Robben calls for Ribery’s return

January 29, 2010

Arjen Robben hopes Franck Ribery will get a chance to show his qualities from the first whistle when Bayern München takes on FSV Mainz 05. It seems though that Robben’s wish will not be granted by Louis van Gaal.

On Friday, the Dutch coach said that Ribery will start on the bench against Mainz. “Because I don’t think he is 100 percent fit yet,” Van Gaal told the German press. “It’ll take a while, he hasn’t played for months and I can only use players that are 100 percent fit.”

Van Gaal doesn’t bare any nice memories of Saturday’s opponent, as he stated clearly after Friday’s training session. “When I hear the name Mainz, I instantly think of our first defeat of the first competition half.

“It was the first game I lost with Bayern and the first game where my players weren’t 100 percent focused. That really disappointed me.”

Tags: Bayern, bench, coach, defeat, first game, franck ribery, FSV, fsv mainz 05, german press, hasn, Louis, louis van gaal, memories of saturday, name, opponent, percent, robben, Saturday, training, training session, van, Van Gaal, whistle

Sporting earn narrow win at Naval

December 20, 2009

One goal in the first half was enough for Sporting Lisbon to earn a narrow but valuable win at Naval 1o de Maio on Saturday.

Sporting, who suffered a dissapointing defeat to Uniao de Leiria last week, scored the only goal through Carlos Saleiro in the 35th minute.

The capital city side are currently in fourth place, but could end up back in sixth if the two Funchal teams (Nacional and Maritimo) do well on Sunday.

Sporting Braga played on Friday and successfully defended their top spot with a 0-1 win at Pacos de Ferreira. Meyong Ze netted the winner shortly before the break.

Tags: 1o, Braga, Carlos Saleiro, de maio, Funchal, leiria, Lisbon, Maio, Maritimo, Meyong, meyong ze, Naval, pacos de ferreira, Saturday, Sporting, sporting braga, sporting lisbon

Braga drop points in Portugal

October 25, 2009

Sporting Braga dropped their first two points of the season on Saturday, as the Portuguese leaders were held to a 1-1 draw at Rio Ave.

Hosts Rio Ave even took the lead through Joao Tomas in the ninth minute, but Evaldo limited the damage for Sporting with an equaliser in the 31st.

Sporting had won all of their first seven games this season but may well have to share their lead after this small slip-up as Benfica are only three points behind.

The Lisbon outfit host Nacional Funchal on Sunday, and a win would allow them to move into joint first place.

Jonathan Roorda

Tags: benfica, Braga, drop, equaliser, Funchal, hosts, joao tomas, jonathan, Lisbon, outfit, portugal, portuguese, Rio, rio ave, Saturday, season, seven games, span, Sporting, sporting braga

Aquilani seals Liverpool switch

August 8, 2009

Liverpool sealed a five-year deal with Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani on Friday after the Italian international passed a medical with the English Premier League giants.

Aquilani, 25, will cost Liverpool 20 million pounds (33 million dollars) and is seen as a straight replacement for Xabi Alonso, who joined Real Madrid for 30 million pounds earlier this week.

“Liverpool FC confirmed this evening that Alberto Aquilani has successfully completed a medical and agreed a five-year contract with the club,” said a Liverpool statement.

“The player will now continue his rehabilitation from an ankle operation under the guidance of Liverpool’s medical team and is expected to be fully fit in approximately 4-8 weeks time.”

Aquilani is expected to be at Anfield on Saturday where his new team take on Atletico Madrid in the club’s final pre-season friendly before next weekend’s Premier League big kick-off.

Aquilani will earn a reported around 80,000 pounds a week.

LIVERPOOL (AFP)

Tags: 30 million, alberto aquilani, Alonso, anfield, atletico madrid, contract, English Premier League, giants, guidance, Liverpool, liverpool fc, MADRID, medical team, midfielder, million dollars, premier league, real madrid, replacement, Roma, Saturday, weekend, Xabi, xabi alonso

Bordeaux win French football title

May 30, 2009

PARIS (AFP) – Bordeaux beat Caen 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a second-half goal from Yoan Gouffran to secure their first French league title in 10 years.

Tags: 10 years, Bordeaux, Caen, football title, french football, french league title, goal, Gouffran, League, Ligue 1, PARIS, Saturday, Yoan

Wolfsburg win maiden German title

May 24, 2009

BERLIN (AFP) – Vfl Wolfsburg won their first ever German league title after a 5-1 drubbing of beaten UEFA Cup finalists Werder Bremen on the last day of the season on Saturday.

Tags: AFP, berlin, Bremen, Bundesliga, drubbing, german league, german title, Saturday, season, UEFA Cup, VfL, vfl wolfsburg, Wolfsburg

AZ Alkmaar close to Dutch title

April 11, 2009

In theory, the Dutch championship could be decided this week as leaders AZ Alkmaar beat NAC Breda 0-1 on Friday.

The only goal of the match, played in Breda, came from Moussa Dembele with 20 minutes left to play.

With four games to go, AZ now have a 14-points lead over FC Twente and 15 over Ajax. If Twente lose to Roda JC on Saturday and Ajax fail to beat Willem II a day later, the championship would be decided.

AZ’s imminent title would be their first since 1981. It is also that long ago that the Dutch championship is not won by Ajax, PSV Eindhoven or Feyenoord.

Written by: Jonathan Roorda

Tags: Ajax, alkmaar, Breda, Dembele, dutch championship, dutch title, Eindhoven, Eredivisie, fc twente, feyenoord, four games, Friday, goal, jonathan, Jonathan Roorda, match, moussa, nac, nac breda, PSV, psv eindhoven, Roda, Saturday, theory, twente, week, willem ii

Bolton’s Mark Davies out for several weeks

March 20, 2009

Bolton Wanderers midfielder Mark Davies will be sidelined for several weeks after injuring his knee in Saturday’s Premiership defeat by Fulham.

The 21-year-old is known to suffer from knee problems, a previous injury having cost him the entire 2007-08 season.

Davies joined Bolton on loan from Wolverhampton in January and played seven games for the Premier League side so far. According to manager Gary Megson, the player’s absence should be considered ‘long term’.

Written by: Jonathan Roorda

Tags: absence, Bolton, bolton wanderers, cost, defeat, English Premier League, fulham, gary megson, injury, January, jonathan, Jonathan Roorda, knee, knee problems, loan, manager, mark davies, midfielder, player, premier league, premiership, roorda, Saturday, season, seven games, side, term, Wanderers, wolverhampton

Swansea show up Premier League tedium

February 17, 2009

The (almost complete) lack of Premier League action at the weekend saw thumbs being sucked all over the place, and the Reuters Soccer Blog is no exception. While some were predicting the end of the Big Four, and others picked over Rafa Benitez’s latest contract comments, we found ourselves enthralled by the silky football displayed by Championship side Swansea City in their FA Cup game against Fulham.

Here, Padraic Halpin waxes ornithological about The Swans, while in the post below Neil Maidment bemoans the lack of on-field drama this season. Are they right? Is it just an overreaction? I’ll turn the comments off on Neil’s piece, just to keep things tidy, but they’re on here as usual. For now, over to Padraic:

Watching Swansea City play Fulham off the park on Saturday — even if their reward was only a fifth round replay trip to London — you almost hope they don’t gain promotion to the English top flight.

Swansea, sitting three points outside the championship playoff places with a game in hand, were magnificent in the 1-1 draw, demonstrating the passing game of a second-tier equivalent to the great Liverpool team of the 80’s.

Yet should the team coached by Spaniard Roberto Martinez join the survive-at-all-costs world of Premier League riches, would the one-touch philosophy instilled so finely into players like Jordi Gomez – on loan from Espanyol – and Welshman Joe Allen be preserved?

The widespread praise for Swansea’s “culture club” is actually more galling than encouraging. Would we have been so amazed at an English team endeavouring to win through attractive, attacking football 30 years ago?

“Martínez has done a wonderful job and he has a wonderful team. They play football the right way,” Fulham’s manager Roy Hodgson, whose team haven’t exactly been the worst culprits of a lack of premier adventure, said on Saturday.

Wouldn’t the great Brian Clough have insisted that was the only way to play football? Yet with TV revenue continuing to rise, relegation from the top flight remains too expensive a reality for any club to attempt to cut loose. Points far outweigh performance and one kicking too many at Everton or Bolton might force a change in promoted Swansea’s style.

What is certain is that a tie-of-the-sixth-round awaits Swansea against the European Champions if they can play Fulham off the scoreboard as well as the pitch next week.

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Tags: Benitez, brian clough, Championship, culprits, culture club, cup game, English, English Premier League, Espanyol, exception, FA Cup, football, fulham, gain promotion, joe allen, Jordi Gomez, Liverpool, liverpool team, london, maidment, mdash, Neil, Neil Maidment, ornithological, overreaction, Padraic, Padraic Halpin, passing game, playoff, reuters, roberto martinez, roy hodgson, Saturday, soccer, swans, Swansea, swansea city, trip to london, welshman

James sets new Premier League appearance record

February 14, 2009

PORTSMOUTH, England (AFP) – Portsmouth goalkeeper David James set a new Premier League record on Saturday as the England international made his 536th top-flight appearance in his club’s match against Manchester City.

James passed Gary Speed’s previous record of 535 Premier League appearances as the clash with his former club kicked off at Fratton Park.

The 38-year-old has played in the Premier League for nearly all of his 20-year career, which has included spells at Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham and Manchester City.

Written by: AFP