Mes: enero 2022

It could be argued that with a different manager, Inter Milan would have done better in the champions league, Roma would have been leading or at least on equal amount of points with Inter, Chelsea would have been in the FA cup final and Arsenal would not be as successful as they have been.

But nowhere is it more glaring than the top 2 sides in Spain, that a top quality manager is needed for the full potential of a squad of brilliant players to be realised.

The way Real Madrid and Barcelona have gone about this season has been massively disappointing and most of the blame should be put squarely on the shoulders of the respective managers as they have made so many baffling tactical decisions, it has stopped being amusing.

Neither team has been entirely convincing this season and it is only because of the lack of belief from the other sides in the league that Real Madrid is still leading the league.

Teams like Villareal, Athletico Madrid, Sevilla and Espanyol lack the inner belief that they could win the league and they seem to be content with qualifying for 4th position at the very most.

The decisions taken by Bernd Schuster this season when it comes to his starting line-up and also his substitutions have been mind boggling to say the least and on Saturday night against Mallorca, he was at it again.

It is puzzling that he thinks that Gonzalo Higuain is a better option than Robinho in the starting line-up and his insistence on starting with Marcello at left back no matter how many mistakes he continues to make is another strange issue.

It was going well very luckily for him when Real Madrid were leading by 1-0 through a Wesley Sneijder goal but then Sergio Ramos was harshly sent off and this is where Schuster displayed his lack of acumen by taking off Higuain (rightly) but bringing on Mahamadou Diarra in what turned out to be a disastrous decision.

Diarra is not a right back and Mallorca quickly capitalised on that and got the equaliser from ex Real Madrid player, Borja Valero. He then realised his error and brought on Miguel Torres who is a right back and should have been brought on in the 1st place to replace Sneijder.

Then in the most bizarre substitution of all he took off his leading scorer Raul and brought on Julio Baptista and really Mallorca should have won the game in the last minute when their leading scorer, Daniel Guiza missed an absolute sitter.

Would Barcelona take advantage of this loss of 2 points by Real Madrid? Of course not! Not while Frank Rijkaard keeps matching Schuster for ineptitude with his stranger decision to keep playing Thierry Henry on the left, Samuel Etoo on the right and Bojan Krkic in the middle.

Bojan is far away the smallest of the 3, the least experienced and the one with the least amount of goals but Rijkaard still persists in playing his as the centre forward.

Obviously Barcelona struggled to a 0-0 draw against a Getafe side that expended a lot of energy in their excellent 1-1 draw on Thursday against German giants, Bayern Munich in the UEFA cup.

It is no wonder that everyone seems bemused in the Barcelona squad when players are continually played out of position.

The saddest part is neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona were made to pay for their results as 2nd placed team, Villiareal lost at Sevilla by 2-0 with goals by Luis Fabiano and a Freddy Kanoute penalty.

Everton and Tottenham Hotspurs, last night joined a long list of English teams that have fallen by the way side through penalty shootout.

In an incredible and dramatic night of football, the 2 teams actually got the same reverse results that they suffered in the 1st leg.

Tottenham had lost at home to PSV Eindhoven by a goal to nil and needed to win in Holland to stand any chance of going through and they played very well, creating lots of chances but unfortunately could only take 1 of them.

They scored late in the second half through their talisman Dimitar Bebatov as he finished off a good cross with a crisp volley.

In the penalty shootout, Spurs only needed to score their 5th penalty to win the tie as they had scored their previous 4 whilst PSV’s Danko Lazovic had his penalty saved by Paul Robinson.

It then came down to Jermaine Jenas to put Spurs through but his penalty was too casual and a very good height for Huerelho Gomes to make the save. Paul Robinson did try his best to put PSV through as he kept on diving before the kick was even taken making it so easy for the penalty taker to score.It came down to sudden death and Pascal Chimbonda put his penalty wide to put PSV through to the ¼ finals.

In the other tie involving an English side, Everton managed to claw back a 2 goal deficit from the 1st leg as they won by the exact score.

Everton knew they had to win by 2 clear goals or more and that is what they set out to do from the off. They were aided by an anaemic display from their guests as Fiorentina offered very little resistance in the middle of the pack and in forward positions leaving the defence to absorb so much pressure and to be fair Sebastian Frey, Alessandro Gamberini and to a lesser extent captain Dainelli did excel.

Andrew Johnson put the home side in front with a lucky deflection of his chest and in the 2nd half, Mikel Arteta made it 2-0 with a very good shot that cannoned of the post to go in.

Fiorentina created very little chances and it says more about the standard of the Italian league these days that a side like theirs that showed very little heart especially in the midfield can be 4th in the table.

Pablo Osvaldo and Giampaolo Pazzini were embarrassing in the striking positions as they just kept falling down with any hint of contact and their hold up play was just abysmal.

Everton are not the most creative side in the world and Arteta apart they have no creativity whatsoever but they still managed with very little effort to turn defence into attack with Fiorentina’s midfield being non-existent.

The game went to penalties and whilst Fiorentina scored all of theirs, Yakubu Aiyegbeni and Phil Jagielka missed and had his saved by Frey respectfully.

It remains to be seen if Bolton would go to Sporting Lisbon and draw 1-1 and then lose out on penalties.

In the other ties, Bayern Munich lost at home 2-1 to Anderlecht but won through 6-2 on aggregate. Bayer Leverkusen lost 3-2 to fellow Bundesliga side Hamburg but went through on away goals scored with the tie at 3-3. Zenith Petersburg defeated Marseilles 2-0 on the night and also went through on away goals scored with the tie at 3-3. Getafe beat Benfica 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.

Outright Odds: 250/1

Group E Winners: 12/1

After winning four African Cup of Nations titles and producing players of the calibre of Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah, the Black Stars have qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in 10 attempts, stretching back to 1962.

Despite being a force in African football between the 1960s and 1980s, qualification for the World Cup was never a serious exercise and more recently the country suffered from poor management both on and off the pitch to scupper their attempts to reach the 1994, 1998 and 2002 finals.

However, this problem was eradicated under new manager Ratomir Dujkovic. The Serbian took over in December 2004 after Portuguese coach Mariano Barreto quit four months earlier. Dujkovic enjoyed success with Rwanda, leading a team dubbed as no hopers to their first African Cup of Nations finals in 2004.

His influence was clear as Ghana won four of their five remaining qualifying fixtures, including a 2-0 away victory over South Africa and eventually topping their group by five points at the expense of the Bafana Bafana.

Where Ghana excel is in midfield. Chelsea’s Michael Essien is a key player for his country and has also shone at club level, despite criticism of his £24.4 million price tag imposed by former club Lyon. They are captained by left-footed Stephen Appiah who now plys his trade at Turkish outfit Fenerbahce following eight seasons in Italy with Udinese, Parma, Brescia and Juventus. Sulley Muntari also brings with him Serie A experience as he is currently on the books at Udinese.

Ghana have been boosted in defence by the return of Roma centre half Samuel Kuffor. The former Bayern Munich defender was out of favour following a dispute with the coach but since apologising he is back in contention. Even without him Ghana boasted a mean defence, conceding just four goals in 10 qualifying matches, the least of any African nation.

Despite a strong setup, Ghana go into their World Cup group as the unfancied outsiders which could work to their advantage. They are pitted against one of the tournament favourites in Italy on their opening match so there is no real pressure for them. The team have gelled well under Dujkovic and are capable of causing an opening match upset.

Beyond that they could struggle as they lack players with a true cutting edge in attack. The responsibility will be on Vitesse’s Matthew Amoah and Modena’s 20-year old striker Gyan Asamoah.

Recommended Bet:

Ghana are capable of catching out slow-starters Italy in their first match and qualifying from the group would be a major success. Further tough games against the Czech Republic and USA could see the Black Stars narrowly miss out.

Ghana to beat Italy @ 5/1

Peter Schmeichel was born on November 18, 1963 in Gladsaxe, Denmark. He retired from playing football in April 2003.

Schmeichel is Denmark’s most capped player, with 129, retiring from international football in April 2001. At his peak he was arguably the world’s best goalkeeper. A charismatic keeper with presence and excellent shot-stopping skills, Schmeichel was one of the key members of the Danish national team which won Euro Cup 1992. He also represented his country at Euro Cup 1996, World Cup 1998 and Euro Cup 2000.

Schmeichel’s first played professionally for Hvidovre IF. He subsequently signed for Brondby. Manchester United bought him in 1991 for 550,000 pounds and he played for them for the most part of his career which he enjoyed great success. With United, Schmeichel won 5 FA Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups, the UEFA Champions League, and a League Cup. Well known for frequently shouting at defenders, especially Steve Bruce, although the two remain firm friends till now.

Peter Schmeichel’s finest moment came in 1999, when he won the Treble (the Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League), while captaining the team in the Champions League final on May 26, 1999 against Bayern Munich, which turns out to be his last game for the club. Schmeichel later moved to Sporting Lisbon, where he won the Portuguese league title in 1999/2000, then returned to the Premiership to Aston Villa in 2001/2. His last season was for Manchester City during the 2002/3 season.

He has a son, Kasper Schmeichel, who also plays as goalkeeper for Manchester City and was called up for the Danish U-19 squad in August 2003. Today Peter has a career working as a pundit for the BBC.