Jumat, 16 Maret 2012

FIFA ban ex-South Korea international

16 March 2012
Former South Korea international Choi Sung-Kuk has been banned from playing professional football by FIFA, K-League officials said Friday.
Former South Korea international Choi Sung-Kuk has been banned from playing professional football by FIFA, K-League officials said Friday.
Choi, 29, was implicated in a match-fixing scandal last year along with several other players from his former club Sangju Sangmu Phoenix.
The FIFA ban comes after the disgraced winger attempted to restart his career by joining Macedonia's FK Rabotnicki during the northern winter, only to see the move fall through after the Football Federation of Macedonia rejected the late registration application.
"FIFA has banned Choi Sung-Kuk from playing football as a professional player in any league in the world," read the K-League statement, which also noted that the Asian Football Confederation, UEFA, and FFM had been alerted to the decision.
Choi earned 26 caps for South Korea, scoring two goals.

Rabu, 22 Februari 2012

Championship: Hull City 0 Brighton 0

Hull City played out a goalless draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in the Championship on Wednesday.
Nick Barmby's side could have climbed inside the top six with a victory but were instead forced to settle for a point against a Brighton side coming off a 6-1 FA Cup hiding at the hands of Liverpool in their last fixture.
Hull dominated the match and had a host of chances in the second half to score the all-important goal.
But they were kept at bay by Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan though, as Hull remained in eighth on the table.
Brighton's point saw them move above Leeds United and into ninth.

Scottish Premier League wrap: Celtic extend lead

Celtic extended their lead to 20 points at the top of the Scottish Premier League after a 2-0 win over Dunfermline on Wednesday.
Neil Lennon's side look destined to win their first SPL title since 2007/08 after rivals Rangers were recently deducted 10 points for entering administration.
And they moved even closer to achieving the feat with the comfortable home victory against the bottom-placed Dunfermline.
Defender Charlie Mulgrew gave Celtic the lead on 32 minutes before substitute James Forrest sealed the result with his strike 15 minutes from time.
In the other SPL match on Wednesday, Motherwell came from behind to defeat struggling Hibernian 4-3.
Isaiah Osbourne gave Hibs an 18th minute lead and Pat Fenlon's side carried that into half time.
Michael Higdon responded from the penalty spot just after the break though and Jamie Murphy put Motherwell in front on 63 minutes.
Matt Doherty netted an equaliser just three minutes later but goals from Higdon on 70 and 75 minutes – the latter from another penalty – gave third-placed Motherwell a handy lead.
Ivan Sproule's strike with five minutes left for Hibs ensured a nervy finish but Stuart McCall's men hung on for an important victory in their quest for second spot.
Motherwell now trail Rangers by just six points and are nine points clear of Hearts and St Johnstone, who sit fourth and fifth respectively.

Champions League: Marseille 1 Inter Milan 0

Andre Ayew's late goal saw Marseille defeat Inter Milan 1-0 in the first leg of their round-of-16 Champions League tie on Wednesday.
The Ghanaian's glancing header in stoppage time was enough to give the Ligue 1 outfit the advantage heading into the second leg, which will be held in Milan on March 13.
Marseille started well and enjoyed plenty of early possession, with Benoit Cheyrou going close in the early stages.
Cheyrou's strike from distance was deflected just wide while Cesar Azpilicueta fired over from long range.
Inter had chances of their own with Diego Forlan and Mauro Zarate forcing smart saves from Marseille shot-stopper Steve Mandanda.
A threatening free-kick from Mathieu Valbuena could have easily been turned in, only for Brandao and Souleymane Diawara to get in each other's way, while Esteban Cambiasso – who was Inter's most threatening player – had a goal-bound strike blocked by Diawara.
Inter sat back more in the second half as they tried to soak up Marseille's pressure and head back to the San Siro on level terms.
Didier Deschamps' side once again had lots of the ball but they were frustrated by their lack of cutting edge in attack.
The match seemed headed for a goalless stalemate but Ayew looked threatening late on and forced a series of saves from Inter's Julio Cesar.
One of those stops led to a corner from which the all-important goal was finally scored.
Valbuena's handy ball into the box was met by Ayew and he wheeled off in celebration as his header snuck past Cesar.
The Stade Velodrome crowd exploded in delight with the late goal and Inter were left to regret their defensive tactics.
The defeat will put even more pressure on the club's manager, Claudio Ranieri, with the Serie A giants now winless in their last seven matches.

Champions League: Basel 1 Bayern Munich 0

Basel pulled off a shock 1-0 home win over Bayern Munich in their Champions League round-of-16 first-leg tie at St Jakob-Park on Wednesday.
Substitute Valentin Stocker scored the only goal of the game with five minutes remaining, but the real hero was Yann Sommer, whose heroics in goal halted the visitors time and time again, preserving a slender advantage for the second leg in Munich on March 13.
The game started at breakneck pace, and the visitors almost made the perfect start four minutes in. Arjen Robben's pass picked out Franck Ribery inside the area, but his effort from close range was thwarted superbly by Sommer.
Ribery was at it again a few minutes later when he was played through on goal by Philipp Lahm, forcing Sommer to palm away his low effort at his near post.
The Swiss club took little time in recovering from the early pressure though, and were increasingly able to get forward and find space in and around a suspect Bayern back four.
With 15 minutes gone, Manuel Neuer was called into action to block Marco Streller's flick at the near post.
The Germany number one made an even better save a minute later, showing fantastic reflexes to push Aleksandar Dragovic's point-blank header onto the post.
Chances were coming thick and fast, and the home side were cursing their luck again moments later after Joo-Ho Park teed up Alexander Frei inside the area for a first-time shot that smacked off the crossbar.
The tempo of the game died down somewhat as the first half wore on, but Sommer was called into action again on the half-hour mark to get strong hands on David Alaba's effort from range. Somehow, the match entered half-time with the score still goalless.
Basel created the first opportunity after the interval with Streller easily out-jumping Lahm in the area, but his header was lacking and was saved by Neuer.
In stark contrast to the opening exchanges, the second period unfolded in a relatively uneventful fashion, as both teams lacked the spark in attack that was so evident in the first half.
Lahm tried to kick things into life in the 66th minute when he let fly from 25 yards out, but Sommer got across well to tip the shot wide.
The Basel 'keeper was equal to everything Bayern could throw at him, and came up with the goods again with 20 minutes remaining, rushing off his line to block from Mario Gomez.
Sommer's heroics were rewarded with five minutes remaining, as substitute Jacques Zoua strode across the edge of the Bayern box and played in Stocker, who had enough time and space to slot past Neuer and send the Swiss fans into dreamland.
Bayern were unable to muster a response in the time that remained, leaving Basel with a one-goal lead to protect in the second leg at Allianz Arena in three weeks' time.

Senin, 20 Februari 2012

Spurs derby is Arsenal´s call to arms, says Sagna

rsenal defender Bacary Sagna has called for his team to 'fight to the end' ahead of their Premier League derby with Tottenham.
The north Londoners suffered another setback on Saturday after being knocked out of the FA Cup by Sunderland, a result which followed their dismal performance in the Champions League again AC Milan - a 4-0 away loss.
The full-back Sagna, however, is still carrying belief and insisted the squad have the quality to produce the goods in Sunday's vital clash with Spurs, as Arsene Wenger's team look to finish in the top four.
"We have to keep our heads up, work hard and think about the Premier League because we have a derby next weekend against Tottenham," Sagna told Arsenal Player.
"We need to do it for us and for the fans as well. We have to react. We can't play like this against Tottenham otherwise we will lose."
"We have one week to get ready for the game, to question ourselves, to work and to talk to each other."
"We are professional and we have to fight until the end."
"We have to look forwards. We are fourth in the Premier League and we can't let it go like this."

Giggs hails United experience

Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs said his side's experience will count in the chase for this season's Premier League title.
Manchester City are currently two points clear of their rivals at the table summit, but the 38-year-old Giggs - who has partaken in each of Sir Alex Ferguson's 12 title successes to date - believes his team-mates have the hunger, desire and experience to overhaul their 'noisy neighbours'.
"I think in most people's eyes they're favourites because they're top of the league, and because of the quality they've got, and the football they played early season," the veteran told United's official website.
"You can't ignore the money and the quality they've got, and their strength in depth."
"They're obviously trying to lay the foundations for 10, 20, 30 years. Whether it happens or not we'll have to wait and see."
"It's just down to which team handles it (pressure) best."
While the Welshman is well aware that the City squad is packed full of quality internationals, including the likes of Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure, he believes that United's 'seen it and done it' experience will help United during the coming months.
"They've got a lot of experience, they've got players who've won things, but we like to think we've got a good mix of experience and hunger," Giggs said.
"I think the experience of doing it before with the manager (is key)."
"We've got older players who've been there, and younger players who haven't and really want to win things, so hopefully that's in our favour."