Category Archives: SPORTS

Ούτε η Βέρντερ Βρέμης κατάφαρε να σταματήσει την Μπάγερν Μονάχου, που επικράτησε 1-0 και μετά από εννέα αγωνιστικές στην Bundesliga δεν έχει χάσει ούτε βαθμό!

Ο τεχνικός της αντιπάλου του Ολυμπιακού στο Champions League, Πεπ Γκουαρντιόλα χρησιμοποίησε τους Νόϊερ, Ραφίνια (78` Κίμιχ), Μπόατενγκ, Αλάμπα, Μπερνατ, Αλόνσο, Λαμ, Βιδάλ, Μίλερ, Αλκάνταρα, Λεβαντόφσκι.

Παράλληλα, η αντίπαλος του Αστέρα Τρίπολης στο Europa League, Σάλκε, επικράτησε δύσκολα με 2-1 της Χέρτα Βερολίνου με τον Μπραϊτνεράϊτερ να χρησιμοποιεί τους Φάρμαν, Χέβεντες, Ρίχτερ, Μάτιπ, Αογκο, Γκορέτζκα (76` Χόϊμπιεργκ), Μάγερ, Τσούπο Μότινγκ, Γκάϊς, Σανέ, Ντι Σάντο.

Εμφατική νίκη, με την οποία πήρε βαθιά βαθμολογική ανάσα, πέτυχε η Γκλάντμπαχ στην Φρανκφούρτη, όπου διέλυσε με 5-1 την Άϊντραχτ στο τελευταίο σημερινό ματς της 9ης αγωνιστικής του γερμανικού πρωταθλήματος.

Αναλυτικά οι σκόρερ και η βαθμολογία:

Μάιντς-Ντόρτμουντ 0-2
(18΄ Ρόις, 82΄ Μικιταριάν)

Αουγκσμπουργκ-Ντάρμστατ 0-2
(7` Βάγκνερ, 29` Νιεμάγερ)

Αμβούργο-Λεβερκούζεν 0-0

Σάλκε-Χέρτα Βερολίνου 2-1
(27` Χέβεντες, 90` Μέγερ – 73` Καλού)

Βόλφσμπουργκ-Χοφενχάιμ 4-2
(1`, 62`, 83 Κρούζε, 7` Ντοστ – 29` Τολγιάν, 54` Σμιντ)

Βέρντερ Βρέμης-Μπάγερν Μονάχου 0-1
(23` Μίλερ)

Αϊντραχτ Φρανκφούρτης-Γκλάντμπαχ 1-5
(29΄πεν. Μέγερ – 16΄,57΄ Ράφαελ, 51΄ Νταχούντ, 82΄πεν, 90΄+1 Χαν)

Κολονία-Ανόβερο 18/10
Στουτγκάρδη-Ινγκολστατ 18/10

ΒΑΘΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ (σε 9 αγώνες)
Μπάγερν Μονάχου 27
Ντόρτμουντ 20
Σάλκε 19
Βόλφσμπουργκ 15
Χέρτα Βερολίνου 15
Ίνγκολστατ 14 -8αγ.
Κολονία 14 -8αγ.
Λεβερκούζεν 14
Ντάρμστατ 13
Μάιντς 12
Γκλάντμπαχ 12
Αμβούργο 11
Αϊντραχτ Φρανκφούρτης 9
Βέρντερ Βρέμης 7
Χοφενχάιμ 6
Ανόβερο 5 -8αγ.
Άουγκσμπουργκ 5
Στουτγκάρδη 4 -8αγ.

Πηγή:in.gr

Χωρίς γκολ έληξε το ντεμπούτο του Γιούργκεν Κλοπ στον πάγκο της Λίβερπουλ, καθώς στο πλαίσιο της 9ης αγωνιστικής για την Premier League, οι «κόκκινοι» απέσπασαν «λευκή ισοπαλία» από την Τότεναμ, σταματώντας το σερί που «έτρεχαν» οι «πετεινοί» με τρεις νίκες.

Αποδίδοντας πολύ καλό ποδόσφαιρο στο πρώτο ημίχρονο, η Μάντσεστερ Σίτι συνέτριψε την Μπόρνμουθ με 5-1 και παρέμεινε στην κορυφή της βαθμολογίας μετά από 9 αγωνιστικές.

Εντυπωσιακή και η Μάντσεστερ Γιουνάϊτεντ νίκησε άνετα στο Λίβερπουλ την Εβερτον με 3-0 και ανέβηκε στη δεύτερη θέση.

Μετά την ήττα από τον Ολυμπιακό η Άρσεναλ παρουσιάζει το καλό της πρόσωπο. Η ομάδα του Αρσέν Βενγκέρ έχει «κόψει ταρίφα» τριών γκολ, καθώς μετά το 3-0 επί της Γιουνάιτεντ, επιβλήθηκε με το ίδιο σκορ και της Γουότφορντ, εκτός έδρας και πλησίασε ξανά στην κορυφή.

Τα αποτελέσματα και οι σκόρερ, έχουν ως εξής:

Τότεναμ-Λίβερπουλ 0-0

Τσέλσι-Αστον Βίλα 2-0
(34` Ντιέγκο Κόστα, 54` αυτ. Χάτον)

Κρίσταλ Πάλας-Γουέστ Χαμ 1-3
(25` πεν. Καμπαγέ – 22` Τζένκινσον, 88` Λαντσίνι, 90` Παγέ)

Εβερτον-Μάντσεστερ Γ. 0-3
(18` Σνάϊντερλιν, 22` Ερέρα, 62` Ρούνεϊ)

Μάντσεστερ Σίτι-Μπόρνμουθ 5-1
(7`, 29`, 45` Στέρλινγκ, 11`, 89` Μπονί – 22` Μάρεϊ)

Σαουθάμπτον-Λέστερ 2-2
(2` Φόντε, 37` Φαν Ντάϊκ – 66`, 90` Βάρντι)

Γουέστ Μπρομ-Σάντερλαντ 1-0
(54` Μπεραχίνο)

Γουότφορντ-Αρσεναλ 0-3
(62΄ Σάντσες, 68΄ Ζιρού, 74΄ Ράμσεϊ)

Νιούκαστλ-Νόριτς 18/10
Σουόνσι-Στόουκ Σίτι 19/10

ΒΑΘΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ (σε 9 αγώνες)
Μάντσεστερ Σίτι 21
Μάντσεστερ Γιουν. 19
Αρσεναλ 19
Γουέστ Χαμ 17
Λέστερ 16
Κρίσταλ Πάλας 15
Τότεναμ 14
Σαουθάμπτον 13
Εβερτον 13
Λίβερπουλ 13
Γουέστ Μπρομ 11
Τσέλσι 11
Γουότφορντ 10
Σουόνσι 10 -8αγ.
Νόριτς 9 -8αγ.
Στόουκ Σίτι 9 -8αγ.
Μπόρνμουθ 8
Αστον Βίλα 4
Σάντερλαντ 3
Νιουκάστλ 3 -8αγ.

Πηγή:in.gr

Wayne Rooney scored his first goal at Goodison Park since 2007 as Manchester United recorded an impressive 3-0 win over Everton in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday.

Morgan Schneiderlin’s first competitive goal for United in the 18th minute gave them the lead before Ander Herrera headed in a second just four minutes later.

David de Gea continued his fine recent form with strong reaction saves to deny Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley as United weathered an early storm in the second half.

But Rooney, who had been urged before the match by manager Louis van Gaal to end his Everton hoodoo, finished a quick counter-attack on 62 minutes to move joint-second with Andy Cole on 187 goals on the all-time Barclays Premier League scoring charts.

Barkley did his best to inspire some hope for Everton in the closing stages but United saw out a victory that will restore confidence following their damaging 3-0 loss to Arsenal.

United started with far greater composure than they displayed in the opening stages of that defeat to the Gunners, with Rooney smashing a shot wide after good link-up play with Juan Mata in the 10th minute.

Herrera brought the first save out of Tim Howard with a fierce drive from 20 yards and United took the lead from the following corner. A combination of Marcos Rojo and Chris Smalling kept the ball alive after Mata’s delivery bounced awkwardly in the box and the ball broke to Schneiderlin, who finished low into the bottom far corner from 12 yards.

Rojo was the architect for United’s second on 22 minutes. The Argentina defender, playing at left-back, aimed a pin-point cross to find Herrera’s run through the middle and the Spaniard headed down and past Howard.

Anthony Martial was denied a third goal by a combination of John Stones and Brendan Galloway after Rooney had sprung the offside trap and picked out the France forward, before De Gea parried Barkley’s effort from a tight angle in a rare first-half chance for Everton.

De Gea saved superbly from Lukaku’s stabbed finish on 54 minutes before reacting well to keep out a Barkley free-kick, as Everton started the second half firmly on the front foot.

But a devastating counter-attack from United ended the Goodison faithful’s hopes of a comeback. Phil Jagielka’s loose pass was pounced on by Schneiderlin, allowing Herrera to find Rooney behind the defence, and the England captain finished right-footed with aplomb past Howard.

Rooney almost added a fourth after Martial sent him clean through on goal but Jagielka and Howard did enough to thwart his run inside the area, and Martial himself was then denied at the near post after a brilliant piece of close control inside the area.

Barkley fizzed a late free-kick over the bar but United eased through the final 10 minutes to inflict upon Everton only a second league defeat of the season.

Everton manager Roberto Martinez: “I wouldn’t want to think the emotion of the day got to the players. It was shocking news, really sad news, but I want to believe it didn’t affect our pedestrian start to the game.”

“We looked like a group coming back from internationals and that’s something that can happen at times. We conceded a goal from a dead-ball situation and I felt that affected us too much. The big disappointment is from that point on, we wasted the first half. I thought we were very slow, we couldn`t see a forward pass and we became negative. We were quite reactive in what we were doing and that’s very uncharacteristic.”

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal: “I am very proud of them. Fantastic. All the credit goes to the players. You need also a little bit of luck and the goals were fantastic but they were at good moments.

“It is only one match, and Arsenal was only one match. We don’t have to exaggerate. We have to be more consistent.”

source:premierleague.com

Jurgen Klopp had to settle for a point in his first Barclays Premier League match as Liverpool earned a 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Liverpool’s Divock Origi, who started ahead of the injured Daniel Sturridge at White Hart Lane, headed a great chance against the crossbar from close range in the early stages after a strong start from Klopp’s side, and that proved to be the best opportunity of the match.

After surviving that early scare, Spurs had the better chances with Clinton N’Jie forcing Simon Mignolet into a diving save and Harry Kane also testing the Liverpool goalkeeper before the break.

Klopp will be encouraged by a spirited display from his new team, but Liverpool have won one of their last 10 away BPL fixtures and remain one point adrift of Spurs, who have still not tasted defeat since the opening day of the season.

Spurs were without Eric Dier through suspension, but Danny Rose returned from injury at left-back. Origi made his first league start for Liverpool, with Christian Benteke, Danny Ings and Sturridge all ruled out.

Klopp was almost handed a dream start after 10 minutes when James Milner’s corner was flicked on by Emre Can and headed against the crossbar by Origi from inside the six-yard box.

Spurs had struggled going forward in the early stages but almost took the lead when N’Jie, who had come on for the injured Nacer Chadli, picked up Kane’s pass after Adam Lallana had given away possession. He produced a clever shot which forced Mignolet nto an excellent diving save that had Klopp applauding.

The hosts were moving into the ascendancy and when Martin Skrtel was unable to cut out Christian Eriksen’s pass, Kane had a shot parried by Mignolet, before Dele Alli’s follow-up effort was blocked by a diving Mamadou Sakho.

N’Jie was looking lively and his dipping shot was just over shortly before half-time.

Kyle Walker drove a long-range shot into the arms of Mignolet after the break, but the early stages of the second half did not produce many opportunities.

Referee Craig Pawson was unmoved when Lallana went down in the box under pressure from Alli.

Origi shot straight at Hugo Lloris from a tight angle after receiving a pass from Philippe Coutinho, but a goal did not look like coming in the second half.

Spurs almost grabbed a late winner when Eriksen’s weaving run set up Kane, but Mignolet was again equal to the England striker’s effort, before Can fired just wide at the other end as Klopp’s introduction to English football ended with a draw.

source:premierleague.com

Striker Besart Berisha has broken Melbourne City’s hearts, scoring a late winner to give Victory bragging rights in the first derby of the season on Saturday night.

First-half goals from Fahid Ben Khalfallah and Kosta Barbarouses were cancelled out by fine finishes from Bruno Fornaroli and Stefan Mauk in a three minute second-half burst to set up a grand stand finish in front of 40,217 fans at Etihad Stadium.

Both sides had chances in a frenetic end to the game but Berisha added to his derby goal tally to leave City fans stunned after some smart substitutions from coach John van’t Schip orchestrated a comeback.

Michael Zullo was drafted in for his first appearance for Melbourne City, while 18-year-old Thomas Deng made his starting debut, replacing the suspended Leigh Broxham in Victory’s central defence.

Some early ill-discipline from City saw them repeatedly penalised in dangerous areas but Victory were unable to profit from the delivery of dead-ball specialist Gui Finkler.

Victory would go on to take the lead midway through the half when Ben Khalfalla was fortunate to see his shot find the back of the net.

Barbarouses doubled the advantage after the break but a first goal to City’s Uruguay striker and returning Olyoo Mauk got them back in the match.

However as so often has been the case in recent Melbourne derbies Berisha had the final say.

WHAT THEY SAID

“I know when I work hard and keep believing I will score my goal and it was a very important goal.”

“City came really strong in the second half. We made a couple of mistakes, we should definitely do better. It should never happen to us after being 2-0 up.

“It’s a derby, anything can happen. Credit to City for their fight but I’m really happy in the end that we scored the goal.” – Victory striker Besart Berisha told Fox Sports

“Especially in the second half there were periods where we were on top. It’s just disappointing to cop a goal in the last couple of minutes, Etihad (Stadium) is not a good place for us at the moment.” – City captain Patrick Kisnorbo told Fox Sports

GOALS

1 – 0 Fahid Ben Khalfallah (23’) – Besart Berisha received the ball in the box with his back to goal and played a pass across the 18-yard line that was latched onto by Ben Khalfalla. The midfielder’s shot took a wicked deflection off Paulo Retre, leaving Sorenson stranded as the ball nestled rolled into net at the Bourke Street end.

2-0 Kosta Barbarouses (57’) – Ben Fahid Ben Khalfalla was given too much space on the edge of the box floating in a cross to the back stick. Kosta Barbarouses showed good strength to win the header, beating Sorensen at his near post from inside the six-yard box.

2-1 Bruno Fornaroli (68’) – Defender Patrick Kisnorbo went on a foray forward, finding himself on the ball at the top of the box. The skipper played a neat pass to the feet of Fornaroli who spun around his defender with a deft touch and poked the ball home.

2-2 Stefan Mauk (71’) Victory’s defence switched off in midfield with Aaron Mooy switching play with a pin-point long ball to Mauk. The midfielder, who’d only been on the field 10 minutes, powered onto the ball, taking a touch before threading the ball through Danny Vukovic.

3-2 Besart Berisha (90’) Substitute Connor Pain went on darting run down the flank, whipping in a dangerous ball across the face of goal. Sorensen could only parry away the danger with the ball falling kindly to Berisha who was able to roll it into an empty net.

OPTA STATS

The home side has now taken out the last six Melbourne derbies, with City’s record at Etihad Stadium now just one win from nine games.

Besart Berisha goal stretches his run of scoring in home derbies to four games, netting six goals.

KEY MOMENT

With the match barely 90 seconds old Besart Berisha was played through on goal with a defence splitting pass. Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen was swiftly off his line, smothering Berisha’s shot with his body from outside the box to defuse the danger.

HIGHLIGHTS REEL

With City needing some inspiration still down a goal Socceroo Aaron Mooy produced a world-class ball to pick out Mauk, which got his side back in the game. Unfortunately it proved to be in vein.

THE FINAL WORD

After a nervous opening half the game lit up after the break. The match seemed to have an inevitability about the result when Victory went two goals up but City showed a fighting spirit that was missing from this fixture last season. They’ll be bitterly disappointed to come away empty handed but can take solace in the fact they pushed the reigning Champions till the death on their home patch.

TEAMS

Melbourne Victory: Vukovic(g/k), Deng, Murnane, Delpierre, Georgievski, Finkler (Makarounas 92′), Bozanic, Valeri(c) (Mahazi 87′), Barbarouses (Pain 80′), Ben Khalfallah, Berisha

Melbourne City: Sorensen(g/k), Kisnorbo(c), Clisby, Chapman, Retre, Koren (Mauk 58’), Paartalu, Mooy, Zullo (Kuzmanovski 46’), Dekker (Espindola 61’) , Fornaroli

Scorers: Ben Khalfalla (23’), Kosta Barbarouses (57’), Fornaroli (68′), Mauk (71′), Berisha (90′)

Red cards:

Yellow cards: Dekker (11’),

Conditions: 15°C, clear

Attendance: 40,217 @ Etihad Stadium

source:a-league.com.au

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – OCTOBER 11: Newcastle Jets players form a huddle during the round one A-League match between the Wellington Phoenix and the Newcastle Jets at Westpac Stadium on October 11, 2015 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Newcastle boss Scott Miller has criticised an “outrageous” tackle by Sydney’s Shane Smeltz which has left Jets ‘keeper Mark Birighitti with a serious facial injury.
Birighitti copped a boot in the face from Smeltz in a challenge, forcing the gloveman off as blood streamed from his face.

It’s understood Birighitti will have surgery on his teeth in a Newcastle hospital on Saturday night to repair the damage.

Miller was furious about the incident, his mood only worsening after Alex Brosque scored in the last minute to hand the Sky Blues a 1-0 win.

“That’s nothing short of outrageous that challenge if you look at [Birighitti’s] mouth,” an angry Miller said.

“That’s not on, in life or in football. Irrespective if it’s a mistake or unintentional, it’s not right.

“I’m not blaming [Smeltz], it’s a consequence of football and the actions relevant to it. But it’s about the decision making. There’s a borderline competitive side to a football match and then there’s outrageous and reckless,” the Jets boss added.

“We need to be sensible in our challenges regarding goalkeepers and head injuries. We’ve seen the outcome of Petr Cech and numerus other goalkeepers, and the consequences far outweigh teeth and a win.

“It’s someone’s livelihood of any challenge to the head. We need to be clear of that one.”

Sky Blues coach Graham Arnold said he didn’t see the incident properly but admitted Smeltz was “distraught in the dressing room” at full-time.

“He [Smeltz] said after it happened his head was gone. He’d wished we had another sub so he could have come off,” Arnold revealed.

“It’s not good that it happens to anyone. Let’s hope he [Birighitti] recovers quickly. He was brave coming out the way he did.

“The ball was there [to be won]…it’s the competitive nature of sport.”

While disappointed not to have taken anything from the match after defending so stoutly throughout, Miller said he couldn’t fault his player’s effort.

“I’m happy with every single one of them. The commitment they’ve shown throughout the pre-season has been outstanding.

“It’s three points from six so far. It’s disappointing to lose at home but we’re making steps. We can’t be measured now but at the end of the season.”

Miller is hopeful a knee injury which forced Labinot Haliti off inside 15 minutes isn’t too serious, revealing there was no structural damage suffered by the winger.

The Jets are at home again next Friday, with champions Melbourne Victory heading to Hunter Stadium.

source:a-league.com.au

Premier League football returns this weekend and it kicks off with the most eagerly anticipated fixture of the lot – Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool bow at Spurs.

It’s a rare Super Saturday with the top 10 all in action, while Sunday sees under-pressure Steve McClaren fight for his and Newcastle’s top-flight future with the visit of Norwich.

Here, Sportsmail takes a look at the 12 key questions ahead of a mouth-watering weekend…

Will the Klopp effect give Liverpool and their new boss a dream start at Tottenham?

Every new manager arrives with goodwill and amid much fanfare (expect Steve McClaren at Newcastle), but has there ever been as much of a fuss as there is around Klopp? If they don’t win at Spurs then it could prove the biggest anti-climax in Premier League history. And, on recent form, you’d be backing the north Londoners to spoil the party. Sorry, Jurgen.

source:dailymail.co.uk

The 20 teams that have qualified for UEFA EURO 2016 can start to think about the finals draw in Paris on 12 December after the UEFA national team coefficient rankings, that will determined the seedings, were announced.

The rankings published today after the end of the nine qualifying groups decided seedings for the play-off draw on 18 October. The positions following those ties in November will determine the pots for the finals draw.

• Hosts France take position one in Group A and holders Spain were also guaranteed a place in the highest seeding tier regardless of ranking.

• Joining Spain in Pot 1 are Germany, England, Portugal and Belgium, who all topped their qualifying groups.

• Definitely in Pot 2 are Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Austria and Croatia.

• If Bosnia and Herzegovina win their play-off, they will also be in Pot 2. If they lose, Ukraine can enter that pot by winning their play-off. If both teams lose, the Czech Republic will be the sixth team in Pot 2.

• Definitely in Pot 4 are Iceland, Wales, Albania and Northern Ireland.

• The Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey must wait until the play-offs are completed to discover which pots they will be in.

Overall, compared with the rankings at the time of the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying draw, Austria have leapt 15 places to 11th, Iceland rose 11 to 27th while Belgium and Poland both went up ten positions. Like Iceland, Northern Ireland and Albania were both in Pot 5 when the qualifying draw was made; eliminated pair the Netherlands and Greece were in Pot 1.

*The national team coefficients are calculated on a country’s recent results. In the current rankings, 20% weighting is given to UEFA EURO 2012 results (qualifying/final tournament), and 40% each to the 2014 FIFA World Cup (qualifying/final tournament) and UEFA EURO 2016 (qualifying).

Coefficients of teams qualified for the final tournament
France (46.416) – guaranteed in Group A, position 1 as hosts
Spain (37.962) – guaranteed in Pot 1 as holders
Germany (40.236) – Pot 1
England (35.963) – Pot 1
Portugal (35.138) – Pot 1
Belgium (34.442) – Pot 1
Italy (34.345) – Pot 2
Russia (31.345) – Pot 2
Switzerland (31.254) – Pot 2
Austria (30.932) – Pot 2
Croatia (30.642) – Pot 2
Czech Republic (29.403) – tbc
Poland (28.306) – tbc
Romania (28.038) – tbc
Slovakia (27.171) – tbc
Turkey (27.033) – tbc
Iceland (25.388) – Pot 4
Wales (24.531) – Pot 4
Albania (23.216) – Pot 4
Northern Ireland (22.61) – Pot 4

Coefficients of teams in play-offs
Bosnia and Herzegovina (30.367) – seeded
Ukraine (30.313) – seeded
Sweden (29.028) – seeded
Hungary (27.142) – seeded
Denmark (27.140) – unseeded
Republic of Ireland (26.902) – unseeded
Norway (26.439) – unseeded
Slovenia (25.441) – unseeded

source:uefa.com

BUOYED by a win over Wellington and a positive vibe surrounding the club, Jets interim chief executive David Eland is confident of attracting 12,000 supporters for the opening home game against Sydney FC on Saturday.

If successful, the crowd figure would better the largest attendance from last season, a miracle given the events of the past 12 months.

A crowd of 11,884 turned up for opening night at Hunter Stadium last season, a 2-2 draw against eventual champions Melbourne Victory in round five. The team had spent the opening month on the road after the surface was replaced at Turton Road before the Asian Cup.

“I will be bold enough to say we would hope for in excess of 12,000 fans,” Eland said.

“Given how positive the team performed on the weekend.

“If you look at social media, the sentiment around the place is overwhelmingly positive.

“I certainly hope that is reflected in the gate on the weekend. We certainly hope there is a good number of Sydney FC fans who travel up the M1 as well.”

As the Jets spiralled last season towards a second wooden spoon, the turnstiles stopped clicking.

Two visits by Sydney FC attracted 8783 and 8125 respectively, well down on previous seasons, and a paltry 4162 were on hand for the 2-0 loss to Perth Glory on Easter Sunday.

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By campaign’s end, the average crowd was 8966, more than 1000 fewer than the 10,003 members on the books.

Football Federation Australia took over the club in May after Nathan Tinkler did not pay the bills and is close to finalising a transfer to a consortium headed by Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson.

Under the FFA, the club has a rookie coach in Scott Miller and a new-look squad, and it has worked overtime to reconnect with the Hunter football and business communities.

Beechwood Homes, Inspiration Paints, The Greater and Varley Group are major partners, and on Tuesday membership had climbed to 7863, fourth behind Victory (24,701), Wanderers (16,708) and Sydney FC (10,612).

“I hope as we get closer to the game on the weekend that people have had a chance to reflect on Sunday’s performance and purchase memberships,” Eland said. “That is the best way for fans to demonstrate their support for the club.

“We want more members. We want in excess of 10,000 members. Let’s be clear about that.

“But to be closing in on 7700 members, given what the fans went through, in particular last season, is a good result at this point.”

The Jets will launch the season in front of corporate and media partners at Merewether Surf House on Wednesday.

The club will introduce its A-League and W-League squads, and FFA head of commercial Luke Bold will give an update on the sale process.

“We will have in excess of 250 people at the season launch,” Eland said.

“When you consider the club didn’t have a season launch last year, it’s a good sign.

“Absolutely, we need to keep building corporate sales and hospitality as a revenue stream.

“It is nowhere near where it needs to be. We now have 32 Jets-in-business members. That is an entry-level commitment of $2500.

“It is a great start, but there is so much more to do. There is still two big partnership opportunities on the sleeve and the front of the shorts.”

Though encouraged by the 2-1 win over Wellington, Eland said the key was consistency.

“The local community is very football-savvy,” he said.

“It is a huge boost in confidence, but it doesn’t take the pressure off. What we need to demonstrate is sustained effort. That was clear at every forum I was involved in.

“Our aim is to make the finals this season. That needs to be the focus.”

source:theherald.com.au

Panayiotis Kone put Greece out of its Euro 2016 qualifiers misery scoring the winning goal in the 4-3 victory of the hosts at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium over Hungary on Sunday, the first and only win for Greece in this otherwise disgraceful campaign for the Euro 2004 champions.

The gripping game at the Piraeus stadium put an end to the 23-month-long period since Greece last scored in a home game. In fact this was the first time ever Greece has scored four goals at home in a European Championship qualifier.

Despite the seven goals scored, there were plenty more chances for goals on both ends that went to waste in a free-flowing game where defending was the big loser. The national team once again showed some inexcusable gaps in its defense, but managed to come from behind twice to win a game at last. Notably Greece scored four goals from four efforts on target!

Costas Stafylidis opened the score for Greece just five minutes into the game from a cross by Stelios Kitsiou, but Hungary equalized as a Leandro cross was nodded in by Gergo Lovrencsics on the 26th.

The Hungarians took the lead for the first time 10 minutes into the second half through former AEK and Olympiakos player Krisztian Nemeth as the Greek defense paralyzed during a corner kick by Balazs Dzsudzsak.

The 6,000 Greece fans thought they would see yet another Greek tragedy unfold in front of their eyes, but this time the combative spirit of the national team players made the difference.

Just two minutes later Panayiotis Tachtsidis – Greece best player in the game – turned in a clever pass by Petros Mantalos, and when Nemeth took advantage of yet another gap in the Greek defense to give Hungary a 3-2 lead, the Greek responded once more via Costas Mitroglou after a Tachtsidis assist.

And then with less than five minutes to go, Jose Holebas served a pinpoint cross from the right to Kone and he tossed the back of the net with his header for Greece’s winner, that was celebrated wildly by the relieved Greek players.

Despite the win, Greece finished last in its group with just six points from 10 games.

source:ekathimerini.com