Ronaldo Named Last
Season’s Best La Liga Player
Cristiano Ronaldo was named the Player of the Season for the
2013/14 La Liga campaign on Monday night. The Real Madrid playmaker
took the top honour in a list dominated by his teammates, with only Andres
Iniesta breaking up the Los Blancos dominance. Ronaldo scored 31 goals in 30
games to become only the second player to win the title, with Lionel Messi having
claimed the previous five honours. Unsurprisingly, the Portuguese star was also
named Best Attacker and claimed the Goal of the Season award. Diego Simeone was
named Coach of the Year for guiding Atletico Madrid to La Liga title, while
Rafinha Alcantara was named the Revelation of the Campaign. Former Levante man
Keylor Navas was Goalkeeper of the Season, Sergio Ramos Defender of the Season
and Luka Modric Defensive Midfielder of the Season. Inietsa was the sole Barca
representative, claiming Attacking Midfielder of the Season.
Luis Suarez’s name is
not on the shortlist of 23 candidates for this year’s World Player of the Year,
or Fifa Ballon d’Or to give its proper title. Yaya Toure of Manchester City
and Ivory Coast is the lone representative of Africa; his commanding play as
City won the English Premiership seemingly trumping the fact that he had a very
a disappointing World Cup. On the 23, there is space for two goalkeepers and
just a couple of defensive players. Perhaps the most noteworthy inclusion is
that of young French midfielder, Paul Pogba of Italian champions Juventus.
Men’s shortlist for the Fifa Ballon d’Or 2014 (in
alphabetical order):
Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa
(Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di
Maria (Argentina), Mario Goetze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan
Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp
Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas
Mueller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba
(France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez
(Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
Ten coaches (in alphabetical order, first nationality and
then team) in contention for the Fifa World Coach of the Year for Men’s
Football 2014:
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid CF), Antonio Conte
(Italy/Juventus FC/Italy national team), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern
Munich), Juergen Klinsmann (Germany/ USA national team), Joachim Loew
(Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea FC), Manuel
Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City FC), Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina
national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Louis van Gaal
(Netherlands/Netherlands national team/Manchester United FC)
Ten women (in alphabetical order) in contention for the Fifa
Women’s World Player of the Year 2014:
Nadine Angerer (Germany), Veronica Boquete (Spain), Nilla
Fischer (Sweden), Nahomi Kawasumi (Japan), Nadine Kessler (Germany), Marta
(Brazil), Aya Miyama (Japan), Louisa Necib (France), Lotta Schelin
Zinedine Zidane has been banned from the bench for three
months for not having the correct coaching qualifications. The
former French international is in charge of Real Madrid’s reserve side, having
vacated his spot as Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant at the start of the season. Zidane
has a Uefa A Licence – or Level 2 in Spain – but needs a Level 3 to do the job.
The former World Cup winner must now obtain the correct badges before April
2015 to continue in the job. “The club did everything it could and I will
continue to do everything possible to defend myself,” Zidane said. “I have
no regrets about having spent my degrees in France. If I had to do it all over
then I’d do exactly the same things. It’s still amazing that there are so few
people defending me and explaining that I did not have special privilege. I did
not circumvent the obstacles and some just took this as an opportunity to spit
on me.”
Juventus managing
director Giuseppe Marotta has claimed the Italian champions were close to
signing Radamel Falcao before Manchester United flexed their financial muscle. United
landed Falcao for £6 million on loan from Monaco on 1 September, with the
Colombian striker believed to be on a lucrative pay packet at Old Trafford. “We
were following him and there was contact,” Marotta said. “We were
very close to [signing] Falcao and the player preferred Italy and our colours,
but then United came forward and they have much more spending power than we do
so the deal broke down.” He added: “The quality of our league has
fallen behind. Serie A used to be the league everybody strived to play in, but
it’s no longer like that today. The best players want to play abroad.” Falcao
missed his side’s 1-1 home draw with Chelsea on Sunday, having previously
scored once in five appearances for the Red Devils.
England and Liverpool
are relying too heavily on teenage attacker Raheem Sterling, so says former
Reds skipper Graeme Souness. Sterling, 19, has been arguably the
Merseysiders’ best player this season, while his influence continues to grow at
international level. “It is true [Liverpool] are placing a lot of
responsibility on him but the same can be said of England and if they are
relying on a 19-year-old kid then I think it does not reflect well on England’s
group,” Souness said. “The same can be said for Liverpool: if you are
relying on a 19-year-old to deliver in big games for you it is not how it
should be.” Souness also criticised Liverpool’s defensive organisation,
with the seventh-placed club conceding 12 goals in nine Premier League games
this season. “They are conceding bad goals now and if you are doing that
it drains confidence and they must be at that point now,” said the Scot. “It
is not about what type of football you are trying to play; you can play the
football you want but if you are conceding poor goals it drains confidence. Liverpool
have to get back to stop giving away daft goals – especially at set-pieces –
and then start again and rebuild confidence. From where they were last year to
where they are now they are a team playing without great confidence. It is not
just about back four and goalkeeper; if your midfield is working hard to stop
quality balls being played into your back four the defence has a far better
chance to deal with the crosses. But they are not putting the ball under
pressure and the guy is able to cross it.”
Luka Modric says Real
Madrid’s 3-1 win over Barcelona on Saturday was the team’s best performance
since he joined Los Blancos from Tottenham in August 2012. Madrid fell
behind to Neymar’s early opener but hit back with through a Cristiano Ronaldo
penalty, Pepe header and Karim Benzema strike at the Santiago Bernabeu. The
result took Real within a point of La Liga leaders Barca. “This was
Madrid’s best performance since I got here. We showed what we can do against
top opposition. We showed that nobody can fight us if we make good use of our
quality,” Modric said. “We could have scored even more. But beating a
team that hadn’t conceded a single goal until this game 3-1 is a great
performance. This win is a big boost for us, but we shouldn’t get carried away.
Barcelona are still one point clear.” The Croatian midfielder conceded his
side felt the pressure early into the marquee fixture.
Ghana have been
disqualified from participating at the Under-17 African Youth Championship in
Niger next year for fielding an ineligible player. CAF took the decision
following a protest by Cameroon claiming overage players were fielded in
Ghana’s final qualifier. Cameroon protested against seven players they felt
were overage, with the organising committee finding one of them guilty as
charged. The Ghana Football Association (GFA) insists the player in question is
of the correct age and say it was confirmed by MRI reports from Ghana, one of
which was in the presence of a CAF medical officer. However, CAF wrote to the
GFA on Saturday claiming the analysis of the MRI report from a medical centre
in Ghana contradicts the analysis of two CAF medical experts on the eligibility
of one of the players. CAF has now overturned that result and reinstated the
Cameroonians, which means they have qualified for the tournament to be held in
Niger next year.
Former Manchester
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said he is insulted by suggestions he left David
Moyes an ageing squad. Ferguson led United to a 20th Premier League crown
in 2012/13 before retiring, with his recommended successor Moyes lasting just
10 months in the job as the club failed to qualify for the Champions League for
the first time in 19 years last term. “It
is an insult to say that I left an ageing squad,” said Ferguson at a book
launch to publicise his updated autobiography. “Chelsea have seven players
over 30 but nobody talks about them being an old team. It is easy to defend
myself against all of that because all the statistics are there. “I think
he should have kept Mike Phelan, he was a United man; loyal, hard-working and a
good judge of the players. My advice to David was that he should maybe keep
Mike Phelan. I was always supportive of David, whenever he called I gave him
the advice I would have wanted when I was manager. But David will do well in
the future: life doesn’t end when you leave United.”
Manchester United
boss Louis Van Gaal has hinted that the club may sign former FC Barcelona
goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who was announced to have been training at Old
Trafford. Valdes is currently a free agent, after his contract with the
Catalan club expired at the end of June this year, and is recovering from a
knee injury that he suffered in March. United earlier this week released a
statement to announce that the Spanish goalkeeper was completing his rehab at
the club’s medical centre, and would resume training with the first team once
he has completed his recovery. Van Gaal has refused to rule out the possibility
of Valdes joining The Red Devils once he has returned to full fitness and says
that he is always monitoring players to add to his ranks. “Manchester United
always have their eyes open,” he said. “I have done it already with a lot of
players. I have a relationship with a lot of players. I gave Ronald de Boer or
Edgar Davids rehabilitation possibility or training possibility when they
needed that, so he [Valdes] is one of these players. “Robin van Persie also,
when he played for me in the Dutch squad last year, I allowed him to come to
our medical department to get him fit for the World Championship [World Cup]. I
have always done that, and not only with big players but ones you’ve never
heard of,” added the United coach. Should Valdes and United reach an agreement
for the Spaniard to join the club, the goalkeeper will be free to do so
immediately as his “free agent” status allows him to join outside of the
transfer window. With fellow Spaniard goalkeeper David De Gea maintaining his
status as United’s first choice, with little competition from Anders Lindegaard,
Sam Johnstone and Ben Amos, Van Gaal may well look to the former Barca
shot-stopper to bolster his side’s goalkeeping department. The former Barcelona
coach himself handed Valdes his Blaugrana debut in 2002 and ended up being Van
Gaal’s first choice keeper until the Dutchman moved away from the Camp Nou in
2003.
Chelsea captain John Terry has claimed he and fellow defender
Branislav Ivanovic were “double headlocked at every corner” during
the Premier League leaders’ 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Sunday.Chelsea
remain unbeaten and four points clear of second-placed Southampton, but they
were denied an eighth win from nine matches by Robin van Persie’s injury-time
equaliser which cancelled out Didier Drogba’s header. Van Persie’s goal came after
Ivanovic had been sent off by referee Phil Dowd for two bookable offences after
twice fouling United winger Angel di Maria.
But Terry suggested on Instagram that it was the Chelsea right-back and
himself who were sinned against, rather than sinners. Terry wrote: “It
shows how well we are playing when you come away from Old Trafford disappointed
with one point. Frustrated not to come away with three points. Thanks to all
the travelling fans for your great support. “#JtandIVAgotdoubleheadlockedfromeverycorner.”
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was upset at the decision to send off Ivanovic
and felt his side should have had a penalty for a foul on the Serbian by United
defender Chris Smalling. He said after the game: “The red card, I was
seeing it coming. If I have to speak about the second yellow I have to speak
about lots of things. The penalty that Ivanovic should have been given (after
wrestling with Smalling), the accumulation of yellow cards, the throw-ins. I
know I speak always with my heart and get in trouble.” Former Chelsea
striker Tony Cascarino also entered the debate by calling for more penalties to
be awarded to stop ‘grappling’ in the box. Cascarino said that Chelsea should
have been awarded two spot-kicks against United when Terry and Ivanovic were
‘wrestled’ to the ground.
Reports in India
claim that former Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits coach Antonio Lopez Habas
punched former France international Robert Pires in the face during an Indian
Super League match. Habas is coaching Atletico de Kolkata, owned by La Liga
giants Atletico Madid, and reportedly attacked Pires in the tunnel during
halftime of the ill-tempered match against FC Goa. Former Brazilian great Zico,
who coach FC Goa, told reporters after the match: “One of our players said
that he was beaten by the coach of the other team. “Pires said he was
punched on the face by the Atletico coach and it is very shameful. I am telling
you what my players told me and I didn’t see that myself but I don’t think that
Pires will lie and say something that didn’t happen.”
Despite scoring a
stoppage-time equaliser against Chelsea on Sunday, Robin van Persie has been
criticised by his manager Louis van Gaal for his delirious celebration after
finding the net. With the Red Devils heading for defeat at Old Trafford,
Dutchman Van Persie smashed home a 94th-minute equaliser to make it 1-1 after
Thibaut Courtois could only parry a Marouane Fellaini header. There was
inevitable bedlam as the home side claimed an important point, and the United
players crowded in on Van Persie, per the Manchester Evening News’ Samuel
Luckhurst, before the captain whipped his shirt off as he celebrated in front
of the crowd: Referee Phil Dowd was forced to issue Van Persie with a yellow
card, and Van Gaal was not impressed with his skipper’s conduct: “He did a
stupid reaction after the goal. You can be excited, but you don’t have to pull
your shirt off, because then you have a yellow card. It’s not so smart.”
Mike Ashley has
effectively taken control of Rangers following the resignation of chief
executive Graham Wallace. The London Stock Exchange has confirmed that
Ashley’s £2million emergency loan offer has been accepted. One of the
conditions of the loan was the resignation of Wallace and Ashley’s deal will
allow him to choose two directors to replace Wallace and Philip Nash, who also
left the club on Friday. The Newcastle United owner’s long term vision has been
given the backing of Rangers’ institutional investors, most significantly by
Sandy Easdale who controls 26% of shares. The long-term retail and naming
rights contracts Ashley holds with Rangers have helped him consolidate a power
base at the club. The SFA are expected to contact Rangers in due course for
clarification on Ashley’s involvement at the club. The association have an
agreement that Ashley cannot own more than 10% of shares, nor can he have undue
influence over boardroom matters; however it is unclear whether the SFA would
be able to act in any way if Ashley does not increase his personal
shareholding. Earlier this year Ashley committed to remaining at Newcastle
until at least the summer of 2016; but it is believed he sees Rangers as a
viable and profitable asset going forwards, especially if the club returns to
the Scottish Premiership and ultimately European competition. On Friday, the
board of Rangers voted to accept the offer of an emergency loan from Ashley,
thus rejecting one from Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy. Kennedy, who was a
member of the Blue Knights consortium which failed to stop the club from
sinking into liquidation in the summer of 2012, had made a last-gasp £3million
counter offer. Rangers manager Ally McCoist is not concerned about his future
following the news that Mike Ashley has effectively taken control of the club Last
week, former director Dave King failed to reach an agreement with the Rangers
board over a proposed £16million cash injection into the Scottish Championship
club. King has already returned to South Africa after talks broke down without
an agreement. Backed by former Blue Knight Paul Murray and wealthy fan George
Letham, King was looking for a controlling stake at Ibrox in return for a cash
injection. Rangers’ most recent interim accounts in March of this year showed
losses of £3.5million for the final six months of 2013, with the same amount
available in cash reserves.