Category → European Soccer

Tom Ovrebo Admits He Made Mistakes in 2009 Chelsea Game

25 April, 08:58, by admin Tags: ,

The referee at the center of the controversial 2009 Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona, Tom Henning Ovrebo, has admitted that he made mistakes in the game, which ruined Chelsea’s chance to appear in the Final that year.

“Everyone who knows the laws of the game knows I should have done things differently, but that’s the life of a referee,” he said recently. “On the pitch I did my best. I shouldn’t have to apologize as mistakes are part of the game. Some players got emotional and behaved badly, but no one got killed. It’s important to put it into perspective.”

During the game three years ago, the Norwegian official turned down penalty claims during the second-leg tie at Chelsea’s home field, Stamford Bridge. Chelsea lost the game on a goal made by Andres Iniesta during injury time. According to the Chelsea manager at the time, Guus Hiddink, there were four missed penalties during the match: a shirt pull on Drogba by Eric Abidal, handballs by Gerard Pique and Samuel Eto’o, and a grab on Florent Malouda by Dani Alves.

Ovrebo has since retired from the international game, but said that he still occasionally receives death threats.

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False Goal Prompts Discussions about Goal Detection Technology

16 April, 07:00, by admin Tags: ,

A controversial goal made during Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final has players blaming referees and calling for better goal detection technology. During the match at Wembley, Chelsea player Juan Mata kicked what was counted as a goal, putting Chelsea up two goals over the Tottenham Hotspurs.

“To be honest, we have to blame the referee,” said Emmanuel Adebayor, a striker for the Spurs. “I think we have done well and he has made a lot of mistakes and made a lot of wrong decisions.”

The referee Adebayor was referencing was Martin Atkinson. The Tottenham team lost to Chelsea 5-1.

“We were all disappointed,” Adebayor is also credited with saying. “How many goals scored this season were disallowed that were onside? To be honest, I’m just tired of it and everyone is talking about goal-line technology.”

The International Football Association Board, soccer’s rule-making body, will enter the final phase of testing for goal-line technology later this month. In March, IFAB narrowed the number of approved systems to two. The plan is to have one system approved and ready for use following a July 2 meeting.

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Soccer World Shaken By Recent Death, Collapse On Field

22 March, 10:46, by admin Tags:

Yesterday, an Indian soccer played collapsed and died on the field during a local league game in the city of Bangalore. The 27-year-old midfielder, named D. Venkatesh, collapsed near the end of the game after he joined the match as a substitute during the game’s 73rd minute. Doctors believe he died of a cardiac arrest. No ambulance was on-site to transport the player to the Hosmat Hospital; instead he was transported in a three-wheel auto-rickshaw.

“Maybe if he had been given oxygen or proper medical care at the time of the incident, he could have stood a chance,” said Dr. Ajith Benedict Royan, a doctor at the hospital where Venkatesh was taken.

This death follows the near-death of another soccer player last week. On Saturday, March 17, 23-year-old Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the field during a FA Cup match against Tottenham. Doctors have reported that the player’s heart was stopped for a full 78 minutes before it began showing activity again. Medics tried unsuccessfully for 48 minutes to revive Muamba before he was taken to the London Chest Hospital. There, he was shocked with a defibrillator 15 times. Following what has been diagnosed as a cardiac arrest, Muamba likely survived because of the excellent emergency care he received. As of Monday, he was breathing independently and speaking; yet he still has a long road of recovery ahead of him.

Brazil Preliminary Olympic Team Stands at 52 Players

14 March, 14:36, by admin Tags:

Veteran soccer star Ronaldinho, along with Barcelona player Dani Alves and Chelsea defender David Luiz, has been named as a member of a preliminary Brazilian soccer team for the 2012 London Olympics. According to Olympic rules, only three players over the age of 23 can be included on the final 18-person squad; Ronaldinho is 31, Alves is 28 and Luiz is 24. The preliminary team, coached by Mano Menezes, lists 52 players, including younger players like Milan forward Alexandre Pato, Tottenham’s Sadro and Man U defender Rafael.

Menezes will cut the squad down to 35 in June and will make his final selection on July 6. As a team, the Brazilian squad will play in the Olympic tournament held from July 26 to August 11. This means that players on the team who are also members of European club teams will miss their clubs’ pre-season camps. Missing pre-season training for a chance to win an Olympic gold (the only major prize in the world of professional soccer that the country has not won)? We say that’s ok.

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Tevez Returns to Europe, Misses Manchester City Practice

15 February, 12:11, by admin Tags: ,

After spending three months of unauthorized leave in his native Argentina, Carlos Tevez is back at Manchester City, but his future with the club is uncertain. The striker, who has not played since manager Roberto Mancini accused him of refusing to leave the bench during a Sept. 27 match against Bayern Munich, reported to the club doctor at the team’s training ground for a fitness test. A week after the incident, Tevez left England for Argentina without the City’s permission. The club later fined Tevez 1.2 million pounds for refusing to return from Buenos Aires and has suspended his pay of 200,000 pounds a week since he has been there.

Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott tweeted this week that “all the players are excited to have Carlos, Kolo [Toure] and Yaya [Toure] back to help achieve our goal.” However, former goalkeeper Joe Corrigan voiced his displeasure with Tevez’s decision and thought his return could hurt team morale.

“Since the Tevez situation reared its head the team spirit has increased, which has been proven by them digging in and getting results,” he said. “I hope he doesn’t get the chance to play.”

Tevez missed an important team practice today ahead of Manchester City’s game tomorrow against Porto. He has not been registered to play in Europe after his absence, but has been undergoing continued, extensive physical and fitness examination. It is expected that Mancini and Tevez will have their first meeting since the player’s return sometime next week.

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UEFA Finds Massive Losses When Investigating Euro Club Spending

25 January, 12:49, by admin Tags:

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has revealed that some of Europe’s top soccer clubs have annual losses in revenue totaling roughly 1.6 billion Euros, according to data gathered in 2010. Other statistics indicate that this number may still be rising. These losses were discovered after teams had to submit to UEFA’s financial fair play monitoring, which went into effect in July of 2011.

Compared to UEFA’s 2009 study, the combined annual loss of top-level teams rose 36 percent, about $520 million in 2010. Losses can be blamed on the bidding war for top players, staff costs, transfers and overspending on salaries. The study also noted that the richer and more successful clubs are more likely to lose money – the wealthiest leagues in Europe being England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Those five teams combine to hold two-thirds of the wealth amongst European football leagues. While the top 18 clubs earned a combined $68 million in profits in 2010, most teams spent 65 percent more than they earned.

Do you think that UEFA clubs should have to report their spending? Is it fair or unfair? The world of European soccer is certainly more different than that in the United States. Luckily, you can keep up with all the latest soccer news and scores by downloading the free SoccerInferno toolbar.

Owner tried to promote Stability for the Wolves

12 January, 09:37, by admin Tags: , ,

Steve Morgan, the owner of the Wolves is backing the current coach of the team regardless of the team being in another regulation battle. Morgan wants to make clear that the Wolves are not a “hire-and-fire club.” The Wolves is a soccer club located in Wolverhampton located in central England. 

“Its not for me to comment on other clubs. All I can do is comment on Wolves…Of course, we have our problems but our philosophy is to work through the problems.”

Other clubs managers have been recently sacked due to poor turnout. The Wolves owners, Steve Morgan and Jez Moxey have consistently shown their support for coach McCarthy whether the team is winning or loosing. This attitude hasn’t changed even during the recent Premier League survival fight. Morgan’s rational for supporting McCarthy is that he’s seen his skills at Molineux, also located in Wolverhampton, and hopes to see the same skills used toward the Wolves.

Morgan’s final words on the matter were: “I’ve never commented on the manager’s job in four and a half years I’ve been at the club and I’m not going to start now.”

Barcelona Easily Grabs Second FIFA World Club Cup Championship

28 December, 08:59, by admin Tags: ,

Following a sensational and rather easy game against Santos FC on Sunday, Dec. 18, Spain’s Barcelona team was awarded the title of FIFA World Club Cup champions for their second time. The game was played in front of a sold-out crowd at the Yokohama International Stadium in Yokohama, Japan, and Barcelona defeated Santos with a score of 4-0; the same score with which they defeated Al Sadd in the semi-finals. This is the second time Barcelona has won the Club World Cup in three seasons.

Three of the goals were made in the first half of the game; one by Rafael Cabral, another by Lionel Messi and a third by Cesc Fabregas. At this point, it looked as though Barcelona was unstoppable.

“We played a great and complete game with a lot of intensity,” said Barcelona captain Carles Puyol. “The first two goals we scored calmed us down but we never doubted ourselves. I think it was a fair result. We surprised Santos by coming at them straight from the start, which they probably weren’t use to as they tend to have more time on the ball in their domestic league. We’re very happy.”

The fourth and final goal was made again by Messi with eight minutes remaining in the match. The team was awarded the title and $5 million after the win.

Donovan Heads to UK for MLS Offseason on Loan to Everton

22 December, 15:29, by admin Tags: , ,

Instead of sticking out the L.A. Galaxy’s off-season training session in the United States, Landon Donovan will be hopping the pond to play for the Everton team as part of a two-month loan deal. Galaxy fans shouldn’t worry though, the captain whose team recently became the MLS Cup champions, will play his last game for Everton on Feb. 25. He’ll be back in the states in time to join the Galaxy for the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series in Toronto on March 7. The official MLS season will open three days later on March 10.

This isn’t the first time the American has played for Everton. He spent 10 months with the club prior to the 2010 season. Not only did he score two goals in his 13 games, but also won the club’s Player of the Month honor. Though he indicated during the latter part of the MLS season that he wasn’t planning on accepting a loan move, he did say that Everton was the only English club he would consider playing for during the MLS offseason. Negotiations with the club lasted less than a week before Donovan agreed.

“This is a great opportunity for Landon,” said Galaxy coach and GM Bruce Arena in a statement. “During the final months of the 2011 season, he was limited because of an ongoing injury, and he just started to get his legs back during the playoffs. Therefore, I think that this opportunity with Everton comes at a perfect time, as he is rested and ready to go.” Follow your favorite MLS players and see what they’re up to during the off season by tracking them using the SoccerInferno toolbar.

Knee Injury Knocks Liverpool’s Leiva Out For Season

01 December, 11:34, by admin Tags: ,

One of Liverpool’s most crucial players has been eliminated from the team roster for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury in the club’s 2-0 Carling Cup victory at Chelsea Tuesday night. Lucas Leiva was carried off the field on a stretcher in the second half of the game. Scans have revealed that the Brazil international suffered damage to the anterior cruciate ligament in Leiva’s left knee. A statement released by the team indicated that he would undergo surgery immediately but would “unfortunately” be ruled out for the rest of the season.

The news came as a blow to Liverpool’s manager, Kenny Dalglish, and the rest of the team as the 24-year-old midfielder has been one of the club’s best players over the past two seasons. Most recently, Leiva had outstanding performances against Chelsea in the Premier League and League Cup victories and the team’s 1-1 tie at home on Sunday against Manchester City.

To compensate for the loss of Leiva, Liverpool recalled midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, who has been on loan to Blackpool. In addition to Shelvey, Dalglish has other options to keep his team playing at the highest level possible in Leiva’s absence. The best would be the return of captain Steven Gerrard who has spent much of the season recovering from a groin operation and ankle infection; he has only made five game appearances this season. Another option at Dalglish’s disposal is Jordan Henderson, who joined the team just last summer from Sunderland. Liverpool fans, stay on top of roster changes and follow Leiva’s recovery using the helpful SoccerInferno toolbar, which allows you to track scores, schedules and more right from your desktop.

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