 |
 |
|
| 27 JULY
2002 Former Roma Striker Arrested For Drug Trafficking Former Roma striker Andrea Carnevale was arrested in Roma on Saturday for cocaine trafficking. Carnevale had been banned in the early 90's for failing a drugs test. Van Gaal Critical of Riquelme "Riquelme didn't use the spaces his position needs to and this created problems in his game. In Argentina he always played as the only offensive creator but in this scheme he needs to stand ten meters towards the left." Van Gaal 26 JULY 2002 Zidane - Players Were To Blame "Lemerre had his share of responsibility. It's normal because he's the coach but he should not take the blame for the first round elimination because sincerely I believe it's us the players who were at fault." - Zinedine Zidane Heskey Extends Contract Emile Heskey has extended his contract with Liverpool, tying him to the club until 2005. Egyptian Legends Dies Aged 87 Mostafa Kamel Mansour, the oldest surviving African player to compete at the World Cup finals has died in Cairo aged 87. Mansour kept goal for Egypt in the 1934 finals. Mansour played his club football for Al-Ahli and Queen's Park Rangers. Mansour went on to manage the Egyptian national side before becoming a referee. 25 JULY 2002 Parting Shots From Van Gaal & Rivaldo Barcelona coach Louis Van Gaal claimed that he had no option but to release Rivaldo on a free transfer : "The attitude and behaviour of Rivaldo has changed. The best solution for me, for Barca and for Rivaldo was that he left the club." Rivaldo claimed Van Gaal was jealous of his recent World Cup success : "I feel sorry for Van Gaal. He is jealous of Rivaldo because I was champion in a tournament, the World Cup, to which he couldn't even go, even though he was in charge of one of the best teams in the qualifying stages (Holland)." Canal+ Put PSG Up For Sale Debt ridden French pay TV channel Canal+ have put PSG up for sale. Canal+ have ploughed millions into PSG since buying the club in 1991. Beckenbauer And Sybille To Divorce German legend Frank Beckenbauer and his wife of 12 years, Sybille, have announced they are to divorce. In a statement to the press Beckenbauer said the reason for the separation was to spend more time with his illegitimate son, Noel Maximilian, conceived during an affair with a secretary at Bayern Munich: "Key to this decision was my wish to spend more time than I have with my son who was born in August 2000. I feel responsible for him." Noel is Beckenbauer's fourth child. He had two children with his first wife Brigitte between 1966-1990 and another during an affair with an 18 year old insurance agent. 23 JULY 2002 Italian Goalkeeper Takes Charge of Romanian Club Former Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga has signed a one year contract with Romanian club FC National. Romanian defender Dan Petrescu will be Zenga'a assistant. Swiss Clubs Docked Points The Swiss Football League has docked points from Lucerne (4 points), Lugano (7 points) and Winterthur (8 points) due to financial irregularities. 22 JULY 2002 Rovers Want £20 Million For Duff "Unless we get a ridiculous offer he (Damien Duff) will be playing for us next year and the year after. We have had two offers but I would not blame clubs for making offers. He is a very good player. It is going to take 20 million-plus. If Rio Ferdinand is worth that money then it must be the same for Duff." Graham Souness Souness Extends Rovers Contract Blackburn Rovers coach Graham Souness has signed a four year contract tying him to the club until 2006. 21 JULY 2002 Rivaldo Available On Free Transfer Barcelona have released Brazilian forward Rivaldo from his contract. Barcelona had been trying to sell Rivaldo but no club was willing to pay his wages, thought to be in the region of €8 million a season, on top of the transfer fee. Rivaldo had a year left on his current contract. Lazio are early favourites for his signature. Man United Pay New World Record Fee For Defender Manchester United have agreed a fee of €46.8 million with Leeds for defender Rio Ferdinand making him the most expensive defender in history and also setting a new British transfer record in the process. Liverpool Drop Interest In Bowyer, Target Duff Liverpool have pulled out of a deal to sign Leeds want away midfielder Lee Bowyer after failing to agree terms. A statement on Liverpool's website read : "Manager Gerard Houllier was not convinced the player had either the hunger or desire to play for the club, qualities which are essential for any Liverpool player." Liverpool have made enquiries with Blackburn Rovers over Irish dribbling machine Damien Duff. 20 JULY 2002 Maldini Stands By Retirement Decision Despite the attempts by Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni, Milan and Italy captain Paolo Maldini has confirmed that he has retired from international football : "Trapattoni asked me to reverse my decision but my mind's been made up for a long time. Trapattoni hasn't been alone in trying to convince me but I had to fix a time and even if I'll be in the condition to play at Euro 2004 I'd prefer to stop now." 19 JULY 2002 Santini Appointed Coach Of France Jacques Santini has succeeded the inept Roger Lemerre as coach of deposed World Champions France. Santini guided Lyon to the French championship last season. Italian Clubs Over €1000 Million In Debt A survey by Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore has revealed that Serie A clubs made a combined operating loss of €702 million in the 2000 - 2001 season. The total loss between the four divisions in Italy stood at €1.04 billion. The high wages paid by Serie A clubs in was the main contributing factor in the losses - Milan and Lazio for example spent over 80% of their annual turnover on wages. 17 JULY 2002 Serie A Blocks Non European Players Serie A clubs have blocked the signing of non European players for the upcoming season because the FIGC (Italian FA) president Franco Carraro claims they are "anticipating the new law on immigration." 16 JULY 2002 DFB Invest In Future The DFB (German Football Association) will invest €10 million each season into 390 centres of excellence aimed at developing players aged 11-17. There will be training facilities for 20,000 players. The centres of excellence will open at the end of August. Vieri - We Play Ugly Football In an interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport Christian Vieri criticised the standard of football played in Serie A and by the Italian national team : "We need to change mentality that is the problem with everything here. Today in Italy we play badly, we produce ugly football. The Spanish and English championships are more entertaining, more spectacular. Our football is behind in respect to the others. You can hear Italian coaches abroad say that as well." "Not-withstanding everything that happened we should have gone forward in that tournament because we were much stronger. That is the truth that adds to the disappointment - with the attackers we had we should have had more belief. Instead we thought too much about the opposition and that, in my opinion, was our problem. Have you heard what Ronaldo said? 'We play with three or four attackers because we are Brazil - it is the others who should be worried about us'. There you go, I would like to be able to say the same - 'We are Italy'. If you think about the other team you are not strong." Maldini Thinking Twice About Retirement "The coach (Giovanni Trapattoni's ) advised me to wait before officializing my farewell to international football and as there's no hurry, I think I'll follow his advice. I'll make a final statement about my decision in twenty days. I am still inclined to stay with the decision I took some months ago but I will wait before making the official announcement." - Paolo 'past-it' Maldini |