Tuesday, 30 December 08, 01:56 PM
Comparisons with the great Zinedine Zidane may be a little premature for 18 year-old attacking midfielder Sofiane Feghouli, however, the Grenoble player already has a lengthy list of clubs
chasing him that even the great Zizou would be proud of.
The majority of Europe’s elite sides are represented in the hunt for the French U-21 international, with Liverpool, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Barcelona amongst a clutch of clubs chasing the
highly regarded young talent.
It seems that these teams will have to wait until the summer before a bidding war begins for the Paris-born star as he revealed to 10Sport that he is not prepared to leave the south-east
of France before the summer.
“I want to finish the season with Grenoble and do my best to help the club continue in Ligue 1,” he explained. “Personally, I’d like to stay in France. That is my priority. I don’t want to go
abroad to be regarded as a player well down the order and rarely play. I need game time and I will leave my advisor to handle these things. For the moment, nothing is concrete.”
The news that Feghouli is receptive to a move to one of Ligue 1’s bigger sides is sure to alert the likes of Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique de Marseille and even hometown club Paris
Saint-Germain, all of whom would surely like an additional player of Feghouli’s quality amongst their ranks.
Thursday, 04 December 08, 02:09 PM
10) Inacio Pia (Napoli) – A very gifted Brazilian frontman, who seems to light up pre-season year after year but then, for one reason or another, is just shifted aside when the campaign
starts. This has happened once again this time around, as faced by the competition of Ezequiel Lavezzi, German Denis and Marcelo Zalayeta, Inacio Pia has been afforded just two Serie A starts,
as well as five substitute cameos.
9) Franco Semioli (Fiorentina) – Was a feature of the Italy national team squad for a short while under Roberto Donadoni, and is perhaps best remembered for starting against France in a 3-1
Euro 2008 qualifying defeat in Paris. Last season he was a regular for Fiorentina, but this term he has been completely frozen out, making just four appearances. Has been linked with a January
move to Roma.
8) Nicolae Dica (Catania) – An extremely talented playmaker, who was tipped for great things earlier in his career. The 28-year-old finally left his homeland of Romania this summer to
join Catania, but his time in Sicily has been nothing short of a disaster. He has played just twice in Serie A, one of these from the beginning, and it has already been announced that he will
be allowed to leave in January.
7) Bosko Jankovic (Genoa) - The Serbian was rated as one of the best young talents in Europe when he joined Palermo from Mallorca last summer, however he struggled to settle in Sicily,
and was hoping that a loan move to Genoa at the end of August would kick-start his Italian career. However, it has been much of the same this season for the 24-year-old attacking midfielder, as
he has appeared just once from the start, and four times from the bench.
6) Giampaolo Pazzini (Fiorentina) – Famously became the first player to score a hat-trick at the new Wembley Stadium in 2006/07, playing for the Italy Under-21 team against England.
Following this game, Pazzini was hailed by many as the future of the Azzurri attack, but his development has stalled, if not regressed. Last year he was often kept out of the team by veteran
Christian Vieri, and this season he has barely got a sniff following the signing of Alberto Gilardino. Will surely consider leaving for the benefit of his career – Roma, Lazio, Sampdoria and
Atalanta have all been linked.
5) Pablo Osvaldo (Fiorentina) – Yet another of the wasted Fiorentina brigade, which just shows how much unused attacking talent there is at the Stadio Franchi. Osvaldo scored some
crucial goals last season, including a brilliant bicycle kick winner on the final day at Torino that secured La Viola Champions League football. His reward has been a nice cosy place on the
substitutes bench. The 22-year-old has made just six appearances, two of these starts.
4) Victor Obinna (Inter) – This player has no one to blame but himself. Obinna was so desperate to leave Chievo this summer that he accepted a move to a place which was so full of
attackers that they are literally growing out of the Stadio Meazza pitch. A loan move to Everton fell through on the last minute of deadline day, and the result was Obinna keeping Hernan Crespo
company on the bench. The Nigerian is one of Africa’s best young players, and he illustrated just how talented he is during a rare substitute appearance at Roma where he scored a rocket of a
goal.
3) Andriy Shevchenko (Milan) – There are some people who believe that Shevchenko will still make a partial success of his return to Milan, and I will not completely rule it out. However,
from what we have seen so far, this is looking unlikely. Although Sheva has featured heavily in the UEFA Cup, he has barely been given a chance in Serie A, with just one start against Genoa
(during which he was hauled off at half time), and six substitute scraps.
2) Hernan Crespo (Inter) – Another former goal machine who has not hit the back of the net this season. Crespo has made just three brief substitute appearances in Serie A, and was
humiliatingly left off Jose Mourinho’s squad list for the Group Stages of the Champions League. If I have done my Maths correctly, Crespo has appeared on the pitch for just 78 minutes this
campaign. A possible move to Real Madrid awaits during the transfer window.
1) Sebastian Giovinco (Juventus) – There was only ever going to be one winner in this contest – Sebastian Giovinco. The 21-year-old fantasista has been hailed by many as the future of
Italian football, and the heir at Juventus to legendary symbol Alessandro Del Piero. Unfortunately, it appears as if coach Claudio Ranieri is doing his very best to compromise the starlet’s
development. Giovinco has started just twice in Serie A, as well as making four paltry substitute appearances, often in the closing moments in games. Even when Juve have had little to play for,
such as during the match with Zenit in midweek, Ranieri has still opted to let Giovinco rot on the bench. The youngster is now said to be seriously considering his future with the Bianconeri.
Sunday, 30 November 08, 01:54 PM
Sunday, 30 November 08, 01:44 PM
Tottenham Hotspur are set to make an audacious bid for Arsenal defender William Gallas, if a report in the Sunday Mirror is to be believed.
The paper claims that Gallas’s future remains unclear after recent events, which have seen him stripped of the club's captaincy and dropped for the game against Manchester City.
Although the defender has since regained his place in the team and looks set to play for the Gunners today against Chelsea, the Mirror suggests that he will shortly depart the Emirates, possibly as early as the January transfer window.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is reportedly prepared to offer Gallas a way out of Arsenal in a move that is likely to rile both sets of supporters and echo Sol Campbell’s switch when he left Spurs to join Arsenal back in 2001.
Gallas never appears to be far away from controversy at the moment having hit the headlines recently after comments made about his team mates riled manager Arsene Wenger and led to him losing the Arsenal captaincy.
Last season the defender’s actions also caused much debate in a match against Birmingham City when Gallas refused to watch a penalty taken against his side and staged his own personal ‘sit in’ after the final whistle.
The centre-back also left Chelsea amid reported accusations that he would score an own goal if he remained at Stamford Bridge and should ensure he receives a hot welcome when he returns to West London this afternoon.
Of course Spurs manager Redknapp has experience of the friction caused when leaving a club to join their local rivals.
The 61-year-old left his role in charge of Portsmouth to join Southampton back in 2004 before moving back to Pompey after a year at St Mary’s and may therefore have no qualms about asking Gallas to swap North London clubs.
Sunday, 30 November 08, 01:44 PM
"Tevez said 'yes' to Madrid...for next season," trumpeted Spanish sports daily Marca.
According to the newspaper - known for publishing stories that advance whatever agenda Real Madrid are interested in pursuing at any given time - a deal between Los Merengues and the Argentine
international has already been signed.
It is certainly true that Real Madrid are desperate to bring in reinforcements for their depleted attack, with Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy - another ex-Manchester United star - ruled out
for at least six months with a right knee injury suffered in the Champions League defeat by Juventus in October.
It has also been speculated - though denied by United boss Sir Alex Ferguson - that the Red Devils would be willing to offload Tevez rather than bite the bullet of buying his expensive contract
from the MSI agency that 'owns' him, especially as Ferguson seems to have settled on Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov, when both are fit, as his regular starting strike force.
However, that does not necessarily mean that Marca have put the two situations together and come up with the right answer.
Madrid are currently fourth in La Liga, five points behind leaders Barcelona.
Saturday, 22 November 08, 03:58 PM
Arshavin is the most likely player to sign for real madrid this summer transfer window.He has declared his decision of moving to a big club as soon as possible.Crespo is also an another candidate but this reamins unlikely ,especially considering Nerazurri coach Jose Mourinho's unwillingness to let hin go.
Monday, 17 November 08, 03:26 PM
At first only i m gonna tell u that this is not related to futbol.
It is about a trip we went on this Sunday. We went on hiking or one day trekking. That place was near the capital city of our country nepal. we walked for 10 hours. we started walking at about 9 am and finally returned at about 7 pm. it was a great fun(better than playin football). our skool took us for the hikking.
our destination was 6 to 7 km ahead of us which was at the altitude of more than 7,800 meter. we will be again going for trekking at the end of december. it will be more adventerous than this one day trek.
Nepal is one of the greatest place..
I Love My Country :)
Saturday, 01 November 08, 03:14 PM
Saturday, 01 November 08, 01:25 AM
Saturday, 01 November 08, 01:04 AM
From the nominations provided by FIFPro, who would have been in your World XI?
Nominees (teams played for last season)
Goalkeepers:
Artur Boruc [Poland/ Celtic]; Gianluigi Buffon [Italy/ Juventus]; Iker Casillas [Spain/ Real Madrid]; Petr Cech [Czech Republic/ Chelsea], Edwin van der Sar [Holland/ Manchester United].
Defenders:
Daniel Alves [Brazil/ Sevilla]; José Bosingwa [Portugal/ FC Porto]; Fabio Cannavaro [Italy/ Real Madrid]; Ricardo Carvalho [Portugal/ Chelsea]; Gaël Clichy [France, Arsenal]; Ashley Cole
[England/ Chelsea]; Patrice Evra [France/ Manchester United]; Rio Ferdinand [England/ Manchester United]; Philipp Lahm [Germany/ Bayern Munich]; Ferreira Lucio [Brazil/Bayern Munich]; Paolo
Maldini [Italy/ AC Milan]; Alessandro Nesta [Italy/ AC Milan]; Pepe [Portugal/ Real Madrid]; Carles Puyol [Spain/ Barcelona]; Sergio Ramos [Spain/ Real Madrid]; John Terry [England/ Chelsea];
Nemanja Vidic [Serbia/ Manchester United]; Gianluca Zambrotta [Italy/ Barcelona]; Javier Zanetti [Argentina/ Inter]; Yuri Zhirkov [Russia/ CSKA Moscow].
Midfielders:
Deco [Portugal/ Barcelona]; Michael Ballack [Germany/ Chelsea]; Michael Essien [Ghana/ Chelsea]; Gennaro Gattuso [Italy/ AC Milan]; Cesc Fabregas [Spain/ Arsenal]; Steven Gerrard [England/
Liverpool; Andrès Iniesta [Spain/ Barcelona]; Kaká [Brazil/ AC Milan]; Frank Lampard [England/ Chelsea]; Javier Mascherano [Argentina/ Liverpool]; Andrea Pirlo [Italy/ AC Milan]; Franck Ribery
[France/ Bayern Munich]; Marcos Senna [Spain/ Villareal]; Wesley Sneijder [Holland/ Real Madrid]; Xavi [Spain/ Barcelona].
Forwards:
Andrei Arshavin [Russia/ Zenit St Petersburg]; Dimitar Berbatov [Bulgaria/ Tottenham Hotspur]; Didier Drogba [Ivory Coast/ Chelsea]; Samuel Eto'o [Cameroon/ Barcelona]; Thierry Henry [France/
Barcelona]; Zlatan Ibrahimovic [Sweden/ Inter]; Lionel Messi [Argentina/ Barcelona]; Ruud van Nistelrooy [Holland/ Real Madrid]; Ronaldinho [Brazil/ Barcelona]; Cristiano Ronaldo [Portugal/
Manchester United]; Wayne Rooney [England/ Manchester United]; Carlos Tévez [Argentina/ Manchester United]; Luca Toni [Italy/ Bayern Munich]; Fernando Torres [Spain/ Liverpool]; David Villa
[Spain/ Valencia].
Here is the official World XI according to FIFPro:
On Pick Your World XI