Two great footballers scored their one hundredth career goal in
the Champions League second day last week. Steven Gerrard reached
the round figure against Liverpool's perennial customer, PSV Eindhoven,
while Argentina's Sergio Agüero did the same by scoring against
Olympique Marseille, both games being played in the same group.
Agüero's jubilee was arguably more special because it involved
two centuries – that of his career goals and that of his appearances
for Atlético Madrid. Mighty figures especially if we remember
he will only be 21 next December.
In his previous club, Independiente, he scored 59 competitive goals,
all before his 18th birthday and after joining Atlético in
the summer of 2006, he netted another 41 goals: 27 in the Spanish
League games, 11 in the European cups and three in the King's Cup.
Chelsea's official food taster offended the Romanians
The Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari may not be very strict
with his players when the earthly pleasures are concerned. Chelsea
players are reportedly free to take a sip of wine or beer if they
really feel thirsty for these beverages. Upon arriving at Stamford
Bridge from Portugal, Scolari said he was just a coach, not a policeman.
Still, the 2002 World Cup winner is particularly cautious regarding
the menu served to his team by various hosts. So he took a food
taster to Cluj, Romania, for the Champions League game with CFR.
The gentleman was in charge of tasting all the meals served before
they would reach the players' tables.
The personnel of the five star Opera Plaza Hotel in Cluj took offence
at the practice that included Chelsea's insistence that all foods
with animal fat or of unorganic origin were to be dumped from the
menu.
One of the hotel's staff members wondered if the people from the
English club were afraid they would be served blood, since Cluj
is at the heart of the famed Transylvania province.
"Their actions are an insult to our country and our culture,"
fumed the hotel employee, according to The Sun.
A Romanian daily wrote that Chelsea may have feared to be poisoned
in the land of Count Dracula. Still, CFR Cluj exacted a revenge
of sorts by holding the Champions League current runners-up to a
goalless draw.
Rummenigge says Bayern still trust Klinsmann
Bayern Munich haven't had such a poor start to a Bundesliga season
since 1977/78.
Sitting in mid-table after seven matches, the Bavarians are seemingly
paying the price for two major changes carried out during the summer:
their legendary keeper Oliver Kahn retired after 14 years at the
club and coach Ottmar Hitzfeld switched to coaching Switzerland.
The new goalkeeper, Michael Rensing, has conceded goals at an unprecedented
pace and the new boss, Jürgen Klinsmann, hasn't yet found an
ideal starting eleven, fumbling with the team week in, week out.
The press has appealed to Kahn to come out of retirement to save
Bayern, but he slammed such calls, saying that the club needs to
stand behind Rensing and give him more time to adapt.
After the team clinched one point in three matches, having lost
2-5 to Werder and drawn 3-3 to Bochum at home, rumors increased
that Klinsmann would be axed before long, but Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge told Bild magazine that the coach's position was
not in doubt.
"Klinsmann is the right coach for us. In principle, he has
done everything well up to now and only the results have been unsatisfactory.
We at the club are going to be patient enough in waiting for the
success to come. Surely, we are going to analyze the current situation
with the coach, but we still believe in him," said Rummenigge
much to the former Spurs man's relief.
Paralyzed Borgonovo to raise funds for research for Lou Gehrig's
disease
Stefano Borgonovo used to be a distinguished Italian centre-forward
in the late eighties and early nineties, playing for Como, Fiorentina,
Milan and, briefly, the Italian national team. In 1990, he took
Milan to the Champions Cup finals by scoring a marvellous goal,
chipping the ball over Bayern's keeper in Munich.
Three years ago, Borgonovo (44) has lived with a terrible awareness
of suffering from an incurable disease. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
or Lou Gehrig's disease slowly kills the motor neurons, deadening
the muscles and bringing the patient to a state of utter helplessness.
Formerly a member of an inseparable Fiorentina's attacking tandem
with Roberto Baggio, he today spends his time lying motionless in
bed, the eyelids being the only body parts he can control. By means
of an advanced computer program, the eye tracker, he is able to
blink words onto a computer screen.
The Italian public learned of his illness only a month ago, when
he gave an interview to Sky tv. Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence
will today be the setting for a humanitarian game between Fiorentina
and Milan designed to raise funds for Borgonovo's foundation to
combat the disease. Even Baggio, who also played for the two clubs,
will be present at the event.
"He promised to give me another assist on Wednesday,"
said Borgonovo to the press.
One of Lou Gehrig's striking features is that it affects soccer
players more often than average people, even other athletes. Amazingly,
goalkeepers seem to be mostly spared. Medical science has not determined
what exposes outfield players to the disease – perhaps the
antirheumatic injections given for numerous injuries, maybe a chemical
used to preserve the grass.
In any case, Borgonovo isn't cursing his decision to become a soccer
player.
"I don't believe soccer is to blame. If I could, I would take
the field again and hopefully score against Juventus."
Lucescu tell Barcelona to be ashamed for dissing fair play
Barcelona's lucky 2-1 win against Shakhtar in Donetsk in the Champions
League irritated the Ukrainians' coach Mircea Lucescu, who particularly
blamed the young Bojan Krkic for violating a fair play principle.
Before Leo Messi scored the equalizer with three minutes to go,
a Shakhtar's defender kicked the ball out of bounds believing his
teammate was injured. The player promptly got up and Krkic did not,
as customary, return the ball to the opponents after the throw-in,
but rather crossed into the area and created the goal for Messi.
Later, deep into injury time, Messi scored again giving Barça
a controversial win.
"Barcelona should be ashamed because winning in this manner
does not befit them. If they had done this at another stadium, they
would not have come out alive," said the angry Romanian, ignoring
his captain, Darijo Srna's appeals to calm down.
Lucescu also shouted at some journalists and at his opposing coach
Josep Guardiola when he stepped into the mixed zone. Finally, members
of Shakhtar's board stepped in and dragged the coach away.
