Spain have Brazil in their sights

November 17, 2009


Spain’s 2-1 friendly victory over Argentina on Saturday was further evidence that the European champions are going to take some stopping if they are to be denied their first ever World Cup triumph.

Vicente del Bosque’s men will have the bruises to show that ‘friendly’ was perhaps not the best word to describe an exciting and competitive match that was lucky to finish with 22 men still on the pitch.

“You are likely to see games like this in the World Cup finals,” Argentina coach Diego Maradona, before receiving his two-month ban from FIFA, said after the game. “Argentina didn’t come to kick their opponents. Argentina played to the limits.”

Argentina may have struggled in qualifying for South Africa but they have lost none of their abrasive edge (committing 23 fouls to Spain’s 7) and gave Spain, who won all 10 of their qualifiers, a run for their money.

But Del Bosque’s side are not easily thrown off their stride. They played the better football and crafted a wonderful opening goal with a slick passing move that Xabi Alonso netted, after David Silva’s shot was parried.

Lionel Messi equalised from the penalty spot before Xabi Alonso sealed the victory with a late penalty for the hosts.

“It was a friendly but we knew it would be tough,” Spain captain Iker Casillas, who won his 100th cap, said. “It’s important to beat the major sides, more so if they are a former world champion.

“Now all we need to do is beat Brazil, because we have already beaten England, Germany, Italy and France. After this result the rest of the world will have more respect for us.”

Spain have recovered well from their shock 2-0 defeat to the United States in the Confederations Cup in June – a result that denied them a shot at Brazil in the final – but it served as a useful reminder that they cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

Before the Argentina game, Del Bosque admitted his greatest concern was preventing any over-confidence, but he appears to have successfully nurtured the competitiveness in the side to keep it fresh.

Since Euro 2008, outstanding new talents have debuted in an already impressive squad, including Barcelona’s Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets, Valencia’s Juan Mata and Pablo Hernandez, and Sevilla’s Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo.

A World Cup showdown between Brazil and Spain next year would be a fascinating encounter, and it is difficult to bet against one of them being the likely winner.

PHOTO: Spain’s Joan Capdevilla (L) battles for the ball against Argentina’s Fabrizio Coloccini during their friendly soccer match at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, November 14, 2009. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

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City lose elite spot as Burnley break away jinx

November 8, 2009


A dramatic late equaliser from Kevin McDonald earned Burnley a 3-3 draw at Manchester City that underlined the fact that Mark Hughes’s expensively-assembled team is far from the finished article.

It was a fifth consecutive draw for City, who drop out of the top four as a result of Tottenham’s win over Sunderland.

City defended poorly for long spells, against a newly-promoted team without an away point all season, and eventually required all the attacking firepower at their disposal to avoid complete embarrassment.

There had been warning signs for the home team, even before Graham Alexander shot them ahead from the penalty spot in the 18th minute, the 69th successful penalty in 74 career attempts by the Premier League?s oldest outfield player.

Clarke Carlisle was left unmarked at an early corner but, off-balance, was unable to direct a shot on goal while Robbie Blake, similarly unimpeded, missed the target from only eight yards.

Fortunately, for the visitors at least, Alexander was far more accurate from the penalty spot, continuing his perfect record of 13 in 13 attempts for Burnley, after Joleon Lescott needlessly raised his hands and handled a cross from Tyrone Mears.

City were struggling to come to terms with Burnley?s energetic and physical approach, aided by the fact that the officials were missing a sizeable amount of shirt tugging and other niggling fouls by the visitors.

Craig Bellamy took matters into his own hands in the 32nd minute, hacking down Chris Eagles and conceding a free-kick from which Shay Given made a superb reflex save to keep out Blake?s driven and deflected shot.

However, the City defence failed to clear the danger, Gareth Barry was dispossessed by Blake who, in turn, found Eagles whose perfectly-weighted cross was turned into an empty net by Steven Fletcher.

Trailing by two goals, and with the home support suitably incensed, City finally responded and started to look like a goal threat themselves.

Shaun Wright-Phillips volleyed into the net, although from a clearly offside position, and, after Fletcher had almost converted a third goal from Wade Elliott?s cross, Bellamy forced Brian Jensen into his first save of the game with a low shot across goal.

Eventually, and deservedly, Wright-Phillips gave City a lifeline, with a shot which deflected off the boot of left-back Stephen Jordan and curled into the far corner, just before half-time.

At the interval, Hughes pushed Bellamy into an advanced position, effectively now one of three front-line strikers, and the attacking move paid immediate dividends.

After an extended bout of City pressure, Andre Bikey?s foul on Stephen Ireland in the 55th minute presented Gareth Barry with a free-kick which the England midfielder curled into the Burnley area.

Lescott, making amends for the game?s first goal, did well to stretch and keep the ball in play with Kolo Toure netting the loose ball from close range.

City were in full flow, and Burnley in the midst of showing why they had failed to collect an away point all season. Only three minutes later, Ireland launched a probing attack through the centre of midfield and sent Wright-Phillips racing clear for the winger to pick out Bellamy, who converted clinically from 12 yards out.

Not surprisingly, events had taken their toll on Burnley and Carlos Tevez might have made the concluding minutes comfortable, but the forward placed his 67th minute chance too close to Jensen who dived to smother the ball and then missed the target altogether from Bellamy?s 72nd minute centre.

David Nugent was forced to head a deflected corner off the Burnley line and Martin Petrov shot inches wide as the game seemed to be concluding in a procession towards the Burnley goal.

But, with four minutes remaining, Nugent directed a long pass onto the head of Fletcher, who found McDonald with a perfect assist, the Burnley substitute converting from close range for his team?s first away point of the campaign.

LONDON (AFP)

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Costa Rica beats Australia to boost U-20 prospects

October 1, 2009


Costa Rica recovered from an opening loss to Brazil to beat Australia 3-0 on Wednesday, reviving its hopes of a quarterfinal berth at the Under-20 World Cup.

Diego Madrigal put the Ticos ahead in the 35th minute and an 82nd minute own-goal and a injury time tally by David Guzman moved Costa Rica within a point of Group E leaders Brazil and the Czech Republic.

Costa Rica will finish its group schedule against the Czech Republic on Saturday, when a victory will send it to the knockout round.

In Alexandria, Honduras was unable to answer Ahmed Khalil’s free kick in the 41st minute, and was beaten 1-0 by the United Arab Emirates, a result that moved the Middle East side atop Group F but still left the Central Americans in position to advance.

Tied on points with Hungary, Honduras will face winless South Africa on Saturday while Hungary will have to face the Emirates. A draw would be enough to assure Honduras of a spot in the final eight.

Madrigal took a short free kick, spun and scored from 20 meters to put Costa Rica ahead. With Costa Rica preventing Australia from generating much offense, the Ticos’ cause was boosted when Socceroos substitute Tahj Minniecon was ejected in the 60th minute for an off-the-ball incident.

Costa Rica was assured the victory when Australian defender Luke Devere tried to head the ball back to his goalkeeper, Dean Bouzanis, but instead, looped it over the Liverpool netminder.

Guzman completed the victory in the third minute of injury time, curling the ball from just inside the 18 past Bouzanis.

In Alexandria, Honduras  finished with 10 men in a match that had 57 fouls and eight yellow cards, including a pair by Reinieri Mayorquin – his last in the fourth minute of second-half injury time.

PORT SAID, Egypt

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PSG coach threatens rival over Makelele slur

September 29, 2009


Paris Saint-Germain coach Antoine Kombouare said that Christian Gourcuff “deserves a smack in the mouth”, after the Lorient manager claimed PSG midfielder Claude Makelele was “past it”.

The Parisians were held to a 1-1 draw at Lorient on Saturday, during which former Real Madrid and Chelsea man Makelele was fortunate to avoid a red card for a foul on Sigamary Diarra in the first half.

Gourcuff, the father of Bordeaux star Yoann, declared afterwards that Makelele was “past it and has no place on a football pitch”, prompting an extraordinary outburst from Kombouare.

“You must respect the man (Makelele) and his career,” Kombouare told RMC radio on Monday.

“Someone needs to stub Christian Gourcuff’s cigar out. I’m very annoyed. You can say what you like about the player but it’s forbidden to attack the man. Christian Gourcuff should talk about football and stop thinking he’s someone else.

“I get the impression that this guy is bitter. Is he worried about something? Excuse me for these words, but in my opinion a guy like this deserves a smack in the mouth.

“I’m really annoyed and I’m making a stand about what Gourcuff said. Furthermore, I’ve left him two messages and he still hasn’t called me back.

“I can understand what he said at the end of the match, that Claude Makelele committed a lot of fouls, that sometimes he pushed things to the limit and that he deserved a red card for what he did to Sigamary Diarra. No problems. When you’re angry you react like that, I speak from experience.

“But I do not accept him attacking the integrity of a player, my player. When he says that he’s past it and has no place on a football pitch, I say ’stop’. He is disrespectful, has gone too far and will have to answer to me. There are things I cannot accept.”

PARIS (AFP)

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Dutch coach apologises to Japanese

September 5, 2009

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has apologised for his team’s unsporting play during a friendly against Japan here on Saturday.

“In the first half the players vented their frustration in a bad way,” admitted Van Marwijk after the match which his side won 3-0.

The coach singled out Nigel de Jong and Wesley Sneijder in particular for criticism.

“Wesley would have deserved the red (card) for one of his tackles,” he said.

“I went to apologise to the referee after these fouls. These are things which I cannot accept. I told the players concerned as much at half-time.

“It’s a type of behaviour which could cost us dearly at the World Cup. This cannot happen again. Now the players know it.”

The Dutch players commited numerous fouls in the first half, frustrated by the Japanese early domination. Both de Jong and Sneijder received yellow cards after tough tackles.

ENSCHEDE, Netherlands (AFP)

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D.C. shooting for more improvement

August 18, 2009


D.C. United already has made history. Now it wants to make the quarterfinals.

By edging Luis Angel Firpo on penalty kicks, D.C. became the first Major League Soccer team to advance out of the preliminary round of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Now, United is hoping to improve on last year’s group stage form, which saw D.C. earn just one point out of six matches.

A 2-0 league loss to Toronto FC on Saturday afternoon, though, wasn’t the ideal way to head into the group stage, especially with 10 games in the next 31 days.

“You always want to start these stretches in the right way,” D.C. coach Tommy Soehn said after the match. “It’s very disappointing and we’ll have to adjust very quickly. We have no time to hang our heads. We’re going to watch a lot of tape on this one…We had six fouls today. That just shows me that we’re not fighting enough.”

D.C. has the difficult task of heading to San Pedro Sula to take on Marathon on Tuesday night.

Marathon is two points in front of archrival Real Espana, having won four of its first six matches in the Honduran Apertura. Jerry Palacios struck twice in the opening 12 minutes, but Carlos Pavon scored three to lift Espana to a 3-2 win on Saturday at Estadio Francisco Morazan.

Like Soehn, Marathon coach Manuel Keosseian is concerned about his team’s fixture congestion.

“We have a heavy schedule,” he told La Tribuna. “We must handle the physical aspect to reach every game as best they can.”

One of four Mexican teams among the final 16 in the Champions League, Toluca meets Trinidad & Tobago’s San Juan Jabloteh at Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella, Trinidad Thursday night.

Toluca won its first three games to sit atop Group 1 in Mexican’s Apertura, but faltered Saturday, losing 1-0 to Monterrey. Despite the defeat, Toluca coach Jose Manuel De la Torre wasn’t especially concerned.

“I leave feeling calm,” he said. “I’m upset because of the defeat, but calm because of the effort and the way we played.”

It was the first game of the Apertura that Nelson Calderon failed to score.

“Today, things didn’t go as we planned,” said Calderon, who leads the league with four goals. “It hurts to lose the unbeaten streak because the team had set finishing the tournament unbeaten as a goal. The team gave their best effort and it wasn’t enough. They had opportunities and they put them in. We had one or two clear efforts, but we didn’t know how to take advantage of them.”

Jabloteh rallied to beat San Francisco of Panama 4-3 on aggregate to join fellow Trinidadian squad W Connection in the Group Stage. But while W Connection is attempting to bolster its roster ahead of the group stage, Jabloteh manager Earl Jean doesn’t think his roster is deep enough to compete in the group stage.

“I don’t think we have the depth for that kind of football at international level,” he told reporters after beating San Francisco. “We are doing what we can, but based on our financial problems it is very difficult. But, we will take our chances.”

In their first game back in the Digicel Pro League following an emotional win against San Francisco, Jabloteh tied W Connection before being upset by St. Ann’s Rangers 1-0 last Tuesday.

By Dylan Butler

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Brazil: the land of the bullyboys

June 5, 2009

I
Sao Paulo have won the Brazilian championship for the last three years but their style of play is far removed from their country’s fine footballing traditions.

Defensive, physical, brutally efficient in attack and often destructive, Muricy Ramalho’s team have made few friends outside their own fan base.

Their 3-0 win over Cruzeiro on Sunday caused an outcry after they committed 14 fouls — against the same player.

The victim was striker Kleber, who said: “The fouls were not violent, they didn’t injure me. But how can anyone play football if they receive 14 fouls in a game.”

His club added in a statement: “Nobody has witnessed so much cowardice in a football match in the recent history of Brazilian football. We demand that the authorities take action to stop this persecution…”

Sao Paulo, who committed a total of 30 fouls on Sunday, are not the only culprits in this depressing scenario. Many other teams use similar tactics.

Brazilian domestic football bears almost no resemblance to the version played by the national side or by the big-name players in Europe.  Sixty-foul games are common and the tactic of taking it in turns to foul the opposition’s best player is widely used.

This is what veteran Brazilian columnist, Fernando Calazans of O Globo, had to say on the matter.

“So this is where Brazilian football is heading? Not even Pele nor Garrincha could have played if they suffered 14 fouls. It’s the so-called rotation of fouls, prohibited under the rules but permitted by weak referees.

“It’s put into practice by the majority of Brazilian coaches, among them the widely-admired and widely-praised Professor Doctor Muricy Ramalho.

“If Sao Paulo can commit 30 fouls in a game and their opponents also commit 30 fouls, that makes 60 fouls. And what sort of spectacle do you get when a game is paralysed 60 times by fouls?

“The violence against those who want and know how to play football, and against those who go onto the pitch to do this, is increasing every year.

“The football pitch, today, is the land of the bullyboys.”

Dagoberto (R) of Brazil’s Sao Paulo battles for the ball with Royer Canas (C) of Colombia’s Independiente Medellin during their Copa Libertadores soccer match in Medellin April 15, 2009. REUTERS/Fredy Amariles

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Guardiola slams Chelsea´s negative, physical tactics

April 29, 2009

BARCELONA (AFP) – Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola reacted angrily at what he saw as the referee’s leniency towards English side Chelsea’s physical approach in their 0-0 Champions League semi-final first leg match.

Chelsea went away with mission accomplished after they stood firm against a barrage from Barcelona at the Camp Nou and become the first side this season in the competition to stop Barca from scoring at home.

As expected Barca took the game to Chelsea and enjoyed the vast majority of the possession but they were unable to find a way through to goal for the first time at home this season in the competition.

Petr Cech made a couple of important blocks from Samuel Eto’o and substitute Alexandr Hleb but too often they were restricted to strikes from distance.

“It is difficult to play against a team which doesn’t want to play football,” stormed 37-year-old Guardiola, who has worked wonders with the side since replacing the sacked Frank Rijkaard for this season.

“It was a game in which Chelsea had five defenders and the ball was always Cech to (Didier) Drogba and then backwards and forwards again.

“The result was fair, though, because neither side scored but there is something wrong when we ended up with the same number of yellow cards as they did and yet they committed 20 fouls compared to seven,” added the former Barcelona and Spain playmaker.

Guardiola, who cleared out stars such as Deco and Ronaldinho last summer, believed that German star Michael Ballack was fortunate to have remained on the pitch.

“Chelsea played very physically and I thought it was scandalous that (Michael) Ballack did not receive a second yellow card for a foul on (Andres) Iniesta on the edge of the area,” said Guardiola.

“That is something you would expect in any normal game during the season and it is these small details which did not go our way which will end up deciding the tie.

“Referees need to take an overall look at games and if that had happened then he would have seen that we were not the team which was fouling and we were looking to play football.

“Anyone looking at the match will know there was only one team looking to attack, we were always looking for a goal but Chelsea are a good side who have been together for a long time and won trophies.

“We now have to go to Stamford Bridge, play the football we always play and try and win.”

The Barca players were similarly forthright with Xavi Hernandez complaining: “so that is what the English call fair play,” while Toure Yaya also hit out at Chelsea’s tackling.

“It was a difficult game and some of their tackles were outrageous while we would just touch a player and there would be a free-kick or a booking. We now have to go there (Stamford Bridge) and get a win, the tie is still not decided,” said Toure, who was one of those booked.

Barca were also dealt a blow with the news that centre-half Rafa Marquez is set to miss the rest of the season after picking up what appears to be a serious knee injury. His replacement Carles Puyol will also be absent from the return leg through suspension after accumulating his third yellow card.

Eto’o, who it has been denied is subject to a 40million pound bid from Manchester City, said that there was hope for Barcelona as playing at home Chelsea will now have to come out and attack.

“We had all the chances,” said the Cameroon marksman.

“I would imagine they won’t be able to play in the second leg like they did tonight by sitting back in their half.

“We will see how they are going to approach it. We will try and score the goal that we need to get us to the final.”

Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink, though, praised the character of his players for the way they stood firm and prevented Barca’s star-studded forward line from scoring.

“This was a good result but the tie is not decided yet and we have another very hard game ahead of us. It was not an easy match to play and we will have to improve in some areas for the next game but overall I am happy as we defended very well,” said Hiddink, who won the what was then the European Cup as coach of PSV Eindhoven in 1988.

“Barca keep the ball very well and so it meant we had to defend a lot but we defended very well and I have to praise (John) Terry for his courage. They put us under a lot of pressure but we never yielded and we managed to neutralise the threat from (Lionel) Messi.”

Chelsea skipper Terry conceded that Barcelona had had the majority of the chances but was delighted to have come away with the draw.

“We stayed very tight at the back,” said Terry, whose missed penalty in last year’s final handed victory to Manchester United.

“It was a fantastic performance and to not concede a goal is delightful. Hopefully going back to the Bridge we can use that to our advantage.”

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Italy and France sight 2010 World Cup finals

March 28, 2009

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PARIS (AFP) – Reigning champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France can train their thoughts firmly on reaching the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa if successful in qualifiers in the next few days.

France have a double-header against Lithuania on Saturday, away, and then on Wednesday in Paris, while Italy travel to Montenegro before a top-of-the-table clash against Republic of Ireland in Bari.

Coach Raymond Domenech, whose performance is still under the microscope from a demanding French media, leads his side in Kaunas on Saturday with the aim of shoring up their weakness in defence facing freekicks.

Central defender Philippe Mexes has battled back after his disastrous showing in the 3-1 defeat to Austria in September last year, when at fault in all three goals, and when France’s defensive frailty to set-pieces was exposed.

Domenech said: "We have to be able to suffer. Those who imagine we will win easily by making neat one-twos in the opposition’s box don’t realise we will have a fight on our hands and we’ll need to be very solid."

Conceding goals from freekicks has cursed France since the World Cup final, having let in 14 out of 30 since the defeat to Italy on June 13, 2006.

Defender Gael Clichy said: "Before the Austria game, we really worked hard on freekicks yet conceded two goals from them. We have players who can head a ball well but they aren’t necessarily the most physically strong either.

"We know teams like Lithuania will try to take advantage of that so it’s up to use to avoid conceding too many corners and making fouls on the edge of our box."

Serbia lead Group Seven from Lithuania, both on nine points from four matches, while France are third with four points from a match less. Romania host Serbia in the other game in the pool.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi gave a hint as to his starting team for Saturday’s match in Montenegro by separating 11 players from his squad to work alone in midweek training.

The ‘team’ comprised Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, centre-backs Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini, full-backs Gianluca Zambrotta and Fabio Grosso, midfielders Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi and Angelo Palombo and forwards Vincenzo Iaquinta and Udinese pair Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella.

If that is indeed Lippi’s first choice team it means he will be adopting a 4-3-3 formation with Quagliarella and Di Natale flanking Iaquinta up front.

Italy head Group Eight ahead of the Republic of Ireland, both on 10 points. Montenegro are fourth in the six-team group with two points and have yet to win a match.

Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Albert Riera warned his Spanish teammates that Turkey, who face the Euro 2008 champions on Saturday, are a "very aggressive" team which "plays as one."

"Turkey is a proud team, very patriotic," he said. "They have a very aggressive game, hard. It’s a team that plays as one," the midfielder said.

Germany captain Michael Ballack wants a solid win as much as a goal-bonanza on Saturday when his side tackle European minnows Liechtenstein following back-to-back home defeats.

Defeats to Norway in February and England last November have dented the team’s confidence and the national team needs a convincing win over tiny Liechtenstein which is 151st in FIFA’s world rankings.

The principality is just 160 square kilometres and the national team is largely made up of part-time footballers.

Written by: AFP

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United could afford to drop points but manner of defeat must hurt

March 16, 2009

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Please don’t try and tell me that a 4-1 defeat at home to your arch-rivals does not affect you — it must do.

At lunchtime on Saturday Manchester United knew they could probably afford to lose against Liverpool and still claim another Premier League title but does the manner of their capitulation offer hope to the chasing pack?

The lead is still four points with a game in hand and the title is still there for the taking but all talk of quintuples and the like is now looking a little premature.

Could all the superlatives have been going to their heads?

Talk had been ringing around Old Trafford about clean sheet records but their defence in the past two matches has been colander-like.

Alex Ferguson said he was ranting at his team at half-time in the Champions League against Inter and that he wasn’t happy with “these little flicks and balls into space when no one was there — back-heels and stuff”. Inter and in particular Zlatan Ibrahimovic couldn’t make them pay but Liverpool could with some clinical finishing.

I also recall that Arsene Wenger described United as “untouchables” last month. When one of your chief rivals starts offering out praise like that it’s easy to let your guard slip. They have certainly been “touched” in the past week.

Maybe it’s time for Ferguson to start dishing out a bit more of the famous hairdryer treatment

I’ll keep an eye on their trip to Fulham on Saturday. They set a very high standard the last time they went to Craven Cottage but the pressure is a bit different now. Could there be life in this league title race yet?

PHOTO: Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic fouls Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard to earn a red card during their English Premier League  match at Old Trafford, March 14, 2009. REUTERS/Phil Noble

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