Mar
10
Balotelli heading for World Cup?
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As Italy manager Marcello Lippi gets ready to decide his squad for the 2010 World Cup, a big question is whether he will pick controversial Inter Milan player Mario Balotelli. To be fair, perhaps it is not very correct to call the young striker “controversial”, as all that he has done is try to play football. The fact that he is black and his parents come from Ghana, however, has stirred up many negative emotions in Serie A, where racism is still quite prevalent.
Since making his debut for Inter and becoming the first black Italian player picked for the national squad, Balotelli has been the subject of jeers and taunts almost everywhere he plays in Italy. Juventus fans in particular got so out of hand, that the club was fined and ordered to play one of their home games without any supporters.
It is a reminder that Europe is still quite divided on some issues, and unfortunately it is not just Italy that still holds strong racist feelings. Things can sometimes get bad in the Spanish league too, but Italy is perhaps the biggest country where this sentiment is still rife amongst many of the people.
Credit to Balotelli, however, because he has not allowed the jeers to put him off his game, and he has concentrated on his football as best he can. He probably deserves to be included on the plane to South Africa, where he can add some much needed firepower that has been missing recently from Italy’s forward line.
Mar
9
Red Knights Invading Old Trafford?
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Takeover bids and stories seem to be getting more and more attention these days, unfortunately sometimes even more than the football itself, but the group planning to take over Manchester United sure have an interesting gimmick. They call themselves “The Red Knights”, and are a group of wealthy individuals that seem set to test the resolve of current owners the Glazer family.
While they say they are not in direct opposition to the Glazers, they have been gathering support at Old Trafford, and seem to want to “take the club back” and “save” it from its current position deep in debt. They plan on “putting the supporters back into the heart of the club”, something which the American takeover had pushed back.
Rumors were even circulating that Alex Ferguson had added his support to the Red Knights, but that story was quickly squashed by Sir Alex himself. Despite the uncertain financial position the club finds itself in, the Glazers have so far been unwilling to sell to anyone. The ambitious group, however, has began an online campaign where it hopes to recruit at least 100,000 members, a good deal of which would be season ticket holders. Such a large support would definitely have an impact and might usher in some interesting times at Old Trafford.
The curious thing is that the Red Knights are mostly composed of bankers and businessmen themselves, so what their true intentions are if they take over remains to be seen.
Mar
8
Wonder goal from Cyprus
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Who’s up for a truly sweet goal? This edition comes from the Cyprus league, where Apollon Limassol player Gaston Sangoy scored directly from the corner-kick in his team’s 4-0 victory over APEP Kyperounda. The goal was his 11th of the season, and beefs up his resume quite nicely.
This is not exactly the first time someone has scored from a corner-kick, but too often those have been freak accidents, which have left the player even more surprised that it went in than the goalkeeper. Here, though, the goal is of especially high quality, and curves beautifully across the goal before it ends up in the roof of the net. It’s one you can watch over and over without getting tired. The uploader of the video seems to agree, and you can see various replays in various colors of the goal.
Sangoy is still fairly young at 25 years old, and was born in Argentina. He has never received an international call-up, however, which is probably due to the fact he is playing in such an unglamorous league. Which is a shame, since such a high-class goal belongs at the World Cup.
It also highlights the problems the Argentinean and Brazilian managers have of keeping track of their players. They have so much talent everywhere around Europe, playing some high quality stuff even in the smaller leagues, it’s practically impossible to keep track of everyone. Makes them two of the toughest managerial jobs in the world, as I’m sure Maradona and Dunga would agree.
Video of the magnificent goal scored directly from a corner kick.
Mar
7
It continues. The major footballing authorities refuse to allow any sort of technology into the game, and their resolve seems unshakable.
The International Football Association Board, which makes and votes on the laws of professional football, decided in a six-to-two vote recently that there would be no use of goal-line technology or video replays in the foreseeable future. The Board is made up of eight votes, four of which are split between the four founding United Kingdom FAs, and four of which belong to FIFA. FIFA, of course, voted against the changes, but what is interesting is that the Wales and Northern Irish FAs voted in line with them too. One very much doubts the Republic of Ireland would have voted the same, given the big controversy that saw them miss out on a place in the World Cup due to the referee not seeing Thierry Henry’s handball. England and Scotland were the only ones that were open to the changes, but that was not enough.
The main argument presented against goal-line technology is that it would slow down the game too much and remove the human element. However, that presupposes that every instance of doubt would pause a match for a review, which I don’t see why should be the case. Is it too much to ask for some practicality? In my humble opinion, it definitely is possible to keep the momentum of the game and increase the chances of a correct call by simply allowing video replays.
Mar
3
Formation of a Balkan League?
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Rumors about a possible Balkan League have been circling around in various forms for a number of years now, and reports claim a meeting was held in Slovenia earlier in February to discuss how this idea might become a reality. Current plans include the league to feature 18 of the best teams in the Balkan region, with countries like Slovenia, Slovakia, Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria sending representatives.
Clubs from such countries with relatively modest recourses compared to the top European teams rarely have any real chances of making it to the Champions League, and don’t find much success in the Europa Cup either. A Balkan League certainly wouldn’t attract the same international attention as the before-mentioned competitions, but it might rejuvenate the sport in the region, as it will give the best clubs a chance to win something on a bigger scale.
Since most of these countries have a long winter break, current proposals are to take the top teams at the end of the first part of the season and have them compete in the Balkan league for the second half. How exactly the home and away games will be scheduled, what the exact format will be, and how much prize money will be given to the winner are questions that still remained to be answered.
In any case, it all will depend on how much the fans from those countries are willing to accept such a radical change to their system. A lot of research needs to be done before things get moving.
Mar
2
The accountant firm Deloitte Touche released a short time ago their report on the most profitable clubs in Europe, and once again Real Madrid retained its place at the top. The reports are based on how much money the clubs generate, as opposed to how rich they are due to their owners, which for now eliminates clubs like Manchester City from the rankings. Many factors make up generated revenue, though some of the biggest ones include worldwide popularity and merchandise sales.
Real scored a profit of 401.1 million Euros for last season, and were followed directly by the their La Liga rivals and Champions League winners Barcelona. Completing the top 10 in order were Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan. The highest ranked French club was Lyon at 17th place, while English Championship side Newcastle made it to 20th, which shows just how far a favorable geographical location can take you.
There aren’t that many surprises really, except that Milan and Liverpool have fallen a bit in recent years, while the London clubs are doing very well. Arsenal have done some excellent business due to the fine management at the club, while Chelsea’s profile around the world has increased tremendously after Russian billionaire Abramovich took over and set the club on its way to big things. Curiously enough, the two London clubs are also the only ones in the top 10 to have never won the Champions League (or its predecessor), a fact that both will be looking to correct this season.
Mar
1
That one is for the horror-books. Arsenal have been no strangers to terrible injuries over the last few years, most notably Eduardo’s leg-break last term, but the challenge by Stoke defender Ryan Showcross on teenager Aaron Ramsey ranks up there with the very worst of them.
The incident happened at Arsenal’s away game to Stoke, which they managed to win 3-1 with two late goals at the end. It is a result that keeps them only three points off the top place, but undoubtedly the team’s thoughts will be with Ramsey, who suffered a broken leg after Showcross tackled him in the 2nd half. The challenge itself doesn’t look so serious at first glance, but when you see the way the Arsenal player’s leg is twisted when he’s lying on the floor, you realize something is very wrong.
The challenge sparked outrage amongst the Arsenal players, but Showcross had no complaints over his straight red card. He was even in tears at what he had done, and I don’t think he can be blamed for any malicious intent. Stoke have made their reputation as a hard yet fair team, and things like this unfortunately are bound to happen every now and then.
It will come as little consolation to Arsene Wenger, though, who just cannot get rid of this injury curse it seems. The only thing he can hope for is Ramsey to make a full recovery and maybe come back before the end of the year, much like Eduardo managed to do.
Feb
28
Pompey hit rock-bottom
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It finally happened—on Thursday, February 25th, Portsmouth became the first Premiership club in history to enter administration. It has been a remarkable change in fortunes for the club that won the FA Cup in 2008, and seemed like a more than respectable Premiership force under the reign of Harry Redknapp.
Administration saves them from complete liquidation for the time being, but they only have eight weeks to straighten up their finances, or else they might not finish the season. The administrator in charge of saving the club has said he is confident Pompey will live on, but they will almost definitely be deducted nine points, which would make them relegation certainties.
The people you really need to feel sorry for in this whole situation are the fans, who have been let down by the bad management of their club. Porstmouth have spent money well beyond their means, and no matter how many costs they try to cut now, with a squad full of decently paid players they cannot sell, their debts have risen to over 60 million pounds. This is by far not the biggest debt in the English top flight, but the club have switched no less than four owners this season, and unlike other clubs, there is no one willing to give them the money off hand.
It is certainly a sad thing, but the question other clubs of similar size and debts will be asking themselves is who’s next? The houses of cards are beginning to fall.
Feb
24
Turkey beckons for Hiddink
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Top football coach Guus Hiddink has shocked the world by declaring that his next management job will be in charge of Turkey, after his current deal with Russia ends at the end of June. The reason why this will come as such a surprise to many, is that he was being highly favored to take over Juventus or Liverpool, and a number of other top European clubs would have loved to have him on board. Instead, he has chosen to continue his international adventures and see what he can achieve with Turkey, after leading South Korea and Russia consecutively to very successful campaigns.
Another question is why he did not choose a team that had at least qualified for the World Cup but was looking for a new manager, such as Nigeria. It is possible that he just loves the challenge of taking a team with a lot of unrealized potential from the bottom to the heights of success, and in that regard Turkey do seem like a logical choice. Besides their last World Cup qualifiers, they have been very successful in recent years, possessing players that play for a lot of top teams in Europe, and can dare to achieve even more.
I am sure all of Turkey will be delighted with this appointment, as their chances to qualify for the 2012 Euros have already drastically improved. Could they repeat the feat that Otto Rehhagel achieved with Greece by winning the competition despite being underdogs? If anyone can do it, it’s Hiddink.
Feb
23
Ashley Cole fined almost half a million
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The big scandal surrounding John Terry’s extramarital affair has barely died down, but Chelsea now have another tabloid storm to face with news that their injured left-back Ashley Cole not only cheated on his wife, but used the club to help him cover it up.
Cole’s transgressions are attracting the big tabloids, because he is married to famous Girl Aloud popstar Cheryl, a marriage that does not look set to last after revelations that the Chelsea player took a girl into the team hotel during Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the United States. Cole then allegedly “mislead” Chelsea officials into covering up for him in order to save his marriage. News of the World revealed that is not Cole’s first incident like this either.
The news comes only a week after Chelsea tried to clean up their image and use their disgraced captain as an example of how not to behave. As a result, Ashley Cole is facing a record £400,000 fine, which isn’t that severe when you estimate it’s only a few weeks wages for him. With a long-term injury and possible divorce at his hands, he definitely has more important things to worry about.
So, Chelsea’s players continue getting hit with allegations of cheating, but truth be told, Anchelotti hasn’t let this affect their performance one bit. They are still on blistering form in the Premiership and find themselves four points clear off ManUnited. Some teams are just too good to let anything slow them down it seems.