16 - 31 September 2003
15 September 2003
Bayern President Threatens Strike Over International Call-ups
"If FIFA do not want to sort out the problem then there will be a strike. No players will be released.
International matches must be on Saturday so that players can recuperate and shake off minor
injuries. After all, we pay their wages. He (FIFA President Sepp Blatter) is not interested in the clubs
whatsoever. He just wants to swell the coffers but we have had enough."
Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
Houllier Furious With Neill
Liverpool coach Gerrard Houllier has accused Blackburn defender Lucas Neill of being a coward after the
Blackburn defender broke Jamie Carragher's leg with an appalling challenge.
"To me it was a coward's challenge and the player's reaction was appalling. He (Neill) was complaining
about being sent off as he left the pitch. I'm gutted for Jamie . He won't be able to play for six months.
Neill will be back after three games. I can imagine what Graeme Souness would have been saying if one
of his players had their leg broken in a similar way."
Earlier in the match Liverpool lost Milan Baros after the striker fell awkwardly. He will be out of action
until the new year.
9 September 2003
Ronaldo Rubbishes Pele's Goalscoring Record
"Pele's goals with Brazil (95 goals in 104 games) should be recalculated. Brazil played against weak
and improvised teams, Brazil won 10-0 and he scored 8 goals. Only the official matches should
count. I want to beat his record, that's my goal." - Ronaldo (55 goals in 64 games)
Disaster For Serie A - 20 Teams Next Season
Three relegated clubs were readmitted to Serie B (Catania, Genoa and Salernitana) after taking the
league to court. The other remaining Serie B clubs refuse to play and the league has found a
compromise in the shape of a 20 team Serie A from the 2003-2004 season. Five clubs will be
promoted to Serie A at the end of the season while three will be relegated.
An absolute disaster for Serie A, the only thing to gain from a 20 team Serie A is an increase in
mediocrity at the bottom end of the table.
6 September 2003
Italy Thrash Wales, Rooney and Beckham Save England
Italy 4-0 Wales : Inzaghi 60, 64, 71, Del Piero 76 (Pen)
Filippo Inzaghi hit a second half hat-trick as Italy gained revenge for their 2-1 defeat
in Cardiff with a thumping victory. Italy dominated the first half but failed to take
a host of chances, thanks in part to some desperate defending and the woodwork.
Inzaghi gave Italy the lead on the hour mark when he stabbed in a rebound after
Vieri shot against the crossbar. Four minutes he smashed a volley into the net and
completed his hat-trick with a classic, Gerd Muller like shot on the turn. Del Piero,
brilliant for Italy on the left side of midfield, converted a penalty awarded for a foul
on Zambrotta. Vieri, who had a dreadful match, should have added a fourth but tripped
over his own feet after rounding Wales keeper Paul Jones.
Macedonia 1-2 England : Hristov 28, Rooney 53, 63 Beckham (penalty)
England recovered from a poor first half display to see off Macedonia. Hristov gave
the Macedonian's a deserved lead when he capitalised on a terrible mistake by
Campbell. Rooney became the youngest player to score for England when he fired
home after Heskey headed down a Beckham long ball. Beckham's penalty, awarded
for a foul on defender John Terry, sealed victory for England.
Trap Defends Inzaghi, Praises Del Piero
Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni has hit back at sections of the media following his decision to recall
Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi :
"I can’t believe some newspapers suggested Inzaghi was not a goalscorer or able to play alongside
certain team-mates."
Trap hailed his decision to play Del Piero in a left midfield role as a success :
"Del Piero has not just adapted to the new role, he ruled it. He provided assists, support for the two
strikers and dictated the tempo in midfield.”
Davids To Leave Juve At End of Season
"Davids can go where he wants at the end of this season. He will be free to do whatever he pleases.
I would not rule out Davids joining Roma next season but it will only be once this campaign has
concluded. He is in our Champions' League squad and we intend to use him. He can sign for Barcelona,
Roma or whoever he wants, but our objective is to make the most of Davids while he is here."
Juventus director general Luciano Moggi
5 September 2003
France U-21 Coach Blasts Houllier
France's U-21 coach Raymond Domenech has criticised Gerrard Houllier for his mismanagement of
forwards Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama-Pongolle following their arrival at Anfield
earlier in the summer :
"It is abnormal for boys of their age to play so rarely. It is a true problem. When I see in which form
they arrived. Anthony is out of fitness, he is not even playing the reserve team matches. It is a worry
and I think the two players start to understand that. When I think their coach is a former coach
from the national team. He is not allowed to sign them and not play them. It is a mess."
Houllier defended his treatment of the U-21 team's star players :
"I won't start a controversy, they are not out of form. Anthony is in the group and will start soon. They
played matches and had the same preparation as the rest of the team. I appreciate them very much and
I am very happy to have signed them. Moreover, I didn't force them to sign. I warned them they will
need time. The English league is special and you need a time to adapt, perhaps six months."
4 September 2003
La Liga Round 2 - Wednesday
Betis 2 (Joaquin 31, Palermo 40)
Espanyol 2 (Raul Molina 68, Lopo 90)
Awful choke job by Betis after a superb start. The excellent Assuncao
sent a ball over the top which Joaquin volleyed past Lemmens. Palermo
scored on his home debut, tapping into an empty goal from Fernando's
cross. In the second half Espanyol brought on former Recre striker Raul
Molina, and he turned the match, beating Contreras from Alex's pass.
(I guess Toni Prats has lost his starting job in the Betis
goal....Balen?) Lopo headed in Alex's free kick waaay into stoppage
time, and Joaquin stupidly got sent off for arguing about it.
Atletico Madrid 1 (Jorge 50)
Albacete 0
Atleti should have had a penalty kick in the first minute when
everyone's favorite cult leader/goalie Roa took down Fernando Torres,
but the ref wasn't convinced. From there on, the match pretty much
bogged down into a boring affair. Jorge curled a free kick around the
wall and inside of the post for the only goal. Despite winning Atletico
again looked dreadful. The midfield can't stop giving away the ball and
the less said about Simeone the better. I hope Ibagaza comes back from
injury soon.
Valladolid 1 (Jesus 43pen)
Malaga 0
Fernando Sanz fouled Sousa in the area, Jesus sent Arnau the wrong way
from the spot. Luque hit the post with a free kick for Malaga.
Mallorca 2 (Bruggink 45, Eto'o 54pen)
Zaragoza 0
Zaragoza started well but were denied by Miki in the Mallorca goal.
Bruggink took an Eto'o pass and beat Lainez low. The man from Cameroon
scored his second penalty kick of the season after a the ref somewhat
questionably ruled that Cuartero handled in the area.
Deportivo La Coruna 2 (Valeron 11, Pandiani 58)
Athletic Bilbao 0
Diego Tristan set up Valeron to send a sweet chip over Aranzubia for the
opener. DT has really looked poor so far--he missed several chances that
he would have converted easily in past seasons. Bilbao's strikeforce
were equally wretched, Exteberria somehow managed to miss after Molina
blocked an Ezquerro shot. Pandiani came on for DT rather early again,
and again wasted no time delivering the goods--beating Aranzubia with a
downward header fro Hector's cross. Fantas-Tiko showed how he got the
name with a stunning 20-yard shot that unfortunately hit the woodwork.
Murcia 1 (Richi 9)
Racing Santander 1 (J. Guerrero 43)
Murcia again put up a valiant effort and were a bit unfortunate not to
win. If they can sustain this level of play, they'll be around for a
while in La Liga. Richi poked the ball past Ricardo from close up for an
early lead. Murcia dominated play for large stretches, but Javi Guerrero
levelled with an awesome dipping free kick, and neither side could get a
winner.
Richard Hicks
3 September 2003
La Liga Round 2 - Tuesday
Villarreal 1 (Anderson 71)
Real Madrid 1 (Nunez 85)
No Ronaldo, Cambiasso, Guti, or Roberto Carlos for Real Madrid.
Villarreal finally decided to showcase some of their new firepower,
giving Riquelme a start. He did OK but it was his fellow newcomer Sonny
Anderson who made the greater impact. He came on as a substitute and
within two minutes collected a long pass and beat Casillas with an
outrageous left-footed shot. I believe you would call it a golazo. Youth
team product Nunez equalized for RM, heading in a Beckham corner. It was
a very exciting match and both sides had plenty of chances, Jose Mari
spurned several for Villarreal and Pavon and Salgado both hit the
woodwork for the champions. Reina made a fine save from a Becks free
kick near the end to save a point for the visitors. ZZ and Helguera went
off injured for the Merengues.
Osasuna 0
Valencia 1 (Baraja 49)
There could not be a more typical Valencia match than this. Canizares
and co. (minus Ayala) shut down the Osasuna strikers and Baraja, as he
has done so often, saved the day with a header past Sanzol from a
Vicente corner. Moha had a chance or two for Osasuna but could not score.
No Aimar for Valencia--international duty, I think.
Sevilla 1 (Reyes 9pen)
Barcelona 1 (Ronaldinho 60)
Things started badly for the home side at this laaate-night match at the
Nou Camp. Rijkaard again chose Victor Valdes over Rustu and the under-21
international rewarded him by giving away a penalty when he fouled Dario
Silva. Reyes converted from the spot. Ronaldinho levelled the scoreline
by taking the ball at the halfway line and beating several defenders
before shooting in off of the bar. Brilliant, brilliant, stuff. We're
off to a very fast start as far as jaw-dropping goals in La Liga.
Real Sociedad 1 (Kovacevic 38)
Celta Vigo 1 (Milosevic 67)
Kovacevic beat Pinto with a downward header from Karpin's cross.
Milosevic answered for Celta with a nice first-time shot from a Jesuli
pass. That's 2 goals in 2 weeks for both men--which Yugoslav forward
will win the La Liga scoring title?
Richard Hicks
2 September 2003
Helguera Questions Makelele Sale
"Claude was indispensable. The club can try and replace him but they won't find anyone as good for
us as he was. When Makelele didn't play in important games last year we definitely missed him."
Ivan Helguera
1 September 2003
La Liga Round 1
Celta Vigo 1 (Milosevic 31)
Murcia 1 (Luis Garcia 72pen)
Milosevic headed in Silvinho's free kick. Richi hit a post. Maciel won a penalty which Luis Garcia
converted. Murcia look up for it but it's early days.
Sevilla 1 (Baptista 25)
Atletico Madrid 0
I'd never heard of this Baptista kid--I was much more worried about Dario Silva and Reyes.
The Brazilian had a goal disallowed for offside before scoring a legit goal from Reyes' cross.
Once again Sevilla have an exciting club. It was nice to see Heavy Metal Burgos in action again
for Atletico, despite surrendering the winner he made a few fine saves.
Zaragoza 0
Deportivo La Coruna 1 (Pandiani 66)
Pandiani came on for Diego Tristan and within two minutes headed Victor's cross past Lainez.
Racing Santander 2 (Benayoun 12, Javi Guerrero 69)
Mallorca 1 (Eto'o 90pen)
Javi Guerrero set up Benayoun for the opener and scored the second goal himself, taking a Moran
ball and beating Leo Franco. Somehow Eto'o is still at Mallorca, and his new partnership with
ex-PSV man Bruggink looked to pay no dividends until the Cameroonian won and converted a
penalty kick in injury time.
Malaga 0
Villarreal 0
This match didn't make sense to me in many ways. I expected Malaga not to score--Dely Valdes
and Dario Silva are gone. However, instead of pressing their advantage, Villarreal left Sonny
Anderson out until two minutes from time and Riquelme didn't even get a touch. The result? An
ugly stalemate with plenty of harsh challenges. Coloccini and Valcarce were both sent off after
halftime.
Espanyol 1 (Wome 22)
Real Sociedad 1 (Kovacevic 67)
Wome's free kick bounced in off of a defender. Newcomer Lee Chun Soo provided the comedy
moment of the round. In for the injured Nihat, he chipped Lemmens and excitedly ran away to
celebrate, getting a yellow in the process, presumably for taking off his shirt. What he failed to see
was his teammate Kovacevic steal in and help the ball along. A nice debut nonetheless.
Albacete 0
Osasuna 2 (Valdo 43, Punal 90pen)
Valdo turned Antonio Lopez's free kick past Roa. Punal secured the three points for the men from
Pamplona from the spot after Ivan Rosado was fouled in the area.
Athletic Bilbao 0
Barcelona 1 (Cocu 11)
No Kluivert, Rustu, or Marquez for the Catalans. However, new man Van Bronckhorst was there to
provide the free kick which Cocu headed in for the only goal of the match. Bilbao were plagued by
bad finishing. Ezquerro and Urzaiz fluffed some easy chances and Exteberria had a shot cleared off
the line by Puyol.
Valencia 1 (Aimar 72)
Valladolid (Sousa 24)
Last year it was supposed to be Jardel, this year it was to be Eto'o who would come to the Mestalla
and provide the only missing ingredient for the Ches--regular goalscoring. Instead, neither man
came and now Kily Gonzalez, Carew, and perhaps Ayala are departing. Sousa took Makukula's
ball and beat Canizares. New striker Oliveira could have gone some way to making the Valencia
fans forget all of that, but Bizzarri heroically parried his penalty kick. Despite all the doom and
gloom, the Ches escaped with a moment of magic like they have done so often in the past.
Aimar took the ball from the halfway line and danced past three defenders before beating Bizzarri.
He should have stole all three points, but Bizzarri again produced a miracle save from his close-range
header.
Real Madrid 2 (Beckham 2, Ronaldo 62)
Betis 1 (Juanito 34)
Ronaldo set up that new English guy two minutes in. Juanito headed Joaquin's corner past Casillas.
New man Palermo hit the woodwork for Betis. Beckham sent a long ball into ZZ, who crossed for
Bucky to score with a first-time volley. Nice. At the end they even brought out the unwanted
(Moro, Solari).
Richard Hicks
|
