Lippi back at Italy helm
June 27, 2008
ROME, Jun 26 (SW) - The Italian Football Federation announced on Thursday that manager Roberto Donadoni would be relieved of his duties, to be replaced by former manager Marcello Lippi.
Lippi, who resigned after leading the Azzurri to glory in the 2006 World Cup, takes over a squad that was knocked out on penalties in the quarter-finals of a less-than-impressive Euro 2008 campaign.
Donadoni had been criticized for his choice of players during the tournament and met with federation president Giancarlo Abete to discuss the move.
Lippi will sign a contract that will run through the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and his first match will be a friendly with Austria in August. Qualifying for the World Cup starts on September 6.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Arshavin in debt to Dutch duo
June 26, 2008
Vienna
Everyone’s talking about Andrei Arshavin, how he’s lighting up Euro 2008 with skills that have earned praise from the great man himself, Zinedine Zidane. Yet Arshavin is not some boy wonder. He’s 27 and made his international debut on 17 May, 2002,
So why has it taken six years for the Russian ‘Ronaldinho’ to show the world just how good he is? It’s a fair question, one that I put to Konstantin Kleshchev, a man who knows a bit about the burgeoning star of Euro 2008.
"We’ve always known he’s a very good player," said Kleshchev, a reporter on Russian football for 25 years. "But not everyone has believed in him and could see what he was capable of."
Crucially, those people with the doubts have been the ones who mattered most. Previous coaches at both club and international level wanted Arshavin to fulfil a specific - and perhaps restrictive - role on the pitch, one that didn’t suit him at all.
Kleshchev admits that Arshavin is something of a free spirit and not easily dictated to. "He is a strong character," he said. "He is a person who says what he thinks. Sometimes he’s a bit crazy."
Like when he kicked an Andorran player towards the end of Russia’s final Euro 2008 qualifier, a moment of madness that ensured he missed the first two matches of the Finals.
According to Kleshchev, Arshavin is not a big fan of journalists either, although he is more than happy for his face to be splashed across the front and inside pages of Russia’s glossy magazines. This is a man who, after all, has a diploma in fashion design.
And he can expect even more interest in his life following his dazzling exploits in Austria and Switzerland. But how did he suddenly become football’s hottest property? Well, according to Kleshchev, the catalyst was the arrival on the Russian football scene of two Dutchmen, Guus Hiddink and Dick Advocaat.
Hiddink became national coach in April 2006, with Advocaat taking over at Zenit St Petersburg just three months later. Both men quickly made their presence felt, although Advocaat’s influence was initially more telling in respect of Arshavin.
Recognising he was a rough diamond in need of a little polishing, Advocaat made sure Arshavin got the TLC he required. Then he let Hiddink know just how good Arshavin was, too.
"Hiddink has a close relationship with Advocaat, and Advocaat told him Arshavin was the best," said Kleshchev. "Hiddink, who we call the magician in Russia, trusts Advocaat."
With the backing of Advocaat and Hiddink, Arshavin began doing what he does best - terrorising defences. It’s not quite a licence to roam but he certainly pops up in all kinds of places, his close control and quick feet making any defender wary of diving in.
It’s not only Arshavin who has benefitted from the nurturing instincts of Advoccat and Hiddink. Konstantin Zyryanov has also flourished under the Dutch duo’s guidance. "He spent six years at Torpedo Moscow without showing any promise, but Adocaat saw Zyryanov as a star," said Kleshchev.
Zyryanov was named Russian Football of the Year in 2007 and scored the second goal in the 2-0 win over Rangers in the Uefa Cup final back in May. He also scored the only goal in Russia’s crucial 1-0 win over Group D rivals Greece.
It’s a remarkable turnaround, especially when you consider he has had to cope with tragedy too many times in his life. A couple of years after losing his father and brother, his wife and four-year-old daughter were killed after they fell from the eighth floor of their apartment block. The coroner returned a verdict of suicide.
While Zyryanov has won plaudits for the way he has rebuilt his life and his career, it’s Arshavin who has grabbed most of the headlines. He is also attracting the interest of Europe’s top clubs, with talk of Barcelona leading the race for his services.
Kleshchev thinks any potential suitor, including the Spanish giants, may have to wait another year before getting their man. "For Zenit, the big thing now is the Champions League," he said. "They have already won the Russian Premier League and the Uefa Cup, so I think they will hold on to Arshavin for one more season."
Even then, Zenit might not want to sell. They certainly don’t have to. Gazprom, who own a majority stake in the club, have already pumped in £80m and, as Russia’s largest company, have many more millions at their disposal.
In the end, it will probably come down to what Arshavin wants. He currently earns £2m a year, so he’s already a wealthy man. But if he can inspire Russia to Euro 2008 success, he will probably be able to command at least twice that.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Germany v Turkey (Semi Final 1)
June 25, 2008
UEFA EURO 2008 SEMI-FINAL
Date: Wed 25 June Kick-off: 1945 BST Venue: St Jakob-Park, Basel
Turkey coach Fatih Terim has been hit by injuries and suspension
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Germany coach Joachim Low said Torsten Frings could play against Turkey despite suffering from a fractured rib.
The midfielder was back in training on Monday having missed the quarter-final win over Portugal.
Turkey face the prospect of having just 13 outfield players available for their Euro 2008 semi-clash.
Keeper Volkan Demirel will miss out after his two-match ban was upheld for a red card against Czech Republic and Emre (hamstring) was also ruled out.
Coach Terim said Tumer Metin might be able to play the last 30 minutes of the match despite suffering from a groin strain and he may also have to field third-choice keeper Tolgan Zengin because of the injury crisis.
"He could come on towards the end as a sub as last man in defence or a centre forward," he said.
The Turks were without six players when they beat Croatia 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals Friday, and lost a further three - Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik - to suspension after picking up yellow cards during the match at Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.
Striker Nihat Kahveci was ruled out of the tournament on Sunday with a thigh injury, but Uefa insists it will not be making a special dispensation for Turkey to call up more players to their squad.
Defensive midfielder Mehmet Aurelio returns from a one-match ban, but keeper Volkan still has one game left on his suspension.
Uefa spokesman William Gaillard said: "You can’t replace any players after the first game of the tournament has been played.
"We know some teams are facing difficulties, but this is a hard rule of the tournament. We have no intention of changing the tournament rules.
"If a team only had eight players to choose from before a match, then we might call an emergency meeting. But we have had no requests and we would find it a bit difficult changing now."
BIG MATCH STATS
Head-to-heads
Germany and Turkey have played each other on 17 occasions with Germany winning 11 and losing three.
Turkey are unbeaten in three successive meetings with Germany, recording two wins and one draw.
Germany’s last win over the Turks dates back to May 1992, when they won 1-0 in a friendly encounter.
Their only previous meetings at a major tournament came at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, when West Germany won 4-1 and 7-2.
Their last meeting in all competitions was a friendly in October 2005, in which Turkey prevailed 2-1 in Istanbul, through goals by Halil Altintop and Nuri Sahin. Oliver Neuville scored the German goal in injury time.
Played five previous European Championship semi-final matches, progressing on four occasions.
Their sole semi-final defeat came in 1988, when West Germany were knocked out by eventual winners the Netherlands (2-1).
Both Germany and Turkey finished second in their group at Euro 2008. The last two European champions (Greece in 2004 and France in 2000) also finished second in their group.
Team facts - Turkey
This is Turkey’s first European Championship semi-final. Their only previous appearance in the last four of a major tournament came at the 2002 World Cup when they were defeated 1-0 by Brazil.
Been in the lead for only nine minutes in their four matches played at Euro 2008. Including injury time, Turkey were in the lead for 2.5 minutes against Switzerland and 6.5 minutes against the Czech Republic.
Player facts - Germany
Bastian Schweinsteiger has a goal, an assist, a yellow card and a red card to his name at Euro 2008. The only other player to have achieved this feat is Denmark’s Klaus Berggreen in 1984.
If he plays, Kevin Kuranyi will win his 50th cap for Germany. He made his international debut in March 2003 in a 1-1 draw against Lithuania.
Michael Ballack has scored in two successive European Championship matches (against Portugal and Austria).
Ballack and Lukas Podolski both need two goals to equal Jurgen Klinsmann’s German record of five in the European Championship.
Ballack has now scored 38 international goals. Only six German players (Muller, Klinsmann, Voller, Rummenigge, Seeler and Klose) have scored more goals.
Player facts - Turkey
By scoring twice at Euro 2008, Arda Turan, Nihat Kahveci and Semih Senturk have all equalled Hakan Sukur as Turkey’s joint top scorers in European Championship history.
If they take to the field, Hamit Altintop will come up against his Bayern Munich team mates Marcell Jansen, Phillip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.
If he plays, Gokdeniz Karadeniz will win his 50th cap for Turkey. He made his international debut in a 4-0 defeat against the Czech Republic in April 2003.
35-year-old Rustu Recber is the oldest ever Turkish player in a major tournament (European Championship and World Cup combined). Rustu is Turkey’s most capped player with 117 internationals and also the most experienced Turkish player in the European Championship with eight matches to his name.
Tuncay Sanli, Arda Turan and Emre Asik are suspended for this semi-final. Goalkeeper Volkan Demirel is also suspended pending his appeal.
So far, Turkey have received 15 cards at Euro 2008, only four shy of the competition record set by the Czech Republic in 1996.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Donadoni to be sacked next week: Italian press
June 25, 2008
ROME (AFP) - Italy coach Roberto Donadoni is going to be sacked and replaced by reigning World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi, the Italian press reported on Tuesday.
The fate of 44-year-old Donadoni will be decided early next week, Ansa news agency reported, following Italy’s elimination from the Euro 2008 quarter-finals by Spain, 4-2 on penalties after the match ended goalless.
Italian federation (FIGC) president Giancarlo Abete is expected to meet Donadoni on Monday June 30 or Tuesday July 1 in Rome.
Donadoni’s contract was extended until 2010 just before the June 7-29, 16-nation tournament co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland.
Italy’s 2006 World Cup victory in Germany, with Lippi at the helm, heralded the start of Donadoni’s stint in the post. Donadoni’s record reads 13 victories, five draws and five defeats, with 35 goals scored and 22 conceded.
Donadoni had said after defeat on Sunday: "Resign? The thought would never even entered my brain. I don’t have a reason. We only lost a game on penalties.
"You can’t say things work when you win but don’t work when you lose on penalties. We will talk and decide. It doesn’t make any sense to talk about whether I deserve to carry on."
Italy’s next match is a friendly against Austria in Nice, France, on August 20.
Popularity: 1% [?]
2008-06-26 - Russia v Spain
June 24, 2008
Euro 2008
2008-06-26 - Russia v Spain
Sports Betting Preview by Gooner
Russia vs Spain
UEFA Euro 2008 - Semi-Final
Ernst Happel Stadion, Vienna
Thursday 26th June 2008 - KO 19:45
RUSSIA
Russia have come on in leaps and bounds during the course of this tournament as Guss Hiddinks young side have showed that they are learning their football lessons fast.
Russia have the youngest squad in Austria/Switzerland and Hiddink’s intensive fitness work in the build-up to tournaments is also paying dividends with his team noticeably fresher than their rivals in the last two games – perhaps helped by the fact the Russian season only starts in March.
Make no mistake - Russia deserved their victory over the Netherlands (who had themselves looked so good in previous matches) and a similar performance in the semi-final could be a winning one.
Russia are young, fresh, and have tremendous belief in their adopted coach, so I expect another attacking approach in Vienna.
SPAIN
Spain buried a jinx on Sunday night, after edging past Italy on penalties to remove an 88-year barrier that had been haunting them regularly.
But this was not a fluid performance from Spain, who seemed almost paralysed by their Azzurri opponents and the Spanish side will have to put on a much better show against Russia in order to make the final.
Spain may have finally defeated an old foe, but the Azzurri were tired old men, and now Spain have to refocus on an energetic Russian side and not expect things to be as easy as their 4-1 group win.
HEAD TO HEAD
Spain and Russia clashed in the opening game of Group D, and the Spanish attack had a field day scoring four times in a very comfortable 4-1 victory.
That was the biggest margin of victory and the highest scoring game in any of the nine clashes between the two nations.
Overall Spain hold a 5-3-1 record over Russia, with the only Russia victory a 2-1 success in Moscow way back in 1971.
TEAM NEWS
Russia will be without two players for the semi-final as defender Denis Kolodin and attacking midfielder Dmitri Torbinski were cautioned for a second time in Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Netherlands.
Spain had no players recieve another yellow card in the shoot-out win against Italy meaning coach Luis Aragonés will have a full complement of players to choose from.
THE VERDICT
This one is a very tricky game to call - and undoubtedly the stature and importance of the match will affect the way the game is played.
I previously recommended taking Russia on handicap against the Netherlands because we were getting such a great price, and because even though they were play an "in-form" opponent - if Russia attacked then they could cause problems.
It’s ALMOST exactly the same situation here, but the punters are a little wiser this time so the prices on the Russians are not quite so strong.
Also there is a question around whether Russian coach Guus Hiddink will continue to "throw caution to the winds" and play the attacking style - knowing that he is so close to the final?
For that matter, Spain might have beaten Italy, but they’re hardly over their tag as the "choakers" of European football. I was not impressed with Spain against Italy - but they should get more space in this match.
I’m going to rate this game much the same as the Russian quarter-final with Spain having a better group of individuals … but which team has the mental toughness to perform on this stage?
The Pick :
PERCENTAGE ESTIMATE :
FIXED ODDS BETTING :
No bet on the 90 minute result. Unfortunately this time I agree with the bookmakers - and there is little value to be found.
I’ll take a look at the special bets in the next 12 hours - and see if I can find a play.
Popularity: 2% [?]
