Football News: Weekly Football News Roundup

5/1/08

Eriksson to be sacked at Manchester City

Manchester City plan to dismiss the Swede Sven-Göran Eriksson at the end of the season, according to the team's owner, the Thai businessman and politician Thaksin Shinawatra.

According to the former Thai Prime minister, Eriksson is not the suitable individual to manage the expensive and ambitious City squad. The players are said to be disgruntled with Shinawatra's decision and some have already announced they are ready to follow the boss.

The Asian tycoon is apparently unhappy with City's current ninth position in the Premier League, and the home defeat to Fulham 3-2 after being 2-0 up seems the last straw.

"Sven reacted calmly, as is usual for him, but he was very surprised and disappointed. He does not want to leave the club and will not resign," an anonymous source close to the former England manager told the BBC.

Tottenham snatches Modric from Newcastle

Croatia may have defeated England twice in the recent qualifiers for Euro 2008, but four of their most distinguished internationals are now members of Premier League clubs.

After Niko Kranjcar (Portsmouth), Eduardo da Silva (Arsenal) and Vedran Corluka (Manchester City), midfielder Luka Modric has become the fourth Croat in the Premiership after he signed for Tottenham Hotspurs from Dinamo Zagreb.

The Spurs will reportedly pay the Croatian champions 21 million euros, and Modric will earn in the proximity of 50,000 pounds a week.

Only last week the 22-year-old offensive midfielder was alleged to be close to signing for Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United, but Dinamo's power broker Zdravko Mamic put the Magpies' offer on hold so that Tottenham could step in and better whatever Newcastle had offered.

Modric said he was overjoyed with the transfer and admitted the Croatia manager, Slaven Bilic, had advised him to choose the Spurs over Newcastle. Liverpool and Barcelona were also rumoured to be interested in the youngster.

Labelled the "Cruyff of the Balkans", Modric is a supremely dynamic player capable of covering all midfield roles and is known for setting up forwards just as easily as scoring himself. After joining Dinamo in February 2005, he led the team to three consecutive championships, an FA Cup and a Supercup win, with another FA Cup appearance against Hajduk Split just a week away.

Luka may be the right man to revolutionize the Spurs' midfield, but if Juande Ramos now allows the superstar striker Dimitar Berbatov to leave, it could be just another season of mediocrity at White Hart Lane.

Exemplary punishment: jail sentence for a leg fracture

On the same day the Croatian player Mario Andricevic from Cibalia was banned for six months for breaking a Hajduk player's leg, the Dutch Supreme Court confirmed the six month suspended jail sentence for the former Sparta player Rachid Bouaouzan for a similar infraction.
Now at Wigan, four years ago the Morroccan broke a rival's leg with a brutal tackle during a Dutch league game.
The first court ruling was appealed by Bouaouzan's lawyers, but the Supreme Court reasserted the initial sentence by explaining that the injury was caused by a reckless tackle that "flagrantly violated the regulations of the sport."
Birmingham's Martin Taylor should indeed consider himself lucky since he received just a three game suspension for breaking Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva's leg on February 23th.

Ronaldo in a shemale's clutches

onaldo Nazario Lima, the Brazilian "Phenomenon", stands to lose a nine figure contract with Nike plus his girlfriend as a consequence of a scandal he was involved in after watching a Flamengo vs Botafogo game in Rio.
The Milan striker, receiving treatment for a recent knee surgery in his homeland, apparently came across three female-looking persons in the street and suggested they all went to a motel to have a spot of fun.
Once there, it became obvious to Ronaldo that the "girls" had certain features not entirely typical of the female sex, so he called off the party and left the scene. Lest his companions should feel betrayed, he offered them 400 euros apiece, but one of them, a certain Andre/Andreia refused and asked Ronaldo for much more unless he wanted the story to leak to the press.
The footballer refused and Andre(ia) went to the police claiming Ronaldo had offered him money for the purchase of drugs. The athlete then presented himself at a police precinct denying the drug accusations.
Still, Andre(ia) presented evidence Ronaldo had hooked up with him and his pals for "entertainment" purposes, which alone may cost the player much of his reputation in the eyes of sponsors and media alike.
For now, his girlfriend Maria Beatriz has already dumped him and moved from Rio back to her parents in Brasilia, while Nike is considering unilaterally terminating a 100 million dollar endorsement contract on account the scandal could hurt their image.

The funniest penalties: Robert Pires tops the chart

Cristiano Ronaldo's non-fatal miss in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals inspired The Mirror to choose the ten worst penalty scenes in soccer's history.
The United player certainly did not deserve a place in the top ten, having simply shot past the Barcelona keeper's post, but the authors had to justify somehow their sudden interest in the world of penalty taking.
The top spot deservedly went to Arsenal's Robert Pires and Thierry Henry, who performed a breathtaking play in 2005 against Manchester City. Apparently the duo agreed they would repeat the exhibition invented in 1982 by Johan Cruyff and Jesper Olsen at Ajax. The play started by Cruyff passing the ball from the spot for the incoming Olsen. The Dane then took a few steps forward and passed back to Cruyff, who easily scored past the goalkeeper, who had already headed towards Olsen.
However, in attempting to flick the ball towards Henry, Pires missed it altogether and stopped in confusion, while the City players rushed in and carried the ball away.
The not entirely serious ranking includes the singer Diana Ross (!), who missed the open goal from about eight meters during the 1994 World Cup inauguration ceremony and the even funnier scene from a 2004 Olympic tournament game between Tunisia and Serbia. The Haitian referee Edwards ordered the Tunisian penalty to be taken six times, due to the Tunisian players trespassing into the area. Finally, the sixth shot, which ended in a goal, stood.

The worst penalties
1. Robert Pires (Arsenal, Premier League)
2. Peter Devine (Lancaster, England lower leagues)
3. Roberto Baggio (Italy, World Cup)
4. David Beckham (England, Euro)
5. Stuart Pearce (England, World Cup)
6. Chris Waddle (England, World Cup)
7. Diana Ross (singer, World Cup)
8. William (Botafogo, Copa Sudamericana)
9. various Tunisians (Tunisia-Serbia, Olympics)
10. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester Utd., Champions League)

Compiled by Ozren Podnar