I’ve lots of respect for Keshi – Siasia

Former Flying Eagles coach, Samson Siasia
Former Flying Eagles manager Samson Siasia has said he has a lot of respect for his former teammate Stephen Keshi as both coaches prepare to face the Nigeria Football Federation technical committee for the vacant Super Eagles job on Thursday.

Siasia, who denied criticising the composition of the committee, told our correspondenta on the telephone on Tuesday that he was confident of getting the post.

”There‘s no way I‘d have criticised anyone for a job they‘re yet to do,” the Heartland coach said.

“I respect Keshi a lot, right from our playing days and I believe whoever the committee decides to take eventually deserves the job.

”Nigerian football needs transformation and dynamism and that‘s what I intend to bring when I take over the team.”

The committee was inaugurated on Tuesday and has since commenced profiling the two coaches ahead of the interview Chris Green, Adegboye Onigbinde, Christian Chukwu and Austin Okocha are some of the members.

Meanwhile, Siasia has said he is concentrating on Heartland‘s opening game against Gombe United on Sunday, adding that he had strengthened the team with new players.

”I‘m prepared to manage the Eagles but I‘m not losing focus on what I want to achieve with Heartland,” he said.

”We‘ve signed young players that are capable of winning the league.”

Source: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20101103575012 Read more...

Michael Essien Profile, Biography

Name:	Michael Essien
Nationality:	Ghanaian
Date of Birth:	03/12/1982
Height:	5' 10" (177cm)
Weight:	13st 6lbs (85.35kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Lyon, Bastia
Position:	Midfielder

Michael Essien signed a two-year extension to his existing contract in June 2010 that will keep him at the club until 2015.
It was welcome news for a player who has suffered two bad seasons with injury and missed the first African World Cup as a result.
The midfielder, nicknamed 'The Bison' by fans in his home country of Ghana, ruptured a cruciate ligament on international duty in early September 2008, and it wasn't until March that season that Chelsea fans saw him again.
His comeback was a half-hour cameo in the FA Cup quarter-final as Coventry were swept aside, before he landed a starting role in Turin for a crucial Champions League tie against Juventus.
In typical Essien style, he came back with a performance full of running and commitment, weighing in with an equalising goal on the stroke of half-time to dampen home spirits.

Source: http://www.chelseafc.com/page/PlayerProfileDetail/0,,10268~27901,00.html Read more...

Soccer shooting in Honduras leaves 14 people dead

Ten people died on the scene; four others died at an area medical center, police say.

 

Fourteen people were shot and killed at a soccer field in northern Honduras, a police spokesman said Saturday. Juan Lopez, a police spokesman in the industrial city of San Pedro Sula, said 10 people died on the scene, while four more were transported to an area medical center for treatment. They died of their wounds, he added.
"We're investigating to see what sort of organization could be behind this. The most likely (scenario) is that the attack was directed at one or some of the men on the field and that the others were caught in the crossfire," Lopez said.

He declined to identify the victims.

 

Source: http://omittai.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-10-30T20%3A36%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=10

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Frank Lampard Profile, Biography

Name:	Frank Lampard
Nationality:	English
Date of Birth:	20/06/1978
Height:	6' 0" (184cm)
Weight:	13st 12lbs (88.0kg)
Previous
Clubs:	West Ham Utd, Swansea City (loan)
Position:	Midfielder

With 27 goals  from central midfield in 2009/10 and countless assists, it seems Frank Lampard is getting better with age.
If you factor in the England man's extraordinary resistance to injury and his ability not to earn one booking in the entire campaign it is easy to see why many think it is he that makes the Blues tick.
His season began as it would continue against Manchester United at Wembley, where he contributed a goal, helped set up the other, and then buried a penalty in the shootout.
Questions were raised over his impact in games, but having returned to a deeper position from the top of the diamond, where he had been restricted, his influence grew once more.
He netted another at Sunderland as we turned around a half-time deficit, and helped create seven in as many league games that followed, despite not scoring himself.
The 31-year-old actually went 10 without a goal before four in three arrived in October, helping send Atletico back to Madrid empty-handed as we began to score freely.

Source; http://www.chelseafc.com/page/PlayerProfileDetail/0,,10268~6076,00.html Read more...

Michael Essien Profile, Biography

Name:	Michael Essien
Nationality:	Ghanaian
Date of Birth:	03/12/1982
Height:	5' 10" (177cm)
Weight:	13st 6lbs (85.35kg)
Previous
Clubs:	Lyon, Bastia
Position:	Midfielder

Michael Essien signed a two-year extension to his existing contract in June 2010 that will keep him at the club until 2015.
It was welcome news for a player who has suffered two bad seasons with injury and missed the first African World Cup as a result.
The midfielder, nicknamed 'The Bison' by fans in his home country of Ghana, ruptured a cruciate ligament on international duty in early September 2008, and it wasn't until March that season that Chelsea fans saw him again.
His comeback was a half-hour cameo in the FA Cup quarter-final as Coventry were swept aside, before he landed a starting role in Turin for a crucial Champions League tie against Juventus.
In typical Essien style, he came back with a performance full of running and commitment, weighing in with an equalising goal on the stroke of half-time to dampen home spirits.

Read more: :http://www.chelseafc.com/page/PlayerProfileDetail/0,,10268~27901,00.html Read more...

Rooney saga: Publicity stunt?

Fans show support for Wayne Rooney
The 24-year-old signed a new five-year contract with Manchester United on Friday, just two days after saying he would have to leave because the club did not match his ambitions.
The decision was greeted with disbelief in some quarters but with an air of resignation in others due to the belief that the striker had simply played the system to get a more lucrative deal.
Former Manchester United star Lou Macari was the most vocal, saying it was “cheeky” and a “slight on his colleagues.
“Had he been playing in the 70s or 80s the players would have asked him just what he was playing at,” Macari said. “They think they are good enough to win trophies. Does he not think that?
“It’s disrespectful to ask the chief executive (David Gill) what is going on. I am not saying he has not got the right, but it’s quite cheeky. He should not be doing it. I would think the lads in that dressing room are raging at this moment in time.”
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had struck first by bringing Rooney’s reluctance to sign a new contract into the public in a very open statement on Wednesday, in which he said he did not understand Rooney’s thought processes.


Read more:http://blogs.timeslive.co.za/soccer/2010/10/23/rooney-saga-publicity-stunt/ Read more...

Rooney says sorry

Sir Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney are rebuilding their relationship after a new deal was signed
Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed Wayne Rooney has apologised to him and his Manchester United team-mates.
Rooney performed a sensational about turn and signed a new deal at Old Trafford, just two days after revealing he wanted to leave the club. In his amazing statement, Rooney suggested the Red Devils lacked ambition and inferred the current crop of players were not good enough.
Two days on, a five-year contract was signed and Rooney has admitted he has bridges to build with the fans. The England international also has to make peace with his fellow players and he has made moves to do that, according to Ferguson.
"Wayne has apologised to me and the players," Ferguson told radio station Key 103. "He will also do so with the supporters.
"I always feel it is a quality in a person when they say sorry and realise they made a mistake."

Source: http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/52003.html Read more...

Ferguson calls for focus after Rooney resolution

Sir Alex Ferguson has seen his side drop ten points in eight games
Sir Alex Ferguson has urged Manchester United to retrain their focus on catching Chelsea in the Premier League after seeing the controversy over Wayne Rooney's future reach a positive conclusion on Friday.
Despite announcing earlier in the week that he wished to leave Old Trafford due to a lack of ambition on the club's part, Rooney surprised the football world by instead signing a new five-year deal, delighting Ferguson.
The striker has apologised to the manager and his team-mates, though he still has to reconcile with United fans, and Ferguson now hopes the club's attention can be devoted to cutting Chelsea's five-point advantage, starting with Sunday's trip to Stoke.
"There is no problem with the players or myself," Ferguson said. "We are doing what is best for Manchester United. We have important issues ahead, starting with Stoke City on Sunday.
"We are lagging behind Chelsea and we have to start making up ground quickly. We can only do that with everyone on board, with no one jumping ship. Then we can push on and see the real Manchester United."
"It has been a turbulent few days," Ferguson added when speaking to radio station Key103. "We have been hurt by events but Wayne has apologised to me and the players. He will do so with the supporters too.
"I always feel it is a quality in a person when they say they are sorry and realise they have made a mistake. That happens with young people." Read more...

Risk-taker Rooney threatens to poison the well

Wayne Rooney is staying at Manchester United
"If one player in the team does not trust the others, he should not play in the team. I trust everyone, I know we can win." That was Patrice Evra's unequivocal verdict after Wayne Rooney released a statement confirming his desire to leave Manchester United due to fears over their competitiveness.
Less than two days later, one of the most shocking U-turns in recent memory has seen Rooney pledge the next five years of his career to United. Ostensibly, this is a show of faith from the England striker in the Red Devils' squad, having been seduced by Sir Alex Ferguson's reassurances.
But the accusations will still fly around Rooney's head, with the most cynical suggesting that his desire to exit was no more than a ploy in order to secure a more lucrative contract. Does a picture of Ferguson and Rooney standing together in gleeful contentment conceal a murkier truth? Any conclusions at this stage are no more than conjecture but, whatever Rooney's intentions have been, he has enacted a high-risk strategy - and forced Ferguson to follow suit.

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Rooney signs new five-year contract with United

All smiles for Sir Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney after the contract was agreed

It brings to an end an amazing ten days of claim and counter claim coming out of Old Trafford which began with Rooney refuting manager Sir Alex Ferguson's claim that he was suffering from an ankle injury and seemed set to culminate with the player being sold in January.
After 24 hours of high-level talks between the player's representatives, Sir Alex Ferguson, chief executive David Gill and the Glazer family, Rooney has decided to stay with the club and immediately penned a new deal through to 2015.
Sir Alex has told radio station Key 103 that Rooney has said sorry to him and his team-mates for the event of the past week. "Wayne has apologised to me and the players,'' Sir Alex said. "He will also do so with the supporters.''

Source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=834922&sec=england&cc=3888 Read more...

Pulis grateful for United academy influence at Stoke

Ryan Shawcross and Danny Pugh: Members of Stoke's ex-Manchester United club
Stoke boss Tony Pulis has paid tribute to the Manchester United academy which provided him with five members of his first-team squad, including current captain Ryan Shawcross.
Shawcross, 23, came through the youth ranks at Old Trafford before joining the Potters on loan and then on a permanent deal , faces his old club on Sunday as the skipper of a Premier League side and with last season's call-up to the England squad to his name.
Stoke's skipper is joined as a member of the ex-United contingent at the Britannia by Danny Pugh, Danny Higginbotham, Michael Tonge and Marc Wilson - all of whom started their careers at United's academy before moving on to pastures new.
And Pulis feels the quality of their development through the Old Trafford academy has been clear to see.
"Ryan will enjoy it because he is playing in the Premier League, he is playing for a good club and he will be playing against a great club - and the club that gave him his start,'' Pulis said.

Read more: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=835235&cc=3888 Read more...