Ronaldo fed up with speculation over future

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo says he is angry at all the speculation over his future insisting on Wednesday that he wants to stay at Old Trafford.The Portugal international has scored 37 goals this season and that dazzling form has prompted links with some of United’s leading European rivals.

But the 23-year-old told The Sun newspaper that he wasn’t planning a move away from Manchester any time soon.

“I just don’t care what the whole world seems to want to say about me or speculate about my future.

“I’ve said it a thousand times and, by now, people should realise…I’m totally happy at United,” he told the tabloid.

“I’m in the form of my life and I’m having the season of my career so far so it makes me mad sometimes to read some of the things which are supposed to be related to my future.

“I get angry but I’m trying to accept it’s a waste of energy to be furious because it is not worth it.”

Chelsea in Russia

Chelsea, which is owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, will play in a preseason tournament in Moscow this summer along with AC Milan, Sevilla and Lokomotiv Russia.Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said Wednesday the Blues would play in the Russian Railways Cup on Aug. 1-3.

Chelsea also is scheduled to tour Asia this summer, playing in Guangzhou, China, on July 23 and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on July 29.

England football manager warns team to commit

Fabio Capello made it clear Wednesday that England players would be putting their international careers in jeopardy unless they showed total commitment to their country.The Italian’s warning was issued ahead of England’s friendly double header against the United States at Wembley on May 28 and the visit to Trinidad and Tobago four days later.

His message was plain - he expects players to answer any call up they receive for these two games after a lengthy domestic season other than for a genuine reason.

Capello said: “By the time of the two games, some of the players will have been on holiday for a week already. Do I want to see commitment to England? If a player doesn’t love to play for England, then perhaps he should stay at home.

“Players must love the England shirt and wearing the England shirt. That is all there is to it.

“If someone doesn’t want to come and play for England, it means they don’t love the England shirt enough. Obviously they must prefer to go on holiday.”

The new England manager will continue his policy of rotating his captains in the two friendly internationals before making a final decision on who will lead the side by the time England face the Czech Republic at Wembley in August.

That means John Terry, skipper under former boss Steve McClaren, is by no means certain to retain the captaincy with Steven Gerrard wearing the armband when he was absent through injury against Switzerland and then Rio Ferdinand against France last month.

Poland coach worried by domestic graft scandals

Poland coach Leo Beenhakker said on Wednesday that he was deeply worried about the corruption scandal rocking the domestic football league and vowed to protect his team from a morale slump as they prepare for Euro 2008.”Everybody who’s part of Polish football will recognise of course that in general, it’s a very bad situation,” Beenhakker told reporters as he announced the names of the players he plans to take to Poland’s first ever European championships appearance, in Austria and Switzerland in June.

“It’s very bad for the image of Polish football. It’s a very weird and bad example for our young generation who have the ambition to play football, and it’s a very bad moment in relation to our participation in Euro 2008 and being hosts of Euro 2012,” he added.

“But it also has a direct influence on my responsibility to the national team, and on the future of Polish football and on my position.

“I feel it is my responsibility and duty to try to keep this out of the preparations of the national team, which will not be easy.

“If the results in Euro 2008 don’t correspond with the expectations we have, then I want to be sure that we lose on the pitch and not off the pitch,” said the Dutch veteran, who has been coaching around the world since the 1960s and was appointed as Poland’s coach in 2006.

Poland name provisional Euro 2008 squad

Poland coach Leo Beenhakker named the following provisional 31-man squad for Euro 2008:Goalkeepers: Artur Boruc (Celtic), Tomasz Kuszczak (Manchester United), Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal), Wojciech Kowalewski (Korona Kielce)

Defenders: Michal Zewlakow (Olympiakos), Grzegorz Bronowicki (Red Star Belgrade), Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht), Adam Kokoszka (Wisla Krakow), Mariusz Jop (FK Moscow), Jacek Bak (Austria Vienna), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw), Arkadiusz Radomski (Austria Vienna), Pawel Golanski (Steaua Bucharest)

Midfielders: Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk), Dariusz Dudka (Wisla Krakow), Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan), Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Lukasz Gargula (GKS Belchatow), Jacek Krzynowek (VfL Wolfsburg), Michal Golinski (Zaglebie Lubin), Radoslaw Majewski (Groclin Grodzisk), Michal Pazdan (Gornik Zabrze)

Forwards: Euzebiusz Smolarek (Racing Santander), Tomasz Zahorski (Gornik Zabrze), Maciej Zurawski (Larissa), Marek Saganowski (Southampton), Radoslaw Matusiak (Wisla Krakow), David Janczyk (CSKA Moscow), Wojciech Lobodzinski (Wisla Krakow), Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin), Artur Wichniarek (Arminia Bielefeld)

Liverpool owner reveals bad relationship

George Gillett revealed Friday that his relationship with fellow Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks “has been unworkable for some time.”Speaking to a sports radio program in Toronto, Gillett also said he and his wife have been subjected to death threats.

Gillett and Hicks are unpopular with many Liverpool fans after their disagreements with manager Rafael Benitez and their controversial re-financing of the club. StubHub.com is your place to find all Soccer Tickets, MLS Tickets, LA Galaxy Tickets, MLS Cup Tickets, US Soccer Tickets, Mexico National Team Tickets, MLS All Star Game Tickets, DC United Tickets, and all other Sports Tickets. Buy or sell your tickets on StubHub today!

“This partnership has been unworkable for some time,” Gillett said. “But not because of us - we have tried to be cooperative, we have tried to be supportive.

“But when your public persona is more important than the facts, that makes it difficult to have a rational relationship.”

Dubai International Capital (DIC) recently failed with a bid to buy a 49 percent stake in the club, which would have seen Hicks retaining a controlling interest.

As it became clear all was not well in the Anfield boardroom, it seemed likely Gillett would sell his 50 percent stake to either Hicks or DIC.

Gillett initially wanted to buy the club on his own in January 2007 but brought in Hicks’ financial muscle when he could not do the deal himself. He claimed Hicks not only failed to take up an offer to buy his share, but also tried to stop Gillett selling to DIC.

“He threatened to block me selling to Dubai,” Gillett said. “That was certainly one of the things that made the fans upset. DIC have the money; with oil prices going up every day, that’s not an issue.

“They certainly have the history and they are fans. I think they would have been very responsible owners.”

Gillett also revealed that instead of selling the club, he may try to buy out Hicks and take full control.

“We were very fair,” Gillett said. “We gave our partner (Hicks) a long period of time to try to make arrangements to buy us out. We didn’t put pressure on him, but he ultimately did not get to the finish line.

“In the meantime, because of the things he said, the fans’ reaction has been so negative towards him - and towards us if we sold to him - that has now made that an untenable alternative for us.”

Dribbling Drills for Indoor Soccer

Dribbling Drills

Some soccer leagues play and practice exclusively indoors while others are occasionally forced inside the constraints of the gymnasium by inclement weather. Either way, there are many drills for indoor soccer that allow players to build on their skills such as dribbling, goalkeeping, and short distance passing.

These drills for indoor soccer focus mainly on dribbling, since it’s a skill that doesn’t require much physical space in order to practice. A good dribbler is not born overnight, but rather hones their skills for years by performing a series exercises daily. Try some of these drills for indoor soccer once players have a solid understanding of the foundations of dribbling in place and are ready to take their skills to the next level.

Beehive and King of the Hill

This first dribbling drill is called “Beehive”. For this drill, mark off a square that allows for approximately 1 square yard per player. If the team has 20 players, the square should be about 20 yards long and wide. Each player has a ball and starts at a random point inside the square.

At the sound of the coach’s whistle, players begin dribbling the ball around the square using proper dribbling technique for both inside and outside foot dribbling. The goal of the drill is to avoid the other players and maintain control of their ball within the confines of the square. Once players have a basic understanding of the drill, the size of the square can be decreased in order to increase the difficulty required for continued, controlled dribbling.

Next, here’s another dribbling drill performed in a 20 yard square. To begin this drill called “King of the Hill” each player has a ball except for one player who is “it”. At the sound of the coach’s whistle, players begin dribbling their balls around the square while the player who is “it” tries to kick everyone’s balls out of the grid.

There are a number of variations to this drill. Some teams play that once a ball has been kicked from the grid, that player must sit out for the remainder of the drill. Others play that once a player loses their ball, they join the side of the “it” player and attempt to knock balls from the remaining players in the square.

Attack and Protect and Shadow Dribbling

This drill, called “Attack and Protect” is like a combination of the previous two drills. It also takes place within a 20 yard square, and this time each player is given a ball that they must protect while simultaneously trying to kick the ball away from the other players in the square. Once a player’s ball has exited the square three times, they are out of the drill.

“Shadow Dribbling” is a good drill for teaching players to keep their heads up while engaging in controlled dribbling. Divide the team into pairs, and give each player a ball. One from each pair will begin as the leader while the other is the follower.

The leader begins dribbling the ball while the follower follows the leader, also dribbling the ball. Encourage the leaders to change direction, pace and technique frequently. After a few minutes, have the players switch positions and repeat the exercise.

Need More Help Coaching Indoor Soccer?

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Soccer Drills and Practice Plans

Real Madrid - The Best Football Club In The World

They are not only the most successful club in the world but also the richest in the world according to the latest survey done by the money league which publish their research results annually. Yes, its true that Real Madrid are the richest club by income for the season 2006-2007 probably for the season 2007-2008 too but the results are not completed yet.

So what makes Real Madrid not only the richest club in the world but more significantly, the most successful as well.Well the statistics don’t lie and more often then not speak for themselves. For any club to be successful, only two titles could and should be given credit, The league and the Champions League,the rest are mere formalities as you all know(it does not take much to beat Sao Paulo in a cup final)so i am going to ignore the minor trophies here, lets have a look at most of the major football clubs track records against the Madrid Galacticos.

Manchester United have won only two Champions league trophy, one was way back when it was known as the European cup and the other in 1999,they have 16 league titles.

* Barcelona have also won two champions league trophies and 18 league titles

* Liverpool have won the competition FIVE times and they have 18 league titles

* Inter Milan have 2 champions league titles and 15 league titles

* Ac milan have 7 champions league titles and 17 league titles

There are some other major clubs as well but they have just started to grow so lets just ignore them for a moment.

Finally, Real Madrid has won 9 champions league titles and 30 league titles. Now I have listed all the great clubs of Europe above, not even a single club can match or come close to the records set by the Spanish powerhouse. Thus proving what i stated earlier that real Madrid is the undisputed champion of champions.

Real Madrid is the only team that holds the Cup in property, having won the title five consecutive times.

Copyrights@ Borris Becker

For more candid opinion about Real Madrid please visit my blog. www.madridgalacticos.com

Please don’t copy my article without putting my blog’s link. I use Copyscape, I will catch plagiarists. Thanks for understanding.

 
  

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