El Salvador beats Belize 3:0 to qualify for CONCACAF U20 finals
September 28, 2008
GUATEMALA CITY – El Salvador beat Belize 3:0 Saturday and will join Costa Rica in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship finals, while Panama will face Honduras in a two-leg playoff to keep both teams’ hopes alive.
Mark Blanco scored twice in the first half, giving him three goals in three games to lead El Salvador.
El Salvador finished with six points atop Central American qualifying Group 2, same as Panama, but won the group based on El Salvador’s 2:1 victory over Panama on Friday.
Diego Estrada had a goal in both of Costa Rica’s two victories, 4:0 over Nicaragua and 2:1 over Honduras, to win Group 1 in Tegucigalpa and earn its berth last week. Honduras, the Group 1 runner-up, will host the first leg of its playoff with Panama in Comayagua on Thursday with the return leg three days later, 5 October, in Panama.
The winner of the playoff will face the Caribbean runner-up in a second playoff for a berth in the eight-team finals, tentatively scheduled for early next year in Trinidad & Tobago.
Besides El Salvador, Costa Rica and host Trinidad, the United States, Mexico, Canada, as well as the Caribbean champion and the Caribbean-Central American playoff winner will comprise the field.
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Gerrard tells Liverpool to keep cool
September 28, 2008
LIVERPOOL, England (AFP) - Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has warned his team-mates not to get carried away by their best start to a Premier League campaign.
The Reds are second in the table behind Chelsea on goal difference after winning four times in an unbeaten six-match run.
Rafa Benitez’s side underlined their determined to finally end the club’s 18-year wait for a league title with a ruthless 2-0 win at Merseyside rivals Everton on Saturday.
But Gerrard has seen plenty of false dawns at Liverpool before and the England midfielder is refusing to let the euphoria around the club distract his squad from the task of extending their impressive start.
“It is important to be humble now and not get carried away,” he said.
“We have got a big game on Wednesday in Europe and then another vital match against Manchester City on Sunday. It is important no-one gets carried away.
“There’s a long way to go and we realise how tough it is going to be to still be in the hunt come the end of the campaign, so we need to keep going, but we have set a standard that we need to match week-in, week-out.”
Liverpool have already beaten Manchester United this season but Gerrard wants to see them perform to the level that out-played Everton on a regular basis.
“The victory was probably our best performance of the season,” he said. “We had been winning games but stumbling along, but this has set the standard now and if we can continue that level then we will certainly be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.
“We controlled the game all the way through. It was a statement of our intentions.
“We were together, played some terrific football and the performance showed how frustrated we were not to take maximum points from Stoke the previous weekend.”
Written by: AFP
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Alan Shearer not interested in Newcastle United job
September 28, 2008
Former Newcastle United icon Alan Shearer has denied that he has any interest in joining the Newcastle United staff.
It was announced earlier that a large South African company had expressed interest in taking over the club from the club’s current owner Mike Ashley.
The company, which has yet to be named, are keen for the club to be run more professionally are keen to have Kevin Keegan as their manager with Alan Shearer having a key role within the club.
The company also added that they were prepared to remain in the background, even if the deal were to go through.
Joe Kinnear, in the meantime, had been named as interim manager.
Written by: Dave Cohen
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Beckham ready to stay in the shadows
September 28, 2008
LONDON (AFP) - David Beckham insists he is happy to stay in the shadows for England if it means Fabio Capello’s team qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
Beckham had worked his way back into the England squad under Capello, but his days as the first choice right winger could be over after Theo Walcott’s stunning hat-trick against Croatia earlier this month.
Walcott was selected ahead of Beckham for England’s opening two World Cup qualifiers and Capello is unlikely to make any changes for next month’s games after watching his side record back to back victories.
That would consign Beckham to the substitutes bench but the former Manchester United and Real Madrid man, who has won 105 caps for England, is ready to do anything in his power to help Capello.
“I want to be part of the squad, part of these qualifiers and, hopefully, part of the team at the World Cup,” Beckham said.
“If that means me coming on as sub or just even part of the squad, then I would be happy with that. I don’t care whether I play or whether I don’t.
“Of course I love to play for England but the much bigger thing is England winning and England qualifying.
“Whether I play is immaterial - it’s about the team, about the squad. If I can carry on getting caps, getting on the field and helping the team in any way then I’ll be happy.
“I would be happy going home having not even got off the bench. I’m in the squad, in the manager’s mind and I’m there to support the team. I’m an England fan.”
Written by: AFP
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Scolari persuaded me to stay, says Drogba
September 28, 2008
LONDON (AFP) - Didier Drogba has admitted Luiz Felipe Scolari persuaded him to stay at Chelsea when the Ivory Coast striker was considering a move away from Stamford Bridge in the close-season.
Drogba spent much of last season disgruntled after Jose Mourinho’s shock exit and he was repeatedly linked with a transfer during the transfer window.
But the former Marseille star eventually decided to snub interest from several top European clubs after an emotional heart-to-heart with new boss Scolari.
Having worked with the Brazilian for nearly three months now, Drogba is happy that he made the right choice and has likened Scolari to Mourinho.
“Scolari is one of those coaches who is very close to the players. His style is similar to Mourinho’s,” Drogba told The People.
“I like this type of coach. I feel much more comfortable with this style of management.
“I spoke with him and he showed he wanted me to stay and that is what finally convinced me.
“I have had a lot to think about throughout this summer. It is true that it was 50/50 as to whether I would stay but I still think I have something to prove.”
Drogba is determined to help Chelsea make amends for last season’s defeat to Manchester United Champions League final.
The Blues lost out on penalties in Moscow but Drogba believes they can go one step further in the competition under Scolari.
“Europe has become the unfinished business of my career,” he said. “The game against Manchester United in Moscow is still a painful memory for the players.
“We had the cup so close but we have to forget and concentrate on reaching the final again this season.
“Chelsea were better than United in Moscow and we should never have got to penalties. We were on top in extra time and we should have finished the job.
“The team has another air about it at the moment. Scolari has connected well with the squad and that is the key for things to work well. The atmosphere is different to that under Avram Grant.”
Written by: AFP
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S.Africa consortium interested in Newcastle: report
September 28, 2008
LONDON (AFP) - A consortium of South Africa businessmen were on Sunday reported to be interested in purchasing crisis-ridden Premier League side Newcastle.
Newcastle have already been in talks with a group of Nigerian tycoons trying to put together enough funds to meet owner Mike Ashley’s 400 million pound asking price.
Now it’s emerged that a second white knight may be on the horizon in the shape of a group of British-based tycoons whose fortune has been made from rescuing and rejuvenating household brands around the world.
A report in The News of the World suggests the South Africans have put together a 350m pound offer.
“We are serious about Newcastle, we believe they are an iconic institution who deserve to be run professionally,” an unnamed spokesman for the South Africans told the paper.
The spokesman added that Kevin Keegan, who quit as manager this month, was the key to the group taking control, with another favourite son of the Tyneside club, Alan Shearer, also in their thoughts.
He said: “Kevin is integral to our plans. We want Kevin to be fully committed to the team and we hope to find a role for Alan Shearer.
“We are not personalities. We like to be in the background, we need to be in the background.”
The group are confident of turning around Newcastle’s fortunes, with the spokesman saying: “The existing management structure has not worked so we’ll pay Mike Ashley what it takes to get rid of him.
“The level of expertise we have is in discovering the real problem preventing success. We want to find the root problem and turn the club around.
“We will give the Newcastle fans what they want.”
Ashley has appointed Joe Kinnear as an interim manager until the sale of the club goes through.
Kinnear saw the scale of the task he faces for his own eyes at St James’ Park on Saturday when the Magpies slumped to their fifth successive loss, this time to Blackburn, to leave them rooted one off the bottom of the table.
Written by: AFP
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Bolton boss slams referee
September 28, 2008
Bolton Wanderers manager Gary Megson has lashed out at referee Rob Styles for the awarding of the penalty, which he felt, cost his side at least a point from their match against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Referee Styles awarded Manchester United a penalty after Jlloyd Samuel had apparently won the ball off Cristiano Ronaldo inside the penalty box.
When he heard the referee’s whistle Megson thought that Ronaldo was the player who was going to be carded for diving inside the box.
Megson added that he thought that by his actions Styles was initially uncertain as to what he was going to do.
Ronaldo struck the penalty cleanly for the goal before substitute Wayne Rooney made certain of the points with a goal thirteen minutes from time.
Written by: Dave Cohen
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Kanu backs fed-up Pompey to sink Spurs
September 28, 2008
LONDON (AFP) - Kanu is hoping for a first start for Portsmouth this season in Sunday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham and the Nigerian playmaker believes he can help the club bounce back from what has been a traumatic week for Harry Redknapp’s squad.
Hammered 6-0 at Manchester City on Sunday, Pompey were on the receiving end of a 4-0 whopping from Chelsea in front of their own supporters in the League Cup in midweek.
A rare plus from that performance was Kanu’s appearance for the final 20 minutes following his recovery from a thigh problem that has kept him sidelined since he featured in a pre-season friendly against Kano Pillars in Abuja.
The Nigerian admitted that the scale of the defeats had been tough to digest but insisted that the mood in the camp was far from demoralised.
He said: “The gaffer has told us what he wants, and it is down to us to implement it.
“The spirit in the dressing-room is good and we’re talking to each other, wanting to find a solution.
“We want to give the fans something back. We don’t want them to lose confidence in us.
“I believe on Sunday it’s going to be a good show and we’re going to win because everyone is fed up with what is going on.
“Fitness wise I feel I’m up there again, so I hope I will be involved - as an ex-Arsenal player, I love playing against Tottenham!”
The visit of Tottenham brings England forward Jermain Defoe up against his former club, nine months after he left White Hart Lane in search of regular first team football.
Ironically, the summer departures of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane mean Defoe might have found himself as a regular partner for Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko had he stayed in north London.
Pavlyuchenko opened his Spurs account with a goal in the 2-1 League Cup win over Newcastle in midweek but manager Juande Ramos admits the Russian needs time to adapt to a new club, city and language, time which is in scarce supply for a club marooned at the bottom of the league.
“We are playing every three or four days against new teams,” Ramos said. “It is impossible to think about other teams. I have a lot of work and I only think about Spurs. The situation for us is very difficult.
“Reality is that we are bottom. Maybe in one month we will have moved up a little, in three months maybe more. It is little by little and I am looking in the short term.
“It’s very clear. We have had big changes, new players, new positions - all the players need adaptation. We need passion and we need to work very hard, this is what we need.”
Written by: AFP
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Tottenham face Liverpool in next round of the League Cup
September 28, 2008
Defending champions Tottenham Hotspur will have to get past seven-time winner Liverpool to reach the League Cup quarterfinals.
After a dismal start to its Premier League season, Spurs ousted Newcastle in Wednesday’s third round while Liverpool edged Crewe.
Saturday’s fourth-round draw also pitted Manchester United against League Championship club Queens Park Rangers, which upset Aston Villa in the third round. Burnley, another second-tier club, will visit Chelsea, which lost February’s final to Tottenham.
Written by: Dave Cohen
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Ronaldo wants to join Manchester City
September 28, 2008
Brazil forward Ronaldo is reportedly still hoping to join Manchester City once he is fully recovered from his knee injury.
“I have talked to Manchester City and I know the doors will be open when I have recovered,” Ronaldo said in Saturday’s edition of Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. “But I will also give a lot of thought to Flamengo. My dream is to play for Flamengo. I will make my decision when I feel I have recovered.”
Ronaldo, who just turned 32, said his other big dream is to play in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Written by: Dave Cohen