Football News - Rio, Cash & Golden Goals
Rio, Rivaldo & Silva
The big transfer news over the last week has been the moves of two Brazilian
World Cup stars and an English bloke with a Brazilian sounding name.Rio Ferdinand, 23, became the most expensive player in British football history with his US$45 million (£30m) move from Leeds United to Manchester United. Leeds had paid West Ham United US$27 million in 2000 for the highly-rated England defender.
1999 World Footballer of the Year Rivaldo left Barcelona by mutual consent to join AC Milan on a three-year contract. The 30 year-old Brazilian made no secret of his dysfunctional relationship with new coach Louis van Gaal which prompted the player to say 'adios' to Barca with one year left to run on his contract.
Fellow Brazilian World Cup winner Gilberto Silva joined English Premier League champions, Arsenal from Atletico Mineiro for an undisclosed fee. The combative midfielder played in all Brazil's World Cup games.
Japan and Korea Stars On The Move
Lee Eul Yong, who had an excellent World Cup in South Korea's midfield has signed a US$2.1 million dollar transfer deal with Turkish club Trabzonspor. The 26 year-old will leave Korean club team Bucheon SK for Turkey in early August. Lee scored against Turkey in Korea's 3-2 defeat in the Third/Fourth Place play-off.National teammate Yoo Sang Chul bid farewell to the J-League's Kashiwa Reysol when the striker notched his 38th goal in Japan. Yoo is hoping to find a club in Europe for the coming season. His replacement with Steve Perryman's side will be Brazilian World Cup striker Edilson, back for his second spell with the club since he scored 44 goals in 56 games in the 1996-7 seasons.
Japanese heart-throb and ex-Yokohama F Marinos midfielder, Shunsuke Nakamura, has begun training with his new club Serie A's Reggina. The small southern Italian club which has just one promotion to the top flight are hoping Nakamura will give the same boost to shirt sales and local tourism as Hidetoshi Nakata's successful stay at Perugia. Reggina will be looking to sign a lucrative TV deal with a Japanese channel to broadcast their games in Japan. Former Japanese international right winger Nozomi Hiroyama has quit a loan deal with Paraguay's Cerro Porteno to join Portugal's Braga, who finished mid-table in the Portuguese first division last season. Hiroyama began his career with J-League side JEF United Ichihara.
South Korean striker Ahn Jung Hwan, who is still in dispute with Italian club side Perugia, has filed a US$1.7 million lawsuit against South Korea's leading phone company, SK Telecom for supposedly using his image in advertisements without the player's consent.
FIFA have now become involved in Ahn's continuing impasse with Perugia but the world governing body is warning that a solution could take from six to eight months to resolve and during that time Ahn would not be able to play for another club.
Another Korean player staying at home is Lee Chun-soo, whose transfer to English Premiership side Southampton has fallen through. Lee's Korean club Ulsan Hyundai Tigers want to retain the services of the 21 year-old striker until the end of the K-League season.
Cash Crisis in Italy
23 teams in Italy's top three divisions have been given a July 29 deadline to get their finances in order or face expulsion, according to an announcement by Italian football's finance authority Covisoc. The teams include the two Rome giants, AS Roma and Lazio, Serie B's Fiorentina, Genoa, Messina, Palermo and Verona as well as 15 teams in Serie C.All the clubs concerned have appealed against the ruling and the teams' owners expressed confidence they would be able to find the necessary funds to guarantee their registration for the up-coming season. Fiorentina, the sick man of Italian football with debts in excess of US$20 million seem the team most likely of the debt-stricken clubs to go into liquidation as the Italian game pays the penalty for years of bloated transfer fees and players' salaries allied to a recent dwindling of attendances, related in part to live pay-for-view TV coverage and fan violence.
J-League Considers Ending Golden Goal
New J-League chairman Masaru Suzuki said that extra time and the golden
goal would be scrapped to bring Japanese professional soccer into line with
the world game. Suzuki told reporters at his first press conference as chairman
that the 2-2 draw between Japan and Belgium at the World Cup had 'educated
fans in Japan about the beauty of the draw.' Suzuki also added that the number of J-League games would have to be increased from the present 30 games per club to around 50 if teams were to survive financially.
Suzuki, 66 and the former president of Kashima Antlers replaces Saburo Kawaguchi, who takes over as president of the Japan Football Association.
PSG Up For Sale
Indebted French TV company Canal Plus wants to sell French league club Paris St. Germain as it seeks financial restructuring in the wake of ill-fated over-expansion. World Cup sensation Ronaldinho may well be on his way to England, Spain or Italy just weeks after receiving the Grand Medal from the mayor of Paris for his World Cup exploits.Keane To Continue
Ex-Republic of Ireland skipper Roy Keane has announced he would like to
revive his international career after being sent home from the team's training
camp in June if and when present manager Mick McCarthy quits his post.
Big Phil Blasts Pele
Brazil's controversial coach Luiz Felipe Scolari lashed out at Pele claiming he knew nothing about football and was not welcome when he handed the cup to the team after their 2-0 World Cup triumph over Germany in the final. 'He has done nothing as a coach and all his analyses always turn out to be wrong. Pele did not believe in the players, nor in the coach nor in Brazil's tactics,' Scolari added.Scolari also described Brazilian striker Ronaldo as 'spoiled' and hinted he would never fully recover from his serious knee injuries.
Tunisia Coach Quits
Ammar Souayeh, who coached Tunisia at the 2002 World Cup has quit the job citing poor health. Tunisia managed only a point and one goal in Group H and have suffered in recent seasons from a distinct lack of goals.Korean World Cup Medals
Korean medal firm Kowoon Co. will issue 2,002 silver and 1,001 gold commemorative medals for sale. The medals will feature the autographs of coach Guus Hiddink and his 23- man squad.