Weekly soccer news
World Soccer News for week of 3/14
Ronaldo now wants to stay at United
Cristiano Ronaldo may not press for a transfer to Real Madrid at the end of this season, in spite of earlier report that Alex Ferguson already agreed to the deal last autumn.
The Portuguese superstar now claims Manchester United is the best possible place to be for him since no other club can match United's quality and ambition.
"I feel very happy where I am now. I like to do what I do, it's my dream and this is my life," said Ronaldo to Daily Mirror.
"Manchester are playing very well, I feel very happy here. I don't want to go anywhere, I want to stay here."
Ronaldo feels that United is even better than last season, when they won the famous double.
"We are top of the league, in the Champions League and we are in all competitions. The team is more mature, more experienced and when you go to the pitch you know what you are going to do and this is why we have a good team."
The continued success of Premier League clubs in the Champions League certainly plays a role in Ronaldo's reborn love for his current tean. All four English representatives will be present in the quarterfinal draw next week alongside Barcelona, Bayern, Porto and Villarreal.
Manchester Utd. and AZ Alkmaar can't stop winning
Early last autumn it looked as though Manchester United could not follow the pace set by Liverpool and Chelsea on top of the Premiership, but with 33 points won in the last 11 matches it seems there is no stopping Red Devils.
Alex Ferguson's team boast the longest winning run with 11 consecutive wins this season. The run started with a 1-0 at Stoke and has continued through last week's 2-1 win over Newcastle.
The Dutch leaders AZ Alkmaar have also won their last 11 games, starting with a magnificent 2-0 over Ajax until a 3-1 over Willem II. In fact, Louis van Gaal's boys have been unbeaten in 24 matches this season, after suffering two losses at the start of the competition.
Two Spanish teams achieved 10 matches winning streaks. The first to knock out ten consecutive rivals were Barcelona, from Sevilla in the 13th round until Sporting in the 22th matchday. Slightly later in the season Real Madrid repeated Barca's feat launching the perfect run with a 1-0 over Valencia in the 16th round. The run came to an end last week with a 1-1 draw against Atlético Madrid at Bernabeu.
In Croatia, leaders Hajduk Split have a chance to make it ten in a row if they overcome Cibalia at Vinkovci on Sunday. Last Sunday Hajduk equalled their longest run by beating Croatia Sesvete 1-0, but they are still far behind Dinamo Zagreb's record run that lasted for 28 straight games in 2006/07.
Mourinho not so "special" in Italy either
José Mourinho used to call himself special, but after his team went down to Manchester United in the Champions League last week, some Inter's fans begged to differ.
Last Thursday he was welcomed by an unpleasant surprise upon arrival at Inter's training ground.
"Portuguese bluff, go away from Inter", said on a piece of canvas hanged from the external side of the fence of the ground where Inter practice.
The fans and the media were bitterly disappointed by the 2-0 aggregate defeat of the Italian champions and were outright incensed by Mourinho's traditional arrogance displayed at the press conference.
On that occasion the controversial coach told the reporters he did not have to explain to them the way Inter played.
Channel4.com has claimed that Mourinho is close to leaving Italy for Spain (Real Madrid) or England (Liverpool, Manchester City or even his former club Chelsea).
Italy faces a reduced quota in the Champions League
The elimination of most of the Italian representatives from the Champions League and the UEFA Cup means that Italy could lose one place in the premier European competition starting from next season.
In the Champions League, Fiorentina failed to progress from the group stage while Juventus, Roma and Inter could not go past Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, respectively. In the UEFA Cup Udinese have remained the sole Italian presence on the international stage after Werder kicked out Milan.
"We are just one step of losing the third place on the UEFA ranking and consequently the fourth club in the Champions League," worries Milan's vice president Adriano Galliani.
As of next season, the three top nations will have three guaranteed spots plus one in the last qualifying round. Countries from the fourth through the sixth place will provide two clubs plus one in the qualifiers.
England leads the ranking with 76,7 points followed by Spain with 73 and Italy with 62,4. Germany on the fourth place has 54 points, but still has three teams in the competition (Bayern, Werder and Hamburger) and a fair chance of ovetaking Italy by end of May.
Russia announces the bid for a World Cup
The Russian Soccer Federation has sent a letter of intent to FIFA's Zurich headquarters, announcing the bid to organize one of the future World Cups.
The bid refers to the 2018 or 2022 Cups, said the spokesman Andrei Malasolov.
The deadline for presenting bids expires on Monday, March 16th and FIFA will determine the hosts in December of 2010. The host to the 2014 Cup will be Brazil, who organized one previous turnament back in 1950.
Capello slams Italian soccer mentality
After painful elimination of three Italian teams by the English opposition, the coach Fabio Capello attributed the disaster to the differences in mentality between the two nations.
"The English soccer is characterized by a more physical and combative play. Our teams have less of these characteristics with respect to the English rivals," said the current England manager.
"When Milan defeated Manchester United it was made possible because they had players of quality and strength. And this is one aspect we have to improve on if we want to return to the highest levels of the European game."
Capello also slammed the Italian habit of playing "with nine defenders and one forward, who is supposed to send the ball home" and the cynical tactics which include diving and simulations in order to stop the flow of the game.
"There are so many interruptions during a match in Italy. The referees should allow the play to to on and curb the tendency of playing a 'blocked' soccer," said Capello to Dribbling tv show.
Copyright Ozren Podnar & Soccerphile
World Soccer News for week of 3/14
Ronaldo now wants to stay at United
Cristiano Ronaldo may not press for a transfer to Real Madrid at the end of this season, in spite of earlier report that Alex Ferguson already agreed to the deal last autumn.
The Portuguese superstar now claims Manchester United is the best possible place to be for him since no other club can match United's quality and ambition.
"I feel very happy where I am now. I like to do what I do, it's my dream and this is my life," said Ronaldo to Daily Mirror.
"Manchester are playing very well, I feel very happy here. I don't want to go anywhere, I want to stay here."
Ronaldo feels that United is even better than last season, when they won the famous double.
"We are top of the league, in the Champions League and we are in all competitions. The team is more mature, more experienced and when you go to the pitch you know what you are going to do and this is why we have a good team."
The continued success of Premier League clubs in the Champions League certainly plays a role in Ronaldo's reborn love for his current tean. All four English representatives will be present in the quarterfinal draw next week alongside Barcelona, Bayern, Porto and Villarreal.
Manchester Utd. and AZ Alkmaar can't stop winning
Early last autumn it looked as though Manchester United could not follow the pace set by Liverpool and Chelsea on top of the Premiership, but with 33 points won in the last 11 matches it seems there is no stopping Red Devils.
Alex Ferguson's team boast the longest winning run with 11 consecutive wins this season. The run started with a 1-0 at Stoke and has continued through last week's 2-1 win over Newcastle.
The Dutch leaders AZ Alkmaar have also won their last 11 games, starting with a magnificent 2-0 over Ajax until a 3-1 over Willem II. In fact, Louis van Gaal's boys have been unbeaten in 24 matches this season, after suffering two losses at the start of the competition.
Two Spanish teams achieved 10 matches winning streaks. The first to knock out ten consecutive rivals were Barcelona, from Sevilla in the 13th round until Sporting in the 22th matchday. Slightly later in the season Real Madrid repeated Barca's feat launching the perfect run with a 1-0 over Valencia in the 16th round. The run came to an end last week with a 1-1 draw against Atlético Madrid at Bernabeu.
In Croatia, leaders Hajduk Split have a chance to make it ten in a row if they overcome Cibalia at Vinkovci on Sunday. Last Sunday Hajduk equalled their longest run by beating Croatia Sesvete 1-0, but they are still far behind Dinamo Zagreb's record run that lasted for 28 straight games in 2006/07.
Mourinho not so "special" in Italy either
José Mourinho used to call himself special, but after his team went down to Manchester United in the Champions League last week, some Inter's fans begged to differ.
Last Thursday he was welcomed by an unpleasant surprise upon arrival at Inter's training ground.
"Portuguese bluff, go away from Inter", said on a piece of canvas hanged from the external side of the fence of the ground where Inter practice.
The fans and the media were bitterly disappointed by the 2-0 aggregate defeat of the Italian champions and were outright incensed by Mourinho's traditional arrogance displayed at the press conference.
On that occasion the controversial coach told the reporters he did not have to explain to them the way Inter played.
Channel4.com has claimed that Mourinho is close to leaving Italy for Spain (Real Madrid) or England (Liverpool, Manchester City or even his former club Chelsea).
Italy faces a reduced quota in the Champions League
The elimination of most of the Italian representatives from the Champions League and the UEFA Cup means that Italy could lose one place in the premier European competition starting from next season.
In the Champions League, Fiorentina failed to progress from the group stage while Juventus, Roma and Inter could not go past Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, respectively. In the UEFA Cup Udinese have remained the sole Italian presence on the international stage after Werder kicked out Milan.
"We are just one step of losing the third place on the UEFA ranking and consequently the fourth club in the Champions League," worries Milan's vice president Adriano Galliani.
As of next season, the three top nations will have three guaranteed spots plus one in the last qualifying round. Countries from the fourth through the sixth place will provide two clubs plus one in the qualifiers.
England leads the ranking with 76,7 points followed by Spain with 73 and Italy with 62,4. Germany on the fourth place has 54 points, but still has three teams in the competition (Bayern, Werder and Hamburger) and a fair chance of ovetaking Italy by end of May.
Russia announces the bid for a World Cup
The Russian Soccer Federation has sent a letter of intent to FIFA's Zurich headquarters, announcing the bid to organize one of the future World Cups.
The bid refers to the 2018 or 2022 Cups, said the spokesman Andrei Malasolov.
The deadline for presenting bids expires on Monday, March 16th and FIFA will determine the hosts in December of 2010. The host to the 2014 Cup will be Brazil, who organized one previous turnament back in 1950.
Capello slams Italian soccer mentality
After painful elimination of three Italian teams by the English opposition, the coach Fabio Capello attributed the disaster to the differences in mentality between the two nations.
"The English soccer is characterized by a more physical and combative play. Our teams have less of these characteristics with respect to the English rivals," said the current England manager.
"When Milan defeated Manchester United it was made possible because they had players of quality and strength. And this is one aspect we have to improve on if we want to return to the highest levels of the European game."
Capello also slammed the Italian habit of playing "with nine defenders and one forward, who is supposed to send the ball home" and the cynical tactics which include diving and simulations in order to stop the flow of the game.
"There are so many interruptions during a match in Italy. The referees should allow the play to to on and curb the tendency of playing a 'blocked' soccer," said Capello to Dribbling tv show.
Copyright Ozren Podnar & Soccerphile