Japan held to goalless draw by Venezuela

February 2, 2010

Japan were held to a goalless draw by Venezuela in the first home game of the season for the Blue Samurai on Tuesday as they prepare for the World Cup in South Africa.

Japan were the first team to qualify for international football’s biggest prize while Venezuela failed to reach the finals after finishing eighth in the South American group.

Venezuela had the first chance of the match when 17-year-old debutant forward Fernando Aristiguieta missed a header from close range in the ninth minute following midfielder Giacomo Di Giorgi’s long-off effort.

But it appeared to be the best chance for either side in a game bereft of clear scoring opportunities.

Mitsuo Ogasawara, playing for Japan for the first time since the 2006 World Cup, fired a sizzling shot from outside the area, forcing goalkeeper Leonardo Morales to save in the 16th minute.

Ogasawara and Brazilian-born Marcus Tulio Tanaka missed a couple more shots, while Aristiguieta failed to catch up with Caracas defender Hose Manuel Rey’s free kick to end a goalless first half.

Venezuela piled on the pressure in the second half but managed just one shot on goal through defender Giovanny Romero.

Sota Hirayama, who scored a hat-trick in an Asian Cup qualifier against Yemen last month, was sent on with Sanfrecce Hiroshima striker Hisato Sato in a fruitless attempt to lend the Japanese some rhythm.

Overall, Japan hit a total of 12 shots on goal and Venezuela four.

“I was disappointed that we couldn’t win because Venezuela put wonderful pressure on us. But as an early game of the season, it was a nice game,” said Japan coach Takeshi Okada.

“Mitsuo struggled in the first half as the combination with the others was not so good but he did very well in the second half.

“We have three more games this month (in the East Asian championship). We are going to level up our team through the championship, looking forward to the World Cup,” Okada added.

Japan will play China, South Korea and Hong Kong in the championship starting in Tokyo on Saturday.

OITA, Japan (AFP)

Tags: africa japan, asian championship, asian cup, blue samurai, Caracas, China, close range, cup qualifier, East Asian, Fernando, first chance, free kick, fruitless attempt, Giacomo Di Giorgi, giorgi, hiroshima, home game, Hong Kong, international football, Japan, japan coach, Marcus Tulio, nice game, Oita, okada, sanfrecce hiroshima, shots on goal, sota hirayama, South Africa, South American, south american group, south korea, Takeshi Okada, tokyo, tulio

Juve fans continue to bait Balotelli

January 17, 2010

Juventus fans continued their campaign of abuse against Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli during Sunday’s match away to Chievo in Verona.

Earlier this week Juve were hit with a partial stadium closure due to chants of a racial nature their fans directed at Balotelli, an Italian of Ghanaian origin, in previous matches.

It was the third time this season that Juve had been punished for racial chants, although previously they were hit only with fines.

This time around their south stand, from where the majority of the chants tend to originate, has been closed for their next Serie A home game against Roma next weekend.

Last season they were forced to play one match behind closed doors due to racist chants against the same player during their home match against Inter Milan.

The chants during Sunday’s game were not racial in nature but the continued targeting of Balotelli, who is black, has ensured racism remains a hot topic in Italian football circles.

Juve were previously punished when fans chanted: “There are no black Italians”, while Sunday’s chorus consisted of: “If you jump up and down, Balotelli will die”.

Teenager Balotelli is a divisive figure in Italian football largely due to his occasionally impetuous on-field behaviour.

However, the forward is also considered one of the country’s brightest young talents and many commentators are clamouring for him to be included in Italy’s World Cup for South Africa in June.

Balotelli’s parents are Ghanaian immigrants and he was born in Palermo on the island of Sicily before being fostered to an Italian family when he was three.

His birth-parents’ surname is Barwuah but he uses the surname of his adoptive parents.

ROME (AFP)

Tags: adoptive parents, birth parents, black italians, chants, closed doors, commentators, home game, home match, immigrants, inter milan, island of sicily, italian family, italian football, Italy, juve fans, juventus fans, Mario Balotelli, Milan, Palermo, play one, Roma, ROME, sicily, South Africa, striker, third time, verona

Fireworks forecast as Bordeaux, OM resume battle

January 16, 2010

Bordeaux resume the defence of their French crown after the winter break with a home game against title challengers Marseille on Sunday, looking to open up a 14-point lead over their rivals.

Laurent Blanc’s all-conquering side are on a run of nine straight wins in all competitions and begin 2010 with a nine-point advantage over second-placed Lille in the French top flight.

Former France defender Marius Tresor, who represented both Bordeaux and Marseille during his 15-year playing career and is currently a member of the champions’ backroom staff, says the game is of pivotal significance.

“I think that, given the stakes, it will be a tough game for both sides,” he said. “But despite everything the pressure is more on the shoulders of Marseille, for the very simple reason that Bordeaux are 11 points ahead of Marseille. It’s a hugely important match, especially for OM.”

Marseille warmed up for the table-topping encounter with a 3-2 victory at Saint-Etienne on Wednesday that took them into the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

Bordeaux’s corresponding tie with Le Mans was postponed due to heavy snow and Marseille coach Didier Deschamps concedes that Sunday’s opponents are likely to be much fresher.

“We’ll have one more game in our legs than Bordeaux,” said Deschamps, who saw his side hold Bordeaux to a 0-0 draw when the teams last met in August.

“We’re going to Bordeaux with real ambition to obtain a positive result but we’ll have to do things much better because games against Bordeaux are never straightforward.”

Bordeaux can call on top scorer Marouane Chamakh and France international midfielders Yoann Gourcuff and Alou Diarra after all three were rested for the fruitless trip to Le Mans.

Marseille have been boosted by the return from injury of Senegalese international striker and club captain Mamadou Niang, who scored the injury-time winner against Saint-Etienne.

Lyon, like Marseille, began the year with back-to-back victories in the two cup competitions, but they are 13 points off the pace in sixth place in the league prior to their trip to Nancy on Saturday.

“We’ve started the year well thanks to the two cup matches, but the priority is still the league,” said Lyon midfielder Miralem Pjanic, whose side this week signed Croatian centre-back Dejan Lovren from Dynamo Zagreb for eight million euros.

Lille, who roared into second place on the back of a six-game winning streak at the end of 2009, host Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday.

The capital side go into the game in eighth place in the league standings, five points beyond their opponents and smarting after a disastrous own goal by defender Mamadou Sakho saw them sink to a 1-0 defeat to second-tier Guingamp in the League Cup on Wednesday.

“We’ll have to respond at Lille on Saturday,” said Paris forward Loris Arnaud. “It won’t be easy because Lille are in good form but we’ll do everything to achieve a good result.”

Third-placed Montpellier, who went down 4-0 at Monaco in a rearranged league fixture on Wednesday, take on Nice, while fifth-placed Auxerre welcome Boulogne to the Stade de l’Abbe Deschamps.

At the foot of the table, bottom side Grenoble host third-bottom Saint-Etienne, who parted company with coach Alain Perrin before Christmas and who have not tasted victory in the league since November 7.

Fixtures

Saturday (2000GMT)

Auxerre v Boulogne, Grenoble v Saint-Etienne, Le Mans v Lorient, Lille v Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco v Sochaux, Montpellier v Nice, Nancy v Lyon, Rennes v Lens, Valenciennes v Toulouse

Sunday (2000GMT)

Bordeaux v Marseille

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: Abbe-Deschamps, Alain Perrin, Boulogne, chamakh, club captain, cup competitions, diarra, didier deschamps, france international, french crown, Germain, heavy snow, home game, injury time, Lyon, marius tresor, midfielders, Monaco, Nancy, PARIS, point advantage, saint etienne, senegalese, time winner, top scorer, Toulouse, Zagreb

Jacob tells Pompey fans to lay-off Al-Faraj

January 12, 2010

Portsmouth’s executive director, Mark Jacob, has called on the south coast side’s fans to stop giving owner Ali Al-Faraj a hard time, saying he had saved the club from administration.

Saudi businessman Al-Faraj has been nicknamed ‘Al-Mirage’ by some supporters, having yet to visit the club’s Fratton Park home ground since taking over the cash-strapped side in October.

Portsmouth – who lifted the FA Cup in 2008 but have seen most of that squad leave since – are four points adrift at the bottom of the English Premier League but their off-field problems so far this season have, arguably, been worse than anything that’s happened on the pitch.

Before the campaign started, Portsmouth were hampered by the protracted takeover of the club by the UAE-based Sulaiman Al-Fahim from former owner Alexandre Gaydamak.

Fans who were led to believe that Al-Fahim would invest heavily in the club were stunned when, in a matter of weeks, he relinquished control to Al-Faraj.

However, he has struggled to raise the funds to cope with Portsmouth’s mounting debts, with Gaydamak alone saying he is still owed nearly 30 million pounds by the club.

Portsmouth have also been threatened with legal action by HM Revenue and Customs over unpaid tax bills.

Meanwhile, with the January transfer window now open, Pompey cannot currently sign any new players as they remain the subject of a Premier League transfer embargo regarding unpaid fees on previous deals.

There are fresh protests planned against Al-Faraj for Saturday’s home game against Birmingham City but Jacob said fans should stop venting their anger at the owner.

“At the Arsenal game, there were chants which left Ahmed Al Faraj (the brother of Ali Al Faraj) – who watched the game on the Internet – most upset,” Jacob told Monday’s edition of local newspaper the Portsmouth News.

“Mr Al-Faraj feels supporters do not see – or haven’t been told perhaps – what has happened since October and it was like a pressure cooker that had suddenly exploded.”

Jacob added the club’s financial position was improving and that Al-Faraj had prevented the club from falling into administration, which would have led to a points deduction that would have made relegation more likely.

“With a points deduction – given the points we have got at the moment – I defy anyone to believe the club would then have survived (in the Premier League),” Jacob insisted.

“Altogether, if you look at the funds that have been generated into the club since October, you are looking at approximately 40 million pounds.

“We are very, very positive that we will be out of this predicament very, very shortly.”

PORTSMOUTH, England (AFP)

Tags: 30 million, Ahmed Al Faraj, Al Faraj, Al-Mirage, alexandre gaydamak, Ali Al-Faraj, birmingham city, England, English Premier League, FA Cup, four points, Fratton Park, hm revenue and customs, home game, mark jacob, Mr Al-Faraj, pompey, Portsmouth, premier league, pressure cooker, saudi businessman, south coast, sulaiman, tax bills

Big freeze truncates English Premiership programme

January 9, 2010

The freezing conditions sweeping Britain have forced the postponement of seven matches in the English Premiership this weekend with Sunday’s game between West Ham and Wolves the latest to go.

Earlier, Saturday’s match between Wigan and Aston Villa was also called off after under-soil heating at Wigan’s DW Stadium failed Friday and engineers were unable to fix the problem by the time referee Stuart Atwell made an early morning pitch inspection Saturday at the north-west ground.

Atwell deemed the surface unplayable, following overnight frost.

Friday saw several postponements, with Saturday’s scheduled Premier League matches between Burnley and Stoke, Fulham and Portsmouth, Hull and Chelsea and Sunderland and Bolton, as well as Sunday’s fixture between Liverpool and Tottenham, called off.

In all five cases the pitches were playable but concerns over issues such as iced-up streets surrounding grounds which pose a safety risk for supporters led clubs, who generally follow advice from local police in making a decision, to call off the games.

Now the only two Premier League matches still set to be played on Saturday are Birmingam’s home game against champions Manchester United, where a win for the visitors would see them leapfrog leaders Chelsea at the top of the table, and Arsenal’s fixture against Everton.

Monday’s encounter between Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers was still unaffected by Saturday afternoon.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez said: “We are devastated because the club has worked so hard in these freak weather conditions to make the area surrounding the stadium safe.

“The pitch has never been the problem, until now.”

With much of Britain blanketed in thick snow, almost half this weekend’s fixtures in England’s lower divisions have been called off and only a handful of matches have survived in Scotland.

All English Premier League clubs are required to have under-soil heating.

But some question what is the point of installing the expensive systems, which make grounds playable in conditions that would once have been deemed unsafe, if matches are still going to be postponed for reasons beyond the clubs’ control, as has happened with most of this weekend’s fixtures.

Clubs are increasingly keen to make early decisions on call-offs for fear some supporters may have already embarked on long journeys, as happened to Bolton fans who had travelled to London for a midweek match at Arsenal, only for the game to be postponed in late afternoon.

Nevertheless, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger feels matches are being called off too easily.

“Personally I know only the inside of the stadiums – I don’t know the surroundings well enough, but I must say it is the price we pay for living in a society where everybody wants 100 percent security,” Wenger said Friday.

“Nobody accepts any risk any more and everybody is always guided by fear,” the Frenchman added.

“If one of 60,000 people has an accident, you feel very guilty and nobody accepts anymore that the slightest insecurity could exist in our society and that is why the games are postponed when there is no real need for it.”

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: atwell, birmingam, blackburn, blackburn rovers, Britain, burnley, CHELSEA, DW Stadium, England, English Premier League, fulham, home game, HULL, Liverpool, london, Manchester, manchester city, manchester united, overnight frost, Portsmouth, postponements, premier league, premier league clubs, roberto martinez, safety risk, scotland, soil heating, Stuart Atwell, Sunderland, weather conditions, west ham

Australians fume over Kuwaiti lasers: reports

January 7, 2010

Australian footballers have claimed Kuwaiti fans shone lasers into their eyes during their Asian Cup qualifier in Kuwait City, reports said on Thursday.

Goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic and midfielder Dario Vidosic complained that they were targeted by fans armed with a laser pointer during the game, which ended in a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.

Galekovic claimed a light was shone into his eyes, while Vidosic told team officials he was distracted by a laser beam while attempting to take corner kicks, Australian Associated Press reported.

Australian coach Pim Verbeek said he had mentioned the incidents to match officials pitchside during the first half.

“It was the goalkeeper (and) also at the corner kicks — Dario Vidosic was taking the corner kicks and they were pushing a laser on his face,” Verbeek told Fox Sports television after the game.

“I mentioned it to the officials, but that’s okay. Things like this happen.”

Verbeek was also highly critical of the state of the Al-Kuwait Sports Club Stadium pitch.

The Dutchman declared the bumpy playing surface was one of the worst pitches he had encountered in international football and said he had complained to the match commissioner about its condition on the eve of the game.

Reports said it was likely the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) would investigate the Australian team’s complaints.

Australia need at least one point from their remaining home game against Indonesia in Brisbane in March to qualify for next January’s Asian Cup finals in Qatar.

SYDNEY (AFP)

Tags: al kuwait, asian cup, asian cup finals, asian football confederation, Australia, australia need, australian associated press, brisbane, CITY, cup qualifier, dario, dutchman, Eugene, footballers, fox sports, game reports, Goalkeeper, home game, Indonesia, international football, kuwait, laser beam, laser pointer, Qatar, sports club, SYDNEY, team officials

Pulis tells Wenger to stop fixture moans

December 18, 2009

Stoke manager Tony Pulis has told Arsenal counterpart Arsene Wenger to stop “moaning like a drain” about fixture congestion, saying the Gunners ought to be able to play three games in a week.

Wenger was also unhappy with Wolves manager Mick McCarthy’s decision to field a second-string side in a 3-0 defeat by the London club’s top four rivals Manchester United on Tuesday.

The Frenchman, speaking after Arsenal’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Burnley on Wednesday, slammed a fixture list which saw Wenger’s club playing three games in a week while Hull, their opponents on Saturday, had no midweek match.

“Wenger is moaning like a drain because it doesn’t suit Arsenal. He ain’t moaning because it doesn’t suit Stoke,” said Pulis. “He is saying it because it doesn’t suit him and that was what Mick has done.

“I don’t think it was the walk in the park (for United) that people are suggesting.

“The players Mick played, most of them are seasoned professionals – he hasn’t played the youth team – who he has spent decent money on.

“There is one important point here and that is that Mick McCarthy will do whatever he thinks is best for Wolves.”

Stoke had their match on Tuesday against Fulham postponed as the Cottagers were involved in Europa League action the following day.

Pulis argued that worked against his side as, having hosted Wigan last weekend, he would have liked to have had back-to-back home games.

Instead Stoke now face successive away trips to Aston Villa on Saturday and then Manchester City.

“We would have preferred to have got that game in – it was a home game – because it would have been advantageous,” Pulis said.

“We are a little bit disappointed we have not played but the success Fulham have had getting caught up in Europa Cup games is no fault of theirs.

“We have now got two very tough games, Villa and Manchester City away, and then we play the form team Birmingham on Monday week so it is a tough test for us.

“No disrespect to Wenger or any foreign manager but I don’t think there is anything wrong with asking professional athletes to perform twice in three or four days.

“We have had to take it on the chin because I’d have preferred to have played Fulham on Tuesday.

“That is the way it crumbles. Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it goes against you.”

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: Birmingham, burnley, decent money, disrespect, europa cup, fixture list, fulham, gunners, home game, home games, HULL, important point, london, london club, Manchester, manchester city, manchester united, Mick, mick mccarthy, play three, premier league, second string, three games, tony pulis, Villa

Gunners seek to build on Liverpool turnaround

December 16, 2009

This has been a season of unrelenting surprises in the English Premier League, and nowhere has the shock therapy been more acutely felt than Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger?s side has lurched from the sublime to the ridiculous with bewildering frequency this term, their inconsistency indicative of a division which has shed much of its reputation for predictability.

From title race deadbeats two weeks ago, after a home defeat by Chelsea, they now find themselves grasping eagerly at a lifeline thrown by their rivals.

An 11-point deficit has been slashed to six, courtesy of Chelsea and Manchester United leaking unexpected points, and Arsenal still have a home game against Bolton in hand.

The north Londoners have done their bit too, of course.

Stoke were brushed aside with relative ease at Emirates stadium before a more notable statement of intent was made at Anfield on Sunday, when they came from a goal down to defeat Liverpool, despite missing a clutch of first team regulars.

Another victory at Burnley on Wednesday and the talk of a genuine title challenge would swell from quiet murmurs to an excited chatter.

Wenger is already struggling to contain himself.

“We feel that we have sent out a message to all the people who wrote us off after we were beaten at home by Chelsea,” the Frenchman said.

“We have got ourselves back very close to the leaders – just six points away from Chelsea with a game in hand.

“We have come back at them in a very short space of time since they beat us in late November. Even I did not expect that to happen. We have shown that we have mental strength. For us, we are back into contention following the other results from Saturday.”

On the face of it, there can be no arguing with that assessment. Yet the sceptics who confidently discounted Arsenal from the championship race will not be penning their apology letters just yet.

For all Arsenal?s upturn in form, the doubts remain: can a defence which has kept just three clean sheets in its last 15 games really serve as a solid foundation for a title tilt? Can a team expecting to win the league seriously invest all their faith in a goalkeeper, Manuel Almunia, whose confidence appears to have imploded?

And, most pressingly of all, how can Wenger hope to cope without Robin van Persie?

The Dutchman is out for the next five months with ankle ligament damage that required surgery and Arsenal?s options in his absence are thin. Andrey Arshavin has been deployed as a lone central striker in the last two Premier League games and, while he has scored in both, it still smacks of a short-term measure.

The Russian does not enjoy a role which can often leave him isolated and pining for possession.

The imminent return of Nicklas Bendtner from injury will provide some more beef to a forward-line overburdened with small, scampering forwards but the Dane, while much improved since his hapless early days at Arsenal, is simply not in van Persie’s class.

The trip to Turf Moor will serve as a litmus test of Wenger’s ability to find solutions. The aversion of his team to north-western outposts such as this is well known but they cannot afford a slip-up against Owen Coyle’s side, who have lost some of their early-season swagger in recent weeks.

The Clarets have failed to win any of their last five matches and, remarkably, were subjected to the odd jeer by disgruntled home fans after the 1-1 draw with Fulham last weekend.

That provides proof of how expectations have sky-rocketed in east Lancashire.

“We have gathered 18 points, which is probably 18 more than anybody felt we would have because we were understandably written off at the start of the season,” Coyle said.

“You get the odd moan from people who don’t realise what is involved. This group of players keep going, they give me everything they have got and they have quality. I don’t get too caught up with what others say.

“If people want to continue to write us off then that’s up to them. That’s why we love football, everybody has got an opinion.”

BURNLEY (AFP)

Tags: anfield, apology letters, burnley, clean sheets, deadbeats, English Premier League, home game, late november, manchester united, mental strength, murmurs, point deficit, predictability, sceptics, shock therapy, short space, six points, statement of intent, title challenge, upturn

Sporting Braga drop points in Portuguese league

December 14, 2009

Sporting Braga failed to take distance of Benfica at the top of the Portuguese league, being held to a goalless draw by Naval 1º de Maio.

As Benfica drew 2-2 at Olhanense a day earlier, Braga had a perfect opportunity to leave their joint-leaders behind and go two points clear.

But the season revelations failed to hit the target in their home game with Naval, and as such have to share their lead for at least another week.

Moreover, the results of Benfica and Braga allowed defending champions Porto to reduce the gap with the top two to just one point.

Porto hosted last-placed Vitoria Setubal and took the lead through Ernesto Farias in the 22nd minute. Three minutes later, it was Silvestre Varela to double the gap.

Tags: 1 de maio, benfica, ernesto farias, gap, home game, PORTO, portuguese league, revelations, setubal, sporting braga, target, three minutes, Varela

Bleak mid-winter looms for Arsenal

December 5, 2009

Arsene Wenger has long cherished his reputation as one of English football’s great sages, but he will take no great satisfaction in seeing his most recent prediction born out.

Asked at the start of last month where he felt this season’s title race would be won and lost, the Arsenal manager was unequivocal in his response.

“November is important,” he said. “Traditionally it has not been a good month for us, but I explain that by the fact we had more injuries, it is the first period when they kick in. It depends on the fixtures too – you can have two or three difficult games in November.”

Now, as he stands on the cusp of the traditionally frantic festive period, Wenger can reflect gloomily on how history has repeated itself.

Arsenal’s title challenge, which appeared in rude health just four weeks ago, has suffered two devastating blows thanks to defeats at Sunderland and, more pointedly, at home to Chelsea, results which have left them 11 points adrift of their west London rivals ahead of Saturday’s home game with Stoke City.

Even the club’s famed youngsters have seen their progress checked in the most brutal fashion courtesy of a 3-0 League Cup quarter-final reverse at Manchester City.

Combine all that with serious injuries to Robin van Persie, Arsenal’s most potent attacker this season, and the reliable left-back Gael Clichy, and a season which promised so much is already teetering on the brink.

Next year, Wenger might just be tempted to relocate his summer holiday to the dank autumn days of November.

The Frenchman has been his usual bullish self in the face of a fresh wave of scepticism over various aspects of his managerial methodology: the reluctance to spend heavily in the transfer market, the almost complete absence of rugged physicality in a squad overladen with small, scampering attackers, the dogged refusal to field his senior players in the League Cup and thus by-pass another chance to end a trophy drought which already stretches back to 2005.

Wenger has always been fiercely principled but there have been occasions in recent weeks when his determination to defend his methods has come across as self-delusional.

His refusal to acknowledge the performance of Didier Drogba after the defeat to Chelsea was remarkable for a man whose views on the tactical and technical nuances of the game are so renowned, while his sulky reaction to the defeat at City on Wednesday – Wenger stomped down the players’ tunnel without bothering to shake hands with his opposite number, Mark Hughes – was graceless.

Arsenal supporters are not turning on Wenger – indeed, it is hard to imagine a day when they do so in significant numbers.

But it is debatable how long they will be prepared to pay the eye-watering prices routinely charged at the Emirates stadium in return for watching a team with no realistic hopes of winning a major prize.

Wenger might yet come under pressure to overhaul his rigid footballing philosophy next summer.

For all their recent troubles, Arsenal should still have enough to account for Stoke on Saturday. The Potters might boast the kind of strong-arm tactics which can traditionally ruffle the feathers of Wenger’s dainty team, but slip-ups on home soil remain a rarity for the Gunners.

Stoke are also notoriously poor travellers, having won just once away from the Britannia stadium all season, although they have taken heart from Arsenal’s slump in form.

“I’m hoping that it will play into our hands,” Andy Wilkinson, the defender, said. “But you don’t know, you don’t want the backlash of it. We’ll need to be right at the top of our game.

“Our away performances are much better than last year. We’re going to places, we’re believing in ourselves and we’re not letting the occasion get the better of us. But by no means is it going to be an easy game for us.”

LONDON (AFP)