World Football news

[Trim]

Cana moves to Galatasaray

Lorik Cana has joined Galatasaray this afternoon, safc.com can exclusively confirm.

Cana joined from Marseille for £5m last summer and was appointed club captain by Steve Bruce.

The two clubs have agreed a fee in excess of 6m Euros for the Albanian international, who made 35 appearances for Sunderland.

Cana moves to Turkey | Sunderland

[Charlie]

Extra refs to police Champions League
Should avert goal-line rows

Champions League matches next season will feature two extra assistant referees after the experiment was approved by Wednesday's meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

The additional assistant referees system was used in the Europa League last season and has now been brought into Europe's elite club competition, as well as a handful of other competitions around the world.

Referees will be assisted by two linesmen and two further officials in each penalty area.

IFAB, which comprises representatives from world football's governing body FIFA and England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, had previously rejected the idea of introducing goal-line technology on the grounds of cost.

But calls for its introduction grew louder after England's Frank Lampard was denied what should have been an equalizer in the World Cup second-round clash with Germany when his shot rebounded off the underside of the crossbar and dropped over the line.

Extra refs to police Champions League

[Charlie]

Goalline technology feted as cheaper solution

Introducing goalline technology at soccer stadiums would prove a cheaper, as reliable aid to referees than UEFA's method of two additional assistants, according to manufacturers.

UEFA will expanded the use of five referees to some Champions League matches and European Championship qualifiers this season after a successful trial in the Europa League, but German company Cairos Technologies feel their solution should be used.

"You need to pay a referee each time for each match and two more referees, that is more expensive than having goalline technology," Cairos sales director Mario Hanus told Reuters on the sidelines of the Soccerex Asian forum in Singapore this week.

UEFA were not immediately available for comment.

Following Frank Lampard's disallowed effort for England in their World Cup second round defeat by Germany in South Africa last month there has been much talk at the forum, and in the sport, about using technology.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter apologised to England after the match and the Swiss said the topic of goalline technology would be discussed by soccer law-makers the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

However, last week IFAB, which consists of one representative from each of the four British associations and four from FIFA, left the topic off their agenda [ID:nLDE66I125] which Hanus said was frustrating.

"It was a little surprising for us (the rejection) as we have had so many voices around asking for the technology, players referees some of the club managers etc.

"The Bundesliga, I believe, would be ready to introduce it. Referees all around the globe say 'please we are the ones who are blamed if we take the wrong decision'," Hanus said.

The next opportunity for IFAB to discuss the matter of goalline technology will be at their business meeting in October, with law-changing unable to happen until after their annual meeting in March.

"(a few years ago) They (IFAB) asked us to change a few things and we did that and it worked and then the decision was against although we had done those changes.

"We were not expecting it to be introduced worldwide in all stadia but at least in a first league or something.

"There is actually nothing we think that needs to be done but if there was, we are here, we are open to talk."

Hanus also rejected concerns about the chip-in-ball technology failing at key moments perhaps due to a power outage, saying it was as reliable as any referee.

"If there is no power in the stadium there will be no floodlights and there will be no match so I would say that is not scaring us.

"The two additional referees can be stuck with an airplane that cannot fly because of volcano ash, there is no 100 percent guarantee in life," Hanus said, referring to the Icelandic ash cloud that downed much of Europe's airspace in April.

INTERVIEW - Goalline technology feted as cheaper solution | Reuters

[Charlie]

New York Cosmos Returns with Pele

Forget David Beckham and Thierry Henry, the biggest name in U.S. soccer re-emerged Sunday when the New York Cosmos announced its relaunch.

The franchise, which featured Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, ceased operations in the 1980s as ownership fluctuated and the NASL crumbled.

Since then, G. Peppe Pinton had held the rights to the name, until a group led by Paul Kemsley, an English businessman who previously held an interest in Tottenham Hotspur, bought it.

The new Cosmos has already partnered with Queens-based youth club BW Gottschee. Together they will field youth teams called the Cosmos Academy in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. The Cosmos also bought the Copa NYC tournament, an competition in New York which has a 16-year history.

Eventually, the club wants to return to the highest level -- in this case, Major League Soccer.

"Our plan has several phases, but if you fast-forward, it’s our aspiration to play at the highest level in this country, and that’s MLS," said Joe Fraga, executive director of the new Cosmos, told the New York Times. "And we are serious. We want to make it relevant again; we want kids to know what the Cosmos were and are, to bring the soccer dream back to the city.

"Pelé is our face, and you couldn't do better than that, not just for the Cosmos, but for soccer in general. Our goal is to respect history and the legacy, and make it relevant now."

"This is fantastic," Pelé said, according to the New York Times. "We are working very hard to bring the beautiful game back to New York, and now we finally have people who support us.

"Looking back, we know mistakes were made in the league, but that happens everywhere in the world. But the football is the reality, and one day I hope to be happy to see the New York Cosmos playing the Red Bulls in the championship game."

Since reclaiming the territorial rights to a second New York team when AEG sold the MetroStars to Red Bull, MLS has never tried to hide its desire to put a club in the city proper, as opposed to in New Jersey, where the Red Bulls are based.

New York Cosmos Announces Relaunch With Pele As Honorary Prez | Sports | Peacefmonline.com

[Charlie]

New Ranking of World Soccer Club

German Football revived. After the national team appears impressive, especially when the British massacred Argentina 4-1 and 4-0, the Bundesliga club was splashed sap sweetness. Der Panzer World Cup after sitting in the sequence of three FIFA rankings. This achievement is supported improved performance of the principal players who mostly play in their own homeland, the German league.

If we look a little to the rear, will recall how the two European competitions commotion two Bundesliga frontman. Bayern Munich’s Champions League final translucent, while Hamburg won the stairs European League semi-final.

Now, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) released a ranking of football clubs throughout the earth.

The best representatives of Germany are Munich. Louis van Gaal farm club is in third place, behind Barcelona and Inter Milan, who have the same points Raihan. Werder Bremen is currently in fourth position, while completing two German representatives in the top five.

The assessment was based on good track record in domestic and international level between August 2009 and July 2010.

Besides great achievements in Europe, Munich is also predicate as the Bundesliga champions, while Bremen in third place in the final standings. That is why both are able to accumulate more points than the other German clubs.

It is unfortunate that after Munich and Bremen in the order of three-four, no other Bundesliga clubs in the top 20 rankings IFFHS. [Van]

20 Great IFFHS:

1-2. Barcelona – Inter Milan (297 points)
3. Bayern Munich (257)
4-5-6. Werder Bremen – AS Roma – Chelsea (236)
7. Atletico Madrid (231)
8. Lyon (230)
9. Fulham (224)
10. Manchester United (217)
11. Arsenal (216)
12. Estudiantes de La Plata (215)
13. Valencia (214)
14. Universidad de Chile (211.5)
15. Girondins Bordeaux (209)
16. Sevilla (208)
17. Lillie (206)
18. Ajax (204)
19. Club Libertad Asuncion (203.5)
20. Anderlecht (202)

StarCityNews.com - New Ranking of World Soccer Club

No Real Madrid Personally I dont think this means much, but its just nice to see Bayern up there

[Charlie]

Van Gaal slams Blatter over technology delay

Van Gaal has long been a fan of using technology to clear up borderline decisions and he would like to see its introduction to avoid a repeat of the controversies at the World Cup. However, he fears video replays and other methods of taking human error out of football will never be employed as long as Blatter is at the helm of FIFA.

"It is incredible - Blatter said at the World Cup that the issue would be on the table and now it has disappeared again,'' he told kicker. "That is his strategy, but it is not fair play.''

Van Gaal has called for an overhaul at FIFA to bring the federation in line with modern football and he wants the names of the eight members of their international board to be revealed.

"He is old-fashioned,'' he added. "It is a commission full of old men. It is not transparent. We don't know which men are behind it. In a world of transparency, we really should know this.''

Louis Van Gaal slams FIFA's Sepp Blatter over technology delay - Global - ESPN Soccernet

[Meckz]

Loving Bayern in the number 3 spot...hopefully we can hold on to it....or even move up a notch...

I wish others would follow suit with Van Gaal and put more pressure on Blatter for the use of technology.

[Charlie]

UEFA Champions League returns to ESPN platforms - ESPN, ESPN HD and ESPN360

Elite Football is back with European football’s most prestigious club competition, the UEFA Champions League, returning to ESPN, ESPN HD and ESPN 360.

This month’s action wraps up the qualifying rounds and is the final step to determine the clubs who will join the automatic qualifiers in the field of 32 to begin the Group Stage in September.

UEFA Champions League Playoff Round – exclusively LIVE to ESPN, ESPN HD and ESPN 360

Wed 18/8 @ 2:30am, Live (re-air @ 4:30pm) Zenit vs. Auxerre
@ 4:30am, Live (re-air @ 10:30pm) Dynamo Kyiv vs. Ajax
@ 6:45am, ST (re-air @ 8pm) Young Boys vs. Tottenham

Thu 19/8 @ 4:30am, Live (re-air @ 9pm) Werder Bremen vs. Sampdoria
@ 6:45am, ST (re-air @ 11pm) Braga vs. Sevilla
@ 4:30pm, Basel vs. Sheriff

UEFA Champions League Draw
Fri 27/8 @ 2am, Live (re-airs @ 7am, 5:30pm) UCL Draw

UEFA Super Cup
Sat 28/8 @ 4:30am, Live (re-airs @ 2pm, 7pm) Inter Milan vs. AT Madrid

UEFA Champions League returns to ESPN platforms - ESPN, ESPN HD and ESPN360 :: Live Soccer TV

[Filo]

^what does it say for Latin America my friend?

I don't mind watching it on Fox Sports, but ESPN is better!

[Charlie]

^Yeah I prefer ESPN too, but it looks like we r stuck with FOX Sports again. Again us in Latin America will have to enjoy the CL in FOX, personally I dont like their commentators. I think ESPN offers more when it comes to comments, different views and angles (better quality in general I would say).

>>Fox Sports Programacion destacada de Agosto/2010 desde el 01/08/10:El Bazar del Espectaculo

[ELIASOV]

Anelka laughs off 18-match ban

http://http://fourfourtwo.com/news/r...8/default.aspx

[Scooter]

eliasov, I just want to let you know that none of your links work.

[ELIASOV]

eliasov, I just want to let you know that none of your links work.

yes mate :S i don't know why :S:S

[Blackroze]

lol,cuz it has two "http://" click on the link after redirecting from anonym then cut the first http:// then link will work

[ELIASOV]

lol,cuz it has two "http://" click on the link after redirecting from anonym then cut the first http:// then link will work

aha ok thanks