Nemanja Vidic: United can win Champions League

Nemanja Vidic believes Manchester United can put two years of disappointment in Europe behind them and win the Champions League....

United reached the final three times in four seasons between 2008 and 2011 but were knocked out in the group stages in 2011-12 and were beaten by Real Madrid in the last 16 in March.
But captain Vidic, who was a Champions League winner in 2008, is confident David Moyes’ team can go all the way.
He told Sport Magazine: “We think we can go to the later stages and with a bit of luck, yeah, we can win the tournament.
"I’ve been here eight years; I’ve played three finals, one semi-final, two quarter-finals -- and that means that sure, United is always in the last stages of the Champions League. Hopefully we can do that again this year. With luck against Madrid last year, maybe we would have been in the quarter-finals -- and who knows what would have happened then."
Defending champions Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid start as greater favourites than United.
But Vidic takes heart from Chelsea’s triumph in 2012 and the unpredictability of the competition.
He added: “You know two years ago, Chelsea won -- did you believe Chelsea were going to win that title? Barcelona won everything the last three years, but last year Bayern Munich came. It’s not something where you can say that someone will win the title."
United start their Champions League campaign at home to Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.

Read More

Real Madrid deny Mesut Ozil leak

Real Madrid have denied a claim by Mesut Ozil’s father that Florentino Perez leaked negative stories about his son's off-pitch behaviour to quell criticism in Spain of the decision to sell the German to Arsenal for €50 million....

A story in Spanish newspaper ABC last week claimed that Blancos president Perez had told senior Madrid socios [members] that Ozil had been allowed to leave as the club had got fed up with the player’s unprofessional off-the-pitch behaviour.
Mustapha Ozil reacted angrily to these claims, threatening to sue Madrid and Perez for blackening his son's name. The Primera Division giants have now quickly moved to distance themselves from the original story.
That ABC report contained no direct quotes from anyone at Madrid, but said Perez would tell a behind-closed-doors meeting that while Ozil had strictly followed his Islamic faith when he arrived at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in 2010, he then began socialising and womanising so much that his performances had suffered.
The paper also claimed that Ozil senior, who handles his son’s affairs, had leaked stories of interest from other clubs after Madrid turned down his demand for an €8.5 million salary.
He angrily denied all such suggestions in Bild on Thursday and claimed he would go to court to defend his and his son’s good names.
"Just because someone earns a lot of money does not make them automatically a man of honour,” Ozil senior said. “And [Florentino] Perez is no man of honour. Mesut is made the scapegoat now. And I am the greedy father, who only waits for the big money. A put-up job, a bad business. We will defend ourselves legally."
Madrid quickly reacted to this by issuing a statement to the German paper denying that Perez had anything to do with the ABC story.
"It is thoroughly denied that president Florentino Perez or any other member of the football club has anything to do with the information about the player Ozil that was published in a Spanish newspaper," the statement said. "The Spanish newspaper, in which the information was published, denies any kind of connection of the aforementioned with the publishing of the story. A press release by the newspaper confirmed that no-one from the club made any contact with the paper nor made any statement regarding this issue. Real Madrid deeply regrets that those statements, which have nothing to do with the football club, evoked the dad’s reactions, which are at odds with the truth and are totally out of place. Real Madrid renews its thanks to Mesut Ozil and wishes him well for the future."
Many in Madrid had seen the original ABC story as an attempt by Madrid and Perez to protect themselves from a growing backlash from fans and pundits against the decision to sell Ozil, while signing Gareth Bale at double the German’s price. It was also pointed out that no hints of bad behaviour had appeared when the playmaker had been a regular in the team over the last three campaigns.
Ozil senior also appears to hold this view.
“If Mesut leads such a dissipated life, as they always say, then I wonder: Why did he always play?,” he said. “They want to talk Mesut down, because the fans and some team-mates are angry about his sale.”
ABC have also denied that Perez was a source for its original report, which a clarification published online said came from "diverse sources" none of which was Perez.
"From ABC we state that the president of Real Madrid made no interview or statement about this matter," the clarification said. "We are sorry if the information published has lead to erroneous interpretations."

Read More

Karim Benzema benching 'a lesson'

Being dropped for France's World Cup qualifier will have been "a good lesson" for Karim Benzema, French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet has claimed....



Having extended his 15-month goal-scoring drought at international level with an ineffectual display in last Friday's 0-0 draw in Georgia, Benzema did not start Tuesday's Group I encounter in Belarus, the first time since November 2009 the Real Madrid forward had not been on the pitch at kick-off when available for Les Bleus.
The 25-year-old watched on as Didier Deschamps' side twice came from behind to triumph 4-2 in Gomel and clinch at least a place in the play-offs. Le Graet, 71, told RMC the painful experience may spur on Benzema to reproduce his club form for his country.
"I think it's a good lesson for him. I'm not a specialist in football, but I love it, and I love the player a lot. He's a massive player for me. That said, he's stuck a little with the French team whereas at Real Madrid, he plays regularly and scores goals in the league and the Champions League," said the FFF boss, who has no doubt Benzema is wholly committed to the French cause.
"He loves it, otherwise he wouldn't come and would invent injuries. He's a lovely bloke. A game on the bench won't do him any harm. He saw his friends play well and win without him."
Having played alongside Olivier Giroud in Tbilisi in a 4-4-2, Benzema missed out in favour of the Arsenal striker as Deschamps reverted to his preferred 4-2-3-1 in Belarus. However Guy Stephan, Deschamps' assistant, told RMC that Benzema need not fear too much for his international future if he can rediscover his form.
"Karim Benzema is a talented player, he said. "He's not been effective nor lucky in recent games. He didn't play but it doesn't mean he won't come back. Didier Deschamps will continue to follow him at Real Madrid. We're all obliged to get results. The players are also obliged to put in performances. When they don't, Didier has to make a choice."

Read More

Ronaldo a doubt for Villarreal clash

Cristiano Ronaldo will miss Portugal’s friendly against Brazil in Boston on Tuesday and is also a doubt for Real Madrid’s La Liga game at Villarreal on Saturday...


Ronaldo played at less than 100 percent fitness in Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland in Belfast -- but still scored a hat-trick to turn a 2-1 deficit into the 4-2 win that keeps Paulo Bento’s side two points ahead of Russia in Group F.


Portugal team doctor Henrique Jones said after that game that captain Ronaldo had made a huge effort to play and would need time off to recover.


"He had a week of intense treatment, he made an enormous sacrifice and now he needs to rest," Jones, quoted on the official FIFA website, said.


AS reported on Monday that Ronaldo was already back in Madrid and had begun recovery work. While Real are yet to release any official injury bulletin, the paper said the problem was tendonitis in a thigh muscle injury which the player had been managing for a few weeks.
Portugal’s friendly with Brazil takes place at the home of NFL franchise the New England Patriots before Madrid face Villarreal at El Madrigal in a game that could see €100 million signing Gareth Bale make his debut.

Read More

Fabregas backs Ozil to shine

Cesc Fabregas has predicted that Mesut Ozil is likely to thrive in the room he will likely be allowed to play in by Premier League defences....



Ozil has rarely been out of the headlines since completing a transfer deadline day move to Arsenal for £42.4 million from Real Madrid, with the player himself saying that he felt Madrid had not shown enough confidence in him, Blancos fans voicing their dismay at the departure of one of their team’s best attacking players, and some sources close to the Bernabeu club claiming that the German international’s professionalism had dipped.
Barcelona playmaker Fabregas -- who knows the Premier League well from his own seven seasons playing in the competition for Arsenal -- added his voice to the throng by telling Al Primer Toque that he had no doubts Ozil would be a success.
"I believe Arsenal will be a perfect fit for him,” Fabregas said. “He will enjoy himself a lot in the Premier League. It is a league with lots of spaces, and he is a player that will kill you if you give him space.
"We already saw that at Real Madrid, he plays a brilliant final pass. I believe he will enjoy himself a lot in England."

Read More

Frank Lampard to win 100th cap

England manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed that Frank Lampard will win his 100th cap in the vital World Cup qualifier away to Ukraine on Tuesday.

Lampard, 35, will join Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole and England captain Steven Gerrard among the centurions appearing in Kiev.
“Lampard will play tomorrow night,” Hodgson said. “That's quite a first. I'm happy to have been part of that. All things being equal Frank will play and start the game tomorrow and win his 100th cap
“I don't think there will be many players who will play for England for two or three years let alone 14 years. Fourteen years is a long time to be representing your country. We don't have that many international matches so I think people who want to play 100 games for their country have to play for a team that wins major international tournaments and play for a very long time.”
Hodgson said he will make only one change from the team that beat Moldova 4-0 on Friday night, with Manchester United forward Danny Welbeck suspended as a result of the caution he received at Wembley.
"There will only be one change to the team and that's the person who will replace Danny Welbeck,” he said. “I'll leave you to guess that."
Hodgson also condemned the violence that saw England fans attacked by Ukraine fans said to be carrying knives.
“We deplore that, everyone deplores that and I'm certain people in Kiev deplore that,” Hodgson said. “I don't know the circumstances. It's unfortunate these things can happen when football fans get together. I'm sad it's occurred and I only hope our fans are not going to be put off and the fans aren't so badly injured they can't attend the game.”
Ukraine coach Mykhaylo Fomenko, meanwhile, has described Tuesday's game as the most important of his 34 years in management.
England currently lead Group H on goal difference, with a match in hand on second-placed Montenegro, but Ukraine -- a point behind England having also played seven games -- can seize control with a home victory.
Asked whether the match was the most important of his career, the 64-year-old former Dynamo Kiev and Metalist Kharkiv boss replied: “Not only of mine. We don't want to make you [the Ukrainian people] angry.”
Fomenko gave little away in the press conference and offered little when quizzed on his opponents. When questioned about the absence of Wayne Rooney, he said Hodgson was better placed to answer. Asked what he knew of Rickie Lambert, who will start in Rooney’s stead, he replied: “It's a secret.”
He was no more forthcoming on his own team. When asked about his own selection plans, his response was only: “We will see.”
Fomenko, who was named Ukraine boss in December last year, said he expects "150%" from his players.

Read More

Rosell: Real Madrid Still Want To Sign Neymar At All Cost

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has claimed that Real Madrid were trying to hijack his club’s signing of Neymar even as the player was putting pen to paper for the Catalans.....

Madrid had long been involved in a battle for Neymar’s signature, but Blancos president Florentino Perez said the club abandoned their pursuit because "for us it would have cost more than €150 million".
However, Rosell insists Barca’s rivals continued their pursuit until the bitter end and also claims that the Brazil star had even privately passed a medical for Madrid prior to signing on the dotted line at Camp Nou.
"When we reached a pre-agreement with Neymar’s father, the player had already passed a medical with Real Madrid," Rosell told TV3’s ‘Hat-trick’ programme. "We joked that we could save ourselves the money of doing the tests ourselves. When we were already signing the contract, Madrid was sending emails to Santos.”
The complex deal which was agreed between Barcelona, Santos and Neymar’s father -- who is also his agent -- continues to be the subject of controversy in Brazil, where various other stakeholders have complained that they are not receiving their fair share of the €57 million total fee.
Rosell said Barca were not involved in talks over which parties were owed how much from the deal.
"The investment fund which is claiming money from [Neymar’s] transfer is talking with Santos and the player’s father," he said. “We are staying out of it."
The Camp Nou chief said that reports last week that Barca had not paid Eric Abidal when the French defender had been ill were mistaken.
"Barcelona has paid Abidal everything he was supposed to earn," Rosell said. "Although the doctors said he would not return to play, we extended his contract and he received everything. The contract was suspended due to an agreement with the medical insurers. He himself has recognised that his words were not interpreted well."

Read More