trouble continued. The most intoxicated among the players, Dudek, Fowler and Pennant, took it out on cars, power boxes and the interiors of their rooms with the help of golf clubs. The police have intervened again and Dudek had to be cuffed to be put under control. Liverpool fined all the 15 merry partygoers and ordered them to play better than usual against Barcelona, which they did, especially Bellamy and Riise who conspired to score the winning goal at a venue infrequently conquered by visitors.
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Lineker dissuades Cristiano from joining Barcelona
The former Barcelona striker Gary Lineker disappointed his one-time employers by giving unsolicited advice to Cristiano Ronaldo regarding his career moves.
"Although it is true that he could earn more in Italy or Spain, he would do best to stay in the Premiership. Camp Nou is a huge stadium, but unless Real Madrid play, it is mostly silent. Cristiano would miss the Old Trafford ambience every week," said Lineker, explaining that his advice was only designed to keep the best players in the Premier League, rather than denying Barcelona a player the Catalans desire.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are two of the clubs linked with Cristiano Ronaldo and it has even been rumoured that Barça would be ready to sell Ronaldinho or Eto'o in order to raise funds to pay Manchester United for the Portuguese superstar.
Italy overthrow Brazil on FIFA's chart
The world champions Italy have finally climbed to the top of the FIFA's world ranking, replacing Brazil, who spent 55 months leading the bunch. There is a usual delay between the time a team achieves a result on the field and the moment the result is reflected on the FIFA's chart. This explains why it has taken Italy seven months to overtake Brazil, eliminated in the quarterfinals of the last World Cup.
France, beaten World Cup finalists, have yet to see their achievement recognized by FIFA's sophisticated mathematicians and statisticians, since they are currently ranked fourth, behind Argentina and ahead of Germany. England are sixth while their toughest rivals in Euro 2008 qualifiers Croatia climbed from 15th to 12th.
Lothar Matthäus awaiting Beckenbauer's call to take over at Bayern
The unforgettable German international and a long-serving Bayern's soldier Lothar Matthäus says he would like to return to the club with which he reaped much success.
"I feel completely ready to become Bayern's coach and I only wait for chairman Franz Beckenbauer to give me a call. I follow events in Bundesliga on a daily basis and I plan to win the German championship as coach as well," Matthäus told German tabloid Bild.
The current Salzburg coach has won seven German titles, all of them with the Bavarians (1985, 1986, 1987, 1994, 1997, 1999 and 2000).
The current Bayern coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld, agrees with Matthäus, foreseeing a great coaching career for his former player. "He will coach Bayern sooner or later," said Hitzfeld. Seeing how he's been doing in his second mandate in Munich, his prediction might just become reality sooner than he thinks.
Bolivia want to finish off Brazil with thin air
In order to defeat Brazil in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, to start later this year, Bolivia plans to entertain the five-time winners in the town of Potosí, at 4000 meters above the sea.
"If we are to play in Rio de Janeiro, at the temperature of 40° C and the humidity of 95%, then we have the right to chose the venue for our home game," said the coach Erwin "Platini" Sánchez. The Brazilians believe that playing on 4000 meters above the sea level could be dangerous for unadapted players, and certainly detrimental for the sporting interests of the visiting teams.
Last week Flamengo played a Copa Libertadores game against the local Real in Potosí (2-2), swearing they would never return to such heights again, but Conmebol said they had no legal grounds to ban the Potosí ground with respect to its geographical location.
Capello misses help from the referees
Fabio Capello used strange words while making a comment on the refereeing of Real's home game with Betis which ended goalless.
"We haven't been receiving too much help from the refs," said the Italian, more or less repeating the statement from two weeks earlier when his team were beaten 0-1 by Levante.
Real's soccer director Predrag Mijatovic was even more direct in his condemnation of the men in black or whatever colour they wear.
"I have a feeling referees are against us. We are given calls and handed cards no one understands," said the Montenegrin referring to David Beckham's sending-off against Betis. Incidentally, Real used to be the one satisfied with refs' calls, and the rival fans could only despair and chant the slogan "así, así, así gana el Madrid" (loosely, "that's the way Madrid win").
Pele dares Romario to prove his goals tally
The King of soccer and arguably the greatest of all time, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelé, is not all that convinced of Romario's claims he has scored 990 goals in his career. Only goals in official games (which includes full friendlies) should count, but it is suspected Romario has put in goals of all sorts, while the Brazilian FA tolerate it because they do not keep accurate stats.
"I would like him to score a thousand goals, but to prove his count is correct. For instance, I keep all the reports from my matches and the records of each and every one of the 1282 goals I scored. I suppose Romario also has such documents," taunted Pelé, not missing the occasion to remind his younger colleague that he scored his 1000th goal at 29, while Romario has yet to achieve such a feat at 41...even by his own calculations.
Ranieri put a foot with a killer metaphore
Parma, winners of four European trophies, is languishing deep in the Italian relegation zone. That's the fate of the club whose gigantic sponsor, Parmalat, went down a couple of years ago.
When the experienced coach Claudio Ranieri was brought in as saviour, during the presentation he told the players they need to kill their rivals. "Wounding will not do, only killing will." Since the words came only a few weeks after two deaths in the Italian soccer, the media objected to Ranieri's rhetoric.
"I am sorry I used a wrong metaphor, which is common in international soccer. I just wanted to encourage the relegation threatened team," a contrite Ranieri added later.
River's stadium closed for five games after fan trouble
Argentina giant River Plate will have to play five home games behind closed doors because of violent clashes between two ultra groups in the club's offices. Rival groups fought over the way money for fans should be shared, which incensed the country's FA and led them to pass the severe punishment.
In the meantime, the club stripped six prominent ultra leaders of their membership, virtually banning them from coming to see the home games at Monumental – once the gates reopen for fans.
River's chairman, José María Aguilar, rejected accusations he used to pay for ultra leaders' trips and that he had given them a percentage of Gonzalo Higuaín's transfer to Real Madrid, presumably to keep them quiet over losing a major star.
"All of this are lies, and River is the safest club in all of Argentina," concluded Aguilar.
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Thursday, February 15, 2007
Soccer News 2/15/2007
Weekly World News
Mahdavikia suspected of faking a penalty
Hamburger SV have scored their first home win this season but the authorities are now questioning whether it was achieved in an ethical fashion.
Hamburger's player Mehdi Mahdavikia is being investigated by the German FA for supposedly having simulated a foul to win a penalty for his team in the game against Borussia Dortmund (3-0).
The Deutsche Fussballbund started the investigation after analyzing the TV images which suggest that the Iranian feigned a fall in the penalty area in the 10th minute of the game, without having been touched by the Dortmund keeper, Romann Weidenfeller. Referee Lutz Wagner awarded the penalty to the relegation threatened HSV, which resulted in the first goal for the hosts.
Capello's Real equal their best ever away record as Becks returns
By winning 2-1 at San Sebastian, Real Madrid equalled their best-ever number of away wins at this stage of the season. Real also had eight wins after the first 22 games during the 1960/61 and 1987/88 seasons, winning the title both times. This time, however, the Castillians have no more than five wins out of ten home games, which is one of their worst home records in the history of the club.
In spite of supposedly terrible results this season, Fabio Capello's side is just five points behind leaders Barcelona, a deficit that can be overturned in two games.
The other bright point in the match against Real Sociedad was the return of David Beckham, who even got one of the goals.
At the end of play at Anoeta Stadium, euphoria broke out around Becks as everybody approached the hero of the day and among the congratulators was even Capello himself, who had found he could not ignore the pro-Beckham pressure from inside the dressing room.
Phrases such as "you had to come on for us to win" and "it's los galácticos all over again" were commonplace, as Becks smiled at this unexpected return to fame at the club that had almost ostracized him over his U.S. transfer.
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Platini in favour of a salary cap in Europe
New UEFA president Michael Platini favours the introduction of a salary cap for each team, without directly limiting payments to each individual player.
In an interview to France24 channel, Platini said he was against putting a limit on the individual player's salary but that there should be a maximum amount any club would be allowed to spend on players' salaries, with the freedom to juggle the individual amounts under the team's salary cap.
This is of Platini's schemes to avoid soccer getting too money-dominated and to remind people of the social values of the sport.
"We cannot just be thinking of the Stock exchange and of soccer as a vehicle for making money," said the Frenchmen, apparently intent on bringing the sport closer to those less financially fortunate.
Sixty arrests during the "derby of peace"
The Belo Horizonte derby between Cruzeiro and Atletico Mineiro, for the Minas Gerais state championship, was advertised as "the derby of peace". Many fans saw it as a marvellous oportunity for violence.
The two groups of ultras showered each other with bottles and stones, while the police fired volleys of rubber bullets at both "armies". Sixty hooligans were arrested and a home-made bomb was found on one of them.
Brazil, lest we forget, are to stage the 2014 World Cup.
Inter equal Real and Bayern with 15 wins
By beating Chievo in Verona 2-0, Inter Milan have achieved their 15th consecutive championship win this season, equalling the European record until now held by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid recorded 15 wins in 1960/61 and Bayern did the same over two seasons, in the final part of 2004/05 and the initial phase of 2005/06.
The game was marked by the absence of spectators, along with three other games of the 23rd matchday in the Italian Serie A.
Over the past 15 league games, Inter scored 36 goals and conceded just seven on the way to retaining their championship – that is, if the current league season comes to an end.
Inter's winning run
8th day – Livorno 4-1
9th day – Milan 4-3
10th day – Ascoli 2-0
11th day – Parma 2-1
12th day – Reggina 1-0
13th day – Palermo 2-1
14th day – Siena 2-0
15th day – Empoli 3-0
16th day – Messina 2-0
17th day – Lazio 2-0
18th day – Atalanta 2-1
19th day – Torino 3-1
20th day – Fiorentina 3-1
21st day – Sampdoria 2-0
23st day – Chievo 2-0
Kaka obtains Italian citizenship
Brazilian virtuoso Kaká obtained Italian nationalty last Monday in a ceremony attended by Milan's vice-president, Adriano Galliani. Kaká thus ceases to occupy a non-EU slot which will raise his transfer value further in the European market.The offensive midfielder joined Milan from Sao Paulo in July of 2003, winning the championship in his first season and reaching the European Cup finals a year later. He has been Real Madrid's target ever since, but the Milanisti have refused to sell him in order to prove they still mean business in the European game.
Seville derby with a taste of scandal
The big Andalusian derby between Betis and Sevilla ended goalless, but with a mega-scandal initiated by Sevilla directors.
The hosts could not believe it when the city rival's representatives refused to receive a souvenir honouring Betis' one hundredth anniversary. Sevilla's president José María Del Nido also rejected the request to pose in front of the statue of the host's president, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, and later allegedly shouted at De Lopera's nephew, "you have the same faggot face as your uncle", an allusion to the supposed Betis boss' homosexuality. Finally, Javier Paez, the nephew, pushed Del Nido towards the staircase, but he "miraculously avoided stumbling down the stairs", claim the people from Sevilla. All this has led Betis to ban Del Nido from entering the VIP box at De Lopera Stadium for the forthcoming King's Cup quarterfinals return leg.
Victoria furious at US visa denial for her bodyguards
David Beckham's wife Victoria cannot believe that the US immigration authorities denied visas for Beckham family bodyguards with the explanation that "there are sufficiently qualified workers for the job in the States", reports Gazzetta dello Sport.
Victoria prefers that she and her three sons, Brooklyn (7), Romeo (4) and Cruz (2) be guarded by an experienced and coordinated team she and David trust, but the bureaucrats don't seem to care.
Between 2000 and 2004 three plots to kidnap one or more of the boys were uncovered and ever since the whole family has lived under the continuos supervision of their guardian angels.
According to Victoria, say her family friends, the bureaucrats took the decision out of spite and envy.
Cristiano Ronaldo puts United against the wall
The hottest Manchester United star, Cristiano Ronaldo, may have put into motion an operation to leave Old Trafford. According to The News of the World, his agent has requested a enormous sum for Cristiano's contract extension until 2012: 12,5 million euros per year before taxes.
Cristiano's (or his agent's) goal is to make the Portuguese the best paid player in the Premier League, but currently only Real Madrid seems to be capable of paying such an exorbitant salary. Currently, 12,5 million gross is the amount Raúl and Beckham earn, the last remaining galáctico wages.
At latest by July, Beckham will be gone together with his huge contract and Cristiano Ronaldo may be there to step in his shoes, unless Malcolm Glazer decides he should pay as much as the Portuguese demans rather than risking the fans' more than certain wrath.
Luis Figo to leave "big stage" next summer
Luis Figo's professional career on what he calls the "big stage" will end next June at the same time as the current Italian season.
"My career in terms of big time competition will finish this year in Italy. I have no intention of going back to Sporting Lisbon, but I may play another season with a Saudi team, something on which I have not yet decided," said Figo during a recent commercial event in Lisbon.
Figo also devoted a comment on the measures adopted by the Italian government to curb soccer related violence in the country.
"Ordering teams to play behind closed doors is utterly negative because soccer without the audience loses its essence," says the former Portuguese captain who should know what big crowds mean to a player after performing for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter for the past twelve seasons.
Wizard Ozzie
Mahdavikia suspected of faking a penalty
Hamburger SV have scored their first home win this season but the authorities are now questioning whether it was achieved in an ethical fashion.
Hamburger's player Mehdi Mahdavikia is being investigated by the German FA for supposedly having simulated a foul to win a penalty for his team in the game against Borussia Dortmund (3-0).
The Deutsche Fussballbund started the investigation after analyzing the TV images which suggest that the Iranian feigned a fall in the penalty area in the 10th minute of the game, without having been touched by the Dortmund keeper, Romann Weidenfeller. Referee Lutz Wagner awarded the penalty to the relegation threatened HSV, which resulted in the first goal for the hosts.
Capello's Real equal their best ever away record as Becks returns
By winning 2-1 at San Sebastian, Real Madrid equalled their best-ever number of away wins at this stage of the season. Real also had eight wins after the first 22 games during the 1960/61 and 1987/88 seasons, winning the title both times. This time, however, the Castillians have no more than five wins out of ten home games, which is one of their worst home records in the history of the club.
In spite of supposedly terrible results this season, Fabio Capello's side is just five points behind leaders Barcelona, a deficit that can be overturned in two games.
The other bright point in the match against Real Sociedad was the return of David Beckham, who even got one of the goals.
At the end of play at Anoeta Stadium, euphoria broke out around Becks as everybody approached the hero of the day and among the congratulators was even Capello himself, who had found he could not ignore the pro-Beckham pressure from inside the dressing room.
Phrases such as "you had to come on for us to win" and "it's los galácticos all over again" were commonplace, as Becks smiled at this unexpected return to fame at the club that had almost ostracized him over his U.S. transfer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Platini in favour of a salary cap in Europe
New UEFA president Michael Platini favours the introduction of a salary cap for each team, without directly limiting payments to each individual player.
In an interview to France24 channel, Platini said he was against putting a limit on the individual player's salary but that there should be a maximum amount any club would be allowed to spend on players' salaries, with the freedom to juggle the individual amounts under the team's salary cap.
This is of Platini's schemes to avoid soccer getting too money-dominated and to remind people of the social values of the sport.
"We cannot just be thinking of the Stock exchange and of soccer as a vehicle for making money," said the Frenchmen, apparently intent on bringing the sport closer to those less financially fortunate.
Sixty arrests during the "derby of peace"
The Belo Horizonte derby between Cruzeiro and Atletico Mineiro, for the Minas Gerais state championship, was advertised as "the derby of peace". Many fans saw it as a marvellous oportunity for violence.
The two groups of ultras showered each other with bottles and stones, while the police fired volleys of rubber bullets at both "armies". Sixty hooligans were arrested and a home-made bomb was found on one of them.
Brazil, lest we forget, are to stage the 2014 World Cup.
Inter equal Real and Bayern with 15 wins
By beating Chievo in Verona 2-0, Inter Milan have achieved their 15th consecutive championship win this season, equalling the European record until now held by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid recorded 15 wins in 1960/61 and Bayern did the same over two seasons, in the final part of 2004/05 and the initial phase of 2005/06.
The game was marked by the absence of spectators, along with three other games of the 23rd matchday in the Italian Serie A.
Over the past 15 league games, Inter scored 36 goals and conceded just seven on the way to retaining their championship – that is, if the current league season comes to an end.
Inter's winning run
8th day – Livorno 4-1
9th day – Milan 4-3
10th day – Ascoli 2-0
11th day – Parma 2-1
12th day – Reggina 1-0
13th day – Palermo 2-1
14th day – Siena 2-0
15th day – Empoli 3-0
16th day – Messina 2-0
17th day – Lazio 2-0
18th day – Atalanta 2-1
19th day – Torino 3-1
20th day – Fiorentina 3-1
21st day – Sampdoria 2-0
23st day – Chievo 2-0
Kaka obtains Italian citizenship
Brazilian virtuoso Kaká obtained Italian nationalty last Monday in a ceremony attended by Milan's vice-president, Adriano Galliani. Kaká thus ceases to occupy a non-EU slot which will raise his transfer value further in the European market.The offensive midfielder joined Milan from Sao Paulo in July of 2003, winning the championship in his first season and reaching the European Cup finals a year later. He has been Real Madrid's target ever since, but the Milanisti have refused to sell him in order to prove they still mean business in the European game.
Seville derby with a taste of scandal
The big Andalusian derby between Betis and Sevilla ended goalless, but with a mega-scandal initiated by Sevilla directors.
The hosts could not believe it when the city rival's representatives refused to receive a souvenir honouring Betis' one hundredth anniversary. Sevilla's president José María Del Nido also rejected the request to pose in front of the statue of the host's president, Manuel Ruiz de Lopera, and later allegedly shouted at De Lopera's nephew, "you have the same faggot face as your uncle", an allusion to the supposed Betis boss' homosexuality. Finally, Javier Paez, the nephew, pushed Del Nido towards the staircase, but he "miraculously avoided stumbling down the stairs", claim the people from Sevilla. All this has led Betis to ban Del Nido from entering the VIP box at De Lopera Stadium for the forthcoming King's Cup quarterfinals return leg.
Victoria furious at US visa denial for her bodyguards
David Beckham's wife Victoria cannot believe that the US immigration authorities denied visas for Beckham family bodyguards with the explanation that "there are sufficiently qualified workers for the job in the States", reports Gazzetta dello Sport.
Victoria prefers that she and her three sons, Brooklyn (7), Romeo (4) and Cruz (2) be guarded by an experienced and coordinated team she and David trust, but the bureaucrats don't seem to care.
Between 2000 and 2004 three plots to kidnap one or more of the boys were uncovered and ever since the whole family has lived under the continuos supervision of their guardian angels.
According to Victoria, say her family friends, the bureaucrats took the decision out of spite and envy.
Cristiano Ronaldo puts United against the wall
The hottest Manchester United star, Cristiano Ronaldo, may have put into motion an operation to leave Old Trafford. According to The News of the World, his agent has requested a enormous sum for Cristiano's contract extension until 2012: 12,5 million euros per year before taxes.
Cristiano's (or his agent's) goal is to make the Portuguese the best paid player in the Premier League, but currently only Real Madrid seems to be capable of paying such an exorbitant salary. Currently, 12,5 million gross is the amount Raúl and Beckham earn, the last remaining galáctico wages.
At latest by July, Beckham will be gone together with his huge contract and Cristiano Ronaldo may be there to step in his shoes, unless Malcolm Glazer decides he should pay as much as the Portuguese demans rather than risking the fans' more than certain wrath.
Luis Figo to leave "big stage" next summer
Luis Figo's professional career on what he calls the "big stage" will end next June at the same time as the current Italian season.
"My career in terms of big time competition will finish this year in Italy. I have no intention of going back to Sporting Lisbon, but I may play another season with a Saudi team, something on which I have not yet decided," said Figo during a recent commercial event in Lisbon.
Figo also devoted a comment on the measures adopted by the Italian government to curb soccer related violence in the country.
"Ordering teams to play behind closed doors is utterly negative because soccer without the audience loses its essence," says the former Portuguese captain who should know what big crowds mean to a player after performing for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter for the past twelve seasons.
Wizard Ozzie
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
FIFA World Rankings Feb 2007
After 55 months at the top Brazil are no longer number one! World Champions Italy are the first new number one since November 1993. England stay 6th despite a poor display in losing at home to Spain in a friendly at Old Trafford.
Japan move up to 41st position. South Korea jump to 44th position.
The USA are in 28th. Croatia are 12th after their good results in Euro 2008 qualifying. Scotland are up six spots to 20th position.
1 Italy
2 Brazil
3 Argentina
4 France
5 Germany
6 England
7 The Netherlands
8 Portugal
9 Czech Republic
10 Spain
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Japan move up to 41st position. South Korea jump to 44th position.
The USA are in 28th. Croatia are 12th after their good results in Euro 2008 qualifying. Scotland are up six spots to 20th position.
1 Italy
2 Brazil
3 Argentina
4 France
5 Germany
6 England
7 The Netherlands
8 Portugal
9 Czech Republic
10 Spain
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