Tuesday 26 February 2013

CR7 WANTS TO LEAVE REAL-CANIZARES

Former Real Madrid and Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares believes Cristiano Ronaldo wants to leave in the summer.

Manchester United appear a likely destination for the Portuguese captain, but Canizares says he also favours a switch to PSG.

Speculators and bookmakers believes the speed star is unsettled with the frequent dressing room supremacy  in the camp of  Real Madrid.

There are rumours on the football jungle stating that,CR7 is tired of playing second fiddle to Lionel Messi. 

"Cristiano is a bit tired of losing to Barcelona. He suffers a lot. He has only won the league once since he arrived. It is very hard to lose against Barca all the time. Around the world, we talk about (Lionel) Messi and then Ronaldo. He wants to be better than Messi, but can not.

"If he leaves Madrid, it can be an opportunity for him to change country and play in a league he does not know," Canizares said.

"He has already played and won titles in England, and I do not think he will return to move to Manchester City or Chelsea. In Italy, there are restrictions on wages so he does not go there. In Germany, Bayern Munich, but they are not a club who bet heavily on the stars, they have a different mentality. There are not many teams he can go to and it is clear that Paris Saint-Germain, will be the big rival to Real Madrid in this case."

BARCELONA VS REAL MADRID(MATCH PREVIEW)WRITTEN BY ABAYOMI ADEMETAN

Following last month’s 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu, FC Barcelona are favourites to secure their place in the final of the Copa del Rey for a second successive season; although they still have to do the business in the second-leg of their tie with Real Madrid.

Los Blancos have been struggling for consistency all season, but in spite of that, they have managed to contest each and every Clasico to a high standard; today's clash is unlikely to be any different.
 
After scoring in six consecutive Clasicos, Barcelona finally managed to stop Cristiano Ronaldo from tormenting their back-four in the first-leg, only to be undone by some shoddy defending after a routine cross. Raphael Varane got the goal that night, and he scooped the Man of the Match award to thanks to a number of crucial last-ditch interventions. Who knows? Without Varane’s excellent defensive work, maybe Lionel Messi would have broken the all-time record for goals scored in the Clasico?

Anyway, enough about the first-leg.What can we expect from the second leg today?Barcelona head into the match off Saturday’s comeback victory over Sevilla where David Villa announced his return from kidney stones with a nice header. El Guaje adds another dimension to the Blaugrana attack and he also creates space for Lionel Messi. Now, you don’t need to be a math genius to figure out that Messi + space = goals. 

On the other hand, does Barcelona really need to start Villa? How will Jose Mourinho approach the match? So many questions, luckily, we have less than a day to wait for answers.

Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura has questioned referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco.

Roura pointed out that Undiano, appointed for tonight's Copa del Rey second-leg clash with Real Madrid,
had taken charge of Barca's only league defeat this season - when Gerard Pique was sent off in a 3-2 defeat to Real Sociedad in January - and also recalled his stewardship of the 2011 Copa del Rey final, won 1-0 by Real Madrid in extra-time.

"It is evident that with Undiano our numbers are always worse than with others," Roura said. "And we keep in mind his permissiveness in that Copa final.


Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho dismissed complaints about the referee for tonight's Copa clash by having a fresh dig at Barcelona's past El Clasico behaviour.

Barca are unhappy with the appointment of Alberto Undiano for the second-leg of tonight's Copa tie at the Nou Camp.

But Mourinho scoffed: "I prefer to stick with the lessons we have received in the past from Barcelona. Lessons in sportsmanship, how to behave in football. Not talking about the referees, not surrounding them, not demanding cards for their opponents. No cheating.

"And, of course, lessons on how to play football, they do that very well. We must 'humbly' follow that line."

  Cesc Fabregas  believes had Barcelona the chance to make it 0-2 in Madrid [on the away leg].  

''In the return leg we have to be as effective as possible, because they are very effective. We have to be on target in front of goal if we want to get to the final.”

The midfielder went on to indicate that “it’s vital to score, we cannot go into the match and wait to see what happens. In last year’s Cup Clásico return leg - we had a good result from the away leg - and we were nearly eliminated from the competition. Madrid are very dangerous and in order to go through we’ll have to play the best.

Hardworking defender Pepe believes Madrid will win if they play as a unit in Nou Camp tonight.

 “We have to play as a team, like we always try to do in every match.If we play as a team we’ll definitely have a good chance of winning the playoff. We have to remain true to our style of play and do what coach Mourinho asks and we’ll have a good chance of winning the playoff,”Pepe said.
 
The last time that Real Madrid and Barcelona faced each other in the Copa del Rey semifinals was in 1993. Curiously enough, the first-leg match was played at the Santiago Bernabeu and also ended 1-1. The Whites later won 1-2 at the Camp Nou, qualifying for the final. In total, the two teams have faced each other five times in the penultimate round of the competition with the Whites winning on three occasions. In this edition Mourinho's team find themselves among the four top teams after defeating Alcoyano, Celta and Valencia in previous rounds.

Barcelona remains undefeated in the competition, hosting Real Madrid after having defeated Alaves, Cordoba and Malaga. They won the two matches against the Basque side (0-3 and 3-1) and also against Cordoba (0-2 and 5-0). The had a tougher time with Malaga (2-2 in the first-leg match at the Camp Nou and 2-4 at La Rosaleda). Villa and Messi are Barcelona's top goal-scorers in the tournament with five and four goals respectively.

 Expert Edge:With Manchester United match also in mind,Real Madrid will be hoping to get something from this cracker in the dreaded Nou Camp.On the part of Barcelona,they will be hoping to consolidate on the win against Sevilla.

Messi and Ronaldo are capable of deciding the final outcome of the match today.

On a final note Real Madrid should progress at the expense of  Barcelona tonight.

Vidic happy with fitness programme

Manchester United skipper Nemanja Vidic is confident the softly-softly approach to his fitness is working.

 The defender is confident that cautious approach could see him back in the reckoning full-time in time for the season's climax.

"With playing Wednesday and Saturday, some games I have to think if it's good for myself to play or not," the Serbia centre-back.

"After every game I feel better and better, which is a good sign.

"Sometimes I will get reactions, sometimes not.

NAIJA RISING STAR....COMPILED BY AYODELE FASUSI

Name:Adetola Ayo'oluwa

Position: Midfield

Age:18 Years

Current Club: TEAP FC

 Our man on the spot,Ayodele Fasusi x-rays TEAP FC utility man,Adetola Ayo'oluwa in one of his adventures to Abuja.

Ayo'oluwa is a versatile footballer,who dons the jersey of Nigeria National League campaigners,TEAP FC.

A naturally gifted talent,Ay is highly rated by his coaches and colleagues,due to his passion and zeal for the game.
Photo: Teap FC midfielder Ayo'oluwa
He is comfortable playing as a wing-back,centre-back and a deep lying midfielder.However,his preferred position is serving as a shield to the back four.

The 18-year-old youngster was part of the TEAP FC team that won the 2011 and 2012 Redeemers Cup in Abuja.He also played a key role in his club's success in the 2011 State League.


The emerging talent also made waves helping TEAP gain promotion to the Nigeria National League,the second tier division of Nigerian football last season.

His outstanding performance was hailed by Stephen Okechukwu Keshi,who tipped him for greater things in one of Super Eagles tune-up games against TEAP.

He is widely tipped by pundits of the game to be the next Sunday Oliseh.

BOROUGH ACQUIRES SAMMY ON-LOAN

Middlesbrough boss Tony Malloway has welcomed Nigerian-born Sammy Ameobi on loan from Newcastle till the end of the season.

The starlet, who has made 14 appearances for Newcastle this season, is expected to help Middlesbrough's promotion push.

“He gives us a different option.He’s an out and out attacking wide player who can operate on either side, and will be ideal when we want to play with two wingers,” an excited Malloway said.

“He will hopefully give some players a lift and create some competition.”

Ameobi though is cup-tied having played for Newcastle United in the third round at Brighton and so won't debut against Chelsea on Wednesday.

Ameobi is tied to Newcastle until the summer of 2015.

Monday 25 February 2013

MAZZARRI ON ROMA'S RADAR

Napoli manager Walter Mazzarri is on AS Roma's radar.

According to a reliable source,Sheik Adnan Al Adel Aref Qaddumi Shtewi, who is buying into the club, admits Mazzarri is interesting them.

"It may be only the first step after the payment of €50 million. Leaders? Franco Baldini and Walter Sabatini are capable and have built a good team, but the coaches did not go well. For example, there is now Mazzarri on the market and he could have the right profile," said the source.