Tevez targets revenge against Man United

January 18, 2010

Carlos Tevez is set for an exciting evening as he looks for revenge over Manchester United. Manchester City’s Argentine striker faces his former club in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final on Tuesday.

The Citizens were handed a disappointing defeat at Old Trafford (4-3) earlier this season and Tevez has admitted that revenge will be a motivating factor in Tuesaday’s encounter.

“What happened at Old Trafford earlier this season is still in our heads and this is the moment for revenge,” Tevez told the Daily Mirror.

“I want to play in this match for many reasons. It’s a semi-final, a derby and there’s a bitter rivalry between the two clubs.

“I believe this is a good moment for us to play a local rival like United, who never normally give anything to their opponents.

“In a semi-final over two matches and in a derby, anything is possible. But I think the key will be the return game at Old Trafford and we must ensure we get a good result at home.”

Tags: Argentine, bitter rivalry, carlos tevez, citizens, daily mirror, encounter, man united, Manchester, manchester city, manchester united, match, Old, old trafford, opponents, return game, revenge, striker, targets, Trafford

Balotelli chants raise temperature ahead of Juve-Inter

November 24, 2009

Just two weeks away from the eagerly-anticipated top-of-the-table ‘derby of Italy’ between Inter Milan and Juventus a new racism row is brewing.

The corresponding fixture last season at Turin’s Olympic stadium saw sections of Juve fans racially abusing Inter’s Italian striker of Ghanaian origin Mario Balotelli.

The teenager had annoyed the crowd with some typically impetuous actions on the pitch but Juventus’s failure to take active measures to put a halt to the chants saw them penalised and forced to play their next home match behind closed doors.

Balotelli has since become Juve fans’ favourite villain and is often the target of abuse.

On Sunday night during the 1-0 home win against Udinese, some sections chanted: “se saltelli muore Balotelli”.

Roughly that translates as: if you jump up and down Balotelli will die.

While not actually racist in its content it was certainly distasteful and dredged up unpleasant memories from last season.

Juventus, possibly worried by the implications of the chant, responded by announcing over the loudspeaker: “no to racism”, and will be keen to point out that they are eager supporters of Unesco’s ‘kick racism out of football’ campaign.

And while they will almost certainly escape punishment for this episode it will leave a sour taste in the mouth and cannot but stoke the fires of an already bitter rivalry.

All parties were quick to condemn the chants with Juve’s Malian midfielder Momo Sissoko saying after the game: “It’s absurd chanting against a player who isn’t even on the pitch.

“I hope certain things won’t happen again,” he said referring to the racist chants of last year.

Juve boss Ciro Ferrara was more reserved in his response, making an allusion to chants directed against him and his team-mates during his time at Napoli, relating to the fact that Naples is close to the Vesuvius volcano.

“I am against any kinds of insults and racial discrimination but if you go to football matches it shouldn’t shock you, these are chants that you hear in all stadiums,” he said.

“I was a player and I remember the chant: Vesuvius burnt everyone. I remember it and it hurt.

“It’s true the fans pay to come in but that doesn’t give them the right to offend.”

Two reasons suggest that Juventus will not face a penalty for these latest chants, firstly that they did try to do something about it and secondly the chants were very different in nature from those of last year: “a black man can’t be Italian.”

ROME (AFP)

Tags: active measures, bitter rivalry, closed doors, eager supporters, football campaign, home match, inter milan, Italy, juventus, kick racism, malian, Mario Balotelli, Milan, naples, napoli, olympic stadium, racial discrimination, racism row, ROME, sour taste, target, team mates, turin, unpleasant memories, vesuvius, vesuvius volcano

Rosario prepares for rare sight of Messi

September 5, 2009

So often ahead of a great sporting event, there is little evidence of a city’s awareness that it is hosting something special, like last year’s Euro2008 in Austria and Switzerland. Not so Argentina’s big match with arch football enemies Brazil in this riverside city 300 km north of Buenos Aires, home to a bitter rivalry of its own between Rosario Central and Newell’s Old Boys.

Saturday’s World Cup qualifier is the talk of the town which was surprisingly offered the match in June after national team coach Diego Maradona criticized River Plate’s Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires.

Fans of Rosario’s two big clubs, kept apart to avoid potential fights, have been queuing for tickets since Monday outside their respective stadiums, braving the rain and cold of an Argentine winter in real or makeshift tents.

There is a new breed of profiteers called queuers, people who stand in line for a fee and buy your tickets for you, a local journalist said.

With so much at stake for Argentina, who need to pick up points to keep their World Cup qualifying hopes alive, there are fears of violence after the match if Maradona’s team lose.

Far fewer people will be able to go to the match at Central’s ground, commonly know as the Giant of Arroyito, which holds 41,000, than would have got into River Plate, with a capacity for 65,000.

But the move has been a boon for Rosario’s hotels and restaurants, which usually have a quiet time in the winter, and street vendors of football paraphernalia.

Light blue and white striped Argentina shirts with Messi and the number 10 on the back are among the biggest selling items.

Lionel Messi, a son of Rosario, has never played an official match in his home town, having been whisked away to Barcelona as a mere 13-year-old, forging a career in Europe that has him on the verge of being named the world’s top player.

One of the youngsters queuing for tickets, a fan of Messi’s former club Newell’s Old Boys, said: “It’s worth waiting because don’t often see the ‘seleccion’ and even less Leo (Messi), whom we see on TV playing for Barcelona.”

Fans hope to see Messi tear Brazil apart and ensure he and Argentina go on to play at the World Cup in South Africa next year.

PHOTO: A street vendor sells masks outside Rosario Central stadium ahead of the World Cup qualifier against Brazil, September 4, 2009. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci

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Tags: Argentina, Argentine, arroyito, Austria, Barcelona, bitter rivalry, boon, brazil, BUENOS AIRES, diego maradona, euro2008, Europe, Leo, makeshift tents, Marcos Brindicci, messi, national team coach, new breed, newell, old boys, paraphernalia, player one, quiet time, river plate, riverside city, Rosario, rosario central, South Africa, stadiums, street vendors, Switzerland, world cup qualifier

Arsenal still outsiders in Chamionship: Wenger

April 16, 2009

LONDON (AFP) – Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal are still “super outsiders” to win the Champions League even though his side brushed aside Villarreal 3-0 to book a semi-final showdown with Manchester United.

The Gunners were at their majestic best in Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium as goals from Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie dispatched Manuel Pellegrini’s Spanish club in resounding fashion.

After spluttering through the first half of the season, Arsenal appear to be hitting peak form at just the right time. They are unbeaten in 18 Premier League matches and now have a European semi-final to look forward to as well as Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.

With Walcott, Adebayor and, perhaps most importantly, Cesc Fabregas all back from injury and showing few signs of rust, Arsenal look capable of ending their four-year wait for silverware.

Wenger’s side also have the advantage of playing the second leg against United at the Emirates, where they have already beaten the European champions 2-1 this season.

But the Gunners boss admits knocking out United will be the sternest challenge his young side have faced.

“I wouldn’t like to speculate about any weakness of Man United. We expect them to be strong when they play us and that should encourage us to be at our best,” Wenger said. “That is how we will prepare the game. We are still super outsiders.

“It is difficult to play an English team in Europe because they will have quality, but I believe if you want to go far in the Champions League you have to play an English team at some stage.

“It is a test but I think it is a challenge you relish and we are excited about that.

“The teams always produce very exciting games so it is a promising semi-final. We are up for the challenge.”

Wenger has had a long and sometimes bitter rivalry with United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The Gunners boss acknowledges that the prize of a Champions League final could reopen old wounds, but he is more concerned to keep his players in peak physical condition going into the first leg at Old Trafford on April 29.

“The history is always a little part to play,” he said. “But we are in a cup competition with 180 minutes to play. What is more important is the form of the day.

“We are both in the semi-final of the FA Cup and have a game in hand to play. How we are physically will have a big impact.”

Wenger is keen to keep the focus on this weekend’s Wembley date with Chelsea before planning for the Old Trafford clash.

But he could be forgiven a moment to reflect on the way his team showed a tenacity and belief few thought they possesssed to answer the critics who wrote them off.

“I was never worried about the quality of the players, more about the confidence and belief of a very young side,” he said. “It is always more difficult when they don’t win. They are a bit more fragile than guys who have a big history and have gone through difficult periods.

“I was more worried about the mental side of what happened at the start of the season but they coped very well. This group is mentally strong.”

Walcott gave Arsenal the perfect start on Wednesday when he punished a mistake from Diego Godin to loft a sublime chip over Diego Lopez.

Villarreal, badly missing injured Spain midfielder Marcos Senna, never recovered.

Adebayor swept home the second on the hour after good work from van Persie, who buried a penalty nine minutes later after Gordin’s foul on Walcott.

Villarreal’s Sebastian Eguren was sent off for protesting the penalty decision but the Spaniards were already buried, as Pelligrini conceded.

He said: “We wanted to get through to the semi-finals but they were better than us even before the sending off, so we have no complaints. The second goal made it very difficult to come back.

“It is hard to predict a winner of their semi-final, but Manchester United will be very difficult for them.”