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| 28 APRIL
2001 PSG Want Nuno Gomes Having already signed Ronalidinho on a free transfer PSG have now set their sights on Portuguese forward Nuno Gomes. Gomes has struggled at Fiorentina this season and is likely to leave for the right price. PSG's Brazilian striker, Christian, is being chased by Udinese amongst other Serie A clubs. Gerard Linked With Milan, Again A year after his transfer to Milan collapsed Gerard is again linked with the Italian giants. Gerard's dream move to Barcelona has turned into a nightmare having spent most of the season on the bench. With former mentor Hector Cuper expected to be appointed new coach of Barca, Gerard may once again turn down Milan. Rumours Liberopoulos (MF, Panathinaikos) to Inter, Perugia Phillips (FW, Sunderland) to Arsenal, Leeds 27 APRIL 2001 Couto Suspended Fernando Couto has been suspended with immediate effect from playing for Lazio after testing positive for steroid Nandrolone. The FIGC (Italian FA) could give Couto a ban of upto 2 years. Couto was believed to have double the normal levels of Nandrolone in his system. Nandrolone is banned from all supplements and is only found in Wild Boar and medicines in very small amounts. It is impossible to double the level of Nandrolone without a sustained intake of the steroid over a period of several months. Any professional comments on this issue are welcome. Campbell To Stay In Capital Tottenham Hotspur's World Class England defender, Sol Campbell, seems set to turn down Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Manchester United by moving across the city to another London club. Campbell is available on a free transfer at the end of this season. "It would be unfair to name the clubs but as Sol has always said he wants to remain in London it doesn't take a great deal of working out." Sky Andrew, Sol Campbell's Agent The narrows it down to Arsenal or Chelsea. Chelsea will pay Sol's wages, he is looking for over £60,000 per week but Chelsea are not likely to qualify for the Champions League. Arsenal on the other hand look good for a Champions League place but will not meet Campbell's wage demands. Unless Arsenal change their pay structure it looks like Campbell is heading for Chelsea. Keane Blasts Team-mates "I have seen United players getting complacent, thinking they've done it all and getting carried away by a bit of success. You can see it in training when players just go through the motions." Man United captain Roy Keane Real Madrid Join The Queue Viduka Real Madrid are the latest club linked with a move for Leeds Australian forward Mark Viduka. Fabio Capello (Roma coach) has been a long term admirer of the forward and Milan see him as the perfect replacement for Oliver Bierhoff. Transfer Rumours Francesco Toldo (Goalkeeper, Fiorentina) to Roma Gianluigi Buffon (Goalkeeper, Parma) to Barcelona 26 APRIL 2001 It's Official - Riquelme Signs For Barca Barcelona will shortly announce the signing of Argentinean playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme from Boca Juniors. I think the fee is £18 million. Kanoute Ready To Leave Hammers "My agent has spoken to me about contact with these clubs (Juventus, Liverpool and Man United) but I'm waiting for a firm offer before I start getting excited.". West Ham striker Frederic Kanoute Juve Lining Up Replacement For Davids? Juve are thought to be looking at signing Patrick Viera (unlikely given he wants to join Inter) or Real Madrid's defensive midfielder Claude Makelele if Edgar Davids, who recently tested positive for steroid Nandrolone, is banned. Juve have continually been linked with a move for Brazilian midfielder Flavio Conceicao over the past two seasons but he's barely kicked a ball for Real Madrid this year due to injury. Milan's First Big Signing? Could be Sao Paolo forward Franca. He has been linked with a move to Milan for several months. UEFA Hit Galatasaray Hard, Albania Fined Galatasaray have been banned indefinitely from playing at the Ali Sami Yen stadium, their home ground. UEFA were concerned about a lack of security. The club were also hit with a fine of £46,700 for the behaviour of their fans. The Albanian FA have been fined £3866 as punishment for the racial abuse directed at England's black players during the recent U21 tie in Albania. Viktor Bannikov Dies, Aged 62 62 year old former USSR goalkeeper Viktor Bannikov has last a two year fight with cancer. Bannikov was the back-up to legendary Russian goalkeeper Lev Yashin. 25 APRIL 2001 Newcastle Turn Down £15 Million Bid for Dyer Manchester United have had a bid of £15 million for Newcastle's gifted midfielder Kieron Dyer rejected. Man United are thought to be ready to increase the bid to £20 million. Baggio Set For International Recall?!?!? "He's going through a great spell and I cannot hide the fact he has come to our attention. Baggio's a very good player and we are keeping an eye on him.". Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni Transfer Rumours Edmundo to return to Vasco Dudek (PSV goalkeeper) to Barca Franca (Sao Paolo forward) to Milan Anderlecht midfielder Bart Goor will join Hertha Berlin next season. 24 APRIL 2001 West Ham Ready To Cash in on Cole? "To get Joe (Cole) and Paolo (Di Canio) in the same team is not easy. I'm going to have to make sacrifices. You cannot get them both in if you want to play the way I really want.". West Ham coach Harry Redknapp Reds Open Up Cheque Book Man United have signed Ruud Van Nistelrooy from PSV for £19 million. Ferrer Sacked Barcelona have sacked Llorenc Serra Ferrer. Caretaker coach Carles Rexach will take over until the end of the season when Valencia coach Hector Cuper is expected to be appointed new coach. 23 APRIL 2001 Davids Test Positive For Steroids Juventus midfielder Edgar Davids has tested positive for banned steroid Nandrolone. Lazio defender Fernando Couto has failed a second test for Nandrolone and now faces a ban from football. Ferguson - I wish I had £50 million to spend After initially claiming his team were as good as Bayern Munich following last week's Champions League defeat, Alex Ferguson has admitted the team needs new signings. Ruud Van Nistelrooy is expected to complete his transfer from PSV over the next two weeks and Ferguson is also though to be interested in Auxerre striker Djibril Cisse. In a newspaper interview the coach of the 'richest club in the world' said : "I wish I had £50 million to spend. We need three players. This team needs fresh faces." Worryingly, if you're a Man United supporter, there is no mention of signing new defenders. Owen Going Nowhere "I don't think anyone can doubt the likes of myself, Robbie Fowler or Jamie Carragher when we say we believe the club is going places. We can see that times have never been as exciting at Liverpool and obviously we want to be part of that." Michael Owen Arsenal Accepted Bid For Vieri! The Italian press reported that Arsenal accepted a bid of £30 million for defensive midfielder Patrick Viera. David Trezeguet would join Arsenal as part of the deal but Viera turned it down. Viera wanted to join Inter but Arsenal would only agree to the let the Frenchman leave if Sebastian Frey arrived in a cash plus player deal. Not surprisingly Inter were not willing to part with Frey who I think is almost certain to be the best goalkeeper in the World within the next two years. He's already a far better 'keeper than Fabian Barthez. 16 APRIL 2001 Rivaldo Heading For England? "Do you think Rivaldo is going to continue at Barcelona? Next Thursday there will be a meeting with a very important English club which will propose the signing of Rivaldo to Barcelona representatives.". Josep Maria Orobitg - agent of Josep Guardiola. Brazilians In The Libertadores, Week 5 by Irineu de Carvalho CRUZEIRO 5-0 SPORTING CRISTAL Luisao 1-0 Oseas 2-0 Oseas 3-0 Geovanni 4-0 Oseas 5-0 That was probably the day of Saint Oseas!! Luisao, a powerful young defender a la Roque Junior discovered by coach Scolari, tried twice before scoring. Geovanni then assists Oseas in a nice counter-attack. Oseas then heads in the ball when totally off-side (one of the best defined off-sides I have ever seen) to score the third. For the fourth goal, Jorge Wagner prepares everything for Geovanni's finish. And last but not the least, the man who said the words "In the days I score, I can sh*t on the dinner table!" prepares himself for a serious intestinal relief scoring a fantastic delicious goal - catching the Peruvian goalie by surprise - I can't describe it, sorry! Super Oseas!!! VASCO 4-1 AMERICA DE CALI (Colombia) Asprilla (own goal) 1-0 Clebson 2-0 Romario 3-0 Jorginho Paulista 4-0 Gonzalez (penalty) 4-1 When Vasco announced they would field a team full of reserves I immediately thought that they would follow their usual evil ways and throw the game. Why? Just to avoid Boca Juniors in the QFs. That might even have been their initial plan, but troubled playmaker Pedrinho probably disagreed and threw a top performance in order to clinch a first team spot. After 45 minutes, Vasco was ahead 4-0, with the 4 goals scored in a space of 10 minutes. Maybe America was trying to avoid Boca too... PALMEIRAS 3-0 SPORT BOYS (Peru) Fabio Junior 1-0 Lopes 2-0 Galeano 3-0 The comments were the starting against Sport Boys would be a prime opportunity for FATio Junior to recover his morale. At least he scored his first goal for the Pigs, but scoring only once against Sport Boys is not exactly morale enhancing. Blame on coach Celso Roth who fielded 3(!) defensive mids - perhaps for pity of the Peruvians... FATio scored with a header while unsupervised by the adversary, Lopes scored in a free kick, and in the most beautiful goal, Felipe delivered an awesome cross to a completely unmarked Galeano in the second post. Given that Cerro Porteno totally anihilated U Chile 6-0 - with some nice goals by Magician Alvarenga and Pedrinho. Palmeiras' next game is against U Chile next week. After that, they will receive Cerro Porteno to decide who will be the group winner. Next week : April 17, Emelec (Ecuador) - Cruzeiro April 18, U Chile - Palmeiras April 19, Sao Caetano - Olmedo (Ecuador) Irineu |