Football United

Monaco 1-1 PSG

Ligue 1 leaders AS Monaco FC are seven points clear after being held 1-1 at home by third-placed Paris Saint-Germain FC.

Monaco took the lead in the 27th minute when Sébastien Squillaci headed in Jérôme Rothen's free-kick. However, within five minutes PSG were level as defender Gabriel Heinze touched in a corner kick.

PSG could have overtaken second-placed Olympique Lyonnais with victory, but had to settle for a draw and coach Vahid Halilhodzic said: "We could have done better but to bring back a point from Monaco is a good result." Lyon visit Toulouse FC on Saturday.

Monaco : Roma - Evra, Givet, Rodriguez, Squillaci - Bernardi, E. Cissé (Plasil, 9e), Giuly, Rothen, Zikos - Morientes (Prso, 80e)
PSG : Alonzo - Mendy (Cubilier, 67e), Pierre-Fanfan, Sorin, Heinze - Rocchi (Hugo Leal, 78e), Cana, Déhu - Pauleta, Fiorèse, Ljuboja (Reinaldo, 83e)

Goals: Squillaci 26´(1-0); Heinze 31´(1-1)

1/31/2004 03:22:00 PM | Permalink |

Addo answers PSV call

PSV Eindhoven have recalled Eric Addo from his loan spell at Roda JC in a bid to solve their defensive problems.

The 25-year-old Ghanaian defender has been on loan at Roda since the start of the season, having also spent much of the previous campaign there. However, with André Ooijer and Ernest Faber both facing lengthy absences due to knee and hamstring injuries respectively, PSV coach Guus Hiddink opted to bring Addo back to Eindhoven.

"We have been looking at several options," Hiddink said. "Of course I always want the best, but the other options had too many obstacles - particularly financial." Addo, who will be eligible for the UEFA Cup third-round meeting with AC Perugia, joined PSV from Club Brugge KV in 1999, but injury problems meant he was restricted to just 24 league appearances before being loaned to Roda.

1/31/2004 03:20:00 PM | Permalink |

HSV swoops for Vyachesslav Hleb from Stuttgart!

Just before the transfer window was due to close, HSV swooped for the younger brother of the Stuttgart star Aliaksandr Hleb. His name is Vyachesslav, and he is a midfielder in the Belarus under-21 national team. HSV had wanted to sign him last summer, but couldn’t agree terms.

On Friday afternoon (30.1.04), Hleb put pen to paper on a deal which will keep him at the AOL Arena until June 20th 2006. Hleb has been given the number 11 shirt at HSV.

In the other way around the Danish Lars Jacobsen signed for the Danish first division club FC Copenhagen yesterday. HSV let the right back go on a free transfer. Should Jacobsen be sold on to another club, HSV would receive some of the money but Anderlecht didn t showed interest in signing the player after a week trial early this month.

1/31/2004 03:10:00 PM | Permalink |

SCBRAGA 1 - 1 MOREIRENSE

Braga got a draw last night at home agains Moreirense. It was a boring game without really true goal situations. Moreirense got the lead with an own goal from Paulo Jorge at the minute 25. Paulo Sergio managed to draw the level scoring the Braga goal at the minute 55´.

Braga: Quim, Éder, Mauricio, Paulo Jorge, Jorge Luíz, Vanzini, Soderström, Nikolov, Wender, Pena, Paulo Sérgio

Moreirense: João Ricardo, Primo, Ricardo Fernandes, Sérgio Lomba, Tito, Jorge Duarte, Bruno Fernandes, Luis Vouzela, Vitor Pereira, Manoel, Lito

1/31/2004 03:08:00 PM | Permalink |

Roger, André, Anders Andersson, Carlitos and Anderson Luiz Leave Benfica

Lack of ambition!!! That seems to be the position of the Eagles to the future. After the sad death of Feher Benfica is now seeing 5 more players depparting and they just so one arriving (Fyssas). If we join to this the fact that Mantorras is yet far from playing, Nuno Gomes, Luisão and Geovanni (crucial players) are suffering from injuries (Geovanni don t play for two months, Luisao manages only to play 1 months withous being injury and Nuno Gomes the same) then we can see that Camacho will hardly have 11 field players ready for the games. The solution seems to call youngsters from the B team but is this a solution to a team as Benfica??? It´s understandable that theclub is now suffering with the recent accident but the best way to deal with it would be to fight with honour and with ambition as an homenage to their former partner. Insteed the Benfica direction, prefer to cry and to give up sending away players that were being usefull to the club without bringuing alternatives.

*******************************************************


Benfica has announced that 5 players are leaving the squad in an effort to trim the club's payroll.

Brazilian playmaker Roger is joining Fluminense on loan until December 1st; the Brazilian club then holds the option of buying him.

Brazilian striker André never fit in at Benfica and rescinded his contract with the Lisbon club. He has signed on with Maritimo for the remainder of this season and all of the next campaign.

Swedish international midfielder Anders Andersson also rescinded his contract with Benfica and has signed on with rivals Belenenses.

Portuguese winger Carlitos will join Spanish second division outfit Poli Ejido for the remainder of this season.

Brazilian striker Anderson Luiz, who was playing with Benfica's B team, has been loaned to Portuguese second division side Naval.

These cost cutting measures will reportedly save Benfica 1.5 million euros.

Despite his immense talent, Roger has failed to make an impact at Benfica and will now find himself playing for Fluminense for the third time in his career.

Big things were also expected from Swedish midfielder Anders Andersson when he joined the club in 2001/2002.

He was rarely used by Jose Camacho this season and will now try to resurrect his career with Belenenses.

Carlitos has been at Benfica since the 2000/2001 season but has always been a fringe player at best.

Striker Andre joined Benfica at the same time as Roger did back in 2000/2001 but has never reached his potential in Portugal.

He rejoins Maritimo after spending the 2001/2002 season there on loan.

Source: Soccerage

1/31/2004 02:51:00 PM | Permalink |

Bundesliga back with derby duels

The German Bundesliga is back with a bang this weekend as the season resumes after the winter break. First up is Friday night's Ruhr derby between FC Schalke 04 and BV Borussia Dortmund.

The Ruhr derby is not the only regional duel as 24 hours later Rhine rivals VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach and 1. FC Köln meet while Hannover 96 play fellow northerners Hamburger SV. At the top, leaders SV Werder Bremen defend their position against second-bottom Hertha BSC Berlin.

Source: Uefa.com

1/30/2004 06:12:00 PM | Permalink |

PSG Obtain Traoré On Loan

Paris St-Germain have announced the signing of Gueugnon's Habibou Traoré on loan until the end of the season.

Vahid Hallilhodzic has been monitoring the Senegalese defender for some time. Traoré's contract with Gueugnon (Ligue 2) will expire next June, and the player shoud sign on with PSG if everything goes well.

Gueugnon have landed Paris' youngsters Ragued and Rouad on loan as a compensation.

Source: Soccerage

1/30/2004 02:10:00 PM | Permalink |

Van Nistelrooij signs new deal

Ruud van Nistelrooij has signed a new contract with Manchester United FC, committing his future to the English champions until June 2008.

Key figure
The 27-year-old Netherlands striker is one of the key figures in Sir Alex Ferguson's side, having scored a remarkable 98 goals in 129 first-team appearances for United. Little wonder Ferguson, who himself signed a new 12-month rolling contract yesterday, described the agreement as "great news for the club and the fans".

Player of the year
After arriving at Old Trafford in a €30m deal from PSV Eindhoven in summer 2001, he ended his first season in England as his fellow professionals' Player of the Year, having finished the top scorer in the UEFA Champions League with ten goals as United reached the semi-finals. Last season he scored 44 goals in all competitions as United won the Premiership.

'New challenges'
"I am delighted to commit my future to the club," said Van Nistelrooij. "I have grown very fond of Manchester United, the fans are amazing. I have had some great moments here but I want to continue to give the club my best, and I am looking forward to new challenges on the pitch."

Source: Uefa.com

1/30/2004 09:33:00 AM | Permalink |

Mehmet Yozgatlý Deal Completed

Fenerbahçe signed a 3,5 year deal with Ýstanbulspor`s Mehmet Yozgatlý. The player will join the squad tomorrow.

About Mehmet Yozgatlý DOB 09.01.1979
Height: 181 cm
Weight: 76 kg
International caps: 12 U-21 caps for Turkey.
Previous clubs: Ýstanbulspor, Galatasaray, Adanaspor (on loan), Ýstanbulspor

1/30/2004 09:05:00 AM | Permalink |

Fenerbahçe in the Cup Quarter Final

A dramatic extra time silver goal winner from Tuncay Þanlý seconds before the whistle grabbed us a place in the quarter finals of the Turkish Cup tonight at the expense of Samsunspor. The nail biting game featured little chances but some close shaves through Pierre van Hooijdonk`s chip attempts.
The first half was a cautious deadlock between the two sides with little opportunities in front of goal. Cynical fouls and frequent stoppages proved to be a pattern right into the second half.

A lot more happened in the second 45 mostly down to Pierre van Hooijdonk increasing his involvement in the game. He hit the crossbar with a lob attempt halfway through and set up Marcio Nobre with a dummy, only for the Brazilian to hit straight at Shorunmu. Another lob attempt from van Hooijdonk, this time from further out with 10 minutes to go, looked to be sailing in for a spectacular goal, only to clip the post and go wide.

A much higher tempo in the final 20 minutes still produced no goals, and referee Metin Tokat blew the whistle to end normal time.

With seconds to go until the end of the first half of extra time, a flick on by Selçuk fell to Tuncay who was inline with the last man, and went onto blast into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. This silver goal winner put us into the quarter finals of the Turkish Cup and hopefully a key point on our route to winning the trophy after 21 years.

Source: Fenerbahçe

1/30/2004 09:02:00 AM | Permalink |

Georgian on Dynamo's mind

FC Dynamo Kyiv have signed Georgian defender Alexandr Amisulashvili from FC Dinamo Tbilisi.

The 21-year-old international has agreed a five-year contract with the Ukrainian Premier League side, having been on trial at the club since early January. Amisulashvili featured in friendlies against German teams VfB Stuttgart and FC Bayern München, and was the only Dynamo player to appear in every minute of both games.

The defender played for FC Torpedo Kutaisi and FC Lokomotivi Samtredia in his homeland, before joining Dinamo Tbilisi in 2001. Last season he won the Georgian Premier League and the Georgian Cup with the club, and also made six international appearances.

Meanwhile, former Dynamo defender László Bodnár has signed a three-year deal with Russia's FC Saturn Moskovskaya Oblast after a successful trial. The 24-year-old Hungarian international left Dynamo last year after a dispute with coach Olexiy Mykhaylichenko.

Source:Uefa.com

1/29/2004 10:50:00 PM | Permalink |

Americano 2-1 Botafogo

1/29/2004 10:18:00 PM | Permalink |

River Plate 1-1 Racing Club

Racing Club continues unbeaten in the Summer Tournament, after reaching a draw against River Plate, having played most of the match withonly ten men. River saw Marcelo Gallardo substituted early in the game, due to an injury that can keep him out of the fields for about a month.

Racing played an intelligent match, controling the game with only ten men, as River could not come up with the solutions to brake the opponents defense.

RIVER: Franco Costanzo; Luis Lobo (Daniel Montenergo, 54'), Cristian Tula, Eduardo Tuzzio, Lucas Mareque; Eduardo Coudet, Oscar Ahumada, Kilian Virviescas; Marcelo Gallardo (Daniel Ludueña, 22'); Nelson Cuevas y Fernando Cavenaghi

RACING: Mario Cuenca; Andrés Orozco, Cristian Grabinski, Javier Pinola, Eduardo Domínguez; Lucas Rimoldi (torres Martinez, 77'), Juan Manuel Torres, Sebastián Romero; Milovan Mirosevic; Gastón Fernández (Angel Martinez, 45') y Lisandro López (Lucas Ferreiro, 77')

GOALS: 0-1 Fernandez, 25'; 1-1 Cavenaghi, 34'

RED CARD: Pinola, 42'

1/29/2004 09:55:00 PM | Permalink |

Utrecht 0 - 1 Roosendaal

Last Wednesday FC Utrecht lost the home match against RBC Roosendaal. In the dying seconds of the match defender Robert Molenaar scored the only goal of the evening.

Formation FC Utrecht: Ponk, Lamey, Keller, Touzani (87. De Groot), Braafheid, Leitoe (35. Calabro), De Jong, (72. Kruys), Bosschaart, Van den Bergh,Tanghe, Van de Haar

Formation RBC Roosendaal: Aerts, Lammens, Molenaar, Hesp, Hellemons, Tininho (90. Fleur), De Graaf, Oliseh, Daelemans, Youssouf (89. Thompson), Niño (71. Cas)

Goal: Molenaar 82´ (0-1)

1/29/2004 09:46:00 AM | Permalink |

PSV 5 - 1 Zwolle

For forty-five minutes the newly-laid pitch in the Eindhoven Philips Stadium was in a good condition and made it possible for the players to perform reasonably well, but when the snow kept falling , the conditions deteriorated by the minute.

PSV Eindhoven have joined Ajax on top of the Eredivisie after thrashing the bottom team FC Zwolle 5-1 this evening. Jurgen Colin, John de Jong and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink all hit the back of the net in the opening 25 minutes to wrap up an easy victory for Guus Hiddink's reigning champions.

Andre de Ridder responded for the visitors before Hesselink and Johan Volanthen added emphasis to the victory.

Goals: Colin 16´(1-0); John de Jong 22´(2-0); Vennegoor of Hesselink 25´(3-0); De Ridder 29´(3-1); Vennegoor of Hesselink 75´(4-1); Vonlanthen 90´(5-1)

1/29/2004 09:39:00 AM | Permalink |

AC Milan 2-1 Siena

AC Milan moved top of Serie A on Wednesday night after goals from Brazilian playmaker Kaká and Danish striker Jon Dahl Tomasson gave them a 2-1 home win against AC Siena. Carlo Ancelotti's side now lead the table with 45 points while AS Roma are two points behind and Juventus FC third on 40 points.

Kaká, who scored twice in Sunday's 5-0 crushing of Ancona Calcio, claimed his seventh league goal of the season with the opener after 38 minutes. Collecting a pass from Andriy Shevchenko, he skipped past Stefano Argilli before wrongfooting Siena goalkeeper Generoso Rossi with his shot.

Siena missed the opportunity of an instant reply a minute later when Fernando had his penalty saved by Dida, after Milan's Paolo Maldini had brought down Tore André Flo. Instead Milan doubled their advantage nine minutes after the break when Rossi failed to hold on to a long-range effort from Cristian Brocchi and Tomasson pounced to slot home the loose ball. After Shevchenko had struck a post, Flo gave Siena a glimmer of hope in the 87th minute with a left-foot strike after a deflected shot from Roberto D'Aversa fell to him at the back post. The defeat leaves Siena tenth in the table.


MILAN: Dida; Cafu, Costacurta (Laursen, 46'), Maldini, Pancaro; Brocchi, Redondo, Seedorf (Gattuso, 77'); Kakà; Tomasson, Shevchenko (Serginho, 90').

SIENA: Rossi; Cufré, Argilli, Mignani, Guigou; Taddei (Junior, 69'), Vergassola, D'Aversa, Menegazzo (Ventola, 60'), Lazetic (Chiesa, 57'); Flo.

GOALS: 1-0 Kaká, 38'; 2-0 Tomasson, 54'; 2-1 Flo, 87'.

Source:Uefa.com

1/28/2004 11:12:00 PM | Permalink |

Estrela da Amadora sings central defender

Estrela da Amadora signed brazilian central defender Marcos, from Vitoria Bahia, until the end of the season. Marcos has already played in Portugal, in Rio Ave and Sporting, before leaving to PSV, and the Brazil.

1/28/2004 10:10:00 PM | Permalink |

3 points awarded to San Lorenzo

The 3 points have been given to San Lorenzo, for the match agaisnt River Plate, that was interrupted due to violence. San Lorenzo was winning 1-0 before the incidents.

1/28/2004 09:30:00 PM | Permalink |

Bogarde close to PSV

At the end of this week the transfer window closes and PSV boss Guus Hiddink is still anxious to bring in new faces to strengthen the defence.
When he was in Turkey, Hiddink has a list full of big names, but the number of candidates has been brought back to two or three players. The name of Chelsea player Winston Bogarde was mentioned all the time this week.

Hiddink: "The name was dropped at the latest post-match press conference, but not by me. He is one of the potential players, but actually I don’t feel like commenting on this issue, because we are still working on it and we haven’t much time left."

Hiddink revealed that the other two players are of foreign descent. "Frank Arnesen, Manager technical Affairs, is dealing with it right now. A lot of items are involved in transfers like these before a move has been completed. The player himself, the club, transfer money etc. The choice is determined by the fact whether the player is available at short notice and, of course, by financial motives. But the choice of players is definitely not unlimited at the moment", said Hiddink.

Source: PSV Official Site

1/28/2004 03:27:00 PM | Permalink |

Hamburg and Asia hero - Full Story

At the age of 16, Mehdi Mahdavikia was a promising youngster who happily underwent a strict daily training regime at Iranian club Pirouzi Tehran. A decade on, he has just signed a deal with Hamburger SV that makes the 2003 Asian Player of the Year one of the Bundesliga's best-paid stars.

Mahdavikia moved to Europe in 1998 to join VfL Bochum 1848, but he looks back proudly on the footballing education of his youth. "When I was 16, my youth coach at Pirouzi demanded that I take 60 crosses from the right wing every day," he said. "I am very grateful to him now."

"Conditions back home are different to what German people are used to," he continued. "Professional football only started in Iran a couple of years ago, and unlike in Germany the kids don't have the opportunity to join clubs at a very early age." Despite this, Mahdavikia did enough to become Asian Youth Player of the Year in 1997, and was part of the Iran squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup that claimed a famous 2-1 win against the United States. He now has 72 caps.

His performances earned the switch to Bochum. "I felt all alone in the beginning and had many problems adapting to a different culture as it was my first time abroad, but I learned a lot during those days," Mahdavikia said. Bochum were relegated in his first season, but he joined Hamburg and in 2000/01 entered the UEFA Champions League.



Hamburg might have been eliminated, but their 3-1 victory at Juventus FC remains a highlight. However, disappointments followed as Iran lost a World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland, and in 2002 Mahdavikia was plagued by a mysterious back pain. After months of injections and examinations it was discovered that he had seriously damaged his intervertebral disk. "This was a very bad time for me," he said. "I stayed at home and had to lie on my back all the time, but the pain hardly stopped. I was afraid my career was over." But thanks to the skills of an Iranian surgeon, and Mahdavikia's hard work, he was able to return in autumn 2002 to help Hamburg rise from the foot of the table to a UEFA Cup slot.

'Extraordinary professional'
Former Hamburg coach Kurt Jara said: "Mehdi is an extraordinary professional. You don't find many players on the right wing who run that fast and cross the ball so well. I think that Mehdi is on the same level as [David] Beckham."

International return
In October 2003, he laid on two goals on his return to international football as Iran lifted the AFC/OFC Challenge Cup against New Zealand. Clubs in England, Italy and Spain were taking an interest in a player whose contract expired in summer 2004.

Family life
However, he has opted to stay at Hamburg, not least because his wife and daughter enjoy life in a city with a 40,000-strong Iranian community. "My family love living in Hamburg and have integrated well and found plenty of friends here," he said.

Future hope
So much so that he is already dreaming of playing at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. "It would be a dream come true to play here in Hamburg's stadium in 2006, with my compatriots in the stands." Given his enormous popularity with the Hamburg fans, a fair few Germans would lend their support too.

Source: Uefa.com

1/28/2004 02:53:00 PM | Permalink |

Braga Sign Daniel Kenedy

Braga have signed Daniel Kenedy on a free transfer after he was released by Maritimo.

The 29-year-old is expected to be on the bench for the club when they face Moreirense this weekend.

Braga becomed Kenedy's 7th club as he has played for Benfica, PSG, FC Porto, Albacete, Estrela Amadora and Maritimo.

Born in Guinea-Bissau, Kenedy was named to Portugal's 2002 World Cup team but was forced to miss out on the tournament after he tested positive for a banned substance.

Source: Soccerage

1/28/2004 09:11:00 AM | Permalink |

Bengtsson signs for Inter

F.C. Internazionale have completed the signing of Swedish Under-18 international Martin Bengtsson from Orebro FK.

Born in 1986, the central midfielder/playmaker is one of the emerging talents of northern European football and has long been a target of Nerazzurri youth sector scouts.

Bengtsson has put pen to paper on a contract which will expire on 30 June 2006, and will be at the service of Inter Primavera coach Daniele Bernazzani from Tuesday.

source: www.inter.it

1/28/2004 12:31:00 AM | Permalink |

The Bundesliga's first lady

Whoever thinks that the Bundesliga is just a man's world is mistaken. At the age of 33, Katja Kraus has become the league's first lady by joining the board of Hamburger SV.

Having won two league titles and five German Cups as a goalkeeper with the country's finest women's team, 1. FFC Frankfurt, Kraus's credentials are not in question. She also represented Germany in two UEFA European Women's Championships and the 1996 Olympic Games before retiring in 1998, by which time she had already crossed over into the men's game.

"I started in men's football years ago when I was press officer at Eintracht Frankfurt," says the self-made woman from Offenbach. "After that I worked in football for a sports marketing enterprise and then I joined Hamburg in my current position." Since spring 2003 Kraus has been in charge of communication and marketing at Hamburg.

1/27/2004 03:49:00 PM | Permalink |

League Standings

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Porto 19 51
2. Sporting 19 46
3. Benfica 19 40
4. Braga 19 33
5. Beira-Mar 19 31
...

19. Est. Amadora 19 11



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Monaco 21 47
2. PSG 21 39
3. Lyon 20 38
4. Auxerre 21 38
5. Souchaux 21 38



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1 Ajax 17 43
2 PSV 17 40
3 Alkmaar 17 32
4 Feyenoord 17 31
5 Heerenveen 17 28
...
8. Utrecht 17 25



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Besiktas 17 43
2. Fenerbahçe 18 38
3. Trabzonspor 18 34
4. Denizlispor 18 30
5. Malatyaspor 18 30



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Real Madrid 21 46
2. Valencia 21 44
3. Deportivo 21 40
4. Atlético 21 35
5. Osasuna 21 33
...
8. Athletic 21 30



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1 Roma 18 43
2. Milan 17 42
3. Juventus 18 40
4. Inter 18 32
5. Parma 18 32


Torneo de Verano

Pos. team Pld Pt
1. Racing 2 6
2. San Lorenzo 3 6
3. River Plate 3 6
4. Boca Juniors 3 3
5. Independiente 3 0


Campeonato Carioca
Group A

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Vasco da Gama 1 3
2. Botafogo 1 3
3. Americano 1 3
4. Bangu 1 0
5. Olaria 1 0

1/27/2004 03:15:00 PM | Permalink |

HSV MUSEUM TO OPEN ON FEBRUARY 7th!

The history of the only club never to have been relegated from the Bundesliga is about to come to life on February 7th! That's the day when HSV opens it's one of a kind in German football museum within 7 rooms in the AOL Arena. The trip into the past is to be presented to the fans with around 500 square metres of pure HSV history which is sure to bring it all back.

Opening times apart from match days:

Monday - Sunday from 10.00 am until 7.00 pm

Private tours are available after prior consultation

Ticket prices:

6 Euros: Adults

3 Euros: Students, school children and pensioners.

1/27/2004 11:30:00 AM | Permalink |

Bundesliga Winter transfer deals

After a break of 44 days, the Bundesliga begins again at the weekend. After a break of 44 days, the Bundesliga begins again at the weekend.

HSV
Bought: Tom Starke (Bayer Leverkusen/ loan)
Sold / Loan: None

Hertha
Bought: Dennis Cagara (Bröndby Kopenhagen)
Sold / Loan: None

Bochum
Bought: None
Sold / Loan: Bjarne Gudjonsson (Coventry City/ loan), Cristian Fiel (Alemannia Aachen)

Werder Bremen
Bought: Pekka Lagerblom (Lahti)
Sold / Loan: Marco Reich (Derby County), Christian Lenze (Osnabrück), Manuel Friedrich (Mainz loan)

Borussia Dortmund
Bought: None
Sold / Loan: Juan Ramon Fernandez (River Plate/ loan)

Eintracht Frankfurt
Bought: Ioannis Amanatidis (Stuttgart), Ingo Hertzsch (Bayer Leverkusen)
Sold / Loan: None

Freiburg
Bought: None
Sold / Loan: None

Hanover
Bought: Clint Mathis (New York/New Jersey Metro Stars)
Sold / Loan: None

Kaiserslautern
Bought: Timo Wenzel (Stuttgart)
Sold / Loan: Markus Anfang, Steffen Freund and Thomas Hengen ( all dismissed)

Cologne
Bought: Markus Feulner (Bayern Munich), Albert Streit (Wolfsburg/ loan)
Sold / Loan: Markus Dworrak (Mainz), Sebastian Helbig (Unterhaching/ loan), Markus Happe (dismissed)

Bayer Leverkusen
Bought: None
Sold / Loan: Tom Starke (HSV/ loan), Sebastian Schoof (Rot-Weiß Essen), Ingo Hertzsch (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Borussia Mönchengladbach
Bought: Thomas Broich (Wacker Burghausen)
Sold / Loan: Lawrence Aidoo (Nürnberg/ loan), Otto Frederikson (Jaro Finnland/ loan), Peter van Houdt (Duisburg)

1860 Munich
Bought: Gerhard Poschner (Polideportivo Ejido), Fernando Santos (Flamengo Rio de Janeiro)
Sold / Loan: Daniel Borimirow (Lewski Sofia), Michael Wiesinger (Wacker Burghausen/ loan)

Bayern Munich
Bought: None
Sold / Loan: Markus Feulner (Cologne)

Hansa Rostock
Bought: Kim Madsen (Wolfsburg/ loan)
Sold / Loan: None

Schalke
Bought: None
Sold / Loan: Eduardo Alcides (Mirassol)

Stuttgart
Bought: Marco Streller (Basel), Boris Zivkovic (Portsmouth)
Sold / Loan: Timo Wenzel (Kaiserslautern)

Wolfsburg
Bought: None
Sold / Loan: Albert Streit (Cologne), Charles Akonnor ( Unterhaching), Sven Müller (Nürnberg), Kim Madsen (Hansa Rostock/ loan)

1/27/2004 11:25:00 AM | Permalink |

Benfica Retire Feher's Number 29

In honour of Hungarian striker Miklos Feher, Benfica president Luís Filipe Vieira has announced that nobody will wear the number 29 jersey at the club again.

"Benfica has lost a great player, but more importantly, a great man," he said at a funeral home in Lisbon.

Thousands of fans, players, and friends showed up to pay their respect to Feher.

Benfica's captain Helder was also supposed to give a speech, but in the end was too emotionally distraught to do so.

Source: Soccerage

1/27/2004 09:15:00 AM | Permalink |

Miklos Feher (1979 - 2004)

Today football is crying for the death of a young football player that died during a football match yesterday between V. Guimarães- Benfica. The Benfica player, and Hungarian International, Miklos Feher said goodbye to life yesterday in Guimaraes. We want to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends. Farewell Feher. You will stay in our hearts forever.

FU TEAM



At 24 years old, Hungarian striker Miklos Feher has passed away.

He leaves behind him a promising career that saw him join FC Porto at the age of 19.

He was born on July 20, 1979 and started his career by playing for Gyor, which happens to be the Hungarian city he was born in.

He spent three years as a senior team member there and notched 23 goals in 62 matches in the Hungarian Premier League.

His impressive strike rate coupled his impressive physical stature immediately alerted the attention of Portuguese giants FC Porto.

In 1998/1999, he moved to FC Porto and won the Portuguese league championship.

Feher did not get much playing time with FC Porto as Mario Jardel was in his prime.

Midway through the 1999/2000 season Porto loaned Feher to Salgueiros, who at the time were playing in the Portuguese Premier League.

In 14 appearances for the strugglers, he scored 5 goals and was the main reason the club stayed in the top flight that season.

The following season (2000/2001) he was loaned to Sporting Braga where he enjoyed the best season of his career scoring 14 goals in 26 matches and earned MVP honours at the club that season.

Despite his goal scoring exploits, FC Porto still considered Feher a hot prospect for the future and not a first team regular.

In 2001/2002, he asked for a transfer away from the club but his request was denied and he spent the entire season playing with their B team until his contract expired in June of 2002.

He immediately signed for rivals Benfica, where he scored 4 goals in 17 appearances.

This season, he scored three times despite being used as a substitute for the majority of the season.

By the Hungarian National team Feher played 25 times and scored 7 goals.

He assisted on the winning goal Sunday evening just minutes before the tragedy.

The world looses exemplary young man who lived for Football.

Source: soccerage

1/26/2004 03:51:00 PM | Permalink |

Ýstanbulspor 0-1 Fenerbahçe

Fabio Luciano`s header in the 13th minute earned us the three points in a tense game against problem-struck Istanbulspor today. The final seconds of the game saw an indirect free kick being given against us in the box, but a double save from the on-song Volkan kept the score at 1-0 before the final whistle moments later.
Marcio Nobre was also impressive in only his second competitive game for Fenerbahçe, as the Brazilian worked very hard up front and showed compatibility with strike partner Pierre van Hooijdonk.

Christoph Daum played Ivailo Petkov at left back, leaving out Ýsmail Güldüren and Sergei Rebrov due to the foreign player restrictions whilst fielding Fatih Akyel in the place of the suspended Stjepan Tomas in defence. Ümit Özat played a more wide role, leaving the central midfield`s defensive duties to Selçuk Þahin with assistance from Marco Aurelio.

The win gives us a good start to the second half of the league, taking our points to 38, five behind Beþiktaþ who have a game in hand to be played on Sunday night.

ÝSTANBULSPOR: Oðuz, Cem, Deniz Uygar, Saffet, Faruk, Musa Büyük, Aytekin, Saidou, Musa Kuþ, Iordanov, Boliç

FENERBAHÇE: Volkan, Ümit, Fatih, Luciano, Petkov, Ali Güneþ, Selçuk, Aurelio (78` Rebrov) , Tuncay (79` Mahmut Hanefi), Nobre, Van Hooijdonk

GOL: 13` Luciano

1/26/2004 11:15:00 AM | Permalink |

Nacional 5 - 1 Braga

Nacional hit Braga with five goals as they went on to win 5-1.
Two goals each from Adriano and Rossato and one from Gouveia was more than enough to lead the home side to victory.
Wender scored Braga's lone goal. Nobody could expect to see Braga team performing the way they performed yesterday. National clearly deserved to win and the goals suffered by Braga express what happened in the game.

Nacional: Hilário, Patacas, Ávalos, Emerson Nunes, Cleomir, Cléber Oliveira, Paulo Assunção, Gouveia, Alexandre Goulart, Rossato, Adriano.

Braga: Quim, Éder, Nem, Paulo Jorge, Jorge Luíz, Vanzini, Soderström, Nikolov, Wender, Pena, Paulo Sérgio

1/26/2004 11:11:00 AM | Permalink |

FC Groningen 0 - 2 PSV

PSV had a bright start to the second part of the campaign: they coasted to a comfortable 0-2 win over FC Groningen in the Groningen Oosterpark Stadium, thanks to first half goals by Bouma and Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Goals: Bouma 31´(0-1); Vennegoor of Hesselink 36`(0-2)

1/26/2004 10:55:00 AM | Permalink |

Feyenoord 3 - 2 Utrecht

Utrecht, who beat Feyenoord in the Amstel Cup final last season, led 2-0 midway through the first half through goals from Stefaan Tanghe and Richal Leitoe. However, Thomas Buffel gave the Rotterdam club hope on 28 minutes and Dirk Kuijt created a fairytale finish with two goals in the last 12 minutes against his former club.

Feyenoord: Lodewijks, Song, Van Wonderen, Paauwe, Van Haaren, Schreuder, Smolarek, Pardo (81. Bombarda), Van Persie (75. Lazovic), Kuijt, Buffel

FC Utrecht: Ponk, Keller, Zwaanswijk, Touzani, Braafheid (89. Broerse), Leitoe (69. Kruys), Bosschaart, De Jong, Van den Bergh (90. Chaiat), Tanghe, Van de Haar

1/26/2004 10:51:00 AM | Permalink |

Athletic 1-0 Deportivo Coruña

To the good Galician start, Athletic Club has countered their occasions, to enter a dynamic of greater balance until the halftime. Contrary to the last matches, the beginning ofthe second halfhas been optimized by the basques, and Yeste has been able to fold Molina's opposition and score the 1-0. In spite having their occasions the second goal did not arrive, giving way to the rival's occasions, although Tristan was not very accurate.

ATHLETIC: Aranzubia, Javi González, Karanka, Luis Prieto, Del Horno, Gurpegi, Tiko (Orbaiz, 46'), Yeste (Guerrero, 73'), Etxeberria, Ezquerro (Lacruz, 82'), Urzaíz.

DEPORTIVO: Molina, Manuel Pablo, César, Andrade, Capdevilla, Mauro Silva, Duscher (Munitis, 68'), Sérgio (Djalminha, 78'), Valerón, Luque (Fran, 78'), Diego Tristán.

GOALS: 1-0 Yeste, 49'

Source:athletic-club.net

1/26/2004 10:33:00 AM | Permalink |

Botafogo 1-0 Olaria

1/26/2004 10:17:00 AM | Permalink |

AC Milan 5-0 Ancona

Milan swept aside bottom side Ancona to continue their charge to the top of Serie A. A two-faced match at the San Siro for the Rossoneri in front of a well-organized and close opposition. The first half registered the same poor play seen at Brescia.

Apart from the five second-half goals in which Manuel Rui Costa celebrated his first Serie A goal in three years and captain Paolo Maldini broke the league record of appearances, with 520, it was also the first time a female assistant, Cristina Cini, had taken part in a Serie A encounter. Mario Jardel also made his debut for Ancona.

Ancona held out for 62 minutes and had a good chance to open the scoring in the first half when Vincenzo Sommese skimmed the post with a low shot and then forced Dida into a full-stretch save. Milan took control in the second half and went ahead through a penalty when Andriy Shevchenko’s shot hit Roberto Maltagliati on the arm. The Ukrainian then converted coolly from the spot.

Rui Costa then had his moment to celebrate as Shevchenko pulled the ball back for the Portuguese midfielder to drive home a low shot. Jon Dahl Tomasson came on as a substitute and was immediately fouled in the area, the same player stepped up to score from the resultant penalty. Tomasson then set-up Kaka with a backheel which the Brazilian slammed into the roof of the net from close range and Kaka got his second when he skipped beyond the offside trap before finishing with a low shot into the corner.

MILAN: Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Pancaro; Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (75' Serginho) ; Rui Costa, Kakà; Shevchenko (75'Tomasson).

ANCONA: Marcon; Sartor, Maltagliati, Milanese, Zavagno; Sommese (69' Pandev), Andersson, D. Baggio, Berretta; Jardel (85'De Falco), Grabbi (37' Degano).

Goalscorers: 1-0, 64' Shevchenko; 2-0, 71' Rui Costa; 3-0, 78' Tomasson; 4-0, 84' Kaka; 5-0, 90' Kaka

Source: acmilan.com

1/25/2004 10:28:00 PM | Permalink |

Boca Juniors 0-1 River Plate

River Plate, lining-up mostly with youth players, defeated rivals Boca Juniors in Mar del Plata for the Torneo de Verano. Leo Astrada won his first derby. Boca Juniors appeard nervous and insecure, especially in defense. These errors were not neglected by the youths of River, wich played with will, and rose up to the world champions, deserving this first win of the year in the derby between the eternal rivals.


BOCA JUNIORS: Roberto Abbondanzieri; Luis Perea, Rolando Schiavi, Diego Crosa, Facundo Imboden; Diego Cagna, Raúl Cascini, Fabián Vargas (Barijho, 66'); Matías Donnet; Guillermo Barros Schelotto y Pedro Iarley (Caneo, 81').

RIVER PLATE: Franco Costanzo; Luis Lobo, Ricardo Rojas, Cristian Nasuti, Franco Miranda; Gabriel Pereyra (Toranzo, 84'), Claudio Husain, Rubens Sambuesa (Ahumada, 90'); Daniel Ludueña; Daniel Montenegro y Maximiliano López.

GOALS: 0-1 Montenegro, 44'

1/25/2004 10:10:00 PM | Permalink |

Modena 1 - Inter 1

MODENA - The Nerazzurri were held to a 1-1 draw by Modena in Sunday afternoon's Serie A Week 18 match at the Alberto Braglia.

A compact and aggressive Inter maintained the initiative for most of the first half and took the lead through Recoba on 11 minutes. El Chino controlled Farinos ' long ball with his right foot, switched to his favoured left then struck hard and low past Ballotta.

Modena were presented with a chance to equalise from the penalty spot in the 26th minute after Cannavaro handled Vignaroli's shot on the turn, but Francesco Toldo saved Milanetto's spot kick with his right leg.

Malesani's men grew as the half progressed and drew level on 41 minutes when Nigerian forward Makinwa raced on to Marasco's through ball then with Toldo off his line lifted the ball over the Nerazzurri keeper to score his first Serie A goal.

Zaccheroni brought on Adriano for Obafemi Martins at the start of the second half. But the Canaries proved to be tougher opposition than they were in the opening period and the Brazilian striker was limited to a couple of long-range strikes from free kicks and a shot from an offside position on his first appearance in black and blue since rejoining Inter from Parma in midweek.

Match facts:
Scorers: Recoba 11', Makinwa 41'
Booked: Vignaroli 29', Farinos 37', Cordoba 73'
Referee: Pierluigi Collina

MODENA: 11 Ballotta; 27 Pivotto (23 Pavan, 32'), 29 Cevoli, 99 Grandoni; 25 Campedelli, 8 Marasco, 7 Milanetto, 10 Domizzi (19 Music 78'), 3 Balestri; 18 Makinwa (22 Marazzina 82'), 20 Vignaroli
Subs not used: 13 Zancope', 4 Ponzo, 14 Allegretti, 77 Scoponi
Coach: Alberto Malesani

INTER: 1 Toldo ; 2 Cordoba , 15 Adani , 17 Cannavaro ; 13 Helveg (26 Pasquale 42'), 14 Farinos , 8 Lamouchi , 4 J. Zanetti ; 20 Recoba , 30 Martins (10 Adriano 46'), 7 van der Meyde (19 Karagounis 70')
Subs not used: 12 Fontana , 9 Cruz , 22 Okan , 24 Gamarra
Coach: Alberto Zaccheroni

source: www.inter.it

1/25/2004 09:09:00 PM | Permalink |

Fenerbahçe 4-1 Ç. Rizespor

The replay against Çaykur Rizespor result in a good victory for the home team. Brazilian forward Nobre started the game upfront with van Hooijdonk and got a dream start as he finished from close range in the 27th minute after compatriot Fabio Luciano scraped on a corner with his head.

The second goal came through a penalty after Koray brought down Ümit Özat in the box, which resulted in the Rize player getting sent off. Van Hooijdonk sent the keeper the wrong way, 2-0 with five minutes to go to half time.

Despite having 10 men, Çaykur Rizespor were effective in the second half and clinched one back in the 74th minute through Duro`s hard shot.

But Pierre`s header at the back post in the 80th minute and Nobre`s second goal of the evening four minutes later ensured the three points. Rizespor`s keeper, Murat Yiğiter, was sent off for ungentlemanly conduct with minutes to go to the final whistle.

FENERBAHÇE: Volkan, Ali Güneş, Tomas, Luciano, İsmail, Rebrov (83` Aurelio), Ümit, Selçuk, Tuncay (46` Serhat), Nobre, Van Hooijdonk

ÇAYKUR RİZESPOR: Murat Yiğiter, Ahmet, Koray, Kürşat, Şener, Gürol, Cem Baki (63` Duro), Miranda, Sedlak, Zafer ( 46` Serkan Özdemir, 90` Serkan Şen), Okan

Goals: 27`,85` Marcio Nobre, 40` (p), 81` Pierre van Hooijdonk, 75` Duro (Çaykur Rizespor)

1/24/2004 11:19:00 PM | Permalink |

PSG beat Marseille in the french cup

PSG are through to the next round of Coupe de France courtesy of a 2-1 victory over hosts Marseille in extra-time.

The match was lively from the beginning, and Pauleta opened the scoring after only 9 minutes for PSG. The Portuguese striker capitalised on poor defending from l'OM and won his one-on-one with Barthez.

Yet, Didier Drogba pulled Marseille level on 34 minutes. A mistake by the highly-rated Heinze enabled the Ivory Coast hit-man to break through and his effort deceived a wrong-footed Jérôme Alonzo.

The second half of the game was entertaining as well, but no further goal was scored before extra-time. The match was very even, and both sides could have taken the lead.

Finally, Juan Pablo Sorin netted a crucial second goal for the visitors on 102 minutes. Sorin headed in a Reinaldo cross to put PSG ahead. Despite several attempts, Marseille couldn't come back and this is one more home defeat for l'OM against Paris.

Marseille : Barthez - Ecker (Mido, 106e), Meïte, Van Buyten, Christanval - Skacel, Celestini, Johansen (Flamini, 46e), Meriem - Drogba, Sychev (Barry, 86e). Entr. : Perrin.

PSG : Letizi - Mendy, Pierre-Fanfan, Sorin, Heinze - Cana, Déhu, Rocchi - Fiorèse (Hugo Leal, 46e), Ljuboja (Cubilier, 115e), Pauleta (Reinaldo, 55e). Entr. : Halilhodzic

Goals: Pauleta 9´(0-1); Drogba 34´(1-1); Sorin 102´(1-2)

Source: Soccerage

1/24/2004 09:24:00 PM | Permalink |

AS Roma 1-2 AC Milan

AC Milan sealed a Coppa Italia semi-final against S.S. Lazio as a 2-1 victory against AS Roma in the second leg of their quarter-final earned a 4-2 aggregate success. Second-half strikes from Alessandro Nesta and Jon Dahl Tomasson gave the holders the win in the Stadio Olimpico, marking the third time Milan had beaten the Serie A leaders in 16 days.

Trailing 2-1 after the first match, Roma began brightly and midfield player Daniele De Rossi had a shot cleared off the line. Meanwhile, at the other end Brazilian winger Serginho narrowly failed to connect with a cross that flashed dangerously across the goal. Four minutes after the break, however, central defender Nesta put the visitors ahead, nodding Serginho's cross past Roma's reserve goalkeeper Andrea Zotti. Danish striker Tomasson added a second in the 57th minute, spinning round defender Christian Panucci on the edge of the area before shooting into the net.

Roma midfield player Alessandro Mancini pulled a goal back nine minutes from time, but Fabio Capello's side never looked capable of mounting an unlikely comeback and missed out on a possible meeting with their city neighbours Lazio in the last four.

AS ROMA: Zotti, Dellas (Carew 63'), Samuel, Panucci, Candela, D' Agostino, Tommasi (Dacourt 63'), De Rossi D. (Wahab 78'), Lima, Mancini, Delvecchio.

AC MILAN: Dida, Simic, Laursen, Costacurta, Pancaro(Nesta, 46'), Brocchi, Redondo, Ambrosini (Gattuso, 50'), Seedorf, Serginho (Borriello, 72'), Tomasson.

GOALS: 0-1 Nesta, 49'; 0-2 Tomasson, 57'; 1-2 Mancini, 84

Source: Uefa.com

1/23/2004 05:56:00 PM | Permalink |

Hungary right back

The Hungarian right back Laszlo Bodnar (24) (11 international caps), will have a trial at HSV next week. He recently had his contract at the Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kiev annulled.

1/23/2004 02:44:00 PM | Permalink |

Fenerbahce Close To Yakin Signing

Fenerbahce are said to be closing to signing Swiss midfield sensation Hakan Yakin for 2.5m euros.

The Basel star joined Paris St Germain last summer only for the transfer to be cancelled due to a concealed injury.

The 26-year-old has once again proved to be an inspiration for Basel, who are racing towards the Swiss championship, and has again attracted plenty of interest in his signature.

Christophe Daum has expressed an interest in signing Yakin, whose agent has said the the transfer is close to being concluded.

Basel president Gigi Oeri and coach Christian Gross are understood to have accepted it is time, once again, to sell Yakin, who is constantly surrounded by transfer speculation.

Hakan's brother Murat, who is currently at Basel, had a spell in Turkey with Fenerbahce.

Source: Soccerage

1/23/2004 02:16:00 PM | Permalink |

Following Fenerbahçe

From now on the FU Team will follow another championship that is currently improving his level. We are talking about Turkish Championship and the team that will be followed is Fenerbahçe, the most popular team in Turkey. Fenerbahçe is currently in the 2th position in the championship, 8 points behind the lider Besiktas.
Fenerbahçe have in their squad several international players from Turkey and international stars like the ucranian Rebrov and the dutch Van Hooijdonk.

1/23/2004 02:15:00 PM | Permalink |

Jacobsen to Anderlecht?

HSV's Danish-born defender Lars Jacobsen came to Hamburg in 2002 from Odense BK, with a good reputation and high hopes of making his mark in the Bundesliga like his compatriots Ebbe Sand, Brian Laudrup or Fleming Poulson did. Sadly, reputation is not enough to make it in top flight football.

Jacobsen has failed to make his mark in Hamburg and has played only 12 matches, scoring once in the process. Coach Klaus Toppmöller had expected more from the 24 year old at the club's training camp in Spain...he has been disappointed by the Dane.

It could well be that Toppmöller considers Jacobsen to be surplus to requirements at HSV, because the player is expected to have a trial at Belgium's biggest club Anderlecht this week.

Source: Hamburg.de

1/23/2004 09:52:00 AM | Permalink |

League Standings

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Porto 18 48
2. Sporting 18 43
3. Benfica 18 37
4. Braga 18 33
5. Beira-Mar 18 31
...
18. Est. Amadora 18 11



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Valencia 20 44
2. Real Madrid 20 43
3. Deportivo 20 40
4. Atl. Madrid 30 34
5. Villareal 20 33
...
8. Athletic 20 27



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Monaco 21 47
2. PSG 21 39
3. Lyon 20 38
4. Auxerre 21 38
5. Souchaux 21 38



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Roma 17 42
2. Juventus 17 39
3. AC Milan 16 39
4. Inter 17 31
5. Parma 17 31



Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Arsenal 22 52
2. Man Utd 22 50
3. Chelsea 22 46
4. Charlton 22 37
5. Liverpool 22 33



Torneo de Verano

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Racing 2 6
2. San Lorenzo 3 6
3. River Plate 2 3
4. Boca Juniors 2 3
5. Independiente 2 0

1/22/2004 09:57:00 PM | Permalink |

Feyenoord - Utrecht

VS

Eredivisie is back next weekend and Utrecht have a big match to brake the ice of the winter brake. Currently in the 8th position Utrecht will visit rotterdam to play agains Feyenoord that is currently on 4th position, only 6 points ahead from Utrecht.

1/22/2004 03:14:00 PM | Permalink |

HSV crush Grasshoppers!

HSV beat the Swiss side Grasshoppers Zürich 4:2 (3:0) in the Spanish resort of Oliva Nova yesterday. HSV goals scored by Naohiro Takahara (2.), Björn Schlicke (33.), Mehdi Mahdavikia (45.) and Alexander Meier (80.). Zurich replied late in the match through goals by Richard Nunez (82.) and Manuel Bühler (85.).

After the match the HSV coach Klaus Toppmöller was happy with the way his side had played, especially in the first half: „I’m very happy with the performance in the first half. I'd like to see more of the same against Hanover when the Bundesliga re-starts. Our pressing and the way we used the space were good points," said Toppmöller. The biggest smile was understandably on the face of the veteran Bernd "Holler" Hollerbach, who played his first game after an age on the sidelines due to injury: "We played really well in the first half. On a personal note, I'm delighted that I was able to play pain free after my long absence," beamed Holler

The HSV line-up:

Wächter (60. Starke) - Wicky (60. Fukal), Schlicke, Reinhardt (75. Bröcker), Hollerbach (46. Kling) - Mahdavikia (60. Jacobsen) , Maltritz, Jarolim (60. Meier), Beinlich (46. Rahn) - Takahara (46. Romeo), Barbarez


Goals: 1:0 Takahara (2.), 2:0 Schlicke (33.), 3:0 Mahdavika (45.), 4:0 Meier (80.), 4:1 Nunez (82.), 4:2 Bühler (85.)

1/22/2004 02:34:00 PM | Permalink |

River Plate - San Lorenzo interrupted due to violence

1/22/2004 02:02:00 PM | Permalink |

Pool Results

1/22/2004 11:12:00 AM | Permalink |

Alex close to SL Benfica

According to the Brasilians newspapers Alex is on verge of signing for Benfica for 3,5 seasons. HSV is also in the run for the player as noticed yesterday in the FU. But according to several sources Benfica is in front of the race. The negotiations had started already in the beguinning of January during the Benfica president visit to Brasil and they got mutch more serious after Cruzeiro signed Rivaldo.
As known the players play in the same place in the field and Cruzeiro would see with good eyes the transfer money. The player is currently valuated in 7 millions euros but Benfica might envolve Roger in the transfer, so the fee might be mutch lower.

1/22/2004 10:45:00 AM | Permalink |

Beira-Mar Signs Malá

Beira-Mar have signed the miedfielder Malá from the Second B division Odivelas club with a four and a half years contract.
The 23-year-old has been formed at Football school of Belenenses, and as senir played only in some minor portuguese clubs. Until now. António Sousa said "Malá is a great player and I believe he will play very soon". We hope so!

1/22/2004 01:56:00 AM | Permalink |

Inter 3 - Udinese 1

MILAN - The Nerazzurri are through to the semi-finals of the Tim Cup after a convincing 3-1 win a home to Udinese.

Dutch winger Andy van der Meyde put Inter in front after 16 minutes of play when his powerful right-footed free kick from a tight angle on the left wing went in at the far post.

Udinese were back in the game ten minutes before the break when Fava anticipated Cordoba to Alberto's curled right-wing cross then powered a header past Toldo , meaning the Nerazzurri had to score in the second half to remain in the domestic cup competition.

That they did, and Obafemi Martins restored Inter's lead six minutes into the second half. The Nigerian showed all his pace as he raced on to Helveg 's through ball, made a darting fifteen-metre run then with Renard off his line coolly slotted past the Bianconeri custodian.

Second-half subsititute Julio Cruz made the result safe on 62 minutes when he procured a penalty then sent his spot kick out of Renard's reach and in at the bottom right-hand corner.

INTER 3-1 UDINESE (ht: 1-1, aggregate score 4-2)
Scorers: van der Meyde 16', Fava 35', Martins 51', Cruz (pen) 62'

INTER: Toldo , Cordoba , J. Zanetti (Pasquale 65'), Emre , van der Meyde , Helveg , Cannavaro , Recoba (Cruz 46'), Gamarra , Almeyda (Farinos 23'), Martins
Subs not used: Fontana , Lamouchi , Adani , Karagounis
Coach: Zaccheroni

UDINESE: Renard, Kroldrup. Bertotto, Jankulovski, Jorgensen, Fava, Felipe, Pazienza, Alberto (Castroman 61'), Pieri (Gutierrez 20', Iaquinta 85'), Muntari
Subs not used: De Sanctis, Rossitto, Lestani, Politti
Coach: Spalletti

Referee: Messina
Booked: Bertotto 16', Cordoba 48', Bertotto 58', Pazienza 61', Cruz 74', Helveg 80' (Cruz and Helveg will miss the semi-final first leg due to suspension)

(source: www.inter.it)

1/22/2004 01:03:00 AM | Permalink |

PSG To Move For Sablé

1/21/2004 03:39:00 PM | Permalink |

Building a new team

Special report from Hamburg



HSV is showing a big ambition to return to the glorious times in the short run. For 2004/05 Toppmöller want a team to fight for the title and negociations to bring top players to Hamburg already started. Roque Junior is the defender wished to substitute Hoogma (that will end his carrer in the end of the season) and negotiations seem to be in a good point.
Argentinian International Cardoso is going to retire also and will become the south american scout for the HSV. Thinking on that, Co-trainer Ralf Zumdick will escape the freezing temperatures of Hamburg today and fly to Santiago de Chile, where he will watch an under-23 semi-final Olympic qualifying match. He will be back in Hamburg on Thursday: "We have our eye on several players," confided the HSV coach Toppmöller.



And the player wished for Cardoso palce is the Cruzeiro star Alex, according to the rumours in Hamburg (noticed already in journal Bild). But that´s not all. The Brasilian samba seems to please Toppmöller that want to give a new partner to Romeo in the front of the HSV attack. The name, already mentioned by the coatch on a conference, is Robinho.
So, Zumdick might bring some presents from the south already.

Ledesma (hired two seasons ago from River plate and currently on loan in Mexico) might had a chance to prove is value again in Germany and getting a place at the midfield. Carlos Bueno, Uraguay International and curently at Penarol, is also very close to HSV and might fight with Ledesma for a place in the team.

1/21/2004 02:52:00 PM | Permalink |

Tottenham 2 - 1 Liverpool

Helder Postiga's first Premiership goal for Tottenham has heaped the pressure back on Gerard Houllier as Liverpool crash to a 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane.

The Portuguese striker found the net early in the second half to double their lead, which was given to them by a Robbie Keane penalty in the first half.

Harry Kewell pulled a goal back with 15 minutes to play and Spurs had their backs against the wall in the final minutes, but they held on to register their fourth successive win of 2004 and deservedly so.

Tottenham were more dangerous in the opening stages and they were rewarded midway through the first half after Igor Biscan tripped Robbie Keane in the box. The Irishman dusted himself off and converted the resulting spot-kick.

Liverpool rarely looked like testing Kasey Keller in the opening 45 minutes, although Michael Owen went close with a volley.

Eight minutes after the break the moment Spurs fans and Postiga had been waiting for came as he finally opened his Premiership account. The former Porto striker, who a minute earlier had wasted a bright opportunity, finished clinically after poor defending from Liverpool.

With 16 minutes to go Kewell gave the visitors a lifeline with a fine goal from outside the box and the goal did trigger a nervous finale from the home side.

Liverpool didn't deserve to get a point from the match, but should have had the opportunity to do so, as referee Uriah Rennie denied a clear penalty after a handball from the otherwise superb Gary Doherty.

Source: Soccerage

1/21/2004 11:46:00 AM | Permalink |

Atletico Madrid And Benfica Chasing Hugo Leal

Hugo Leal has been transfer listed by PSG and is likely to leave the club this month.

Two possible destinations for the Portuguese midfielder are his former clubs Atletico Madrid and Benfica.

PSG are willing to sell the 23-year-old for a reported sum of 2 million euros.

Club President Laurent Perpère is looking to trim the club's payroll and wants to start with Hugo Leal.

Leal was signed in a big money transfer from Atletico Madrid in 2001 but has failed to impress at the club.

Atletico Madrid are looking to bring in an offensive midfielder and Hugo Leal is said to be on their short list.

Benfica are also interested in bringing him back to Lisbon but only if PSG lower their asking price.

Source: Soccerage

1/21/2004 10:31:00 AM | Permalink |

Braga will play agains Naval in the 1/4 of the Portuguese Cup

Naval will be the next team to face Braga in their run to Jamour. Naval is currently in second division but have a good side and they will play at home. But naturally the Braga team is the big favourite.

1/21/2004 10:24:00 AM | Permalink |

Ricardinho close to SL Benfica

According to the journal O Jogo Benfica is close to sign the brasilian international ricardinho (currently at S. Paulo). Ricardinho is a attacking midfielder and had represented the escrete for 11 times and is currently world champion (played in the 2002 world cup matches agains China, Costa Rica and Belgium). The Lisbon team is currently at the 3rd place of the championship, 11 points behind the first and had won the match of last weekend agains Boavista by 3-2.
Benfica is still in the Portuguese Cup and will face Nacional for the 1/4 finals, and in the Uefa cup where they will face Rosembourg.

1/21/2004 10:20:00 AM | Permalink |

Mahdavikia extends until 2007

The HSV faithful can breathe easily again! The mud slinging and waiting game surrounding the future of the Iranian striker Mehdi Mahdavikia is at an end. On Thursday evening the HSV boss Bernd Hoffmann and Mehdi's agent Reza Fazeli reached agreement regarding an extension of his current contract: "I'm happy we've reached agreement, my family loves living in Hamburg, and have integrated well and found plenty of friends here," said Mahdavikia, who is the current "Asian footballer of the year".

1/21/2004 10:16:00 AM | Permalink |

HSV wants Samba-Superstar

According to the Hamburger Morgen Post the brasilian international Roque Junior is close to join the Hamburg team HSV. Roque Junior belongs to AC Milan and is currently on loan to Leeds United but the player told his club that he is unhappy and see with good eyes the move to Colour Line Arena. Toppi wants the player for this season but it´s not secure that Roque Junior joins the Hamburg side before the new season. A dirigent from HSV is now in Milan to close the negotiations.

1/21/2004 10:05:00 AM | Permalink |

Estrela da Amadora 2-2 Belenenses

Estrela da Amadora and Belenenses drawed in Lisbon derby, in a dull game that grew in the last minutes. Belenenses domintated the first half, but it was Estrela that created most of the chances in the first 20 minutes. Belenenses had a goal ruled out for off-side, before scoring by Leonardo, in a good individual play. The first half ended with an unfortunate own-goal by defender Hugo Carreira.

In the second half Estrela returned with new players, mas still with ineficient outcomes. Belenenses had another goal ruled out, again by Antchouet. After this moment Estrela pushed the blue team to its area, but the defenders were playing a great match. With few minutes to the end, and after 15 minutes of pressure, Estrela pulled one back, through a penalty kick.
Estrela continued the pressure seeking the draw, and got it, by the inevitable Julio Cesar, concluding a good cross from Hugo Carreira.

ESTRELA DA AMADORA – Veiga; Rui Neves (Miran, 64 m) Paulo Madeira, Hugo Carreira e Wesnalton; Alex Garcia (Semedo, 46 m), Rui Baião (Sabry, 46 m), Pedro Simões e Juba; Davide e Júlio César.

BELENENSES – Marco Aurélio; Hélder Rosário, Mangiaratti, Wilson e Carlos Fernandes; Marco Paulo, Pelé, Tuck e Leonardo (Eliseu, 87 m); Verona e Antchouet.

GOALS: 0-1, Leonardo (34'); 0-2, Hugo Carreira (og 42'); 1-2, Júlio César (pen 87'); 2-2, Júlio César (90')

1/19/2004 10:06:00 PM | Permalink |

Dynamo capture Kornilenko

FC Dynamo Kyiv have signed the Belarussian international striker Sergei Kornilenko on a five-year contract.

The 20-year-old forward, whose recent form earned him a first senior international appearance, scored 18 goals in 30 games for FC Dinamo Minsk, making him the Belarussian top flight's leading scorer. His domestic form, as well as a series of impressive displays for the country's Under-21 side, brought him to the attention of VfB Stuttgart, but Kornilenko opted to sign for the Ukrainian champions instead.

Source: Uefa.com

1/19/2004 07:37:00 PM | Permalink |

FC Barcelona 1-1 Athletic Bilbao

Carlos Gurpegui's 84th-minute header earned Athletic Club Bilbao a point in a 1-1 draw at FC Barcelona on Saturday. Substitute Patrick Kluivert had polished off a Giovanni van Bronckhorst cross to give the home team the lead.


BARCELONA: Jorquera, Reiziger, Oleguer, Márquez, Van Bronckhorst, Davids, Cocu, Xavi (Gerard, min.46), Luis García (Kluivert, min.46), Ronaldinho y Saviola (Quaresma, min.86).

ATHLETIC BILBAO: Aranzubia, Javi González, Prieto, Karanka, Del Horno, Gurpegi, Tiko (Urzaiz, min.69), Etxeberria, Yeste (Jonan García, min.77), Iraola (Orbaiz, min.59) y Ezquerro.

GOALS: 1-0, min.63: Kluivert. 1-1, min.86: Gurpegi.

1/19/2004 07:28:00 PM | Permalink |

Brescia 0-1 AC Milan

With a goal within 9 minutes of the end of the match, left-back Giuseppe Pancaro gave Milan 3 precious points in a very difficult game against Brescia, leaded by a still magician Roberto Baggio.

Both teams shared the opportunities during the match, that could have gone both ways. And when the game seemed surely to end in a draw, Andrea Pirlo took the ball down the line and crossed to an opportunist and well positioned Pancaro, to give Milan the win, with his first ever goal for the Rossoneri.


BRESCIA: Agliardi; Martinez, Petruzzi, Dainelli, Mauri (Colucci, 89'); A. Filippini, Brighi (Guana, 87'), Matuzalem, Bachini; R. Baggio (Del Nero, 63'), Caracciolo.

AC MILAN: Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Pancaro; Gattuso (Serginho, 63'), Pirlo Ambrosini; Kaká, Rui Costa (Tomasson, 77'); Shevchenko (Brocchi, 89').

GOALS: 0-1 Pancaro (41')

1/19/2004 07:25:00 PM | Permalink |

River Plate 3-2 Independiente

Astrada has debuted in River with a win against Independiente, in the Torneo de Verano, a friendly tournament that gathers the five best clubs in Argentina.

River lined-up mostly with youth players, and their inexperience showed in the first half when Indepediente dominated the match. The ones from Avellaneda scored twice in the first half, going the two times in front, after River pulling one back in the middle of the first-half, by Frederico Almerares.

On the second half the River team showed up completely changed, taking to the field a bravely way of playing, a feature fo El Jefe in his playing days. River Plate clearly dominated the occurances, pushing Independiente to its goal. With only 5 minutes, Jose Maria Sand drawed the game level again, and in the last minute, Pablo Frontini gave River the victory.


RIVER PLATE: Alejandro Saccone; Luis Lobo (Nelson Cuevas, 65'), Ricardo Rojas, Pablo Frontini y Franco Miranda; Patricio Toranzo, Oscar Ahumada, Rubens Sambueza y Darío Conca (Daniel Ludueña, 87'); José Sand y Federico Almenares.

INDEPENDIENTE: Carlos Navarro Montoya; Raúl Damiani, Hernán Franco y Rafael Olarra; Cristian Zurita (Juan Manuel Eluchans, 70'), Sebastián Carrizo, Daniel Quinteros (Martin Morello, 46') y Christian Giménez; Leonel Ríos y Damián Manso (Hugo Morales, 57'); Jairo Castillo.

GOALS: 0-1 Castillo (14'); 1-1 Almerares (25'); 1-2 Ríos (35'); 2-2 Sand (69'); 3-2 Frontini (90').

1/19/2004 06:54:00 PM | Permalink |

Inter 0 - Empoli 1

MILAN - It's now three matches without a win or a goal as Inter were beaten 1-0 by Empoli at the San Siro on Sunday afternoon.

Despite enjoying more ball possession than their opponents, Inter couldn't find a way past a nine-man defence, and the Nerazzurri's cause wasn't helped when Emre Belozoglu was sent off by Paparesta on 62 minutes for protesting.

Zaccheroni's side fell foul to a Tuscan counter-attack in added time at the end of the second period. Tavani turned Brechet on the right wing with an excellent piece of skill then played into the six-yard box where Rocchi slotted past a blameless Toldo .

Inter host Udinese in the Tim Cup quarter-final return leg at 17:30 on Wednesday.

INTER: Toldo , Cordoba , J.Zanetti , Emre , van der Meyde (Farinos 63'), Cruz , Adani (Brechet 64'), Gamarra , Almeyda (Lamouchi 87'), Pasquale , Martins
Subs not used: Fontana , Helveg , Karagounis , Eliakwu
Coach: Zaccheroni

EMPOLI: Bucci, Cribari, Belleri (Pratali 76'), Di Natale, Grella, Rocchi, Lucchini (Tavano 73'), Ficini, Vargas, Buscè, Vannucchi (Cappellini 84')
Subs not used: Cassano, P. Zanetti, Foggia, Giampieretti
Coach: Perotti

Referee: Paparesta
Scorer: Rocchi 90'+1'
Booked: Cordoba 52', Emre 62', Cribari 74'
Sent off: Emre 62'

source: www.inter.it

1/19/2004 01:03:00 AM | Permalink |

Beira-Mar 2 - Marítimo 2

SC Beira-Mar follows without wining or losing any game in the new stadium, with a new draw 2-2, yesterday against Marítimo.
The visitors had taken the lead when Wénio slotted in at the 30th minute, but the game was level again after Zeman swept in from a great corner already in the second half. Alan had given again to the visiting team the lead, with a great strike in the 80th minute, and two minutes later, João Paulo salvaged a point for Beira-Mar with an equaliser at the new Euro 2004 Aveiro Municipal Stadium.

1/17/2004 10:29:00 PM | Permalink |

Estrela's new signings

Estrela da Amadora have signed Wesnalton, a defender, from second league team Naval 1º Maio.

1/16/2004 06:44:00 PM | Permalink |

AC Milan 2-1 AS Roma

A goal in added time by midfield player Massimo Ambrosini gave AC Milan a 2-1 Italian Cup quarter-final first-leg win against AS Roma last night.

It was the second time in eight days that the holders had got the better of the Serie A leaders after their 2-1 league win at Roma's Stadio Olimpico last week. Milan dominated the first half and home striker Marco Borriello and Ambrosini had both gone close before Danish team-mate Jon Dahl Tomasson broke Roma's offside trap and slotted the ball past stranded goalkeeper Andrea Zotti in the 39th minute.

Roma seemed to have done enough for a draw when John Carew equalised in the 78th minute, chesting down a long ball in the area before spinning and shooting past Milan keeper Dida. But Milan regained the lead in the first minute of added time when Zotti parried a Serginho cross into Ambrosini's path and he side-footed the ball into an open net.

MILAN: Dida; Simic, Laursen, Nesta (Costacurta 66'), Pancaro; Brocchi, Redondo, Ambrosini, Seedorf (Serginho 82'); Tomasson, Borriello (Kakà 82').

ROMA: Zotti; Zebina, Samuel, Dellas; Candela (Mancini 63'), Tommasi, De Rossi, Lima; D'Agostino (Dacourt 88'); Carew, Delvecchio.

Goals: 1-0 Tomasson (40'); 1-1 Carew (78'); 2-1 Ambrosini (91')

Source: Uefa.com

1/15/2004 11:45:00 AM | Permalink |

Braga Sign Kiril Nikolov

Portuguese Superliga outfit Sporting Braga has signed Bulgarian international midfielder Kiril Nikolov from Litex Lovech on loan for the remainder of the season.

The 26 year-old has represented his country at every level and scored in his only appearance for the national team.

Braga also holds the option of purchasing the player from the Bulgarian club.

Braga's manager Jesualdo Ferreira describes Nikolov as a very "talented and creative player."

Ferreira wanted to bring Nikolov to Benfica during his time as manager of the Lisbon club 2002/2003 but was told by the board of directors not to purchase any more players.

Nikolov admits that he doesn't know much about Braga's football team but says that he wants to help them reach a major European competition.

"I'm happy to be playing in Portugal and I want to help my club maintain their good standing," he said.

Braga currently sits in 4th place in the Superliga, a position that would grant them a birth in next season's UEFA Cup.

Source: Soccerage

1/15/2004 12:23:00 AM | Permalink |

Following SC Braga

From now on the FU Team will follow the life of one of the sensation teams of the Portuguese Superliga, namely SC Braga, that is currently in the 4th position in the championship and in the Portuguese Cup 1/4 finals.
Braga is the owner of the most fantastic stadium of EURO 2004 and have in squads several international players, sutch as the Portuguese International Quim, Swedish International Soderström and the Dutch International Wooter.

1/15/2004 12:14:00 AM | Permalink |

Johnsen set for surgery

Rosenborg BK goalkeeper Espen Johnsen is to undergo knee surgery to ensure his fitness for their UEFA Cup third-round tie against SL Benfica. The Norwegian champions' medical team expect Johnsen to return early next month, with their bid for a 13th straight domestic title not due to begin until after they meet Benfica.

Source: Uefa.com

1/14/2004 08:24:00 PM | Permalink |

League Standings

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. FC Porto 17 45
2. Sporting 17 40
3. Benfica 17 34
4. Braga 17 33
5. Beira-Mar 17 30
...
18 Est. Amadora 17 10




Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Valencia 19 43
2. Real Madrid 19 42
3. Deportivo 19 37
4. Atl. Madrid 19 31
5. Villareal 19 30
...
8. Athletic 19 26




Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Monaco 19 45
2. PSG 20 38
3. Lyon 19 35
4. Auxerre 20 35
5. Souchaux 19 35




Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Roma 16 39
2. AC Milan 15 36
3. Juventus 16 36
4. Inter 16 31
5. Parma 16 30




Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Man. Utd. 21 50
2. Arsenal 21 49
3. Chelsea 21 45
4. Charlton 21 34
5. Liverpool 20 32

1/14/2004 01:56:00 PM | Permalink |

Udinese 0 - Inter 0

Everything is still to play for in the Tim Cup quarter-final after Udinese and Inter played out a goalless draw at the Friuli on Tuesday evening.

After an indifferent opening period Inter upped their game in the second half, particularly after the entrance of Greek international Karagounis, who added more verve in an attacking midfield position.

After three call-ups, Zaccheroni handed Primavera striker Isah 'Aly' Eliakwu his first-team debut, and the young Nigerian immedately showed signs of a good understanding with fellow countryman Obafemi Martins .

The two sides meet at the Meazza for the return leg in eight days' time. In the meantime, the Nerazzurri host Empoli in the Serie A on Sunday.

UDINESE: 90 Renard, 2 Kroldrup, 4 Bertotto, 6 Jankulovski, 8 Pizarro (24 Gutierrez 74'), 10 Jorgensen, 11 Fava, 19 Felipe, 21 Pazienza (31 Rossitto 90'+1'), 22 Alberto (32 Muntari 46'), 26 Pieri
Subs not used: 1 De Sanctis, 33 Bonocunto, 34, Lestani, 35 Politti
Coach: Spalletti

INTER: 12 Fontana , 2 Cordoba , 4 J.Zanetti , 7 van der Meyde (33 Eliakwu 79'), 9 Cruz (19 Karagounis 69'), 13 Helveg , 14 Farinos (8 Lamouchi 46'), 15 Adani , 24 Gamarra , 25 Almeyda , 30 Martins
Subs not used: 1 Toldo , 22 Okan , 26 Pasquale , 31 Brechet ,
Coach: Zaccheroni

source: www.inter.it

1/14/2004 01:53:00 AM | Permalink |

UEFA Team of 2003 announced

Madrid quartet
Zidane was joined in the dream team by three other Madrid players. Roberto Carlos was voted the left-back of the year for the second season running, Luís Figo earned his first appearance and David Beckham - who was named in the Team of 2001 while at Manchester United FC - also made a welcome return to the XI.

Ruud awakening
Beckham's former United team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooij has made the team for the first time after being overlooked in the 2001 and 2002 polls. He links up in attack with Henry, his adversary from the Premiership.

Nedved honoured
The European Footballer of the Year, Pavel Nedved, makes it into the Team of the Year for the first time in emphatic style. The Juventus FC playmaker won a massive 65 per cent of the vote for his position to confirm that he was - for the ordinary fans as well as the experts - one of the greats of 2003.

Milan partners
Back in defence, AC Milan profited from their 2002/03 UEFA Champions League triumph with Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini being named as Europe's central defensive partnership of choice, with Juve's Gianluigi Buffon taking the goalkeeper's gloves behind them.

Porto prestige
However, the man named as Europe's favourite right-back is more of a surprise. With FC Porto succeeding in magnificent style with a league, Portuguese Cup and UEFA Cup treble in 2003, both right-back Paulo Ferreira and coach José Mourinho have made their way into the Team of 2003. Mourinho polled 60 per cent of the coaching vote to leave no doubt that uefa.com users' had shared in Porto's joy over the course of last year.

uefa.com users' Team of 2003:
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus FC), Paulo Ferreira (FC Porto) Alessandro Nesta (AC Milan), Paolo Maldini (AC Milan), Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid CF), Luís Figo (Real Madrid CF), David Beckham (Real Madrid CF), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid CF), Pavel Nedved (Juventus FC), Thierry Henry (Arsenal FC), Ruud van Nistelrooij (Manchester United FC).
Coach: José Mourinho (FC Porto).

Source: Uefa.com

1/12/2004 02:48:00 PM | Permalink |

Estrela Amadora 2-1 Académica

1/12/2004 01:43:00 PM | Permalink |

Atl. Madrid 3-0 Athletic Bilbao

Los Colchoneros dominated the entire match, although were unable to create danger do Aranzubia's goal. Athletic missed a penalti, by Yeste, at 27' in the first half, in waht turned to be biggest opportunity from both teams in the first half.

On the second half Athletic broke physically, and Atlético Madrid played the match to its please. After scoring the first goals, the other two came naturally, and although arriving late in the game, it was a deserved reward for the exhibition on Ibagaza and team-mates.

It as now been 3 games with victorys for Athletic.

Atlético de Madrid: Juanma; Gaspar, García Calvo, Lequi, Sergi; Aguilera, De los Santos, Ibagaza, Nano (Musampa, m.70); Nikolaidis (Simeone, m.79), Fernando Torres (Paunovic, m.87),

Athletic: Aranzubia; César (Julen Guerrero, m.78), Karanka, Luis Prieto, Del Horno; Tiko, Gupergi; Arriaga (Iraola, m.62), Jonan García (Ezkerro, m.62), Yeste; Urzaiz.

Goals: 1-0, '75 Fernando Torres; 2-0, '83 Fernando Torres (pen); 3-0, '90 Paunovic.

1/12/2004 01:23:00 PM | Permalink |

AC Milan 3-1 Reggina

The rossoneri came from behind to defeat 3-1 Reggina at the San Siro and continue their positive run in Serie A after inaugurating the new year with the convincing victory at the 'Olimpico' stadium on Tuesday. It was heavily stressed on the eve of the match that facing the Calabrian side could be even more difficult than the big clash at Roma. And it actually was, although Milan demonstrated that they have become more mature than last season, when they lost important ground against the small teams.

The visitors started strongly and from their first attack took the lead thanks to a bundled in effort from defender Stefano Torrisi following a corner on the left. After a period of sustained Milan pressure, the equaliser was soon in coming: Kaka turned on the edge of the area and anticipating Belardi's movement, hit a terrific low shot into the corner of the net.

Ancelotti made one change at the restart, introducing midfielder Massimo Ambrosini for Clarence Seedorf. Reggina tried to react but the rossoneri were enjoying most of possession and took the lead in the 57th minute, as Gennaro Gattuso's cross was only half-cleared by Sottil, with the ball striking Kaka and flying into the visitors' net. The former Sao Paolo star, who had been inspirational for the whole game, was lucky enough to seal his first double in Serie A and twenty minutes later also won a penalty kick for Milan. Pirlo made no mistake from the spot with a 'spooned' penalty kick which gently lobbed over the stranded Belardi to secure the hosts all the points.

MILAN: Dida; Cafu , Costacurta, Maldini, Serginho; Gattuso (87' Brocchi), Pirlo, Seedorf (46' Ambrosini) ; Rui Costa , Kaka (85' Redondo); Shevchenko.

REGGINA: Belardi; Jiranek, Sottil, Torrisi; Mesto, Baiocco, Tedesco, Falsini; Cozza (83' Martinez); Di Michele (74' Dall’Acqua), Bonazzoli (74' Leon).

GOALS: 0-1, 2' Torrisi; 1-1, 9' Kaka; 2-1, 57' Kaka; 3-1, 72' Pirlo (pen).

Source: acmilan.it

1/12/2004 01:19:00 PM | Permalink |

Luis Figo has publicly stated his desire for a new challenge and his words have alerted Juventus officials, who are preparing to table a bid for the Portuguese star.

Reports out of Portugal are suggesting that Juventus have begun preliminary negotiations with Real Madrid, and that an agreement between the two clubs could be reached in the very near future.

Juventus are said to be offering £21 million and an unnamed central defender (probably Igor Tudor) for the 31-year-old, who is under contract with Madrid until 2006.

If Madrid accept the offer, it is likely that Figo will be playing for Juventus next season.

Figo signed a contract with Juventus in 1995 but Parma also claimed to have signed the Portuguese winger after reaching an agreement with his former agent Jose Veiga.

While this contractual dispute was being dealt with by FIFA, Figo signed with Barcelona.

The departure of Edgar Davids will free up some much needed cash to ensure that Juventus can meet Figo's salary demands, once a deal between the two clubs comes to fruition.

Source: Soccerage

1/12/2004 08:56:00 AM | Permalink |

Davids signs for Barcelona

Edgar Davids, the dutch international star, has signed a contract with Barcelona and will join them on loan for the remainder of this season. Barca president Joan Laporta and Davids held talks that went late into Sunday night, but a deal was reached and the 31-year-old will join fellow countrymen Kluivert, Overmars, Cocu, Van Bronckhorst, Reiziger and manager Rijkaard at the club.
Intially, Barcelona will not have to pay anything to Juventus for Davids but they will pay his contract of 1.2 million euros for the remainder of this season.

Source: Soccerage

1/12/2004 08:53:00 AM | Permalink |

Leiria 3 - 3 Benfica

Benfica lost ground on league leaders Porto for the second week in a row as they were held to an exciting 3-3 draw in Leiria.

Newly signed Luis Filipe had an immediate impact for the home as he opened the scoring in the 19th minute.

The speedy winger beat two Benfica defenders before firing home on a quick counter attacking play.

Tomo Sokota scored the equalizer ten minutes later after poking in a corner kick.

But Leiria were determined, as they retook the lead when Luis Filipe's hit the post but landed neatly for Douala, who tapped it home in the 42nd minute.

Jose Camacho's men pressed hard for another equalizer and it came in the 58th minute through Nuno Gomes.

The Portuguese striker slid in to knock home a low cross from Simao.

Nuno Gomes added his second goal in the 80th minute after latching onto a pass from Zahovic and beating the keeper.

But Leiria would not be denied on this night and three minutes later, they tied the game.

Douala bagged his second of the game after a nice pass from Hugo Almeida.

Both sides pressed hard for the winner, but poor finishing left the score line unchanged for the final 7 minutes.

The home side started all three of their new signings (Tiago, Hugo Almeida and Luis Filipe) and it paid off immediately.

Greek international defender Fysass also made his Superliga debut with Benfica and put in a good performance.

Benfica now trail FC Porto by 11 points and are slowly slipping out of title contention.

UNIÃO DE LEIRIA – Helton; Bilro, João Paulo, Gabriel Edson; Paulo Gomes, João Manuel, Tiago (Oliveira, 86 m); Luís Filipe, Hugo Almeida, Douala (Alhandra, 90 m).

BENFICA – Moreira; Armando (Zahovic, 69 m), Hélder, Luisão (Argel, 44 m), Fyssas; Petit; João Pereira, Tiago, Simão; Nuno Gomes, Sokota.

Half Time: 2-1

Goals: 1-0, Luís Filipe (19 m); 1-1, Sokota (30 m); 2-1, Douala (43 m); 2-2, Nuno Gomes (57 m); 2-3, Nuno Gomes (80 m); 3-3, Douala (83 m)

Source: Soccerage

1/11/2004 11:59:00 PM | Permalink |

Parma 1 - Inter 0

A goal by Filippini (41’) was enough for Parma to beat Inter on saturday night. With this result, the black and blue side lost the chance of reaching 2nd place in Serie A and are now only a point ahead of Parma.

PARMA (4-2-3-1) Frey; Castellini, Ferrari, P.Cannavaro, Junior; Barone, Donadel; Marchionni, Morfeo, Filippini; Gilardino (A disposizione Sicignano, Benarrivo, Bolano, Bresciano, Rosina, Carbone, Grieco) Coach: Prandelli

INTER (4-4-2) Toldo; Cordoba (85’ Van der Meyde), Adani, F.Cannavaro, Pasquale (71’ Okan); J.Zanetti, Farinos, Emre, Lamouchi (56’ Martins); Vieri, Cruz (A disposizione Fontana, Helveg, Gamarra, Kily Gonzalez) Coach: Zaccheroni

1/11/2004 12:17:00 PM | Permalink |

New stars rising in Eindhoven

PSV is becoming famous by creating stars in the last decade. If we look back in time to the PSV 90´s we can see the birth of some of the actual best football players. We are talking about Ronaldo, Van Nistelrooy, Van Bommel, Oijjer, Bouma, Brugink, Hoffman, Kezman and more recently Robben.

So a question have to be make!!!! Who will be the future european top players??

Well, FU will try to give you the answers analysing some of the youth players that will join the PSV first team squad when they take off for Turkey on Saturday. PSV will arrange a training camp that lasts eight days and play at least three games.

Apart from Michael Jakobsen, Edson Rolando Silva Sousa and Daniël Guijo Velasco, who have already been on the bench during an official PSV game, quite a few youth players will make the trip, as stated above.

Otman Bakkal, a young striker, born in Eindhoven on 27 February 1985, was called up for the trip that PSV made to South Korea last summer. Bakkal has been with PSV since the 1995-1996 season and before that time he played for the amateur side DBS. Tim Janssen, a forward and Jan Wuytens, a defender, did not go to South Korea, but were invited for the subsequent trip to England.



Tim Janssen, born on 6 March 1986, also came to PSV at the beginning of the 1995- 1996 season. Jan Wuytens was born in Hasselt (Belgium) on 9 June 1985 and made a move from the RSC Anderlecht youth team to PSV in 1997. He started his career in the youth teams of Hechtel in the 1990/1991 season. Recently Henk Spaan, a Dutch football pundit, who is known for awarding players marks every week, allotted the left footed defender 8 points on a scale of 10. "Jan Wuytens has a silent left foot with which he produces superb passes that create some space for his teammates in no time. He is one of those rare football players who seem to have more time to pass the ball . He may be looked upon as a player who can read the game."



Admir Haznadar, Ibrahim Afellay, Sepp de Roover, Marten Boverhof and Ferhat Kaya join the squad for the first time. Haznadar has been with PSV since the 2000-2001 season. Before that time he played for RBC Roosendaal. He was born in Sarajevo (Bosnia) on 25 July 1985, but he has Dutch nationality. Sepp was born in the Belgian town Geel on 12 November 1984 and joined PSV last season. He started his career in his home town with Verbroedering Geel and also was in the service of Willem II from July 1995 until November 1999.



Midfielder Marten Bovenhof was born on 3 November 1985 and goalkeeper Ferhat Kaya on 11 March 1986. Both graduates from the Youth Academy play their games every week in the first PSV junior team.

And the Australian goalkeeper Nathan Coe is the last player to join the squad for the training camp. This 19-year old keeper from the Italian side Internazionale is having a trial with PSV.



We can conclude that the future of the world future soccer stars seems to be in good hands!!!!

1/10/2004 10:03:00 PM | Permalink |

PSG 1 - 0 Lille

PSG 1 - 0 Lille

PSG got a precious win tonight at Parc des Princes with a solitary goal by the brasilian Reinaldo. PSG is now in second in the french league, seven points behind the lider Monaco.

PSG : Alonzo - Pierre-Fanfan, Sorin, Mendy, Heinze - Déhu, Cana, Hugo Leal - Reinaldo (Rocchi, 77e), Fiorèse (Ogbeche, 90e), Pauleta.

Lille : Wimbée - Tavlaridis, Delpierre, Pichot, Abidal - Bodmer (Tapia, 76e), Landrin, Moussilou (Sofiane, 68e) - Manchev (Sterjovski, 72e), Brunel, Makoun. Entr.

Goal(s): Reinaldo (13m)

1/10/2004 09:47:00 PM | Permalink |

Liverpool 1 - 0 Aston Villa

Liverpool beat Aston Villa this afternoon by 1- 0. Only a bizarre own goal midway through the first half by Mark Delaney separated the two sides this afternoon but the Reds boss will lose no sleep over that. As expected, Paul Jones, signed on loan from Southampton only yesterday, came in for his Liverpool debut and at 36 years, 8 month and 23 days old became the club's oldest post-war debutant.

Gerard Houllier described Wednesday's win over Chelsea as ugly and this can be classed in much the same bracket. This Liver Bird is no ugly duckling however. In times of crisis results matter more than performances and with three wins out of three under their belt this year this so-called crisis could be a shortlived one.


Teams

Liverpool: Jones, Henchoz, Riise, Biscan, Hyypia (captain), Hamann, Murphy, Kewell, Diouf, Owen, Heskey. Subs - Luzi, Pongolle, Traore, Cheyrou, Le Tallec.

Aston Villa: Sorensen, Delaney, Samuel, Mellberg (captain), Barry, Hendrie, McCann, Dublin, Vassell, Whittingham, Angel. Subs - Postma, Hitzlsperger, Cruz, Moore, Johnsen.

Referee: Graham Barber.

Goal(s): Mark Delaney (35m OG)

Attendance: 43,771

1/10/2004 08:39:00 PM | Permalink |

Botafogo announces new players

Botafogo has announced the signing of Alex Alves, forward ex-Cruzeiro, and defender Gustavo, on loan from Chelsea, for one year.



The Alvinegros are also close to sign Edmundo, the Animal, former Fiorentina and Vasco da Gama forward.

1/10/2004 03:16:00 PM | Permalink |

River stirs Argentinian transfer season

River Plate is seeking to re-enforce its team for the upcoming tournaments. The Club has already signed Fabricio Fuentes, defender from Guingamp. The player will join the Buenos Aires team on a year loan.

Three other players are also close to sign for the team. River is about to win the battle for the signature of Ernesto Farias, Estudiantes de La Plata forward. Boca Juniors and Independiente were also in the race for the player, but he showed his preference for the millionarios. The transfer for the top scorer of the Apertura Tournament will be worth around 4.000.000 USD.

The two other players are Juan Fernández and Ariel Garcé. The later is a defender formed in River Plate, having left for the mexicans of Morelia last year. The deal is to sign for River on loan. Fernandéz is currently playing for Borussia Dortmund and although playing regularly in the first team, and earning the confidence of Matthias Sammer, it is known that the player as failed to adapt to german lifestyle, and looks forward to a chance to return to Argentina. This deal will also be on a loan term.

The club has also been arranging players departures, in order to balance the team. As announced by FU, Guillermo Pereyra will leave for Wolfsburg, while Alejandro Dominguez will join the russians of Torpedo Metallurg. Dário Husain has already signed for Universidade Católica of Chile.

1/10/2004 02:39:00 PM | Permalink |

More rescissions in Estrela da Amadora

After Tiago Lemos, three more players have agreed the contract recission with the club. Striker Roberto and defenders Mauro Almeida and Dennis are no longer Estrela players. This way continues the restructuration measures taken by the board of the club, trying to face the finantial problems of the Tricolores, and also to allow the club to sign new players, to try and bring around the bad first part of the season.

The club has also resolved debt problems with former players, beeing that there is only one agreement left, with João Paulo Brito, now playing in CSKA Sofia, but this situation is due to be resolved by next week.

1/09/2004 06:46:00 PM | Permalink |

Jardel close to sign for Espanyol

Mario Jardel is set to end his short spell at Bolton by signing for Espanyol.

The club have practically agreed the deal, and only need coach Luis Fernandez to give the go-ahead.

Espanyol tried to secure the player back in November but Bolton asked for £2.5 million and no agreement was reached.

If the Brazilian does complete the move, he will join up with fellow new-boys Mauricio Pochettino and Gregory Vignal.

Source: soccerage

1/09/2004 03:09:00 PM | Permalink |

Jones join Liverpool on loan

Liverpool have signed Welsh international goalkeeper Paul Jones on a month-long loan from Southampton after Jerzy Dudek joined Chris Kirkland on the injured list.

The Polish keeper suffered a groin strain in Wednesday's victory against Chelsea and was replaced by debutante Patrice Luzi.

However, Gerard Houllier has moved to sign a more experienced keeper and Jones is expected to go straight into the side to face Aston Villa on Saturday.

1/09/2004 01:41:00 PM | Permalink |

Jordão, the prodigal son

Jordão returns to Estrela da Amadora, after leaving W.B.A. The 33-year-old grew tired of waiting for his chance to play in the english first team, and signed with Estrela once his contract expired on January 1st. He joins the club where he started his Portuguese league career with in 1990, and where he played for 6 seasons.

The Angolan born midfielder failed to make an impact with the Baggies since joining the club from Braga in 1999. His best season in the U.K. came in 2001/2002 when he netted 6 goals to help the club reach the Premiership, but a pre-season injury in 2002/2003 has kept him out of the first team since. At the start of this season, club officials told him that he would be playing a back-up role for the team.

Jordão is an experienced midfielder who likes to push up and attack. He has also played for Benfica, Leça and Campomaiorense.

1/09/2004 12:46:00 PM | Permalink |

Chelsea 0 - 1 Liverpool

Chelsea were beaten at home by Frenchman Bruno Cheyrou's first-half strike and now find themselves seven points off the title pace.

The victory will help silence Houllier's critics for a couple of weeks, although they may turn their attentions to Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri instead as the Blues are rapidly falling out of the title race.

The first half was drab to say the least, but Liverpool won't have cared about that as they led 1-0. Cheyrou will steal the headlines, but his 33rd minute goal was largely thanks to superb play from Emile Heskey.

The second half was far more entertaining as Chelsea desperately sought an equaliser, but it wasn't to be their day even though Liverpool had to hand a debut to their third choice goalkeeper Patrice Luzi after Jerzy Dudek limped off in the second half.

A late and controversial red-card to El Hadji Diouf also didn't allow Chelsea to avoid defeat for the fourth time in seven matches.

1/08/2004 08:59:00 AM | Permalink |

Juve Should Sign Tiago

Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has urged Juventus to follow up their interest in Benfica midfielder Tiago.

"He is a complete player, good in both defensive and offensive situations," he said.

"Juventus shouldn't allow themselves to miss out on this opportunity to sign him for the new campaign.

"He can easily be fielded in Edgar Davids' position although could also do a good job as cover for Pavel Nedved."

Source: soccerage

1/07/2004 10:59:00 AM | Permalink |

League Standings

Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. FC Porto 16 42
2. Sporting 16 37
3. Benfica 16 33
4. Beira-Mar 16 29
5. Braga 16 30
...
18 Est. Amadora 16 7




Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Real Madrid 18 42
2. Valencia 18 40
3. Deportivo 18 36
4. Osasuna 18 28
5. Atlético 18 28
...
7. Atlethic 18 26




Pos. Team Pld Pts
1. Roma 15 36
2. Juventus 15 33
3. Milan 14 33
4. Inter 15 31
5. Lazio 15 28

1/07/2004 10:10:00 AM | Permalink |

Inter 3 - Lecce 1

Internazionale got their 9th win in the Serie A this season, with a 3-1 victory over Lecce this evening. While Julio Cruz celebrated his 100th Serie A appearance with a goal, Vieri also had his chance, and got his 100th goal with the Inter jersey, in all competitions.


It was not an easy game though. After just 3 minutes, Bovo scored for Lecce, and the Inter players only stroke back in the beginning of the 2nd half. 10 minutes later Cordoba got the winning goal, and Vieri sealed the victory 5 minutes from time.

Inter are in fourth place, now just 5 points behind the leader, AS Roma.

Inter FC: Toldo; Cordoba, Adani, Cannavaro; J. Zanetti, Emre, Farinos, Pasquale (Helveg, 39’ 2H); Cruz (Lamouchi, 25’ 2H), Vieri, Martins (Recoba, 43’ 2T).
(Fontana, Gamarra, Kily Gonzalez, Van der Meyde) Coach: Alberto Zaccheroni.

US Lecce: Poleksic; Siviglia, Bovo, Stovini, Abruzzese; Tonetto, Cassetti, Ledesma, Rullo (Diarra, 36’ 2H); Konan (Bojinov, 32’ 2H), Chevanton.
(Amelia, Billy, Silvestri, Testa, Giacomazzi) Coach: Rossi

Goals: 0-1 Bovo 3’ 1H; 1-1 Cruz 5’ 2H; 2-1 Cordoba 15’ 2H; 3-1 Vieri 2H.

1/07/2004 02:51:00 AM | Permalink |

Moreirense 3 - Beira-Mar 1

Ths weekend Moreirense picked up three vital points in their battle against the drop from the portuguese Superleague, with a very luck 3-1 win against Beira-Mar. The yellow team is now in the 5th position.

1/07/2004 12:45:00 AM | Permalink |

Dynamo swoop for Kleber

Ukrainian champions FC Dynamo Kyiv have signed Brazilian striker Kleber on a five-year contract. The 20-year-old is joining from São Paulo FC for a fee reported to be in the region of €2m. Kleber will team up with compatriot and fellow striker Diogo Rincón in the Dynamo attack.

1/06/2004 11:53:00 PM | Permalink |

Gurpegi in doubt for Vicente Calderón

Athletic midfielder, Carlos Gurpegi, suffered an injury in his left leg, in the last match, against Osasuna, and is in doubt for the clash against Atlético Madrid. Next thursday will be decisive to know if the player will be available.

Gurpegi is the only doubt in the basque team. The rest of the squad is available fo Ernesto Valverde options. Next Sunday's match will be very important for the Uefa Cup positions in the Spanish league.

1/06/2004 11:36:00 PM | Permalink |

AS Roma 1-2 AC Milan

AC Milan started off the New Year with an impressive 2-1 victory over a previously unbeaten Roma side.Shevchenko scored both goals for the visitors while Cassano bagged the lone goal for Roma.

The home side started the match more confidently as AC Milan was on their heels in the early going.But it was the visitors who got the lead, by Shevchenko, after he latched onto a wonderful looping pass from Seedorf and poked it over a stranded Pelizzoli. Roma had plenty of time to get back into the match, but looked frustrated and disorganized after the conceeded goal.

Near half-time Cassano equalized after a wonderfull play from Totti, which capped off a wonderful first half of attacking football.

Cappelo made some changes during the brake, trying to change the course of the game, making instant impacts as the gialorossi restarted the match pushing Milan to defence. However the rossoneri retook the lead as they struck on the counter attack when Rui Costa did well to dribble at Roma's defence and laid it out to Shevchenko who had plenty of time and space to score.

Roma failed several chances to score afterwards, as a consistent Milan defence battled bravelly against the opponentes attacks.

AC Milan is now 3 points behind AS Roma, but has one game less, to be played against Siena at the end of the month.

AS Roma: Pelizzoli; Panucci, Samuel, Chivu; Mancini, Emerson, Dacourt, Lima (Candela, min.46); Totti; Carew (Delvecchio, min.46), Cassano.

AC Milan: Dida; Cafu (Simic, min.81), Costacurta, Maldini, Pancaro; Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf (Redondo, min.88); Rui Costa (Brocchi, min.90), Kaka; Shevchenko.

Goals: 0-1, Shevchenko, 25min; 1-1, Cassano, 45min;. 1-2, Shevchenko, 61min.

1/06/2004 10:59:00 PM | Permalink |

PSG sign Danijel Ljuboja

The servian Danijel Ljuboja it´s the first winter transfer to PSG. The Serbo-Montenegrin international striker has agreed a contract which also includes an option for the capital club to sign him permanently in June for €3m.

Ljuboja moved to France in 1998, signing for FC Sochaux Montbéliard, before joining Strasbourg two years later. He enjoyed Coupe de France success with his new club in 2001 and has scored seven league goals this season. PSG are second in Ligue 1, seven points adrift of leaders AS Monaco FC.

His move to PSG it´s not a big surprise since it was one of the players that FU apointed last month as potencial transfers to the Paris club.

1/06/2004 03:36:00 PM | Permalink |

PSV Furious At Ferguson Over Robben

PSV president Harry van Raaij has attacked Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson for approaching Arjen Robben without his permission.

"There was absolutely no contact from any United delegate and we are unhappy that we did not know one of our players was visiting another club without our permission

"I have spoken to (United chief executive) David Gill since I learned of the visit and he was a little embarrassed and said that the initiative was taken by Robben's parents.

"I recognise here exactly the same actions as when he approached them both. It is Ferguson's way of doing business but it is not my way.

"You can look back and see similarities to what happened with Stam and Van Nistelrooy. It just seems that, with Ferguson, a leopard never loses its spots."

Raaij laughed off reports that United were set to land the star for as little as £5m.

"For that money they can get a shirt from Robben with his signature on it, nothing more," he added.

source: soccerage

1/06/2004 02:16:00 PM | Permalink |

Argel To Leave Benfica

Benfica's Brazilian central defender Argel has announced that he will not sign a contract extension with the club.

His contract with Benfica expires this summer and he has stated his desire to move on.

Argel has not been featured in Jose Camacho's squad in their last two matches and has expressed his discontent at being dropped from the squad.

Argel had been a regular in Benfica's first team for the past two season's scoring two goals in each of his first two seasons but is yet to score this season.

With the arrival of Luisao, Argel has seen limited playing time and will be looking for a new club in June.

Argel is a well-traveled center back who has played for Santos, Verdi Kawasaki (Japan), FC Porto and Palmeiras.

Source: Soccerage

1/06/2004 09:17:00 AM | Permalink |

Toppi wants 6 wins in 6!

Unbeaten in 6 matches

That is something that Toppi won't be able to do very often in the near future. Tomorrow sees HSV begin its preparation for the second half of the season, with the first training session since the winter break: "We are unbeaten in 6 matches, but before the players went on their break, I told them what I expect of them when the season re-starts, six wins in a row."

A record to be proud of

Toppmöller has taken HSV from the lower regions of the Bundesliga table up to ninth, in the space of just 8 matches. Four wins, 3 draws and only one defeat is Toppmöller's record of which he is understandably proud: "A super record. We have put ourselves in the position from where we can go for glory when the season re-starts. We want to reach the UEFA Cup places and I plan to form the basis for that," said the coach.

Six to return from injury

The HSV squad has remained almost unchanged, with only the Leverkusen keeper Tom Starke joining HSV on loan: "We will have the likes of Schlicke, Romeo, Hollerbach, Meier, Fukal and Ujfalusi back in action within the next few weeks, so the substance of the side will be improved," concluded Toppmöller.

1/06/2004 12:14:00 AM | Permalink |

Following Inter Milan and Botafogo

New year, new teams. The FU team will follow the other Milan giant, Internazionale, wich will grant us, for sure, with fantastic FU derbies between the milanese teams.

Also, following FU expansion to less know leagues, the FU team will follow from now on, recently promoted Botafogo, of the Brasileirão A league.

1/05/2004 11:07:00 PM | Permalink |

FA Cup Fourth Round Draw: Liverpool Face Newcastle

The tie of the FA Cup fourth round is undoubtedly Liverpool's tie at home to Newcastle United.

Cup holders Arsenal are at home to Middlesbrough, while Everton host Fulham and Manchester City or Leicester will entertain Tottenham in the other all-Premiership ties.

1/05/2004 02:49:00 PM | Permalink |

No derby for Inzaghi and Ambrosini

Pippo Inzaghi and Massimo Ambrosini will miss the Serie A match tomorrow against AS Roma, due to late injuries. The striker suffered a contraction in his left leg, while the midfielder has muscular problems. These two will join Kahka Kaladze, Christian Abbiati and Alessandro Nesta in the injury list of the rossoneri.



Carlo Ancelotti selected the following players for tomorrow's match:

Goal-keepers: Dida, Fiori, Taddonio
Defenders: Cafu, Costacurta, Laursen, Maldini, Pancaro, Simic
Midfielders: Abate, Brocchi, Gattuso, Kaká, Pirlo, Redondo, Rui Costa, Seedorf, Serginho
Forwards: Borriello, Shevchenko, Tomasson

1/05/2004 01:30:00 PM | Permalink |

Manchester United want Robben

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed his interest in signing PSV Eindhoven striker Arjen Robben.

The 19-year-old Dutch international would be ineligable to play in the Champions League, but United are still intent on doing business.

"We are interested in him," Ferguson told the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

"Nothing's been finalised but we are hoping to do business with PSV."

1/05/2004 09:33:00 AM | Permalink |

Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Osasuna

The 39.000 espectators that made their way to San Mamés this Sunday, were granted witn an amazing basque derby, thar only disapointed for the lack of more goals, and the poor condition of the pitch.

With danger surrounding both keepers, Osasuna took the lead with a strike from Izquierdo, after a good combination between Webo and Puñal. The Lions from Bilbao pressed forward for the equaliser, and scored near half-time, by Del Horno.

The second half witnessed a strong and concentrated Osasuna breaking almost all goals attempts from Athletic. The ones the defense couldn't resolved, were left for the keeper to save. Nontheless, the ones from Pamplona took danger several times to the goal defended by Aranzubia.

The game finished with a fare draw. With it, Bilbao failed to take the European positions in the table.

Athletic: Aranzubia; Lacruz, Prieto, Karanka, Del Horno; Joseba Etxeberria, Gurpegi, Tiko (Jonan García, min.80), Yeste; Ezquerro y Urzaiz (Arriaga, min.68).

Osasuna: Sanzol; Izquierdo, Cuéllar, Josetxo, Antonio López; Puñal, Pablo García; Valdo (Rivero, min.46), Aloisi (Palacios, min.91), Muñoz; y Webo.

Goals: 0-1, min.36: Izquierdo. 1-1, min.45: Del Horno.

1/05/2004 12:04:00 AM | Permalink |

V. Guimarães 1 - 0 Estrela da Amadora

In the game between the laste placed in the Portuguese Superliga, the team from Guimarães took the best over the team from Lisbon, with a goal in the beggining of the second half, a header from Nuno Assis.

It was not a good game. The teams appeard insecure and tired, due to the table position, and the stressfull need to win. V. Guimarães dominated the match, but Julio Cesar missed the chance to give one important point to his team. Near the end of the game, the brazilian failed to score from the spot, as the Guimarães keeper, Jerome Palatsi, made an effort defense to keep his goal intact.

Estrela da Amadora is more alone at the bottom of the table, being that Paços de Ferreira (the third of the last three) also won it's match.


V.Guimarães - Palatsi, Bessa, Bruno Alves, Cléber, Rubens Jr, Hugo Cunha (Rui Ferreira, 86'), Flávio Meireles, Nuno Assis, Rafael (Guga, 68'), João Tomás (Djurdjevic, 79'), Romeu.

Estrela da Amadora - Veiga, Paulo Madeira, Pedro Simões, Hugo Carreira, Rui Neves, Juba, Bernardo, Davide, Alex Garcia (Sabry, 76'), Miran (Semedo, 66'), Julio César (Lula, 81').

Goals: 1-0, Nuno Assis, 48m.

1/04/2004 11:44:00 PM | Permalink |

PSG 3 - 2 Troyes

PSG managed to go in front in the french cup with a 3-2 win agains Troyes in Parc des Princes. Pauleta was again the hero of the night scoring the winning goal at the 94th minute.

PSG : Letizi - Heinze, Sorin, Pierre-Fanfan, El Karkouri (Ogbeche, 46e), Mendy - Hugo Leal (Rocchi, 111e), Boskovic (Benachour, 70e), M'Bami - Pauleta, Fiorèse.

Troyes : Cassard - Vairelles, Sanz, Adam - Amzine, Nivet (Berkak, 78e), Linarès, Liron, Tourenne - Esteves (Akrour, 59e), Garny (Dallet, 66e).

Goals : Heinze (88e), Ogbeche (90e), Pauleta (94e) for PSG ; Nivet (21e), Esteves (24e) for Troyes.

1/04/2004 10:48:00 PM | Permalink |

Benfica 1-3 Sporting

65,000 passionate fans jam-packed the New Estadio Da Luz to witness the Lisbon derby between Benfica and Sporting.

Sporting came out on top 3-1 in a match that saw three players (Rochemback, Miguel and Rocha) sent off.

Benfica enjoyed the majority of the ball possession but Sporting Lisbon was well organized in both defence and attack.

The first goal of the game came in the 8th minute thanks to a mistake by referee Pedro Proenca, who awarded a non-existent penalty to the visitors.

Joao Pinto had played a delightful through-ball into Elpidio Silva; the Brazilian tried to go around keeper Moreira but lost control of the ball but instinctively dragged his foot and went to ground.

The ref awarded the penalty, but television replays showed that Silva had simulated the foul.

Nonetheless, the referee's decision is final and Fabio Rochemback successfully converted the penalty kick.


BENFICA - Moreira; Miguel, Luisão, Hélder e Ricardo Rocha; Fernando Aguiar (Petit, 46m), Tiago e Zahovic (João Pereira, 46m); Simão, Sokota (Roger, 66m) e Nuno Gomes.

SPORTNG - Ricardo; Miguel Garcia, Beto, Polga e Rui Jorge; Custódio, Rochemback, Pedro Barbosa (Paulo Bento, 86m) e João Pinto (Lourenço, 68m); Silva (Sá Pinto, 58m) e Liedson.

Goals: 0-1, Rochemback, 8m (g.p.); 0-2, Silva, 33m; 1-2, Luisão, 56m; 1-3 Sá Pinto, 91m (g.p.)

1/04/2004 10:44:00 PM | Permalink |

Verpakovskis decides on Dynamo

Latvian international striker Maris Verpakovskis has signed a five-year contract with Dynamo Kyiv, who are currently second in the table behind FC Shakhtar Donetsk, and will join up with his new team-mates in January.

In addition to lifting four Latvian First Division titles and three Latvian Cups with Skonto FC, Verpakovskis scored twice in the two-legged UEFA EURO 2004™ play-off with Turkey to put himself in the shop window. The 24-year-old forward has scored a total of 10 goals in 28 international appearances as well as finding the net 47 times in 93 league games for Skonto.

Source: Uefa.com

1/04/2004 08:58:00 PM | Permalink |

Pereyra signs for River... and leaves for Germany

Guillermo Pereyra has his future all set out. The player will sign a 2 year contract with River Plate (one year and a half has already passed), and will see is transfer to Wolfsburg complete a few days after.

This way, all three parties envolved see their wishes fullfilled, being that River will manage to receive 2.000.000 USD for a transfer that could earn them nothing.

Guillermo Pereyra will be the fifth argentinian in the German squad, joining former River team mates, Andrés D'Alessandro, and Juan Carlos Menseguez, and also Diego Klimowicz and Pablo Quatrocchi.

1/04/2004 08:47:00 PM | Permalink |

Kaladze adds injury to suspension

Kaladze sustained a knee ligament injury in practice and will add further games to the two he will miss due do suspension. The estimated time of recovery is three weeks.

1/03/2004 10:35:00 PM | Permalink |

Tiago Lemos rescinds with Estrela da Amadora

The contract that linked the midfielder and Estrela was canceled yesterday, after a meeting between the team's board, the player and his representant. With only six more months of contract left, and having played a total of 212 minutes in 17 games of the Portuguese Superleague, the both parts came to agreement, and decided to rescind the contract.

Estrela da Amadora still has to resolve is debts to 5 former players, in order to be able to enrole new players in the current transfer season

1/03/2004 10:23:00 PM | Permalink |

Cisse and Favalli showed their wishes to join Liverpool in 2004

Giuseppe Favalli has admitted he will be leaving Lazio at the end of the season and hopes of trying his luck away from Serie A, preferably with Liverpool.

Also the french international Cisse has stressed he still intends to sign for Liverpool at the end of the season.
He told the Daily Star: "I still intend to sign for Liverpool. It has always been very precise with them. There has been no direct contact with United, but I am already advanced with Liverpool and they are my priority."

He added: "I still want to go to Liverpool. Gerard Houllier's position make no difference. If I leave at the end of the season it will be for Liverpool and not another club."

1/02/2004 05:15:00 PM | Permalink |

Pereyra to decide his future

The River Plate midfielder will meet with the club's board to define his future. Guillermo Pereyra has been without a contract for a year and a half, and there has been interest from germans Wolfsburg and spaniards Mallorca.

The player already as an offer from the Bundesliga team, being that he would find best to join the german side, rather that the spanish one, on account of the two argentinians already playing in Wolfsburg, being that one is Andrés D'Alessandro, former River player and Pereyra's team mate.

However, it is also in the player's wish to stay in River Plate, the only club the 23 year old player has represented, but that will depend heavily on the contract proposal that the River board will present.

The new coach for Los Milionarios will not oppose to the departure of Pereyra, for the team has in it's squad, three other players for the same position as the midfielder.

1/02/2004 04:47:00 PM | Permalink |

Following Liverpool and FC Utrecht

One more european national league will have a representant in Football United and The Netherlands will have another one.

From now on, the FU team will follow the carreer of the English giants Liverpool and the Dutch Cup winners FC Utrecht



FU Team

1/02/2004 03:54:00 PM | Permalink |

Prso on his way to AC Milan

According to the Croatian press Dado Prso is already an AC Milan player. The striker's contract with Monaco ends in June and the French club is eager to take the cash now rather than see him walk for free at the end of the season.

The transfer may be arranged through a player exchange. According to argentinian press, the milanese midfielder Fernando Redondo might take the opposite direction and sign for AS Monaco.

The official transfer statement is expected soon.

1/02/2004 03:27:00 PM | Permalink |

Benfica interested in Vasco Faísca

The Lisbon club is interested in the services of the defender Vasco Faisca that currently plays on Vicenza on loan from Inter Milan, according to the portuguese daily journal "O Jogo". According to the journal Benfica wants to sign the player for the next season and it´s already on negotiations. Faisca, 23 years old, it´s in Italy since 1999 (always on loan in Vicenza) and it´s under 21 international by the Portuguese National Team and former Sporting Lisbon player.

1/02/2004 09:00:00 AM | Permalink |

European top clubs want Mahdavikia

He is HSV's hottest property and his contract expires at the end of this season. That means that the Iranian international striker Mehdi Mahdavikia could leave the club on a free transfer. Several clubs from all over Europe are interested in the wing-wizard, including some from the English Premier League and the Italian giants AS Roma.

So what are his plans for the future? Mahdavikia gave an interview to a German football website this week in which he said that he feels at home in the Bundesliga.

"The player's agent Reza Fazeli claims that the future of Mahdavikia at HSV does not depend on money. He could earn much more abroad: "Before Mehdi joined Bochum, he turned down a deal in China which would have netted him 3,5 million dollars," said Fazeli. Mehdi wants to develop on a sporting level. We plan to hold talks with the club during the first week in February 2004," revealed the agent. Mahdavikia who was recently voted "Asia's footballer of the year" said: "I feel at home in the Bundesliga." Hope for HSV that he'll stay?"

1/02/2004 08:51:00 AM | Permalink |