World soccer news - for the week of February 14th
Cursed Ronaldo on the sidelines again
A well known scene: a tearful Ronaldo is being stretchered off with yet another injury. The partial tendon rupture of the right knee sustained in the league game against Livorno is threatening the Brazilian with another lengthy break. The Italian web site Datasport inquires openly: "Is this the end for Ronie?"
Milan's ace suffered the injury just two minutes after he came on as a substitute. The unlucky 31-year-old striker was transported to an orthopaedic clinic in Milan where he was subjected to magnetic resonance and other examinations. After the surgery urgently scheduled in Paris he is in for another frustrating rehabilitation.
Hopefully not as long as the one between autumn of 1999 and summer of 2001, during which time he played just one game, indeed only a few minutes of it.
English soccer going non-English, fumes Platini
UEFA's president Michel Platini is not amused by the Premier League's plans to play several games per season overseas to boost income from foreign fans.
One of the all-time soccer giants, Platini called the idea "strange and comical."
"It will never be approved by FIFA, the fans and the national FAs. It's ironic. You already have no English coaches and English players. Soon the English clubs will have no English owners and perhaps your clubs will be playing outside of England. It's a joke."
It may look funny to Platini, but the increasingly non-English team owners look set to make some perfectly serious money by delving deeper into the pockets of the legions of their overseas fans as of 2011.
At least a couple of Englishmen are bound to profit from the idea, notably its creator, the English Premier League (EPL) Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore. Although the home-based fans and the media have been less than friendly towards Scudamore's scheme, the man claims to have garnered support from the current 20 clubs in the Premier League.
"We're confident that we had the support of the 20 clubs and we still have the support of the 20 clubs," says Scudamore. What isn't entirely clear is whether the support will be there after the clubs have listened to what the fans have to say on the matter.
Explosion of attendances in Bundesliga
Soccer is nowhere as popular as in Germany. The Premier League may be the strongest playerwise, but the average attendance in the Bundesliga has grown yet again from last season's 38,191 to 38,529 in the first half of the current season. The 306 games of the first part were attended by 5,894,000 spectators, which is a 3.75% increase on the previous season.
The 2nd Bundesliga is growing at an even higher rate: each game is watched by 17,693 fans, 10.83% more than last season.
The reasons may include new and comfortable stadia, an exciting and uncertain competition and the high population figures: Germany has over 80 million inhabitants. By the way, the average ticket price is an acceptable 21 euros, 35% of what a ticket costs in the Premier League!
Italy has also registered a growth. After last season's dismal average of 19,181, the return of Juventus, Napoli and Genoa has prompted the attendance to rise to an average of 22,504.
Top five leagues
Country Average
1. Germany 38,529
2. England 34,400
3. Spain 28,700
4. Italy 22,504
5. France 21,800
Pelé suggests free kicks without the wall
The greatest player of all time, the Brazilian Pelé, plans to revolutionize the game of soccer by suggesting to FIFA an essential rule change: no wall for the free kicks! Pelé conveyed the idea to FIFA on the occasion of the last Executive Committee meeting in Zurich. There are two versions of the modification: removal of the wall for all free kicks or only if the foul was committed by the last defender outside of the penalty area.
"The new rule would enable a harsher punishment for the offender. If there is a wall in place, the attacking side practically loses the advantage. Should FIFA accept my proposal, the number of fouls will drop and the most talented players will find it easier to score," says The King.
Perhaps the real thing would be to enable the shooter to choose whether the rivals should place the wall or not, since some players are specialized for hitting the ball just right so that it bypasses or crosses the wall on the way to the net.
Real Madrid's lucky 13th
Although Real Madrid's eight point advantage over Barcelona gained last weekend is what really matters, Real's fans celebrated the spectacular 7-0 win over Valladolid.
That was the 13th 7-0 win for the Madrid team in the Spanish championship, exactly six years after a similar win over Las Palmas when Fernando Morientes scored five goals. But, that season the title went to Valencia, not Madrid.
Valladolid conceded seven goals to Real Madrid in the autumn of 2003, with three goals by Raúl, who is particularly inspired against Madrid's Castillian neighbours. With his two goals last Sunday, Raúl's tally against this team has risen to 14. Incidentally, the scoreline equalled Valladolid's worst defeat ever, suffered 50 years ago against Atlético.
Johan Cruyff advises Barca against Mourinho
A faction within Barcelona's board advocates hiring José Mourinho as early as next July. The current coach Frank Rijkaard is not immediately threatened by dismissal since his team is still present on all three fronts, but he is aware that the vice-chairman Ferrán Soriano is lobbying in favour of Mourinho. Soriano appreciates his coaching methods, leadership and familiarity with Barcelona from the time when he worked as Bobby Robson's and Louis van Gaal's assistant.
However, Barca's former player and coach Johan Cruyff is said to be putting the brakes on Mourinho's arrival. According to the Spanish press, the influential Dutchman has advised the chairman Joan Laporta not to sign Mourinho on grounds that his coaching style is not compatible with Barca's cheerful and offensive play. Another reason could be the desire to protect fellow countryman Rijkaard.
Mourinho (44) has been a free agent since he parted ways with Chelsea last September.
Copyright Soccerphile and Ozren Podnar
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Showing posts with label pele. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pele. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Monday, October 29, 2007
Weekly Soccer News Roundup
Weekly world news
for week of October 30th
Thuram against DNA tests for immigrants
The French international Lilian Thuram is known for his political and social commitment, notably when the interests of his race are threatened. Barcelona's defender has once again risen against a controversial move of his country's government by signing a manifest against the obligatory DNA analysis that the president Nicolas Sarkozy plans to have imposed on all foreigners wishing to move to France in order to reunite with their families.
Such an obligation would according to Thuram be discriminatory and racist.
Argentina stage a reality show with soccer fans!
An Argentinian television prepares to produce a Big Brother-type show under the name of "Reality Goal". The show will feature 20 guys, each one a fan of one of the 20 teams of the First division.
Although the condition for participation is a fanatical support for one of the clubs, the producers hope to convey a message on a peaceful coexistence and tolerance among followers of different colours.
"We wish to show that even the supporters of rival teams can live together without any violence," said Fabián Olemberg, the creator of the program due to start in February.
Argentina is one of the countries where the soccer-related crowd trouble is the most prominent, specially when archrivals are involved like River and Boca in Buenos Aires, Rácing and Independiente in Avellaneda or Newell's and Central in Rosario.
Germany confirms Löw until 2010
Joachim Löw has won a reward for taking Germany through to the European Championship finals in Austria and Switzerland: the German FA has extended his contract until 2010 so the current manager will stay in his seat regardless of his team's showing at Euro 2008.
However, Löw plans to impress the soccer public with his team's prowess at next year's competition.
"Our goal is to play attractive soccer and win the European title, even though I'm aware that each player must work to improve physically and technically," said Löw, whose three assistants, former German internationals Hans-Dieter Flick and Andreas Köpke, and Swiss national Urs Siegenthaler were also all extended.
Cristiano Ronaldo replies Pelé: "I'm better than you think"
Manchester Utd's ace Cristiano Ronaldo says he is a bit offended by Pelé's somewhat unenthusiastic comments regarding his qualities.
"He must show more and keep the quality level high for a longer period of time so that we could consider him the best," said the King of Soccer regarding the Portuguese winger.
"I respect everybody's opinions, but I do not agree with all of them. I know what Pelé thinks of me, but other soccer greats think something else. Whoever saw my play over the past few seasons will agree that Pelé's statement is a bit injust," said Cristiano, candidate for the two most prestigious awards in soccer: FIFA's player of the year and France Football's Golden Ball.
Brasileirao: Sao Paulo virtual champs
With five matchdays to go, Sao Paulo have practically won the Brazilian title, although mathematically they need a point out of the available 15 to officially call themselves the champions of Brazil.
The leaders have defeated Sport Recife 2-1 and could now only be caught up by Santos or Palmeiras if they lose all the remaining games, and if either of their persecutors win all five matches with an astounding scorelines.
Sao Paulo have a superior goals difference by 24 with respect to Santos and by 29 in relation to Palmeiras, which makes their loss of the top spot highly unlikely.
In their next game Sao Paulo entertain the bottom-placed, already relegated America when they plan to make their conquest official.
Hacker doctored Ramos' statement: "I am so greedy"
New Tottenham manager Juande Ramos had only a few words to say to his players after he saw his team waste the 1-0 lead to lose by 1-2 to Blackburn at White Hart Lane.
"The hard work starts tomorrow," said the Spaniard who led Sevilla to five trophies in the space of 15 months.
Back in Spain, Sevilla's fans must be fuming over Ramos' abrupt departure from Sánchez Pizjuán so one of them hacked ADN.es website and doctored the coach's farewell statement to the Spanish public.
"I went because of the financial challenge. God! Seven million euros per season, hahaha. Yes, I'm greedy, what can I do about it? (...) Since my only goal in life is money, I leave this great team because of an amount you cannot imagine. I want my Ferraris," read Ramos' fake statement after an intervention of an unknown hacker.
The sabotage remained on the net only for a five minutes but long enough for many media to take note.
Bernd Schuster set up by his son
Real Madrid's coach Bernd Schuster is already thinking of Barelona-Real clásico due on December 23rd and Lionel Messi has deserved his special attention:
"I am following and thoroughly analysing Barça's game. Most of all I'm observing Messi since he made my life bitter when I coached Getafe. Now we're not giving him an inch of space. If he turns nasty, I'll put on him my dog's collar to slow him down a bit," said the German on his web page.
Only, these were not Bernd Schuster's words. When the press confronted him with the strange wording, the coach said, "ehm, this was my son's doing."
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for week of October 30th
Thuram against DNA tests for immigrants
The French international Lilian Thuram is known for his political and social commitment, notably when the interests of his race are threatened. Barcelona's defender has once again risen against a controversial move of his country's government by signing a manifest against the obligatory DNA analysis that the president Nicolas Sarkozy plans to have imposed on all foreigners wishing to move to France in order to reunite with their families.
Such an obligation would according to Thuram be discriminatory and racist.
Argentina stage a reality show with soccer fans!
An Argentinian television prepares to produce a Big Brother-type show under the name of "Reality Goal". The show will feature 20 guys, each one a fan of one of the 20 teams of the First division.
Although the condition for participation is a fanatical support for one of the clubs, the producers hope to convey a message on a peaceful coexistence and tolerance among followers of different colours.
"We wish to show that even the supporters of rival teams can live together without any violence," said Fabián Olemberg, the creator of the program due to start in February.
Argentina is one of the countries where the soccer-related crowd trouble is the most prominent, specially when archrivals are involved like River and Boca in Buenos Aires, Rácing and Independiente in Avellaneda or Newell's and Central in Rosario.
Germany confirms Löw until 2010
Joachim Löw has won a reward for taking Germany through to the European Championship finals in Austria and Switzerland: the German FA has extended his contract until 2010 so the current manager will stay in his seat regardless of his team's showing at Euro 2008.
However, Löw plans to impress the soccer public with his team's prowess at next year's competition.
"Our goal is to play attractive soccer and win the European title, even though I'm aware that each player must work to improve physically and technically," said Löw, whose three assistants, former German internationals Hans-Dieter Flick and Andreas Köpke, and Swiss national Urs Siegenthaler were also all extended.
Cristiano Ronaldo replies Pelé: "I'm better than you think"
Manchester Utd's ace Cristiano Ronaldo says he is a bit offended by Pelé's somewhat unenthusiastic comments regarding his qualities.
"He must show more and keep the quality level high for a longer period of time so that we could consider him the best," said the King of Soccer regarding the Portuguese winger.
"I respect everybody's opinions, but I do not agree with all of them. I know what Pelé thinks of me, but other soccer greats think something else. Whoever saw my play over the past few seasons will agree that Pelé's statement is a bit injust," said Cristiano, candidate for the two most prestigious awards in soccer: FIFA's player of the year and France Football's Golden Ball.
Brasileirao: Sao Paulo virtual champs
With five matchdays to go, Sao Paulo have practically won the Brazilian title, although mathematically they need a point out of the available 15 to officially call themselves the champions of Brazil.
The leaders have defeated Sport Recife 2-1 and could now only be caught up by Santos or Palmeiras if they lose all the remaining games, and if either of their persecutors win all five matches with an astounding scorelines.
Sao Paulo have a superior goals difference by 24 with respect to Santos and by 29 in relation to Palmeiras, which makes their loss of the top spot highly unlikely.
In their next game Sao Paulo entertain the bottom-placed, already relegated America when they plan to make their conquest official.
Hacker doctored Ramos' statement: "I am so greedy"
New Tottenham manager Juande Ramos had only a few words to say to his players after he saw his team waste the 1-0 lead to lose by 1-2 to Blackburn at White Hart Lane.
"The hard work starts tomorrow," said the Spaniard who led Sevilla to five trophies in the space of 15 months.
Back in Spain, Sevilla's fans must be fuming over Ramos' abrupt departure from Sánchez Pizjuán so one of them hacked ADN.es website and doctored the coach's farewell statement to the Spanish public.
"I went because of the financial challenge. God! Seven million euros per season, hahaha. Yes, I'm greedy, what can I do about it? (...) Since my only goal in life is money, I leave this great team because of an amount you cannot imagine. I want my Ferraris," read Ramos' fake statement after an intervention of an unknown hacker.
The sabotage remained on the net only for a five minutes but long enough for many media to take note.
Bernd Schuster set up by his son
Real Madrid's coach Bernd Schuster is already thinking of Barelona-Real clásico due on December 23rd and Lionel Messi has deserved his special attention:
"I am following and thoroughly analysing Barça's game. Most of all I'm observing Messi since he made my life bitter when I coached Getafe. Now we're not giving him an inch of space. If he turns nasty, I'll put on him my dog's collar to slow him down a bit," said the German on his web page.
Only, these were not Bernd Schuster's words. When the press confronted him with the strange wording, the coach said, "ehm, this was my son's doing."
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World Soccer News
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Tags
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