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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2012
SPORTS
Zenit reveals ambition with Hulk swoop MOSCOW: Zenit St Petersburg stunned football by signing Brazilian star Hulk hours before the Champions League eligibility deadline, in a sign the Russian champions’ ambitions go well beyond the domestic game. In the highest-spending moves in the history of Russian football, Zenit grabbed not only Hulk from Porto but also Belgian midfielder Axel Witsel from fellow Portuguese side Benfica in deals worth a reported total of 100 million euros. While the Russian game has seen an influx of ageing foreign superstars as well as decent African and Latin American players, capturing a player of the quality of 26-year-old marksman Hulk shows a new level of ambition. Once the poor relation of the big Moscow sides, Zenit’s fortunes have been transformed by funding from state gas giant Gazprom. Signing play-
ers like Hulk show it will no longer be content only with success in the Russian league. Adding the two new stars to a squad that already includes Portuguese internationals Bruno Alves and Danny as well as Italian Domenico Criscito, Zenit will be looking to make a major impact in the Champions’ League. They should be helped by a relatively weak group with Anderlecht, Malaga and AC Milan. While Zenit were the 2008 UEFA Cup winners, no Russian or Soviet side has ever won the Champions’ League or its predecessor the European Cup. “Zenit has won the last two Russian championships but the team wants serious results in the Champions League. Until now it was going to get no further than the quarter finals,” said sports journalist and editor at the
Moscow Echo Radio Station Anton Orekh. “Zenit wanted a star of global stature to compete at a European level,” he told AFP. The move to Zenit was a complete surprise for Hulk himself but he appeared thrilled by prospect of moving to Russia. “On Friday the transfer market was closed and I was preparing myself for another season in Porto but my agent told me that the club was set to sell me to Zenit,” Hulk was quoted as saying by Portuguese media. “It was a terrific proposal both for Porto and for me. It was an unexpected move but I’m ready for this new challenge.” Hulk’s agent Teodoro Fonseca, told Portuguese agency Lusa that the transfer fee was 60 million euros, while the Witsel transfer cost Zenit a confirmed 40 million euros from Porto’s bitter domestic rivals Benfica. Russian
daily Sport Express gave a slightly lower figure, quoting an unnamed Zenit club source, that Zenit would pay Porto around 40 million euros in several instalments over three years. In a sign of the quality of the St Petersburg outfit, the club has made no effort to keep the services of its former talismanic striker Andrei Arshavin who made a couple of appearances on loan from Arsenal last season. But there is no shortage of freespending ambition in Russian football, despite a range of systemic problems with its youth system which appear to be behind the national side’s recent failures. Another upstart Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala has caused a stir on the international transfer market thanks to financial backing by Russian metals and oil tycoon Suleiman Kerimov. Anzhi, founded in 1991, had little
success in Russian football until being acquired by the Kerimov last year and going on a spending spree that landed Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o and Brazilian veteran Roberto Carlos. In the last days, Anzhi signed French midfielder Lassana Diarra from Real Madrid. Furthermore, Kerimov lured Dutch guru Guus Hiddink to manage Anzhi on a reported net annual salary of 10 million euros. The more modest signings of Moscow giants Spartak and CSKA-owned by businessmen Leonid Fedun and Yevgeny Giner respectively-have been left in the shadows by the high-spending of their Saint Petersburg and Makhachkala rivals. However Moscow side Lokomotivfunded by the state railway-has made waves by signing former Croatian national coach Slaven Bilic as its manager. —AFP
Alonso backs automatic World Cup qualification
CORDOBA: Argentina’s Sergio Romero blocks the ball during a practice session in Buenos Aires. Argentina will face Paraguay in a World Cup qualifying soccer match on Sept. 7 in Cordoba.—AP
Charlton says England won’t win WCup in Brazil LONDON: Sir Bobby Charlton believes England have no chance of winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Roy Hodgson begins his quest to become the first England manager since Sir Alf Ramsey in 1966 to win the World Cup when he takes charge of his first qualifying match away to Moldova on Friday. But England great Charlton, a key member of the 1966 team that beat the then West Germany 4-2 in the 1966 final at Wembley-the only England side ever to win the World Cup — believes the current side lack the depth of talent to challenge the game’s best international teams. “They haven’t got a lot of top-quality players to choose from and, because of that, you must feel it is going to be difficult to win things,” said Charlton. “You cannot see it happening in Brazil at the next World Cup, for instance. “Perhaps, if the right group of players come together and stay together for a while and gel into a team, with the right manager, then perhaps it might happen, but I have to be honest and say it’s a way off. “Since the European Union and the influx of so many foreign players, there is a definite shortage of English players from which the England manager can select, it has become far more difficult. “I feel sorry for the England manager,
whoever he is, as he simply doesn’t have enough players to choose from.” Current United and England star Wayne Rooney is seen by some as vital to the national side’s short-term future even though he has failed to have a major impact on all the international tournaments he’s appeared in since making the world take notice at the 2004 European Championship. “It is up to the England manager to find a way of bringing the best out of him at international level, and how best to handle him,” said Charlton. England’s record goalscorer, Charlton believes Rooney is capable of breaking his mark. “He is handled very well at Manchester United, and I am sure it will evolve with England and if that is the case I feel sure that Wayne is the player most capable of breaking my record of 49 goals, which has stood the test of time.” Rooney currently has 29 international goals and Charlton added: “If anyone is going to get the record then it’s going to be Wayne Rooney. He’s good enough and he is still young enough. “No matter how much I might like being the top goalscorer, I will be pleased when someone breaks it, particularly if it’s Wayne. I would congratulate them. It is certainly a record to treasure.”—AFP
Owen signs for Stoke LONDON: Former England striker Michael Owen has joined Stoke City on a free transfer, subject to Premier League Board approval, the club announced yesterday. Owen, who made his name at Liverpool before joining Real Madrid, has signed a one-year deal following his release from Stoke’s Premier League rivals Manchester United at the end of last season. He has enjoyed an impressive career, scoring 221 goals in 473 appearances. But the 32-year-old’s career has been blighted by a series of injury problems
and he has started just one Premier League match in the last two seasons. And it is that fitness record which has led to reports, still to be confirmed by Stoke, that he has signed on a pay-asyou play deal. Owen becomes City’s seventh signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Jamie Ness, Geoff Cameron, Michael Kightly, Maurice Edu, Charlie Adam and Steven N’Zonzi. For England, Owen scored 40 goals in 89 appearances, including a hat-trick against Germany in a 5-1 victory just over a decade ago.—AFP
Michael Owen
MADRID: Defending World Cup holders should qualify automatically for the next competition, Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso, part of the Spain squad that won the 2010 tournament, said yesterday. “Logically, as in many competitions and sports, the champion has the right to defend their title. FIFA does not allow for it but I think it is sufficiently important and fair that the winner have the right to qualify,” he told a news conference ahead of Spain’s friendly Friday against Saudi Arabia. World Cup holders stopped getting automatic entry in the next competition at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. In making the changes to the rules, football world governing body FIFA argued that the four years between competitions was a long time for any team to retain its strength. After taking on Saudi Arabia in Pontevedra in northeastern Spain, the 2008 and 2012 European champions will face Georgia in Tbilisi on September 11 in their opening qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. “I think many of us are in a fortunate position where we are part of a group that has made history, but we are aware of the future that lies ahead. We don’t want to rest on our laurels,” said Alonso. “We want to win more trophies. When the time comes when we stop winning we will face up to it in the best possible way,” the 30-year-old added. Alonso, who was outstanding as Spain retained their European title earlier this year, welcomed the return of David Villa, Spain’s all-time leading scorer, to the national team
Xabi Alonso
after an eight month absence due to injury. “It is great news for us. Villa brings much bite, he is a threat to the defence of our rivals, he creates a great deal of uncertainty,” he said. Last week Spain coach Vicente del Bosque included Villa in his squad for the matches against Saudi Arabia and Georgia. The 30-year-old has not played for Spain
since he broke his left leg last December while playing with Barcelona at the Club World Cup. Alonso said the Spanish national team had “a great deal of respect” for Saudi Arabia’s squad. “They have taken part in may World Cups. We will play with the same professionalism and respect with which we face all our rivals,” he said.—AFP
Arsenal have spending ‘limit’ — chairman LONDON: Arsenal chairman Peter HillWood has admitted the club “can’t compete” in the transfer market with rival Premier League teams. However, he insisted the Gunners could still challenge for the title and that manager Arsene Wenger was not under pressure from the board to end a trophy drought spanning seven years. Hill-Wood added he was “disgusted” by those fams who verbally abused French manager Wenger, in charge at the London club since 1996, last season. “Arsene has money to spend but there’s a limit,” Hill-Wood told yesterday’s London Evening Standard. “We can’t spend £50 million on one player. “At a certain level, we can’t compete. I don’t think (Arsenal majority shareholder) Stan Kroenke is going to put the sort of dollars in that (Roman) Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour are putting into Chelsea or Manchester City. “That’s not the way he thinks clubs should be run,” Hill-Wood added of the American sports entrepreneur “Luckily, Arsene understands that. He got an economics degree from Strasbourg University so he’s certainly no fool. He knows how a club should be run. “That annoys a lot of people but clubs have to be sustainable. We’re not going to go bankrupt in the way one or two other well-known clubs have.” Hill-Wood cited the case of Scottish giants Rangers, now playing in their country’s fourth-tier after entering administration, as “something we’ve all got to guard against”. “They spent far more money than they could afford. We’re ambitious enough but we’re not going to end in the same plight as Rangers. “That is a fact of life. So my advice is, don’t get miserable about it.” Last season saw Wenger come under more pressure than ever since he took charge 16 years ago, with some fans even heard to chant: “You don’t know what you’re doing”. Hill-Wood said: “What those fans shouted did not influence me one little bit. I was disgusted to hear them because Arsene’s been absolutely outstanding. He is still outstanding.” This pre-season saw Arsenal captain Robin van Persie become the latest big name to quit the club because of their ‘lack of ambition’ but Hill-Wood said: “We have a pretty good chance of challenging for the Premiership. I don’t see why we cannot win it this year.”—AFP
ITALY: Italy’s national soccer team players attend a training session ahead of Friday’s Group B 2014 World Cup qualifying match between Italy and Bulgaria at the Coverciano sports center.—AP
Lithuanian FA boss hit by fraud probe VILNIUS: A Lithuanian court has ordered the Baltic state’s football association boss Julius Kvedaras to step down for six months, amid a fraud probe, judicial officials said Monday. “He was removed from his position for half a year in order to carry out a fast and impartial investigation, and to prevent interruption of the pre-trial investigation,” Jomile JuskaiteVizbariene, a spokeswoman for the court in the central Lithuanian city of Kaunas, told AFP. Prosecutors said Kvedaras, 62, was suspected of “illegal enrichment”, which can carry a prison sentence of up to four years. “The investigation was opened in October last year and charges against Kvedaras were brought on August 3. Currently he is the only suspect,” Kaunas prosecutor’s office spokeswoman Vaida Kibirkstyte told AFP. “He is suspected of illegally getting capital from the federation. His income was less than his wealth,” she added. The daily Lietuvos Rytas reported on Monday that Kvedaras was suspected of involvement in embezzling money provided to Lithuania from European football’s governing body UEFA for stadium reconstruction, as well as of having ties with organised crime. Kvedaras was elected president of the
Lithuanian FA in March this year, despite already having a controversial reputation. Kvedaras rejected accusations on Monday, saying he would appeal the court ruling. “Now I am waiting for a lawyer and will appeal the decision. I have provided all the information, answered all the questions, and they are writing nonsense,” he told news portal sportas.info. The Lithuanian FA meanwhile dismissed speculation that the national team could be disqualified from competition. Several nations have in the past been suspended by UEFA and world football’s governing body FIFA due to alleged official interference in the game. The FA said the issue would be discussed at a meeting of its executive committee on September 7, to which UEFA and FIFA representatives had been invited. The Baltic state’s national team now stands at 85 in the FIFA rankings and is scheduled to start its 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign against Slovakia on September 7 in Vilnius. Lithuania managed only one victory in eight games during their Euro 2012 qualifying run. Lithuania only returned to international football after five decades of Soviet rule ended in 1991. —AFP