Daily Archives: August 21, 2014

Marcello Lippi has to be held back after his side received their second red card. Photo: Brendan Esposito

Guangzhou Evergrande coach Marcello Lippi sensationally stormed out of a media conference following their shock 1-0 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers but not before unleashing a heated attack towards the referee and Wanderers’ midfielder Vitor Saba.

The first-leg quarter-final defeat to the Wanderers at Pirtek Stadium will go down as an historic moment for the 66-year-old World Cup and Serie A winning coach who ran on to the field to protest the dismissal of two of his players in the late stages of the game before erupting in the post-match press conference, attacking Emirati referee Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed.

The Italian coach did not hide his anger as he ranted to the media about his dismay at the officiating of the match and the behaviour of some of the Wanderers’ players before walking out of the press conference without fielding a single question, leaving his two translators to relay his tirade.

Lippi criticised the referee for missing an alleged hand-ball in the box in the first half that would’ve given the reigning champions an early penalty as well as another foul by Daniel Mullen that he believes should have warranted a second yellow-card. Mohamed awarded Evergrande the foul but gave Mullen a talking-to rather than a dismissal.

“To be honest the first was a little bit far away but the second [red card] was really close to me so I saw it. I also saw that in the during of the match number 33 [Mullen] had to go for a second yellow card…. But I don’t know why the referee didn’t see this. Also in the first half we had a good chance to score and there was a handball in the opening and also the referee didn’t see it,” Lippi said.

Disbelief: Guangzhou Evergrande react to one of the red cards. Photo: Brendan Esposito

 

“I’ve been in every competition in the world – the World Cup, European Champions League, Club World Championships – everything. I know it’s wrong to go on the field, but at the first moment I just wanted to ask the referee why  – But he talked to me like a child – I also tried to apologised to the ref, I knocked on the door [after the game] and I tried to say it wasn’t in protest, I wanted information on this.”

Lippi was critical of the Wanderers new Brazilian playmaker, Vitor Saba, who he accused of diving. Lippi was seen to have grabbed hold of Saba during a chaotic on-field protest involving the entire Guangzhou Evergrande bench.

“Number 10 with the beard, he played in Italy. It’s not good in football to be falling down and to be so fake, not in the champions league,” Lippi said.

Wanderers coach Tony Popovic was puzzled when he heard of Lippi’s tirade, saying his opponent had nothing to complain about.

“I don’t know what he’s upset about,” he said. “That’s his interpretation but the referee has made a decision. Their coaches can not go on the pitch, I’m sure if I went on the pitch I would’ve been sent off so I can’t condone their coaches going on the pitch. We all disagree with decisions that referees make, we voice our opinion from the sideline but we don’t go on the pitch and man-handle a player.”

Meanwhile, the Wanderers are expected to announce their fifth and final visa-player for next year with the signing of Nigerian left-back Seyi Adeleke set to be confirmed on Thursday.

The signing of the 22-year-old defender effectively ends any chances of the club signing a high-profile foreign marquee to replace Shinji Ono.

Adeleke arrives from Serie A club Lazio where he spent three seasons but did not make a senior appearance as he spent the bulk of his career loaned out to smaller clubs. He spent two seasons in the lower leagues of Italy with Salernitana and Pergolettese as well as a season in Switzerland with FC Biel-Bienne.

source: smh.com.au

Socceroos Head Coach Ange Postecoglou has moved to broaden the base of international players ahead of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup by selecting a group of new faces for the matches against Belgium and Saudi Arabia in September.

The 20-man squad contains four uncapped players in Brad Smith, Chris Herd, Trent Sainsbury and Bailey Wright as well as Hyundai A-League young guns Terry Antonis and Tomi Juric.

Robbie Kruse, Carl Valeri and Josh Brillante have been recalled to the Socceroos squad along with 12 members of the 2014 FIFA World Cup final squad, including captain Mile Jedinak and talisman Tim Cahill.

After naming the squad, Postecoglou declared Socceroos selections would continue to be bold as he builds a broader base of international players in Australia’s pursuit of becoming the best team in Asia.

“The next series of games for us are really important to broaden the base and depth so we’re going to be pretty bold in the way we select our squads and give some people an opportunity,” Postecoglou said.

“After the World Cup campaign we had a break and I had a bit of a chance to think about everything that transpired over the last six to eight months, culminating in the World Cup.

Leading the way: Mile Jedinak. Photo: Sahlan Hayes

 

“One thing that came out, that was evident to me, is that we need to broaden our base and get some depth in various positions in our squad.

“From our perspective these games are a chance to expose some young players to international football and hopefully create some depth in areas we’re light on.

“We want a really strong squad for the Asian Cup and we are only going to get that if we have a look at some more players.”

One player that fits Postecoglou’s blueprint to broaden the base is left-sided player Brad Smith, who has been called into the Socceroos squad for the first time after making his English Premier League debut last year for Liverpool.

“Brad’s a player we have been monitoring since I’ve been in the job and he plays in a position where we don’t have a great deal of depth. He plays left back and left side and he’s quick,” Postecoglou said.

“Brad’s a young player who is making his way in the football world. He’s contracted to Liverpool Football Club and obviously been loaned out to Swindon to get some games under his belt.

“Brad’s played for the England U21s as recently as a couple of months ago but he’s very committed to playing for Australia and after having a chat to him we are really keen to get him in the green and gold and give him an opportunity.”

Postecoglou acknowledged injuries ruled out Rhys Williams, Curtis Good, Tom Rogic, Matthew Spiranovic, Matt McKay and Ivan Franjic with experienced campaigners Mark Bresciano and Josh Kennedy still in line for matches in October and November ahead of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.”

The 20-man Socceroos squad:

Terry Antonis

Joshua Brillante

Tim Cahill

Jason Davidson

Ben Halloran

Chris Herd

Mile Jedinak

Tomi Juric

Robbie Kruse

Mitchell Langerak

Matthew Leckie

Massimo Luongo

Mark Milligan

Tommy Oar

Mat Ryan

Trent Sainsbury

Brad Smith

Carl Valeri

Alex Wilkinson

Bailey Wright

source: smh.com.au

Bondi man Cyril Baldock has set the record for the oldest person to swim the English Channel.

The 70-year-old Bondi Surf Life Saving Club member completed the swim between England and France in 12 hours and 45 minutes on Wednesday (local time).

It was his second Channel swim, after first completing the test – considered the ‘Everest of swimming’ – in 1985, when he became the fifth Australian to do so.

After finishing his swim overnight he posted on Twitter: “Support from home has been overwhelming – thanks to everyone for following our journey”.

Mr Baldock told the ABC his dream to break the world record began when his mentor and coach, Des Renford, had a heart attack.

Described as “the king of the channel”, Renford had wanted to be the oldest person to achieve the record.

“Des wanted to have a crack at that but obviously it was never going to be,” Mr Baldock said.

“I told Des that when I got to that age I’d have a go at it. But little did I know over that 30-year period the oldest went up 10 years, so I had to wait a while.”

Mr Baldock said he would not have done the swim again if it was not for the record.

“There’s no way that I’d attempt the English Channel just to swim it a second time. I’ve done it, I was only the fifth Australian to do it back then, but to be the oldest it’s an enormous challenge. It’s something that very few people can ever achieve,” he said.

However Mr Baldock’s record may be short-lived, because 73-year-old Brisbane woman Irene Keel is also attempting the swim this week.

Mr Baldock’s training consisted of around 40 kilometres of swimming each week, including five pool sessions and a long open water swim on a Saturday.

The English Channel is 34km straight across but it is very rare for a swimmer to cover it in under 40km.

Mr Baldock’s coach Vladimir Mravec specialises in preparing people for marathon swims like the English Channel.

This year, 12 of his squad members are attempting the feat.

So far seven have been successful, including Sydney’s Stuart Johnson, who was attempting to be only the fourth person to swim three laps of the Channel continuously.

Johnson managed two-and-a-half laps but decided to retire after 30 hours in the water, tired and close to hypothermia.

“My role as coach is take his momentum and make the momentum live,” Mravec said.

It is this momentum that not only helped Mr Baldock be best prepared for the Channel swim but also in other areas of his life.

“It’s helped my fitness, I’ve got five grandkids and I’m able to do things with them that a lot of 70-year-olds couldn’t do,” Mr Baldock said in the lead-up to the swim.

“Swimming is the ultimate sport for fitness because you’re under pressure all the time, you’re breathing all the time.”

Mr Baldock has lost a number of friends to skin cancer and is raising money for the Melanoma Institute of Australia.

source: abc.com.au

MATCH-WINNER: Glen Trifiro’s 13th-minute goal proved the difference as the Central Coast Mariners beat the South Coast Wolves 1-0 at WIN Stadium to reach the FFA Cup Round of 16.

Central Coast coach Phil Moss on Wednesday backed a move for an A-League team to be based in Wollongong, after a crowd of more than 5000 made the trip to WIN Stadium to watch his Mariners defeat South Coast Wolves 1-0 in the FFA Cup.

Fellow A-League club, the Melbourne Victory, eased their way into the FFA Cup round of 16 with a comfortable 2-0 win over Western Australia’s Bayswater City at the WA Athletics Stadium.

Moss’s side struggled with their fitness and a moment of class from Josh Rose and Glen Trifiro, in the 13th minute, provided the win, but the Mariners’ boss was full of praise for both sides.

“I was really happy for the boys because they worked ever so hard for the full 94 minutes,” Moss said.

“I think they showed real glimpses of quality in the first half … not so much in the second half. I think fatigue got the better of us.

“Tonight was probably a fair indication of where we are at, match fitness-wise, against a team that are match hardened.

“We had players out there tonight that you could see were pushing through pain barriers, which is great for our preparation.”

While excellent preparation for the Mariners’ new A-League season, making them the fifth top-flight club into the final 16, the night was a win for football on the south coast.

The Wolves, the current day form of the two-time NSL champion Wollongong Wolves, were impressive as were their loyal fans with drums beating throughout the match, providing plenty of atmosphere.

“I would like to say that any bid for an A-League club from this area should be fully supported,” Moss said.

“It is a fantastic football area and I think, tonight, the Wollongong club really showed they are ready for an A-League team.

“The Wolves were exactly what I expected. I coached in the State League for nine years. I got Trif (Glen Trifiro) and Matty Sim from the NPL last season and they are no longer State League players – they are fully fledged A-League players.

“I thought the Wolves played really well as a team, fought for each other and they were really hard to break down at times.”

His sentiments were echoed by goal-scorer Trifiro.

“I know there is great support in Wollongong. I know they have tried and there has been talk that maybe there is a chance for another A-League team here and, with 5000 turning out tonight, it shows there is support in Wollongong,” Trifiro said.

The Mariners next play three friendlies, one against Melbourne City, before embarking on their next FFA Cup encounter.

VICTORY ADVANCE

The Victory signalled their intentions by fielding a strong team for their FFA Cup opener against a Bayswater City team currently leading WA’s National Premier League, and they also took the chance to unveil their attacking trio of Besart Berisha, Kosta Barbarouses and Archie Thompson.

That trio led to a first half goal to Barbarouses on the back of a final pass coming from Berisha before the Victory then secured the win when Thompson added the second in the 77th minute after being set up tremendously again by Berisha.

It was a competitive showing from Bayswater who are coached by former A-League defender Chris Coyne and featuring some talent in the squad including Todd Howarth, Sam Mitchinson, Devon Spence and Steve Burton.

Despite not being able to match the 4-0 scoreline that the Brisbane Roar beat the Stirling Lions with at the same venue at Tuesday night, it was a dominant showing in the first half from the Victory and then a solid effort in the second.

Gui Finkler and Berisha both created good opportunities to score in the opening 22 minutes for the Victory before their constant attacking forays paid off with a well-worked goal to Barbarouses as they broke down the Bayswater defence.

Mark Milligan was one star who didn’t start for the Victory but he came on as a substitute for Leigh Broxham in the 59th minute and got some good run into his legs.

It was a much-improved effort from Bayswater in the second half and they were within inches of drawing level through a well-taken free-kick from Howarth that was narrowly wide 70 minutes in.

However, the Victory managed to hit back on the counterattack with Berisha passing off to Thompson in the box who then had no trouble scoring to guarantee the win.

source: stuff.co.nz