Poles set Federation date: FIFA
October 24, 2008
ZURICH, Oct 24, 2008 (AFP) - Election to the Polish Football Federation (PZPN) will take place on October 30 despite the arrest of former coach Janusz Wojcik, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Friday.
Blatter confirmed at a FIFA executive committee meeting in Zurich that the PZPN’s electoral congress will go ahead next Thursday despite ongoing "civil or penal investigations" against some of the body’s officials.
The elections "will take place," Blatter added.
The vote will go ahead in the context of Polish prosecutors having charged Poland’s former national team manager Wojcik with 11 counts of corruption in a vast probe dating back to 2004, when he managed a first-division side.
Wojcik was Poland national side manager from 1997 to 1999. He has also coached the national sides of the United Arab Emirates and Syria, as well as clubs in Poland and Cyprus.
From 2003-2004 he managed the Warsaw-area club Swit Nowy Dwor Mazowiecki, which enjoyed sudden success that season.
Prosecutors have also pressed charges against PZPN Secretary-General Zdzislaw Krecina, one of the four candidates standing in the body’s leadership race and accused of having transferred 320,000 zlotys (88,800 euros, 116,500 dollars) to a club’s bank account in 2006 even though the money had been frozen by the tax authorities.
Krzysztof Perek, a PZPN match observer, was arrested along with Wojcik Wednesday.
A total of 158 people — including referees, players, club officials and PZPN members — have now been snared in a vast football graft probe.
FIFA had threatened to bar Poland from the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup if the vote did not go ahead and the Polish government backed down, sacking the administrator it had appointed to run the PZPN and reinstating the sitting leadership pending the election.
Poland is anxious not to pick a quarrel with UEFA and FIFA as it is to co-host the 2012 European championships with neighbouring Ukraine.
Written by: AFP
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Genoa won´t fear Inter, says Milito
October 24, 2008
ROME (AFP) - Genoa’s Argentine hot-shot Diego Milito insists his team will not be intimidated by Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan when they travel to face the champions on Sunday.
Striker Milito has made a dream start to his second spell at Genoa since returning to the club from Spaniards Real Zaragoza and has hit the net five times in five starts in Serie A.
He is third in the scoring charts, alongside Inter star Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
His goals have contributed to Genoa winning all four of their home matches this season, but their away form is a different story as they are yet to pick up a point on their travels.
Even so, Milito is confident they can turn the tables on Mourinho’s superstars.
"We’re going to the San Siro to win. We know Inter are very good and that we’ll have to play an almost perfect match but we’re confident in our own abilities.
"Now is the time to start winning points away from home where we’re steadily improving despite the defeats."
Written by: AFP
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Rebel Ballack must apologise to Loew, says Klinsmann
October 24, 2008
BERLIN (AFP) - Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann on Friday told Michael Ballack to apologise for his damning criticism of Germany coach Joachim Loew.
Klinsmann weighed into the growing controversy, which was sparked on Tuesday when national team captain Ballack claimed Loew didn’t show enough respect and loyalty to his senior players.
"The situation is very simple: Michael must apologise for his comments on the coach and the players," Klinsmann told German sports news agency SID.
Loew has demanded that Ballack, who plays for Chelsea, returns to Germany to explain his outburst, with both men speaking to each other on the phone Thursday evening, according the German Football Federation (DFB).
"What will become of Michael is ‘Jogi’s’ business. He is the boss, he decides for himself," said Klinsmann, who took Germany to the World Cup semi-finals in 2006.
Earlier former Germany captain Lothar Matthaus urged Loew to punish Ballack, saying that he had breached the team’s code of conduct.
"Every discussion between a senior player and the coach should happen behind locked doors. But Ballack does not seem to adhere to a code of conduct anymore."
Matthaus added: "He runs everything past the media. The trust in him has been lost."
The incident began on Tuesday after Ballack told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper that: "Experienced national players deserve at least some respect and loyalty.
"There was a group of experienced players in that squad like Torsten Frings, Miroslav Klose and me whose achievements have suddenly been questioned and we find ourselves under attack," added Ballack.
Written by: AFP
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Arsenal boss unhappy over Gallas cigarette picture
October 24, 2008
LONDON (AFP) - Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said it was unacceptable for captain William Gallas to be pictured in public holding a cigarette but stressed the veteran defender was the right man to lead the club.
Centre-half Gallas, due to return for Sunday’s Premier League match against London rivals West Ham following a thigh injury, was photographed leaving a nightclub holding a cigarette in his mouth, although it was unlit.
"I didn’t see the picture. I have been informed, but I don’t like that," Wenger said. "I will check that with him. He has a responsibility as captain of Arsenal Football Club. That cannot be accepted.
"It is a public job with a public responsibility and therefore it is exactly the same for everybody."
But Wenger said of his fellow Frenchman: "I believe that William has a very fair assessment of his performances. William has worked very hard to come back from his injury and looks very sharp now."
Gallas’s credentials as a captain were called into question following a sit-down protest in the centre circle after the end of last season’s league match away to Birmingham.
However, Wenger added: "He has learned a lot. He has taken a lot of criticism, of course, but I think he took it in a positive way.
"He has learned a lot and he himself has come out and said, ‘I made a mistake last year and I will change and re-address my attitude’.
"I believe he has got a lot of unfair critics and therefore I believe the fact that he could take it and he is still as motivated.
"What you can never fault with William is the motivation.
"He wants to do well, he wants his team to win and he has made a mistake - who didn’t? Even great captains, we all make mistakes."
Arsenal travel across London on Sunday bidding to close a four-point gap on leaders Chelsea and Liverpool.
Written by: AFP
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Scolari refuses to rule out new signings in January
October 24, 2008
LONDON (AFP) - Luiz Felipe Scolari has warned Peter Kenyon not to shut the Chelsea cheque book after the club’s chief executive claimed they were unlikely to make any more signings this season.
Kenyon hinted this week that the January transfer window would be a quiet period for the Blues because Scolari already has a squad packed with world-class talent.
But although Chelsea boss Scolari is happy with his team, he knows injuries or loss of form could force him into the transfer market when the window reopens on New Years’s Day.
"Every week when I meet Peter I say I am happy with the squad but we don’t know what will happen until January," Scolari said. "Peter says no until January but that is normal because it is impossible to buy players now.
"I don’t think money is a problem. We will discuss this in the correct time. Now is not the correct time because we have a big game on Sunday.
"We need to play many games until January. After this we will talk about it."
Whether he makes any more signings or not, Scolari believes Chelsea can emulate Arsenal’s invincibles by going unbeaten for the rest of the season.
Arsenal were the last team to go through an entire 38-game Premier League season without defeat back in 2003-04. But Scolari’s side are yet to lose in any competition the current campaign and the Chelsea manager sees no reason why that 12-match run can’t continue until the trophies are handed out in May.
"It is possible to go through the season undefeated," Scolari said. "I don’t think about this all the time but I think it is possible."
The next step on the road to that achievement comes on Sunday when league leaders Chelsea host second placed Liverpool.
Like Chelsea, Rafa Benitez’s team are unbeaten so far this season and Scolari has warned his players they will have to match Liverpool’s unbreakable spirit.
Liverpool have already come from behind five times to avoid defeat this season and Scolari sees similiarities between the bloody-minded nature of both teams.
"The clubs have the same spirit. They fight until the last minute to win the game," Scolari said. "Liverpool have won more games in the last minute than us. They have a very good team. It is a fantastic game on Sunday.
"They are dangerous because they have a good team and good players. They are very organised. They haven’t lost once this season.
"Sometimes they are in bad condition in the last 10 minutes but changed the result. This is the best thing. They have spirit. They changed the result because they play as a team.
"This is what I want from my team and it is what they give me. I know Benitez would say the same about my team because the respect is there.
"They don’t have one magical player but they are a team. I think the best team for Benitez and Liverpool is this season. They have competitve, quality players in good position."
If Scolari needs any further encouragement that Chelsea can open up a three point lead over Liverpool this weekend, he need only look at his side’s formidable home record.
The Blues are unbeaten in 86 league matches at the Bridge for over four years, while Benitez has won only four of Liverpool’s 19 meetings with Chelsea since he took over in 2004.
Regardless of the result, Scolari hopes to make a new friend on Sunday as he plans a post-match drink with Benitez for the first time.
"I like Benitez but I met him one time only. He is direct and works very well. He has won many competitions in four years with Liverpool," Scolari said.
"I want him to drink some wine or beer after the match. We will talk about life not football because I want one more friend in my life.
Scolari is likely to have Ashley Cole back in his team after the England left-back returned to training.
There was a further boost for Scolari as the Brazilian revealed Ghana midfielder Michael Essien should be back to action by late-January.
Essien had been expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury on international duty but he is making a quicker than expected recovery.
Written by: AFP
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Real result has turned Juventus season around: Ranieri
October 24, 2008
TURIN, Italy (AFP) - Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri said on Friday that his team’s victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League could turn their season around.
Speaking on the eve of the Turin derby against Torino, Ranieri said he was confident that his team could overcome their poor start in Serie A where they have won only two of their first seven matches.
"This year we haven’t got everything we deserved but you could say that the wind has turned," he said.
"This can only happen if you resist adversity."
Rumours have been rife that Ranieri’s number is almost up at Juve but the coach remained defiant despite a storm of criticism.
"I have always felt that the club and players are behind me," he added.
"The managers have stated this publicly and maybe people will stop writing things for a few weeks.
"On the other hand, all coaches in Italy go through tough times. Both (Marcelo) Lippi and (Fabio) Capello had difficulties here at Juve."
Juventus have nine points from their seven matches, winning two, drawing three and losing two.
It has left them seven points off leaders Inter Milan, but Ranieri insisted that in the corresponding fixtures a year ago against the same teams they have already played this season, they fared no better — and a year ago they finished third.
"The truth is we won nine points against the same teams last season. The only difference is last year we beat Palermo and lost to Udinese and this season it’s the opposite.
"Even so I want us to do as well as possible and go as far as possible in the Champions League."
While Juve’s record of losing to Palermo and Napoli and failing to beat Catania, Sampdoria and Fiorentina does not look good on paper, the win over second-place Udinese was impressive.
Ranieri, though, is concerned that Torino will come into the match fresher than his team as they didn’t play in midweek.
"With respect to us, Torino’s players have had more time to prepare for this match, they were able to train, to rest, to look after their minds.
"We only started thinking about the derby after the match against Real. We used up a lot of physical and nervous energy but that match also served to recharge our batteries."
Written by: AFP
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UEFA Cup results…what to make of it?
October 24, 2008
Vermaelen scores at Villa Park
But we start with remarkable news from FC Utrecht: the club has a scoop, they must be the first club in the history of pro football where the management decided after a bad season start to fire all coaches, except for the head coach! That’s right… Willem van Hanegem stays, but all his assistants (John van Loen, David Nascimento and others) are fired on the spot. That’s a new one… Van Hanegem has even signed on to stay longer…
UEFA Cup football now!!
Our new national pride, NEC gave away a lead in Zagreb, playing the local dinamoes. With ten minutes to go, Mario Been’s mavericks were 1-2 up! A wonderful result, but there were still ten minutes to go…
The Croatians started ferocious. The reigning champs hadn’t won an official game this season and picked NEC as the opponent to start the turn around. From the first minute on, Dinamo Zagreb took the game to the Nijmegen club and a mistake of Babos meant the 1-0. It seemed NEC would be butchered but apart from an off-side and thus disallowed second goal, Zagreb couldn’t score more.
NEC came back into the game through a lucky and wonderous own goal. Check YouTube in the next days, because I can’t describe it. Tim Janssen scored the second with then minutes to go, but the pressure of Zagreb was too much for Been’s youngsters and they conceded twice in the last minutes. Tim Janssen had the chance on a very late equalizer, which would have been deserved, but he missed.
Ajax stumbled against Aston Villa in England, losing 2-1. Marco van Basten told his troups that Villa scores 60% of their goals from setpieces and corners. Danny Blind even demonstrated during a press conference how you should defend taller strikers… But the coach wasn’t seated yet of Villa had the 1-0 on the scoreboard. Vermaelen timed wrong, Vermeer was too late, bang… Within half an hour, however, Thomas Vermaelen got his revenge. A corner kick, all the time and space for the Ajax defender and bang, 1-1. Right before halftime, it was another cross into the Ajax box that was poorly defended and the 2-1 was a fact. In the second half, Van Basten brought three fresh players and changed his tactics to one-on-one (losing 4-1 or 2-1 doesn’t matter so much) and went for the draw. But no matter how hard Huntelaar yelled for the ball, Ajax couldn’t reach him and Amsterdam’s pride will have to wait for their first points.
Just when you think Feyenoord played it’s worst game, they are able to surprise you… The Rotterdam based club had to travel to Nancy, where two years ago the Feyenoord hard-core hooligans disgraced Dutch football. This time around, no Dutch fans on the stands and even the sponsors and VIPs had decided to stay home. Whether it was the lack of fan support or not, Feyenoord was clueless. Nancy, not the brightest light in French football, didn’t play too good either and the game can be categorized as poor, sloppy and tedious. Feyenoord got some chances but it seemed the pressure was too much. Gio missed two free shots, Michael Mols slipped in a decisive moment and Roy Makaay, who made his return, wasn’t able to turn the tables. When Nancy scored their first, the house of cards came crashing down. Feyenoord lost 3-0 and left the pitch with the heads bowed very low. Verbeek realizes a crisis is looming (Heerenveen is the next opponent) but refuses to panic and give in.
FC Twente did best, for Holland. The Steve McLaren coached side played an impressive game against Racing Santander, after kicking out Stade Rennes in the pre-group phase. Twente scored an early goal, a copy of the Dennenboom goal against Rennes, and Kenneth Perez was the big man for Twente. McLaren had said before the game: “We want to win and I don’t care how!”. But the “how” was impressive, although Racing never ever looked like they wanted to take the game to Twente. If the Tukkers weren’t so sloppy, they could have scored three more. Perez: “When you look at our opponents (Paris SG, Man City, Schalke and Racing) it feels like we’re playing Champions League football. We are the club with the lowest budget in this group, so winning this is really great. We will all try to rise to the occasion.”
Herenveen was in awe of all those AC Milan superstars training on their grounds, the last days. The fans realized Heerenveen wouldn’t have a chance, but they experienced this fixture as a present still.
The fairytale lasted 20 minutes. Then, it was Inzaghi who scored the first Italian goal. Coach Sollied had told the players: “Guys, go out there and enjoy. And entertain the fans. This might be the only time you will play against AC Milan, so give it your all.” The players of Heerenveen didn’t share the awe with their fans and tried to steal the game from the first moment on. The fans loved it, but the Rossoneri weren’t impressed. Gattuso scored the second goal and the game was over. Milan sneakily played the game out and allowed Heerenveen to huff and puff to their hearts delight. Inzaghi scored the 3-0, but Heerenveen did open their account, through a Panjic penalty kick (Panenka style). Sollied: “I’m not too disappointed. This was a huge lesson. We need to win our next game against Wolfsburg, that’s an opponent we can have. Normally, if you play AC Milan 100 times, you only win once. Today wasn’t that day.”
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Arsenal’s William Gallas Adds Cigarettes to His Injury Recovery Program
October 24, 2008
Uh-oh, Arsenal captain William Gallas is in trouble. Seems he was pictured leaving a nightclub on Thursday morning with a cigarette in his mouth (no pictures online, yet).
The cigarette was unlit, but I’m not sure that gets him out of trouble. Mostly because there’s only one thing you can do with an unlit cigarette. And that’s to light it.
Here’s what Arsene Wenger had to say:
“I didn’t see the picture. I have been informed, but I don’t like that. I will check that with him. He has a responsibility as captain of Arsenal Football Club. That cannot be accepted. It is a public job with a public responsibility and therefore it is exactly the same for everybody.”
I’m not sure I buy the whole idea about footballers being role models for the public. That’s not really their job. But as Arsenal captain (still not a great choice if you ask me) Gallas is a role model to all those other Arsenal players (some of whom are barely old enough to buy cigarettes themselves).
This is arguably worse than Wayne Rooney smoking on his honeymoon, because at least Rooney did that outside of the football season.
Gallas is supposed to be getting ready to return to action after a thigh injury, and I’m guessing sucking down some tar isn’t the best way to go about that.
On the other hand, plenty of footballers have smoked and done just fine. Trinidad & Tobago international Russel Latapy apparently smokes like a chimney, but he recently scored an international goal against the USA at the grand old age of 40.
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A long wait for a home game
October 24, 2008
As we reported earlier this week the Palestinian national football team (ranked 180th in the world) will take on Jordan (ranked 112th) in a friendly this coming Sunday.
Anywhere else in the world a friendly between two such lowly sides would not generate much media coverage but when Palestine are one of the teams and they are playing their first ever game on home soil, interest mounts and, being in the Middle East, controversy cannot be far behind.
For starters – there’s the issue of the name Palestine and its use in the football context.
Jibril Rajoub, one-time right-hand man to Yasser Arafat and now head of the Palestinian Football Federation, told a news conference on Thursday his organisation was celebrating its 80th anniversary.
The Palestine FA was formed in 1928 and joined FIFA in 1929 but at the time the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs (including the venerable Maccabe Tel Aviv) and clubs representing British policemen or soldiers serving in the region during the British Mandate rule that spanned the period between World War One and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
An Arab club represented the Palestinian FA in an attempt to qualify for the World Cup in 1930 while the qualification matches for the 1934 World Cup were contested by a Palestine team made up exclusively of Jewish and British players.
As hostilities between Jews and Arabs worsened in the early 1940s, domestic league soccer was abandoned. After 1948, the Palestine FA was reformed as the Israeli Football Association.
The modern day Palestinian Football Federation, representing Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, joined FIFA in 1998 (although the FIFA website, in a classic compromise, gives the date of the PFF’s formation as 1928 without explaining the intervening 70 years outside the FIFA family).
Next up is the claim to playing rights for home internationals in the city of Jerusalem.
The Faisal Husseini stadium, where Sunday’s game will take place, is in Ram – a town that lies between Jerusalem and Ramallah on the Palestinian side of the barrier that Israel is building.
So when Rajoub told reporters that the game will be played in Jerusalem it was more than a statement about a football venue – it was a statement about nationhood, sovereignty and identity that goes to the heart of the Middle East conflict.
Palestinians want parts of Jerusalem as the capital for a future Palestinian state. Israelis regard the city as their united capital since they captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.
Jerusalem is not recognised internationally as Israel’s capital, so Israel play all official home internationals in Tel Aviv.
The FIFA website says the venue for Sunday’s game is Ram and not Jerusalem as Rajoub stated.
Another issue that makes this more than just another football match is, of course, the conflict that has raged for decades making normal life for Israelis and Palestinians difficult enough – let alone the luxury of playing football free of political or security concerns.
One striking example was the 2006 Israeli bombing of Gaza’s main soccer stadium – empty at the time – which Israel said was being used by militants to launch rockets at southern Israeli towns.
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic group that controls Gaza, has brought some calm to the region in recent months but football players from Gaza still struggle to leave the coastal strip and join up with the national team because of Israeli restrictions on movement.
The Israeli FA has tried to help ease restrictions on Palestinian footballers but security concerns trump football concerns in this part of the world.
A source inside the Israeli FA told Reuters that FA representatives were keen to attend Sunday’s game but were still awaiting security clearance from the Israeli army and intelligence authorities.
For footballers in the West Bank things might be looking up with the resumption of a semi-professional league which was disbanded after a Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000.
A new crop of young players from this league will form the backbone of the national team that takes the field on Sunday.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who will be at the match, is no stranger to controversial ideas for the beautiful game.
With all eyes on the upcoming bidding war for the 2018 World Cup he might want to consider the unusual proposal by One Voice, a peace movement, for an Israel/Palestine World Cup bid (http://www.goal2018.org/).
While the idea might look like an absurd pipedream, we do often talk about miracles happening in football and the Holy Land has seen its share of those. So who’s to say that it couldn’t happen here!
PHOTO: A Palestinian national team goalkeeper catches the ball during a warm-up before the friendly against Jordan, Oct. 22, 2008. REUTERS/Fadi Arouri
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