UEFA Cup Zenit's success triumph of soccer Ozren Podnar reports... A brilliant Zenit team became only the second European trophy winner for Russia after CSKA Moscow three years ago. Congratulations to Zenit, as their soccer was like a puff of fresh air: lightfooted, attacking and ambitious, unlike that of Glasgow Rangers, which reminded us of Greece from the 2004 Euro. And that should not be taken as a compliment. At the City of Manchester, Zenit crowned their brilliant European season in which they overcame teams from the biggest leagues: Villarreal (1-0 and 1-2), Marseille (1-3 and 2-0), Bayer (4-1 and 0-1) and Bayern (1-1 and 4-0). The first leg against Bayer in Leverkusen, where the home team were thoroughly thrashed, opened everybody's eyes to the Russians' potential, and the later demolishing of Bayern delighted the fans everywhere thanks to an inspired and fast-paced play reminiscent of the wonderful Dinamo Kiev of the seventies and eighties. In spite of the admiration for the Rangers' commitment and desire, the neutrals largely fancied Zenit, who did not allow the Scots to suffocate them as they had suffocated Panathinaikos, Sporting and Fiorentina with their 7-8 men defense. . Even without Pavel Pogrebnyak, this season's UEFA Cup's top scorer, the St. Petersburg team had enough explosive to penetrate the Rangers' stonewall twice. The first to do it was Igor Denisov after a nice interplay with Andrei Arshavin and the last bricks of the bunker were demolished by Konstantin Ziryanov in the last minute after a cross by Fatih Tekke. As far as the Rangers are concerned, the finals in Manchester evoked memories from Barcelona 36 years ago. There Rangers played their previous European finals against another Russian squad, Dinamo Moscow, but then they prevailed by 3-2. The Rangers fans then also "prevailed" against the police at Camp Nou, which ultimately cost the team a two-year ban from Europe. UEFA Cup finals City of Manchester Stadium Zenit vs Rangers 2-0 (0-0) Scorers: Denisov (72), Ziryanov (90) Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Sretan ishod Kupa UEFA Čestitke Zenitu – i Istok ima "konja za trku" Sjajni sastav Zenita postala je druga ruska osvajačica europskog trofeja, tri godine nakon moskovskog CSKA. Obje su imale svog Hrvata, dapače Ivicu. CSKA Olića, Zenit Križanca. Svaka čast, i Križancu i Zenitu, jer njihov je nogomet poletan, ofenzivan i ambiciozan, za razliku od Rangersovog, koji nas je podsjetio na – Grčku s Eura 2004.! A o toj Grčkoj ne mislimo ništa dobra. Iako volimo bivšeg Rangerovca Dadu Pršu, naše su simpatije bile na strani Zenita, koji nije dao Škotima da ga zaguše kao što su ranije zagušili Panathinaikos, Sporting i Fiorentina: i bez Pavela Pogrebnjaka, prvog topnika Kupa UEFA, petrogradski je sastav imao dovoljno eksploziva da probije škotski bunker. Prvi je to učinio Igor Denisov u akciji s junakom navijača, Andrejom Aršavinom, a zadnje je "ciglice" bunkera srušio Konstantin Zirjanov u 90. minuti na dodavanje Turčina Fatiha Tekkea. Finale u Manchesteru donijelo je nekoliko zanimljivih podudarnosti. Prije 36 godina, Rangersi su svoje prethodno europsko finale odigrali protiv ruske momčadi, ali su tada bili bolji od moskovskog Dinama s 3:2; kao i rusku reprezentaciju, i Zenit danas vodi Nizozemac, Dick Advocaat, zvani Mali general. Zenitaši su protiv glasgowskih plavaca okrunili blistavu europsku sezonu, u kojoj su redom rušili momčadi iz najjačih liga: Villarreal s 1:0 i 1:2, Marseille s 1:3 i 2:0, Bayer s 4:1 i 0:1 te Bayern s 1:1 i 4:0. Sjajna predstava u Leverkusenu, kojom je potučen Bayer, otvorila je oči cijeloj nogometnoj Europi na Zenitov potencijal, a 4:0 protiv samog Bayerna, uvjerljivog njemačkog osvajača trostruke krune izazvala je oduševljenje nadahnutom brzopoteznom igrom Rusa, koja podsjeća na kijevski Dinamo iz sedamdesetih i osamdesetih. A kijevski Dinamo, da ne zaboravimo, najbolja je slavenska momčad u povijesti. Copyright Ozren Podnar & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

They came, they saw, they conquered Manchester. But the first Scottish invasion of England since Bonnie Prince Charlie's in 1745 ended in tears once again. Rangers were deservedly beaten 2-0 in the UEFA Cup Final by the sleek Russians of Zenit St Petersburg, coached by former 'Gers manager Dick Advocaat. Zenit took 72 minutes to unlock the stubborn Rangers defence, but it was no more than they deserved for their skilful play, which had demolished Bayern Munich 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. The Glaswegians should console themselves with reaching the final in the first place, after dispatching superior opposition such as Sporting Lisbon and Fiorentina on the way thanks to Walter Smith's shrewd tactics. Once more, the UEFA Cup looked decidedly second best to the Champions League however. Since the second, third and even fourth-best teams in each country have won passsge to the CL, the UEFA Cup has lost a lot of its shine. Its interminable group stages are redolent of the misguided experiment taken by the Champions League in the early 1990s. What made this final go down in history was instead the violence outside the stadium pre and post-match. It is hard to recall the last time a British city-centre witnessed such distressing scenes of football-related trouble, such have been the leaps in improving the game's image since the dark days of the 1980s. Perhaps the riot in Trafalgar Square in London after England were knocked out of Euro '96 was the last. There might have been over 100,000 well-behaved Rangers supporters in Manchester, but their club's whole reputation was sullied by the few hundred who decided to get violent after a big screen failed to work. To cite that as an excuse for lobbing missiles, smashing cars, looting shops and attacking policemen was ludicrous but several fans unbelievably tried to justify the prolonged violence. The dynamite was certainly sitting there primed given the numbers of fans, warm weather and the fact that Glaswegians are tough by nature, are fond of the odd drink (central Manchester ran dry by 4pm) and Rangers then lost the game. So tragic then that an unforeseeable technical failure should have been the spark for such ugly mayhem. Thank god the worst injuries were only bruises and a knife wound. At least now we in England will have some ammunition to return the repetitive Scottish accusations of blame when it comes to hooliganism. For years now the Tartan Army has sought to distance itself from the misbehaving Sassenachs south of the border when it comes to international football games. Having witnessed it myself, I can vouch for the fact that watching Scotland play overseas is an immeasurably more pleasant experience than watching England. While the English invariably end up causing some trouble, whether provoked by the police and local thugs or not, the Scots these days always make friends and have a good time with their hosts. In one foreign country, I even saw the local coppers asking to pose for photos with the kilted invaders. Claims that the Scots have always been lillywhite are all a bit rich however, when one recalls the yearly violence of the Scotland v England clash in the 1970s and '80s, most famously encapsulated by Scottish fans tearing up the turf and breaking the crossbar at Wembley in 1977. Only in the dark days of English 1980s hooliganism did the Tartan Army decide to distance itself in foreign eyes from their neighbours to the south. That Rangers yobs ran amok in Manchester is thus a black mark on Scottish football culture in general, after so many years of good PR. One can only wonder if the boneheads charging after a policeman before bringing him down and kicking him mercilessly, as so horrifically captured on CCTV in Manchester, could care less what others think of their neanderthal comportment. Rangers fans have a repuation in the rest of the soccer world for being headcases - belligerently sporting the Union Jack and Ulster flags instead of Scotland's while chanting of being 'up to our knees in Fenian blood - surrender or you'll die!' Doubtless, those in the know will recall city rivals Celtic invading Seville in vast numbers for the 2003 UEFA Cup Final but without such excruciating scenes in the streets. I felt ashamed to see the UK's being sported so prominently on the backs of those hoodlums, knowing the pictures would go around Europe and many viewers would mistakenly think it was England's flag instead. You can bet half of them are Scottish nationalists too and don't understand it is silly to be flying the Union flag at the same time. To the good Rangers fans who obeyed the law, thank you and I regret you lost the final. To the yobs who caused so much misery in Manchester, thank you for dragging all British football fans' reputations internationally into the mire once again. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

UEFA Cup 2007/08 Incredible Rangers reach finals in Italian style The current season has given us yet another unlikely final, as was the case in the previous three editions. The last "normal" final encounter saw Valencia defeat Marseille by 2-0 four years ago, while the following years produced improbable ties like CSKA Moscow vs Sporting Lisbon, Sevilla vs Middlesbrough and Sevilla vs Espanyol. This season's surprise packages are Glasgow Rangers and Zenit of St Petersburg. Rangers have delighted their fans by reaching their first European finals in 36 years, but the neutrals have been horrified by their ultradefensive, utterly negative style. It is no doubt ironic that in their semifinal tie against Fiorentina it was the Scots who built a stonewall in front of their goal rather than the Italians. Since reaching the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup. Rangers have tortured the audience with unwatchable tactics, having scored a mere five goals in eight games (0.6 per match), qualifying on one occasion on the away-goals rule and on another on penalties. Curiously, their previous finals appearance, in the 1972 Cup Winners' Cup, also confronted them with a Russian opposition. Back then they defeated Dinamo Moscow 3-2 in Barcelona, but Rangers' fans fought the police, earning the team a one-year suspension from Europe. Zenit on the other hand have gathered much support all around Europe with their fast combinations reminiscent of the great Dinamo Kiev of the mid-seventies and mid-eighties. Arshavin, Pogrebnyak, Zhiryanov, Anyukov, keeper Malafeyev and the Croatian central defender Krizanac have knocked out the Spanish League runners-up Villarreal, Olympique Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and a powerful Bayern Munich before taking on Rangers at the City of Manchester stadium. Their games against Bayer in Leverkusen (4-1) and Bayern in St. Petersburg (4-0) will doubtlessly make it into the golden book of the Russian soccer. A victory for them on May 14th would be a just reward for their adventurous, attacking style. UEFA Cup semifinals Bayern vs Zenit 1-1 0-4 Rangers vs Fiorentina 0-0 0-0 (4-2 pen) Finals Rangers vs Zenit May 14th Path to finals Rangers (from Champions League) Round of 32 Panathinaikos 0-0 1-1 Round of 16 Werder 2-0 0-1 Quarterfinals Sporting Lisbon 0-0 2-0 Semifinals Fiorentina 0-0 0-0 (4-2 pen) Zenit Group stage: Alkmaar 1-1, Larissa 3-2, Nürnberg 2-2, Everton 0-1 Round of 32 Villarreal 1-0 1-2 Round of 16 Marseille 1-3 2-0 Quarterfinals: Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 0-1 Semifinals: Bayern Munich 1-1 4-0 Copyright Ozren Podnar & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football

UEFA Cup report ">Adios Getafe, only big guns remain After all, the UEFA Cup semifinal setup will be worthy of the illustrious tradition of this competition. After the elimination of Getafe, whose best-ever Spanish league standing was last year's nineth, only the teams worthy of European glory have remained. The big hit of the current edition are the Russian champions Zenit, who kicked out Villarreal, Marseille and Bayer Leverkusen in the past three rounds. Led by the respectable Dutch coach in Dirk Advocaaat and a handful of Russian internationals, Zenit reached their first European semifinals, and it is possible that they have not said their last word although their next opposition are Bayern. The ease with which they demolished Leverkusen Bayern, by far the winningest team of the last four, had not seen a semifinal action since 2001, when they eliminated Real Madrid on the way to their fourth Champions League title. Despite a certain anonimity on the continental field after that achievement, Bayern are still one of the world soccer giants with shelves packed with silverware: four Champions Leagues, Cup Winners' Cup. UEFA Cup, Supercup and two Intercontinental Cups. Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld says he sees Bayern in the finals, but after toiling so much against a modest side like Getafe, the Bavarians had better approach their next obstacle with more humility. Fiorentina and Rangers own just one European trophy, a Cup Winners' Cup each. The Italians won the first edition of the competition in 1961, beating who else but Rangers by 2-0 and 2-1. They were on the losing side in the following year's finals against Atlético Madrid and in 1990 they lost a UEFA Cup finals against Juventus. Their last appearance in the semifinal stage came eleven years ago when Ronaldo's and Figo's Barcelone proved too powerful for the Violets. Rangers collected their only continental honour in 1972, after losing two previous finals in 1961 and 1967. In the scandalous final held in Barcelona thousands of Rangers' fans fought with the police, which cost the club one year suspension. After that tarnished triumph, the Blues came close to a final game only once, when they finished second in the semifinal group of the 1992/93 Champions League, behind eventual winners Marseille. Since this year's finals is to be played in Glasgow, Rangers believe the trophy is destined to end up in their hands, but before that happens Fiorentina's in-form man, Adrian Mutu, will have to give his approval. UEFA Cup quarterfinals 2007/08 Bayer L. vs Zenit 1-4 1-0 Bayern vs Getafe 1-1 3-3 (a.e.t.) Fiorentina – PSV 1-1 2-0 Rangers – Sporting L. 0-0 2-0 Copyright Ozren Podnar and Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

UEFA Cup Tottenham and Everton go out with a drama The English contingent in the UEFA Cup put up a good fight but still went out, albeit in the most dramatic fashion. Penalties, the disease that usually afflicts the national team, were fatal for Tottenham and Everton, who bravely equalized the aggregate score against PSV Eindhoven and Fiorentina in the return leg before it came to spot kicks. Bolton came tantalizingly close against the 2005 finalists Sporting Lisbon, but it will be the Portuguese who will take on Rangers, the last British representatives in the quarterfinals. Rangers, who have had a dream season so far, are chasing four trophies but the strain could prove too much in the final stage of the campaign against Sporting, who are now fully concentrated on the European stage. The last time that a Scottish club made a continental finals was in 2003 when Celtic lost to Porto by 2-3 in Seville. Elsewhere, Bayern will try and confirm their status of the team to beat when they face the Spanish surprise package in Getafe. In the previous round, the Bavarians got rid of Anderlecht in a bizarre replica of their 1987 encounter in the European Cup. On that occasion, Bayern beat the Belgians 5-0 at home and drew 2-2 in Brussels in a game which Anderlecht were winning by 2-1 until the 90th minute. This time, Bayern ran riot in the first leg in Belgium scoring an amazing 5-0 win but suffered a 1-2 defeat at home. Round of thirty two 1st 2nd Zenit vs Villarreal 1-0 1-2 Marseille vs Spartak 3-0 0-2 Galatasaray vs Bayer 0-0 1-5 AEK vs Getafe 1-1 0-3 Bordeaux vs Anderlecht 1-1 1-2 PSV vs Helsingborgs 2-0 2-1 Rangers vs Panathinaikos 0-0 1-1 Brann vs Everton 0-2 1-6 Werder vs Sporting Braga 3-0 1-0 Sporting Lisabon vs Basel 2-0 3-0 Aberdeen vs Bayern 2-2 1-5 Zürich vs Hamburger SV 1-3 0-0 Rosenborg vs Fiorentina 0-1 1-2 Bolton vs Atletico Madrid 1-0 0-0 Slavia vs Tottenham 1-2 1-1 Benfica vs Nürnberg 1-0 2-2 Round of sixteen 1st 2nd Anderlecht vs Bayern 0-5 2-1 Fiorentina vs Everton 2-0 0-2 (4-2 pen) Benfica vs Getafe 1-2 0-1 Rangers vs Werder 2-0 0-1 Bolton vs Sporting L. 1-1 0-1 Bayer vs Hamburger SV 1-0 2-3 Tottenham vs PSV 0-1 1-0 (5-6 pen) Marseille vs Zenit 3-1 0-2 Quarterfinals (3rd and 10th of April) Bayer vs Zenit Rangers vs Sporting (L) Bayern vs Getafe Fiorentina vs PSV Copyright Ozren Podnar & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting