Argentina manager Sergio Batista refused to call his side’s Copa America campaign a ‘failure’ on Saturday.Batista was speaking after the 5-4 penalty shootout defeat in the quarter-finals to Uruguay, which came after 120 minutes of football ended with a 1-1 scoreline.
Uruguay’s Diego Perez was sent off after just 39 minutes but Argentina could not make the most of their numerical advantage, before midfielder Javier Mascherano was sent off late in normal time.
“I wouldn’t call it a failure,” Batista said.
“We had the same objective, to win the tournament. We worked to win it. We just have to continue working to get to the most important thing, and that is the World Cup.”
“We have to continue working to get better.”
Batista also felt Mascherano should not have been sent off, while praising Lionel Messi who scored one of Argentina’s four penalties in the shootout but was not able to find the back of the net in normal time.
“It wasn’t worth a red card,” he said about his captain.
“Lionel had a very good game. I always like how he plays. In the second half, he was down as was the entire team.”
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez was delighted, comparing the win to another famous triumph on July 16.
That was the date that Uruguay won the 1950 FIFA World Cup Final against Brazil 2-1, beating the host nation, and they repeated the dose in Santa Fe by stunning the Argentine support.
Suarez also praised the fans from Uruguay to watch the crucial match.
“July 16 was a historic date, and we talked about it, and we also wanted to make history,” Suarez said.
“It’s an incredible moment. I believe we deserved it because in the first half ‘the Russian’ (Diego Perez) was sent off, and justice was served.”
“We knew playing against the hosts was going to be difficult because we had all of the stadium against us, but we have to thank all of the fans and family who came to support us.”
Uruguay not meet Peru in the first semi-final on Tuesday in La Plata.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is ready to make to make a £15 million bid for Bolton defender Gary Cahill.
Bolton are reluctant to let the England international leave, but with debts of around £40 million they could find it difficult to turn down such a large offer.
Chelsea have been struggling defensively of late and with Brazilian defender Alex still out of action with a knee injury, Ancelotti could be tempted to add defensive reinforcements to his squad in January.
Speaking of possible January moves, Ancelotti said: “By January 31, if we are sure that Alex will have resolved his problem, we won’t need another defender. We have to wait and see his condition.
“But we can think about things, a new defender, towards the end of January. That would be the only position.”
Gary Cahill’s nationality would also be attractive for Ancelotti who has recently spoken of the advantage of signing English players:
“And obviously, if you take an English player, you don’t have a problem to adapt to things here.
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“They know the culture, the language and don’t have problems. Maybe English players have advantages for this reason.”
Cahill moved from Aston Villa to Bolton in 2008 and he quickly became a favorite amongst fans at the Reebok Stadium. He has scored eight goals in around 100 games for the Trotters but has recently hinted that he may be interested in a move to a bigger club.
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Real Madrid no longer have Liverpool star Mohamed Salah on their list of transfer targets, according to Sports Illustrated.
What’s the word?
The Egyptian international has caught the eye of the football world due to his scintillating form in front of goal.
Since moving to the Merseyside outfit from Roma last summer, Salah has scored 38 goals in all competitions and currently leads the way in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot.
It is almost inevitable that players of his calibre in top form will be linked to other elite clubs.
However, Sports Illustrated claim that even though Real Madrid are expected to make numerous changes to the playing personnel this summer, Salah is not a target.
Can Liverpool breathe a sigh of relief?
For a brief moment, yes. However, if Salah continues to go from strength to strength, then rival clubs will take notice.
Even if Madrid have not quite focused their radar on the Egyptian, it does not mean other elite outfits do not have an interest.
Salah has not given any indication that he wants to leave Liverpool, but his long-term future at the club is likely to be dependent on trophies.
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The Merseyside outfit are a well-known and respected club in global football, but silverware has been sparse in recent years.
As it stands, the Reds have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals thanks to a 3-0 win over Manchester City in the first leg, but the club will need to consistently reach these heights in order to keep Salah for the long haul.
Danny Welbeck, dubbed ‘Dat Guy’, was once loved at Manchester United. Fergie favoured him but Louis van Gaal saw no use for him. So he has moved on to pastures new, and burnt his bridges with his former club. But will he fulfil his potential to be a great footballer?
Following loan deals to Preston North End and Sunderland, Danny Welbeck became more of a regular at Manchester United. He started in the infamous 8-2 over Arsenal and even scored an equaliser away at Real Madrid.
Once Sir Alex Ferguson announced his departure from Manchester United and thus from football altogether, things began to chance for Danny Welbeck. Although he recorded more goals in the 2013/14 season for Manchester United (and played well for England), Welbeck claimed it was his unhappiest season thus far due to the fact he was being played out of position. He wanted to play up front, as opposed to on the left.
The arrival of Louis van Gaal at Manchester United was essentially the nail in the coffin for Welbeck’s Manchester United career. After assessing his team, Louis van Gaal got rid of those he felt he didn’t need for his side – both selling and loaning – and Welbeck did not make the cut for his new boss. So Danny Welbeck was sold to Arsenal for £16 million and he had the opportunity to show what he could do under a new team and manager, without leaving the Premier League.
The highlight of Welbeck’s debut season at Arsenal has to be the hat-trick over Turkish giants Galatasaray in the Champions League. Upon signing for Arsenal, there were doubts over Welbeck from the fans but Arsene Wenger urged his side to get behind the new signing. This was a turning point for Welbeck; it not only built his confidence but brought fans onto his side.
If there was ever a game to show up against your old side, Danny Welbeck certainly picked it. Scoring the winner against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup resulted in Welbeck being splashed all over the papers. But, let’s call a spade a spade – Welbeck could not have had an easier chance to score. An open net, gifted the ball by Antonio Valencia; it was hardly a 40 yard screamer.
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So, can Danny Welbeck fulfil his potential? He has a far better chance of doing so at Arsenal. Competition up front was too much for Welbeck, the chances of starting ahead of Rooney and Robin van Persie were too slim, and it was best that he left Manchester United as opposed to rotting away on the bench. Will he be a world class star, and a Premier League legend? Doubt it. To put it simply, he is not clinical enough. His biggest asset is his pace, which is very valuable, but he is not an out and out goalscorer. Hopefully he enjoys a few more goals during his time at Arsenal.
It hasn’t always been the best career move for a youngster to accept a transfer to Real Madrid, as Sergio Canales will provide evidence. It didn’t help the young Spaniard that Jose Mourinho doesn’t have the best track record for developing young players, seeing to it that the current Valencia midfielder only saw 15 games in his first season at the Bernabeu. Sergio Ramos is the exception to that rule, a masterful defender who has risen up the ranks at Madrid and become one of the senior figures in the team. That exception also applies to Raphael Varane.
You could more or less see the likely trajectory of Varane’s career over the next few years: plenty of promise, winds up at Real Madrid (due to the recommendation of Zinedine Zidane) but loses his momentum and, importantly, vital years in his development.
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But that hasn’t really been the case. Ok, last year when Real Madrid were storming to the La Liga title and looked good for their 10th Champions League crown, it became well-known that Mourinho didn’t have the depth of squad he wanted. Pepe and Sergio Ramos are his first-choice centre-backs and two of the very best on their day. In reserve, it wouldn’t really fill many managers with confidence to place an ageing Ricardo Carvalho or a hugely underperforming Raul Albiol in against either Bayern Munich’s attacking trident of Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and Mario Gomez or Barcelona. For that, it’s wholly understandable that we didn’t see much of a then 18-year-old Varane.
However, for the young Frenchman, the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Barcelona this season was his watershed moment at the Spanish champions. The teenager was paired with Carvalho at centre-back but far outshone his more experienced partner; it was a wonderful defensive display from a youngster who looked like a seasoned veteran.
Maybe it would have been seen as a fairly hefty price to pay for a teenager out of Ligue 1. Real Madrid, however, took the initiative when others wouldn’t and parted with the 10 million euros for Varane’s services. The summer of 2011 was also the window where Manchester United paid Blackburn Rovers £16million for Phil Jones, and who had completed the signing of Chris Smalling from Fulham in January of 2010 for just under £10million. Both defenders, at the time either still a teen or having just left his teenage years, more than warranted another club spending heavily for Varane.
What you have in Raphael Varane is a player who has always looked promising but really needed a good run in the team to solidify his place as one of the best rising stars on the continent. Dropping in and out of the starting XI is always good for the player’s development, but you don’t get many baptisms of fire quite like the Clasico against Barcelona.
Pepe was out injured and Ramos was completing his final game of a five-game suspension; you could forgive Jose Mourinho for feeling a little uneasy with his back line, which featured Michael Essien at right-back and Alvaro Arbeloa on the left. But here was a youngster who displayed the pace of a natural athlete to keep up with even Lionel Messi. His tackle to deny Cesc Fabregas was arguably one of the finest, if not the finest tackle you’ll see all season. Varane showed power, confidence, an unwavering desire to prove that he was good enough for Mourinho to look at when he was short of numbers. Varane’s equaliser with less than 10 minutes left of the 90 was the perfect way to sum up a perfect game.
So you have to ask what that performance means for the youngster. What you have here is a player who was always building towards something like that. It wasn’t a fluke or something that was totally unexpected. It’s always been said for the past 18 months that Real Madrid needed another centre-back who was good enough to come in and offer similar contributions to that of the first-choice pairing. In Varane, and at only 19 years of age, Madrid have a sensational talent and one who is destined for the big time in near future.
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As reported by The Sun, West Ham United are interested in signing Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli.
What’s the story?
With Joe Hart’s loan deal at the club set to expire at the end of the season and Adrian failing to convince between the sticks at the Hammers, West Ham will be seeking a deal for a goalkeeper this summer.
One man they could make a move for is Fulham shot-stopper Marcus Bettinelli.
That’s according to The Sun, who say David Moyes took in the Craven Cottage side’s mid-week clash against Leeds United to check out the goalkeeper.
Rated at £1.8m by Transfermarkt, he’s of course an achievable target for the Irons, but does he have what it takes to be number one at the London Stadium?
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Who is he?
With close to 90 appearances in four seasons with Fulham, the former England youth internationalist has had to work hard for the number one spot at Craven cottage.
This season though he’s emerged as the top choice, making the position his own over David Button and starting almost every match since December.
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He’s kept nine clean sheets in that half season, showing the kind of impressive consistency that could make him a hit at the Hammers next season.
An excellent pure shot-stopper, he still has learning and developing to do but at 25-years of age has the room to do that and although he’s not the most fashionable of signings, he could do a job next season for David Moyes.
Former Wimbledon striker Marcus Gayle believes at least TWO matches at the height of the ‘Crazy Gang’ era may have been influenced by Far East match fixers.
The subject of criminal organisations influencing professional football matches is one that has popped up in recent times across all levels of football in both England and abroad, with some claiming that betting syndicates have attempted to fix games for a profit.
Although the high wages on offer at the very top of the game is thought to have made such instances rare, if present at all, the salaries players earn now and the money swilling around the biggest clubs was not present in the Gayle’s era at Wimbledon.
Nicknamed the ‘Crazy Gang’ the London side were famed for their boisterous playing style and wild antics, and now the 44-year-old has opened up on what he thinks may have been match fixing during those days, with games in 1997 at Derby’s Pride Park and his own side’s Selhurst Park when the lights failed suspicious:
“As a player and the lights go out, the game is abandoned, you think that they haven’t paid the gas or electric bill!” he told Zapsportz.com.
“The lads joked about betting syndicates, but you laughed it all off as being implausible.
“Now I look back I am not so sure. All those rumours about match fixing might well have been true.
“I can recall certain situations in the past where I shrugged my shoulders, but now when I cast my mind back I can see there must have been more to it.
“I am now thinking ‘what really went on, there?” The lights go out, they said the floodlights failed At the time you are oblivious to what really might have been going on. I never imagined these sort of things went on in the game.
“We all knew there were punters putting money on the games, but no one dreamed there was match fixing going on.
“Now it appears to have been going on all over the place. I look back and wonder.
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“Did the goalkeeper really let that one in? You thought at the time, that was a soft goal, he should easily have saved it. The lights went out more than once when we played, was that really coincidence?
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is ready to move for Valencia winger Sofiane Feghouli after Alexis Sanchez’ agent ruled out a move to Anfield.
The Reds poor start to the season continued at the weekend as they were comprehensively beaten 3-1 at home by strugglers Aston Villa.
Despite being quoted as saying not to expect too much from the January transfer window, Rodgers is still keen to bolster his squad and reports in Spain have linked Liverpool with a move for the Algerian wide player next month.
SuperDeporte suggest the Reds have already made contact with representatives of the player who predominantly prefers to play on the right hand side.
MirrorFootball’s Spanish correspondent David Cartlidge believes Feghouli, who’s current contract runs out in 2014, would be a great addition to their squad:
“Liverpool would get a player who is hard working, direct, skilful and has a lot of potential. He can replicate Kuyt’s success at the club.
“A deal could happen due to Valencia’s need to sell, and Feghouli’s unresolved contract situation. Also, Valencia have already identified replacements.”
It is believed Rodgers has intensified his interest in the player after suffering a blow in his pursuit of Barcelona winger Alexis Sanchez, with the Chilean’s agent ruling out a move to Anfield.
Liverpool currently sit 12th in the Premier League after an inconsistent season in which they have had to rely heavily on inexperienced players such as Raheem Serling, while struggling to provide sufficient support for star striker Luis Suarez.
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Everton fans have been discussing England’s goalkeeper situation, and most of them are convinced Jordan Pickford is the man for the job.
If there’s one spot that’s “up for grabs” in England’s World Cup squad this summer, it’s the starting goalkeeper, and reports suggest Pickford will start vs the Netherlands on Friday.
Gareth Southgate will probably take two of Joe Hart, Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford and Nick Pope to the World Cup, and it’s still anyone’s guess who gets the nod.
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Butland and Pickford are probably the most naturally talented keepers, but the two have conceded more goals than all but one Premier League keeper this season (Jonas Lössl 52, Butland 51, Pickford 50).
Nick Pope is undoubtedly the form keeper, but has only just broken on to the big stage and doesn’t offer the experience someone like Hart does. Hart of course has had a torrid season with West Ham, but there are still many who think he is the best choice.
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Everton fans have been discussing the dilemma on Twitter, and while some of them still have some doubts about their ex-Sunderland stopper, they seem mostly convinced he is the best choice.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
As a club that receives over 80,000 passionate fans every home game and is run by an enigmatic coach who has become the envy of Europe, Bundesliga favourites Borussia Dortmund are currently experiencing a very bad turn of events in 2014/15.
BVB have already lost eight games so far this campaign, with a worrying goal-difference of -6. They are certainly not going to be challenging for the Bundesliga title this season, as that award seems to already have Bayern Munich’s name written all over it. The once invincible German side currently sit 14th in the table after propping up the league twice already in 2014/15.
How can a team go from imperious domestic champions and Champions League finalists to this current state of affairs?
One factor behind this dramatic decline has been the Bundesliga’s cruel transfer activity in recent years. Largely at the hands of arch rivals Bayern Munich, the loss of star talents, Mario Goetze and Robert Lewandowski, have been huge for Jurgen Klopp and have sent subsequent shockwaves throughout the mind-set of rest of his squad. How are Dortmund’s remaining stars going to stay focussed when they know that their team is literally falling apart around them?
The BVB players also share a slice of this blame, as bad career choices haven’t helped Dortmund either. The likes of Nuri Sahin and Shinji Kagawa have opted to move away from the club that saw them breakthrough in recent years, only to return to the Signal Iduna Park once their supposed transfer dreams didn’t go as well as planned. This has led to a dramatic lack of consistency in Klopp’s starting XI’s for BVB.
To make matters worse for Klopp, the Borussia Dortmund fitness team have had their work cut out for the past few years with the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, and more recently Marco Reus, being struck down with lengthy spells on the sidelines. As several of their other stars returned late from World Cup duty in the summer, Jurgen Klopp has had only the bare bones of his squad to work with during spells of this campaign.
The most remarkable aspect of Dortmund’s fortunes this season, however, has been their Champions League form. They won Group D with 13 points from six games. BVB have only lost one match, to Arsenal, and have impressively won four and drawn one, scoring 14 and only letting in four in the process. This raises an important question in regards to Borussia’s form this season; has Jurgen Klopp prioritised the Champions League over Dortmund’s domestic duties for 2014/15?
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Whilst this may seem true on the surface, another more subtle factor may come into play here. It could be argued that after their initial Bundelsiga success when they first broke onto the scene, German teams may have now finally worked out how to best deal with Dortmund in the league. Several weaker sides, such as Hamburger SV and FC Koln, have profited from sitting back against BVB and hurting them on the counter-attack. For both Klopp and his loyal Yellow Wall, this has been nothing but frustrating.
As we are only in December, however, there is still time for Borussia Dortmund to perform a dramatic turnaround in form. Jurgen Klopp has already stated that he has ‘unfinished business’ at the club and it seems that the crazy German coach won’t be leaving the Signal Iduna Park any time soon. Perhaps a slight change in style that offers a new and fresh approach to winning Bundesliga games now needs to be picked up by Dortmund. Coupled with a stronger emphasis on league success and the return of many star names to the starting XI, BVB have every chance of moving on from this bad spell and rising up the Bundesliga.