29 September 2003

Roma Complete Chivu Signing

"Ajax and Roma have sealed the definitive transfer of Cristian Chivu. The Roman club have fulfilled
their duties by paying an amount immediately, instead of the originally agreed bank guarantee."
Roma Statement

Chivu will cost Roma €18 million.


28 September 2003

La Liga Round 5

Zaragoza 0
Betis 1 (Marcos Assuncao 81)

Betis' Brazilian set-piece wizard outdid his effort a few weeks ago 
against Celta with the only goal of this match. His 30-yard free kick 
went in off of a post and left Lainez a spectator.


Atletico Madrid 0
Barcelona 0

I want to complain about the ref disallowing Lequi's perfectly good goal 
and a few other awful decisions, but then he did send off Cocu and Motta 
in the second half. Burgos kept Atleti in the match with some good 
saves, but despite starting Ibagaza and benching Simeone Atletico showed 
little.


Sevilla 1 (Antonito 90)
Murcia 0

Murcia played for a draw the whole game and it looked like their 
cowardly ways would win out. Luckily Sevilla scored at the death. Good.
Dario Silva squared up to shoot, but either he or the defender poked the 
ball to Antonito, who was left to shoot into an empty goal after the 
Murcia keeper was left stranded.


Racing Santander 0
Villarreal 2 (Sonny Anderson 68, Riquelme 86)

Racing's awful day started when Javi Guerrero's penalty was saved by the 
brilliant Reina, who saved Villarreal's bacon on several occasions in 
the first half. Diego Mateo got himself sent off just before halftime 
for overzealous defending, and that turned the match. Sonny Anderson 
lost his marker and blasted in a loose ball. Javi Guerrero had a goal 
disallowed for offside. Riquelme beat Ricardo with a right-footed shot.


Espanyol 1 (Raul Tamudo 57)
Malaga 2 (Romero 36, Salva 84)

Romero shot over Lemmens after a breakaway. Raul Tamudo equalized with a 
neat downward header from Marc Bertran's center. Salva ran unnoticed 
onto Luque's ball to score the winner. 


Albacete 2 (Parri 17, Mikel 80)
Mallorca 0

Parri bent a free kick into the top corner from 25 yards. Mikel was 
allowed a free header on Pena's cross and steered it past Leo Franco.
Eto'o hit a post for Mallorca.


Valencia 2 (Mista 5, Oliveira 72)
Real Madrid 0

You all know the details already. Mista escaped Pavon and beat Casillas 
from Jorge Lopez's cross. Oliveira lashed the ball in after it bounced 
straight to him. Raul didn't play and Beckham stubbed his toe or 
something. Boo-hoo.


Athletic Bilbao 1 (Tiko 80)
Real Sociedad 0

Tense match with plenty of cautions. Etxeberria's dummy run on Urzaiz's 
pass set Fantas-Tiko to drill a shot past Westerveld.


Celta Vigo 3 (Jesuli 56, Milosevic 72, Mostovoi 82)
Valladolid 2 (Makulula 4, 49)

Celta somehow got it together after falling two goals behind due to some 
jaw-droppingly bad defending. Makulula scored the opener after Cavallero 
failed to clear. The African made another long run soon after the break 
that ended with him leaving Caceres for dead and scoring again. Jesuli 
pulled one back from outside the area, and Milosevic headed Juanfran's 
header past Bizzarri. Mostovoi completed the comback with a stylish 
diving header from Jesuli's cross.


Osasuna 3 (Punal 20pen, Ivan Rosado 23, Hector 25og)
Deportivo La Coruna 2 (Luque 28, Pandiani 90)

Depor drop out of the top spot after a five-minute defensive debacle 
left them with too deep a hole to crawl out of. Hector mauled Moha, 
Punal violently converted the spot-kick. Molina rushed out to meet a 
Moha cross. He missed, and Ivan Rosado tapped in. Incredibly, two 
minutes later Valdo's shot hit the crossbar, after which Molina again 
failed to clear and Hector headed into his own net. Luque pulled one 
back almost immediately, heading Victor's ball past Sanzol. Pandiani 
made it 5 goals in 5 games, knocking in a loose ball at the death.


Richard Hicks


26 September 2003

Ayala Signs Up Until 2007

Valencia defender Roberto Ayala have extended his contracted with the club until 2007, ending
speculation linking him with a move to Real Madrid.


23 September 2003

Arsenal Chairman Critical Of Players

While Arsene Wenger rarely has a bad word to say about his players, despite their appalling
behaviour during Sunday's match with Manchester United, Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood
was not as forgiving :

"There are no excuses. We were guilty of stupid behaviour. The players concerned were rather silly
when you would hope they would show more intelligence. What makes matters worse is the fact it
was senior players who were involved, experienced professionals who have played more than enough
games to know not to react like that. All I can say in our defence is we are not a dirty side and nobody
was hurt." 

Hoddle's Lackey Says Pair Are Devastated

"Glenn is absolutely devastated, he is Tottenham through and through. We have both worked extremely
hard and you just want to be successful. We wanted to give the Spurs fans success and joy and we never
really achieved that. We would have loved to have given them success but it hasn't happened.
Sir Alex Ferguson is now rightly acclaimed very highly at Manchester United but he had a hard time for
a long while but he managed to stay in the job and look how successful he's been. Sometimes these
decisions have to be made, but this is not an easy day." - John Gorman, Hoddle's assistant as Spurs

Former Leverkusen coach Klaus Toppmoller and former Barcelona coach Raddy Antic are favourites to
succeed Hoddle.


22 September 2003

Statement Form Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy

It is with regret that I announce that Manager, Glenn Hoddle, is to leave the Club, with immediate
effect. Glenn and I spoke this evening. Following two seasons of disappointing results, there was a
significant investment in the team during the summer, in order to give us the best possible chance
of success this season.

Unfortunately, the start to this season has been our worst since the Premiership was formed. Coupled
with the extremely poor second half to last season, the current lack of progress and any visible sign
of improvement are unacceptable.

It is critical that I, and the Board, have absolute confidence in the Manager to deliver success to the
Club. Regrettably we do not. It is not a decision we have taken lightly. However, we are determined
to see this  club succeed and we must now move forward.

http://www.spurs.co.uk


21 September 2003

La Liga Round 4

Malaga 1 (Edgar 78)
Real Madrid 3 (Ronaldo 13, Beckham 73, Guti 86)

ZZ set up Bucky for an early tap-in. Roberto Carlos' dummy run fooled Arnau into going the wrong
way on a free kick, Becks stepped up and knocked it into the other corner. Edgar provided the
Real-haters with a delight, chesting a ball and then beating Casillas with a fantastic bicycle kick.
Sub Guti chipped Arnau from a Figo ball.


Betis 0
Racing Santander 0

Godawful match. Regueiro had a goal disallowed for Racing on 63 minutes for offside.


Mallorca 1 (Bruggink 39)
Sevilla 1 (Dario Silva 18)

Our favorite stroppy Uruguayan opened the scoring after Lussenhoff's failed clearance. Bruggink
equalized with an awesome top-corner free kick.


Deportivo La Coruna 3 (Naybet 49, Luque 51, Pandiani 90)
Albacete 0

Naybet scored after Albacete had trouble with Victor's corner. Similar defensive difficulty led to
Luque's goal two minutes later. Pandiani dribbled five defenders before beating Roa. Nah, just
kidding, it was yet another header, sub Munitis provided the cross.


Villarreal 1 (Berizzo 76og)
Celta Vigo 1 (Mostovoi 75)

Look carefully at the information above. It speaks for itself, really. Celta, despite wretched finishing
early looked a good bet to get their first win of the season--for about a minute. Mostovoi headed
Gustavo Lopez's cross past Reina, only for Berizzo to beat his own keeper with an attempted clear
from Calleja.


Valladolid 3 (Zapata 4, Jesus 10, Ciric 80pen)
Espanyol 1 (Bobson 34)

Zapata headed in a Fernando Sales cross. Jesus' quick free kick left Lemmens flat-footed. Bobson
thumped Maxi's cross past Bizzarri. Ciric won and converted a penalty as Wome conceded his
second late spot kick in two weeks.


Murcia 2 (Michel 14, Luis Garcia 66pen)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Exteberria 39, Tiko 61)

Try and keep these names straight. Michel headed in Juanma's cross. Exteberria poked Urzaiz's
cross under Juanmi. Fantas-Tiko drilled in a typically hard shot past Juanmi from outside the box.
Luis Garcia won and converted a penalty late to make things even.


Real Sociedad 3 (Nihat 55, De Paula 82, 86)
Zaragoza 0

Nihat beat Valbuena from close range with a crouching header from Gabilondo's ball. Substitute
De Paula made it 2-0 with a bullet header from Karpin's cross, and wrapped things up with a
second goal after being played in by Lee Chun Soo.


Barcelona 1 (Ronaldinho 69)
Osasuna 1 (Cruchaga 53)

Cruchaga put a downward header past Victor Valdes from Punal's corner. Ronaldinho got a lucky
goal when his off-target shot deflected in off Izquierdo. Kluivert scored but the goal was disallowed
because Saviola was offside.


Atletico Madrid 0
Valencia 3 (Vicente 68, Mista 76, 90)

An inspired second half-effort from Mista and especially Aimar was more than enough to bury
Atletico, who were horrid. Aimar set up all 3 goals, providing the ball which Vicente knocked in for
the opener. He then set up sub Mista twice, the first a nice square ball and the second a 1-2 after
which Mista went around Heavy Metal Burgos to score. Come back Albertini, all is forgiven...

Richard Hicks


Rivaldo Claims He Is Being Humiliated

"When the time is right, I will reveal the real reasons why I am not being played. I'm not being
dropped for tactical or physical reasons. I know the real motive and will let everybody know in time
but I am being humiliated here." - Rivaldo

Del Piero Out For A Month

Juve forward Alessandro Del Piero is out for at least a month after straining a calf in the opening
minutes of the clubs Sunday evening game with Roma.

Roma Sign Tuncay

Roma have signed 21 year old striker Tuncay Sanli from Fenerbahce. Tuncay will join on a free
transfer next season.

Serie A Post Match Comments

Lazio vs Parma

"Parma play very good football but we were asleep for the first goal and to give that kind of an
advantage after 30 seconds is ridiculous. We then wasted a lot of scoring opportunities and in the end
those mistakes come back to haunt you. I don’t think the Champions’ League game tired us out as
we had the chances to draw or even win." - Roberto Mancini

"This was a great performance, although Lazio matched us most of the way. I must compliment my
lads on winning a very open and entertaining match. I am satisfied because at last they know what
they are capable of. Adriano is a force of nature and if given a bit of space he is simply unstoppable."
Cesare Prandelli

Juventus vs Roma

"We dominated the second half. It is a shame that Francesco Totti’s late chip was charged down as
he usually never misses those chances. This is a great team at my disposal. We moved in a
harmonious yet determined fashion. This is the Roma side I want." - Fabio Capello

"Juventus were superior to Roma for over an hour. We played well, especially in the first half but
suffered  from tiredness towards the end. If we are analysing this match then it is impossible to
ignore the fact we played against Galatasaray on Wednesday." - Marcelo Lippi


19 September 2003

Kahn Has Blurred Vision

Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has confirmed that goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who has been well below
par this season, is suffering from eye problems :

"It's apparently conjunctivitis which has become worse. It's causing him a lot of problems. The doctors
don't know exactly the reason for it. He's being treated by specialists." 


16 September 2003

Shevchenko Looks Ahead To Champions League

"Italian clubs dominated in Europe last year and I expect that trend to continue this time around too.
Obviously everyone expects Real Madrid to be a major contender but don’t forget that we are the
champions right now."

On Beckham & Real Madrid :

"He (Beckham) is a player that has added quality but don’t forget that they have lost Claude Makelele
who was very important for them."

On the main contenders :

"I think Juventus are a better team. They are solid, competitive and always dangerous. They have no
weakness even if I also like the look of Man Utd, Arsenal, Inter, Lazio and Bayern."


La Liga Round 3

Sorry, I've been ill...

Zaragoza 3 (Savio 1, Villa 8pen, Galletti 31)
Murcia 0

Savio scored on a free kick. Villa scored from the spot after Galletti 
was fouled. Galletti scored himself with a low shot.

Racing Santander 0
Real Sociedad 1 (De Paula 31)

De Paula headed a Kovacevic cross past Ricardo.

Osasuna 1 (Pablo Garcia 34)
Atletico Madrid 0

The Atletico defense stood flat-footed as Pablo Garcia's free kick 
bounced in.

Albacete 1 (Pablo 90)
Barcelona 2 (Cocu 2, Luis Enrique 67)

Cocu bent a shot around Roa. Luis Enrique scored on a bizarre deflection 
that bounced over the keeper's head. Pablo followed up after Victor 
Valdes could only push away Amato's header.

Sevilla 1 (Dario Silva 51)
Deportivo La Coruna 2 (Pandiani 38, Diego Tristan 78)

Pandiani rolled in Luque's cross. Dario Silva beat Molina from a pass by 
Reyes. Sub Diego Tristan poked in Fran's cross.

Athletic Bilbao 4 (Urzaiz 36, 42, Etxeberria 75, 88pen)
Mallorca 0

Urzaiz scored both goals with his head, the second a nice downward shot 
from Tiko's free kick. Etxeberria added a third headed goal and made it 
4-0 from the spot after Leo Franco got sent off, leaving poor Eto'o to 
try to deal with the PK.

Celta Vigo 0
Real Betis 2 (Assuncao 37, Fernando 85pen)

Assuncao put a superb free kick over the wall and past Cavallero. 
Fernando converted a penalty kick after Ismael was fouled by Luccin.

Real Madrid 7 (Julio Cesar 21og, Raul 32, 34, 74, Zidane 53, Figo 58pen, 
Ronaldo 69)
Valladolid 2 (Losada 55 pen, Chema 59)

Julio Cesar headed Bucky's shot past his own keeper. Raul beat Bizzarri 
with a neat back flick from a Figo ball. He beat the Argentine keeper 
again 2 minutes later, lobbing him after a Roberto Carlos pass. ZZ 
banged in a sweet first-time volley. Losada pulled one back from the 
spot after a Becks handball. Figo won and converted a penalty of his 
own. Chema put a diving header past Casillas. Ronaldo left Caminero for 
dead and scored. Raul followed up after Bizzarri blocked Salgado's shot.

Valencia 1 (Marchena 43)
Malaga 0

Marchena poked the ball into the net after a Vicente free kick.

Espanyol 1 (Maxi 11)
Villarreal 2 (Victor 22, Riquelme 90pen)

Maxi hit a low shot past Reina. Victor knocked in a loose ball. Riquelme 
claimed all 3 points for Villarreal from the spot after a stupid foul by 
Wome.

more next week.
-richard

Richard Hicks