United face Berbatov surgery dilemma

January 17, 2010

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will on Monday make a decision on whether Dimitar Berbatov, a scorer in the 3-0 win over Burnley, requires knee surgery.

The Bulgarian striker has been struggling for a number of weeks with the injury and United had hoped he would be able to play through the discomfort, but he was bothered by his knee once again despite going on to score in United’s victory at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Ferguson took him off in the closing stages and will now consider whether he needs an operation.

He said: “Dimitar was feeling his knee again. We’ll look at it on Monday and we’ll see (about surgery). He could have come off at half-time but he wanted to stay on again and that’s good.

“Let’s hope the goal does Dimitar some good. I thought he was the one that looked like scoring and it was one of those days when he kept knocking it past the post or over the bar.

“He had so many attempts, he must have had about 10 attempts and he’ll be relieved to get his goal.”

Ferguson feels that the return of Edwin van der Sar could be a key point in United?s season.

The Dutch goalkeeper has been missing since early November due to injury and was then given compassionate leave after his wife Annmarie suffered a brain haemorrhage.

But he kept a clean sheet on his return to the team and Ferguson expects him to make a significant difference.

He added: “He was magnificent against Burnley, unbelievable. What a performance – steady, decision-making, use of the ball.

“Tomasz (Kuszczak) has done fantastically well and it’s no slight on him but Edwin made a difference simply because he’s 39 years of age, he’s got 130 caps, he’s got that experience, he’s won two European medals.

“He’s had a fantastic career and it showed again.”

Ferguson has also been impressed by the contribution of Senegalese striker Mame Biram Diouf, who joined the club from Norwegian club FC Molde.

After Berbatov and Wayne Rooney gave United a two-goal lead, the new signing scored his first goal in English football in the closing stages against Burnley.

And Ferguson feels that Diouf is a real prospect.

He said: “He’s got great spring the boy, he’s quick and he looks to run behind them (the defenders) all the time and he’s very good in the air.

“He’s got a lot of good attributes we can use. We’re excited about the boy.”

Ferguson has also confirmed that he intends to make a string of changes for Tuesday’s League Cup semi-final first leg at Manchester City.

He added: “We’ll have a look at it on Sunday and look at the best way to go about the game and some of the younger players will come in. Darron Gibson will play a part and young Rafael and Fabio are players who deserve a chance.”

New Burnley manager Brian Laws confirmed he hopes to keep on-loan Portsmouth striker David Nugent at Turf Moor.

Laws, who took over from Owen Coyle last week, also revealed that Steven Fletcher, who limped off with an ankle problem, was taken to hospital for x-rays.

He said: “He had a kick on the ankle and has gone to hospital for an x-ray.

“Nugent was excellent and we will try ever so hard to secure his services. Negotiations with Portsmouth are underway. We know he can?t go anywhere else on loan. He can stay with us or they sell him; that is the simple equation.”

Laws added: “My ambition is to stay in the Premier League. We knew coming to Old Trafford wouldn’t do that, this is not the game that makes the difference.

“The games that matter are playing the teams around us. If we don’t take points off them, those teams will overtake you.

“We have identified the games to take points from and win. Man United was a bonus if we had got anything out of it. The bonus is that in my first game in charge there were more plusses than minuses.”

MANCHESTER, England (AFP)

Tags: alex ferguson, biram, brain haemorrhage, compassionate leave, dimitar berbatov, Diouf, early november, edwin van der sar, Goalkeeper, key point, knee surgery, kuszczak, Molde, norwegian club, old trafford, one of those days, senegalese, van der sar, wayne rooney

Magnificent seven boosts Chelsea title push

January 17, 2010

Chelsea reasserted their credentials as Premier League title favourites on Saturday with a 7-2 demolition of Sunderland that manager Carlo Ancelotti hailed as their best performance of the season.

Manchester United, who have played a game more than the leaders, remained one point off the pace after a 3-0 win over Burnley at Old Trafford.

But it was another frustrating day for Liverpool, who conceded a last-minute equaliser at Stoke and wasted an opportunity to close the gap on Manchester City and Tottenham in the battle for top-four places.

With City going down to a 2-0 defeat at Everton, their first loss since Roberto Mancini took over as manager last month, Spurs were able to edge them out of the Champions League qualifying places thanks to a goalless draw at home to Hull.

Chelsea were irresistible at Stamford Bridge, where Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard both scored twice on an afternoon when they might easily have reached doube figures.

Florent Malouda, Ashley Cole and Michael Ballack also found the net with Boudewijn Zenden and Darren Bent providing consolation efforts for Steve Bruce’s outclassed side.

Ancelotti was delighted to see his side prove they could thrive in the absence of Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Mikel Obi and Salomon Kalou, all of whom are away at the African Cup of Nations.

“I’ve always said we have a fantastic squad and today we have done a good job,” the Italian said.

There were no such fireworks at Old Trafford, where the Manchester United faithful had to wait until the 56th minute before Dimitar Berbatov broke Burnley’s resistance.

Wayne Rooney’s 16th goal of the season and substitute Mame Biram Diouf’s first for the club made sure that Brian Laws’s first match in charge of Burnley ended in defeat.

Ferguson praised Senegalese striker Diouf, who joined from Norwegian club FC Molde.

“He’s got great spring, he’s quick and he looks to run behind the defenders all the time and he’s very good in the air,” said the United boss.

A second-half goal from Sotirios Kyrgiakos had looked like it would be enough to ease the pressure on Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez following the club’s FA Cup exit to Championship side Reading earlier in the week.

But the defensive frailty that has hampered Liverpool throughout the campaign was exposed again in the 90th minute when Robert Huth scrambled in an equaliser after the visitors had failed to clear a corner.

Having been denied what appeared to be a clear penalty in the first half, Liverpool suffered further frustration when Dirk Kuyt headed against the post in the fifth minute of injury time.

“It feels like a defeat,” admitted Kuyt. “We aren’t playing the best football at the moment, but I thought we fought really hard for this result, and to concede in the last minute and even miss a great chance in the last minute is unbelievable.”

The draw left Liverpool languishing in seventh place, although the failure of Tottenham and Manchester City to win limited the damage for Benitez’s men.

City had begun life under Mancini with four straight wins but they flunked their first serious test at Goodison Park.

A Steven Pienaar free-kick and a Louis Saha penalty earned Everton a thoroughly deserved victory and lifted David Moyes’s side into the top half of the table for the first time this season.

Wigan pulled away from the relegation zone with a 2-0 win at fellow strugglers Wolves in a match both teams ended with ten men.

Wolves defender Richard Stearman received a second yellow card when he conceded a first-half penalty. Marcus Hahnemann saved Hugo Rodallega’s spot-kick but Wigan made their numerical advantage count though James McCarthy on the hour.

The numbers were evened up when Wigan midfielder Hendry Thomas was ordered off shortly afterwards but Charles N’Zogbia made sure of the points for the visitors.

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: african cup of nations, ashley cole, berbatov, biram, didier drogba, Diouf, frank lampard, great spring, john mikel obi, manchester united, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Nicolas Anelka, norwegian club, old trafford, roberto mancini, Salomon Kalou, stamford bridge, wayne rooney

Milan sign youth World Cup hero

November 3, 2009

AC Milan has signed Dominic Adiyiah. The Ghanaian striker will join the club in January. Adiyiah dominated the recent Under-20 World Cup, ending up with the Golden Shoe as top scorer with eight goals, the Golden Ball for player of the tournament and of course the winners’ medal.

“There is a deal with the Norwegian club Fredrikstad FK. Now he needs to get the work permit to enter Italy and we will deposit the contract on January 1,” said Milan’s vice president Adriano Galliani.

“Naturally he has to pass his medical first and then he will be our player. We bought him because he is a wide striker who can play in place of Alexandre Pato or Ronaldinho.”

“Our system has changed now and we needed a wide forward who could train with those we already have at our disposal, so we made a move.”

Paul Haring

Tags: ac milan, adriano, alexandre pato, dominic, Dominic Adiyiah, golden shoe, Italy, january 1, Milan, norwegian club, Paul Haring, ronaldinho, striker, top scorer, vice president, world cup hero, youth world cup

Hannover sign Ivorian Konan-Ya

August 12, 2009

Bundesliga side Hannover 96 have signed 25-year-old striker Didier Konan-Ya from Norwegian club Rosenborg.

The Ivorian international has signed a contract which will keep him at the club until 2012.

Konan-Ya is set to fill the gap left in Hannover’s attack by Jan Schlaudraff, the former Bayern Munich forward who has been suffering with a groin problem.

“We’ve signed him reinforce our frontline. He’s extremely quick and a decent finisher,” explained Hannover Sporting Director Jörg Schmadtke.]

The former Rosenborg player began his career at homeland club ASEC Abidjan, and later made a switch for the Norwegian giants, making 40 appearances and scoring 27 goals in the process.

Abhimanyu Rajput

Tags: abhimanyu, Abidjan, ASEC, attack, Bayern, Bundesliga, frontline, gap, giants, groin problem, hannover 96, ivorian, jan schlaudraff, norwegian club, rosenborg, striker, ya

Mexico set to bring veteran/youth mix to Gold Cup; Costa Rica, El Salvador preparing full squads

June 20, 2009

NEW YORK – Mexico will bring a mix of veteran fan favorites with younger recently established regulars, while teams from Costa Rica and El Salvador are planning on a nearly full-strength roster in their bids to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup next month.

All 12 teams have submitted their preliminary rosters, which must be reduced to 23 players no later than 24 hours before their first game.

The Gold Cup opens July 3 with a doubleheader at The Home Depot Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, featuring Canada vs. Jamaica, and Costa Rica vs. El Salvador.

Gerardo Torrado, Omar Bravo and Jonny Magallon will comprise the basis of Mexico’s veteran core of a largely domestic roster with emerging stalwarts Giovani Dos Santos and Carlos Vela, both European based, Memo Ochoa and Omar Arellano bolstering the roster.

Costa Rica, which leads the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying at its midpoint, will bring all but a handful of its regulars in a bid to win a first Gold Cup title. Los Ticos, who reached the final in 2000 before falling to Canada, will have its midfield contingent Celso Borges of Norwegian club Fredrikstad and Saprissa’s Walter Centeno along with strikers Andy Furtado and and Alvaro Saborio up front.

Christian Castillo, Eliseo Quintanilla and Rudis Corrales will lead an El Salvador team, looking to advance past the quarterfinals for the first time.

The United States, coming off the Confederations Cup in South Africa, will bring a mix of foreign and U.S.-based players, from Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan and Xerex striker Jozy Altidore to 2008 Olympians Stuart Holden of the Houston Dynamo and Robbie Rogers of the Columbus Crew.

Go to Source