General Football Thread

[Cadj]

From what I understand, Japan host the competition each year and invite two other nations. Scotland were invited and won the cup not too many years ago if I remember rightly.

Correct.

It was a glorious few days of a tournament. We even put 5 goals past Bulgaria. (Y)

[Berober]

Which newspaper does anyone know?

Sunday Sport. It's in the first line mate

Also, sad to see Ronaldo go. One of my favourite players growing up, I remember watching the 1998 World Cup just like at how good he was. Scored wherever he went, even when he put the weight on, which is the mark of a great player.

For now at least it's reassuring to know that Wikipedia goes direct to his page when you type in "Ronaldo".

>_< That's 9am for you.

[Lineker]

They've given her her job back !

[Starvinho]

Five Mexico players test positive for banned substance

Five Mexico internationals have tested positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol.

The players named are goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, defenders Francisco Rodriguez and Edgar Duenas and midfielders Antonio Naelson 'Sinha' and Christian Bermudez.

Mexico are taking part in Concacaf Gold Cup in the United States.

They beat El Salvador 5-0 in their opening match and face Cuba on Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The general secretary of the Mexican Football Federation (Femexfut) Decio de Maria said the quintet had been suspended from the tournament.

He added that any further sanctions, which could include bans of up to two years, would be determined by Femexfut.

"Late on Wednesday we received the anti-doping analysis of 14 players of the 'Tri' [national team] that were done on 21 May and five players showed positive," De Maria announced at a news conference.

Tour de France winner Alberto Contador tested positive for Clenbuterol in 2010 - he was later acquitted

"The substance for which they were positive is Clenbuterol. The players will be withdrawn from coach Jose Manuel de la Torre's team."

De Maria added: "The cause is believed to be because of [eating] beef or chicken between 17 and 20 May so an investigation will be made with the food suppliers. For the time being we don't see any negligence by anyone, not even theirs.

"We know there is a health alert throughout the country because of food contaminated with Clenbuterol and that will be taken into account for the investigation."

In April, Germany's anti-doping agency [Nada] advised against athletes eating products from Mexico because it might increase the risk of involuntary positive doping results. Mexico denied there was a problem.

[METALMAN]

Aw I love Ochoa. Won me the league for Spurs on FM 2010.

[Lineker]

I told them to avoid the fish taco!

[9 to 5]

Awesome penalty ownage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJJ2RZEtztE&feature=aso

[Starvinho]

I could just see something like that happening to England

[Lineker]

Finnish football has been rocked by a match-fixing scandal which has implications across the world.

Nine former members of one team and a Singapore national accused of organising the scams have been put on trial.

Meanwhile, a criminal investigation has begun into another club suspected of money-laundering.

Betting syndicates have been said to make as much as $1.5m (£0.9m) from fixed games.

The Finnish League, which began its new season in May, usually commands a low profile in the global game.

But events over the past few months have brought it to the attention of football's world governing body, and its fight against corruption.

Tampere, Finland's former champions, have been suspended.

The club received $435,000 from a Singapore company, but officials could not explain why they had been given such a large sum. Money-laundering is suspected.

Finnish police have said the case is linked to the trial of seven Zambians and two Georgians who used to play for a different club in the north of the country.

They are accused of accepting bribes worth more than $750,000 to affect the outcome of matches.

In the same trial Wilson Raj Perumal, a Singaporean, is charged with arranging the payments.

Fifa also want to speak to Mr Perumal about international friendly matches involving Asian and African teams that are suspected of being fixed.

Last month, two Zambian brothers who played for another Finnish side were convicted of taking bribes from Mr Perumal.

The officer leading the investigation in Finland said there was serious speculation this was only the tip of the iceberg.

[Lineker]

Over 14,000 fans paid tribute to former Nigeria captain Nwankwo Kanu during a lively testimonial game in Lagos.

The Portsmouth forward, a two-time African Player of the Year, was retiring from international football after 16 years.

Fans defied early rain to attend the star-studded game in which the Super Eagles beat a Rest of the World XI 3-1.

Samuel Eto'o, Emmanuel Adebayor, Sulley Muntari, Rigobert Song and Emmanuel Eboue all appeared.

The 34-year-old Kanu played for both sides and scored for the Super Eagles side that included Danny Shittu, Kalu Uche and Yakubu Ayegbeni.

Fittingly, it was Kanu who scored the opening goal of the game as he calmly beat Peterside Idah, the former South Africa-based goalkeeper.

In-form Nigeria striker Ikechukwu Uche made it 2-0 for the Super Eagles Stars to send the Lagos fans into raptures just before half-time.

Second-half substitute and self-confessed Kanu protégée, Emmanuel Adebayor, then stepped up the tempo of the game in the second-half to reduce the deficit with a cool finish.

As the World XI chased an equaliser, it was Uche put the game beoynd their reach with a thunderous long-range effort, after taking out three defenders to seal the victory.

"There's a time to start and a time to finish, it has been a fulfilling ride from day one," an emotional Kanu said after the match.

"I thank all the players who cut short their holidays from different places and the Nigerian fans for their endless love and support throughout my career."

The World XI , managed by Stephen Keshi and Jo Bonfrere included Jean Makoun, Khalilou Fadiga, Anthony Baffoe, Jay-Jay Okocha, Sammy Kuffour, George Boateng, Joseph Yobo, Taye Taiwo, Herman Hreidarsson and Obinna Nsofor.

Former Nigerian captain Kanu announced his retirement from international football at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in June 2010.

Reigning African Player of the Year Samuel Eto'o, who enjoyed adoration and applause from fans, was full of praise for the talented Kanu.

"Kanu is undoubtedly the most recognised, successful and talented footballer I have ever seen on the field," Eto'o said.

"It was not hard to honour him by travelling down because he is an icon of the African game and we must honour him.

"After playing against him, I was honoured and today I came here to show how much we respect and appreciate his achievement, inspiration, motivation and charitable gesture."

Former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor revealed that Kanu was is only hero when growing up and as a professional.

"I cannot hide the fact that I moulded my career in his image and it is obvious that he still my inspiration and hero as a footballer," he said.

As Kanu was helped off with a guard of honour and final lap of honour it was fitting tribute to one of the greats of the Nigerian and African game.

Other players, who turned out in support of the Nigerian were Michael Essien, Kolo Toure, Stephen Appiah, Kalusha Bwalya, John Utaka, Finidi George, Mutiu Adepoju, Obinna Nwaneri, Yakubu Ayegbeni, Elderson Echiejile, Onyekachi Okonkwo, Raphael Chukwu, Daniel Amokachi, Uche Okechukwu and Ogbonnaya Kanu.

[Lineker]

The Dutch manager, Ruud Gullit, has lost a game which his boss said he either had to win or be sacked.

Terek Grozny lost the Russian Premier League match to Amkar Perm by a last-minute penalty.

The chairman of Terek - Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov - has been disappointed by Mr Gullit's results since he arrived in January.

He accused the former World Footballer of the Year of being distracted by bars and night clubs.

Terek is languishing near the bottom of the sixteen team league.

Football coach and former star player Ruud Gullit had been given an angry ultimatum by the team he coaches: Win on Tuesday or you lose your job.

The Dutchman had an enthusiastic welcome when he arrived to coach Chechen team Terek Grozny in February.

But the club now says Gullit is distracted by "bars and discos" and has not justified its hopes.

Terek Grozny finished 12th in the 16-team Russian Premier League in 2010.

Gullit was signed with the target of qualifying for European competition by 2012.

But after Gullit's 12-match tenure the team is now languishing in 14th place.

The club's president is the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, who even played for the team during a celebrity match in March.

He has a fearsome reputation, as Ruud Gullit has been finding out, says the BBC's sports news reporter Alex Capstick.

Mr Kadyrov is "extremely dissatisfied" with Gullit's performance, the club said in the harshly worded statement in Russian on its website.

Terek is a team that "has never looked so hopeless" and Gullit refuses to accept any of the blame, it says.

"Considering all this, Ramzan Kadyrov is presenting Ruud Gullit with the task of bringing back three points from Perm.

"In the event of the opposite outcome, Gullit will be dismissed from the position of head coach."

Gullit, a former World Player of the Year and one of the most successful players in the history of Dutch football, was signed to an 18-month contract when he joined Terek.

Moscow had invested significant political hopes in the Chechen team's sporting success, in an attempt to move forward after two decades of ruinous conflict with the breakaway region.

Gullit to Villa!

[Regia]

So apparently McLeish is going to be unveiled as the new Villa manager within the next 24 hours.

[The Quasi Juice]

Gullit fails at every club, miserably. Quite hilarious how he was presented as a god who was going to instantly make Terek into a global power, and now he suddenly sucks.

[Colly]

He's always sucked, it amazes me that people keep employing him.

[stokeriño]

I can't badmouth Gullit because he won us the FA Cup for the first time in 27 years (making him the first non-British manager to win a major trophy in England, FYI) and played a key part in Chelsea's mid-90s transformation. But other than that...yeah.

[Lineker]

Qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil will get under way on Wednesday with Trinidad hosting a preliminary match between Montserrat and Belize.

With 31 spots up for grabs at the tournament, the first of 832 qualifiers will be played in the Caribbean because of Montserrat's ill-equipped stadium.

Montserrat are ranked 202nd, 30 places below their opponents, and coached by 46-year-old Londoner Kenny Dyer.

"It's not easy trying to get players but there's national pride," Dyer said.

The two teams are competing in a first-leg match in Couva, hoping eventually to progress from the North, Central American and Caribbean (Concacaf) region.

Dyer, whose team haven't played a competitive match since October, told BBC Radio 5 live: "We've got players who work in McDonald's, accountants, a few full-time professionals, policemen.

"Some players are seeing each other for the first time. It's about team spirit and camaraderie.

"We all know where we are and how low-ranked Montserrat is. Playing international football doesn't come to everyone, so the players blessed with the ability will come in and grasp it.

"It's a big ask, but it's about 90 minutes and we can play well."

Despite Montserrat being among a number of Caribbean Football Union members targeted in an ongoing Fifa investigation into bribery, Dyer, who started coaching Montserrat in 2008, insisted his players remain focused.

"There is no distraction," stated Dyer, who played youth football for Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as competing professionally for Maidstone United and in Cyprus.

"There's only one thing on their minds and that's training and getting the right result."

Montserrat was devastated when the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted in 1995, one year before gaining Fifa membership.

In three World Cup qualifying campaigns, they have never won a match nor played on a home ground.

Europe's 53 teams, including defending champions Spain, will find out who they face in qualifying when the draw takes place on 30 July, while their groups begin in September 2012.

Concacaf's strongest teams, including the United States and Mexico, get going in June 2012.

[The Quasi Juice]

Gullit was an amazing player, but as a trainer he's garbage. Apparently he's about to become a coach in Switzerland, where some rich owner wants the mighty Gullit. He truly is selling his dignity for money.

[Colly]

He'll always have that place on Skys Champions League coverage next to Souness and Allardyce to fall back on, so why not?

[Lineker]

US beer company Budweiser has been named as the first US sponsor of English football's FA Cup, in a three-year deal.

The amount of money paid by the firm, owned by St Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, has not been disclosed.

Budweiser has been a sponsor of the football World Cup for 25 years and also backs US motorsport.

The FA Cup had been sponsored by energy giant E.On for five years, from 2006 to 2011.

The competition will now be known as the FA Cup with Budweiser.

"We are extremely pleased to have secured an iconic brand such as Budweiser to be the lead partner of the FA Cup," said FA General Secretary Alex Horne.

The cup, currently held by Manchester City after they beat Stoke City in May's final, is the world's oldest domestic competition.

It mean's England's two domestic cups are now sponsored by beer brands, with Carling the title sponsor of the League Cup.

[Gazz]

>_<