BBC Radio 5Live commentator Alan Green yesterday issued a sensational 'come-and-sack-me' plea while on air during England's rearranged World Cup qualifier in Warsaw.
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Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Thursday, 4 October 2012
England embroiled in insurance scam
The English FA today came under scrutiny as suspicious insurance-buying patterns were seen in San Marino and Poland ahead of the announcement of England's squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against those two nations.
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Yesterday at the Euros #9
What a turnaround.
A lot of people were backing Russia as outside bets for the championship and after thumping the Czech Republic 4-1 in their opening game, suddenly they weren't so far outside. A draw with Poland meant they went in against an abject Greece side only needing a draw even if the other game produced a winner. Goalless as the clock ticked on to 45 minutes, suddenly Giorgios Karagounis - who has scored once in the last two seasons at Panathinaikos and missed the penalty against Poland - found himself in space inside the box and fired one across the goal and inside the far post. Russia chucked everything at the Greeks, but for the first time in the competition, Greece found some defensive fortitude.
After two draws, Poland needed to win to progress and started brightly. But after the 20-minute mark it all fell apart. As if someone had thrown a switch, suddenly they were totally unable to keep hold of the ball in a Wrocslaw downpour. Having weathered that opening 20 minutes, the Czechs grew into the game and found the breakthrough half way through the second half, Petr Jiracek with a nice drag-back and measured finish. Poland pressed late on, but as time ticked down they were never likely to get the two they needed. But with Greece ahead in the other game, had they got one, both Poland and the Czechs would bow out. Tomas Sivok headed the one goal-bound effort - from Polish skipper Jakub Blaszczykowski - off the line in the dying stages.
Word had got to the Greeks in Warsaw that the Czechs had won as their game headed into stoppage time, sparking a minor celebration. A minute later, the whistle went for the final time in their game and the celebrations started for real. Czech Republic top the group on six. Greece come next, level on four with Russia, but ahead by virtue of the head-to-head record. Russia and Poland are out and, after one game in the group, that's pretty much completely backwards to what everyone thought. Also, you would not have this scenario in a 24-team competition which is what we'll have in four years time. As daft ideas go, that's one of UEFA's worst.
Today, Group B. Can the Netherlands pull off a similar great escape?
A lot of people were backing Russia as outside bets for the championship and after thumping the Czech Republic 4-1 in their opening game, suddenly they weren't so far outside. A draw with Poland meant they went in against an abject Greece side only needing a draw even if the other game produced a winner. Goalless as the clock ticked on to 45 minutes, suddenly Giorgios Karagounis - who has scored once in the last two seasons at Panathinaikos and missed the penalty against Poland - found himself in space inside the box and fired one across the goal and inside the far post. Russia chucked everything at the Greeks, but for the first time in the competition, Greece found some defensive fortitude.
After two draws, Poland needed to win to progress and started brightly. But after the 20-minute mark it all fell apart. As if someone had thrown a switch, suddenly they were totally unable to keep hold of the ball in a Wrocslaw downpour. Having weathered that opening 20 minutes, the Czechs grew into the game and found the breakthrough half way through the second half, Petr Jiracek with a nice drag-back and measured finish. Poland pressed late on, but as time ticked down they were never likely to get the two they needed. But with Greece ahead in the other game, had they got one, both Poland and the Czechs would bow out. Tomas Sivok headed the one goal-bound effort - from Polish skipper Jakub Blaszczykowski - off the line in the dying stages.
Word had got to the Greeks in Warsaw that the Czechs had won as their game headed into stoppage time, sparking a minor celebration. A minute later, the whistle went for the final time in their game and the celebrations started for real. Czech Republic top the group on six. Greece come next, level on four with Russia, but ahead by virtue of the head-to-head record. Russia and Poland are out and, after one game in the group, that's pretty much completely backwards to what everyone thought. Also, you would not have this scenario in a 24-team competition which is what we'll have in four years time. As daft ideas go, that's one of UEFA's worst.
Today, Group B. Can the Netherlands pull off a similar great escape?
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Yesterday at the Euros #5
From ITV's vantage point in Warsaw, you had a hint as to what was going on elsewhere in the city. Behind the assembled punditry team were lines of riot vans and tooled-up rozzers. On Russia's national day, somehow it managed to kick off ahead of Poland v Russia, not helped by the city authorities allowing a march by Russians through the streets of Warsaw. Perhaps they thought it better to allow this and contain it as best they can for fear of further stoking trouble, but 300 years of often bitter conflict between the two nations is always likely to overspill even when Russians aren't marching through the Polish capital and unfurling a huge banner inside the ground declaring 'This is Russia'. It was a busy night for police with over 100 arrests, water cannon and plastic bullets deployed. In short - what a mess.
There was some football too. Firstly, the Czech Republic beat Greece after coming flying out of the blocks and scoring two in the first five minutes. Firstly, a delicious Tomas Hubschmann through-ball met a well-timed diagonal run from Petr Jiracek who beat Kostas Chalkias easily. Theodor Gebre Selassie looks a tidy full-back and got forward to good effect shortly afterwards, his speculative ball across the six-yard line was not dealt with - or dealt with very badly - by both goalkeeper and two defenders. Vaclav Pilar squeezed between two and poked it in with his knee. And the cue pretty much went in the rack at that point. Greece were not good, but did get a lifeline from Petr Cech who fumbled a routine ball into the path of Theofanis Gekas who doesn't often spurn open goals. These mistakes have been becoming more common in Cech's game which has to be a worry for club and country. But the Czechs held out against Greece's pop-gun attack with little further alarm.
On the field, Russia and Poland served up a treat. End-to-end football throughout was highly enjoyable and a draw probably the right result. Alan Dzagoev got his third of the tournament, looping an Andrei Arshavin cross past Przemyslaw Tyton with his shoulder with ten minutes left in the first half. The equaliser came on the hour, Jakub Blaszczykowski curling an absolute beauty beyond the reach of Vyacheslav Malafeev. Perhaps there are signs of discord in the Polish camp though as Ludovic Obraniak was clearly miffed at being subbed off late on. Prior to the tournament, he'd been vocal in expressing the difficulties he and Damien Perquis - both French-born - were having in integrating into the side. Hopefully for Poland, it was just frustration and there are no underlying issues that resulted in Obraniak's bottle-kicking strop.
Russia lead the group on four points from the Czechs on three, Poland on two and Greece on one. Russia can only be eliminated if they lose to Greece and there is a winner in the Poland v Czech Republic game. A draw is enough for the Czechs in their last game - Poland need to win, no matter what happens elsewhere, as do Greece.
Today, it's group B and it could all be over if Denmark and Germany both win their games against Portugal and the Netherlands respectively.
There was some football too. Firstly, the Czech Republic beat Greece after coming flying out of the blocks and scoring two in the first five minutes. Firstly, a delicious Tomas Hubschmann through-ball met a well-timed diagonal run from Petr Jiracek who beat Kostas Chalkias easily. Theodor Gebre Selassie looks a tidy full-back and got forward to good effect shortly afterwards, his speculative ball across the six-yard line was not dealt with - or dealt with very badly - by both goalkeeper and two defenders. Vaclav Pilar squeezed between two and poked it in with his knee. And the cue pretty much went in the rack at that point. Greece were not good, but did get a lifeline from Petr Cech who fumbled a routine ball into the path of Theofanis Gekas who doesn't often spurn open goals. These mistakes have been becoming more common in Cech's game which has to be a worry for club and country. But the Czechs held out against Greece's pop-gun attack with little further alarm.
On the field, Russia and Poland served up a treat. End-to-end football throughout was highly enjoyable and a draw probably the right result. Alan Dzagoev got his third of the tournament, looping an Andrei Arshavin cross past Przemyslaw Tyton with his shoulder with ten minutes left in the first half. The equaliser came on the hour, Jakub Blaszczykowski curling an absolute beauty beyond the reach of Vyacheslav Malafeev. Perhaps there are signs of discord in the Polish camp though as Ludovic Obraniak was clearly miffed at being subbed off late on. Prior to the tournament, he'd been vocal in expressing the difficulties he and Damien Perquis - both French-born - were having in integrating into the side. Hopefully for Poland, it was just frustration and there are no underlying issues that resulted in Obraniak's bottle-kicking strop.
Russia lead the group on four points from the Czechs on three, Poland on two and Greece on one. Russia can only be eliminated if they lose to Greece and there is a winner in the Poland v Czech Republic game. A draw is enough for the Czechs in their last game - Poland need to win, no matter what happens elsewhere, as do Greece.
Today, it's group B and it could all be over if Denmark and Germany both win their games against Portugal and the Netherlands respectively.
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Yesterday at the Euros #1
(file this section under M for making a rod for my own back, but anyway....)
Day 1 of Euro 2012. Ahead of the opener, consensus said that opening games are boring. Not a bit of it. Poland came flying out of the blocks against Greece in the new national stadium in Warsaw (pause here to insert joke about restricted views because everywhere you're behind a Pole) with the impressive Robert Lewandowski heading home after 17 minutes. The controversial sending off of Sokratis Papastathopoulos gave Poland a numerical advantage, but Wojciech Szczesny conspired to give Greece parity on the scoreboard and on the field by messing up a routine bit of goalkeeping and then getting sent off. Przemyslaw Tyton's first touch of the ball in this tournament was palming away Giorgios Karagounis's penalty.
The second game saw Russia eviscerate the Czech Republic and, had Alexander Kerzhakov brought his shooting boots, it could/should have been half a dozen or more. Instead, profligacy in front of goal left the Czechs with a chance, especially after pegging it back to 2-1early in the second half, but with Alan Dzagoev and Andrei Arshavin pulling the strings, it finished 4-1. Russia were mightily impressive.
A good first day then, but all the talk about the two yellows Papastathopoulos picked up. The first might have been harsh, but once on a yellow, there has to be an awareness that another bookable offence is going to end with a red and a stupid little tug-back produced that very result. Cue much whinging about refereeing. There's a lesson in this, as there is in most things, in the lyrics of Half Man Half Biscuit, specifically the last verse of I Went To A Wedding (about 3.20 into the following clip). Bonus namecheck of Brad Friedel.
Tomorrow, Group B, the group with four of the world's top ten on current FIFA rankings, however much import you impart to those.
Day 1 of Euro 2012. Ahead of the opener, consensus said that opening games are boring. Not a bit of it. Poland came flying out of the blocks against Greece in the new national stadium in Warsaw (pause here to insert joke about restricted views because everywhere you're behind a Pole) with the impressive Robert Lewandowski heading home after 17 minutes. The controversial sending off of Sokratis Papastathopoulos gave Poland a numerical advantage, but Wojciech Szczesny conspired to give Greece parity on the scoreboard and on the field by messing up a routine bit of goalkeeping and then getting sent off. Przemyslaw Tyton's first touch of the ball in this tournament was palming away Giorgios Karagounis's penalty.
The second game saw Russia eviscerate the Czech Republic and, had Alexander Kerzhakov brought his shooting boots, it could/should have been half a dozen or more. Instead, profligacy in front of goal left the Czechs with a chance, especially after pegging it back to 2-1early in the second half, but with Alan Dzagoev and Andrei Arshavin pulling the strings, it finished 4-1. Russia were mightily impressive.
A good first day then, but all the talk about the two yellows Papastathopoulos picked up. The first might have been harsh, but once on a yellow, there has to be an awareness that another bookable offence is going to end with a red and a stupid little tug-back produced that very result. Cue much whinging about refereeing. There's a lesson in this, as there is in most things, in the lyrics of Half Man Half Biscuit, specifically the last verse of I Went To A Wedding (about 3.20 into the following clip). Bonus namecheck of Brad Friedel.
Tomorrow, Group B, the group with four of the world's top ten on current FIFA rankings, however much import you impart to those.
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Euro 2012 Goalkeepers yelling at defenders #37
Part one of our Euro 2012 previews via the medium of goalkeepers yelling at defenders, here we have a look at Poland.
Wojciech Szczesny
Grzegorz Sandomierski
Przemysław Tytoń
Not a bad selection by Franciszek Smuda. Plenty of variety, though Sandomierski needs to up his yelling. Leaving out the master shouter Artur Boruc may yet come back to haunt the Poles.
Wojciech Szczesny
Grzegorz Sandomierski
Przemysław Tytoń
Not a bad selection by Franciszek Smuda. Plenty of variety, though Sandomierski needs to up his yelling. Leaving out the master shouter Artur Boruc may yet come back to haunt the Poles.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Marking your card #9
As one door closes, another opens so the old saying goes. That's as true this week in football as it is in life.
The final round of Ligue 1 dominates Sunday and the cheeky upstarts of Montpellier need a point from a trip to Auxerre - already relegated - to seal a first ever championship. They may not even need that should PSG lose to Lorient, and with Lorient desperate for points to avoid relegation that can't be ruled out. Anyone from 12th-placed Valenciennes down are in a spot of bother. Ahead of Auxerre, Dijon are on 36 points, with Brest, Caen and Ajaccio two ahead of them and Sochaux, Lorient and Nice a point further clear. Valenciennes are on 40 and should be OK as it would take an extraordinary set of results to relegate them. The fixtures in this eight-way relegation battle are:
Evian v Brest
Lorient v PSG
Lyon v Nice
Sochaux v Marseille
Toulouse v Ajaccio
Valenciennes v Caen
Of the clubs in trouble, only VA and Caen face off directly. Their futures are in their own hands. Everyone else will have a radio pressed to the ear in the time-honoured fashion.
There were lots of cup finals in midweek - Basel completing a double in Switzerland and Fenerbahce thumping Bursaspor with a superb display in Turkey the picks - and more finals follow this weekend. The last two places in next season's Eredivisie are up for grabs as Willem II and Den Bosch - 0-0 in the first leg - and Helmond Sport and VVV - VVV lead 2-1 after the first - complete their ties. Vitesse, 3-1 up from the first leg, play RKC for the final Europa League place. Sporting CP and Académica contest the final of the Taca de Portugal, there's the Coppa Italia final between Juventus and Napoli - that should be a cracker - and Endinburgh rivals Hibernian and Hearts take part in the Scottish Cup final in Glasgow. There's also the small matter of the Champions League final. Bayern are at home to Chelsea, the game being played at the impressive Allianz Arena in Munich although without the usual number of Bayern fans, but both sides are missing key players through suspension. Bayern are the bookies favourites and by a fair chunk which is probably representative.
While all these competitions come to an end, the Brazilian national championship kicks off this weekend. After months of increasingly tedious and pointless state championships, Serie A gets underway. Two of the promoted clubs kick us off, Portuguesa away to Palmeiras and Sport Recife at home to Flamengo. Champions Corinthians start on Sunday at home to Fluminense, last year's runners-up Vasco da Gama are at home to Grêmio and favourites Santos are away to Bahia.
Elsewhere in South America, Newell's continue to lead in Argentina and take on third-placed Tigre this week. Boca, in third, are away to traditional rivals Racing Club. Universidad de Chile have lost the last two in the Primera División de Chile. They need to get back to winning ways and take on Huachipato, in seventh, this week. O'Higgins are poised to take advantage of any slip as they take on rock-bottom Cobresal.
England sees two particularly massive games at Wembley over the weekend. First up is the clash between West Ham and Blackpool for the chance to play in next season's Premier League. This will be hyped beyond all recognition as a consequence of so much money suddenly being made available to the winners, but no less important is the Conference play-off final for the right to play in the Football League. Former league sides York City and Luton Town are going for this one and while the numbers may be smaller, it's no less important for the two clubs. You lose funding for your youth teams after dropping out of the league and both have been down there a while - eight years in York's case - and getting back up is a big deal. They've played each other four times this season already, York winning three with one draw, but none of that will matter come 3pm on Sunday. That's where we're going. Come on York (impartiality be damned).
We will also have spies in Radom in Poland where Radomiak travel to take on neighbours Bron needing a win to secure promotion from the regional leagues to the national II Liga - the third tier of Polish football.
The final round of Ligue 1 dominates Sunday and the cheeky upstarts of Montpellier need a point from a trip to Auxerre - already relegated - to seal a first ever championship. They may not even need that should PSG lose to Lorient, and with Lorient desperate for points to avoid relegation that can't be ruled out. Anyone from 12th-placed Valenciennes down are in a spot of bother. Ahead of Auxerre, Dijon are on 36 points, with Brest, Caen and Ajaccio two ahead of them and Sochaux, Lorient and Nice a point further clear. Valenciennes are on 40 and should be OK as it would take an extraordinary set of results to relegate them. The fixtures in this eight-way relegation battle are:
Evian v Brest
Lorient v PSG
Lyon v Nice
Sochaux v Marseille
Toulouse v Ajaccio
Valenciennes v Caen
Of the clubs in trouble, only VA and Caen face off directly. Their futures are in their own hands. Everyone else will have a radio pressed to the ear in the time-honoured fashion.
There were lots of cup finals in midweek - Basel completing a double in Switzerland and Fenerbahce thumping Bursaspor with a superb display in Turkey the picks - and more finals follow this weekend. The last two places in next season's Eredivisie are up for grabs as Willem II and Den Bosch - 0-0 in the first leg - and Helmond Sport and VVV - VVV lead 2-1 after the first - complete their ties. Vitesse, 3-1 up from the first leg, play RKC for the final Europa League place. Sporting CP and Académica contest the final of the Taca de Portugal, there's the Coppa Italia final between Juventus and Napoli - that should be a cracker - and Endinburgh rivals Hibernian and Hearts take part in the Scottish Cup final in Glasgow. There's also the small matter of the Champions League final. Bayern are at home to Chelsea, the game being played at the impressive Allianz Arena in Munich although without the usual number of Bayern fans, but both sides are missing key players through suspension. Bayern are the bookies favourites and by a fair chunk which is probably representative.
While all these competitions come to an end, the Brazilian national championship kicks off this weekend. After months of increasingly tedious and pointless state championships, Serie A gets underway. Two of the promoted clubs kick us off, Portuguesa away to Palmeiras and Sport Recife at home to Flamengo. Champions Corinthians start on Sunday at home to Fluminense, last year's runners-up Vasco da Gama are at home to Grêmio and favourites Santos are away to Bahia.
Elsewhere in South America, Newell's continue to lead in Argentina and take on third-placed Tigre this week. Boca, in third, are away to traditional rivals Racing Club. Universidad de Chile have lost the last two in the Primera División de Chile. They need to get back to winning ways and take on Huachipato, in seventh, this week. O'Higgins are poised to take advantage of any slip as they take on rock-bottom Cobresal.
England sees two particularly massive games at Wembley over the weekend. First up is the clash between West Ham and Blackpool for the chance to play in next season's Premier League. This will be hyped beyond all recognition as a consequence of so much money suddenly being made available to the winners, but no less important is the Conference play-off final for the right to play in the Football League. Former league sides York City and Luton Town are going for this one and while the numbers may be smaller, it's no less important for the two clubs. You lose funding for your youth teams after dropping out of the league and both have been down there a while - eight years in York's case - and getting back up is a big deal. They've played each other four times this season already, York winning three with one draw, but none of that will matter come 3pm on Sunday. That's where we're going. Come on York (impartiality be damned).
We will also have spies in Radom in Poland where Radomiak travel to take on neighbours Bron needing a win to secure promotion from the regional leagues to the national II Liga - the third tier of Polish football.
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
TW3 #2
Needless to say, the footballing week was largely overshadowed by what happened to Fabrice Muamba at White Hart Lane. The news is good so far which comes as something of a relief to everyone, but it'll be a long road back and he'll need all the support he can get. Best of luck to him.
On with the actual football then...
Or not. Away fans were banned from attending Panathinaikos v Olympiakos after trouble flared at previous matches. It didn't stop trouble flaring. Indeed, running battles between fans and police and sections of the ground being set on fire caused the game to be abandoned. Yes, Panathinaikos fans setting fire to their own stadium. No, us neither. The big derby in Poland saw pretty much nothing happen except for a pair of bookings for Adam Kokoszka in a drab 0-0.
Juventus finally broke out of their run of draws, sticking five past Fiorentina who are now in real trouble at the bottom. Juve are still unbeaten, but with Milan winning again, there remains a four-point gap and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is short odds to make it nine league titles in a row, an utterly maddening statistic. Napoli came back from 2-0 down to snatch a draw with Udinese which, coupled wth Lazio's defeat to Catania, sees the three teams vying for third split by a single point.
There might yet be a title race in Spain, but it looks a long shot. Some routine Messi brilliance - one of those chips only he seems able to do - saw Barcelona ease past Sevilla and a late Santi Cazorla free-kick - and what a free-kick, goal of the week even - earned Málaga a draw at the Bernabéu. The gap is down to eight. Not exactly game on, but in the context of the season, about as exciting as it gets. Roberto Soldado's hat-trick saw Valencia beat Athletic who are finding it tough to back up after European games and Levante are back into that fourth Champions League spot this week.
Lyon won the big derby in France, a late Bafétimbi Gomis goal enough to beat St Etienne and leapfrog them in the chase for European football. However Toulouse leapt over them both with a win over Rennes the following day. Neither of the top two won, but Lille are still seven points behind second-placed Montpellier.
Wins for the top three in Portugal sees them remain split by a single point and it's all back on in Holland as AZ were held by NAC and Twente were beaten by Feyenoord. PSV hit five past Heerenveen who need to start taking points off the other top sides to stay in contention. Ajax are the form side with a fifth win on the bounce to beat ADO. Twente play their game in hand against De Graafschap this week.
Draws elsewhere in Argentina mean that Boca's victory over San Martín moves them to second, a point behind Tigre who drew with Estudiantes. In Primera B, River Plate had goals from David Trézéguet and Fernando Cavénaghi in a 3-0 win over Deportivo Merlo, but they still trail Instituto, 3-1 winners over Characrita Juniors, by a point. Staying in South America, Universidad de Chile came from 2-down to beat Unión Espanola 3-2, Manuel Ruidiaz with a late winner, to remain clear at the top.
Finally, to Germany where Bayern couldn't make it three games in a row scoring seven. They only - only - put six past a horrible Hertha BSC outfit who really didn't seem to know what they were doing. There were also wins for Dortmund, Schalke and Gladbach, so it's very much as you were. In 2.Bundesliga, there were defeats for Paderborn - a 5-0 thumping from Ingolstadt - and St Pauli while Fortuna were held by Energie Cottbus. That's allowed Greuther, who thumped 1860 to all but end any chance they had, and Eintracht Frankfurt, big winners over Dynamo Dresden, to pull clear.
There are lots of midweek games too with a full programme in Spain and cup matches all over the place and that postponed league game in Holland. The Copa Libertadores continues as well with the start of the fourth round of matches in the group stage. There's the Asian Champions League and the second semi-final of the NextGen series where Inter and Marseille under-19s vie for the right to face Ajax in the final.
On with the actual football then...
Or not. Away fans were banned from attending Panathinaikos v Olympiakos after trouble flared at previous matches. It didn't stop trouble flaring. Indeed, running battles between fans and police and sections of the ground being set on fire caused the game to be abandoned. Yes, Panathinaikos fans setting fire to their own stadium. No, us neither. The big derby in Poland saw pretty much nothing happen except for a pair of bookings for Adam Kokoszka in a drab 0-0.
Juventus finally broke out of their run of draws, sticking five past Fiorentina who are now in real trouble at the bottom. Juve are still unbeaten, but with Milan winning again, there remains a four-point gap and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is short odds to make it nine league titles in a row, an utterly maddening statistic. Napoli came back from 2-0 down to snatch a draw with Udinese which, coupled wth Lazio's defeat to Catania, sees the three teams vying for third split by a single point.
There might yet be a title race in Spain, but it looks a long shot. Some routine Messi brilliance - one of those chips only he seems able to do - saw Barcelona ease past Sevilla and a late Santi Cazorla free-kick - and what a free-kick, goal of the week even - earned Málaga a draw at the Bernabéu. The gap is down to eight. Not exactly game on, but in the context of the season, about as exciting as it gets. Roberto Soldado's hat-trick saw Valencia beat Athletic who are finding it tough to back up after European games and Levante are back into that fourth Champions League spot this week.
Lyon won the big derby in France, a late Bafétimbi Gomis goal enough to beat St Etienne and leapfrog them in the chase for European football. However Toulouse leapt over them both with a win over Rennes the following day. Neither of the top two won, but Lille are still seven points behind second-placed Montpellier.
Wins for the top three in Portugal sees them remain split by a single point and it's all back on in Holland as AZ were held by NAC and Twente were beaten by Feyenoord. PSV hit five past Heerenveen who need to start taking points off the other top sides to stay in contention. Ajax are the form side with a fifth win on the bounce to beat ADO. Twente play their game in hand against De Graafschap this week.
Draws elsewhere in Argentina mean that Boca's victory over San Martín moves them to second, a point behind Tigre who drew with Estudiantes. In Primera B, River Plate had goals from David Trézéguet and Fernando Cavénaghi in a 3-0 win over Deportivo Merlo, but they still trail Instituto, 3-1 winners over Characrita Juniors, by a point. Staying in South America, Universidad de Chile came from 2-down to beat Unión Espanola 3-2, Manuel Ruidiaz with a late winner, to remain clear at the top.
Finally, to Germany where Bayern couldn't make it three games in a row scoring seven. They only - only - put six past a horrible Hertha BSC outfit who really didn't seem to know what they were doing. There were also wins for Dortmund, Schalke and Gladbach, so it's very much as you were. In 2.Bundesliga, there were defeats for Paderborn - a 5-0 thumping from Ingolstadt - and St Pauli while Fortuna were held by Energie Cottbus. That's allowed Greuther, who thumped 1860 to all but end any chance they had, and Eintracht Frankfurt, big winners over Dynamo Dresden, to pull clear.
There are lots of midweek games too with a full programme in Spain and cup matches all over the place and that postponed league game in Holland. The Copa Libertadores continues as well with the start of the fourth round of matches in the group stage. There's the Asian Champions League and the second semi-final of the NextGen series where Inter and Marseille under-19s vie for the right to face Ajax in the final.
Friday, 4 September 2009
An international break
With the leagues across Europe taking a breather for international football, let's have a look-see about who needs to do what from the leagues we follow.
The Netherlands don't need to do anything. They were the first European qualifiers for South Africa after cutting a swathe through what, for them at least, is a pretty easy group. Bert van Marwijk's side (he's Mark van Bommel's father in-law - FACT!) have won seven from seven, scored 16 goals with just two coming back the other way and sit fourteen points clear of Macedonia - a huge margin. Put it another way: they are two points per match better than any other side in the group. A potential stumbling block for van Marwijk in the lead-up to the finals was the fate of the Dutch contingent at Real Madrid, all of whom were on the outer as soon as Florentino Perez walked back into the boardroom and started doing all that galactico bollocks again. Arjen Robben (Bayern) and Wesley Sneijder (Inter) have moved on, but Rafael van der Vaart has chosen to remain. With little chance of regular football, it'll be hard for van Marwijk to pick him and a move in January may be the only chance van der Vaart has to force himself into the reckoning for South Africa.
On Saturday, the Dutch have a friendly against Japan before Wednesday's trip to Glasgow for what looks a routine job to go eight from eight against Scotland.
France haven't had a great campaign, but lie second in group 7, five points behind Serbia with a game in hand. Goals have been at a premium with none of Les Bleus four wins being by more than one goal. Indeed, Yoann Gourcuff's virtuoso performances have been the only thing keeping the French in it and, perhaps more pertinently, keeping Raymond Domenech in a job. Saturday sees them take on Romania who have struggled to make an impact in the tournament, before an absolutely crunch game in Belgrade. Lose that one and they can kiss goodbye to top spot and automatic qualification. Win it and it's all back on again. A fit Franck Ribéry is vital to their hopes, but with some bizarre tactical formations from Domenech, it could quite easily unravel.
Germany have dropped just two points from their first seven games, but are only four points clear of Russia in second. Crucially, the Russians have a game in hand which they'll play while the Germans have a friendly against South Africa on Saturday. Wednesday sees Azerbaijan go to Germany and it's impossible to think there's any hope of an upset there. While other countries may see their national side succumb to the odd shock result, Germany doesn't tend to. Instead, they improve their goal difference in ruthless fashion as recent demolition jobs bare testament to, such as the 12-0 drubbing of San Marino a couple of years ago. Next month's game in Russia will be the big one in this group.
Group 5 hasn't troubled Spain any, six wins from six seeing them six points clear at the top. Belgium are Saturday's opponents and while they're an up and coming side are Belgium, they lack a little experience at the moment. They're certainly a side to keep an eye on in the not too distant future, but Spain should have few issues in this one. It's another home game on Wednesday too, against Estonia, and you can't see past del Bosque's charges making it eight from eight.
Italy are just a point clear of the Republic of Ireland in group 8, but do have a game in hand. They go away to winless Georgia on Saturday before third placed Bulgaria - not the force they were back 1994 - come to Italy on Wednesday. It's Italy's group to lose and it's almost impossible to imagine they'd do that. Two wins this week and it begins to look very straightforward.
Portugal have a struggle on to make second and the play-offs, lying in third place seven points off leaders Denmark and four behind a resurgent Hungary in second. The fixtures this week therefore become make-or-break as it's off to Copenhagen on Saturday before Hungary visit the Iberian peninsula on Wednesday. Six points from these two games is a must or they can forget about South Africa. Even that may not be enough, but it would certainly get them going in the right direction.
Group 3 is the tightest of the European groups with the top five clubs covered by seven points. Poland are fourth but have played a game fewer than the two sides immediately above them and those same sides are Poland's opponents over the next few days. Northern Ireland visit Poland on Saturday before a trip to Slovenia on Wednesday. Win those and they'll go into second and look good for the play-offs, but this is Poland and something is going to go horribly wrong at some point. It's just what happens.
It's all hotting up in South America as well, and you can read more about that on CONMEBalls.
The Netherlands don't need to do anything. They were the first European qualifiers for South Africa after cutting a swathe through what, for them at least, is a pretty easy group. Bert van Marwijk's side (he's Mark van Bommel's father in-law - FACT!) have won seven from seven, scored 16 goals with just two coming back the other way and sit fourteen points clear of Macedonia - a huge margin. Put it another way: they are two points per match better than any other side in the group. A potential stumbling block for van Marwijk in the lead-up to the finals was the fate of the Dutch contingent at Real Madrid, all of whom were on the outer as soon as Florentino Perez walked back into the boardroom and started doing all that galactico bollocks again. Arjen Robben (Bayern) and Wesley Sneijder (Inter) have moved on, but Rafael van der Vaart has chosen to remain. With little chance of regular football, it'll be hard for van Marwijk to pick him and a move in January may be the only chance van der Vaart has to force himself into the reckoning for South Africa.
On Saturday, the Dutch have a friendly against Japan before Wednesday's trip to Glasgow for what looks a routine job to go eight from eight against Scotland.
France haven't had a great campaign, but lie second in group 7, five points behind Serbia with a game in hand. Goals have been at a premium with none of Les Bleus four wins being by more than one goal. Indeed, Yoann Gourcuff's virtuoso performances have been the only thing keeping the French in it and, perhaps more pertinently, keeping Raymond Domenech in a job. Saturday sees them take on Romania who have struggled to make an impact in the tournament, before an absolutely crunch game in Belgrade. Lose that one and they can kiss goodbye to top spot and automatic qualification. Win it and it's all back on again. A fit Franck Ribéry is vital to their hopes, but with some bizarre tactical formations from Domenech, it could quite easily unravel.
Germany have dropped just two points from their first seven games, but are only four points clear of Russia in second. Crucially, the Russians have a game in hand which they'll play while the Germans have a friendly against South Africa on Saturday. Wednesday sees Azerbaijan go to Germany and it's impossible to think there's any hope of an upset there. While other countries may see their national side succumb to the odd shock result, Germany doesn't tend to. Instead, they improve their goal difference in ruthless fashion as recent demolition jobs bare testament to, such as the 12-0 drubbing of San Marino a couple of years ago. Next month's game in Russia will be the big one in this group.
Group 5 hasn't troubled Spain any, six wins from six seeing them six points clear at the top. Belgium are Saturday's opponents and while they're an up and coming side are Belgium, they lack a little experience at the moment. They're certainly a side to keep an eye on in the not too distant future, but Spain should have few issues in this one. It's another home game on Wednesday too, against Estonia, and you can't see past del Bosque's charges making it eight from eight.
Italy are just a point clear of the Republic of Ireland in group 8, but do have a game in hand. They go away to winless Georgia on Saturday before third placed Bulgaria - not the force they were back 1994 - come to Italy on Wednesday. It's Italy's group to lose and it's almost impossible to imagine they'd do that. Two wins this week and it begins to look very straightforward.
Portugal have a struggle on to make second and the play-offs, lying in third place seven points off leaders Denmark and four behind a resurgent Hungary in second. The fixtures this week therefore become make-or-break as it's off to Copenhagen on Saturday before Hungary visit the Iberian peninsula on Wednesday. Six points from these two games is a must or they can forget about South Africa. Even that may not be enough, but it would certainly get them going in the right direction.
Group 3 is the tightest of the European groups with the top five clubs covered by seven points. Poland are fourth but have played a game fewer than the two sides immediately above them and those same sides are Poland's opponents over the next few days. Northern Ireland visit Poland on Saturday before a trip to Slovenia on Wednesday. Win those and they'll go into second and look good for the play-offs, but this is Poland and something is going to go horribly wrong at some point. It's just what happens.
It's all hotting up in South America as well, and you can read more about that on CONMEBalls.
Friday, 20 February 2009
Financial Crisis Reaches Polish Football
It seems that the global financial crisis has reached Polish football, having a particularly severe effect in Division I where the running costs are not much different to those in Ekstraklasa but clubs cannot bank on millions of zloty rolling into their coffers from Canal+. Things are getting pretty desperate - training facilities are being sold off, clubs are cutting back on everyday costs such as meals and match time liquids for the players and squads are being trimmed and filled up with youth team players.
Ruch Chorzow are currently sitting in mid table in Ekstraklasa and looking fairly certain of retaining their seat at the top table for next season but their chairman Mariusz Klimek is still worried by what he's seeing in the lower leagues - "I don't want to be too pessimistic about it but I have a real concern that most of the clubs in Division I will go under". Now if that's not being pessimistic I hate to think what he would have said were he a "glass half empty" type of chap. It has to be said that he has a point though. A lot of the sponsorship deals at the lower levels of Polish football are with small to medium sized local businesses and as these are being hit by ever declining income it is unlikely that they will want to support their local side with little or no benefit to their business.
Surprisingly, news of the impending crisis has filtered through to the Polish FA, an organisation which is usually so slow on the uptake that it has probably only just realised that the Berlin Wall has come down. There have however already been rumblings from ul. Miodowa that a number of clubs are behind on the payments for referees, observers and delegates attending their games thus starving PZPN of the cash they need to do whatever vital service it is they perform (answers on a postcard please - I've not figured it out yet).
Apart from a small group of clubs fighting for the promised land of Ekstraklasa (Widzew, Zaglebie Lubin, Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biala) the majority are struggling to make ends meet and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
GKS Katowice, currently bottom of Division I, are suffering more than most. Staring at almost inevitable relegation this season they have been unable to secure sponsorship and are culling their squad and will be fielding their junior side in the coming round. There was a chink of light which could have kept them going for a bit longer, namely a 300,000 PLN grant from the city council, but this has been withdrawn due to the 300,000 PLN the club owes in unpaid National Insurance. This same debt could also see the club lose its right to the grant it would normally receive for youth and junior player development.
The lack of funds is having a knock-on effect on the players themselves. At GKS Jastrzebie the players have not been paid for over three months and according to an un-named source at the club the squads nutritional supplements consist of "whatever the physio can find and mix up in a 10 litre barrel". Last season Jastrzebie could rely upon 500,000 PLN provided by sponsors Jastrzebska Spólka Weglowa (a coal company) but, according to JSW spokesperson Katarzyna Jablonska-Bajer, "Due to the global financial crisis funds available to the club will decrease in the order of 30%".
Two other clubs in trouble are Odra Opole with over 1 million PLN owed in taxes and National Insurance and Kmita Zabierzów who have lost 10 first teamers and whose entry into the coming round depends on a 400,000 PLN donation from the local council.
It seems that the ambition for many of Poland's smaller clubs in the near future will not be to achieve sporting success but simply to remain in existence. Some have over-exerted themselves financially with sides that should, in truth, be in the lower leagues rising way above their natural level through the generosity of local businessmen who can no longer bankroll their hobby. The knock on effect could be extremely serious for the future of Polish football as a whole, particularly the national side with many clubs going bust and many others taking the decision that a move to amateur status is the only option. If this proves to be the case then who will provide the youth players who will one day go on to make their names on the international stage? It certainly won't be the Ekstraklasa sides who more and more seem to be moving towards foreign imports to satisfy their playing needs.
Ruch Chorzow are currently sitting in mid table in Ekstraklasa and looking fairly certain of retaining their seat at the top table for next season but their chairman Mariusz Klimek is still worried by what he's seeing in the lower leagues - "I don't want to be too pessimistic about it but I have a real concern that most of the clubs in Division I will go under". Now if that's not being pessimistic I hate to think what he would have said were he a "glass half empty" type of chap. It has to be said that he has a point though. A lot of the sponsorship deals at the lower levels of Polish football are with small to medium sized local businesses and as these are being hit by ever declining income it is unlikely that they will want to support their local side with little or no benefit to their business.
Surprisingly, news of the impending crisis has filtered through to the Polish FA, an organisation which is usually so slow on the uptake that it has probably only just realised that the Berlin Wall has come down. There have however already been rumblings from ul. Miodowa that a number of clubs are behind on the payments for referees, observers and delegates attending their games thus starving PZPN of the cash they need to do whatever vital service it is they perform (answers on a postcard please - I've not figured it out yet).
Apart from a small group of clubs fighting for the promised land of Ekstraklasa (Widzew, Zaglebie Lubin, Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biala) the majority are struggling to make ends meet and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
GKS Katowice, currently bottom of Division I, are suffering more than most. Staring at almost inevitable relegation this season they have been unable to secure sponsorship and are culling their squad and will be fielding their junior side in the coming round. There was a chink of light which could have kept them going for a bit longer, namely a 300,000 PLN grant from the city council, but this has been withdrawn due to the 300,000 PLN the club owes in unpaid National Insurance. This same debt could also see the club lose its right to the grant it would normally receive for youth and junior player development.
The lack of funds is having a knock-on effect on the players themselves. At GKS Jastrzebie the players have not been paid for over three months and according to an un-named source at the club the squads nutritional supplements consist of "whatever the physio can find and mix up in a 10 litre barrel". Last season Jastrzebie could rely upon 500,000 PLN provided by sponsors Jastrzebska Spólka Weglowa (a coal company) but, according to JSW spokesperson Katarzyna Jablonska-Bajer, "Due to the global financial crisis funds available to the club will decrease in the order of 30%".
Two other clubs in trouble are Odra Opole with over 1 million PLN owed in taxes and National Insurance and Kmita Zabierzów who have lost 10 first teamers and whose entry into the coming round depends on a 400,000 PLN donation from the local council.
It seems that the ambition for many of Poland's smaller clubs in the near future will not be to achieve sporting success but simply to remain in existence. Some have over-exerted themselves financially with sides that should, in truth, be in the lower leagues rising way above their natural level through the generosity of local businessmen who can no longer bankroll their hobby. The knock on effect could be extremely serious for the future of Polish football as a whole, particularly the national side with many clubs going bust and many others taking the decision that a move to amateur status is the only option. If this proves to be the case then who will provide the youth players who will one day go on to make their names on the international stage? It certainly won't be the Ekstraklasa sides who more and more seem to be moving towards foreign imports to satisfy their playing needs.
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