ITALY
Camoranesi..MF..from..Contract Extension..to..Juventus..fee..2010
Zauri..DF..from..Contract Extension..to..Lazio..fee..2012
De Lucia..GK..from..Parma..to..Livorno..fee..Free
Gourcuff..MF..from..Contract Extension..to..Milan..fee..2012
Morrone..MF..from..Livorno..to..Parma..fee..Free
Montella..FW..from..Roma..to..Sampdoria..fee..Loan
Di Natale..FW..from..Contract Extension..to..Udinese..fee..2012
NETHERLANDS
Mols..FW..from..ADO Den Haag..to..Feyenoord..fee..Free
Sibon..FW..from..Nurnberg..to..Heerenveen..fee..u/d
de Jong..MF..from..Contract Extension..to..PSV..fee..2008
Perez..FW..from..Ajax..to..PSV..fee..u/d
Rajkovic..DF..from..Chelsea..to..PSV..fee..Loan
Zeefuik..FW..from..Contract Extension..to..PSV..fee..2011
Van Hanegam..Coach..from..Out of contract..to..Utrecht..fee..n/a
July 15, 2007 at 4:54 pm
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BRAZIL 2 (Baptista 4, Ayala 40 og)
ARGENTINA 0
Just as I was about to say Argentina have played the best football I’ve even seen from an international team this happens. Argentina have looked nervous from the start while Brazil have an air of confidence about them. It’s only half time of course. Shit happens.
May 23, 2007 at 9:06 am
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Liverpool's tradition of winning crucial CL games decided by penalties and penalty shootouts goes back to the time they won their first title in 1977.
Phil Neal was the full back who scored the game winning penalty that gave Liverpool their first title in 1977 beating Borussia Moenchengladbach, 3-1. He reminisces about that penalty kick.
That was a fantastic kind of night for our club. We were under a lot of pressure from Moenchengladbach. It´s Kevin's swansong night. He's going to Hamburg. We all wanted him to have a good send-off. When he gets brought down and points to the spot I thought 'bloody hell.' I got a long walk from right-back to pick the ball up. Ian Callaghan rarely says a thing but even he said: 'Nealy, put this in.' You got someone like Tommy Smith who said: 'Nealy, if you miss this I going to fucking break your back.' They were all under pressure. I hadn't even walked ten yards. Now I've got to pick the ball up. Wolfgang Knieb incidentally absolutely towered over Ray Clemence. He was big lanky boy so I thought I'll keep it low. My favourite side was the keeper's left. It's ironic how adrenaline can get to you. Thank goodness it went in off the post.
Liverpool won their fourth title in 1984 beating AS Roma in a penalty shootout. And Phil Neal was called on to make the PK as Steve Nicol missed the first one.
The other one is when Stevie Nicol jumped ahead in the European Cup final in 84. He jumped the gun and Souness said: 'Let him go. He's nervous, it's his first final. Le him go.' Other than me taking the first one as I was ordered to do by Joe. He misses it and they score their first. So I am taking our second. If this one doesn't go in, we are two down. I am conscious of that. It's even more important than the one against Moenchengladbach because we're going to be back in it or be way down the line. Conte and Graziani missed theirs. Isn't it ironic that Graziani in failing to score went into a mental institution? Pearcy misses for England and gets a contract with McDonalds for hundred grand. Graziani misses one and gets into a loony home.
Bob Paisley's and Joe Fagan's teams in the 70's and 80's won four CL titles and Phil Neal was a part of every single one of them. Neal's favourite player on the Liverpool squad is Steve Finnan. He sees a little bit of him in Finnan. And he obviously backs Liverpool to win the match against AC Milan .
Phil Neal made a career out of taking penalties and was very successful. And oddly enough, he seems to have enjoyed taking them. He is also an oil painter and a gourmand. Phil Neal unplugged.
May 23, 2007 at 1:14 am
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Key: Can Milan play 90+ minutes without flagging because the CL final's is their's to lose.
If you were a soccer purist, there is only one team you would support, and that would be AC Milan. They are sublime because their players are far better than that of Liverpool. But if skill was the only criteria then Arsenal would be walking away with every Premiership. There is a little thing called heart. Which is what Liverpool has in plenty. This is the quandary that Milan faces, can they play 90+ minutes of soccer without fading or letting up? Because the lesson of 2005, is that there is no slacking off, as Liverpool will punish you. If it comes to a penalty shootout Liverpool would be odds on favourite to win. Thus, it is imperative for Milan to win in regulation time. Because the game swings Liverpool's way the longer it drags on.
The key is to stop the roving Steven Gerrard. And the achilles heel of Milan is the erratic Doni. Brilliant but extremely fallible. Look for Gerrard to test Doni with some well timed zingers. Milan is not as physical as Liverpool so look for some real physical jousting when Liverpool takes its set pieces, corners, or crosses from the flanks. This is when Liverpool will be at its best. Doni has to be careful not to have any of those mental lapses that have cost Milan matches in the past. Liverpool will win the 50/50 always. So Milan's main aim would be that it does not get punished for these lapses that will surely occur. Look for Gattuso who did an admirable job on Ronaldo in the CL semi-finals to police Gerrard and shut him down. In that case, look for long balls to Kuyt and Crouch/ Bellamy up front in the event that their speed and aerial ability can break down the Milan cordon.
On the other hand I would take Milan's midfield of Kaka, Seedorf, Ambrosini, and Pirlo anyday over Alonso, Gerrard, Zenden, and Mascherano, on the open field. The story of Milan's win will be their superior midfield. Liverpool's defense is tough to crack with Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger and only a midfield like that of Milan can find holes.
Pirlo is due for a big game and he will shine. He is a big game player and through set pieces and/or well timed passes, Pirlo will test Liverpool as all the attention is drawn towards Kaka as Liverpool does its best to crowd him out.
Prediction: AC Milan 3 Liverpool 1. This time around Milan will make sure that the match does not slip away from them even as they prove once again that they are a far better team.
May 22, 2007 at 11:40 pm
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...in Mozambique.Angry fans attacked an unidentified man in a local league match between Lichinga FC and rivals Ferroviario de Nampula and killed him for celebrating Ferroviario's second goal.
May 22, 2007 at 11:16 am
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Remember the triumphant return of Mido to White Hart Lane in the beginning of the season as Martin Jol and fans hailed his permanent transfer from Roma. They remembered the Mido from the 2005-2006 season when on loan from Roma, he scored 11 goals and he and Robbie Keane became a inseparable tandem in attack, a potent 1-2, and booked the Spurs their UEFA Cup place. Mido himself was ecstatic to be back in a Spurs kit.
Well, the new Mido is now bitter about his move to the Spurs. In one of those inexplicable interludes in life, Dimitar Berbatov, the man who has scored 12 goals this season, led the Spurs back to the UEFA Cup, and established place his place in the first squad, has firmly supplanted himself as fan favourite. Berbatov's quality performances and Mido's injuries meant limited minutes on the field.
Mido spurned offers from Man City and Blackburn so that he could return to White Hart. He is on a four year deal with the Spurs but he is now looking for a way out and will leave if he gets a good offer. With Mido's slipping in the striker position behind Keane, Berbatov, and Defoe, his future looks bleak. Sometimes timing is everything.
May 22, 2007 at 10:31 am
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Simple, the Blackburn striker who has had a most satisfying first season scoring 24 all purpose goals for his club leading them to the top ten in the Premiership and the FA Cup 6th round. All this for a paltry £2.5million fee. Naturally, he has attracted the attention of the big name clubs especially Chelsea.
But what really makes McCarthy attractive is that he has traditionally spurned national squad (South Africa) duty for his first priority, his club. This makes him very attractive because the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations takes place square in the second half of the Premiership when clubs are scrambling to cement their position in the league. Chelsea could lose Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Solomon Kalou, and John Obi Mikel for three weeks. Other clubs like Arsenal will lose key players like Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, and Adebayor. Whereas, Liverpool except for losing Mohammed Sissoko and Man Utd, whose first squad presently has no African players are going to be untouched. In the scramble for top position, the Africa Cup is a critical factor, and clubs that are going to lose key first squad members will have to prepare for this contingency.
For Arsenal this means signing defenders like Gareth Bale or Micah Richards and strikers like Florent Malouda. For soccer purists, this is another continuing saga in how clubs are more important than representing your country. McCarthy has represented his country and is SA's joint top scorer (with Shaun Bartlett) but he has flitted in and out citing his responsibilities to his club. For SA, a country struggling to climb back to the top in African soccer, McCarthy's participation could make a huge difference.
May 22, 2007 at 9:56 am
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Liverpool has been given the green light by co-owner Tom Hicks that he will match Roman Abramovich in money spent on big name players. Liverpool has already signed Andriy Voronin, the Bayer Leverkusen forward, plus Lucas Leiva and Sebastián Leto, two highly rated youngsters from South America. Next season Liverpool will sport a completely different look in midfield and in the attack. Robbie Fowler is gone, Harry Kewell's career cut short with numerous injuries, Mark Gonzalez an afterthought in the midfield. Andriy Voronin's hire could mean that Peter Crouch or Craig Bellamy could be on their way out.
Their potential replacements could be Daniel Alaves (Sevilla), Carlos Tevez (West Ham) and Morton Gamst Pedersen (Blackburn Rovers). The transfer of Carlos Tevez looks the most likely as his wish to play for a big name club will finally materialize and with it the dream of playing in the Champions League.
However the big target is Samuel Eto'o. The Barca striker will cost any club in the region of 40 million pounds. Rafa's priorities are reflected in this decision. Although he is under pressure to bring Liverpool its first Premiership title, he still thinks Champions League first.
May 22, 2007 at 4:22 am
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Video of the Steven Gerrard inspired miracle win that Liverpool took from AC Milan in 2005. Liverpool will be looking for another one again.
…and for those following the Jose and his missing dog story - here’s an update and some comments on the dog and the game from the man behind the name - Ruud Gullit.
May 20, 2007 at 6:22 pm
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20 May 2007
ATALANTA 1 (Pinto 10)
INTER 1 (Figo 49)
Pinto turned inside Burdisso onto a through ball and shot past Julio Cesar as he advanced off his line. Figo scored his FIRST goal of the season from the penalty spot. He's aged about five years over the past 12 months and it's definitely time for him to leave.
Biondini's extravagant flick sent Suazo in on goal and despite losing his balance he recovered to scramble the ball into an empty net. Totti equalised from the spot after Biondini handled a free kick. Marchini split the Roma defence with a pass to Pepe who drew out Curci before pulling the ball back for Marchini to fire in from 10 yards. The midfielder scored a fantastic second and again Biondini, who must have been watching videos of Van Basten and Bergkamp, provided an outrageous assist, flicking a first time cross from the left up to the edge of the box where Marchini was waiting with a glorious right foot volley. Roma's giant 19 year old midfielder Faty intercepted a hospital pass on the edge of the Cagliari area and flicked the ball over a defender before volleying a cross to the back post for his captain to sweep home his 24th goal of the season.
According to rumours in the Italian press Suazo's transfer to Inter will be confirmed shortly after the end of the championship which probably means Adriano's days are numbered. If he's actually bothered about winning the European Golden Boot Totti (48 points) should have no problem getting the brace he needs against relegated Messina to overtake Alfonso Alves (51 points) at the top of the standings. Van Nistelrooy is also in the running.
Vannucchi gave Empoli the lead with a brilliant shot from 30 yards which flew in off the crossbar. Moro repeated the trick with a fierce low drive which embarrassed Campagnolo at his near post. Vannucchi, who I feel is a strong candidate for Serie A player of the season alongside Totti (obviously) released Busce on the right of the box and he arced a peach of a pass to the back post for Saudati to slide in goal #3. Reggina began a Liverpool style comeback when he headed in Tedesco's corner. Four minutes later he met Moro's fabulous cross with a low diving header. Amoruso converted a twice taken penalty to keep Reggina's survival hopes alive. Results went Empoli's way which meant they qualified for the UEFA Cup despite blowing a three goal lead.
Empoli are fairly average and I don't think any of the players have UEFA Cup experience which is probably why they don't run the risk of too much upheaval over the summer.
With Toni injured and expected to leave, Pazzini is now first choice striker at the club and scored his sixth goal of the season from the penalty spot. He should triple that tally next season. Five minutes later Rigano blew a chance to equalise from the penalty spot. Paoletti feebly slapped out Jorgensen's close range volley and Gamberini poked in Fiorentina's second. Rigano took advantage of some staggeringly poor defending to head in a corner and successfully converted a penalty awarded for handball, his 17th goal of the season in just 26 games.
Rigano is old and slow but brilliant in the air and good link man. He would be perfect for any mid ranking team in the Premiership.
PALERMO 2 (Corini 26, Caracciolo 45)
SIENA 1 (Maccarone 94)
Guidolin was back on the Palermo bench three weeks after being sacked and guided his team to their first win in eight games and into next year's UEFA Cup. Corini gave them the lead with a brilliant free kick and on he stroke of half time Caracciolo beat Manninger all ends up with a violent strike from 25 yards. Maccarone scored a late, late consolation and it was another fine long range strike, this time from a free kick.
MILAN 2 (Gourcuff 36, Costacurta 57 Pen)
UDINESE 3 (Asamoah 10, Di Natale 53, Barreto 61)
Storari went AWOL on a corner leaving Asamoah to head into an empty net. Gourcuff scrambled in the equaliser, his first Serie A goal, after the returning Boriello fell over Oliveira's cross. Di Natale restored Udinese's lead with a tap-in after Storari failed to hold from Portsmouth bound Muntari. The ref dreamed up a penalty for the home side and in his last ever game for the club Costacurta scored from the spot, his second league goal of the decade. Barreto raced onto a long ball over the top of the Milan defence and just managed to keep it in play before beating Storari at his near post.
May 20, 2007 at 6:22 pm
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Cagliari take a big step towards safety with a 3-2 win over Italian Cup holders Roma. Reggina do a Liverpool and comeback from 0-3 down to grab at point at Empoli, who will join Palemo, 2-1 winners over Siena, and Fiorentina, who draw at Messina, in next season's UEFA Cup. Catania loss at Sampdoria makes them the most likely candidates for relegation along with Reggina and Siena.
