Luis Suarez believes he can make an impression in England as Liverpool bid to bring the Ajax forward to the Premier League.
Suarez had been consistently linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur after some impressive displays for Uruguay in their run to the 2010 World Cup semi-finals in South Africa.
But Liverpool are now reportedly leading the race to sign the 23-year-old, who has scored 81 goals in all competitions since joining Ajax from Eredivisie rivals Groningen in 2007.
And Suarez, who began his career with Nacional of Montevideo, is confident of following in the footsteps of fellow South American Carlos Tevez by lighting up the Premier League.
“(England) is a league that attracts me, a country where the football is really good,” Suarez told the Sunday Times.
“Alongside the Spanish league it is the best in the world. In England you have a lot of clubs with aspirations to become champions and they are also very strong in the Champions League at the European level.”
“I used to think that English football was not my style. But I saw Tevez play at Boca and Corinthians and I never imagined that he would play in the Premier League.
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“When I see the way that Tevez plays there I think I can be a big name in England. It’s because of the energy, and the spirit they put into the game in England. Now, I think it’s a kind of football that suits me.”
Ajax have insisted that any deal must be completed well before the January 31 transfer deadline to ensure they are left enough time to secure a replacement.
I think we’ve all been there. A dubious decision from a referee that is quite obviously wrong. A decision that could, potentially, change the course of a game and, as a consequence, a season. A red card given (or, indeed, not given) to a centre back for a clear professional foul or a penalty awarded for a dive or not awarded when both the forward’s legs were taken as he was about to slot the ball home. What makes these incidents worse is that every fan in the ground can see that it’s wrong, every player on the pitch can see that it’s wrong and every one of the billions of people watching worldwide can see that it’s wrong.
Yet, the decision is made and the referee isn’t going to change his mind.
“Tell me, David,” I hear you say… “Just who could have wound you up like this?” Could it be Mark Clattenburg and his extravagant showmanship in awarding kicks? Or maybe Peter Walton, who has managed to badly officiate most of the recent visits of Liverpudlian clubs to the City of Manchester Stadium? Perhaps Howard Webb and his penalty decision at Old Trafford? Maybe even the now retired Graham Poll and his three yellow cards.
But no, it is none of these men. Indeed, anybody who regularly reads what I have to say will know that I’m a firm believer in not criticising referees. They have a difficult job, says I. They have to make spur of the moment decisions, with no help from video replays, and they’re expected to get every single one of them correct, so, with this is mind, you must be wondering who it is that has caused me such fury to the point of a near murderous rampage.
His name, dear reader, is Derek Milborrow.
And the man is a complete anus of the highest order.
(Incidentally, if you have no idea who Derek Milborrow is, you’re probably better off stopping reading here. If you do know who he is, then you, like me, have played Fifa 11 at some point this year and have been screwed over by one, some, more or all of his decisions. Some people get on with the game, others get annoyed and turn off the console. I, on the other hand, write 932 words complaining about him on a football website. Some people say I need to sort my priorities out.)
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This man was single-handedly responsible for Manchester City not winning the FA Cup at the end of the 2012/13 season. Not content with awarding free kicks for running, tackling fairly, passing, shooting, winning corners, breathing and purely existing, he took it upon himself to book any Manchester City player that was responsible for any slight indiscretion.
Liverpool probably couldn’t believe their luck.
It started brightly, with a goal through Carlos Tevez on just 2 minutes, but it quickly went downhill faster than a bathtub in Holmfirth. Fernando Torres, tripped by Dirk Kuyt in the area, won a penalty, with the City players clueless, given that there wasn’t a single one of them near the incident. A header from a corner by Vincent Kompany was then not given as a goal, despite the ball travelling a good yard over the line, before Gareth Barry was sent off for being fouled by Joe Cole. James Milner then slotted home, but was ruled offside, despite the pass to him being a backward one, before Liverpool won the day as Milan Jovanović hacked down Kolo Touré, missing the ball entirely, before thumping it past Joe Hart.
While Andy Gray, the man who loves to disagree with refereeing decisions on Sky Sports, infuriated me further by stating, without hesitation and with complete conviction, that the referee had no option. I normally don’t mind Andy Gray and generally agree with him, but this almost had me ready to smash the mug on by bedside cabinet.
More irritating, though, wasn’t his frequent awards of free kicks for winning battles of strength (while not awarding them the other way in the very same situation), nor his inability to play an advantage in a good position (unless it’s for the opposition), but rather his smug, arrogant, self-righteous posture as he thrust his arm in the air to indicate the direction of the foul, with a speed that would be worthy of the Third Reich.
And his whistle! The maddening three short peeps he gives when pulling back the play. From a stumble in a challenge: Peep! Peep! Peep! From any shoulder-to-shoulder: Peep! Peep! Peep! For a fair sliding tackle: Peep! Peep! Peep! For nearly everything that happens in the entire match: Peep! Peep! Peep!
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It reached the point in that FA Cup final that, with around 67 minutes played, I screamed at the television: “If you blow that f****** thing one more time, I’m going to shove it up your a***!” And this was at 2.30am, so, if they heard, God only knows what the neighbours thought was going on.
Anybody who has had a game officiated by this man will understand my pain. Fifa 11 is home to some strict and to some lenient referees, but there is only one who is both strict and completely incompetent, bordering on useless. I’m pretty sure a rubber plant could do a better job than Milborrow. At least it wouldn’t be capable of rational or irrational thought and, as such, couldn’t just make up some new rules to play by.
“1-0 to the referee!” as a chant is a must for next year’s game.
Especially if this lunatic returns.
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Wayne Rooney has hailed his stunning overhead winner in Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City as the best goal of his career.
Saturday’s Manchester derby will forever be remembered for Rooney’s glorious strike, one which pushed United eight points clear of their bitter rivals and seemingly ended City’s title aspirations this season.
Rooney leapt to meet Nani’s cross 12 minutes from injury time and magically picked out the top-right corner beyond a despairing Joe Hart, prompting scenes of wild celebration at Old Trafford.
Asked after the game if the goal was the best he had ever scored, Rooney told Sky Sports: “Yeah, I think so. I saw the ball come in the box and I thought, ‘why not?’.”
“I tried to get in a good position from when Nani crossed it. Nine times out of 10 they go over the crossbar or wide. I tried it and thankfully it’s gone in the top corner.”
“You don’t have time to think about what you’re going to do. It’s the first (overhead) one since I started playing professionally so I’m delighted, especially as it has given us three points.”
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was effusive in his praise of Rooney’s winner, declaring he had never before witnessed a goal quite like it.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, that’s for sure. It was absolutely stunning; unbelievable,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.
“The thing about that goal is that Nani’s goal (in the 41st minute) will be completely forgotten. It was an unbelievable goal but no-one in their right sense will even talk about it.”
Asked if he thought the goal would kick-start Rooney’s at-times sluggish season, Ferguson said: “I hope so. His performances away from home have not been as good as they have been at home and with the ability those two (Rooney and Nani) have, they should really dictate games away from home.”
Ferguson said his side had bounced back brilliantly from their shock loss to Wolverhampton, though he cautioned that City were not out of the title race yet.
“I thought City made the bright start, they got inside (Patrice) Evra with (David) Silva and Yaya Toure and that caused us a bit of bother,” he said.
“But from the 15th minute on I thought we played fantastic football.”
“(City) got a lucky break when (Edin) Dzeko’s shot deflected off Silva and from that moment on they gave them the impetus.”
“They are in the top four. They’ve got a big, strong squad. They will win more games than you’d think. They are still a threat.”
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City boss Roberto Mancini felt his side deserved a draw, but conceded that little could be done to stop a goal as brilliant as Rooney’s.
“When a fantastic player like Rooney scores a goal like that, you should clap,” Mancini said.
“When you score a goal like that, it is incredible. He scored a fantastic goal.”
“I feel sorry for my players because we didn’t deserve to lose this game. I’m proud of my players. We played as a team and played very well.”
“In the second half we controlled the game and United had 10 players behind the ball in midfield.”
The views of Lyon coach Claude Puel and Real Madrid’s Jose Mourinho differed greatly after their teams played out a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.French hosts Lyon battled hard to deny Real space in the first half of the Champions League knock-out clash at the Stade de Gerland.Former Lyon man Karim Benzema eventually opened the scoring for La Liga giants Real, before Bafetimbi Gomis equalised with seven minutes remaining.The sides will meet again at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 16 in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie, but few observers – apart from Puel – would be likely to describe the initial encounter as a classic.”We produced a great game, a real spectacle,” Puel said.”We dropped off the pace in the second half, when they played longer balls and put us under more pressure. They made the most of Karim coming on to score. After that we started to play our own game again and we finished very strongly to get the equaliser.””It’s a pity we missed opportunities, especially in the first half. Our final pass wasn’t clinical enough. We deserved more because we gave our all. The scoreline is not satisfying but the performance was good.””It’s not over yet. We know we will have opportunities in the second leg – we’ll have to convert them.”After being on the wrong end of Lyon’s disruptive pressing game, Real boss Jose Mourinho had a very different view of first-half proceedings. “We’re happy with the result but it could have been a lot better,” he said.”The first half was an extremely ugly affair – as sometimes happens in these games – but the second belonged to us. I knew it was going to be a tough, tight game with lots of pressing.” “When things began to open up a bit I threw on Karim. I’m happy he managed to score here on his return home; it’s really fantastic for him personally and it was great for us as a team.””A draw is a fair result tonight. In the first half Lyon left us little space and put us under a lot of pressure and we didn’t play well. In the second, Madrid were the better team.” “When we broke the deadlock, I thought we could get a second which would have all but taken us through – but at 1-1 the contest remains open. We have a slight advantage but Lyon are quality rivals.”
Jeonbuk Motors moved top of AFC Champions League Group G with a 4-0 win away to Indonesian club Arema Malang on Wednesday.Midfielder Ji-Woong Kim put the South Korean visitors ahead 25 minutes into the match at the Kanjuruhan Stadium.China international Bowen Huang made it 2-0 on 78 minutes, before a late brace from Brazilian Luiz Henrique completed the scoring.Also in Group G, first-half goals from Assis Renato Silva and Yongpo Wang helped Chinese club Shandong Luneng beat Cerezo Osaka 2-0.Shandong finished with 10 men after Cui Peng was sent off with seven minutes remaining. Jeonbuk are top of Group G with six points, ahead of Shandong and Japanese side Cerezo, who both have three points. There was another 4-0 victory for a South Korean team, with Suwon Bluewings comprehensively beating Shanghai Shenhua of China in Group H.Forward Ha Tae-Kyun had hosts Suwon in front after just two minutes and defensive midfielder Oh Jang-Eun made it 2-0 three minutes before half-time. Ha struck twice more in the second half to claim a hat-trick and wrap up a 4-0 win for the home side at the Suwon World Cup Stadium.The win takes Suwon top of Group H with four points. Goals in the first half from Nabil Al Dawoudi and Hadef Alzaabi gave Al-Emirates of the UAE a 2-0 win over Qatari club Al Rayyan, while Al Shabab drew 0-0 with Zob-Ahan in Saudi Arabia. In Group C, Hossein Badamaki’s 65th-minute equaliser helped Perspolis of Iran secure a 1-1 draw at home to the UAE’s Al-Wahda.Ibrahim Mahazaa had put the visitors ahead on 54 minutes at the Azadi Stadium.Also in Group C, Osama Al-Mouallad’s first-half effort gave Saudi Arabian club Ittihad a 1-0 win away to Kuruvchi Tashkent.In Group B, Lee Jung-Soo put Al Sadd 1-0 in front before Temurkhuja Abdukholiqov equalised for Uzbek club Pakhtakor Tashkent.Ali Afif struck the winner for the Qatari hosts on 60 minutes. Pakhtakor ended the match a man short after Komoliddin Tadjiev saw red moments before the final whistle.
A double from Kleber helped Maritimo to a 3-1 triumph over Uniao de Leiria on Friday, moving the winners into seventh on the Liga Sagres table.Both sides can still harbour hopes of snaring a Europa League qualification spot at season’s end after solid campaigns.
But it is Maritimo who can afford to dream a little bigger, with the convincing result moving them above Leiria and within just two points of fifth-placed Vitoria Guimaraes in the last Europa League spot, ahead of the rest of the weekend’s league programme.
Leiria could not have got off to a worse start when midfielder Paulo Vinicius was sent off for his second bookable offence in the 14th minute.
Maritimo made their advantage count, taking a 38th-minute lead when 20-year-old Brazilian striker Kleber got on the end of a chip over the Leiria defence to volley home on his left foot.
Leiria received a way back into the game on 51 minutes after Maritimo defender Alonso – a 21st-minute injection into the game – picked his second yellow card in as many minutes to follow Paulo Vinicius down the tunnel.
But instead it was his side who doubled their advantage, with Kleber cutting back from wide on the left to find Tunisia midfielder Selim Benachour.
His crisp drive squarely hit the left upright, but Angola striker Djalma was on hand to tap in and make it 2-0.
Leiria briefly raised hopes of a comeback when on-loan Everton forward Joao Silva nodded past Maritimo goalkeeper Marcelo Boeck in the 63rd minute, but Kleber made the points safe three minutes later with his close-range header.
Former Ghana captain Stephen Appiah has blasted England’s decision to rest star players for their friendly on Tuesday.Appiah, 30, is not a part of the Black Stars squad forthe Wembley fixture, but he said his nation’s football fans – 21,000 of whichwill be in London for their first clash against England – will be disappointedat Fabio Capello’s decision to rest John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard,Wayne Rooney and Michael Dawson.Manchester United’s on-loan Sunderland striker Danny Welbeckwas called up in place of injured Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon, who was only selectedalong with Liverpool’s Andy Carroll and Wolves’ Matt Jarvis as replacements forTerry and company.”A lot of Ghanaians have travelled from America,Canada, from around the world. It’s a dream come true. It’s huge, it’s big andGhanaians are going to follow the match,” Cesena midfielder Appiah told the BBC.”Ghanaians are disappointed. They really wanted tosee those players. The players wish they could play against JT (John Terry).””It’s their dream to play against Wayne Rooney,Frank Lampard and all these players. Maybe some of them will not play in thatstadium again.” When asked if Capello’s move to rest several would-be Englandstarters – for reasons regarding their respective commitments in the ChampionsLeague – was disrespectful to Ghana’s football team and supporters, Appiahagreed.”I think so, yes (it is disrespectful). SomeGhanaians are really sad they are not going to play. Maybe Mr Capello has hisown reasons, we have to respect those,” Appiah said.
Queens Park Rangers extended their lead atop the English Championship to nine points after a comfortable 3-0 win over Sheffield United.Goals from Wayne Routledge either side of an Alejandro Faurlin screamer maintained the huge gap at the top, while United are seven points away from safety.
Despite the visitors appearing to be settle in at Loftus Road, Routledge opened the scoring after some poor defending.
Heidar Helguson put in a cross from right and the 26-year-old midfielder was left unmarked, sweeping home a cool finish.
Faurlin gave former United manager Neil Warnock’s side breathing space seven minutes after the interval with a delightful strike.
The Blades cleared their lines after a Hoops corner, but Faurlin was waiting outside the area to strike a sweet left-footed shot past Steve Simonsen.
Routledge completed his brace in the 66th minute after receiving another pass from Helguson, but this time he buried his shot across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner.
He should have completed his hat-trick shortly before full-time but for a brilliant reflex save from Simonsen.
Time is quickly running out for the Blades to escape relegation, while QPR continue their run that has seen them lose just one of their last 14 outings.
Continuing our look into the foreign wags that put the Premier League ones to shame…
Arguably one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Gigi Buffon has made giant strides in world football and has been pivotal to both club and international success in recent years. There aren’t many centre forwards who enjoy playing against Buffon when he is on top of his game; hence why Juventus are so keen to keep him in Turin.
While his exploits on the pitch continue to draw widespread recognition, his exploits off the pitch draws an equal amount of adulation as he dating one of the most beautiful women in the world. Alena Seredova is a former Czech supermodel and TV presenter whose surname actually translates to ‘ugly person’ – let’s be honest by flicking through the gallery she is anything but and puts most of the Premier League wags in the shade.
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Click on image below to see Gigi’s latest lady
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With Tottenham failing to capitalise on Manchester City’s slip-up at Everton at the weekend in only managing a draw against relegation-threatened Blackpool, Harry Redknapp’s side virtually conceded any hope they had in securing fourth place this season. And it has not just been Manchester City’s form that has helped The Citizens open up a 6-point lead over their North London rivals as Tottenham have been in awful league form of late.
Despite their fantastic run to the Quarter Finals of the Champions League, Spurs have won only once in their last ten League games and have lost to both Blackpool and Chelsea. Although they made a fantastic comeback to draw against local rivals Arsenal, they have drawn a further five games, including against bottom-four sides Wigan, Wolves, Blackpool and West Ham. During the same period, Manchester City have beaten both West Ham and Wigan as they racked up five victories. Whilst they have lost four times, these defeats have come at the hands of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton and they only drew once.
Whilst Spurs have done well away from home, they have struggled at White Hart Lane this season and scored only 28 times. They have also shared the points more than any other team at home with nine draws.
The real threat to Tottenham now is sixth-placed Liverpool who can leapfrog them into fifth with victory over Fulham this evening. And, with crucial games against both Manchester City and Liverpool still to come, Spurs still have much to play for if their domestic season isn’t to be a real disappointment. But why have Tottenham been so disappointing in this season Premiership?
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Honourably enough, Redknapp has refused to blame his players instead citing a series of injuries to key players such as Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale as a key motive for Tottenham’s loss of momentum. There is clearly a lack of adequate defensive cover and natural leadership on the pitch in Ledley King’s absence, whilst fans are still uncertain over Heurelho Gomes due to his inconsistency.
Redknapp had initially hoped the ‘unwelcome distraction’ of the Europa League would hinder Manchester City’s league performance and enable Spurs to capitalise. But, having played twelve games in the Champions League themselves, have Tottenham fallen victim to a similar problem?
Admittedly Tottenham have had a phenomenal first campaign in the Champions League but this must not draw attention away from domestic troubles, particularly due to its absence next season. And, if Tottenham are to challenge Manchester City then there is clearly work to be done over the Summer.
Credit must not be taken away from Manchester City as they have developed well as a team and had a productive season. But, with so much money spent and with only a faltering Tottenham team challenging them for fourth, there is still much to be achieved by Roberto Mancini’s side. This has been the third season under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour, but in a similar time period under Roman Abramovich, Chelsea had won the League. Therefore Mancini will surely be grateful for Tottenham’s inconsistency against in gifting Manchester City fourth place.
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