Category Archives: SPORTS

Besart Berisha helped Melbourne Victory to a scrappy 1-0 victory on Friday night and a temporary return to the top of the A-League ladder.

In a match which lacked fluency, a set-piece always looked likely to settle the contest, and so it proved with 13 minutes remaining.

Fahid Ben Khalfallah’s free kick found the Albanian, whose header deflected off the unfortunate Jade North into the net.

It was a messy own-goal and entirely representative of the contest, in which Brisbane barely threatened.

If the first half is to be remembered, it would be for the tough tackling that produced four yellow cards.

Both Carl Valeri and Mark Milligan were carded for vicious fouls on Matt McKay and Thomas Broich, while McKay returned the favour with a late challenge on Gui Finkler.

Victory’s best early chances came from the boot of Finkler.

Leigh Broxham went close with a free header from a corner, while Roar defender Daniel Bowles nearly headed in from another wicked Finkler cross.

While Victory began to slow towards the end of the half, the last action of the half was a tackle – with Milligan left worse for wear.

As the Socceroo lay strewn on the ground in pain, referee Chris Beath blew his whistle for the break.

The result was the bizarre sight of Victory’s captain surrounded by both physios and the half-time entertainment until he limped down the race for treatment.

Given the agony on Milligan’s face, the Socceroos looked like they would need to find a new midfielder for the Asian Cup.

But Milligan emerged for the second half, as the game continued its scrappy pattern.

Fahid Ben Khalfallah went close on 66 minutes when his deflected long-range drive sailed wide with Jamie Young stranded.

It seemed the match would end goalless when Broxham again headed off-target from another set play but finally Victory made one count on 77 minutes.

Young then pulled off a fine save to stop Broxham from close range – and denied a breakaway chance from Khalfallah in injury time.

source: abc.net.au

Ξανά το όνομα του Νορντίν Αμραμπάτ φέρνει στο προσκήνιο δημοσίευμα της τουρκικής έκδοσης του Eurosport, το οποία αναφέρει πως οι «ερυθρόλευκοι» ενδιαφέρονται «ζεστά» για την απόκτηση του, ακόμα και τη μεταγραφική περίοδο του Ιανουαρίου.

Το ίδιο δημοσίευμα αναφέρει πως ο Ολυμπιακός ετοιμάζει πρόταση ύψους 5 εκατομμυρίων στην Γαλατάσαραϊ για να τον αποκτήσει, τη στιγμή που ενδιαφέρον για τον 27χρονο που αγωνίζεται δανεικός στη Μάλαγα, δείχνει και η Βαλένθια.

Υπενθυμίζουμε πως ο Αμραμπάτ, είχε απασχολήσει έντονα τον Ολυμπιακό την καλοκαιρινή μεταγραφική περίοδο, με τον σύλλογο του Πειραιά να καταλήγει τελικά στη λύση του Τζίμι Ντουρμάζ.

Πηγή:in.gr

Σε ένα οικονομικό θαύμα έφτασε η Μπάγερν Μονάχου, η οποία ανακοίνωσε ότι κατάφερε να αποπληρώσει το δάνειο που είχε πάρει για την κατασκευή του «Allianz Arena» 16 χρόνια πριν από τη λήξη του!

Συγκεκριμένα, ο Γερμανικός σύλλογος είχε δανειστεί 346 εκατ. δολάρια το 2005 για να φτιάξει το γήπεδό της και μόλις 9,5 χρόνια μετά το… ξεχρέωσε παρά το γεγονός ότι είχε περιθώριο ως το 2030!

Την είδηση επιβεβαίωσε στο περιοδικό της Μπάγερν ο πρόεδρος της ομάδας, Καρλ-Χάινς Ρουμενίνγκε, ο οποίος δήλωσε «πολύ υπερήφανος» για το επίτευγμα της ομάδας.

«Το 2005 χρηματοδοτήσαμε την κατασκευή του σταδίου με 346 εκατομμύρια ευρώ που συγκεντρώσαμε εξ ολοκλήρου από ιδιωτικούς πόρους, με στόχο να το αποπληρώσουμε, σύμφωνα με το οικονομικό πλάνο που είχαμε καταρτίσει, το 2030, δηλαδή σε 25 χρόνια. Καταφέραμε όμως να αποπληρώσουμε πλήρως μετά από 9,5 χρόνια».

Σύμφωνα με υπολογισμούς που είχε κάνει παλιότερα ο πρώην πρόεδρος της ομάδας, Ούλι Χένες, αυτό σημαίνει πως η Μπάγερν θα έχει στη διάθεση της περίπου 25 εκατομμύρια ευρώ επιπλέον για να διαθέσει σε μεταγραφές παικτών. Πάντως, ο Ρουμενίγκε απέφυγε να επιβεβαιώσει το συγκεκριμένο πόσο, λέγοντας μόνο πως «τα έσοδα που θα έρθουν από το γήπεδο μας θα μπορούν σύντομα να επενδυθούν στην βελτίωση της ποιότητας του ρόστερ μας».

Σχετικά με τον ισολογισμό της ομάδας για τη σεζόν 2013/14, ο οποίος θα παρουσιαστεί επισήμως στην ετήσια γενική συνέλευση του συλλόγου που θα πραγματοποιηθεί στις 28/11, ο Ρουμενίγκε δήλωσε: «Δεν είναι μυστικό ότι, για τη χρονιά που μας πέρασε, σπάσαμε το μαγικό αριθμό του μισού δισεκατομμυρίου ευρώ για πρώτη φορά στην ιστορία μας».

Πηγή: in.gr

The situation in Greek soccer is going from bad to worse, with accusations flying between club officials, the head of the Super League announcing he will quit on Monday and the leagues remaining suspended for this weekend.

“There will be no games [this weekend] in the Super League, or in the Football League, or in the third division. That’s it! The decision about the indefinite suspension of appointing referees remains valid,” said the head of the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO), Giorgos Sarris on Thursday, adding that the league that organizes the top flight’s games has failed to respond to the EPO demand for a statement or for some action to prevent another incident of violence such as that against referee official Christoforos Zografos.

“The Super League has sent us nothing, nor has it issued a statement, as we had asked it to. It appears that this entity is in disarray,” Sarris said, and he is not far from the truth.

On Thursday morning the president of the Super League, Takis Agrafiotis announced that he will tender his resignation at next Monday’s governing board, accusing Panathinaikos of withdrawing its support to him. Sources from Panathinaikos responded speaking of hypocrisy from his part.

Yet the most serious accusations came from AEK strongman Dimitris Melissanidis, who on Thursday reiterated his call on authorities to investigate Olympiakos owner Vangelis Marinakis as the head of a criminal organization in the Greek game. He refuted allegations that he was behind the attack on Zografos last Thursday, saying he is prepared to go to extremes in order to see Greek soccer clean up.

“There is no dictatorship on the planet that has not fallen. This one will fall too, regardless of how powerful it is,” Melissanidis told a press conference.

However Zografos is reported to have testified that a person who claimed to be Melissanidis had threatened him 10 days before the attack, saying to him “I will throw you to the sea, I know where you live.”

Olympiakos issued a statement branding Melissanidis a “jester in a state of panic” and threatening him with court action for slander, adding that “this will probably be the least of his worries when he stands a trial for attempting to murder Zografos”.

A sports prosecutor has already heard the testimonies of Marinakis and Sarris and has also summoned Melissanidis regarding the Zografos case.

Nova TV, on the other hand, is putting pressure for the lifting of the Super League’s suspension, as in a letter it sent to the league on Thursday it threatened to activate the provision of the TV rights contract that allows the satellite platform to deduct 2 million euros from the sum that effectively keeps the league alive.

However, if the Super League is eventually dissolved, the contract for the TV rights will be annulled, depriving Nova of its biggest asset and putting its rival subscription platform, OTE TV (holder of the Greek Cup’s rights) in contention for the league’s rights, too for the first time.

source: ekathimerini.com

Η ατυχία “χτύπησε” ξανά τον Ντάνιελ Στάριτζ, καθώς τραυματίστηκε και πάλι, έτσι δεν πρόκειται να βοηθήσει καθόλου την Λίβερπουλ μέσα στο 2014.

O Ντάνιελ Στάριτζ είχε επιστρέψει στις προπονήσεις και ήταν έτοιμος να επιστρέψει και στην αγωνιστική δράση, όμως αυτό τελικά δεν πρόκειται να γίνει μέσα στο 2014.

Ο διεθνής Άγγλος επιθετικός τραυματίστηκε ξανά στην προπόνηση της Λίβερπουλ, και την Τετάρτη τα αποτελέσματα των εξετάσεων έδειξαν τελικά πως έχει νέο πρόβλημα στον μηρό.

Την πώληση του Λιονέλ Μέσι φέρεται να επιθυμεί η διοίκηση της Μπαρτσελόνα σύμφωνα με σημερινή (20/11) αποκάλυψη ισπανικού ραδιοφωνικού σταθμού.

Φαίνεται πως οι δηλώσεις του Λιονέλ Μέσι λίγες μέρες νωρίτερα, πως υπάρχει περίπτωση να αποχωρήσει από τους “μπλαουγκράνα” έχουν βάση, προκαλώντας αγωνία στους φίλους της “Μπάρτσα”.

Σύμφωνα με το ισπανικό ραδιοφωνικό σταθμό “Radio Cope” το διοικητικό συμβούλιο της Μπαρτσελόνα έχει την διάθεση να πουλήσει τον Αργεντινό επιθετικό στην υψηλότερη δυνατή τιμή, πριν τις προεδρικές του 2016.

Ο παίκτης από την πλευρά του είναι ιδιαίτερα δυσαρεστημένος από τις τελευταίες εξελίξεις, καθώς νιώθει πως αμφισβητείται από τα μέλη της διοίκησης η αφοσίωσή του στην ομάδα.

Στο ίδιο ρεπορτάζ υπάρχει αναφορά και στις σχέσεις του Κριστιάνο Ρονάλντο με την Ρεάλ Μαδρίτης, τονίζοντας πως ο 27χρονος άσος θεωρεί πως δεν έχει την ίδια στήριξη με αυτή που έχει ο Πορτογάλος στους Μαδριλένους.

Επιπλέον, σύμφωνα με σημερινό δημοσίευμα της ισπανικής εφημερίδας “Sport”, μόνο 4 ομάδες μπορούν να κάνουν την οικονομική υπέρβαση και να αποκτήσουν τον Μέσι. Ο λόγος για τις Μάντσεστερ Σίτι, Τσέλσι, Ίντερ και Παρί Σεν Ζερμέν, οι οποίες έχουν την οικονομική ευχέρεια να ξοδέψουν μέχρι και 250.000.000 ευρώ για να τον κάνουν “δικό” τους.

Πηγή:contra.gr

The head of the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO), Giorgos Sarris, and Olympiakos chairman Vangelis Marinakis both gave depositions on Wednesday as part of an investigation into an attack on a soccer referee last week.

Sarris and Marinakis were called by sports prosecutor Constantinos Simitzoglou after reports that the Olympiakos chief alleged AEK chairman Dimitris Melissanidis had attempted to influence the victim, Christoforos Zografos, before the attack.

Zografos, who is still in hospital after being struck repeatedly by his assailants, is also the vice president of EPO’s central refereeing committee.

Marinakis and Sarris did not answer any journalists’ questions after giving their depositions. Simitzoglu has postponed calling Melissanidis so he can study the information he has gathered so far.

The AEK supremo is due to give a news conference at noon today to discuss «the latest developments in soccer.”

source: ekathimerini.com

They’re still waiting for a first victory in the league in 2014-15, but ‘Popa’ is confident that win is just around the corner.

Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic is confident his side will continue to improve following a 0-0 stalemate with the Central Coast Mariners in the A-League on Wednesday night.

The Wanderers had more than double the amount of shots on goal than their opposition but were left to rue poor finishing as they picked up their first point of the campaign at Pirtek Stadium.

“We had enough chances and you can’t ask for much more,” said Popovic after the game.

“If you’re creating those kind of opportunities then as a coach on the sideline you’re disappointed you’re not scoring but you’re also pleased to see improvement in the team.

“We’re seeing that in the past few weeks, we’ve had patches. On another day we could have won that by three or four.”

Despite being disappointed to not come away with the three points Popovic praised the performance of his team, in particular the contribution of the players making their home debut.

“All of them had their moments and now the next step is that they improve and extend those moments in games and we’re sure they will.

“They came off and no-one’s injured so now you want to see Nikita [Rukavytsya] extend that, have better periods for longer. Same as Vitor [Saba], Romeo [Castelen] and Seyi [Adeleke].

“It’s Matty’s [Spiranovic] second game since the World Cup so the moments were good but goals change games regardless of what anyone tells you.”

The Wanderers made nine changes to the side that went loss at Perth Glory last weekend but Popovic wasn’t prepared to use this as an excuse for the failure to execute in front of goal.

“They kept their structure, they kept moving the ball and in the 90th minute we could’ve got two or three goals.

“It’s difficult when you’re playing Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, with the travel from Perth but we’ll assess that.

“These are the cards we’re dealt, in terms of the fixtures and the travel.

“Would we like it all different? Yes we would. But would I change winning a Champions League? No.”

source: goal.com

Dubbed “the friendly game that no one wanted”, Serbia’s 2-0 victory over Greece at Hania on Tuesday will not stay long in the memory of most Greek fans, except perhaps that of the 3,500 supporters who filled up the stands of the Cretan stadium.

Both teams played without a regular coach on their benches, after Greece’s Claudio Ranieri and Serbia’s Dick Advocaat left within the last few days, meaning that Greece had to resort to Under-21 manager Costas Tsanas as a caretaker.

In this fifth consecutive home game for Greece this year without scoring a goal, including three competitive matches for the Euro 2016 qualifiers, Greece suffered its fifth defeat, to let down the faithful fans at Hania who have their own Greece fan club, Galanolefkos Faros (i.e. Blue and White Beacon). It was in honor of this that the national team hosted the game at the western Cretan city.

Greece, who should have been given a penalty for a foul on Lazaros Christodoulopoulos after 10 minutes, appeared less nervous than in previous games but still bereft of ideas in attack and solidity at the back, against a slightly better Serbia.

Just like against the Faroe Islands four days earlier, it was around the hour mark that Greece conceded a goal, but this time it was from a set piece: Serbia earned a free kick that Radosav Petrovic headed home beating Greece keeper Panayiotis Glykos.

Then two minutes into injury time defensive midfielder Yiannis Maniatis allowed Nemanja Gudelj to take a spectacular, swerving long-range shot that left Glykos stranded for 2-0 – a goal that was even applauded by the Greek fans at the stands.

The question now for the Greek national team is who can manage it out of trouble and back into contention for a spot in the Euro 2016. But above all, the federation needs to find the man who will convince Greek fans that the Blue-and-Whites can still give them something extraordinary from the weekly diet of misery in Greek soccer.

source: ekathimerini.com