Ferguson labels Benitez as "arrogant" and "contemptuous"
The war of words has intensified between Sir Alex Ferguson and
Don Rafael Benitez in view of the decisive month in the Premier
League. The master of psychological warfare, Ferguson has launched
a furious attack on Liverpool's coach hoping it will destabilize
the Spaniard further after a heroic, but ultimately futile battle
at Stamford Bridge in midweek in the Champions
League.
The Manchester United
manager accused Benitez of arrogance and contempt toward other Premier
League managers, illustrating his claims with the way the Spaniard
once qualified Everton as "a small club" and his dismissive
attitude during a game against Blackburn.
"Everton are a big club, not a small one, as Benitez arrogantly
said," remarked Ferguson
"But arrogance is one thing. You cannot forgive contempt, which
is what he showed Sam Allardyce last weekend. When Liverpool scored
their second goal he signalled as if the game was finished. I do
not think Sam deserved that. No Liverpool manager has ever behaved
like that," concluded Ferguson
United's advantage over Liverpool is just one point, but the Red
Devils also have a game in hand. And Ferguson, the undisputed champion
of unsettling rival coaches, provided they are naive enough to read
the press and pay any attention at all to what the wily Scotsman
has to say.
UEFA throws out Pobeda for eight years
The Macedonian club FK Pobeda Prilep have been banned from UEFA's
cup competitions for the next eight years because of a match-fixing
scandal that took place in 2004.
UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body also banned for life the club
chairman Aleksandar Zabrcanec and the player Nikolce Zdravevski.
The European soccer governing body has stated that Pobeda "breached
the principles of integrity and sportsmanship under Article 5 of
the UEFA disciplinary regulations by manipulating the outcome of
a match."
The breach in question occurred on the occasion of the Champions
League preliminary round tie between Pobeda and Armenia's Pyunik
Erevan.
Charges were brought against the club due to reports of irregular
betting patterns and statements from several witnesses.
The decision was taken on Friday after a seven-hour-long meeting
at UEFA's headquarters, during which Pobeda's representatives and
a betting expert were heard.
Red Star's player fears eviction over failure to pay the rent
Slovenia's midfielder Mirnes Sisic revealed that Red Star's systematic
failure to pay players' wages have brought him to the verge of being
evicted from his Belgrade apartment. Red Star,
indebted for 22.3 million euros, are going through the most severe
(in fact, the first) crisis in their illustrious history, which
includes a European Cup and a World Club Cup win in the early nineties.
"We give some money to our young teammates on a daily basis
so that they can eat," claims Sisic.
"The landlord came to me last week and told me I had to pay
my outstanding rent or pack my things and leave. If Red Star cannot
afford to pay me what I owe for the rent, let alone the wages, then
I'll have to go back to Slovenia and live with my parents."
The player of Bosnian-Moslem origin has even compared the top Serb
club with the Titanic.
"I cannot believe that a club with Red Star's status could
have allowed this to happen. It's like being on board of the Titanic."
Red Star used to be the Serb sporting flagship and enjoyed strong
political support before the recent democracy (of sorts) and market
principles came to the Balkans country at the start of the millennium.
It seems that their city rivals Partizan have adapted much better
to the new climate, as they are on the verge of winning another
domestic league title in soccer, whereas in basketball, the other
big Serb sport, their domination has been unquestioned for years.
In fact, Red Star's directors fear the FA will not issue their licence
for the next season on account of their huge debt. In case the funds
are not raised over the next couple of weeks, the club may well
be declared bankrupt and go into administration, which according
to Serb legislation would entail their relegation to the Fourth
division.
Depressed Adriano temporarily retires
Brazil's international forward Adriano
Leite has announced his temporary retirement from soccer until
he feels well enough, according to the sports daily Lancenet.
The Inter Milan player has been depressed and apathetic ever since
his father died two years ago and has been a shadow of his former
"imperial" self. The alleged break-up with his girlfriend
Joana may have added insult to injury, leaving Adriano incapable
of handling the pressure of professional soccer in Italy, of all
places.
The robust centre-forward has even rejected the idea of joining
a Brazilian team, which he did in the second half of 2008, when
he played for Sao Paulo. This time, his state of mind has reached
new lows, leading him to quit soccer altogether, at least for a
while.
"I was not happy in Italy, and I am happy in Brazil, in the
company of my friends and relatives," said Adriano in one of
his rare appearances in the media.
After a South American
World Cup qualifying game held last April 1, Adriano didn't
return to Italy, but instead returned to his family in Rio de Janeiro.
His coach at Inter, Jose Mourinho, apparently understands the turmoil
Adriano is in. "I think that the fans should not be angry at
him. The most important thing now is for Adriano to be happy. We
may lose a soccer player, but not a person," said the Portuguese.
Manchester United still tops Forbes rich list
The business magazine Forbes has published its new list
of the most valuable soccer clubs in the world showing yet again
the astounding domination of English soccer in financial matters
No less than nine English clubs have made the top-25, including
Newcastle United (19th), who may well be relegated this season in
spite of their estimated wealth of 217 million euros.
Real Madrid, Bayern, Milan and Barcelona are the strongest rivals
to the English contingent, Barça being one of the most upwardly
mobile clubs over the last year (by 22%). As far as the revaluation
is concerned, no-one has made as much progress as Manchester
City, whose value has soared by 62%, notably thanks to the investments
made by their new owners, sheikhs of Abu Dhabi.
The 25 most valuable clubs
(in millions of euros)
1 Manchester United 1,423
2 Real Madrid 1,030
3 Arsenal 913
4 Bayern Munich 845
5 Liverpool 768
6 AC Milan 753
7 Barcelona 730
8 Chelsea 609
9 Juventus 457
10 Schalke 04 388
11 Tottenham Hotspur 339
12 Olympique Lyon 322
13 AS Roma 290
14 Inter Milan 281
15 Hamburger SV 251
16 Borussia Dortmund 247
17 Manchester City 236
18 Werder Bremen 222
19 Newcastle United 217
20 VfB Stuttgart 201
21 Aston Villa 183
21 Olympique Marseille 183
23 Celtic 166
24 Everton 158
25 Glasgow Rangers 148
Becks keeps on attracting the most cash
Forbes has also listed the best paid soccer players in
2008 and David Beckham suitably tops that list just as his former
club Manchester United is perched on top of the clubs' rankings.
Most of Becks' earnings came from endorsement deals, almost a third
of 35 million euros.
A full ten million euros behind Beckham is his teammate at Milan,
Ronaldinho, who also owes his earning power to his past soccer achievements.
The world's top performer, Cristiano Ronaldo, lies far behind Beckham,
but at 24 he can still hope for many, many more lucrative years,
even when he's well past his prime, as his colleague's examples
show.
Highest earning players
(in millions of euros)
1 David Beckham (LA Galaxy / Milan) 35
2 Ronaldinho (Milan) 25
3 Thierry Henry (Barcelona) 20
4 Kaka (Milan) 16
5 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) 14,5
6 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 14
7 Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 14
8 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 14
9 John Terry (Chelsea) 14
10 Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 14
