Kaka, Iraq Emerge winners

LONDON - AC Milan star Kaka looks set to collect a sweep of player of the year awards after scooping more than 50 per cent of the votes in the annual poll conducted by the respected magazine World Soccer, whose readers also gave Iraq the team prize. Kaka, who is the hot favourite to pick up the FIFA player of the year award on Monday and already won European soccer's Golden Ball, finished way ahead of his rivals in a poll of the magazine's readers.

The Brazilian received 52.8 per cent of the votes ahead of Barcelona's Lionel Messi (17.6) and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo (16.0). Messi won the young player award ahead of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas.

The biggest surprise in the poll was Iraq winning the vote for world team of the year.

Winner of the Asian Cup in July, the Iraqi team not only overcame stronger teams but also achieved the triumph against a background of chaos and tragedy back home in its war-torn country.

Iraq edged Milan, which won the Champions League for its seventh triumph in European soccer's most prestigious competition, with two-time UEFA Cup winner Sevilla a distant third.

Manchester United's Alex Ferguson captured the coach of the year award after leading the Red Devils to their ninth Champions League title in 15 years. Ferguson edged Juande Ramos, who won back-to-back UEFA Cup titles with Sevilla before moving on to Tottenham.

Ronaldo double lifts Man U

Cristiano Ronaldo made up for missing out in the European Footballer of the Year award by scoring both the goals as Manchester United moved to within three points of leaders Arsenal with a 2-0 win against Fulham at Old Trafford on Monday.

Ronaldo who was overlooked in favor of Ac Milan’s Brazilian forward Kaka for the Ballon d’Or award that was announced on Sunday, proved too good for Fulham, who saw their woeful Premiership away record stretch to 24 games without victory as Sir Alex Ferguson’s team cruised to the win.

United had allowed themselves to fall off the Premiership pace by losing 1-0 at Boltan in their last league outing and nothing but three points against Fulham would do for the champions with Arsenal stretching their lead to six points with a weekend victory at Aston Villa.

Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez should have hit a hatrick during that period as three golden chances fell into his path, but the former West Ham forward failed to take any of them.

Where Tevez was wasteful, however, Ronaldo was lethal and Portugal International gave United the lead on ten minutes with a thunderous volley that left Neimi completely helpless.

On the occasion, poor defending by Fulham unlocked the door for United. Lawrie Sanchez’s team failed to properly clear Ryan Giggs’s corner and the ball ultimately fell to Ronaldo on the edge of the six yard box after the flick-on from defender Nemanja Vidic.

Unmarked, Ronaldo simply lashed a right-foot volley into the roof of the net to put United ahead and claim his twelfth goal of the season.

Sanchez’s team could not hold out until the end of the game, though, and Ronaldo doubled United’s lead when he headed In John O’Shea’s cross from close range on 58 minutes.

MaClaren sacked

Steve MaClaren was sacked as England head coach today following their failure to qualify for Euro 2008, the football Association confirmed.

“The FA board unanimously decided to terminate MaClaren’s contract with immediate effect,” FA chairman Geoff Thompson told a news conference. The FA said it has also terminated the contract of assistant coach Terry Venables.

England miss Euro ’08 bus

England hopes of a place in Euro 2008 finals disappeared at Wembley yesterday when they lost 2-3 to Croatia after fighting back from conceding two early goals to pull level. Subsequently, head coach Steve MaClaren was sacked.
Instead of hanging to the point that would have secured their place in the tournament co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland, they conceded a third goal 13 minutes from time, allowing Russia to steal into second place in Group E and qualify with Croatia.
It was the first time since 1984 that England missed out on the European Championship finals and the first time since the 1994 World Cup that they failed to qualify for a major tournament.
Former England captain David Beckham, a second-half substitute said, “This is a big setback, not just for the players but the nation… We have to show the English way which is to fight back.”
The home crowd was stunned after eight minutes when Scott Carson, controversially chosen in goal after making his debut in a friendly only last week, allowed a speculative shot by Niko Kranjcar to skid off him and into the net, and it looked all over when Ivica Olic doubled the lead six minutes later.
England pulled level with a 56th-minute Frank Lampard penalty followd by a great goal by striker Peter Crouch, who expertly controlled a cross from half-time substitute Beckham before volleying the equalizer.
Croatia, though, continued to look dangerous and won it in the 77th-minute when substitute Mladen Petric lashed in a shot from the edge of the box.
The Croatians will be among the second seeds when the draw for the finals is made in Lucerne, Switzerland on December 2.

Bolton hold Bayern Munich 2-2

Struggling Bolton Wanderers held European soccer aristocrats Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw in UEFA Cup Group F on Thursday. Bolton, second from the bottom in the English Premier League , shocked Bayern with an eight minute opener in Munich, the first goal in five years for defender Ricardo Gardner.
Bayern, 9past winners of four European Cups, a cup Winner’s Cup and a UEFA Cup, replied with goals from Germany striker Lukas Podolski either side of half time.
But Kevin Davies made it a night to savour for new coach Gary Megson with an 82nd minute strike against the run of play.
Bayern stay on top of the group with four points from two games.
Aris Salonika jumped to second after beating Red Star Belgrade 3-0 and Bolton are third a point behind.

Arsenal Face Action

Three season ticket holders at English Premier League side Arsenal claim the club could be in breach of contract for allegedly allowing racist chanting at their stadium, a report said. The Independent newspaper said the trio had written to the club chairman, claiming that the use of the words “Yid” and “Yiddos” to refre to fans of Tottenham Hotspur broke human right laws.

Man U, Arsenal advance

Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have very little nice to say to each other and little in common but for once they shared the headlines for the right reasons as Manchester United and Arsenal became the first clubs to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Their means of qualifying like their managers, couldn’t have been more contrasting as united whipped once proud Ukrainian outfit Dynamo Kiev 4-0 , while a second-string Arsenal side drew 0-0 away yesterday at Slavia Prague – a team they trounced 7-0 a fortnight ago.

Gerard Pique nodded United ahead with his first goal for the club and Carlos Tevez scored his first in the Champions League after a darting run hand one-two with Wayne Rooney.

Record Win for Liverpool

English giants Liverpool registered a record win in he Champions League group stage, thrashing sorry Besiktas 8-0 in their clash at Anfield.
“The Reds” showed no stage fright whatsoever in a must-win match as led by a hat-trick by Yossi Benayoun, they trod all over a side they lost to a fortnight ago and kept themselves in with a fighting chance of making it to the knockout stage.
While Benayoun took the scoring honors of the night’s Champions League action, the seemingly ageless 34-yr old Italian forward Filippo Inzaghi went level with Gerd “Das Bomber” Muller in the history of the European cup scoring charts as his double in the 3-0 away win for AC Milan over Ukrainian outfit Shakthar Donetsk liftem him to 62 goals.

Arsenal Stay Unbeaten

Willam Gallas scored a injury-time equalizer for Arsenal to draw 2-2 with Manchester United and stay unbeaten in the English Premier League.

Gallas’ shot crossed the line before it was pushed out by Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin ven der Sar, with the linesman awarding the goal.

“The referee interrupted the game and I thought he had given a free kick against us because the wall was in,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 83^rd minute to give Manchester United 2-1 lead, Gallas had scored an own goal in first-half injury time before Arsenal leveled through Cesc Fabregas in the 48^th.

Arsenal stay on top on goals scored with 27 points – the same as United – but the Gunners have played one game less.

Chelsea, Arsenal in League Cup quarters

Frank Lampard scored his third goal in injury time to give defending champion Chelsea a 4-3 victory over Leicester in the League Cup Wednesday, while Arsenal also moved into the quarter finals of England’s second-tier cup competition with a 3-0 win at Sheffield United.
Chelsea trailed twice against Leicester, but Andriy Shevchenko and Lampard both scored in the last three minutes for the victory.

Arsenal on top after draw with Liverpool

Arsenal regained first place in the Premier League thanks to a Cesc Fabregas equalizer in an entertaining 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield. The Gunners trailed to Steven Gerrard’s seventh-minute free kick but the inspirational Fabregas stole in with 10 minutes remaining to give the visitors a deserved share of the points.

Arsenal have 26 points from 10 matches while champions Manchester United, 4-1 winners at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday, also have 26 from 11 but have scored fewer goals.

Liverpool are sixth with 20 points from 10.

Liverpool and Arsenal, both undefeated in the league this season, served up a treat in the weekend’s outstanding fixture which was seen as a major test of Arsenal’s credentials.

The home side, looking to hit back from a damaging 2-1 Champions League defeat by Besiktas on Wednesday, made a stirring start with Gerrard forcing a fine early save from goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.

A minute later, they went ahead when Gerrard’s fierce free kick from the edge of the area flew through a hole in the Arsenal wall into the bottom left corner.

Gerrard stung Almunia’s fingers with another shot soon after but Arsenal, seeking a 13th consecutive victory in all competitions, hogged possession for the rest of the half with their fluent passing game forcing Liverpool deep.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez sent Crouch for the injured Fernando Torres after the break and the giant striker forced a great save from Almunia and then missed narrowly with another chance.

Fabregas wasted a glorious chance to equalize after 53 minutes when Emmanuel Eboue’s low shot hit the base of the post and rebounded to him but he fired wide with the goal gaping.

He made amends with 10 minutes remaining however, running on to Alexandr Hleb’s astute pass before toe-poking a shot pass Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina yesterday.

Fabregas then hit the post with a curling effort and William Gallas went close as Arsenal went for the victory in a breathless finish.

Kroos sees Bayern home

Teenager Toni Kroos scored in injury time to give Bayern Munich a 3-2 win over Red Star Belgrade on the opening night of the UEFA Cup group stage.
Kroos, a 17-yr-old midfielder, scored with a freekick after Miroslav Klose had twice equalised for Bayern Munich.
Bayern is one of the favorites to win the UEFA Cup, which it claimed in 1996. But after that trophy, the four-time European Champion played in the European Champions League for ten straight seasons and only dropped into Europe's No 2 competition beacuse it finished fourth in the German league last season.
Red star led in the 16th minute with a low shot from Ognjen Koroman, and Nenad Milijas put the Serbian side ahead 2-1 in the 74th minute with a long -range half volley. Klose equalised in the 84th with a header and also scored in the 20th from a rebound.
Red star defender Milos Bajalica was red-carded in injury time and Kroos scored from the resulting freekick.
Bayern, playing without Martin Demichelis, Franck Ribery, Luca Toni and Daniel van Buyten, had difficulty controlling the game on the slippery and difficult field at the Red Star Stadium.

Didier Drogba Shows His Class

Didier Drogba let his actions speak louder than words as he fired Chelsea to a 2-0 win at Middlebrough.
Drogba dropped a bombshell this week by revealing he is determined to leave the London club because the squad's morale had been shattered by Jose's Mourinho's departure.
But Chelsea manager Avram Grant kept faith with the Ivory Coast striker at the Riverside Stadium and got the perfect response, with Drogba laying the foundations for the team's third successive win yesterday.
It took drogba just eight minutes to show Chelsea what they would be missing if he did leave. He collected Frank Lampard's pass and drove a perfectly placed shot past Mark Schwarzer for the third goal of the season.

Aggressive Kuyt Strikes Again

Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt's stoppage time penalty snatched a dramatic 2-1 win over nine man Everton in the 206th Merseyside derby.
Kuyt had already scored from the spot once at Goodison Park to cancel out Sami Hyppia's first half own goal and he held his nerve again to get Rafa Benitez's team back on track.

Man U back in second spot

Wayne Rooney scored twice as Manchester United stormed back into second place with a 4-1 win at nine=man Aston Villa.
Gabriel Agbonlahor had given Villa a 12th minute when he added in Ashley Young's cross. But Zat Knight gifted United an equalizer soon after when he let Nani's low cross run through to Rooney who tapped in.
Then Rooney notched his fourth united goal in three games with fine low strike before Craig Gardner turned Rio Ferdinand's header into his own net just before half time.

Aston Villa Successful Run Countinues

Aston Villa beat West Ham 1-0 in Saturday’s other match, though a Craig Gardner free kick in the 24^th minute. It was villa’s fourth successive home win.

Manchester United hit top spot

Champions Manchester United went top of the premier League for the first time this season when they scored four times in the second half to crush Wigan Athletic 4-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday. Two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and one each from Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney secured United’s sixth successive league win without conceding a goal and took them above Arsenal into first place.

England in jeopardy As John Terry Misses Euro Qualifiers

The next coming days could well be the most outlining moment in Steve McClaren’s career as the national coach of the England football unit. England might have retrieved somewhat in the otherwise shaking Euro 2008 qualifiers last month when they won two matches against Israel and Russia at Wembley but Saturday’s match with Estonia and the mega clash against Russia in Moscow on Wednesday will bring to conclusion England's chances in the qualification campaign.

But the non-existence of England captain and legend defender John Terry from the Estonia game could well prove to be the crucial factor. The Chelsea captain was found uncomfortable during a training session on Wednesday and has been ruled out of Saturday’s crucial game with a knee injury. Terry is also likely to stay on the bench when England travel to Moscow to play Russia in decisive Group E clash

Sheva misses, Chelsea in jinx for the Cup finale

Only a couple of days result in a dreadful nightmare for the Blues (versus Arsenal that ended in a draw) that witnessed the double Premiership Champions lose the title to Manchester United, failing to seize the title for the third time in a row – here comes another massive blow for Mourinho and his co mates.



Chelsea renowned striker Andriy Shevchenko will be subjected to a hernia operation today and is likely to miss the FA Cup final. The surgery was scheduled to take place at the end of the season but due to reoccurring pain – Chelsea’s medical department and staff has rescheduled it.

He may have certain advantage with the Portuguese boss at Stamford Bridge but when it comes to the skill on field and the talent to convert for the cause - the multi million-dollar – Ukrainian power packed house is a true phenomenon in soccer. However, Chelsea is sure to cry at its fate now.

Majority think that Sheva has had a disappointing debut campaign in English football – as the Ukrainian international has struggled to find the correct rhythm and passion that the striker had shown in Serie A. Certainly, it isn’t the new instance of the sort – English football league is the most challenging and demanding league in world football today and perhaps that’s what has kept it at the peak when it comes to the major European titles and this is the reason that majority struggle to find the effective pace early in England.

The injury had kept Andriy Shevchenko isolated from the squad for the last two matches that the Blues played – and unluckily, for them both coasting on important junctures (one the finals place in the Champions League and the other is the Premiership title).

His non-existence in the last decisive game of the season for Chelsea at the newly originated Wembley Stadium is surely a big blow for the chelsea club and the loss means Blues will rely a huge amount on its Sheva’s strike partner Didier Drogba in the FA Cup final.

UEFA to examine Dida catastrophe

It’s not that unfamiller to recognize fans running onto the football pitch to get at opposition players. Indeed, incidents such as fans charging on to physically assault the payers have become quite common in Argentina and even Italy in current years. Horrifying as the entire phenomenon may seem, it’s an almost unnecessary part of the football culture.

But it’s strictly forbidden by FIFA rules, whether for bad or for good, that a player paybacks whenever such incidents occur. A footballer is said to maintain the decency, decorum and sportsmanship spirit during a football match.

In this context AC Milan goalkeeper Dida’s shameful and truly bizarre act to follow the Glasgow Celtic fan who hit him during the side’s UEFA Champions League clash last week is against the law. It was his flair towards the fan and then the dramatic collapse that has forced UEFA to initiate an investigation into the fiasco and even a charge has been leveled both at Dida and AC Milan.

What happened on Wednesday evening at Celtic Park would go down into the annals of football history as an occurrence worthy of being selected for an Oscar. Immediate to the eventual winning goal for Celtic scored by Scott McDonald deep into injury time, a Celtic fan rushed onto the pitch and hit Dida. The Milan goalkeeper then gave chase but after moments later fell onto the football feild like parchment. Then a sustitute was sent for him.

The Celtic fan has since been forbidden for life although the Scottish club’s website refused to recognize the culprit. Dida’s role in the incident has been higly ridiculed by the football fans and this time UEFA has decided to open disciplinary hearing against the 34-year old Brazilian international.

Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti has defended his player and has asked for mercy. He says that Dida’s past record is clean and the one-off reckless act on Wednesday should be forgiven. Dida was also at the receiving side of a firecracker during Milan’s Champions League, quarter-final match against Inter Milan at the San Siro stadium in 2005.

UEFA’s investigation is on the creteria of Article 5 of its disciplinary rules and regulations. The step interpreted by UEFA, probe into the whole incident, is admirable, but it is likely that both Milan and Dida would be pardoned off with a rebuke and a few thousand dollars fine.

Steven Gerrard To Sign Fresh Liverpool Contract

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard said that he in short time of span is going to sign a new contract with the club, which would stretch out his current contract to another four years.

The 26-year-old England international has another two years to go on his contemporary contract but the club wanted to bind him in with an extension and Gerrard said he is ready. Gerrard’s keenness is quite understandable because the club is offering him a massive wage of £120,000!

Gerrard said

You know, I’m ready to sign anytime, as soon as the contract is put in front of me I’ll sign it.

The England midfielder had another astounding season for the club, leading Liverpool to their second Champions League final in three years.

Naturally, Liverpool’s fresh owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are cheerful with Gerrard’s decision and they are hoping that Gerrard would help Liverpool initiate a strong campaign for the Premiership title.