15 December - 31 December 2001

14 DECEMBER 2001

Leeds Due Cleared

Leeds midfielder Lee Bowyer and defender Jonathan Woodgate have both been
cleared of assaulting teenager Sarfraz Najeib in Leeds city centre. Jonathan
Woodgate has been charged with affray and must serve 100 hours of community
service. Bowyer is expected to earn a recall into the England team. Woodgate
has barely kicked a ball since the start of the initial trial early last season. Leeds
chairman Peter Ridsdale said :

"We will be taking internal disciplinary action against Jonathan. He has clearly
let himself and this football club down and he realises that. He knows has to
restore the faith shown in him. It is part and parcel of taking this club forward
and Jonathon must understand that he in particular will have to undertake
more work in the community to repair the damage."

"I stand by our original position. If either had been found guilty of grievous
bodily harm with intent they would not have played for this football club again."


13 DECEMBER 2001

Champions League To Retain Current Format

"There was an absolute majority for the format of 32 teams and two group
phases. The format will remain for three years but after that, who knows?" 
UEFA President Lennart Johansson

UEFA also announced Old Trafford as the Venue For 2003 Champions League
Final.

Inter Vice President Passes Away

Inter's vice president Giuseppe Prisco passed away yesterday morning of a heart
attack. He had just turned 80 on Monday and had been with Milan's second club
since the 1950's.

McLeish Rangers New Coach, Advocat Set For International Return?

Alex McLeish has taken over as first team coach of Rangers from Dutchman
Dick Advocat. Advocat has been 'moved upstairs' as general manager but
is strong favourite to succeed Louis Van Gaal as coach of the Dutch national
team.

Worthington Cup Post Match Comments

Blackburn V Arsenal

"As long as there is a European place at stake we want to play in the
competition but if you ask me what my priority would be I think it is much
more difficult to finish fifth or sixth in the league." - Arsene Wenger

Southampton V Bolton

"It is a route into Europe for us and I'm not much bothered about how
other clubs think. We're now three games from Europe and it means the
semi-finals are massive matches for us." - Glen Hoddle


9 DECEMBER 2001

Hodgson Sacked By Udinese

"Following today's meeting Hodgson and Udinese have agreed to interrupt the
working relationship that started in July. The new Coach will be announced on
Tuesday morning. We wish to thank Hodgson for the work he has done with
us." - Official statement from Udinese

Udinese are thought to be using an interview by Hogdson in the Daily Mail
in which he criticised the club as an excuse for sacking Hodgson but Udinese
were keen on getting rid of him for some time now despite the clubs
excellent league results.

Batistuta Breaking Down

The rapidly declining Gabriel Batistuta will miss the rest of the year due to a
thigh injury. The 32 year old striker has been plagued by injuries since his
move to Roma last season.

Franca Chased by Leverkusen, Juve and Lazio

"I'll probably leave Sao Paulo. German side Bayer Leverkusen and Italian sides
Juventus and Lazio have already been in touch." - Sao Paulo striker Franca

Romario Interested In Milan Offer

"Vasco Da Gama don't seem set to renew my contract but I'm not too worried
because my agent has received a few enquiries about me in the past few days.
Fluminense, Milan, Santos, Flamengo and Corinthians have all been in touch
and the Milan one seems the most fascinating for me." - Romario

Serie A Post Match Comments

Milan V Juventus

"I have an opinion on this but I shall keep it to myself. I can say that without
that incident we would have earned three fully deserved points." - Carlo Ancelotti

"It was a bit lucky but I did shoot for goal." - Andriy Shevchenko

Brescia V Inter

"I am very happy for Ronaldo and for football as a whole to have him back.
He looked good out there and I hope this goal convinced him that he is really
back to his best. If we really had to concede a goal then I'm glad it was scored
by Ronaldo." - Carlo Mazzone

"When a player is fit then I will let him play but Ronaldo certainly cannot carry
90 minutes right now. He started the match and had a good performance.
Christian Vieri is going through a tremendous period of form not only by scoring
goals but in his ability to help the team by holding up the ball." - Hector Cuper

Chievo V Lecce

"It was tough going today because Alberto Cavasin's men were hard nuts to crack.
We made a few mistakes today but reacted with strong character and deserved
the three points. Next Sunday we travel to Inter but just as we did with Milan, we
intend to win." - Luigi Del Neri

"I saw a good Lecce side and we could without doubt have scraped some points
from this game. Unfortunately we weren't cynical enough and most of our goals
have been conceded in this manner." - Alberto Cavasin

Lazio V Fiorentina

"We played good football after the break but should have closed down the match
earlier and tried shooting at the goal rather than passing across. Fabio Liverani did
that in particular and I was angry with him. In any case I am satisfied with the
result and we just have to keep going like this." - Alberto Zaccheroni

"The team plays well but if you don't score against a side like Lazio then you're
going to pay for it. Roberto Baronio's red card made it even more complicated
for us." - Roberto Mancini

Parma V Roma

"We showed a strong character and Roma's goals were individual moments.
For example the foul that led to Marcos Assuncao's free kick did not exist but he
scored from it and that changed the game completely." - Daniel Passarella

"We stayed calm even after going a goal down and Marco Di Vaio's strike was
our only mistake. The rest of the performance was worthy of Italian champions
who go onto every pitch to win." - Fabio Capello

Udinese V Verona

"It would be better if we didn't keep making life so complicated for ourselves but
we mustn't grumble and will accept the wins however they come. I want to stay
at Udinese and have had enough of these rumours of my imminent departure.
I can't see myself with any other club right now." - Roy Hodgson

"We go home with nothing and losing like this is really irritating especially as we
fought so hard to get something out of it. You can comment on the penalty but
Seric's red card was scandalous. If that foul was worthy of a sending off then we
cannot play football any more." - Alberto Malesani


7 DECEMBER 2001

Wenger Signs 4 Year Contract

Arsene Wenger has signed a new contract with Arsenal that will earn him
£2.5 million for the next four seasons :

"The players here all knew my commitment to Arsenal and my vision for the
club. They didn't need the reassurance that I had signed a piece of paper to
prove it but I hope that now it is done it underlines my message that asks
them if they share my ambitions at Arsenal. I firmly believe we have the
potential to become one of the three or four biggest clubs in Europe and
perhaps the world."

Champions League Post Match Comments

Roma V Liverpool

"Liverpool are one of the teams who can win the competition. They are one of
the best teams in Europe and continue to prove it. What Liverpool certainly did
prove last night is that they can defend magnificently." - Fabio Capello

"We were magnificent in the first half and took the game to them. I thought
we could have been one or two goals ahead at half-time. We came to win the
game and dominated the game. We had a difficult game against Barcelona last
time but the lads have given a brilliant account of themselves." - Phil Thompson

Man United V Boavista

"It was a good team performance and everyone played their part. It's always
nice to get two goals but it was much more important that we played well.
Boavista came at us from the start but once we got the goal we settled."
Ruud Van Nistelrooy

"I'm not happy to lose but I thought we gave a good account ourselves but
it's a shame I wasn't told David Beckham wouldn't be playing because I could
have used him instead." - Jaime Pacheco

Nantes V Bayern Munich

"It was a very difficult match for us, against a very big team. We tried to
dominate Bayern in the first half and were successful but they made a tactical
change after the break that inhibited us. What you have to do against a team
like Bayern is to avoid giving them a chance to score and we failed to do that."
Raynald Denoueix

"The victory was very important for both teams. We were cautious in the first
half because we were afraid of giving a goal to Nantes. In the second half we
decided to put a bit more pressure on them and that's how the goal arrived."
Ottmar Hitzfeld

Barcelona V Galatasaray

"We were prisoners on the pitch and our analysis of the match will show that
a draw is satisfactory, especially with Liverpool and Roma drawing too."
Carles Rexach.

"I was very proud, 2-2 is a good result for us. We are modest compared to the
history and tradition of Barcelona." - Mircea Lucescu


4 DECEMBER 2001

Inzaghi Out For Three Months

Filippo Inzaghi is expected to be out of action for the next three months
following surgery on a knee ligament injury sustained in a clash with
Chievo goalkeeper Cristiano Lupatelli.

Riquelme Sets Sights On Barca

"I'm not bitter that my move to Barcelona fell through the last time. I'd
always dreamed about playing in Catalonia and I still do. It was great to
think that I could be playing alongside the likes of Rivaldo and Patrick
Kluivert. I hope the move can happen either in January or next summer."
Juan Roman Riquelme

Babbel Out For Further Three Months

Liverpool defender Markus Babbel is back in Germany recovering from
Guillan-Barre syndrome. The defender hasn't played for Liverpool since
the end of August.

"Markus appeared to be doing well in his recovery from the virus but he
has now contracted what is known as Guillan-Barre syndrome, which
basically means an inflammation of the nerves." - Phil Thompson

Henry V Trezeguet

"I believe that if he (Henry) improves his heading, he will be the top striker
in the world." - Arsene Wenger

"It is strange for me to think of Thierry as a rival. He failed to adapt to Italian
football because he joined Juventus too early in his career. They had no
confidence in him but now he is back to his old self and I'm glad he is showing
his true worth. He is very quick but I am more of a classical striker than him."
David Trezeguet

Serie A Referees Suspended

The Serie A refereeing committee have given two week suspensions to referees
Cesari and Braschi for their terrible performances on Sunday. Cesari screwed
Chievo out of three points in their clash with Milan in the San Siro by allowing
Inzaghi's offside goal to stand and for dreaming up a penalty for the home side.
Braschi was also guilty of awarding a non existent penalty to Atalanta minutes
after disallowing a legitimate goal.


2 DECEMBER 2001

World Cup Draw - Post Match Reactions

	Group A		Group B		Group C		Group D
	France		Spain		Brazil		South Korea
	Senegal		Slovenia		Turkey		Poland
	Uruguay		Paraguay	China		USA
	Denmark	South Africa	Costa Rica	Portugal
			
	Group E		Group F		Group G		Group H
	Germany	Argentina	Italy		Japan
	Suadi Arabia	Nigeria		Ecaudor		Belgium
	Ireland		England		Croatia		Russia
	Cameroon	Sweden		Mexico		Tunisia

GROUP A

"I said before the draw any opponent would be difficult. It's a difficult group,
especially with world champions France. You could say Senegal are weak but
their footballers play in France and therefore it will be tough. Nothing's ever
easy in this world." - Uruguay coach Victor Pua

"Portugal will be the most dangerous team in this group but South Korea have
improved greatly recently and home advantage will make them much more difficult
opponents.  Poland are also tough if you look how easily they qualified it proves
how dangerous they could be." - USA coach Bruce Arena


GROUP C

"If we play like we did in the qualifiers then all the games will be difficult. It
is important they wipe out the silly mistakes and prepare better for the less
strong opponents than they did in the qualifiers." - Tostao, member of the
1970 World Cup winning side

"The main thing is that we were not in the same group as Argentina. That is
the toughest, most lethal group. In comparison with that one none of the
other groups are that difficult." - Costa Rica coach Alexander Guimaraes


GROUP E

"If you're drawn in any group you deserve respect because you qualified in
the first place. We came out of a group with Holland. If Holland were here,
they'd be good enough to win it." - Ireland coach Mick McCarthy

"This is a middling group - neither weak nor a group of death like Argentina's.
You don't have to be an expert to realise that that one is the strongest group.
Cameroon are not to be underestimated since they are by far and away the
best team in Africa and are the one team from that continent with the potential
to go far. It will also be particularly enjoyable to face Winni Schafer. Ireland
might also not appear to be one of the top teams at first glance but I haven't
forgotten that they qualified at the Netherlands expense."
Germany coach Rui Voller

"We are in a good group and we can produce good results. All the teams which
qualified for the finals are strong but we will try our best against them. In
football nothing is impossible. If you play well, you can win. Germany is one
of the biggest teams in the world and we respect them. We saw Ireland in
the last two games against Iran and we have some information about them."
Saudi Arabia coach Nasser Al-Jawhar

"With Ireland and Germany this is a strong group. The Cameroon team has
a lot of character. The players are very enthusiastic about their football,
patriotic and most importantly, they stick together as a team." - Cameroon
coach Winfried Schafer

GROUP F

"The draw was not kind to us, we have been given difficult opponents.
England is a long standing rival and Nigeria is a team which is capable
of coming out of anonymity." - Former Argentina coach Carlos Bilardo

"We are in the most difficult group, no doubt about that at all. There are no easy
games. They are all very good teams. It is interesting, it is difficult but everything
is possible. We have to be prepared and hope we can go on and not only have 
three games at the World Cup. I think we can beat any team in the world on a
good day. Argentina have a very good team of course. They always do. They
won the South American group very easily. They are the best team in South
America. It's not been a lucky evening, but the luck will come in June."
England coach Sven Goran Eriksson

GROUP G

"I'm happy even if I could be happier. It could have gone a lot worse for us. All
you have to do is take a look at Argentina and England's group. Our group seems
accessible even if as I always say that you shouldn't take anything for granted."
Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni

"It's a difficult group, especially with three-times world champions Italy but
it's good to meet the top teams because it gives us a chance to prove
ourselves." - Ecuador coach Hernan Dario Gomez

GROUP H

"We don't fear our group. We're counting on a young and determined team
and the support of our public to obtain good results." - Tunisia's coach
Henri Michel


1 DECEMBER 2001

Man United Still The Richest Club In The World

Richest clubs in the World based on annual turnover for the 1999-2000 season :