yeah. Real has been weird, they did wel 5 years ago with topplayers like Ronaldo, Raul, Zidane and Figo. But then they started to buy even more 'stars' like Beckham. from then the team started to be really unbalanced, all technically great, but no workers like Viera. Their defense was weak, but now they got some good defenders, with Cannavaro in the back and Emerson as defending midfielder they don't have to worry. still no guarantee for success because if the players don't mix well you'll be screwed.

They'll miss Zidane, but they got plenty more than talented players. Can't wait to see the the different leagues starting in Europe, after the worldcup (overdose) I haven't watched any tv it seems, I miss watching football now.

Terryb wrote:

yeah. Real has been weird, they did wel 5 years ago with topplayers like Ronaldo, Raul, Zidane and Figo. But then they started to buy even more 'stars' like Beckham. from then the team started to be really unbalanced, all technically great, but no workers like Viera. Their defense was weak, but now they got some good defenders, with Cannavaro in the back and Emerson as defending midfielder they don't have to worry. still no guarantee for success because if the players don't mix well you'll be screwed. They'll miss Zidane, but they got plenty more than talented players. Can't wait to see the the different leagues starting in Europe, after the worldcup (overdose) I haven't watched any tv it seems, I miss watching football now.

yeah your point is well taken....team chemistry is infinitely more important than numerous individual stars...it's been proven over and over in many different sports.

Chelski lost their first match 1-2 against Middlesbrough

Japan players ignored Nakata, says JFA chief

By Alastair Himmer
TOKYO, Sept 5 (Reuters) - A breakdown in communication with team mates prompted Japan playmaker Hidetoshi Nakata to quit the game after the World Cup, according to Japan's soccer chief.
Nakata dramatically retired from professional football following Japan's first-round flop but his relations with other members of the national side had already become strained.
"Nakata just wasn't able to get through to the other players in the team anymore," JFA President Saburo Kawabuchi told Reuters in a recent interview.
"He gave everything he had at the World Cup but he was being ignored to some extent. He said himself he didn't know how to get through to the players."
Nakata collapsed to the turf and sobbed uncontrollably for almost 10 minutes after Japan's 4-1 defeat by Brazil in Dortmund sealed the Asian champions' exit from the World Cup.
Kawabuchi believes Nakata's outspoken nature was partly to blame for a personality clash with several senior Japan players.
"He just didn't quite have the right attitude or the right way of persuading his team mates," said Kawabuchi. "It was really a shame it ended that way."
RESERVED NATURE
Kawabuchi blamed the reserved nature of the Japanese players for the breakdown of relations with the outspoken Nakata.
"You don't know what these players are thinking," said Kawabuchi. "Even the captain (Tsuneyasu) Miyamoto keeps his thoughts to himself.
"They are devoted to the team but character-wise they're very quiet. Nakata was a pioneer."
Nakata's retirement at just 29 and after 80 international appearances was a blow to new Japan coach Ivica Osim, who took over from Brazilian Zico after the World Cup.
Kawabuchi remains philosophical, however, about Osim's ability to build a successful team without the two-time Asian player of the year.
"I'm not worried about that at all," said Kawabuchi. "Osim wants to take the team in a completely new direction and we will give him all the support he needs."
Regrets still linger, however, after Japan's World Cup campaign ended with a whimper.
"When Nakata spoke his mind people got upset," said Kawabuchi. "The other players were too quiet. That was the main problem. That's why it all broke down."

Terryb wrote:

Chelski lost their first match 1-2 against Middlesbrough

is it a sign for them to fall down the hill? and goives way to man U?

Tu_triky wrote:

Japan players ignored Nakata, says JFA chief By Alastair Himmer TOKYO, Sept 5 (Reuters) - A breakdown in communication with team mates prompted Japan playmaker Hidetoshi Nakata to quit the game after the World Cup, according to Japan's soccer chief. Nakata dramatically retired from professional football following Japan's first-round flop but his relations with other members of the national side had already become strained. "Nakata just wasn't able to get through to the other players in the team anymore," JFA President Saburo Kawabuchi told Reuters in a recent interview. "He gave everything he had at the World Cup but he was being ignored to some extent. He said himself he didn't know how to get through to the players." Nakata collapsed to the turf and sobbed uncontrollably for almost 10 minutes after Japan's 4-1 defeat by Brazil in Dortmund sealed the Asian champions' exit from the World Cup. Kawabuchi believes Nakata's outspoken nature was partly to blame for a personality clash with several senior Japan players. "He just didn't quite have the right attitude or the right way of persuading his team mates," said Kawabuchi. "It was really a shame it ended that way." RESERVED NATURE Kawabuchi blamed the reserved nature of the Japanese players for the breakdown of relations with the outspoken Nakata. "You don't know what these players are thinking," said Kawabuchi. "Even the captain (Tsuneyasu) Miyamoto keeps his thoughts to himself. "They are devoted to the team but character-wise they're very quiet. Nakata was a pioneer." Nakata's retirement at just 29 and after 80 international appearances was a blow to new Japan coach Ivica Osim, who took over from Brazilian Zico after the World Cup. Kawabuchi remains philosophical, however, about Osim's ability to build a successful team without the two-time Asian player of the year. "I'm not worried about that at all," said Kawabuchi. "Osim wants to take the team in a completely new direction and we will give him all the support he needs." Regrets still linger, however, after Japan's World Cup campaign ended with a whimper. "When Nakata spoke his mind people got upset," said Kawabuchi. "The other players were too quiet. That was the main problem. That's why it all broke down."

well that just tells us that the japanese team were not really in their usual samurai spirit

its saddens me that nakata retired, he still had the potential, but meh~i

Zidane named on FIFA Player of Year shortlist
Fri Oct 13, 2006 8:57 AM GMT



LONDON (Reuters) - Former France playmaker Zinedine Zidane, sent off in the World Cup final in Berlin, was named on a 30-man shortlist on Thursday for FIFA's World Player of the Year award.

Zidane retired from soccer after France lost to Italy in the final on July 9, his career seemingly ending in disgrace following his head-butt on defender Marco Materazzi 10 minutes before the end of extra time.

The incident ensured he missed the penalty shootout that decided the match in Italy's favour.

Zidane, Barcelona's Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho and Inter Milan's Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo are the only men on the shortlist to have previously won the FIFA award.

Ronaldinho is bidding to lift the trophy for the third year in a row.

Zidane has already landed the honour three times, as a Juventus player in 1998 and 2000 and with Real Madrid in 2003. Figo won the award in 2001 during his time with Real Madrid.

Premier League champions Chelsea are the most represented club with six players on the shortlist: England's Frank Lampard, Petr Cech of Czech Republic, Ghana's Michael Essien, Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast, Germany's Michael Ballack and Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko.

Also on the list are Brazilians Adriano and Kaka along with Miroslav Klose, Jens Lehmann and Philipp Lahm of Germany.

World champions Italy are represented by Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Gennaro Gattuso, Alessandro Nesta and Andrea Pirlo.

The other French players on the shortlist apart from Zidane are Lilian Thuram, Patrick Vieira, Franck Ribery and Thierry Henry.

Portugal pair Cristiano Ronaldo and Deco are also among the candidates for the award, as is Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o, England pair Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney, Argentina playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme and Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky.

The winner will be announced in Zurich on December 18.




http://za.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyID=2006-10-13T065432Z_01_BAN325018_RTRIDST_0_OZASP-SOCCER-FIFA-ZIDANE-20061013.XML

Quote:

Arbitration: 8 penalty points removed Juventus FC SpA takes note of the sentence passed by the Camera di Conciliazione e Arbitrato del Coni, which at least recognises in part the enormous commitment and spirit of sacrifice shown by the club to renew its structure from within and to promote the values of sport on behalf of the country's entire football movement.

That's freekin outrageous! teams who are involved with bribes or any fraud should be banned IMO. Or at least being degraded to the lowest divison.

This way Juventus will be back in Serie A next year

Read about Nakata's recent visit to the Philippines:
From http://jdorama.com/viewtopic.php?p=513322#513322
Original article

Terryb wrote:

That's freekin outrageous! teams who are involved with bribes or any fraud should be banned IMO. Or at least being degraded to the lowest divison. This way Juventus will be back in Serie A next year

somebody got paid off on that one....in fine italian tradition.

PSG fan's death sparks debate on hooliganism


By Patrick Vignal

PARIS, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The death of a Paris St Germain fan after a UEFA Cup game has sparked a nationwide debate in France on how to rid soccer of violence and racism, and prompted a change in policy on ticket sales.


French Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy said on Saturday tickets at Paris St Germain's Parc des Princes would now be sold only to official fans' associations.

"We prefer to see stands that are empty than full of unwanted people," Sarkozy told a news conference on Saturday.

"We do not want racists in stadiums any more, Nazi salutes, monkey noises. Football is not war," he added.

Many of the hooligans associated with PSG do not belong to official fans' associations.

"When football kills," screamed the headline in white letters on the totally black front page of French sports daily L'Equipe on Saturday.

A policeman shot dead one man and injured another while under attack from fans shouting racist comments following PSG's 4-2 defeat by Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv on Thursday.

Witnesses said the black policeman opened fire on a mob of PSG fans who were chasing a Jewish supporter of the Israeli team outside Parc des Princes in Paris.
The Hapoel fan said the policeman had fired a single shot into the air.

"The policeman points his gun at 60 degrees in an attempt to disperse them (the PSG fans)," Yanniv Hazout told Sport magazine in a report sent to Reuters.

"I only remember a gunshot in the air. It is the only shot I have heard. If the gunshot had reached someone I would have seen it, I was only one metre behind him," Hazout added.

"I did not see anyone fall. That is why I was surprised when I heard there was a homicide."

French Professional Football League (LFP) president Frederic Thiriez said in a statement: "We all have the same goal, which is to eradicate hooliganism, racism and violence from soccer for good.

"The action we have been taking is already producing results but we must speed things up," he added.

Observers, however, pointed out that PSG had been tainted by hooliganism for years and had failed to tackle the issue.

"The death of a PSG supporter...tragically is a reminder that French football has failed to eradicate violence and racism from the stands of some of its clubs, which is unforgivable," wrote L'Equipe.

The Hapoel supporter was being pursued by around 100 PSG fans when plainclothes policeman Antoine Granomort intervened, according to the police.

Granomort was placed in custody while magistrates investigated his assertion that he had acted in self-defence.

The fan who was shot dead, Julien Quemener, 25, was a member of the Boulogne Boys, a group of PSG supporters comprising far-right sympathisers, some registered as violent by police.

Under French law, such organisations cannot be dismantled.

Thiriez said the league's priority would be to ensure that PSG's next games, away to Nantes on Sunday and at home to Toulouse on Dec. 3, would remain incident-free.

Rival groups of soccer hooligans ransacked a motorway service station near Nantes on their way back from a league match there last season.

"A match against PSG is always delicate but this one is exceptionally problematic given the dramatic events that have just taken place," Nantes president Rudi Roussillon, who will implement reinforced security measures for the game, told reporters.

Now that Italian football had got violent thanks to some crazy fans clubs are forced to play closed doors?Anyone got any suggestions to beef up security yet allow clubs to play open doors?Smaller clubs like Catania need the revenue from their ticket sales badly...playing behind closed doors might jeopardise them...

oh yes.. heard that a cop died in that incident
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kami_kaze wrote:

oh yes.. heard that a cop died in that incident

What happened had happened.Now we must think how to reverse such a tragedy.Now only a few clubs,namely AS Roma,S.S Lazio,Palermo,Catania and Chievo can play open doors thanks to sufficient survillence cams.I don't think survillence cams will work...those supportesr can attack the officials outside the stadium as well.

Yahoo! Singapore Sports

Football: Italy pledges to get tough as football resumes

The Italian government pledged to get tough on football hooligans after approving new security measures to tackle the problem.

A zero tolerance policy comes into force immediately following the death of a policeman during crowd trouble at last Friday's Sicilian derby between Catania and Palermo.

Shortly after the ministers' meeting, the Italian football federation (FIGC) said the suspension of all professional games imposed after Filippo Raciti's death would be lifted and that matches would resume this weekend.

The government said there would be a firm implementation of the 'Decreto Pisanu' - laws introduced in 2005 under the previous centre-right government to curb football violence - and clubs failing to do so would be forced to play their matches behind closed doors.

These include adequate close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, named tickets, automatic turnstiles, stewarding, and crowd filtering areas outside the stadiums.

"We wanted to introduce strict laws that are also respectful to the millions of passionate football fans in this country," said Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri.

"We not only wanted to show strength, but also intelligence and compassion for a change in football."

The presidents of the clubs in Italy's top two divisions - Serie A and Serie B - will meet on Thursday to discuss the government's plan, while the national watchdog for security at sporting venues will decide which grounds they believe to be unsafe and play behind closed doors.

About half of the stadiums in Serie A and B are believed to fall short of the safety standards laid down by the 'Decreto Pisanu'.

Interior Minister Giuliano Amato rejected pleas by clubs whose stadiums are at risk of closure to allow only season-ticket holders into their grounds.

The government also said that fans found with fireworks, flares or racist banners face arrest, while suspected hooligans can now be arrested 48 hours after an incident, an extension of 12 hours.

The clubs were also urged to end any financial or working relationships with supporters' clubs.

The San Siro stadium, which is shared by Italian powerhouses AC Milan and Inter Milan, is one of the stadiums whose security is not up to scratch.

Works to install more turnstiles cannot be completed until the end of the season and the clubs could be forced to play all their home matches, including Champions League matches, behind closed doors.

Livorno president Aldo Spinelli, whose stadium is also at risk of closure, was unhappy with the new legislation.

"There are three possibilities - we don't play at all, all the clubs play behind closed doors, or we are allowed to have fans," he said.

"We can't have one rule for one, and one rule for another. We have to reach a unanimous decision on this."

All domestic and international matches were suspended following Raciti's death outside the Massimino stadium last Friday.

Some 100 fans were injured and 40 people, including 16 minors, were arrested after the clashes between riot police and Catania supporters before during and after the highly-charged Serie A match.
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With that it concludes everything.Italian football fans confuse violence and soccer together.But that bomb...was it done by a mamber of the Mafia?It's Sicily anyway...so if that's the case then just simply set up metallic detectors at the entrance of the stadium.It solves all the problems though the clubs will be spending more on stadium upgrades then players that way...

ben_galahad wrote:

With that it concludes everything.Italian football fans confuse violence and soccer together.But that bomb...was it done by a mamber of the Mafia?It's Sicily anyway...so if that's the case then just simply set up metallic detectors at the entrance of the stadium.It solves all the problems though the clubs will be spending more on stadium upgrades then players that way...

yes.. italian football had become so disappointing.. corruptions, violence
even if they do all those upgrades or wat ever... the main problem is still those fans
lucky singapore VS thailand didn't have that happen
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kami is "god", kaze for "wind"

kami_kaze wrote:

yes.. italian football had become so disappointing.. corruptions, violence even if they do all those upgrades or wat ever... the main problem is still those fans lucky singapore VS thailand didn't have that happen

Speaking of Singapore VS Thailand...I reckon that Singapore got lucky.I feel that Khairul Amri's shot was a miskick.He seemed to kick outwards...so it should be a cross instead.And he's thinking as if he planned that shot and executed it with perefction.

watched champions league just now. second round, first leg match - barcelona beaten 1-2 by liverpool.
looks like barcelona will be kicked out of champions league early this season. second leg match will be in liverpool and they need to get at least 2 goals to progress. highly unlikely.
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