October 23rd, 2008
You are currently browsing the articles from TOP FootBall Player written on October 23rd, 2008.
Good news for Gooners. Eduardo only weeks away from coming back [Soccernet]
Joey Barton wants to be your kids role model [BBC]
Yet another arrest is Polish corruption probe [Polskieradio]
Aberdeen’s Red Ultras suspended from flag waving after setting off smoke bombs [Evening Express]
And, finally:
Differing views on English nationalization
Arteta says no thanks [Soccernet]
Almunia says sure, why not? [Soccernet]
Written by Darkvader on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Backpasses and ĂĽ75.
55 players shortlisted for FIFPro World XI Player Awards
FIFPro (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Footballers Professionnels), the worldwide representative organisation for all professional footballers, today announced the 55 players shortlisted for the 4th FIFPro World XI Player Awards.
In August and September this year the 45,000 professional footballers belonging to the 42 professional organisations across the world that form FIFPro received voting forms in a secret ballot to nominate their peers for inclusion in their “World XI” - choosing the four defenders, three midfielders, three forwards and goalkeeper they most admire.
It is striking that, out of the 55 nominees, the majority were playing in England and Spain last season. The English Premiership attracted the most nominees with 21, followed by the Spanish Primera Division with 18. Italy’s Serie A attracted 8 nominees, the Bundesliga in Germany 4, the Premier League in Russia 2, and the Premier League in Scotland and Portugal provided 1 each.
Barcelona heads the list for the most nominations with 9. Chelsea follows with 8, Manchester United have 7, Real Madrid 6, AC Milan 5, Bayern Munich 4, Arsenal 3, Liverpool and Inter 2 and there is 1 each from Juventus, Internazionale, Sevilla, Valencia, Villareal, Tottenham Hotspur, Olympique Lyon, Celtic, FC Porto, CSKA Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg.
11 PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS UP FOR BALLON D’OR
The Premier League has 11 players short-listed for the Ballon d’Or, more than any other league.
The Premier League leads the way in terms of player representation at this years Ballon d’Or with 11 players in the mix. Spain’s La Liga comes a close second with 10 players selected from the condensed list of 30 by France Football Magazine.
Disappointingly, just three England Internationals are selected - Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard - for the Golden Ball Award.
Manchester United and Portugal star Ronaldo is the favourite to win the award which will be announced on the 2nd December 2008.Whilst England have the three nominee’s, Champions of Europe Spain have seven players in the list - Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas, David Villa, Sergio Ramos, Marcos Senna, Iker Casillas and Xavi.
The Serie A players has three players nominated - Kaka, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gianluigi Buffon.
List of 30 Nominees:
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Togo.
Sergio AgĂĽero (Atletico Madrid), Argentine.
AndreĂŻ Archavine (ZĂ©nith Saint-PĂ©tersbourg), Russia.
Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Germany.
Karim Benzema (Lyon), France.
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus Turin), Italy.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Portugal.
Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Ivory Coast.
Samuel Eto’o (FC Barcelone), Cameroon.
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Spain.
Fernando Torres (Liverpool FC), Spain.
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool FC), England.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Sweden.
Kaka (Milan AC), Brazil.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea), England.
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelone), Argentina.
Pepe (Real Madrid), Portugal.
Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), France.
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), England.
Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Spain.
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Spain.
Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Italy.
Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Netherlands.
Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV puis Real Madrid), Netherlands.
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Netherlands.
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Serbia.
David Villa (Valence CF), Spain.
Xavi (FC Barcelone), Spain.
Youri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscou), Russia.
Written by Jackson Ng Ghim Pheng True Blue Chelsea Fan on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
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Enigmatic Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba thinks the 2010 World Cup will be Africa’s best chance to win the tournament when South Africa host the tournament.
“I think this World Cup in Africa is very important, for the continent, not only for the Ivory Coast and not only for me,” the Chelsea star said.
“This will be the best chance for an African team to win the World Cup but it’s not going to be easy. We still have to qualify and it’ll be a big battle as the teams are tough.”
The Elephants, who played at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, have reached the final phase of African qualifiers from which five teams will qualify for the World Cup.
Drogba also said he was glad he stayed at Chelsea after being linked with both Milan clubs in the last transfer window amid speculation he would leave the English Premier League club.
He developed a close relationship with former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho and media reports speculated that he would follow the Portuguese coach when he took over at Inter Milan.
But Drogba said, “This (Chelsea) is the club which suits me best. I think, because this is the only club where I won all the titles I have now and, yes, I’m happy to be here and stay with my friends.”
Drogba has seen little action under Chelsea’s new manager Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari, recovering from knee surgery after the season began.
He then suffered another knee injury against CFR Cluj in the Champions League in Romania two weeks ago.
MY POV: I think the only reason Drogba’s happy he stayed at Chelsea is because no one bothered to pony up the money to sign him …
I’m also not so sure this is Africa’s best chance at World Cup glory.
I think the pressure to perform in front of the home fans may derail some African teams.
They may be looking to impress so much that it’ll cost them in the end.
All this talk is premature until the five African nations in the 2010 Cup are known. Until then, everything is up in the air …
Written by Darkvader on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 2010 World Cup and Didier Drogba.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is hopeful key trio Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Robbie Keane will be available for Sunday’s crunch showdown at Chelsea.
None of them finished last night’s 1-1 Champions League draw at Atletico Madrid, with striker Keane and midfielder Alonso both struggling with knocks, and captain Gerrard suffering from fatigue.
RAFA FURY AT TWO DROPPED POINTS IN MADRID
It will not be known until later today how serious the problems are but Benitez is keeping his fingers crossed there is nothing too serious to worry about.
‘The three players have had some problems,’ said Benitez, whose side are locked at the top of the Barclays Premier League with Chelsea on 20 points.
‘It was a little bit of a muscle problem for Robbie. Gerrard is okay. He was really tired and Alonso has a knock on his knee.’
Keane, who had given Liverpool a 14th-minute lead at the Vicente Calderon before Simao Sabrosa earned Atletico a point with a late equaliser, was the first to be taken off when he was replaced by Dirk Kuyt just after half-time.
‘We need to check with Keane. I don’t think it will be serious, but anyway we need to take care of him. He will see the doctor,’ Benitez said.
‘We are trying to keep players with fresh legs and 100 per cent fit, so we were trying
to protect all of them.’
When asked if he had any fitness concerns for the clash with Chelsea, Benitez answered: “I don’t know now, we will have to wait for tomorrow.’
Gerrard was the next to make way, being replaced by Ryan Babel in the 61st minute, before Alonso left the action with 15 minutes to go, Lucas taking his place.
Eight minutes after Alonso’s departure, Atletico managed to equalise, but when asked if the change had played a part in the goal, Benitez insisted he had no choice but to replace the Spain international.
‘I explained the reason already, he was injured and he was asking for the substitution,’ he said.
Liverpool were without the services of star striker Fernando Torres for the match, with the former Atletico hero remaining in England to continue his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Benitez admits things might have turned out differently if the prolific forward had played, but preferred not to dwell on the subject.
‘Obviously he’s a special player and it could have been a different match. But he was unavailable so it doesn’t matter. He couldn’t play,’ he said.
Liverpool had been good value for their half-time lead at the Vicente Calderon after limiting Atletico to just a couple of half-chances in the opening period.
However, the Rojiblancos looked a much better side after the break following the arrival of star striker Sergio Aguero, who had started the game on the bench due to concerns about his fitness.
Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina admitted the young Argentinian helped turn the game around for the Spanish side.
‘He is a tricky player who you notice when he is on the pitch because he causes a lot of problems and is difficult to stop,’ said Reina.
‘What is really important now is to get to 10 points and not slip up at home.
Calling in his reserves? Rafa Benitez
Written by Jackson Ng Ghim Pheng True Blue Chelsea Fan on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
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Three Spanish teams in action tonight in the UEFA CUP Group
qualifying stage with varied results.
SEVILLA FC played STUTTGART & settled things in two minutes
that gave them the 2-0 victory in Group C. The goals came in the 15th
min via ROMARIC ( above)…
& in the 16th min via RENATO (above); it was enough.
The Germans fought hard & hit the post in the 66 th min via Gomez,
but Sevilla took the points.
RACING lost by the minimum 1-0 away to TWENTE in its Group A
clash in which DENNEBOOM ( above) scored his teams only goal in
the 5th min.
Finally DEPORTIVO A CORUĂ‘A was given a beating away by
CSKA MOSCOW 3-0 in it´s Group H match. The man of the match
was DZAGOER (above) who scored twice - 8th & 11th min -, along
with VAGNER LOVE in the 61st min.
Written by STRIKER on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Spanish Football Teams and UEFA Cup.
According to Soccernet, I missed watching one hell of a match last night. Palmeiras and Argentinos Juniors met in the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana and boy howdy, was it great. Tight match, 2 red cards, and a fight afterwards. If only there were video. . . .
Of course, in the modern intertubed world, there is always video. Inside, I have posted not one but two of these wonders.
These are the longer highlights. Maybe you can guess why Palmeiras might have been a little angry at the end of the match. That first highlight is in the 17th minute. Palmeiras, in the green, look to have scored on a free kick. Not so, says the ref, who waved it off. Too bad for him, the ball was over the line. He wil,l at least, have plenty of time left in the game to redeem himself.
A couple of nice saves follow on the video, up to the 1:25 mark. Here, Palmeiras are rewarded with a PK, and it is not even a make-up call. However, even though a player is allowed to feint on a PK, if the ref feels it is unsporting, as last night’s ref did here, it is a yellow card and the kick is retaken. Predictably, the second attempt was saved. It would seem that the ref has no qualms about the keeper taking a few steps off the line, though.
Shortly after, Argentinos take the lead after a nice bit of control and a volley from the top of the box. Escudero was the goal scorer. Full points to him for his climb-the-bulldozer-inexplicably-just-off-the-pitch goal celebration.
The final two highlights show Argentinos players making meals out of overzealous and pissed-off challenges from Palmeiras players. First, a player gets a second yellow for pushing his opponent after the Argentinos player kicked the ball away. While the push could have knocked over my 90-year old neighbor, it should no have hurt the Argentine. Similarly, the second red card looked worse at first blush than it did on replay. On replay, there was very little contact, and lots of falling after. There was intent there, sure, but the contact missed
The Soccernet article then mentions that there was a fight after the match between the two sides. I’m afraid this was, at best, a Jayson Blair level fabrication. I guess the internet equivalent would be Diggers submitting thoroughly misleading headlines in order to get Dugg. The video below shows what happened.
There was some Sharks v. Jets squaring up without the finger snaps, and a rugby scrum nearly happened, but in the end nothing really happened. The most menacing thing I saw was one guy took off his shirt with purpose. Thanks, Soccernet, for proving Georger right as to the level of your coverage.
2nd video cut down by splicd. If that service fails, the full youtube is here.
Written by Darkvader on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Argentinos Juniors and Palmeiras and Video and fighting and misleading stories as a source and ĂĽ75.
You were good when you wore this shirt. What happened?
[Ed. Note: I'm still in a daze over Beckham joining Milan after Christmas, so forgive the light, well, non-existent posting this morning. Thoughts on that at some point.]
See, I told you there’d be barely any goals in the CL yesterday. Tuesday stole them all, dammit!
Considering we have Villa and Spurs fans reading along, today is their day. All the big clubs are tucked up in bed after their big, important European adventures, and today, it’s the kids’ turn in Little Cup. To which exotic destinations will these brave clubs travel? What languages might they need to speak? Will we have heard of any of the teams they’re playing?
(I could keep going, but I won’t)
In light of David Bentley’s “bit shit” comments last night, which surely served as the perfect digestif to Juande’s long lunch spent staring into the abyss and drooling, we will have some fun watching just how Spurs manage to corral their flabby, directionless collective into a coherent 90 minutes in Italy. Or maybe Ramos will just use the opportunity to check out Serie A “wanted” ads.
After the jumps, lineups, fun, and your colourful comments. It’s a good day to be alive.
Udinese v. Spurs
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Udinese: Handanovic, Motta, Coda, Domizzi, Lukovic, Inler, D’Agostino, Isla, Sanchez, Quagliarella, Di Natale.
Subs: Koprivec, Sala, Ferronetti, Pasquale, Obodo, Pepe, Floro Flores.
The Serie A club known as the “Little Zebras” are at virtually full-strength, anchored by an alarming number of Chileans. Alexis Sanchez and Mauricio Isla anchor the midfield, and the strike partnership of Italian National side fringe players Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella should thrive against the visibly-aloof Spurs back 4.
According to his wikipedia page, Di Natale is “well known known for scoring impressive goals.” Considering the form of Spurs at the back this season, any goals he scores tonight will seem rather ordinary and run-of-the-mill by comparison to previous tallies.
Spurs: Gomes, Hutton, King, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Zokora, Jenas, O’Hara, Bale, Bent.
Subs: Cesar, Dawson, Gilberto, Gunter, Modric, Campbell, Giovani.
Gomes has been warned to not injure any of his own tonight, and we see rare starts for Assou-Ekotto and Jamie O’Hara. The center-back pairing of Samson-esque Woodgate and Samsonite-esque Ledley King should provide some comedy this evening. And yes, Ramos looks to be employing UF’s favourite formation, the 4-5-1.
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Other games tonight:
Aston Villa v. Ajax (kick off: 3.15pm ET)
Braga v. Portsmouth (kick off: 3.15pm ET)
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Updates:
Spurs are still losing 1-0 from a 1st half penalty given up by Gomes, which is a shame as he’s been superb since. Jamie O’Hara did manage a rather Barton-esque feat of greatness in getting 2 yellows within a minute and taking an early bath. Close to the end there. 1-0 Udinese still.
Aston Villa v. Ajax
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Aston Villa: Friedel, Luke Young, Cuellar, Laursen, Shorey, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Barry, Milner, Agbonlahor, Ashley Young.
Subs: Guzan, Sidwell, Harewood, Davies, Knight, Salifou, Gardner.
Expected line-up, right? O/U on number of misplayed passes for Reo-Coker currently set at 102.
Ajax: Vermeer, Silva, Oleguer, Vermaelen, Emanuelson, Lindgren, Sarpong, Vertonghen, Suarez, Huntelaar, Gabri.
Subs: Vonk, Van Der Wiel, Cvitanich, Leonardo, Sno, Anita, Schilder.
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Braga v. Portsmouth
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Braga: Eduardo, Frechaut, Moises, Alberto Rodriguez, Evaldo, Vandinho, Alan, Matheus, Aguiar, Renteria, Meyong.
Subs: Mario Felgueiras, Mossoro, Paulo Cesar, Jorginho, Stelvio Cruz, Cesar Peixoto, Joao Pereira.
4-5-1, probably? No clue. I hear Renteria is good.
Portsmouth: James, Campbell, Pamarot, Armand Traore, Distin, Davis, Diop, Hreidarsson, Little, Defoe, Crouch.
Subs: Ashdown, Utaka, Mvuemba, Hughes, Kanu, Belhadj, Wilson.
Nothing outrageous here either. Seeing a Traore in the starting XI is instant cause for concern. The Traores don’t make things easy for their teammates, oh no sir. Little and Large continue to spearhead a decent Pompey attack.
Written by Darkvader on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Lingering Bursitis and Spurs and Spurs are awful and UEFA Cup and adventures in travel and aston villa and portsmouth.
Okay guys, here’s the latest. Got a view of beleaguered manager, Juande Ramos’ Facebook account. I just have to share this with you people (click for larger view):
If you didn’t realise, this is only a joke 
Written by DROGBALLS on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Humour and Joke and Juande Ramos and Spurs and The Red Cauldron and Tottenham Hotspur and funny.
As Le-Boss whittled down the team sheet for the game against Fenerbahce Johan Djourou must have been sitting there listening through gritted teeth. He wasn’t starting again.
Johan Djourou is one of our brightest talents at the club and he now finds himself as the FIFTH choice centre back, for a player of his quality that is criminal.
Song is a player who doesn’t have a position that he can call his own, a “jack of all trades” if you like yet he is picked in front of Djourou. I can’t understand it!
I think Song is a player that every squad needs, he can provide cover but he shouldn’t be played at the expense of someone like Djourou, especially at the back, an area we struggle in at the best of times.
Djourou has shown that he is ready and more than capable of a starting place in the Arsenal side. I believe when he and Gallas began the season as a partnership we looked more solid than we have done in a long time.
Instead Djourou finds himself on the bench despite our regular partnership of Gallas and Toure unavailable. What does the boy have to do to play?
Keep it Goonerish………..
Written by Wrighty7 on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
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“Of course, I would want to play in Real Madrid”. These are the
words of young Brazilian & GREMIO midfielder DOUGLAS COSTA
to Spanish daily “Marca”.
REAL MADRID, along with Manchester United, are after the services of
this promising player. Gremio does´nt mind transfering but will ask
that the player stay until Junio 2009 because Gremio is leading its
local League & are in Copa Libertadores. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile here is Costa in action:
Written by STRIKER on October 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on FC Barcelona and Transfer rumours and real madrid.
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