Archive for August 2005
BERLIN : Bayern Munich may have lifted the German championship with consummate ease last season but there were stumbles along the way and a 4-1 demolition by Bayer Leverkusen on the third weekend of the campaign saw manager Felix Magath come in for some stern criticism.
Admittedly the Bayern coach had the last laugh, winning a league and cup double while Bayer slumped to sixth but on Saturday he has the opportunity to set the record straight at the BayArena.
“The 4-1 loss was painful but it proved a turning point in our season and after that we found the path to success,” explained Magath.
This season’s duel is an early top-of-the-table clash with Bayern, in third, and second-placed Bayer Leverkusen both winning their opening fixtures last weekend.
Bayer can be formidable at home and the memory of the 4-1 mauling last season has proved that the Bavarian giants from Munich can be felled.
“Why shouldn’t we beat Bayern?” asked German international Bernd Schneider. “We have the quality and are playing at home.”
Bayern are not in the best physical shape after a pre-season trip to Japan and the loss of French defender Valerien Ismael through suspension is a major blow.
Ismael was sent off on his debut last Friday but that did not stop ten-man Bayern cruising to a 3-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.
The other highlight of the weekend sees Borussia Dortmund host old foe Schalke 04 in Saturday’s Ruhr derby.
Traditionally Dortmund have been the big fish in the industrial Ruhr area of north west Germany but Schalke have taken that mantle as Borussia come to terms with their precarious financial situation.
“In the past Dortmund had the stars and the stronger team but now the situation is reversed and we are a bit better,” said Schalke’s Danish international striker Ebbe Sand.
That sort of comment should fire up Dortmund in front of their 80,000 fans at the Westfalen Stadium as they bid to end a miserable sequence against their old enemy.
Not since November 1998 have Dortmund managed to defeat Schalke on their own patch but they will take heart from the knowledge that the latter have their Brazilian playmaker Lincoln suspended.
Lincoln misses the first month of the campaign as punishment for his sending-off in the League Cup win over VfB Stuttgart for spitting at Thomas Hitzlsperger.
League leaders Werder Bremen look to get back to winning ways after a 2-1 midweek defeat to FC Basel in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier.
Bremen travel to Mainz 05 on Sunday hoping man-of-the-moment Miroslav Klose can continue his purple patch in front of goal having scored three times in his last two matches.
Down at the bottom Eintracht Frankfurt look to register their first points in the 2005/06 season at Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
The other two promoted sides FC Cologne and MSV Duisburg are off the mark and Frankfurt can not afford to fall behind in what is sure to be a tense relegation fight.
Fixtures:
Saturday
Bayer Leverkusen v Bayern Munich, Borussia Monchengladbach v VfL Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund v Schalke 04, Hertha Berlin v Eintracht Frankfurt, Kaiserslautern v MSV Duisburg, FC Nuremberg v Hannover, Arminia Bielefeld v SV Hamburg
Sunday
VfB Stuttgart v FC Cologne, Mainz 05 v Werder Bremen
– AFP /ct
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Time To Deal With The Superclubs
Posted on: August 13, 2005
Time to deal with the superclubs
RING out the old; ring in the new. Alfred Tennyson wrote his memorable refrain with great pathos. But, in the beginning of a football season that leads up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, fat cats in Europe’s top clubs are actually licking their lips in anticipation of a new world order devoid of international football. These people — owners, chairmen, CEOs and managers — are not likely to lose their sleep even if the FIFA World Cup, the sporting event that beats the Olympics in its global popularity, mass appeal and TV viewership, is scrapped in the not-too-distant future.
The advocates of such a school of thought are marked by their reluctance to release their stars — some of whom are drawing upwards of ΰ100,000 a week — for national duty whether it be “meaningless” friendlies, or World Cup and European Cup qualifiers that fall right in the middle of the club season. They reason that the football world is not going to suffer if it loses its showpiece event because the European Champions League has got more quality than the World Cup.
And, Lord, the guys who talk thus are powerful. A few years before he became Italian Prime Minister, AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi was talking thus about the end of international football as we know it: “Club teams will become new international teams. Milan and Juve would represent Italy, Real and Barca would do the same for Spain.”
In September 2002, just months after being put out of the World Cup by Ronaldinho’s floater past a bemused David Seaman, communication channels broke between England’s national coach Sven Goran Eriksson and Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United.
Eriksson had selected Paul Scholes for a friendly against Portugal, and Ferguson pulled him out of the international fixture stating that he was injured. Twenty-four hours later, Scholes started in United’s Premiership match against Middlesbrough, and England’s Swedish manager was livid at Ferguson, who with typical arrogance, did nothing to sort out the situation.
Eriksson, and other national coaches, have their hearts in their mouths when their leading players are in action for their clubs during the World Cup, European Cup or African Nations Cup years — an injury, like what happened to Steven Gerrard or Robert Pires during the 2001-02 season, is enough to seal their team’s fate in the showpiece events. Perhaps, even more worrying is that the ones who escape injury are so physically exhausted by the arduous club season (clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea mostly play as many as three competitions simultaneously between January and May, and the same is the case with top Continental clubs) that they are in no physical condition to come up with their best for the World Cup.
Even more frightening, and humiliating, is the case of the player who, when under pressure from his club manager to choose between club and country, either retires from international football (such as Alan Shearer and South Africa’s Shaun Bartlett, who was asked by Charlton manager Alan Curbishley to commit himself fully to club), or walks out of the national team throwing a tantrum, (it is conjectured that Roy Keane walking out on the Irish team in Japan and Korea in 2002 has more to do with recuperating for the next season under Ferguson at Old Trafford than with his disagreements with Irish manager Mike McCarthy) or just wishes to not play for country in showpiece competitions to avoid getting injured, or exacerbating a healed injury (it is speculated that Gerrard’s injury had healed by the time of World Cup 2002, and that he was “advised” by the then Liverpool club manager Gerrard Houllier to miss the event to be fully fit by the time the 2002-03 club season began).
In the beginning of the season that culminates in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, UEFA, which is the European confederation of FIFA, should take a strong stand against the commercial cartel trying to undermine the value of international competition. The powers-that-be of FIFA’s richest confederation should realise that they have more of a social obligation in keeping alive the FIFA Charter than promoting the mercenaries of its leading clubs, who are not even shy to discuss a breakaway from UEFA.
As FIFA President Joseph Blatter wrote in the Financial Times, London, recently, the value and importance of international competitions is more in terms of social responsibility and less about nationalism, which can be interpreted as sentimentalism. “Those who have money should give it to those who have not,” wrote Blatter. “Unlike these elite clubs, the FIFA is a non-profit organisation. What money is left once our costs are covered is passed on to the grass roots. We support local, national and international efforts to entertain everybody — not just the lucky few who can afford pay-per-view.”
UEFA boss Lennart Johannson better forget his personal rivalry with Blatter.
Hindu On Net
- In: Chelsea | Lyon
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LYON, France : Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien will be staying with French champions Lyon after the club’s president Jean-Michel Aulas announced the long-running transfer saga with Chelsea had finally ended.
Essien, at 22 years old considered one of the brightest midfield hopes in Europe, had been a Chelsea target all summer and as late as Sunday night both clubs were still see-sawing over a possible transfer.
Aulas declared after Sunday’s deadline – which he gave to Chelsea – that Essien would be staying, only to change his mind minutes later when informed that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich wanted a personal meeting.
However that meeting never took place, and it looks like Aulas’s patience has run out.
Having rejected Chelsea’s biggest offer of 32-million-euros (21-million-pounds) in the hope he would get 45 million euros (32 million pounds) as well as a player in exchange, Aulas seemed only too happy to see the saga come to an end.
“England may have the Olympics but Chelsea will not get Michael Essien,” Aulas said on the club’s website http://www.olweb.fr.
“Michael Essien is, and will remain, a Lyon player.
“We are going to seal the contract offer made and accepted by his agent, which the player will find very rewarding as it comprises a major pay rise as well as an extension of his contract until 2009.
“I will invite Michael and his agent to come and see me in St Tropez.
“This business (with Chelsea) is finished and there will be no meeting on Tuesday (today).”
It remains to be seen how Essien, who has not played for Lyon so far this season, reacts following his declarations a few weeks ago when he said his Lyon days were over.
However Aulas was clear about the midfielder’s status within a team which has won the past four French league titles and for the past three years has finished in the final phases of the Champions League.
Aulas added: “I’ve said from the start of this that Michael was never for sale and that we wanted him to be an integral part of the team with (coach) Gerard Houllier.
“I don’t have to remind anybody that the team will be better with him than without him.”
Aulas hit out at Chelsea, who he claimed turned up at the club unannounced then turned up at another meeting while Aulas was on his holidays without Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich after the Russian had been scheduled to attend.
“On July 28 (Chelsea chief executive) Peter Kenyon, without any warning, telephoned to say he was sitting in the restaurant across from our offices.
“I was busy and asked (club official) Marino Faccioli to go and meet him. Kenyon made a written offer, which was certainly an increase on their earlier offer but it was still far off our estimation of Michael.
“After that I agreed to meet Roman Abramovich and Peter Kenyon at Saint Tropez while I was on holiday. We met on August 5, and to my big surprise Roman Abramovich didn’t turn up.
“The only people there was Peter Kenyon and George Mendes, the agent of (Chelsea coach) Jose Mourinho!
“Our discussion didn’t lead to much and I felt they had lost interest in Michael, so I gave them a deadline of August 7 to come up with a final, improved offer.”
It seems Aulas will go down as one of the few club presidents to reject the overtures of Chelsea, who many feel practically bought their way to success last season when they won the English Premiership for the first time in 50 years.
Chelsea have spent millions buying the world’s best players since former oil tycoon Abramovich bought the club – however their final offer was not good enough for Aulas, who believes Essien is on the path to greatness.
“Since everything will quickly go back to normal, and that Michael is a great player I only see good things ahead for him and for Lyon,” said Aulas.
“In my dream, I see him scoring a header in the Champions League final at the Stade de France against Chelsea, and I see him winning the Ballon d’Or (European Football of the Year award).”
– AFP /ct
Channel News Asia
Heritage Homes Turn Hotels
Posted on: August 6, 2005
Heritage homes turn hotels
Three heritage bungalows open up as boutique hotels in Fort Kochi this season, finds PRIYADARSSHINI SHARMA
PHOTO BY: MAHESH HARILAL
KODER HOUSE It was home to the well-known Jewish Koder family of Cochin
Check into a hotel, unlock your room and rewind to the past. Let history unspool.
How would it be to live in a room steeped in history? Well, reliving history can be an awe-inspiring experience and is possible now as three heritage homes in Fort Kochi open up as hotels, this coming season. Homes, whose walls encase more than 150 years of chronicles, the very homes that have given Fort Kochi its unique character, are now gearing up to open their doors to the eager and involved travellers. And as these old, historical bungalows undergo restoration and renovation they are set to offer the curious tourist a very unique experience.
Well here’s a window to the heritage homes that turn boutique hotels this season.
Koder House
Imposing, stately and brick red in colour, the Koder House was an early nineteenth century Portuguese mansion before it was bought over by Samuel Koder in 1905. Its striking red colour was, for a brief period, changed to grey but it incurred much criticism and was reverted to its present russet-red. Says Sammy Hallegua, of the Koder family, “The Koder House had wooden balconies which ran around the two top floors but were changed later. The Hanging Bridge dates back to the 1920s and connects the house to the first floor of the adjacent shop, which belonged to the Koders and was constructed in1868. As Samuel Koder was the honorary consul to the Netherlands, the Dutch ambassadors visited the house often. Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi had visited the place when they came with Indira Gandhi in 1977- 78.”
Says the present owner of the property, “We want to maintain its original character so we have made no changes at all. In fact, it will have just six spacious suites, with study and balcony, overlooking the channel, just as it was, two lounges on each floor, a library, a pool and the famous Hanging Bridge. We could have made it into a 12 to 14 room hotel but that would ruin its character.” So a room at the Koder House is 800 sq ft and the lounge is 1,500 sq ft of history. Renovated by local architects Jibu and Thomas , the main aim has been to retain its original elements.
Says Thomas George, architect and partner of the firm, “Koder House, also called the Red House, is the face of Fort Kochi. We have tried to maintain the ethos of a heritage structure without least intruding on the existing architecture. The only civil construction has been a pool in the rear of the building to go with the brand value of the hotel. Furniture, lighting, flooring are all in character with the period.”
OLD HARBOUR HOUSE A fine example of period architecture
Old Harbour Hotel
Contiguous to the Koder House, the Old Harbour House too opens up as the Old Harbour Hotel, carrying the same name it had when the British used it as a hotel. “It is supposed to be the oldest English hotel in Kerala,” says a spokesperson of Amon and Company, the present owners of the property who purchased it from Caritt Moran Pvt. Ltd, a tea broking firm. “We have documents right from the year1782, from the times of Portuguese occupation to the Dutch and finally to the British. In fact, the courtyard is a Portuguese feature, the arches are very Dutch and the whole place has a very colonial character. The newly opened hotel will have 13 luxury rooms with period furniture, a multi-cuisine restaurant, alfresco dining, a French-Italian bakery, an antique ware shop, a Jacuzzi pool and an Ayurvedic spa,” he further adds. Says restoration architect, Karl Damschen, who is working on the structure, “I am trying to restore a grey goose to a nice swan. By grey goose I mean the additions the original structure has had over the years for the convenience of the inhabitants. The Old Harbour House was actually two buildings, both from different periods as they have different plinth levels. Later some elements were added. Conserving heritage does not mean not to touch a structure but rather to remove the additions. And the Old Harbour Hotel is being restored.”
The Dutch Courtyard
Adjacent to the Dutch cemetery and bang on the Fort Kochi beach, the Bank House too is undergoing hectic completion to catch the tourist season beginning September. With records dating prior to 1911 when Parry and Co. sold it to a clerk, Devasomparambil Varieed Zavier, in the Deputy Collector’s office, it changed hands from Imperial Chemical Limited, Calcutta, to Chartered Bank of India in 1955. The present owners Coastal Cargo Pvt. Ltd. bought the colonial property from Tata Tea in 2003. This season the bungalow opens up as a 10-room boutique hotel called The Dutch Courtyard. With seven sea-facing rooms, a large veranda called Sea Breeze, a restaurant, Ayurvedic centre and a wading pool, architect Inesh, of Inesh Designs, redesigning the bungalow has chosen the Dutch style. Says he, “The bungalow did not adhere to any one style of architecture, so we decided to give it a Dutch style because of its proximity to the Dutch Cemetery.” He has kept the commercial aspect of the hotel separate from the bungalow by converting the old garage into a reception area. He plans to construct a replica of Sao Gabriel, Vasco Da Gama’s sailing ship, in the landscape, as a reminder of Fort Kochi’s historical past.
So here’s the chance to dine in rooms where ambassadors and prime ministers were entertained? To walk down the same corridors once trodden by well-known personalities, have tea on verandas that once witnessed the landings by sea from distant ports, to be in anti-rooms where deals were brokered, in attics where battle plans were hatched or simply be imbued by historicity on a hanging bridge that joins two historical edifices.
In other words here’s a rare chance to be in rooms with history attached.
Hindu On Net
LONDON : New Arsenal skipper Thierry Henry insisted that he is committed to the Gunners and wants to stay with the club for as long as he is wanted.
The 27-year-old has two years left on his existing contract at Highbury and has been handed the captain’s armband in the wake of Patrick Vieira’s departure to Juventus.
“I am really happy here, things are going well for me and I’ve just been named skipper. Like I’ve said so many times – as long as they want me, I will stay here,” said the French star.
“I’ve seen so many things written in the past two days and, all the time, people question my desire and commitment for the club.
“But all the time I step on the pitch, I try to do my best. The only thing I can say is the talks are on and I just hope we can find an agreement.”
Henry may already be one of the highest-paid players at Arsenal, but he insists he has never been solely motivated by money.
“I always say that I do something that I love. Even if I wasn’t playing for Arsenal and I had to play in the back garden of my friend’s house, I’d play the same way,” he added.
“I’d still argue the same way and still be trying some stuff. I’d still be unhappy or happy because I lost or won. I’m not demanding anything except to play and try to lead the team to some silverware.
“I didn’t come into football to win money. I came into football first of all to make my Dad proud because he was the most important influence on me at the time and I just wanted to make him happy.
“Once I saw that I could do something with my feet, I just wanted to make sure people remember the sort of player I was.
“Obviously there is stuff that has to be dealt with but people talk about money and figures. There is money in the game, yes, but the game is more important.”
Henry said he is looking forward to being captain.
“I just feel privileged to be the skipper. Following the likes of Patrick Vieira and Tony Adams, it’s a great honour,” he said.
“I do enjoy the extra responsibility. I used to be skipper when I was playing for the France youth teams and I always try to put my team first.
“That’s what you’re there for. You must try to listen to what the guys have to say and if I can do something about it, I will try and help my team.” – AFP /dt
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PARIS : French star Zinedine Zidane has announced that he is coming out of international retirement to help his country’s flagging World Cup campaign.
The 33-year-old Real Madrid midfielder quit the national team after Euro 2004 when France were knocked out in the quarter-finals but said on his website on Wednesday that he will be available for selection in the friendly against Cote d’Ivoire on August 17.
“I have decided to make a comeback and play for France, one year after I categorically stated I would never play again,” said Zidane, a former World Footballer of the Year.
Zidane has played 93 times for the national team scoring 26 goals including two goals in the 1998 World Cup final win against Brazil.
He also played in the successful Euro 2000 team but his last game was the 1-0 quarter-final defeat to Greece in Euro 2004.
“I will be in Montpellier”, said Zidane referring to the venue of the match with Cote d’Ivoire.
France, the World Cup winners in 1998, are currently fourth in Group 4 of the qualifying campaign for the 2006 finals, three points behind leaders the Republic of Ireland.
Switzerland are second with 12 points with Israel in third spot on 11.
France’s next World Cup qualifiers are against the Faroe Islands at home on September 3 and the Republic of Ireland in Dublin four days later.
Zidane also announced on his website the return of compatriot, fellow midfielder Claude Makalele who plays for English champions, Chelsea.
“Claude will also make his comeback for the French side,” he said.
“For the very first time in my life I have decided to go back on my word which is very important for me. When I made the decision to retire I was very serious – today I have made the same decision but in reverse.
“Of course I am overwhelmed. Yes, I know I have put myself in a position that many people will look at closely and say: ‘Why didn’t he do that earlier? Why now? Why did he wait so long?’,”
“Raymond Domenech (the national coach) has been to see me in Madrid two or three times.
“We have discussed it a lot together and he told me directly what he wanted from me and Claude.”
Domenech fuelled speculation of a return in March when he said that “the door was open” for Zidane.
Zidane, FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000 and 2003, became the world’s most expensive player in 2001 when he moved from Juventus to Real Madrid for 63.6 million dollars.
He has picked up three Italian and Spanish league winners medals, as well as winning the Champions League in 2002 with Real. – AFP /dt
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My Soccer World 