16 November - 30 November 2000 15 NOVEMBER 2000 Herrlich Has Brain Tumour Dortmund striker Heiko Herrlich has been diagnosed as having a brain tumour following tests last Friday after complaints about his vision. Doctors have said Herrlich can be cured and will continue his career. 11 NOVEMBER 2000 Benfica Break The Bank Benfica have signed striker Marques from Atletico Minero for £5.5 million, a Portuguese record. 10 NOVEMBER 2000 Champions League Draw For Phase 2 GROUP A GROUP B GROUP C GROUP D Panathinaikos Deportivo Arsenal Lazio Valencia Milan Bayern Munich Leeds Sturm Graz Galatasaray Lyon Real Madrid Man United PSG Spartak Moscow Anderlecht No prizes for guessing which is the Group Of Death! Veron Signs New Contract Veron has extended his contract with Lazio through to 2005. Cole Out For Two Months Manchester United striker Andy Cole will be out for two months following ankle surgery. Man United are not expected to sign a replacement. Taylor Names England Squad England caretaker coach Peter Taylor has listed the following squad to face Italy next Wednesday, players aged over 30 have not been picked : GOALKEEPERS James (Aston Villa) Robinson (Leeds) Wright (Ipswich) DEFENDERS Ball (Everton) Barry (Aston Villa) Brown (Man United) Carragher (Liverpool) Ferdinand (West Ham) G Neville (Man United) P Neville (Man United) Southgate (Aston Villa) MIDFIEDERS Anderton (Tottenham) Barmby (Liverpool) Beckham (Man United) Butt (Man United) Dyer (Newcastle) Gerrard (Liverpool) Johnson (Derby) Lampard (West Ham) Parlour (Arsenal) Scholes (Man United) FORWARDS Fowler (Liverpool) Heskey (Liverpool) Owen (Liverpool) Phillips (Sunderland) Smith (Leeds) 3 NOVEMBER 2000 First Bosman, Now Prince! Udinese's Alejandro Da Silva, Jorginho and Warley have been banned from Serie A after registering as Portuguese citizens under fake passports. Da Silva and Jorginho have been expelled for Italy. Warley has been sent on loan to Gremio. The outcome of a court case could see the end of restrictions on non EU players. A Serie C midfielder, Prince Ikpe Ekong, represented by Milan's lawyer, won a case which limited the number of non EU players in Serie C. Italian labour laws state all workers have the same rights. With most of the top Serie A clubs having several non EU players on the books (the actual limit on the field is three) it's expected the big clubs will push for all foreign player restrictions to be lifted. Who Will Replace Eriksson? Luiz Hernandez, formerly coach of PSG and Athletic Bilbao amongst others, and Roberto Mancini are being tipped to succeed Sven Goran Eriksson when he leaves Lazio at the end of the season. Vampeta Threatens To Leave "I came to Inter to play. If they do not find a place for me in the team the decision to return to Corinthians will be inevitable." Lopez Out Claudio Lopez will miss three months of the season with a knee injury he picked up against Brescia. Zenga - Football Is A Cruel Game Former Inter Milan and Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga made the following comments after being appointed coach of Serie D club Brera. "Football is a cruel game. Only at the end of your career do you realize you are being used. When I was considered the best goalkeeper in the world I refused offers from AC Milan, Real Madrid and Maradona's Napoli to stay at Inter. Then along came Ottavio Bianchi (ex-Inter coach) and gave me a kick up the backside and sent me on his way.". France Round-Up by Paul Bailey Chilavert signs for Strasbourg Wednesday evening saw the presentation of Strasbourg's new goal-keeper Jose Luis Chilavert at the Stade Meinau. Club President Patrick Proisy mentioned the terms of the contract - Chilavert has signed until 30 June 2003, Velez Sarsfield received a fee of £12.7 million for the player, and Chilavert himself is supposed to be making a salary of £4 million through the duration of his contract. But don't expect the South American player to add to the 59 goals he's already scored - Strasbourg coach Claude Leroy has already stated that captain Teddy Bertin will continue to take the free-kicks for the club. Marchand Marches Olympique Marseille president Yves Marchand is no longer with the club, having served for a year and a half before his departure - either through resignation or by being fired, depending on who you talk to. Marchand himself said he was fed up with the way things were going at the club - "Everybody expects the house-keeping to get done, but no one remembers to put it on the list of things to do, and I'm worn-out from this hypocricy" - and offered his resignation. Meanwhile, sources close to the club say that Robert Louis-Dreyfus and Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin were involved in a meeting the day of OM's 1-1 draw at Strasbourg that saw Gaudin asking Dreyfus to take a more active role in the events at the Stade Vélodrome. Dreyfus acted by firing sporting manager Eric Di Méco (also a candidate for the municipal elections of Marseille in March) and sporting director Marcel Dib. Dreyfus is assumed to be taking over temporary control of the club and will have the responsibility of naming Marchand's successor. Possible names include Jean-Pierre Foucault, Jean-Louis Pietri (the "no. 2" behind Marchand), as well as Eric Cantona. Metz Look Set to Address Goal-Scoring Impotancy FC Metz have signed a preliminary contract with Medellin's 22 year-old forward Trevor Moreno. The Colombian player has impressed Metz's sporting director Patrick Razurel with his play in Touloun's youth tournament for the past two years. The contract - if completed - would see Moreno come to Metz some time in December for a probable four years. The Lorraine club were also interested in Casablanca's Mohamed Lakhouil, but after testing decided that, despite "the player's numerous qualities, there remain some things to be confirmed" - rumors imply that the player may be brought in, but loaned out to D2 side Créteil. Paul Selecao by Irineu de Carvalho The Selecao's new coach LEAO started with two surprises : MINEIRO and ADRIANO. MINEIRO is a short and skinny defensive midfielder with good technique and very intense workrate. He is 25 and plays for Ponte Preta, where he has stood out as one of the best defensive midfielders in Brazil in the last two seasons. ADRIANO is a 18 years old striker playing for Flamengo. He is "only" 1.88m and strong. His technique is very refined for his size too, seems to be bound to become a super-Jardel if you can imagine such thing. Irineu |