31 July 2004

Smicer Out for Six Months

Liverpool's 31 year old injury prone Czech midfielder is out for six months following surgery on his
right knee.


Juve Blow Mutu Transfer

Juventus' move for Adrian Mutu broke down as the clubs couldn't agree terms of the season long loan.
Mutu's agent Ioan Becali said :

"Chelsea asked to have first choice over any future transfer but Juve’s directors rejected that proposal.
Mutu will be a Chelsea player for the next four seasons."


30 July 2004

Liverpool To Leave Anfield

Liverpool have been given the go ahead to build a 60,000 seater stadium on Stanley Park, which
separates Anfield from Goodison Park, home of Everton. The new stadium is expected to cost
€116 million. It's expected Anfield will be turned into a shops, restaurants and offices.

Klinsmann Gets Assistant

The DFB (German FA) have appointed Joachim Loew as Jurgen Klinsmann's assistant. Lowe was a
former player and coach with Stuttgart. The DFB's first choice was Holger Osieck, Beckenbauer's
assistant at the 1990 World Cup, but he turned down their offer.


29 July 2004

Van Basten Named Holland Coach

Marco Van Basten, arguably the greatest striker of all time, has succeeded bus driver Dick Advocat
as coach of the Dutch national team. Van Basten, former three time European Footballer of the year,
has been reserve team coach at Ajax for the past two seasons and has signed a four year contract.
John van't Schip will continue his Ajax role as Van Basten's assistant.


28 July 2004

French Coach Urges Zidane To Retire

Michel Hidalgo, who guided France to their first international success with the Platini inspired
European Championship winning team in 1984, says Zidane should retire : 

"It is time to inject some fresh blood into the French team. Marcel Desailly has already indicated
that his international career is over. Players like Zidane should also retire."


27 July 2004

Eriksson In New Sex Scandal 

Sven-Goran Eriksson has once again made headlines for his inability to keep his pants on. The inept
England coach is facing calls for his resignation from the media after it emerged that he had an affair
with FA secretary Faria Alam. FA chief executive Mark Palios also had a relationship with the same
woman. FA board member David Henson is furious with the England coach :

"It makes us look like idiots because there was a denial and then we were told that it did happen.
We are left looking like mugs and that can't be right. We have been left high and dry. There's so
many questions to answer and we will be expecting those to be answered this week. I don't think
people are very impressed by what has gone on recently. Things don't appear to have been handled
particularly well and I'm sure questions will be asked and explanations sought."


Brooking Questions Eriksson's Tactics

Former England international and FA Director of Football Trevor Brooking made the following comments
of the day news of Eriksson's affair broke :

"Rooney had become a key factor and we must look at our flexibility to adapt. We have to look at areas
where we can learn from that. Against Portugal we scored an early goal, but did we sit back too much?
Did we get stretched at times? We didn't pass the ball well enough or keep possession and when you're
ahead that's an important element - to keep the ball better than we did. We need to try to get three or
four more who could add that little bit extra, which will make the difference. Everyone still feels 2006
is a great opportunity for the current nucleus of England players to really have a chance of winning the
competition."


Thuram Calls Time On International Career

"I have decided to quit 'Les Bleus'. I'm 32. I know I have already given France the best I could give.
In two years time there will be another World Cup. Maybe some players will be performing better than
me. It's time they get ready. It's the end of Thuram's cycle."


26 July 2004

Spartak Moscow Outbid Juve for Cavenaghi

20 year old Fernando Cavenaghi, considered the next breakout star in Argentinean football has
surprisingly joined Spartak Moscow after long term suitors and notorious misers Juventus, were outbid
by Spartak Moscow who paid €9.5 million to River Plate. Spartak Moscow are coached by Italian Nevio
Scala, who put Parma on the map before several, considerably less successful spells after leaving the club.


23 July 2004

Mourinho Responds To Ferguson's Jealousy

On Ferguson's claims that Chelsea's money doesn't guarantee success :

"I agree money doesn't buy points. If you go back a few months in the Champions League, Porto, with
10% of United's budget, beat them. So he's absolutely correct. Money buys players but not a team.
It's really difficult because people think we're spending money the others aren't spending. Arsenal have
worked with their manager for seven years, Manchester United for 18 years and me for 18 days, so
it's a big difficulty but I've told the players we must fight every match to win these things."


21 July 2004

Drogba's Regret At Leaving Marseille

"I can't hide the fact that I dreamt of staying. If I had listened to my heart, I would have stayed
at Marseille but reason spoke. There are propositions that can't be turned down, that don't
present themselves every day. I have Marseille in my heart. It's like with a woman, when you
separate, it's very bad."


20 July 2004

Benitez Hits Back In Valencia Row

Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez says he left due to a lack of support by the club :

"Obviously through lack of support and not being valued. Some people want to spread the idea that
my relationship with the club is bad, but I am very grateful to Valencia and their fans. However, the
person (Llorente) who negotiated with my agent did not have much interest in me continuing at the
club but now we seem like the bad guys. He took the negotiations for two months and all the
evidence  and testimonies indicated that he was simultaneously interested in other coaches
when I still had a year on my contract. Two months of negotiations is enough time for you to
realise the interest and valuation they have of you. It's incredible that they can demand damages
from us when the president, Mr Orti, said in an interview that there was no bad intention from me
and that I had not caused damage to the club. I believe it is a strategy to get some money from
Liverpool and I don't understand it. I can only think the explanation is that someone wants to try
and justify their errors and they have been made to believe that doing it through the courts makes
it look like they are being strong to the fans. I believe that the majority of the fans have realised
what was going on and events since have proved the lack of support we had." 


19 July 2004

Porto Warn Real Madrid Off Carvalho

Porto chairman Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa is adamant that the club do not need to sell Ricardo
Carvalho :

"Ricardo Carvalho is going nowhere. Porto isn't having a sale and at the moment moving to
Real Madrid would be a step down. They can't force us to sell a player if we don't want to."


Perez Talks of Money, Not Trophies

After recently being re-elected President of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez claims the club are the
richest 'brand' in all sports :

"Some years ago Manchester United were the best selling club in the world because of the simple
fact that they had a marketing policy that was 10 years ahead of everyone else. This is no longer
the case because right now there is nothing to match the global impact of the Real Madrid brand.
We are the number one not just in football but in all sport. This year we are going to earn
€138 million just from marketing, which is equal to the total income from all sources four years ago.
We have shown that investing in the best players can be profitable. Just like other business sectors
we have tried to develop a good product that sells."


18 July 2004

The Secret To Arsenal's 'Wage' Structure

A report in the Sunday Times has revealed how creative accounting allows Arsenal to compete with
the generous wage structures of their Premiership rivals, by paying half of the 40% tax collected
from the countries the highest wage earners. According to the newspaper Arsenal players sign two
contracts, one which provides their basic wage taxed at the usual 40% and another which is a
performance related contracted. Players are shareholders in what is company called 'Sevco 1270'
which pays bonuses via a trust in the tax haven island of Jersey. Another method involves giving
bonuses in the form of a benefit trust which is officially classified as a loan and therefore taxed at
a lower rate.


17 July 2004

Camacho Makes Stars Sweat

Real Madrid striker Ronaldo claims his new coach's exhausting training regime is a necessary
sacrifice :

"I don't know if I will survive through to the end of the pre-season. I am very stiff. This is the worst
time of the year but it is very necessary. We have to make a big sacrifice to get ourselves in shape
for the whole year. Last year things collapsed in the final month and a half and this season we must
make up for lost time. We must win the fans back over."

Ronaldo also revealed that winning the Champions League is his top priority :

"The league title, but above all the Champions League is what I'm after. The Champions League
is the only title I have missed out on in my career. It's one of my most important objectives this year."


Mourinho Blames Ranieri For Veron & Crespo Exit

Chelsea's Jose Mourinho has deflected criticism over the loan of the two of the clubs expensively
signed stars :

"Ask Ranieri why world-class players like Veron and Crespo did not do so well in the Premiership.
That was his problem, not mine. They left  because they were not happy at the club in the past.
I couldn't speak to Veron because I wasn't here but I was open with Hernan and told him I don't
work with players who have problems, whether they are about football or family. I spoke with
Adrian Mutu and I felt he was fully committed. Hernan wasn't so well suited to British life, in
football terms and socially. It was better for him and his family to leave. I wish him all the best.
He is still our player and it's a good move if things go well because he can return as a great player
again or we can sell him for a good price. If things don't work out for him we lose money."


16 July 2004

Everton CEO Quits After Transfer Frustration

Everton's chief executive Trevor Birch has resigned after just six weeks into the job. Birch offered
the club's prize asset Wayne Rooney a five year contract (which the youngster has yet to sign) and
has also failed in bids for Robbie Savage, Dominic Matteo and Sean Davis.

Blatter Brown Noses Chinese

When attending a football expo in Beijing FIFA President Sepp Bladder, who is unfortunately the
idiot in charge of the World game, not surprisingly agreed with the Chinese Football Association's
claims that the game was invented in China over 2,300 years ago in Zibo, in eastern Shandong
province.


Frei Handed Belated Ban

Alexander Frei has been handed a three-match ban for spitting at England's Steven Gerrard during
Switzerland's group match with England at Euro 2004.


15 July 2004

Stoichkov Takes National Team Job

Raging bull Hristo Stoichkov has succeeded Plamen Markov as coach of the national team. The
38 year old former European footballer of the year is his countries greatest ever player and helped
Bulgaria reach the semi finals of the 1994 World Cup.


14 July 2004

Germany To Appoint Foreign Coach

Frank Beckenbauer, vice president of the DFB, has revealed that Germany will appoint a foreign
coach after a succession of coaches which included Otmar Hitzfeld and Christoph Daum, both turned
down the job :

"The name of the next coach will be announced next week but I can say that he won't be from
Germany."

Dutchman Guus Hiddink is the favourite to succeed Rudi Voller.


13 July 2004

Inter Finally Get Mancini

After chasing the former Italy international for a year Inter have finally appointed Roberto Mancini
as coach after Lazio agreed to release him. Mancini is expected to take his personal bag carrier,
the dreadful Mihajlovic, to Inter with him.


Ghana To Host 2008 African Nations Cup

Ghana beat Libya by nine votes to three to win the rights to host the 2008 African Nations Cup.
Egypt will host the next Nations Cup finals in 2006.


Croatia Name Baric's Replacement

Zlatko Kranjcar, who played and coached at Dynamo Zagreb, has succeeded Otto Baric as coach
of Croatia.


12 July 2004

Domenech Succeeds Santini

Raymond Domenech has left Real Sociedad to become the new coach of the French national team.
Domenech guided Lyon to league championship success before working miracles with a
Real Sociedad side that lead the Spanish league until the last few weeks of the 2002-2003 season.


Perez Retains Real Presidency

Florentino Perez has been re-elected president of Real Madrid after collecting 94.25% of the votes.
Perez polled 28416 of the 31007 votes, former Real president Lorenzo Sanz polled 4.05% with 1222
votes and Arturo Baldasano managed 1.70% with 513 votes. Perez's clever ploy of caving into fan and
media pressure to sign a World Class defender (Walter Samuel) and replacing Jorge Valdano as the
clubs sporting director with Emilio Butragueno weeks before the election paid off.


9 July 2004

More Bullshit From Blatter

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has promised Oceania an automatic World Cup berth in 2010. Blatter
promised Oceania an automatic place before the FIFA presidency elections on the eve of the last
World Cup and having being re-elected by the idiots who vote he went back on his promise.


5 July 2004

More Bad News For Portuguese Football

Less then 24 hours after Portugal were defeated by Greece in the European Championship final
Benfica dealt another crushing blow to Portuguese football by appointing the wretched Giovanni
Trapattoni as the successor to Jose Antonio Camacho, who left for Real Madrid.


Reflections on Euro 2004 Final

Luiz Felipe Scolari :

"We've lost in the final of the European Championships, so we will keep working the way we have
been. If we keep working like that then in the future we will win something but I must congratulate
Greece."

"They have been playing like this since the beginning of the tournament and they are very good
at it. I congratulate both them and my colleague Otto Rehhagel. It is up to us, as the more offensive
team, to find a way through these defensive systems. It is up to us to find another way of winning.
They have a wonderful defence and it works well. They play on the mistakes of the opponents.
They scored the goal and won. They marked very well and stopped us and maybe we didn't do some
things as well as we could have done but I can say only that the Greek defence was magnificent and
say well done for the magnificent job they have done."

"I think we were patient but in the last 10 minutes of the game there were too many stoppages.
Maybe one or two of our players were getting nervous but I think we have been one of the most
disciplined teams tactically in the competition."

Otto Rehhagel :

"It was an unusual achievement for Greek football and especially for European football. We took
advantage of our chances. The opponent was technically better than us but we took advantage of
our chances. We should have made it 2-0. The Greeks have made football history. It's a sensation."

"The differences between the big teams and the so-called smaller teams have become smaller.
There are always surprises. Remember North Korea beat Italy in the 1966 World Cup in England.
This time we are the surprise. Someone said we will be like gods in Greece after this. I know Greeks
exaggerate both in joy and in sadness but we have no objections if the fans wish to welcome us back
at the airport."

"I would like to congratulate my team and everybody involved. We have developed this team for
three years and now you see the result. It was a great achievement for us to qualify. We were only
interested in the first game but we carried on, had a terrific tournament and ended as champions."

Angelos Charisteas :

"We're the champions of Europe. We're the best team in Europe and we deserved it. It's very
significant. I'm very happy and very moved. I call on all Greeks to rejoice and celebrate. This is a
unique moment, which many of us may never experience again. We came up against a very strong
Portugal side but won, it's the best moment of my career."

Theo Zagorakis :

"I want to congratulate the players. We proved once again that the Greek soul is, and always will
be, our strength. It is the greatest gift that God ever gave us. We are going to take this cup to
Greek people all over the world. I think we have given them something more than joy. We have given
them a great pride, which they will be able to carry with them for the rest of their lives."


UEFA Name Squad of the Tournament

Goalkeepers : Petr Cech (CZE), Antonios Nikopolidis (GRE)

Defenders : Sol Campbell (ENG), Ashley Cole (ENG), Traianos Dellas (GRE), Olof Mellberg (SWE),
Ricardo Carvalho (POR), Georgios Seitaridis (GRE), Gianluca Zambrotta (ITA)

Midfielders : Michael Ballack (GER), Luis Figo (POR), Frank Lampard (ENG), Maniche (POR),
Pavel Nedved (CZE), Theodoros Zagorakis (GRE), Zinedine Zidane (FRA)

Strikers : Milan Baros (CZE), Angelos Charisteas (GRE), Henrik Larsson (SWE),
Cristiano Ronaldo (POR), Wayne Rooney (ENG), Jon Dahl Tomasson (DEN), Ruud van Nistelrooy (NED)

Greece captain Theodoros Zagorakis was named JVC UEFA EURO 2004 Player of the Tournament
by a study group consisting of Roy Hodgson, Gerard Houllier, Anghel Iordanescu, Gyorgy Mezey,
Holger Osieck, Jozef Venglos, Berti Vogts and Andy Roxburgh. The ninth vote came from visitors
to UEFA's website.


4 July 2004

Portuguese Celebrations Claim Another Life

A 55-year-old man drowned when he fell into the river Tagus on Sunday at a park in Lisbon where
supporters had gathered to watch the final on a giant TV screen. A 35 year old women also fell
into the river but survived.


Romantic Rooney Proposed At Petrol Station

England prodigy Wayne Rooney has revealed that he proposed to girlfriend Coleen McLoughlin
at a petrol station :

"I'd picked it (the ring) up from the jeweller and told her we were going out for a Chinese meal but
we stopped a a BP petrol garage because Coleen had to get the money to pay for the meal. When
she was getting it, I got the box out of my pocket and had it open. She got back into the car and
I asked "Will you marry me?", She said "Yes" and we kissed and had a bit of a hug. "Asking Coleen
to marry me was far worse than walking out for England."


2 July 2004

van Nistelrooy Banned

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been given a two-match international ban for post comments he made
about referee Anders Frisk after the teams semi-final loss against Portugal. He said Frisk ruled
everything in favour of Portugal accuses him of being a "home whistler".


Journeyman Takes Charge of Spain

Real Mallorca's Luis Aragones has succeeded Inaki Saez as coach of Spain. Aragones has only won
one league title in 30 years of coaching, way back in 1977.


EU Warn Italy Over Foreign Player Limit

The European Union has warned Italy against adopting Olympic committee president Gianni
Petrucci's proposal to limit the number of foreign players in Serie A from the 2006-2007 season.
Petrucci mistakenly believes foreigners and not the inept coaching of Giovanni Trappatoni is to
blame for Italy's failure at Euro 2004. An EU spokesman said :

"Professional sport is subject to laws governing the free movement of workers within the EU and
to the principle of non-discrimination of foreigners."


Supermarket Sweep

The Feira Nova brand of supermarkets in Portugal are facing a €500,000 pay out to customers if
Portugal win Sunday's final against Greece. The chain promised to refund customers who purchased
electrical equipment from their stores if Portugal won Euro 2004 during a month long promotion
between the 10th of May and the 10th of June.


Football A Big Turn On For Portuguese Women

Television figures have revealed that Portuguese women made up 45% of the viewing audience
during the tournament, up from the 3% of the female population that watched the previous
tournament in 2000.


1 July 2004

Celebrations Turn Sour in Lisbon

A 25 year old Spanish women died and another was injured after being run over by a driver under
who was under the influence of alcohol while celebrating Portugal's semi-final victory over Holland.
A police spokeswoman said :

"All across Lisbon people jumped into the middle of streets and in front of cars, forcing drivers to stop."