Gasperini: ‘Milan, be aware of Suazo’

January 5, 2010

Internazionale have sent David Suazo on loan to Genoa. The Honduran striker is expected to make his debut for his new club against Milan, tomorrow night.

Suazo remained on the fringes of the Inter squad over the past two seasons but already looked sharp in a friendly match against Alessandria. His coach at Genoa, Gian Piero Gasperini, says Suazo is eager to make up for lost time.

“You could see right away that we are dealing with an important player,” Gasperini admitted to La Repubblica newspaper.

“He is one of those players who are capable of giving the team an extra edge. I had no doubts that he is a man who can give us a lot, regardless of the negative comments of someone.

“He had not played in a while but is really eager to make up for lost time having played very little in these two years.

“Let’s give his team-mates time to get to know him and vice versa and I’m sure he will become an incredible asset.”

Tags: Alessandria, coach, David Suazo, debut, friendly match, fringes, gasperini, genoa, gian, Milan, negative comments, no doubts, piero, Piero Gasperini, striker, team mates, tomorrow night, two seasons

No H1N1 vaccines, or re-scheduled matches: Platini

November 5, 2009

European football chief Michel Platini said Thursday he would not take measures that would force players involved in European competition to be vaccinated against swine flu, or the H1N1 virus.

And the former France and Juventus midfield legend added that UEFA would not postpone any Champions League or Europa League matches in the event several players in a team had contracted the virus.

A French league match between Marseille and Paris Saint Germain had to be postponed recently because several PSG stars had fallen ill with H1N1.

And at a Champions League match between Dynamo Kiev and Inter Milan Wednesday thousands of Ukrainian fans had followed officials’ advice to wear protective face masks to help prevent the spread of the virus.

But UEFA chief Platini, speaking on the fringes of a visit to the European Parliament, said he would not force any players to have vaccinations in order to safeguard fixtures in the Champions League and Europa League.

“I’m not a doctor, this is a subject that only the (medical) specialists can advise on,” said Platini.

“There’s no obligation for players to be vaccinated. And I’m not going to ask all the supporters in the stadium to get vaccinated either.”

Explaining that the continental calendar was “already very tight”, Platini added: “There can be up to 30 players in the squads of teams and so they should have enough players.

“If some players are sidelined because they have the (swine) flu, it doesn’t justify postponing the whole match.

“It would really have to be exceptional circumstances (for there to be a postponement).”

Platini said he had sent notice to all clubs under the auspices of UEFA, as well as all national federations, explaining that no matches would be postponed in the event players had contracted the virus.

BRUSSELS (AFP)

Tags: auspices, champions league, dynamo kiev, european parliament, exceptional circumstances, face masks, France, french league, fringes, Germain, Inter, inter milan, juventus, Kiev, Marseille, medical specialists, michel platini, midfield, national federations, PARIS, paris saint germain, postponement, swine flu, vaccinations

Blatter wants U-20 World Cup participation compulsory

October 17, 2009

World football chief Sepp Blatter said Friday he regretted that many top clubs in Europe had not systematically freed their younger stars to compete in the Under-20 World Cup for their national teams.

A number of top clubs, notably from England, Germany or Italy, have used their right not to free their under-20 stars to compete in the event.

However, the FIFA president said he would look into making participation an “obligation” in the future.

“At the next possible opportunity I will again ask the Executive Committee (of FIFA) to make a ruling on this issue,” Blatter said on the fringes of the competition final between Ghana and Brazil Friday.

“It should be an obligation to free players for this competition.”

Blatter believes participating in the competition would add to the players’ experience of playing at international level.

“The Under-20 World Cup isn’t on the international calendar, meaning we have to ask clubs to use their goodwill and free their players for the tournament — and certain clubs refuse because it is not an obligation.

“We would hope for clubs to allow their players the opportunity to compete at an international tournament, the standard of which is high.

“It would also add to the value of the players.”

CAIRO (AFP)

Tags: brazil, Cairo, England, Europe, executive committee, fifa president, football chief, fringes, Germany, ghana, goodwill, international calendar, Italy, obligation, participation, Sepp Blatter, top clubs, u 20 world cup, world football

Agbonlahor backed to claim England ticket to SAfrica

September 20, 2009

Martin O’Neill has backed on-form striker Gabriel Agbonlahor to shoot himself into Fabio Capello’s England squad for the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

The Villa forward is currently on the fringes of his national team and missed out on the squads for the recent matches against Slovenia and Croatia.

But his goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Portsmouth made it three in his last three matches and O’Neill believes Capello will have taken notice of the way his striker, who has been working on his upper body strength, shook off Pompey defender Tal Ben-Haim to score Villa’s second just before half-time.

“He conjured something from nothing and that gave us a massive lift,” O’Neill said. “He is playing brilliantly for us at the moment and it was a fantastic goal.

“South Africa is a long way off but if he can continue that sort of form he will be hard to ignore.”

The build-up to the match had been dominated by O’Neill’s decision to drop Nigel Reo-Coker after a training ground spat but the Northern Irishman was determined to concentrate on what is now a four-match winning run for his side.

“The fuss had nothing to do with today,” he said. “We got a bit of momentum going before today and it was important to keep that going. We looked a bit tired which is inexplicable but we won the game and know we can play much better.”

It was Portsmouth’s sixth successive defeat and manager Paul Hart acknowledged more would follow if his side did not improve their defending.

“I thought we played well in the first half and they did not give us many problems. But you are distraught if you give away two goals that you would be distraught about if you were an 11-year-old.

“That gave us a mountain to climb but overall we played extremely well. They were two errors that in terms of Premier League football I can’t quite understand. I have got great belief in my players and I do think we will turn things around.”

James Milner had given Villa the lead with the England winger converting a spot-kick after Stiliyan Petrov was felled in the area by Nadir Belhadj.

Agbonlahor then sealed the points with a superb strike from just outside the area.

BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP)

Tags: belief, Ben Haim, Birmingham, croatia, England, england squad, fabio capello, fringes, fuss, gabriel agbonlahor, irishman, James Milner, martin o neill, Martin O'Neill, momentum, Neill, nigel reo coker, Northern Irishman, paul hart, pompey, Portsmouth, premier league, premier league football, Reo, slovenia, South Africa, upper body strength, winger, world cup finals

No title excuses, says Torres after signing new deal

August 14, 2009

Fernando Torres has told his Liverpool team-mates they have a golden opportunity to end the club’s 19-year wait to win the English title this season.

Rafa Benitez’s runners-up finished just four points behind Manchester United in the Premier League last season and beat the champions twice.

The Reds are expected to make a strong challenge again this season and Spain striker Torres insists there are no excuses for not winning the title.

He is confident Liverpool can hold their own against the top four rivals and he believes landing wins rather than draws in some of the other tricky fixtures, like Sunday’s Premier League opener at Tottenham, will be enough to overhaul United.

“We have no problem beating Manchester United or Chelsea but it is games like Sunday’s at Tottenham where we need to show our real title intentions,” Torres told The Sun.

“Tottenham is not an easy place to go but these are games we must be winning if this is to finally be our year.

“I am not thinking can we win the title, I am thinking we have to win the title.”

After several seasons on the fringes of the title race, Torres believes the experience of going so close last term will stand them in good stead this year.

“We came so close last season but for many of the players it was their first time experiencing the pressure of a Premier League title race,” Torres said.

“We have experience and if we don’t bring the title back to Anfield I won’t be offering up any excuses at the end of the season.

“We don’t need to improve a lot on last season to win the title. There is only a slight improvement needed to give the fans and players the title they have wanted for so many years now.

“This is the best Liverpool team there has been in years, that is what many of the experienced players are saying.

“Now is our time. Second best is just not going to cut it with me any more.”

LIVERPOOL, England (AFP)