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Showing posts with label footballer. Show all posts

Showing posts with label footballer. Show all posts

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Pique urges Torres to leave Liverpool

Gerard Pique claims Fernando Torres will be embarrassed having to play in the Europa League for Liverpool.

"I spoke with him before he committed to Liverpool and he told me he wanted to win things with Liverpool - but if the club didn't invest and show real intent, he would be forced to leave.

"It's really embarrassing for Nando to play in a team of that quality.

"You would not see Messi or Rooney playing in the Europa League - so there is no reason why Nando should be playing there.

"Along with David Villa, he is the best striker in the world.

"He needs to be winning things domestically like he does with Spain."

"Liverpool have shown already this season they are not capable of winning things - and that's it for him now," said Pique.

"Liverpool are really testing Nando's loyalty. For the last two seasons they have promised him they will challenge.

"They haven't delivered on it at all. The ownership of the club looks completely unstable. It doesn't look like the manager or the players have any faith in the club.

"There can be no questions when Nando leaves in the summer. Players of less quality would have left last summer.

"But he is a decent guy and believed it when they told him they would invest. I am not just saying this because I want him to join Barcelona.

"The truth is I don't know if he will. It might be Chelsea, it might be Real Madrid, it might be Barcelona.

"But I know he wants to join a club where he can win league titles and European Cups. I would love us to sign Nando in the summer."

Manchester United wants to bring back Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United reported today that they were exploring the possibility of bringing Real Madrid’s star winger, Cristiano Ronaldo, back to Old Trafford.

The Portuguese superstar left the English Premier League giants to try his luck in Spain last summer for a world-record fee of £80m.

According to Goal.com, sources at Madrid believe that the United boss is keen to bring back a player he helped nurture into becoming one of the finest footballers in the world, if even for the enormous fee of 100 million euros. But such an action seems unlikely, especially since United has been saddled with huge debts under the ownership of the Glazer family.

Madrid is also unlikely to want to sell the former FIFA World Player of the Year and, with the buy-out clause in Ronaldo’s contract with Madrid standing at one billion Euros, it would be impossible for the Red Devils to strong-arm Los Blancos into allowing the 25-year-old to return to Manchester.

Despite the facts, it seems like the Portugal international has been struggling for form so far this season, and some pundits have attributed it to him not being happy at the Bernebau.

Since Jose Mourinho took over as Madrid coach in the summer, Ronaldo has only found the back of the net once, and has not quite hit his top form yet. Should he continue to struggle to hit the heights of his best play, the rumours linking him with an exit from Madrid will likely continue.

Should he return to United, Ronaldo will be rejoining a club with whom he won almost every trophy available, including the UEFA Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, FA Cup, League Cup, FA Community Shield and several EPL titles. He also had a strong scoring record, having netted 118 times in 292 appearances.

Wenger says Wilshere will be great

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hailed the performance of starlet Jack Wilshere in their 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

"We know that he's an outstanding football player," Wenger told Sky Sports.

"But he can get tackles and give tackles, he's tough. I believe he has an outstanding future.

"He just needs to keep well, humble and enjoy his game."

"He's much ahead," Wenger said. "But I believe as well that talented players play early. All the big players play early, at the age of 18 they start to play at the top level.

"He can handle it. If he can handle it mentally what happens to him there is no problem, he will be a great player."

"We have to check, that is the only disappointment of the night, because Gibbs had a very good game," said the Arsenal manager.

"We hope we do not get bad news tomorrow morning.

"It is a metatarsal again, it is the one next to the one he had broken, the second one, so we hope we have good news tomorrow morning, because that would be a massive blow to us."

"I felt that we dominated completely," Wenger said.

Wenger explained that Nasri had previously resisted taking penalties after fouls on himself.

"He had a superstition to think that when a penalty is made on you not to take it," Wenger said. "But I tried to prove to him that that's solely based on fear.

"He realises now that it was a bad superstition."

Ujfalusi banned for Messi tackle

Atletico Madrid defender Tomas Ujfalusi has been handed a two-match ban following his sending-off against Barcelona on Sunday.

The tackle saw Lionel Messi leave the pitch on a stretcher.

It looked ominous for Messi as he was carried from the pitch but initial fears of a serious injury were allayed following tests on Monday, when it was confirmed there was only ankle ligament damage but no break.

The Argentina international is set to miss at least two games with the injury.

Ujfalusi's challenge has been widely condemned in Spain and there had been suggestions the Czech defender could face a ban of up to 12 matches.

However, the Spanish Football Federation tonight suspended him for two games, meaning he will miss this week's fixtures against Valencia and Real Zaragoza.

David Villa says Messi tackle was brutal!

David Villa branded Tomas Ujfalusi's challenge on Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi as "brutal".

He said: "There is a committee that decides, and when they see the pictures he [Ujfalusi] is sure to receive the punishment he deserves, because the challenge is brutal and he should not be proud of what he has done.

"The punishment must set a precedent that will make a player think twice before doing something similar."

The Spanish hotshot went on to lay siege on Barca's title rivals Real Madrid when he put down Jose Mourinho's plea to match officials to give his star winger Cristiano Ronaldo added protection.

"I do not value the statements of Mourinho, as the referees do not notice who the player is, they will protect whoever it is, and so I do not appreciate what he says." said Villa.

With barely a month of the new season gone, things have already begun heating up in the Spanish La Liga.

Fabregas says I'll be back in two weeks!

The Spain midfielder suffered the injury as he netted a freak goal at Sunderland on Saturday, the ball being kicked into him by Anton Ferdinand and looping 40 yards into the goal.

But he told his official Twitter account: "Good news on my injury.

"I have some fluid but nothing bad in the muscle. I hope I can be playing in two weeks."

The 23-year-old had just been finding his form having returned late after reaching the World Cup final in South Africa.

With Theo Walcott, Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner all still sidelined, the loss of another key man for a lengthy period would have come as a blow for the Gunners.

Fabregas would not have been included in the squad for Tuesday's game at Tottenham, with manager Arsene Wenger again set to use a combination of fringe and youth players in the Carling Cup.

He is likely to miss Saturday's home Premier League encounter with West Brom and the Champions League trip to Partizan Belgrade three days later, but could be back in contention for the trip to Chelsea on October 3.

'Don't ask me to act like a WAG', Coleen tells Wayne

Love rat Wayne Rooney's wife Coleen has refused to join the soccer ace during his matches asking him not to make her act like a WAG.

"Don't ask me to act like a WAG," the Sun quoted her as saying.

She has told him she will never support him at matches like the other players' WAGS until she is certain there are no more girls.

Although Coleen and Wayne, 24, are trying to rescue their relationship behind closed doors, she is refusing to put on an act.

A source said: "Coleen has told Wayne she wants them to try as best as they can to be a normal family.

"But she's not going to pretend everything is fine when it's not.

"And there's no way on earth she is going to any games.

"She feels embarrassed that the other players knew what was going on and that people have been talking about her."

"To be honest, with the amount of stick he's been getting and the chants that have been shouted at grounds, it's been for the best that Coleen was not there," added the source.

No ankle break for Lionel Messi

Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi suffered ligament damage to his right ankle after being injured against Atletico Madrid.

The Barcelona playmaker was stretchered off following a late challenge by Tomas Ujfalusi in the 2-1 win at the Vicente Calderon, an incident that saw the Atletico defender sent off.

Messi will undergo more tests tomorrow to determine the full extent of the injury but, according to the Barca website, the first examinations of the Argentinian's ankle showed just ligament damage.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola said after the match: "He'll be having more tests on Monday, but in principle a break has been ruled out.

"He's injured and the doctors will tell us how he is. Let's hope the first diagnosis is correct and we can help get him fit again.

"He's very sad and in tears. These things happen in football."

Fernando Torres is a cheat!

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has branded Fernando Torres a cheat for trying to get John O'Shea sent off.

In the aftermath of an exciting 3-2 victory over old rivals Liverpool, Ferguson lashed out at Torres, who went down under O'Shea's tackle on the edge of the area in the 72nd minute of the match.

The resulting free-kick was lashed in by Steven Gerrard, which allowed Liverpool to draw level.

In quotes referenced by the Sun, Ferguson said: "I have watched it again and Torres made an absolute meal of it to try and get the player sent off!"

However, his opposite number at Liverpool believed otherwise.

"My first thought from the bench was that it was a foul", said Roy Hodgson.

The Reds boss agreed with Ferguson about the severity of O'Shea's foul though, saying: " I must say that I didn't think the player (O'Shea) should have been sent off."

This was not the only refereeing decision that didn't go United's way in a highly-charged match, with Torres also earning a penalty in the 64th minute - which was also converted by Gerrard - after a foul by Jonny Evans.

Fortunately for the Red Devils, in-form striker Dimitar Berbatov struck three times to complete a historic hat-trick and seal the win, leaving Ferguson to reflect that his side had deserved the victory.

Ferguson added: "At 2-0 I thought it was going to be a cricket score.

"It was a game we absolutely dominated and I was saying to myself 'it could've been 10'.

"So when it looked like ending 2-2, it would have been a travesty.

"They had the momentum when it went to 2-2 but they never offered anything did they?

"They had to depend on decisions from the linesman to get back into the game."

But Hodgson disagreed, saying: "To undermine our performance that much is a little bit harsh. You can make your own decisions.

"The performance was good and we deserved to get back in the game."

Valencia could be back by February

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Antonio Valencia could be back in action by the end of February.

"You can never be 100% accurate in these situations and it is a bad injury, but we are looking at the end of February, which is better than we thought on Tuesday," said the United boss.

"The operation has been successful and the break was clean, which was the major concern for us at the time," he said.

"He is a strong boy, who is very positive about it.

"Being positive helps you in these situations, so we are very hopeful we will get him back then."

"Antonio had a great season last year," he said.

"He was a great signing for us. He is a young player who has been improving all the time.

"It is a blow losing good players but in the context of the kind of squad we have, we should be able to cope with it.

"You always fear when you have a good player out of your team it is going to be a loss.

"But having players like Nani, Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung, plus Gabriel Obertan and Bebe means we have options."

"There is a mental part to it," he said.

"Take the example of Alan Smith. When Alan got his bad injury in that cup tie against Liverpool, he was so positive.

"He sat in that treatment room at Anfield so nonchalant and relaxed about it.

"Yet you look at his ankle and think 'God almighty'.

"That attitude definitely helped him."

Chamakh improve for his further season

Marouane Chamakh maintains there is still more to come from him after an impressive opening to the season.

"I still have plenty of room for improvement, but I think I have something to offer to the team. Things are going just fine at the moment," Chamakh told www.fifa.com.

"I have settled in quickly and things couldn't have gone much better from that point of view.

"I gave myself six months or maybe even a year to settle down here and I am ahead of schedule in that respect.

"I am delighted with how it is going, although training has been very tough for me.

"I don't think I have ever worked as hard as this physically, but here I am experiencing everything I had envisaged about Arsenal and the English league.

"The atmosphere in the stadiums, the open and attacking football and the standard of the team are just amazing.

"I am getting involved in the games and am scoring too.

"I just want to do my bit in each game and to help the team win."

"It's crazy to hear such stories, I can completely dismiss it," Bendtner told www.Sporten.dk.

"I have been worried during the injury spell, but there has never been mentioned that it could stop my career.

"I can't understand where this rumour comes from. It's nasty and quite shocking."

While a date has not been set for his return, Bendtner remains positive for the season ahead.

"I am looking forward now and there is a lot to look forward to," he said.

"I am expecting to be fit for a comeback within a not too distant future, but I have not set a date.

"Arsenal and I have worked out a timetable which I am following, but we are keeping the details to ourselves."

Mourinho revels in Madrid masterclass

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho purred over his side's 2-0 win over Champions League Group G opponents Ajax.

"The goals will come. Some team is going to pay heavily for this lack of scoring and the scoreline is going to be huge. The best player in both the Osasuna and Mallorca match was the keeper. Today Ajax's keeper was very good," Mourinho told reporters at a post-match press conference.

"We played well. We pressured a lot and in a very advanced position.

"We didn't allow Ajax to play, and they are used to controlling the ball on an open pitch. The team's physical and mental strength increases by playing. They need time to adapt to the new playing method. They need time to adapt because we play with a lot of intensity."

"Cristiano can solve his scoring anxiety by one day not playing so well and scoring two or three goals. This happens a lot. You play and try your hardest, you build plays, you assist so that the team shines, but you can't score. It can happen, but the goals will come."

"Karim Benzema is intelligent and I hope he knows what he has to do to play more. It's easy. You can see the game very well from the bench... The way the opposing defense moves, the changes in positioning, the aggressiveness... It's a perfect spot. He will understand sooner or later."

Wayne Rooney has No more nonscence

Wayne Rooney had missed Manchester United's clash against Everton after being dogged by allegations on his private life.

Publicly, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has insisited that he left the England striker out from the match at Goodison Park to save him from the abuse expected.

"The manager there (Ferguson) knows what he's doing and I'm sure he did what he thought was right.

"Maybe he was just making sure everybody realises if you play for United you have to conduct yourself in a certain manner and the football club doesn't really care who you are."

Ferguson has already said Rooney will be back for tomorrow's Champions League opener against Rangers at Old Trafford.

Rooney may be dropped for Everton clash over 'slanging over sexcapade' fears

Manchester United is reportedly considering dropping striker Wayne Rooney for Saturday's Premier League match against Everton.

Rooney is under intense personal pressure following revelations about his private life, and accusations that he used 1,200 pounds-a-night prostitutes while his wife Coleen was pregnant with son Kai.

The 24-year-old had scored in England's 3-1 Euro 2012 win in Switzerland on Tuesday.

"Everyone has assumed Wayne will play because of how bravely he performed in Basel, but playing hundreds of miles away in Switzerland is a lot different to stepping out at Goodison Park, where there will be a lot of hatred and abuse flying around - all of it directed at Wayne," The Sun quoted an Old Trafford insider, as saying.

"How can anyone give their best for 90 minutes in front of a baying crowd with all that turmoil going on in their private life," he added.

According to reports, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson would leave it until the last minute before deciding whether the striker is in the right frame of mind to face Everton.

Ronaldo sets and returns to clash against Ajax.

Real Madrid's injured star Cristiano Ronaldo could return for their UEFA Champions League clash against Ajax next Wednesday.

The former World Player of the Year suffered an ankle injury in Real's Primera Division opening round goalless draw against Real Mallorca.

The injury forced the Portuguese to miss Portugal's disastrous Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Cyprus and Norway where they drew 4-4 and lost 1-0 respectively.

But Ronaldo has targeted his club side's clash with Ajax as a possible return date.

"I feel better and we'll see how it (the injury) develops," he told reporters.

"I'm still not perfect but almost at one hundred per cent. I'll return as soon as possible, maybe in two days I can rejoin the squad."

"I believe I can be ready for the match against Ajax."

Real have been drawn in UEFA Champions League Group G alongside AC Milan, Auxerre and Ajax

Golden foot Cristiano Ronaldo latest galary

Portugal held to a frantic 4-4 draw by Cyprus

A last-gasp goal from winger Andreas Avraam denied Portugal victory in a thrilling topsy-turvy 4-4 draw against Cyprus in a Euro 2012 qualifier on Friday.

With Cristiano Ronaldo out with an ankle injury and suspended coach Carlos Queiroz watching from the stands, the Cypriots added to Portugal's woes by stunning them with an early goal.

Winger Efstathios Aloneftis combined well with Michalis Konstantinou to find space at the edge of the box and produce a fine lob over Eduardo in the third minute.

Maradona rejects return for Argentina against Spain

Esteban Cambiasso, Javier Zanetti and Gabriel Milito will make their Argentina comebacks against world champions Spain in a friendly at the River Plate stadium Tuesday (9 p.m. British time).

The trio were overlooked by Diego Maradona for the recent World Cup finals in South Africa, where Argentina crashed out in a 4-0 quarter-final defeat by Germany.

"Gabriel has shown me can bring the ball out well from defence, he has good left foot with good touch," Sergio Batista, Maradona's successor, said of Barcelona centre back Milito.

Divorce? I don't care, says Rooney

Manchester United and England footballer Wayne Rooney is unrepentant about his sexual relations with a sex worker during his wife's pregnancy, so much so that he is willing to divorce her if she can’t handle the revelation, according to a British media report.

Rooney, who is to play for England against Switzerland on Tuesday night in Basle, is apparently adamant that he will not be criticised by Coleen and her parents, the Mail online reported, quoting a source who was not idenitified.

"Wayne is not prepared to take any nonsense off the wife and her family, not least because they are all living a very nice life off the back of his talent. If Coleen can't handle it and it's finished, so let it be. It seems he thinks he can do anything what he wants because they'd all be nothing without him,” the source was quoted as saying.

The sex worker, Jennifer Thompson, claimed that they met for sex at the five-star Lowry Hotel in Salford and that after one encounter Rooney summoned a member of the hotel staff demanding cigarettes, handing over 200 Pounds in exchange for a packet of 20 Marlboro.

Miss Thompson said that he had openly spoken to her in front of Manchester United team mates including Michael Owen in Rio Ferdinand's Italian restaurant, Rosso.

Rooney and his advisers have made no legal move yet to gag Miss Thompson.

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