The shoot-out where blazing over the bar is a good thing
May 4, 2009
Major rugby’s first shoot-out was followed, almost inevitably, by a tidal wave of complaints about how unfair it all was.
Leicester secured a slot in the final of the Heineken Cup, Europe’s premier club competition, after beating Cardiff Blues 7-6 “on penalties” on Sunday.
The teams were level at 26-26 after extra time and had each scored two tries, paving the way for a long-anticipated shoot-out.
Each team took five shots from in front on the posts on the 22-metre line.
The front-line kickers had little problem with such a straightforward test but once it moved on to boys who kick a rugby ball about as often as they celebrate a try by kissing a team mate, it got a bit sticky.
The fall guy turned out to be Wales and British and Irish Lions flanker Martyn Williams, who shanked his kick horribly wide, leaving Leicester number eight and former semi-pro footballer Jordan Crane to stroke over the winner.
The players did not really know how to react. There was a minor initial “jump and hug” as seen in soccer shootouts the world over, but that quickly gave way to mass commiserations, as most of the Leicester players took turns to give Williams, a well-respected player, a consoling pat on the back.
Former England hooker Brian Moore echoed the voice of many commentators when he wrote in Monday’s Daily Telegraph that it would have been fairer to toss a coin than test the players on a skill that for many of them, plays no part in their game.
It is true that all footballers should be comfortable taking a penalty, even if they are not very good at it, and that in rugby, goalkicking is something practised by only one or two players in a team.
But, as ever, the question is what is the alternative? The players had run and tackled themselves to a standstill during 100 bruising minutes on Sunday and any further extra-time would have been pointless.
An accurate pass contest, a “who can smash a tackle bag the hardest” competition, how about a test to see who can sneak the furthest offside before the referee turns round?
There are not many rugby skills easily transferable to a shoot-out situation.
Unlike in football, it will always remain an extremely rare occurrence, but, just like the round ball game, nobody will ever forget who missed the vital kick.
If only Chris Waddle had been on Cardiff’s bench.
HAPPIER TIMES: Martyn Williams, who missed the crucial kick on Sunday, scores a try for France against France in Cardiff, March 15, 2008. REUTERS/ Eddie Keogh
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Sivasspor Stall But Besiktas Can’t Cash In!
May 4, 2009
This was a metallic ordinal possibleness for Besiktas when association cheater Sivasspor forfeited the absent match, against Gaziantepspor, hours before The ordinal locate Besiktas took the movement in Istanbul.
This could it been a Brobdingnagian temperament thief for Mustafa Denizli’s Besiktas lateral but,
Instead, there was meliorate Fenerbahce aggroup on the pitch, against Besiktas.
THE TOP STAY SAME!…
Although Sivasspor expiration to Gaziantepspor and Besiktas feat downbound to Fenerbahce with aforementioned reason 2-1, the crowning in the Turkcell Super League has not modify at the modify of the 30th week.
Sivasspor has 60 and Besiktas 59 points…
The Third locate aggroup Trabzonspor is new their thoughts most the league’s crowning blot again…
After losing to Sivasspor terminal weekend their railcar Ersun Yanal hopeless and as a interval railcar from the farm aggroup of the edifice Ahmet Ozen module modify this work duties until modify of the season..
Let me feature it again……
I ease dress intend it ground Ersun Yanal mitt this team?…
This brings a Brobdingnagian discourse most him…
Is he quitter or choker?……
I think, He is quitter!….
He did the aforementioned abstract with Vestel Manisaspor…..
Any artefact effort backwards to the vie on top,
I think, terminal quaternary weeks in the league,will speech a aggregation of assail scores, in my opinion.
Four weeks to go in the league, we don’t know, who module be the Champions of Turkic association and we don’t undergo the ordinal team, who module ache the dust, in the association meet yet!….
After Kocaelispor losing to Konyaspor on Sun ,they are finished in the Turkcell Super League, as I predicted!…
Kocaelispor and Hacettepe module go downbound for trusty now…
On this concern from theh prototypal sectionalization of Turkic League , Vestel Manisaspor and Diyarbakirspor attained a blot to endeavor in the Turkic Turkcell Super League in the incoming season. The ordinal aggroup module be famous after the endeavor -off matches.
Here are the results from Sunday….
Ankaragucu 1- 0 Ankaraspor
Antalyaspor 2-3 Bursaspor
Buyuksehir 3-1 Genclerbirligi
Denizlispor 3-2 Eskisehirspor
Gaziantepspor 3-2 Sivasspor
Konyaspor 2-2 Kocaelispor
Besiktas 1- 2 Fenerbahce
AHMET TURGUT
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Liverpool´s Hyypia to join Leverkusen
May 4, 2009
LIVERPOOL (AFP) – Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia will join German side Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the season on a two-year deal, the English Premier League club announced on their official website here Monday.
The 35-year-old Finland international arrived at Anfield from Dutch side Willem II for 2.5 million pounds (3.73 million dollars) in 1999 and was a member of the Liverpool side that won three trophies in the 2000/01 season.
He was Liverpool’s captain for much of that season in the absence of the injured Jamie Redknapp and briefly held the post before the honour passed to England midfielder Steven Gerrard.
Hyypia also played in the team that won the Champions League in 2005 by beating AC Milan in a dramatic penalty shoot-out final in Istanbul.
However, recently he has had to compete for his place alongside two younger centre-halves in both Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel.
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United showdown is no mission impossible: Wenger
May 4, 2009
LONDON COLNEY (AFP) – Arsene Wenger expects Arsenal to sweep Manchester United aside with the performance of a lifetime in Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final showdown.
Wenger’s side trail 1-0 from the first leg after a lacklustre display at Old Trafford last week and will be without French defenders William Gallas and Gael Clichy for the return.
With United back to their formidable best after a brief blip, Wenger knows Arsenal are widely regarded as underdogs to reach the final against Chelsea or Barcelona at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
But the Gunners boss has complete confidence in his young players and is certain they will rise to the occasion at the Emirates Stadium.
“How do I rate our chances? I believe we will make it,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Monday. “I’m very confident the team will produce a magnificent performance and that we will manage it. That is what we want and that is what we will get, don’t worry.
“We play a home game where we have a strong record in the Champions League. For many people we are outsiders but I personally believe we will do it.
“There is no mission impossible for us. I believe that when we’ve beaten them at home in the league there have been plenty of opportunities and I don’t think that would change my belief at all if they score.”
For the first time since coming within minutes of winning the 2006 Champions League final against Barcelona, the Gunners are close to reaching the final again.
Wenger has never won Europe’s elite club competition but, although his smooth-passing teams often seem better constructed for success in continental competition than in the Premier League, the Frenchman denied he is obssessed with the Champions League.
“My obsession is to play as well as possible and win as much as possible,” he said. “I don’t think that winning the Champions League is the sole motivation to continue as a coach.
“The job as the manager is always to get the maximum potential out of your team. That’s what you focus on and the pressure is part of our job, and personally I am used to living with that.
“No matter what happens on Tuesday I believe this team will make a big impact in the game and that is what we want to continue to develop.
“The progress this team has made since the start of the season has been remarkable. We are on a fantastic run in the Premier League.
“We are 21 games unbeaten, we are in the semi-final of the Champions League, we were in semi-final of the FA Cup. That is remarkable for the club.
“We have to be positive and optimistic about this team. We can make it to the final.”
With a Champions League final tantalisingly close, Wenger knows motivating his players won’t be a problem on Tuesday.
But the flip side of such a high-stakes occasion is it can make players over-anxious and he wants the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, fit to play after a groin injury, to relax as much as possible.
“The players’ dream is to be in the final, so you don’t need the motivation. It’s more important to relax the players and focus on what you want to do rather than anything else,” he said.
“You can read every day in the papers that Premier League players are playing not to go down. They say ‘it’s the most important game and the biggest game, we cannot afford to lose’.
“It doesn’t help if you say to players that if you don’t win, you will die. That doesn’t make them better players.
“We have a good opportunity to enjoy it, we have a good opportunity to play the football we love. Let’s go out and do that.”
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Knee knock forces Henry to miss Barca training
May 4, 2009
MADRID (AFP) – Barcelona striker Thierry Henry was forced to skip a Monday training session due to a knee injury but will face Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, a report said on Monday.
Henry picked up the knock on Saturday in the first half of Barca’s 6-2 romp over arch rivals Real Madrid, in which the influential Frenchman scored a brace of goals before being replaced half an hour from the end by Seydou Keita.
According to the online edition of Spanish sport daily Marca, Henry has “not been sidelined for the second leg semi-final of the Champions League match against Chelsea”.
The report did not quote club officials but said sources at Barcelona had assured them that the Frenchman would be fit to play in London. The first leg in Barcelona finished scoreless.
Barcelona were not immediately available for comment.
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Van Persie fit for United showdown
May 4, 2009
LONDON (AFP) – Robin van Persie has handed Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger a fitness boost ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final clash against Manchester United.
Van Persie returned to training on Monday after missing Arsenal’s last four matches with a groin injury suffered during his club’s FA Cup semi-final defeat against Chelsea in April.
The Dutch international is expected to partner Emmanuel Adebayor in Wenger’s forward line as the Gunners try to overturn the 1-0 deficit from the first leg at Old Trafford.
“Robin van Persie is available and back in squad,” Wenger said at his pre-match press conference on Monday. “You want everybody in a game like that to be available. He gives me an opportunity to make a decision about our selection.”
With van Persie back, Wenger’s only other fitness issue concerns French defender Mikael Silvestre, who is struggling with a groin injury.
Silvestre is in the squad but Wenger admitted he will have to wait until the last minute to decide if the former United star can feature at the Emirates Stadium.
“Mikael Silvestre is in squad as well but he still has a little groin problem. We will assess that on Tuesday.”
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Real may ring changes if Perez takes over prez
May 4, 2009
MADRID (AFP) – Former Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is likely to win re-election to his former post if, as local media reported Monday, he announces his official candidacy in around 10 days’ time.
Perez, the president of Real between 2000 and 2006 when the team became known as the ‘Galacticos’ thanks to the presence of players like Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos and David Beckham, is expected to put his candidacy forward on May 14.
So far the hugely successful businessman has avoided making any announcements ahead of the club’s June 14 elections, although circumstances on the pitch mean that for the media Perez’s re-election is a formality.
Real, the reigning Spanish champions, are still reeling from Saturday’s humiliating 6-2 defeat at home to arch rivals Barcelona, who are now seven points ahead of second-placed Real with four games remaining.
Both of Spain’s two big sport dailies, Marca and AS, on Monday highlighted a list of changes Perez’s arrival would prompt at Real, chief among them, for Marca, being the signing of Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazilian Kaka and Spanish duo Cesc Fabregas and Xabi Alonso.
AS added to that list Spaniards David Villa and David Silva, as well as Bayern Munich’s talismanic French midfielder Franck Ribery.
Both papers are so sure of Perez’s re-election that they have already named his right-hand man, in the shap of Argentine Jorge Valdano, a former sports director at the club. Zidane, say the papers, would also play a key role.
AS suggested Perez would look to lure AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti to the club,
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Ferdinand return boosts United
May 4, 2009
LONDON (AFP) – Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has given a welcome boost to the club ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg with Arsenal by returning to training on Monday.
United had feared the England defender could miss Tuesday’s decider at the Emirates Stadium after suffering damage to his ribs and a bruised lung at Old Trafford last week.
But the presence of Ferdinand on the Carrington training ground Monday morning suggests he will be fit to face Arsene Wenger’s men.
Ferdinand had to be sidelined for Saturday’s trip to Middlesbrough because he was left coughing up blood in the United dressing room last Wednesday following a collision with United ‘keeper Edwin van der Sar.
He spent the night in hospital, although scans revealed the England international had not suffered any extensive damage to his ribs.
Given the importance of Tuesday’s game, when United will attempt to defend a single goal lead, Alex Ferguson wants the former West Ham defender to play if at all possible.
Ferdinand’s presence would be even more crucial if Patrice Evra did not play at Arsenal.
The France full-back limped off at the Riverside with a leg injury and although Ferguson did claim Evra should be fine for Tuesday he did not train in the open part of United’s session.
If Evra was ruled out, Ferguson might consider switching last week’s goalscoring hero John O’Shea to left-back and bring Rafael Da Silva into the right-back slot.
However, another option could be Gary Neville, who was also at training Monday after a recent foot injury.
Wes Brown is out of contention so Ferguson’s only other alternative would be to move Jonny Evans, the man likely to be replaced by Ferdinand, to left-back where he has won a number of caps for Northern Ireland.
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Van Gaal ´will not join Bayern´ : AZ Alkmaar
May 4, 2009
THE HAGUE (AFP) – Louis Van Gaal, the coach of newly crowned Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar, will not be joining German giants Bayern Munich, the AZ president Dirk Scheringa declared on Monday.
“Louis is under contract until 2010,” Scheringa told the website of Dutch magazine sportweek.nl. “A departure to another club is not negotiable.
“I’m not worried about anything as Van Gaal is a man of principle who always respects his contracts. And we’ve not been contacted by Bayern.”
Bayern’s general manager Uli Hoeness claimed on Sunday that the reigning German champions were close to an agreement with Van Gaal, having sacked Jurgen Klinsmann last week.
Van Gaal, who has previously coached Ajax and Barcelona, would sign “a two-to-three-year contract”, Hoeness told the Munich press.
But Scheringa was adamant Van Gaal would not be leaving AZ.
“We want to play in the Champions League with Louis,” he said.
“A transfer of our coach is impossible. Only one approach to speak to him will be authorised,” he added, referring to the fact that Van Gaal is currently in talks to become coach of the Belgian national side on top of his duties at AZ.
Van Gaal refused to comment on the matter during the press conference that followed AZ’s 3-0 league defeat at second-placed FC Twente on Sunday.
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Fulham to play three pre-season games in Australia
May 4, 2009
SYDNEY (AFP) – English Premier League club Fulham will play three matches against A-League teams on a pre-season tour of Australia in July, the clubs said Monday.
Fulham, currently ninth in the EPL, will play Gold Coast United on July 9, Melbourne Victory two days later and Perth Glory on July 15.
Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer will be in the Fulham team, which will be making its first trip to Australia.
Glory will also play newly-crowned English Championship league champions Wolverhampton Wanderers in another pre-season friendly in Perth on July 10.
Former England international striker Robbie Fowler will have his first outing for his new Australian club, North Queensland Fury, against Wolves on the same July 15 Perth-Fulham bill in Perth.
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