World soccer news for week of 04/30 Eriksson to be sacked from 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 the ninth position City currently holds, and the home defeat to Fulham by 2-3 after being 2-0 up has been 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 as 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 will 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 Ronaldo 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 in 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) Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

World soccer news - for the week of February 14th Cursed Ronaldo on the sidelines again A well known scene: a tearful Ronaldo is being stretchered off with yet another injury. The partial tendon rupture of the right knee sustained in the league game against Livorno is threatening the Brazilian with another lengthy break. The Italian web site Datasport inquires openly: "Is this the end for Ronie?" Milan's ace suffered the injury just two minutes after he came on as a substitute. The unlucky 31-year-old striker was transported to an orthopaedic clinic in Milan where he was subjected to magnetic resonance and other examinations. After the surgery urgently scheduled in Paris he is in for another frustrating rehabilitation. Hopefully not as long as the one between autumn of 1999 and summer of 2001, during which time he played just one game, indeed only a few minutes of it. English soccer going non-English, fumes Platini UEFA's president Michel Platini is not amused by the Premier League's plans to play several games per season overseas to boost income from foreign fans. One of the all-time soccer giants, Platini called the idea "strange and comical." "It will never be approved by FIFA, the fans and the national FAs. It's ironic. You already have no English coaches and English players. Soon the English clubs will have no English owners and perhaps your clubs will be playing outside of England. It's a joke." It may look funny to Platini, but the increasingly non-English team owners look set to make some perfectly serious money by delving deeper into the pockets of the legions of their overseas fans as of 2011. At least a couple of Englishmen are bound to profit from the idea, notably its creator, the English Premier League (EPL) Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore. Although the home-based fans and the media have been less than friendly towards Scudamore's scheme, the man claims to have garnered support from the current 20 clubs in the Premier League. "We're confident that we had the support of the 20 clubs and we still have the support of the 20 clubs," says Scudamore. What isn't entirely clear is whether the support will be there after the clubs have listened to what the fans have to say on the matter. Explosion of attendances in Bundesliga Soccer is nowhere as popular as in Germany. The Premier League may be the strongest playerwise, but the average attendance in the Bundesliga has grown yet again from last season's 38,191 to 38,529 in the first half of the current season. The 306 games of the first part were attended by 5,894,000 spectators, which is a 3.75% increase on the previous season. The 2nd Bundesliga is growing at an even higher rate: each game is watched by 17,693 fans, 10.83% more than last season. The reasons may include new and comfortable stadia, an exciting and uncertain competition and the high population figures: Germany has over 80 million inhabitants. By the way, the average ticket price is an acceptable 21 euros, 35% of what a ticket costs in the Premier League! Italy has also registered a growth. After last season's dismal average of 19,181, the return of Juventus, Napoli and Genoa has prompted the attendance to rise to an average of 22,504. Top five leagues Country Average 1. Germany 38,529 2. England 34,400 3. Spain 28,700 4. Italy 22,504 5. France 21,800 Pelé suggests free kicks without the wall The greatest player of all time, the Brazilian Pelé, plans to revolutionize the game of soccer by suggesting to FIFA an essential rule change: no wall for the free kicks! Pelé conveyed the idea to FIFA on the occasion of the last Executive Committee meeting in Zurich. There are two versions of the modification: removal of the wall for all free kicks or only if the foul was committed by the last defender outside of the penalty area. "The new rule would enable a harsher punishment for the offender. If there is a wall in place, the attacking side practically loses the advantage. Should FIFA accept my proposal, the number of fouls will drop and the most talented players will find it easier to score," says The King. Perhaps the real thing would be to enable the shooter to choose whether the rivals should place the wall or not, since some players are specialized for hitting the ball just right so that it bypasses or crosses the wall on the way to the net. Real Madrid's lucky 13th Although Real Madrid's eight point advantage over Barcelona gained last weekend is what really matters, Real's fans celebrated the spectacular 7-0 win over Valladolid. That was the 13th 7-0 win for the Madrid team in the Spanish championship, exactly six years after a similar win over Las Palmas when Fernando Morientes scored five goals. But, that season the title went to Valencia, not Madrid. Valladolid conceded seven goals to Real Madrid in the autumn of 2003, with three goals by Raúl, who is particularly inspired against Madrid's Castillian neighbours. With his two goals last Sunday, Raúl's tally against this team has risen to 14. Incidentally, the scoreline equalled Valladolid's worst defeat ever, suffered 50 years ago against Atlético. Johan Cruyff advises Barca against Mourinho A faction within Barcelona's board advocates hiring José Mourinho as early as next July. The current coach Frank Rijkaard is not immediately threatened by dismissal since his team is still present on all three fronts, but he is aware that the vice-chairman Ferrán Soriano is lobbying in favour of Mourinho. Soriano appreciates his coaching methods, leadership and familiarity with Barcelona from the time when he worked as Bobby Robson's and Louis van Gaal's assistant. However, Barca's former player and coach Johan Cruyff is said to be putting the brakes on Mourinho's arrival. According to the Spanish press, the influential Dutchman has advised the chairman Joan Laporta not to sign Mourinho on grounds that his coaching style is not compatible with Barca's cheerful and offensive play. Another reason could be the desire to protect fellow countryman Rijkaard. Mourinho (44) has been a free agent since he parted ways with Chelsea last September. Copyright Soccerphile and Ozren Podnar Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football Barcelona Ronaldo Betting

World News for week of January 5th Tyrants not relinquishing rule in top leagues In three of the top European leagues the champions are on top, and in one they are a step behind. Inter, Lyon and Real Madrid have a solid lead at the start of the year, Manchester Utd. follow Arsenal from close-in and only Stuttgart are out of play at this stage. Spain: Real Madrid have seven points' advantage over Barcelona, whom they defeated by 1-0 at Camp Nou in the last match of the year. Real also have the best League's attack with 37 goals, 2,17 per game. France: Lyon had the worst start to the season in a decade with two defeats in the first three rounds, but at the start of the 2008 they are four points ahead of Nancy and six ahead of Bordeaux. And both closest rivals have yet to travel to Lyon. Italy: The unbeaten Inter lead Roma by seven points with two games to go until the end of the first half of the season. Since the nerazzurri have mathematically clinched the honorary winter title, the statisticians claim it is a good sign because on the previous 14 occasions they ended up champions they had also been top at the season's break (not counting the 2005/06 title stripped of Juventus and awarded to Inter by the FA). England: Manchester United briefly made it to the top on the Boxing Day, when Arsenal got stuck in Portsmouth. Still, just before the New Year, United got defeated to West Ham and allowed the Gunners to overtake them again. Germany: Stuttgart are the only champions to have abdicated at this early stage. With 11 points behind Bayern and Werder are impossible to overcome in any realistic scenario. It will take a record fee to snatch Berbatov from the Spurs Juande Ramos may have one of the least effective defenses in the Premiership, but at least he boasts one of the most coveted strikers in Dimitar Berbatov. Chelsea have been reported to have offered 26 million pounds to Tottenham and Manchester Unted are also considering a bid. According to the Spanish coach, the amount will not be enough to persuade the Spurs to sell the Bulgarian. "Some one would have to offer more than the 30 million pounds Chelsea paid to Milan for Andriy Shevchenko," said Juande Ramos. "It would be normal to require as much, since they are so few players of his class." Still, the former Sevilla coach recently threatened to replace the entire defense, after another disappointing display of the Spurs' back four. With the wealth they could obtain by selling Berbatov plus whatever they can get for the defenders they have, maybe Juande Ramos will have enough funds to build the defense of his dreams. Ronaldo voted the biggest flop in Italy Ony twelve months after returning to Italy, the unfortunate Brazilian Ronaldo collected another resounding prize: the trophy for last year's biggest flop in Italian soccer in a poll conducted by Corriere della Sera daily. The Phenomenon, as he was called by the Italians ten years ago when he joined Inter, won over the hearts and minds of the Roman paper readers by collecting 40% od the vote. The Emperor Adriano of Inter, currently on loan to Sao Paulo, had to settle for the the second spot with a decent 29% of the vote. Two other Brazilans made it to the top ten – Milan's Emerson and Roma's Cicinho. Ronaldo's return to action after recovering from a muscular injury is now set at January 20th. Ten Italian top-flops of 2007. 1. Ronaldo (Milan) - 40% 2. Adriano (Inter) - 29% 3. Tiago (Juventus) - 7,6% 4. Emerson (Milan) - 6,4% 5. Vieira (Inter) - 5,4% 6. Almiron (Juventus) - 3,2% 7. Muslera (Lazio) - 3,1% 8. Cicinho (Roma) - 2% 9. Diego Tristán (Livorno) - 2% 10. Recoba (Torino) - 1,3% O'Donnell: sixth tragedy in four months Phil O'Donnell's demise late last month raised to six the number of soccer-related deaths in a space of four months. Before Motherwell's captain, four players and one referee lost their lives after falling ill during a soccer game. Although the casualty figure amounts to a tiny fraction of the total number of athletes and officials who come on to the field each week, the new death must increase the concerns within the soccer institutions. Only a week before O'Donnell (35), the 18-year old Italian referee died after collapsing during a game of the Veneto region youth championship. The dark four months began on August 28th with the death of Sevilla's Antonio Puerta from a cardiac arrest after three days in the intensive care. Just a day after Puerta, Chashwe Nsofa (27) of Hapoel Beersheva suffered a fatal heart attack in a Israeli second division game. The terrible week ended on September 1th when Jairo Andres Nazareno (21) of the Ecuadoran third-division outfit Chimborazo felt chest pain during a match against Politécnica. As soon as he reached hospital, he was declared dead. Finally, on December 20th, 31-year old Brazilian Cleber from Bahia died after two months in coma because of a brain stroke. Di Stéfano: It used to be 40,000 harder to win the Champions Cup One of the most important soccer player of all time, Alfredo Di Stéfano, marked the early years of the European Champions Cup by leading Real Madrid to five consecutive titles, scoring at least once in each finals. Today's incarnation of the competition he did so much to popularize is not entirely to his taste. "They call it the Champions League. Champions of what? They should look it up in the dictionary. The press should know the meaning of the word," said the Hispano-argentinian to the Spanish daily El Mundo. "Maybe the current formula is more interesting because there are more teams and more possibilities, but if they had to expand the competition for financial reasons, let them change the name. Here it is: it is possible to finish fourth in the domestic League and then be crowned champions of Europe! In my time it was not possible." Asked whether it was more difficult to become European champions, the two-time Golden Ball winner replied emphatically. "You bet it was more difficult. Fourty thousand times more. It was a cup system back then and we were not eliminated in five consecutive seasons." 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