Bayern hunt eighth straight win at Wolves

February 6, 2010


Bayern Munich are expected to be without French midfielder Franck Ribery when they hunt their eighth straight Bundesliga win against defending champions Wolfsburg on Saturday.

Bayern’s winning run has bolted them up to second in the table, just two points behind league leaders Leverkusen, and an eighth win at Wolfsburg would keep the pressure on with the leaders at strugglers Bochum on Saturday.

With Munich’s Dutch play-maker Arjen Robben chasing his third consecutive league goal after curling in free-kicks against both Werder Bremen and Mainz in recent weeks, Ribery should be on the bench.

With his contract set to expire in June 2011, Ribery is expected to announce whether he will stay at Bayern in the next few weeks, but coach Louis van Gaal is trying to return him to the side after recovering from a knee injury.

“Ribery is getting ever more fitter, you can see it in training,” said van Gaal.

“I must integrate him back into the team, but that is difficult, because I must do that in a league game.”

Ribery’s agent has said his client is being chased by European giants Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

“He would love to play alongside (Barcelona star Lionel) Messi, that would be phenomenal,” Ribery’s agent Alain Migliaccio told Spanish radio.

“There is no door closed, neither to Real Madrid nor to Barca or to Manchester.

“With Bayern we will see how things go up to the beginning of March.”

Van Gaal insists his side have put last season’s 5-1 hammering at home to Wolfsburg out of their heads and Wolves, who sacked coach Armin Veh nearly a fortnight ago, are chasing their first win for 10 games.

Germany striker Mario Gomez has scored six goals in his last eight league games and is relishing facing Wolfsburg.

“For me personally, this is the best it?s ever been in my career,” the 24-year-old said after scoring in last Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Mainz.

Meanwhile, Wolfsburg are desperately trying to keep hold of their striker Edin Dzeko with their hot-shot striker being chased by a number of top European clubs, including Manchester United.

Wolfsburg’s caretaker coach Lorenz-Guenther Koestner is undefeated after his side drew 1-1 at Hamburg, but morale is rock bottom at the defending champions.

Leverkusen, the only unbeaten team in the Bundesliga, are at Bochum with the league’s top-scorer Steffan Kiessling back to scoring ways having netted in last weekend’s 3-1 win at Freiburg.

Schalke are at Freiburg and are defending a six-game unbeaten record which has put them amidst the title contenders and just three points off Leverkusen.

Saturday

VfL Wolfsburg v Bayern Munich, Cologne v Hamburg, Freiburg v Schalke 04, VfL Bochum v Bayer Leverkusen, Hoffenheim v Hanover 96, Nuremberg v VfB Stuttgart

Sunday

Mainz 05 v Borussia M’gladbach, Borussia Dortmund v Eintracht Frankfurt

BERLIN (AFP)

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Birmingham owner’s funds boast backfired: director

February 3, 2010


Carson Yeung’s pledge to give Birmingham manager Alex McLeish up to 40 million pounds to spend in the transfer market backfired as rival clubs racked up asking prices for players, a club director has reportedly admitted.

Yeung, the Birmingham owner, made his pledge shortly after taking over the club in October and Birmingham’s vice-chairman Peter Pannu believes the Hong Kong businessman would have been wise to be more discreet about his spending plans.

“It was not particularly helpful that our chairman indicated a desire to buy players in January and spend some money,” Pannu was quoted as saying by The Guardian. “I think that raised expectations among the clubs that we approached.”

McLeish had made a new striker his priority during the transfer window but Birmingham’s moves for Germany forward Kevin Kuranyi, Liverpool winger Ryan Babel, Sunderland’s Kenwyne Jones and Tottenham’s Russian international Roman Pavlyuchenko all came to nothing.

Pannu said the asking price for Pavlyuchenko had gone from 10 million pounds to 15 million plus during the course of negotiations with Spurs while Kuranyi’s wage demands doubled.

“We have every support possible from Carson,” Pannu stressed. “There is no problem there. The problem we have is the way some of these clubs have behaved. We have been messed around.”

Birmingham winger James McFadden meanwhile has backed team-mate Barry Ferguson to make a successful return to the Scotland squad following Craig Levein’s appointment as manager.

Ferguson was banished from the international set-up last season following an all-night drinking session between two World Cup qualifiers and a subsequent furore over obscene gestures he made to photographers.

Levein has promised a fresh start however and McFadden believes Ferguson, 32, has earned a recall on the strength of his outstanding form for Birmingham this season.

“Everybody that watches Birmingham can see what a good player Barry is,” McFadden said. “In his last year up in Scotland, he was maybe starting to doubt himself a little bit but he has come here and shown everybody exactly how good he is.

“He has been brilliant for Birmingham and a big part of the reason that we’ve had such a great run.

“I think he’s still got a big contribution to make in the international scene. I think it would be great for the country if Barry did come back in.”

BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP)

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Angola pledges to keep using Nations Cup stadiums

February 1, 2010


Angola’s sports minister on Monday pledged to ensure a profitable future for the four new football stadiums which were built for the Africa Cup of Nations at a cost of 600 million dollars.

“The management of the stadiums is a big concern of the government,” Goncalves Muandumba told state-owned national radio.

“We need to take steps so they don’t become a deadly weight on the state, so special attention will be paid to how they are used, their maintenance and their profitability.”

The minister said a working group had been collecting ideas for over a year from a number of other countries including Portugal, Spain, Germany, South Africa and France, and the plan for Angola was to create a public company to oversee the running of the four stadiums, he said.

A number of the basketball pavilions built for the 2007 Afrobasket tournament have started to fall into disrepair, but deputy sports minister Albino da Conceicao told AFP the government had learnt its lesson and would ensure the football stadiums were properly maintained.

Angola spent more than one billion dollars on hosting the 21-day football tournament which was won by Egypt, who picked up their seventh tournament trophy.

The four new stadiums were built by Chinese construction companies in the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Lubango and Cabinda.

LUANDA (AFP)

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Lazio seal Hitzelsberger deal

February 1, 2010


Thomas Hitzlsperger has joined Lazio. The Germany midfielder has moved to the Italian club in a bid to boost his hopes of making his nation’s World Cup squad.

The 27-year-old has not featured regularly for Stuttgart this season and his frustration has grown as his World Cup hopes looked slim.

Germany coach Joachim Low had warned the midfielder that he needed to play first-team football in order to book a place in Germany’s World Cup squad.

And Hitzlsperger has now switched clubs to bolster his odds Low’s 23-man list for this summer’s World Cup.

The German side confirmed the move on their official website on Sunday, saying, “With the transfer window ending on Monday, Thomas Hitzlsperger decided to join Lazio.”

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Leroux leads United States to U-20 Women’s title

January 31, 2010


Sydney Leroux scored her tournament-leading sixth goal with three minutes remaining to give the United States a 1-0 victory over Mexico on Saturday and its second CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship crown.

It was the United States’ second victory in six days over its southern neighbor, finally subduing Mexico on a rapid attack out of the midfield.

Kristie Mewis sent a ball from the edge of the center circle down the left to Leroux. The UCLA forward outraced Bianca Sierra, took one touch and then beat Marylin Diaz before unleashing a left-footed strike from well outside the goal box that Mexican keeper Aurora Santiago was able to get her finger tips to but unable to stop.

“I was in absolute shock,” said Leroux describing her reaction. “I was so excited I put my hands in the air and ‘AAHHHH”, I screamed. It was the same excitement as when I scored in the World Cup.”

Leroux, the Golden Ball winner at the 2008 Under-20 Women’s World Cup, was a threat throughout the match, including putting a header off the foot of the left post in the 37th minute. She was fouled frequently and struggled to beat the offside trap until the goal.

The Americans won all five of its games in the 11-day tournament, outscoring its opponents 15-2.

Despite its loss, Mexico was the first team other than the United States or Canada to reach the final of the CONCACAF Championship and suffered two losses, both to the United States. It lost 2-1 on Monday in the Group B finale.

Both will head to the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany along with third-place game winner Costa Rica, which qualified with its 1-0 victory over defending and two-time champion Canada earlier in the day.

The Americans had the possession and chances early, the best coming on Leroux’s header off the post from Toni Pressley’s free kick out of the midfield.

Charlyn Corral was again the focus of Mexico’s attack, testing the U.S. defense as early as the eighth minute.

Just before halftime, U.S. coach Jill Ellis inserted Teresa Noyola for Casey Short, and the Americans were much more dominant in the second half.

Mexico’s chances were largely limited to shots from distance, the best coming in the 53rd when Liliana Godoy’s free kick from 40 meters had to be tipped over the bar by leaping U.S. keeper Bianca Henninger.

But the United States continued to push forward, sending in Zakiya Bywaters who hit the side netting in the 54th and Vicky DiMartino’s shot high in the 64th.

GUATEMALA CITY

Concacaf

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Flying Dutchman Robben puts Bayern back on top

January 30, 2010


Dutch winger Arjen Robben scored his second goal in two matches to seal Bayern Munich’s 3-0 win over Bochum on Saturday to put his side top of the Bundesliga and give them their seventh straight league win.

Having scored the winner in the 3-2 win at Bremen the week before, Robben curled in another free-kick to give Louis van Gaal-coached Bayern three more Bundesliga points.

With Leverkusen facing strugglers Freiburg on Sunday, Bayern can expect to lose their place at the top of the table, but for now they enjoy a single-point lead.

Bayern’s Mario Gomez and Daniel Van Buyten had fired the German giants into the lead before Robben stepped up with the third goal.

The home side took the lead amidst heavy snow when Van Buyten headed home after a cross from Robben on 58 minutes.

French winger Franck Ribery, who continues to work his way back to fitness after a knee injury, came off the bench with 30 minutes remaining.

Ribery and Robben combined to free Germany defender Philipp Lahm down the right flank who fired in a cross which Gomez slotted home on 75 minutes before Robben struck with four minutes remaining.

Elsewhere, Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf is in a precarious position as his side have now gone seven German league games without a win after they went down 4-3 at midtable Borussia Moenchengladbach.

The home side raced into a 3-0 lead after just 18 minutes before Mesut Oezil and Claudio Pizarro pulled goals back for Bremen and captain Torsten Frings converted a penalty with six minutes left to guarantee a frantic finish.

Second from bottom Nuremberg picked up only their second win in their last 10 games when they won 3-1 at Hanover and the result leaves bottom side Hertha Berlin five points adrift after they drew 0-0 with Bochum in the capital.

Cologne are up to 12th after their second consecutive win having beaten Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1.

With defending champions Wolfsburg drawing 1-1 at Hamburg on Friday, fourth-placed Dortmund face Stuttgart on Sunday.

Under former Tottenham Hotspur boss Christian Gross, who took over from Markus Babbel in December, Stuttgart have moved up to 13th in the table.

BERLIN (AFP)

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‘Iniesta generation’ flooding Barcelona maternity wards

January 29, 2010


The first week of May 2009 was a rather good one for Barcelona fans and it seems like many of them celebrated in the time honoured fashion.

An historic 6-2 humiliation of arch rivals Real Madrid at their Bernabeu home on May 2 that effectively wrapped up the La Liga title was followed on May 6 by Andres Iniesta’s brilliant, last-gasp goal at Stamford Bridge that took Pep Guardiola’s side through to the Champions League final at the expense of Chelsea.

According to a survey of hospitals and clinics by a local radio station, the euphoria (and other emotions) generated among Barca fans by those two performances has had a rather unexpected result nine months on.

Maternity hospitals say they are struggling to cope with demand for beds and the survey, by COMRadio, of four hospitals and a clinic showed births this week and those expected next week are 45 percent higher than the average.

“When we notice some sort of surge we look for the reason and it’s evident that the cause of the increase this week is the euphoria of Barca fans thanks to the huge win (against Real) and Iniesta’s goal,” El Mundo newspaper quoted Mercedes Rodriguez of the city’s Quiron Clinic as saying.

The babies were popularly known in Barcelona as “the Iniesta generation”, the paper added.

We did a story out of Berlin a couple of years ago that, disappointingly, showed expectations of a baby boom in Germany inspired by the 2006 World Cup proved to be little more than wishful thinking.

“It’s unrealistic to think that because there were more parties and people forgot their birth control it would make a statistical difference,” Nicola Huelskamp, a consultant at the German Economic Institute in Cologne, told us.

It seems thrashing Real Madrid and getting through to the Champions League final are pretty special events for the Catalans.

PHOTO: Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta celebrates his goal against Chelsea during their Champions League semi-final second-leg at Stamford Bridge, May 6, 2009. REUTERS/Albert Gea

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Ghana sweat on skipper Kingson

January 29, 2010


Africa Cup of Nations finalists Ghana, beset by a bagful of injuries to star players, suffered a fresh setback on Friday involving inspirational captain Richard Kingson.

The Ghana and Wigan goalkeeper is one of only a handful of experienced players available to the Black Stars, who face champions Egypt in Sunday’s final.

But Kingson, who pulled off a series of match-winning saves in the 1-0 semi-final win over Nigeria, had to be taken to hospital in Luanda on Friday to undergo tests on a groin problem.

He picked up the injury in last Sunday’s 1-0 quarter-final win over hosts Angola, and was clearly not 100 percent against Nigeria, restricting his kicking to his left foot.

“I wasn’t entirely fit but I promised the boys I would do anything for them, I sacrificed myself for the guys to help them reach the final,” he said after Thursday’s historic win in the west African derby, which has put Ghana into its first Africa Cup of Nations final for 18 years.

Coach Milovan Rajevic, already missing most of his regular first XI, told AFP at the team’s hotel in downtown Luanda: “Richard has had to skip a couple of training sessions because of the injury. And as you saw he was feeling it yesterday, using only his left foot.

“He is in hospital today to have tests and treatment, but I’m hopeful he will be able to play on Sunday.

“He really wanted to play against Nigeria, he wanted to help them with his experience.”

Despite his fine performance in the quarter-finals there was a sting in the tail for the Ghana captain, who was booked in injury time.

Another yellow card in the final will see him miss Ghana’s World Cup first round opening game against Serbia in Pretoria, South Africa on June 13.

He is one of a rare breed of experienced players left in the squad following the defection due to injury of regular captain Stephen Appiah, Chelsea star Michael Essien, John Pantsil and John Mensah.

That has left the door open to Ghana’s youngsters, who have grabbed the chance to shine and state their case to be included in Rajevic’s World Cup squad.

As well as Rajevic’s home country, Ghana are drawn against Germany and Australia in Group D in South Africa.

One piece of good news for the underdogs in Sunday’s final is the return to fitness of Anthony Annan.

The midfielder, who plays his club football in Norway with Rosenborg, had to sit out Ghana’s first three games but started against Nigeria and will be even sharper for Egypt.

The champions, seeking their third straight title and seventh in total, arrive in Luanda later on Friday to prepare for what they hope will be yet another continental crown.

Victory will see coach Hassan Shehata become the first manager to win three consecutive championships.

LUANDA (AFP)

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Mexico tops Canada in extra time to get to final

January 29, 2010


Mexico reached the final of the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship for the first time Thursday, beating Canada 1-0 in extra time when Canada goalkeeper Cynthia LeBlanc let a seemingly innocent corner kick slip through her hands.

LeBlanc appeared to easily have Corral’s inswinging corner covered, but the ball went through her hands, banged off her face and into the goal in the 104th minute. She lunged into the goal and slapped the ball away, but not before it crossed the line.

The result set up a Saturday final between Mexico and the United States, which won the earlier semifinal against Costa Rica. It will be the first time in the history of the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship Canada has not played the United States in the final.

The victory also earned Mexico a third straight trip to the World Cup in July in Germany and fourth overall.

“It would be a big step for Mexico to be champion in addition to reaching Germany,” captain Lydia Rangel said.

The two-time and defending CONCACAF Canada has qualified all four times for the Under-20 Women’s World Cup and has another chance to become one of CONCACAF’s three entrants when it faces Costa Rica in Saturday’s third-place game.

Mexico’s Sandra Mayor hit the post in the 73rd with the best chance for either team before extra time, dribbling across the top of the area until she reached the arc and unleashed a right-footed blast that banged off the left upright.

Mexico started out with the possession and chances for the first 10 minutes, but Canada took control and had the better of play for the remainder of the half. Julie Casselman’s header from Chelsea Stewart’s cross in the 40th was covered by Mexican keeper Aurora Santiago at the far post for the Canadians’ best chance.

Canada started the second half and had more possession and opportunities until about the 72nd. But Corral capitalized on a turnover to get off a quick shot from just inside the top of the area, and Mayor’s blast off the corner of the goal was the best chance for either side in the first 90 minutes.

The goal appeared to inspire Mexico, which had three good chances in the final 16 minutes. Corral put a header off a cross from Mayor just wide in the 110th and Corral also had the first of two consecutive shots in the 116th that LeBlanc stretched to parry wide.

GUATEMALA CITY

Concacaf

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Canada, United States head into semis as favorites

January 29, 2010


It looks like another North American grudge match could decide the CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s title.

Both the United States and Canada advanced to the semifinals unbeaten and untied through the group stage, dominating their opponents and only allowing one goal each in three games.

However, both have to get through the knockout semis on Thursday, which will be a repeat of two years ago in Mexico, when the United States beat Costa Rica 4-0, and Canada edged Mexico 2-1.

The United States will face Costa Rica in the first semifinal at 1:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern) with Canada against Mexico following at 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. U.S. Eastern).

“Costa Rica is an excellent team and I think it will be very challenging game for us,” U.S. coach Jill Ellis said. “We know they have some wonderfully skilled players and they play an attractive style so we are definitely going to have to be prepared. Hopefully, we’ll get our legs back with a couple of days of rest and then we’ll be ready to go.”

The United States has won two World Cups, but has lost to Canada two of the three times they faced off in the CONCACAF final.

The United States doesn’t want to appear like it’s looking past Costa Rica, realizing that a win Thursday qualifies it for the Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany in July.

“We’re excited to be in the semifinals,” said striker and co-captain Sydney Leroux, who leads all scorers with five goals. “We are definitely going to be ready and bring our ‘A’ game. That’s all I can ask of my teammates.”

With three teams qualifying for the World Cup, a semifinal loss won’t preclude a trip to Germany, but will require a victory in Saturday’s third-place game.

The United States has been, so far, the most impressive team, outscoring Jamaica, Trinidad and Mexico 12-1, allowing its only goal in second-half injury time of its finale against its southern neighbor.

“It’s fairly obvious that they are physically stronger than us,” Costa Rica coach Randal Chacon said. “They are strong and tall, but we have to take advantage of our strengths. We will work to maintain our shape when we don’t have the ball.”

Mexico and Costa Rica have split their two meetings in the third-place game, and Mexico may feel it’s time to avoid the uncertainty of World Cup qualification in a consolation match.

It benched forward Charlyn Corral, instrumental in El Tri’s victories over Trinidad and Jamaica, when Mexico played the United States. It apparently was looking to prevent her from picking up a second yellow card and having her miss the semifinals. Accumulated yellow cards are not waived after the first round.

“This is the most important game…we can’t keep anything in,” Corral said. “We have to give more than our 100 percent and we have to plat intelligently because we know that in the physical aspect, the height, and in the air battle we may have a disadvantage.”

Canada coach Carolina Morace feels her side has improved each game, but forward Adriana Leon noted she thinks the side needs to improve its finishing.

While the four semifinalists were not unexpected, the Caribbean’s three representatives teams went home disappointed – mostly notably Jamaica.

The “Reggae Girlz” – which reached the semifinals four years ago, returned to their country without a goal and having been outscored 9-0. Along with Cuba and Trinidad. the three Caribbean sides did not win any of the eight games against non-Caribbean opponents and finished with an aggregate goal difference of minus-18.

Conversely, Guatemala, which was playing in its first Under-20 Women’s Championship, managed a victory (over Cuba 2-1) and was the only team to score a goal against the defending and two-time champion Canadians.

GUATEMALA CITY

Concacaf

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