Euro 2012 qualifying draw throws up England v Wales

February 8, 2010

The Euro 2012 qualifying draw in Warsaw got off to a mixed start with a less than tuneful performance from a Polish boyband.

However, when we finally reached the main event, those famous coloured balls did not disappoint with Andriy Shevchenko (who surely should have been voting in Ukraine’s election) helping dish out some fabulous encounters like England v Wales. Germany, Turkey and Austria are in the same group while Denmark, Norway and Iceland will also all meet.

Here’s the full draw. What do you reckon? England in the group of death? Interestingly, Armenia were switched from the same group as Azerbaijan on political grounds.

Group A: Germany, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan

Group B: Russia, Slovakia, Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia, Andorra

Group C: Italy, Serbia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Estonia, Faroe Islands

Group D: France, Romania, Bosnia, Belarus, Albania, Luxembourg

Group E: Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Moldova, San Marino,

Group F: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Georgia, Malta

Group G: England, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, Montenegro

Group H: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Cyprus, Iceland

Group I: Spain, Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania, Liechtenstein

PHOTO: Construction work continues at the Olympic stadium in Kiev December 11, 2009. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

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Tags: Albania, andriy shevchenko, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, bulgaria, coloured balls, construction work, croatia, czech republic, England, Estonia, euro 2012, faroe islands, France, Georgia, gleb, greece, grounds group, Hungary, Ireland, kazakhstan, Kiev, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, main event, malta group, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, Norway, olympic stadium, portugal, reuters, Romania, russia, scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, warsaw

Real look for more Guti inspiration to reel in Barca

February 6, 2010

After ending their 19-year jinx at the Riazor Stadium with last weekend’s 3-1 win over Deportivo La Coruna, Real look to keep their perfect home record intact with victory over Espanyol on Saturday and try to make inroads into Barcelona’s five-point lead at the summit.

Real veteran Guti, 33, has been the talk of the Madrid media after his audacious back heel – which has been replayed constantly on Spanish television this week – set up Real’s standout goal against Depor and the club hope he can produce more moments of magic as they attempt to overtake Barca.

Barcelona have notched up four consecutive wins without conceding a goal and entertain Getafe at Camp Nou on Saturday before Real take to the field against Espanyol.

“It was important for us to lift the Depor curse and the league is far from over,” said Guti. “Barcelona don’t seem to drop any points so we can’t afford to make any mistakes.”

Guti looked to be on his way out of the club following a rift with coach Manuel Pellegrini earlier in the season but that now seems to be water under the bridge and the playmaker is even dreaming of making Spain’s World Cup despite winning the last of his 15 caps back in 2005.

Real will again be without Cristiano Ronaldo as the Portuguese striker completes his two-match suspension but a perfect 30 points from ten league games at home make Madrid strong favourites for the win despite his absence.

“Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world but we are a team and can’t rely on one player,” said defender Raul Albiol.

Espanyol, down in 14th, have won just once away from home largely due to their woeful three goals on the road but have a habit of turning it on against the big sides.

Barcelona will be cheering on their city rivals while Real hope their neighbours Getafe can at least take a point at unbeaten Barcelona.

Getafe could be heavy-legged after playing the first leg of their Kings Cup semi-final on Wednesday – losing 2-0 at Sevilla – while Barcelona are rested after no midweek commitment.

The Madrid media insinuated that leaders Barcelona were the beneficiaries of kind refereeing decisions but Mali international Seydou Keita said such suggestions were wide of the mark.

“Barcelona are ahead of Real Madrid because we are better and not because of the referees,” emphasised Keita. “I don’t know if someone’s trying to unsettle the referees with these comments.”

In other matches, Villarreal stand-in coach Juan Carlos Garrido takes charge of the team for the first time in Sunday’s match at Real Mallorca following the dismissal of coach Ernesto Valverde.

“After 11 years here (as reserve team coach) I know the club well and the players,” said Garrido. “I think Villarreal have some of the best players in the world and you just have to look at the national teams for evidence of that.”

A trip to Mallorca is not the easiest start considering the islanders have won all nine games at their fortress Ono stadium and lie fifth.

Struggling Valladolid also got rid of their manager with Jose Luis Mendilibar with the club hovering one place above the relegation zone and reserve team coach Onesimo Sanchez has taken over and must fire up the team for a testing trip to Valencia on Saturday.

Valencia are in third, three points above Sevilla who beat them 2-1 last time out.

That win helped Sevilla move back into the top four and they aim to close in further on Valencia with victory against lowly Real Zaragoza on Sunday.

Sevilla put one step in the Kings Cup final with a 2-0 semi-final first leg win over Getafe on Wednesday so confidence is high.

Atletico Madrid gained a huge psychological boost ahead of their Sunday clash with Racing Santander after they thrashed the same opponents 4-0 in Thursday’s King’s Cup semi-final first leg meeting.

Atletico may be going strong in the cup but languish down in 13th in the league a full 13 points off the top four.

Fixtures

Saturday

Valencia v Valladolid (1700 GMT), Barcelona v Getafe (1900 GMT), Real Madrid v Espanyol (2100 GMT)

Sunday – all 1600 GMT unless stated

Malaga v Deportivo La Coruna, Osasuna v Tenerife, Real Mallorca v Villarreal, Almeria v Sporting Gijon, Real Zaragoza v Sevilla (1800 GMT), Racing Santander v Atletico Madrid (2000 GMT)

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: barca, Barcelona, barcelona getafe, camp nou, city rivals, depor, deportivo la coruna, ernesto valverde, Espanyol, inroads, jinx, Jose Luis Mendilibar, Juan Carlos, kings cup, la coruna, league games, MADRID, Malaga, mali, manuel pellegrini, moments of magic, perfect home, playmaker, raul albiol, Riazor Stadium, ronaldo, santander, SEVILLA, Spain, spanish television, standout, Tenerife, Valencia, valladolid, water under the bridge, Zaragoza

Van Nistelrooy needs time: Hamburg coach

February 3, 2010

Hamburg’s new star signing Ruud van Nistelrooy needs more time to get fit before making his Bundesliga debut, his coach Bruno Labbadia said on Wednesday.

Having spent most of the season on the bench at Real Madrid before signing for Hamburg 10 days ago, the 33-year-old Dutch hot-shot striker is only 60 percent fit, according to Labbadia.

And it looks as though the striker will sit out Hamburg’s Bundesliga game at Cologne on Saturday and needs plenty of fitness work after knee surgery in November 2008 and having played just 127 minutes of football for Real this season.

“We would never put someone under a pressure of time to say when they will be fit,” Labbadia told SID, a subsidiary of AFP, with his side fifth in the German league table.

“Ruud is still working his way back to fitness and it is only 60 percent.

“Whether or not he is in the squad, we will decide at the end of the week.”

Labbadia says the Dutchman needs “a few more weeks” to return to top fitness.

“We don’t want to rush him back too early and risk him getting injured,” said Labbadia.

A calf injury meant van Nistelrooy only trained with the squad for the first time on Tuesday.

“He has not played for the best part of a year, it is a different story if a player has just been out for a few weeks.”

Van Nistelrooy has signed a contract until June 2011 and Hamburg are reported to have spent four million euros on him.

He has already been crowned the best striker in Holland, having scored 62 goals for Eindhoven between 1998 and 2001, England, having scored 95 goals for Manchester United between 2001-06 and Spain, having netted 46 goals for Real between 2006 and 2010.

Having retired after Holland were knocked out of Euro 2008 by Russia in the quarter-finals, van Nistelrooy has said he would like to play for the Netherlands again at this summer’s World Cup.

BERLIN (AFP)

Tags: berlin, bruno labbadia, Bundesliga, calf injury, cologne, different story, dutchman, Eindhoven, England, euro 2008, fitness work, german league, Hamburg, Holland, knee surgery, MADRID, manchester united, new star, quarter finals, real madrid, russia, ruud van nistelrooy, SID, Spain, striker, the Netherlands, top fitness, Van Nistelrooy

Barca VP Godall confident of Fabregas return

February 3, 2010

Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas is continuously involved in speculations regarding a possible transfer to Spain. Real Madrid and Barcelona are both linked with the Arsenal captain.

Now, speculation about Fabregas’ future has been stirred up yet again by British tabloid The Sun publishing quotes from Barcelona vice-president Alfons Godall.

Godall is convinced Fabregas will return to the Camp Nou at some point in the future.

The Spain international progressed through the youth ranks at Barcelona before moving to London in 2003.

Arsenal’s frustrations in the Premier League, going from top of the league to six points adrift in the space of a fortnight, together with Barcelona’s ambitions, have been cited as the catalysts that could ensure a £40 million deal is struck in the summer.

Godall, who hopes to succeed Joan Laporta as president, believes that even if Fabregas does not make the move at the end of this season he will one day return to Barcelona.

“Sooner or later Cesc will end up coming back,” Godall said. “We are a club that can sign players because we are respected and solvent.”

Tags: alfons, ambitions, arsenal, british tabloid the sun, camp nou, captain. Now, catalysts, fabregas, fortnight, frustrations, joan laporta, london, MADRID, moving to london, premier league, real madrid, six points, Spain, speculation, speculations, sun publishing, VP Godall, youth ranks

Raul resigned to life on the Real bench

February 2, 2010

Real Madrid captain Raul Gonzalez said Tuesday he has come to terms with his new role as a subsitute.

“It’s not an ideal situation for any player. For 15 years I have won practically everything, and in the last three months I have played less. Sooner or later I had to come to this point,” he told a news conference.

The 32-year-old Real icon, who with 66 goals is still the Champions League’s top scorer, had been a regular in the first team since he made his debut with the club at 17.

But coach Manuel Pellegrini has left him on the bench in recent months in favour of France’s Karim Benzema and Argentine Gonzalo Higuain, and he has scored only five goals in 26 matches this season.

Raul said he hopes to remain at Real “for now” and “there will be time to talk” about “what may happen” in the future.

The striker has won more than 100 caps for Spain. But he has not appeared for the national side since September 2006 when he was controversially dropped by former Spain coach Luis Aragones.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: bench, caps, champions league, coach, debut, favour, gonzalo higuain, Karim Benzema, Luis Aragones, manuel pellegrini, news conference, raul gonzalez, real madrid, Spain, striker, subsitute, three months, top scorer

Spain coach opens World Cup door for Guti

February 2, 2010

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque believes there may be a place for Real Madrid midfielder Guti in his World Cup squad after the 33-year-old’s return to form.

A sublime backheel by Guti set up French striker Karim Benzema to score against Deportivo La Coruna at the weekend, winning him praise in the Spanish media just weeks after he appeared to be out of favour with Real coach Manuel Pellegrini.

Guti himself said he still hopes to play for Spain in the World Cup in South Africa despite his age and the strong competition for midfield places.

“What he said is good,” Del Bosque told the sports daily Marca on Tuesday. “That means he’s motivated. The door is open to his joining the squad. I look at a player’s current form.”

A product of Real’s youth system and one of the longest-serving members of Real’s squad, Guti has 15 caps for Spain but last played for the national team in 2005.

He did not feature for Real for more than two months following a bust-up with Pellegrini during the club’s embarrassing 4-0 Spanish Cup defeat against third-division side Alcorcon on October 27.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: alcorcon, bust, caps, Del Bosque, favour, Karim, Karim Benzema, la coruna, MADRID, manuel pellegrini, midfielder, october 27, real madrid, South Africa, Spain, spanish cup, spanish media, striker, vicente del bosque, world cup squad

Edmilson returns to Spain with Zaragoza

February 1, 2010

Real Zaragoza have signed Brazilian international Edmilson from Palmeiras until the end of the season, with the option of keeping him for a further year, the Spanish club said on Monday.

The 33-year-old defensive midfielder is no stranger to La Liga, having played for European champions Barcelona for four seasons and then spent six months at Villarreal, before returning to Brazil with Palmeiras last year.

Edmilson has Italian as well as Brazilian citizenship so he will not occupy one of the positions reserved for players from outside the European Union, the club added.

He has earned more than 40 caps for Brazil and was part of the Brazilian side that won the World cup in 2002.

The player becomes the seventh new arrival at struggling Zaragoza since the start of the month, following defender Matteo Contini, goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez, strikers Adrian Colunga and Humberto Suazo, and midfielders Jiri Jarosik and Eliseu.

Zaragoza climbed one place to 18th in the table on Sunday after defeating minnows Tenerife 3-1.

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: Adrian Colunga, AFP, Barcelona, brazil, brazilian side, contini, edmilson, european champions, european union, four seasons, Goalkeeper, Humberto Suazo, jiri jarosik, MADRID, matteo contini, midfielders, minnows, new arrival, palmeiras, real zaragoza, Roberto Jimenez, Spain, spanish club, strikers, Tenerife, Villarreal, World Cup, Zaragoza

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)

Tags: africa cup of nations, afrobasket, albino, cabinda, construction companies, da conceicao, disrepair, football tournament, Germany, Luanda, lubango, national radio, nations cup, new football stadiums, new stadiums, one billion dollars, pavilions, portugal spain, s sports, South Africa, Spain, tournament trophy, working group

Barcelona to elect new chairman in June

January 30, 2010

Spanish and European champions Barcelona to elect a new chairman in June 13 to replace Joan Laporta, the club announced Friday.

Under the club’s rules, Laporta, 47, can no longer stand for election again after holding the post since 2003.

Several candidates have already come forward, including vice chairmen Alfons Godall and Jaume Ferrer. Former vice chairman Sandro Rosell is also expected to stand.

Laporta said earlier this month that he was considering creating a political party to seek independence for Spain’s Catalonia region and running for office himself.

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP)

Tags: alfons, Barcelona, barcelona spain, catalonia, catalonia region, european champions, Ferrer, independence, jaume, joan laporta, sandro rosell, Spain, vice chairman, vice chairmen

Australia´s 2018 World Cup hopes dim

January 27, 2010

Australia’s football chief Wednesday admitted the nation’s push for the 2018 World Cup was in jeopardy, after FIFA president Sepp Blatter indicated preference would likely be given to a European bid.

Blatter said this week there was a “movement at the moment among the various candidates” for 2018 eligibility to be limited to bidders from Europe, according to widely published reports.

The Football Federation of Australia (FFA) said it had been aware “for some time” that a Europe-only deal was being considered by FIFA, the sport’s governing body.

“Hence FFA is not surprised by the president’s comments as they are reflective that those discussions have occurred in some quarters,” it said in a statement.

But FFA chairman Frank Lowy said Australia remained committed to its 2018 bid until convinced otherwise.

“If we come to the view that we have a better chance for 2022 than 2018 we will act accordingly,” he said.

FFA chief Ben Buckley was en route to the African Cup of Nations and congress of the Confederation of African Football to press Australia’s bids for 2018 and 2022, Lowy added.

Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Netherlands/Belgium, Russia, and Spain/Portugal have bid to host both World Cups, while Qatar and South Korea are only interested in 2022.

England and Spain are viewed as the leading contenders for 2018, while the United States is seen as a top candidate for 2022.

The FFA has drafted Oscar winner Nicole Kidman to tout Australia’s credentials in a promotional film.

But damaging infighting between the FFA and rival football codes has plagued Australia’s bid, with the powerful Australian rules and rugby league bodies refusing to make venues available or demanding financial compensation.

Sports Minister Kate Ellis last month urged the codes to put aside their differences, saying the government supported FFA’s World Cup campaign as benefiting both the sporting and general community.

SYDNEY (AFP)