Posts for 'Soccer' Category

Free-Scoring Chelsea Happy To Win Ugly, Says Mikel: Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel insists the free-scoring Premier League champions will be happy to win ugly against Stoke on Saturday.

Carlo Ancelotti's side have made an astonishing start to their title defence after following their 6-0 rout of West Brom on the opening day with another 6-0 victory at Wigan last weekend.

The Blues, who scored a Premier League record 103 goals last season, have picked up where they left off in May, when an 8-0 win against Wigan clinched the title.

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Antonio Valencia scored the opening goal in the first half before setting up summer signing Javier Hernandez for a freakishly fortuitous second after half-time, while Dimitar Berbatov scored a magnificent third after Salomon Kalou's consolation.

But the plaudits of the perennial season curtain-raiser should also go to United veteran Scholes as the 35-year-old delivered a vintage display to dictate the midfield at Wembley. It was an added, ironic twist that Scholes should conjure such an impressive lesson in long and short-range possession in a match which was billed as the chance to move on from the World Cup.

Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and John Terry were booed by respective rival fans following their abject performances in England's dismal failure in South Africa, while the watching Fabio Capello was also singled out for verbal abuse.

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Had things turned out differently for the Netherlands at Soccer City in Johannesburg on July 11, Robin van Persie would be reporting for duty with Arsenal this week with a World Cup winners' medal. Instead, Spain's defeat of the Dutch in the final meant van Persie finished the tournament empty-handed, while his own poor performances in South Africa will have been a source of concern for Gunners manager Arsene Wenger.

Van Persie missed the second half of last season after injuring his ankle in a friendly with Italy in November, but returned to fitness in time to hit scintillating form in the Netherlands' pre-World Cup friendlies. In three games he scored four goals, including a beautifully taken brace in a 2-1 win against Mexico and his side's opening goal in a 6-1 demolition of Hungary in Amsterdam that was Holland's final warm-up match.

The 26-year-old looked fit, sharp and hungry, and ready to mount a serious challenge for the World Cup Golden Boot, but he struggled to assert himself in South Africa and his influence was fitful. The Netherlands may have made the final, eliminating Brazil en route, but van Persie looked far from his best. His only goal came in a 2-1 group-phase win over Cameroon, after the Dutch had already secured a place in the second round, and he was a peripheral figure in the final.

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Manchester City Aim To Turn Pounds In To Prizes: At a time of acute financial uncertainty for football clubs across the globe, Manchester City continue to buck the trend. After failing to achieve Champions League qualification last term, City turned to the chequebook once again and Roberto Mancini will approach the new Premier League campaign with a squad brimming with world-class talent. Spain winger David Silva, Germany full-back Jerome Boateng, Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure and Serbia left-back Aleksandar Kolarov have all arrived at Eastlands during the close-season.

It means that owner Sheikh Mansour has now spent in excess of 284 million pounds (339 million euros) on transfer fees alone since taking over the club in August 2008. With traditional powerhouses like Real Madrid, AC Milan and Bayern Munich all currently reluctant to splash the cash, City are the only major side in Europe with the resources to make waves in the transfer market. The result is that they repeatedly find themselves linked with jaw-dropping moves for some of the continent's biggest names, but Mancini believes they must speculate in order to accumulate.

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Yannick Djalo scored a pair of first-half goals to power Sporting Lisbon over Manchester City 2-0 in an exibition friendly at the Red Bulls Arena. Djalo headed Simon Vukcevic's cross from the right side off goalkeeper Joe Hart's outstretched hands in the 23rd minute.

Djalo added his second goal in the 40th minute. He took a pass from Daniel Carrico then slipped it by Hart and picked it up on the other side before scoring into an empty net. "It's good to show what I can do against good competition," Djalo said. Craig Bellany had one of the best scoring chances for Manchester City four minutes into the match.

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He may be overweight and seemingly past his best but new AS Roma striker Adriano believes he still has a lot to offer on his comeback to Italian football. A year and a half ago, Adriano walked out on Inter Milan and returned to Brazil claiming he was unhappy in Italy and needed his friends and family in Rio de Janeiro.

At the time he was much criticised for his expanding waistline while there were frequent rumours of drink and depression problems. But after a largely successful season with his original club Flamengo, Adriano is back in Italy - just bigger than ever. When the 28-year-old was presented to the Italian media earlier this month, he allegedly weighed 108 kilos, around 25 kilos above his ideal weight.

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Lionel Messi came into the World Cup with the expectation that he would light up the tournament.

But the Barcelona superstar left empty-handed, without a goal and in floods of tears. It is not somethin.

The world footballer of the year and Argentina's talisman is used to. Despite being just 23, Messi has won almost every accolade there is and already has.

An impressive medal collection that few other players, if any, can match.Sitting in his personal trophy cabinet is already.

A World Cup winner's medal, but from 2005 at junior level. The one still missing is the one he wants the most - a World Cup winner as a senior.

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Diego Maradona will forever be known for his infamous 'Hand of God' goal, which knocked England out of the 1986 World Cup. But he was unimpressed with Brazil's Luis Fabiano performing the same act, not once but twice, in the 3-1 win over Ivory Coast. He moaned: "The goal was scored at a crucial point. It gave Brazil a solid lead."

World Cup holders Italy will be expecting nothing less than plain sailing in a Group F which they are the clear favourites to win.

A pairing with New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia makes comfortable viewing for a team that has been anything but brilliant since winning football's biggest prize for a fourth time four years ago in Germany.

Slovakia will be making their first ever appearance and the Kiwis only their second, their first being back in 1982 when they meekly exited after losing all three matches. The toughest prospect will undoubtedly be Paraguay, who battled through tough South American qualifiers to reach the World Cup for the fourth time in a row and eighth time in total, although they have never been beyond the second round.

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European champions Spain eked out a 1-0 victory over South Korea in a World Cup finals  warm-up match here on Thursday.

The match had promised to be an exciting meeting, with Spain hoping to exorcise the ghosts of the 2002 World Cup, when they were stunned by South Korea in a controversial quarter-final in which the Spaniards had two goals disallowed.

But the two sides failed to impress during much of the game, with just eight days to go before the tournament kicks off, despite a late goal by Jesus Navas.

Playing before a packed house, Spain took the opportunity to give playing time to many of their injured players, while South Korea failed to convert some good efforts.

Korean coach Huh Jung-Moo defended his tactics after the game.  "We tried to play very defensively, when you play against a stronger team, you should play defensively and use counter-attacks," he said.

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