THE GUARDIAN Saturday, March 23, 2013
62
SPoRTS European Round-Up
De Gea Pledges Loyalty To United AVID de Gea has reiteratD ed he wants to stay at Manchester United for a ‘long time’ after brushing off talk he could join Barcelona in the summer. The 22-year-old is enjoying his second season at United following a 2011 move from Atletico Madrid and has played a key role in the club’s relentless pursuit of the title in recent weeks. He has been mooted as a potential summer replacement for Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes, but De Gea says he is in no rush to leave old Trafford.
“I know things have been said and written but I have a contract,” De Gea is quoted in The Sun. “I’m very well in Manchester. “It is not just my name that appears. At Barca, Valdes is still the keeper and Madrid is my city, one day I’d like to return. “But now I hope to stay in Manchester for a long time and win a lot of titles.” De Gea also praised the man-management skills of Sir Alex Ferguson after the United boss helped him to deal with the criticism which has come his way.
He added: “Sir Alex is more than a manager. He controls everything in the team. He’s a father for all those who come to the club. For that he is the best. “A footballer has to get used to good and bad words. “At times things are said that don’t make a lot of sense and it is part of the job to know how to live with that. The best thing is to know who you are always.” Meanwhile, De Gea believes that United would have reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League if Nani had not been contro-
versially sent off in the second leg against Real Madrid. He continued: “Sir Alex has a lot of character and on that day he was very angry, although deep down what he felt more was pride for his team. “We were superior to Madrid and deserved more but there were situations - unfair decisions - and we were knocked out.
Gotze Eyes Move To Top Club oRUSSIA Dortmund ace Dortmund’s youth academy, Mario Gotze has admitted claims he is pleased with his B an interest in Manchester side’s performance this season United and Real Madrid amidst buy-out talks. The 20 year-old playmaker has become a target for clubs across Europe in recent years, despite remaining under contract with Dortmund for the next three seasons. Gotze, a product of
but refuses to rule out a move in the future. “I am not going to rule it out, I am keeping my options open,” Gotze told Sport1 media. “I am enjoying being a Borussia Dortmund player and I am happy with how things are right now.
Dortmund Interested In Dzeko, Zorc Admits oRUSSIA Dortmund sporting director, Michael Zorc B has admitted that Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko is a target for his club, but says that there is an “economic aspect” to navigate. The Bosnian has been mooted as a potential replacement for Robert Lewandowski, who is likely to leave the German champions in the summer. But the Schwarzgelben are insistent that they cannot do a deal for Dzeko if the Premier League champions are unwilling to set a realistic transfer fee. “There should be little doubt about Dzeko being a top-class striker,” Zorc told Bild. “He is a great forward and a player one should be keen on. However, there is also still somewhat of an economic aspect.”
De Gea
Fringer Hails Loew For Revolutionising German Football, oRMER Stuttgart boss, Fadmiration Rolf Fringer has voiced his for Germany coach Joachim Loew and feels the 53-year-old has revolutionized the side since taking charge. The Austrian has believes that the Nationalelf are no longer mainly known for their impressive work-rate like before, but have become a team that’s all about attractive football. “The national team were always known for the typical German virtues. Loew has revolutionized German football, though, and has given the team an entirely new identity and football culture than it had before,” he told Goal.com. He added, “Ever since Jogi
has taken charge of the team, German football has been valued much higher abroad. Simply because the team plays better football under him. Germany had good players before as well, but it was all about physicality and duels. German football has another look now and it’s a rather pleasant one.” Loew took over as Germany boss after the 2006 World Cup, and guided the nation to the final at Euro 2008, while the Nationalelf made it to the semifinals at both the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. He succeeded Fringer at the Mercedes Benz Arena, leading Stuttgart to the DFBPokal in 1997.
Gotze
FIFA Must Act In Mourinho Row, Valdano Insists oRMER Real Madrid direc- have gone to the Portuguese Furged tor Jorge Valdano has were wrongly attributed to FIFA to prove that the eventual winner Vicente del voting for the Coach of the Year award was not rigged after Jose Mourinho’s claims earlier this week. The Blancos coach suggested that the election was fixed as a number of votes that should
Man City Need Long-Term Plan, Soriano Tells Mancini ANCHESTER City chief M executive, Ferran Soriano appears to have offered some support to manager Roberto Mancini by suggesting the club need a long-term plan to sustain success. The Barclays Premier League champions currently trail neighbours Manchester United by 15 points and retaining their title looks a distant hope. That appeared to put pressure on Mancini’s future but Soriano, who moved to the Etihad Stadium from Barcelona in the summer, has a greater understanding of the situation. “It is not easy to win back any
league, especially the Premier League,” he told a press conference in Italy where he was picking up an award for his book, Goal: The Ball Doesn’t Go in By Chance. “one year you can win with luck but in the long term you need planning and investments to reach the final of the Champions League. “In 2003 we did a study at Barcelona and for every player who ended up in the first team from the academy there was an average cost of £2million, which is nothing if you think of the current cost of players. “The principle of bringing players through is fundamental to give a technical identity
to a club, because that leads to a style of play. “They have to learn from five years old the style of the team, and then you get the benefits.” City’s rise to Premier League champions was built on a massive spending spree but Soriano insists that will not be the case moving forward. “our squad is still competitive. our problem is finding players stronger than those we already have and that’s not easy,” he added.
Hodgson Denies Feud With Wenger NGLAND manager Roy E Hodgson has insisted that there is no feud
Loew
between himself and Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger over the fitness of Jack Wilshere. The 21-year-old midfielder is unable to represent the Three Lions for the upcoming World Cup qualifying double-header against San Marino and Montenegro due to a recent ankle injury, and is currently undergoing rehabilitation in Dubai. Wenger was reportedly frustrated at Hodgson’s decision to play Wilshere for 90 minutes of the February friendly with Brazil, but the England boss was quick to
deny any conflict with the Gunners manager. “The thing about club managers is they’ve got another job to do,” Hodgson told reporters. “That conflict is always going to be there, between club and national team, because people will want them to be there playing for them. But I don’t have any criticisms of them.” He added, “Wilshere is injured and that is unfortunate. We are disappointed he isn’t with us because, on merit, he’d be picked and would play. But injuries occur. It occurred to Michael Dawson and Gary Cahill.”
Mourinho
Bosque. FIFA was quick to deny any wrongdoing shortly the allegations, but this has not ended speculation that the voting was indeed rigged, and Valdano feels the body must act to make it clear for once and for all that there was no foul play. “Mourinho’s declarations mean that FIFA has to do something. They should prove that the voting process was clean,” Valdano told El Larguero. “Del Bosque won the election with a big margin. I do not believe that there were over 200 fraudulent votes.” The Spain coach branded Mourinho’s claims “childish” on Thursday, and refused to further discuss the subject. Meanwhile, FIFA has released a statement denying that Goran Pandev, captain of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, voted for Mourinho, not Del Bosque, despite the player’s claims.