Libertadores Cup – domain of the Golden Oldies?

January 23, 2010


What more could Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos have in common with Juan Sebastian Veron later this year apart from being among the greatest players in South American football?

As Rex Gowar and Pedro Fonseca write, it is not new for South Americans to return home after brilliant careers in Europe and gain a new lease of life well into their 30s. Veron, though, touched new heights when he led Estudiantes to victory in the Libertadores Cup — South America’s Champions League —  in 2009.

Corinthians, with Ronaldo and now Roberto Carlos on board, are celebrating their centenary this year and they have set themselves the target of winning South American football’s top club prize for the first time.

The other big clubs in the Sao Paulo region, Pele’s Santos in the 1960s, Sao Paulo and Palmeiras in the last two decades, have all won it. So have Cruzeiro from Belo Horizonte, Flamengo and Vasco da Gama from Rio de Janeiro and Gremio and Internacional from the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

It rankles with Corinthians that the Libertadores Cup has not embellished their trophy cabinet. They have not even reached the final, something a few lesser Brazilian sides like Sao Caetano and Atletico Paranaense have achieved.

Ronaldo, 33, has already had a year at Corinthians, having turned his back on Flamengo to join them after recovering from the knee injury that ended his European career at AC Milan.

He spearheaded them to victory in last year’s Paulista state championship and the Copa Brasil, the title that secured their place in this year’s Libertadores.

Corinthians, looking to the pair to emulate their great Real Madrid days together, signed Roberto Carlos from Turkey’s Fenerbahce this month to boost their chances.

However, fans of other Brazilian sides have a different view of Roberto Carlos. They see him as one of the men responsible for Brazil’s defeat by France in the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals in Germany.

When Thierry Henry scored the only goal, the Brazil left back was bending down pulling up his socks –- a scene repeated and commented on extensively on television after the elimination of the defending world champions.

Three and a half years later, and now 36, Roberto Carlos hopes to put that episode behind him at Corinthians alongside Ronaldo, also criticised for his 2006 performance.

The played together again this week for the first time since 2007 at Real Madrid, when they turned out for Corinthians in an unimpressive 2-1 win over Bragantino in the Paulista championship.

Expectation was enormous, though. Corinthians’ first home match of the year drew 32,000 fans, double the number who watched national champions Flamengo at the Maracana in their opener last weekend in the Carioca (Rio de Janeiro) state championship.

PHOTO: Ronaldo of Corinthians (R) talks to teammate Roberto Carlos before their Paulista soccer match against Bragantino in Sao Paulo January 20, 2010. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

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No festive cheer for Lyon, Marseille as Bordeaux win

December 24, 2009


Lyon and Marseille went into the Christmas recess nursing severe headaches after collapsing to home defeats to Montpellier and Auxerre respectively on Wednesday.

Multiple champions Lyon slipped to sixth place after a 2-1 loss to one of the season’s surprise packages Montpellier, while Marseille fell 2-0 to Auxerre.

Lille, who enjoyed a 4-0 goal spree at Nancy, jumped into second, on 34 points, nine behind Bordeaux who extended their lead with a 2-1 win over Toulouse in Wednesday’s late kick-off.

Montpellier go into third on 33 points, one point clear of Marseille and Auxerre with struggling Lyon 13 points off the top.

The dominant force of the past decade, Lyon have now won just once in their last eight league matches and their title challenge and morale appears to be fading by the week.

Lyon, who are at least into the knockout stages of the Champions League, slipped up due to second half goals from Colombian striker Victor Montano and Joris Marveaux with Bafetimbi Gomis getting their only contribution.

This will be the first time Lyon have reached the midway point of the season without figuring in the top three since the 2002-2003 campaign.

The only source of comfort for the seven-time titleholders will be that they ended up champions that season.

The fans at the Stade Gerland are becoming furstrated, and whistled manager Claude Puel’s name when it was announced before kick-off.

The mood wasn’t much better down on the south coast at the Velodrome.

Marseille, who had been unable to beat 10-man Saint Etienne on their last outing, disappointed again with Auxerre’s three points coming from Denis Oliech’s double.

Before the game Marseille had deemed “insufficient” an offer from Greek side Olympiakos for winger Hatem Ben Arfa.

At Nancy Ivory Coast international Gervinho bagged two of Lille’s four goals to jump to the top of the French first division scoring charts with an 11-goal haul.

This was Lille’s sixth consecutive win.

There was festive cheer meanwhile up in the French capital where Paris Saint Germain dished out a 4-0 drubbing to basement club Grenoble to improve their prospects of playing in Europe next term.

Later Bordeaux, already assured of the summit at the midway stage of the season, were on the back foot after just four minutes when Toulouse’s Paulo Mechado found the back of the net.

Marouane Chamakh had the champions back level five minutes later with Brazilian winger Wendel grabbing the 75th minute winner.

“Frankly this is extraordinary!” said Chamakh.

“We’re enjoying a pretty good first half of the season, now we have to continue like that and retain the same spirit.”

Down at the foot Le Mans just managed to stay out of the relegation zone occupied by Grenoble, Boulogne and Saint Etienne, with a battling 1-1 draw against Monaco.

PARIS (AFP)

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Lisbon sides drop points in Portuguese league

December 13, 2009


It was a bad day for Lisbon football in the Portuguese league, as Benfica were held to a 2-2 draw at Olhanense while Sporting lost 0-1 to Uniao de Leiria.

Relegation candidates Olhanense gave Benfica much more trouble than expected, and were very close to even winning the match.

Carlos Fernandes’ opening goal for Olhanense in the 10th minute was cancelled out by Argentinian Javier Saviola in the 29th, but Toy’s goal in minute 33 seemed to be enough for the hosts to secure the three points.

Benfica had the final say though, as Nuno Gomes made it 2-2 in the very last minute.

Olhanense had Djalmir sent off in the 25th minute, and Miguel Garcia followed near the full time whistle. Angel Di Maria was red-carded for Benfica in the 42nd minute.

Sporting Lisbon once again disappointed with a 0-1 defeat by Uniao de Leiria, who scored the only goal of the match through Paulo Vinicius in the 27th minute.

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Inter march on as Sampdoria stumble

November 2, 2009


Inter Milan continued their inexorable march towards a fifth straight Italian Serie A title with a 2-0 victory away to lowly Livorno on Sunday.

There may only be 11 games gone in the championship but Inter have already opened up a seven-point lead over second-placed Juventus after the Turin giants were beaten 3-2 at home to Napoli on Saturday.

Sampdoria also failed to keep pace with Inter as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to newly-promoted Bari on Sunday, leaving them third on goal difference behind Juve.

Inter were far from their sparkling best against a team who had won their previous two matches under new boss Serse Cosmi, but they always looked capable of doing enough to win.

Livorno, who lost on-loan Inter centre-back Nelson Rivas to injury in the warm-up, had the best chance of the opening period as Antonio Candreva brought a fine save out of Julio Cesar from a free-kick.

The opener came just four minutes into the second half as Diego Milito, restored to the starting line-up after making a substitute appearance in midweek on his return from injury, twisted and turned on the edge of the box before shooting low through a crowd of legs into the bottom corner.

Brazilian full-back Maicon then set the seal on the victory 10 minutes from time as he burst forward from his half, played a one-two with Patrick Vieira and reached the edge of the box unchallenged before slotting home left-footed into the bottom corner.

This relatively comfortable stroll in the park was ideal preparation for Inter ahead of their midweek trip to Ukraine to face Dynamo Kiev in a crucial Champions League match.

Coach Jose Mourinho gave rare starts to young Slovenian midfielder Rene Krhin and Brazilian misfit Mancini whilst leaving the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Walter Samuel and Esteban Cambiasso on the bench, although all three came on as substitutes.

But Mourinho was counting the cost of more injuries to his team after the game as Muntari Sulley limped off during the first half.

“Unfortunately we’re a team that always has injuries, I can never play the team I want,” said Mourinho who was already without Thiago Motta, Mario Balotelli, Cristian Chivu and Wesley Sneijder.

“Muntari can’t walk and I don’t think 48 hours will be enough (to recover), I think it will be difficult as well for Thiago Motta to be ready for Wednesday.”

In Genoa Sampdoria were in uninspired form as they failed to break down a stubborn Bari.

Sampdoria playmaker Antonio Cassano, playing against the club where he began his career, had a goal ruled out for offside three minutes from time in an otherwise anonymous performance.

It could have been worse for Sampdoria, though, as Bari’s Paulo Barreto put an injury-time penalty wide while Leonardo Bonucci then had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside.

AS Roma ended a three-game losing streak as they came from behind to beat Bologna 2-1 in the capital.

Brazilian Adailton gave Bologna the lead on 32 minutes but Mirko Vucinic benefited from a kind ricochet to equalise three minutes later before Simone Perrotta scored the winner in the 52nd minute.

Marco Marchionni scored a brace as Fiorentina got back to winning ways after two straight defeats with a 3-1 success at home to Catania in a match that ended 10-men apiece.

Alberto Gilardino scored the third goal for ‘La Viola’ while Giuseppe Mascara netted for Catania.

ROME (AFP)

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Braga beat Benfica in battle for first place

November 1, 2009


Sporting Braga’s good form in the Portuguese league appears to be no fluke, as the season revelations beat Benfica 2-0 in Saturday’s battle for first place.

Braga and Benfica shared the lead ahead of this game, any many expected Benfica’s experience to be the deciding factor at Braga’s AXA Stadium.

That wasn’t the case however, as Hugo Viana scored the opening goal after just seven minutes, and Paulo Cesar hit the target to make it 2-0 in minute 78.

With 25 points from nine games, Braga are three points ahead of Benfica and five points ahead of Porto. The remaining teams, including Sporting Lisbon, are at a considerable distance.

Jonathan Roorda

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Rampant Chelsea thrash Bolton to reach quarter-finals

October 29, 2009


Carlo Ancelotti remains on course for his first Wembley appearance after Chelsea reached the League Cup quarter-finals with a 4-0 demolition of Bolton on Wednesday.

Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda scored to give Chelsea a comfortable half-time lead before Deco’s strike and a last minute header from Didier Drogba took Ancelotti’s side’s tally to 13 goals from their last three games.

And the comprehensive nature of this win will undoubtedly give Chelsea a decisive edge when the two teams meet again at the Reebok Stadium this weekend.

That will provide a more testing challenge for the Blues, who have lost twice away from home this season. But at Stamford Bridge their record is almost flawless and they have recorded nine victories in nine games, conceding just one goal.

Ancelotti made seven changes from the side that beat Blackburn last weekend, preserving the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and for bigger tests ahead while Bolton’s Gary Megson adopted a similar approach, resting keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and striker Kevin Davies.

But even without their two most experienced players, the visitors began convincingly with Gretar Steinsson unsettling Branislav Ivanovic after just three minutes, forcing a free-kick that was squandered when Matthew Taylor tried unsuccessfully to catch Chelsea keeper Hilario off guard.

The early chance offered Bolton only false hope and Chelsea quickly took control of the game, picking up where they had left off in Saturday?s 5-0 humbling of Blackburn.

Ancelotti had opted for a three-man forward-line made up of Joe Cole, Salomon Kalou and Daniel Strurridge – the youngster making his first start following a move from Manchester City.

Deco fired in Chelsea’s first meaningful shot, forcing a save out of Al Al Habsi with a dipping ninth minute drive.

And the opening goal came just six minutes later when the visitors were carved open far too easily on the left where Paulo Ferreira found space to cross and Kalou rose between two defenders to head home at the far post.

To their credit Wanderers responded immediately and Taylor was denied by Hilario’s speed in advancing off his line and closing down the midfielder?s close range shot.

Unfortunately the Portugese banged his head in the incident and after struggling on for six more minutes, eventually left the field apparently suffering from concussion.

That paved the way for former Middlesbrough keeper Ross Turnbull to make his debut for the Blues, but the upheaval had no effect on Ancelotti’s side who where quickly two up, this time from Malouda.

The Frenchman linked well with Kalou in the 26th minute, finding space to meet the Ivorian’s cross before receiving a large slice of luck when the ball bounced back to him off Zat Knight and the midfielder finished from close range.

Kalou was replaced by Michael Essien to protect a back problem and while Chelsea continued to create chances, Sturridge was unable to match the finishing of his team-mate and the youngster missed successive openings after being played through by Joe Cole.

The introduction of Johan Elmander at half-time gave Bolton more presence up front but they were unable to apply meaningful pressure on Turnbull’s goal and Mark Davies shot straight at the keeper when they eventually found a way through.

But Chelsea were always looked comfortable and confirmed their superiority with a 67th minute third goal when Deco met Cole’s left wing cross and drilled the ball past Al Habsi from the edge of the box.

And Drogba completed the win when he met Cole’s deep cross with a far post header.

LONDON (AFP)

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Portugal: Seven in a row for Sporting Braga

October 4, 2009


Sporting Braga won their seventh league match in a row to keep their perfect record in the Portuguese competition. Vitoria Setubal failed to end Braga’s impressive streak.

No goals were scored in the first hour at Estadio AXA, but it was in the 60th minute that Paulo Cesar broke the deadlock in Braga’s favor.

Former Sporting Lisbon, Newcastle and Valencia midfielder Hugo Viana ended all doubts with his goal for 2-0 in the 90th minute.

Braga remain in first place and put additional pressure on Benfica, who will need a win over Paços de Ferreira on Monday in order to restore the original two-point gap.

Jonathan Roorda

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Assuncao confident for Porto trip

September 30, 2009


Atletico Madrid midfielder Paulo Assuncao is confident his side can put their poor start to the season aside and return from Wednesday night’s Champions League clash against his former club Porto with all three points.

Atletico made the short trip to Portugal under increasing pressure after taking just three points from their opening five Primera Division matches, which has left the team in the bottom three.

The Rojiblancos have not had much reason for cheer in Europe either, and they were booed off the pitch by their own fans after being held to a goalless draw by minnows Apoel Nicosia in their opening Group D game.

That was a potentially costly setback for Atletico, especially considering the other team in the group is Chelsea, but Assuncao does not feel that result has jeopardised their chances of progressing to the knockout stages.

Instead he believes they will get back on track against the Portuguese champions.

“Porto have a good team and it won’t be easy to beat them, although we also have a great squad and I think that we can defeat them and come back to Madrid with the three points,” said Assuncao, who played for Porto in the 2000/01 season and then again from 2005-08 before making the switch to Atletico.

“Not getting through to the next round isn’t something that we are thinking about. I’m sure we’ll get past the group stage.”

Abel Resino’s men go into the match having had contrasting experiences in their last two league matches, both of which finished in 2-2 draws.

Last week they were denied a first win of the campaign by a last-minute Almeria equaliser, and then on Sunday they were saved from defeat by an injury-time leveller of their own against Valencia.

“We’re going to fight just as hard (against Porto) as we did in the Valencia match. We’re really looking forward to trying to get the win,” added Assuncao.

Atletico already know from bitter recent experience just how hard it is to win at the Estadio do Dragao, though.

In last season’s competition Atletico travelled to Portugal needing to score at least once to have a chance of progressing through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after being held 2-2 at home by Porto.

However, they were unable to find the breakthrough in a goalless draw and Porto, having dominated the first leg and been unlucky not to record a convincing victory at the Vicente Calderon, deservedly went through to the last eight.

Porto could get no further though as they were subsequently knocked out by defending champions Manchester United.

This season Jesualdo Ferreira’s side suffered a losing start to their group campaign against another English side, going down 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

They have had a much better time of it domestically than Atletico, though, winning four of their opening six games, including a 1-0 triumph over Sporting Lisbon at the weekend.

Ferreira will be without the suspended Fernando, while Atletico boss Resino has added Ruben Perez and Sergio Rodriguez to his squad for the trip west, with the non-registered Koke and the injured Juan Valera dropping out from the group that faced Valencia.

Abhimanyu Rajput

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Ancelotti unflustered by changing times at Chelsea

September 20, 2009


If Carlo Ancelotti has been left shaken by the upheavals at Chelsea during his few ten weeks in charge, he is doing a very good job of disguising the fact.

The Blues coach has given the impression it is business as usual as he prepares his side for a meeting with London rivals Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday that could extend Chelsea’s perfect start to the Premier League campaign.

Five successive wins have already positioned the Italian’s side at the head of the table and laid down an early marker in their title battle with Manchester United.

And he has remained unruffled by FIFA’s impostion of a 16-month transfer ban on the club and the sudden departure of chief executive Peter Kenyon.

Ancelotti insists his focus remains solely on team affairs even though he could never have imagined he would find himself fending off questions about the club’s internal affairs when he moved to England from AC Milan in July.

And his main concern is negotiating his first major London derby against Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham, who impressively won their first four league games before suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of United in their last outing.

“I know the rivalry between the two teams and how important this match is for the fans,” Ancelotti said. “We have to pay attention to this and we want to win.

“I saw Tottenham’s last games and they have started very well. For me it was a surprise, they played very well against Liverpool and Manchester United.

“They lost that game but they have good style and quality players. In attack, Jermain Defoe is a very dangerous striker and Aaron Lennon is a very quick player.

And he added: “I have never seen an unbeatable team, and Chelsea are not unbeatable. But we are doing very well at the moment.”

Spurs can draw strength from the fact they beat Chelsea last February at White Hart Lane, although it is 19 years since they last won at Stamford Bridge.

“We haven’t taken too many points off them at Stamford Bridge in my memory, so for that reason alone, this is going to be another tough game,” said Tottenham captain Ledley King.

“We know Chelsea’s players well enough and we’ve all seen their quality. It’s always a tough game against them,” he said.

“But we have done well against them in recent games and they will be aware of our qualities as well.

“However, we take one season and one game at a time. This is no doubt one they will want to win, being at home.

And he added: “Four wins from five games is a good start for us. We’re disappointed with the last result, but Sunday is a chance for us to strike back in the best possible way against another top team.”

Ancelotti will resist the temptation to bring back England international Joe Cole for a game that would pit the midfielder against the manager who gave him his first break at West Ham.

Cole has been a long-term casualty with a knee problem but, like Portugal defender Paulo Ferreira and midfielder Yuri Zhirkhov, he will be eased back into action against QPR in next week’s League Cup tie.

But Didier Drogba and Jose Bosingwa, both suspended from the mid-week Champions League victory over Porto, will return for the Blues.

Redknapp faces a decision over whether to recall keeper Heurelho Gomes in place of former Chelsea shot-stopper Carlo Cudicini, while captain Robbie Keane will either fill the left flank position or partner Defoe up front.

LONDON (AFP)

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Cypriot debutants APOEL hold Atletico

September 16, 2009


Atletico Madrid were held to a goalless draw in their opening Champions League group game against Cypriot debutants APOEL here on Tuesday.

Atletico owed their presence in the last 32 for the second year running to a 5-2 aggregate defeat of Greek side Panathinaikos in the play-offs, while APOEL put themselves on the European map by beating Copenhagen 3-2 over two legs.

Atletico coach Abel Resino started Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero up front while his opposite number, Serbian Ivan Jovanovic, was missing forward Nenad Mirosavljevic but welcomed back defender Altin Haxhi from suspension.

The visitors from Nicosia had the first chance of the match in the seventh minute from Maroin Zewlakow but it was virtually all one way traffic after that as Atletico dominated in attack without succeeding in breaking down APOEL’s defence.

APOEL were living dangerously when Christos Kontis was booked for a foul on Jose Manuel Jurado in the 24th minute.

Forlan stepped up to take the freekick from the edge of the area, forcing APOEL keeper Dionisios Chiotis into evasive action.

On the half hour mark Chiotis had to look lively to deny Jurado’s close range effort.

Down at the other end APOEL’s Kamil Kosowski then had a shot blocked and the Cypriot champions went into the break rueing a brace of shots off target to leave everything to play for in the second half.

Jovanovic brought Boban Grncarov on for Paulo Jorge at the start of the second period with Resino introducing Maxi Rodriguez for Cleber Santana shortly after as both sides sought to break the stalemate.

Atletico deserved to be fully in control with a total of ten shots on target compared to APOEL’s sole early effort.

But APOEL were holding out for a point at the Vicente Calderon stadium despite Atletico’s sharp superiority in attack but they came away from their debut group game with a hard earned if a little fortuitous point.

Chelsea lead Group D after a 1-0 win over FC Porto with Atletico and APOEL in a share of second.

MADRID (AFP)

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