ANDY MURRAY underlined his position as clear favourite for the Australian Open by successfully defending his ExxonMobil Qatar Open title in Doha.
The 21-year-old Scot was last night priced at 2/1 by William Hill to collect his first major title at Melbourne Park in three weeks’ time after a straight sets win over American Andy Roddick. Following up his excellent semi-final win over Roger Federer, Murray, inset, powered past another former world No 1 in Roddick, taking just 70 minutes yesterday to register a 6-4 6-2 victory that earned him $183,000, to add to the $250,000 he took in winning last week’s exhibition event in Abu Dhabi.
Such early-season form is vindication for the month of hard physical work Murray and his support team put in at the University of Miami before Christmas. He now heads to Australia in the belief that his preparations for the season’s first grand slam event have been perfect.
Murray will perhaps play one exhibition match at Kooyong this week to aid his acclimatisation. “It is great to start the season with a title. The semi-final and final matches were very good against two top players so I am very pleased,” he said.
http://playstationbase.blogspot.com
Reacting to the news that British bookmakers had installed him as the man to beat in Melbourne, he said: “I am one of the top guys but I don’t know if I am the favour-ite.
There is Roger, Rafa [Nadal] and Novak [Djokovic], who won there last year. I like playing in Melbourne but I did not play well last time.” A year ago Murray also arrived in Australia with the Qatar title to his name but lost in the opening round to eventual finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. His performance in 2007, when he took Rafael Nadal to five sets in the fourth round, was an early indication of his potential.
“I feel good going into the Australian Open but after what happened last year I don’t want to get too carried away,” he stressed. “Every round will be tough.”
Roddick praised the rival who has now beaten him six times in eight tour encounters. “Andy played great. He is in top form right now. Every time I had a big point, he hit the line. He was just better than me.”
source:the london times
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Rafa Benitez: Ferguson must be stopped
http://adebambo-humanbehaviour.blogspot.com
RAFAEL BENITEZ renewed his verbal onslaught on Sir Alex Ferguson last night. Speaking after a drab 0-0 draw with Stoke, which put Liverpool four points clear in the Premier League, he said he had no regrets about Friday’s outburst against the United manager and that he had felt compelled to speak out because Ferguson had been “talking too much about Liverpool . . . he has to stop”.
Denying that the spat might have affected his team’s performance, Benitez said: “In more than 20 years nobody has said these things, but maybe a lot of people are thinking the same. I do not regret saying it. I can guarantee you that a lot of people have sent messages of support. Now maybe he is a little bit scared. I have a lot of respect for him and he is a great manager, but he is talking too much about Liverpool. This has to stop. There have been conversations between myself and the players about what I said, which I cannot tell you about. He may respond, but if he talks too quickly I will not understand.”
Bentiez then tried to play mind games of his own, before Chelsea’s visit to Old Trafford today, saying: “Do I think he is nervous? Clearly. Tomorow it is clear that both cannot win. We will see what happens. A draw could be a perfect result for Liverpool.” Benitez’s premeditated broadside at the United boss on Friday had contained a litany of complaints, the gist of which was that his rival had been allowed by the lawmakers to place himself above the rules.
Ferguson, meanwhile, continued to rile his rival by suggesting that Liverpool’s challenge for the league title is little more than talk. The Scot said Chelsea remain in his view Manchester United’s main rivals. “I’m of the opinion that it usually goes down to two teams, in the last month anyway,” said Ferguson. His implication was that the Anfield side would not be one of those in contention.http://librarybookshome.blogspot.com
In his latest comments, Ferguson plays down the seriousness of Liverpool’s bid for a first title in 19 years. “Liverpool have had a good start and it’s given them more confidence and there’s more expectation on them now. They’re talking about winning the league, the supporters are talking about winning it and the players are talking about, so that’s a change. But they’ve not been able to talk about it for at least a good few years,” he said. He still expects the title to come down to a scrap between United and Chelsea. “Chelsea have experience and have been our main rivals for the past five years.”
source:the london times
RAFAEL BENITEZ renewed his verbal onslaught on Sir Alex Ferguson last night. Speaking after a drab 0-0 draw with Stoke, which put Liverpool four points clear in the Premier League, he said he had no regrets about Friday’s outburst against the United manager and that he had felt compelled to speak out because Ferguson had been “talking too much about Liverpool . . . he has to stop”.
Denying that the spat might have affected his team’s performance, Benitez said: “In more than 20 years nobody has said these things, but maybe a lot of people are thinking the same. I do not regret saying it. I can guarantee you that a lot of people have sent messages of support. Now maybe he is a little bit scared. I have a lot of respect for him and he is a great manager, but he is talking too much about Liverpool. This has to stop. There have been conversations between myself and the players about what I said, which I cannot tell you about. He may respond, but if he talks too quickly I will not understand.”
Bentiez then tried to play mind games of his own, before Chelsea’s visit to Old Trafford today, saying: “Do I think he is nervous? Clearly. Tomorow it is clear that both cannot win. We will see what happens. A draw could be a perfect result for Liverpool.” Benitez’s premeditated broadside at the United boss on Friday had contained a litany of complaints, the gist of which was that his rival had been allowed by the lawmakers to place himself above the rules.
Ferguson, meanwhile, continued to rile his rival by suggesting that Liverpool’s challenge for the league title is little more than talk. The Scot said Chelsea remain in his view Manchester United’s main rivals. “I’m of the opinion that it usually goes down to two teams, in the last month anyway,” said Ferguson. His implication was that the Anfield side would not be one of those in contention.http://librarybookshome.blogspot.com
In his latest comments, Ferguson plays down the seriousness of Liverpool’s bid for a first title in 19 years. “Liverpool have had a good start and it’s given them more confidence and there’s more expectation on them now. They’re talking about winning the league, the supporters are talking about winning it and the players are talking about, so that’s a change. But they’ve not been able to talk about it for at least a good few years,” he said. He still expects the title to come down to a scrap between United and Chelsea. “Chelsea have experience and have been our main rivals for the past five years.”
source:the london times
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Andy Murray’s hold over Roger Federer makes him favourite for the Australian Open
Roger Federer is not often lost for shots, lost for ideas or lost for words. However, at the end of another dispiriting hour and 33 minutes at the hands of Andy Murray yesterday, that is exactly how it was. As of this moment, no one will enter the Australian Open on Monday week in a more settled mood, as match-tight and with a keener sense of his own wellbeing than Britain's best.
Murray defeated Federer 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, the fourth time in succession that he has done so (one of those was an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi a week ago)and in each of those matches victory has been achieved having lost the first set. We are in uncharted waters as far as either player, or men's tennis since Federer began his period of domination and splendour six years ago, is concerned.
Since the US Open final last September, in which the Swiss had so much to prove and Murray had not quite acquired sufficient nous to handle what was a new occasion, the 21-year-old has taken a sadistic delight in giving Federer a head start and then unravelling his game as one would pulling at a single thread of an old cardigan. Rafael Nadal muscles Federer aside, Murray exhausts and exasperates him.
Of course, the outcome might have been different had Federer taken one of three break points at 1-1 in the second set, but Murray served his way out of that pickle with a sublime belief in his shot-making talents. From that moment on, the match was going to end with only one winner and at its close, it looked as if this was the British No1 playing a shadow of the man who, until August, had spent 237 consecutive weeks as the best player on the planet.
In the final today, Murray meets Andy Roddick, of the United States, another player from the top ten over whom he has a significant winning record. Roddick's 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 win against Gaël Monfils, of France, was highly creditable, although it was hard to imagine that anything he possesses ought to trouble the Scot unduly. This is Murray's third consecutive Doha final - he is the defending champion - and will be his last match before beginning his campaign at Melbourne Park, one for which he has never been more adequately prepared, either physically or mentally.
Yes, there was a bit of a twinge in his back at the start of the third set that required a three-minute rubdown, but, although he then missed four consecutive first serves and tossed in his first double fault in two matches, Murray stood firm and it was the 13-times grand-slam tournament champion who wobbled. Not since the French Open final last year, when Nadal allowed him a mere four games, had Federer looked so completely bewildered.
At the end of a match in which he committed 37 unforced errors, it was all he could do to acknowledge Murray, he did not shake hands with the umpire and just about remembered to raise a hand to a loyal following that has to be as concerned about him as Federer should be about himself. It would seem that his one hope of winning grand slam No14 in total, and No4 at the Rod Laver Arena, is to be drawn in the opposite half to Murray and hope that, if they meet in the final, the Scot is as disconcerted by the occasion as he was at Flushing Meadows four months ago. And that is looking ever more improbable.
The first week of the year has also been a notable one for Anne Keothavong, the British No1. Her run at the ASB Classic in Auckland was ended in the semi-finals by Elena Vesnina, from Russia, 6-7, 6-1, 7-5, but Keothavong heads to Hobart in Tasmania to complete her Australian Open preparation in high spirits. “I'm not going to beat myself up about the result,” she said. “There were a lot of nerves and I got quite emotional because I wanted it badly. There are lots of things I could've done better, but what's done is done now and I need to regroup and get ready for Hobart, which starts on Sunday.”
source:thelondon times
Murray defeated Federer 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, the fourth time in succession that he has done so (one of those was an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi a week ago)and in each of those matches victory has been achieved having lost the first set. We are in uncharted waters as far as either player, or men's tennis since Federer began his period of domination and splendour six years ago, is concerned.
Since the US Open final last September, in which the Swiss had so much to prove and Murray had not quite acquired sufficient nous to handle what was a new occasion, the 21-year-old has taken a sadistic delight in giving Federer a head start and then unravelling his game as one would pulling at a single thread of an old cardigan. Rafael Nadal muscles Federer aside, Murray exhausts and exasperates him.
Of course, the outcome might have been different had Federer taken one of three break points at 1-1 in the second set, but Murray served his way out of that pickle with a sublime belief in his shot-making talents. From that moment on, the match was going to end with only one winner and at its close, it looked as if this was the British No1 playing a shadow of the man who, until August, had spent 237 consecutive weeks as the best player on the planet.
In the final today, Murray meets Andy Roddick, of the United States, another player from the top ten over whom he has a significant winning record. Roddick's 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 win against Gaël Monfils, of France, was highly creditable, although it was hard to imagine that anything he possesses ought to trouble the Scot unduly. This is Murray's third consecutive Doha final - he is the defending champion - and will be his last match before beginning his campaign at Melbourne Park, one for which he has never been more adequately prepared, either physically or mentally.
Yes, there was a bit of a twinge in his back at the start of the third set that required a three-minute rubdown, but, although he then missed four consecutive first serves and tossed in his first double fault in two matches, Murray stood firm and it was the 13-times grand-slam tournament champion who wobbled. Not since the French Open final last year, when Nadal allowed him a mere four games, had Federer looked so completely bewildered.
At the end of a match in which he committed 37 unforced errors, it was all he could do to acknowledge Murray, he did not shake hands with the umpire and just about remembered to raise a hand to a loyal following that has to be as concerned about him as Federer should be about himself. It would seem that his one hope of winning grand slam No14 in total, and No4 at the Rod Laver Arena, is to be drawn in the opposite half to Murray and hope that, if they meet in the final, the Scot is as disconcerted by the occasion as he was at Flushing Meadows four months ago. And that is looking ever more improbable.
The first week of the year has also been a notable one for Anne Keothavong, the British No1. Her run at the ASB Classic in Auckland was ended in the semi-finals by Elena Vesnina, from Russia, 6-7, 6-1, 7-5, but Keothavong heads to Hobart in Tasmania to complete her Australian Open preparation in high spirits. “I'm not going to beat myself up about the result,” she said. “There were a lot of nerves and I got quite emotional because I wanted it badly. There are lots of things I could've done better, but what's done is done now and I need to regroup and get ready for Hobart, which starts on Sunday.”
source:thelondon times
County ruling offers Samit Patel more time to get rich quick in the IPL
Samit Patel has been given permission by Nottinghamshire to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for more than the 15 days to which the centrally contracted England players will be limited. Patel, the England one-day all-rounder, has his county’s blessing to play in the whole tournament, which runs from April 10 to May 24, should any franchise want him, but he would have to return before the IPL play-offs for England’s one-day series at home to West Indies.
One year ago, Patel, 24, was barely on England’s radar, let alone that of the media moguls and liquor barons who own Twenty20 clubs in India. A former England Under-19 captain, he had plodded along for several years without quite fulfilling the talent that had given him a second XI debut for Nottinghamshire when he was 14 and his first-team debut at 17.
He is a top-order batsman who can bowl a bit – in 2007, he made four first-class hundreds and averaged 51, a mark he repeated last season – but it was as a limited-overs spin bowler who could add quick runs that he earned his first England selection.
After a wicket in each of his first two one-day internationals, Patel drew attention with five for 41 as England beat South Africa at the Brit Oval to win their first series under Kevin Pietersen’s captaincy. In the Stanford Super Series in November, he was the only England batsman to show much backbone, making 22 off 24 balls before being run out, and he made some good starts with the bat in England’s 5-0 defeat in India but his bowling has not stood out.
Although Patel has been linked with Delhi Daredevils, the franchise say that they have not made an approach. Patel would take his place on the auction of players for the IPL on February 6 only if a club had expressed an interest in signing him. Nottinghamshire have recently signed Alistair Brown and Jason Brown to bolster their batting and spin bowling should Patel or their other England players be wanted by the IPL.
Dimitri Mascarenhas was the only Englishman to play in the first IPL last year, but several centrally contracted players, including Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, are expected to feature in this year’s auction, even if the ECB restricts their participation to a window from April 10 to 25.
Pietersen was always going to attract the most interest and his price, which could be close to £1 million, will not have dropped despite resigning the England captaincy. Bangalore Royal Challengers have been courting Pietersen for months, but could find themselves in a bidding war.
Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders have made positive noises, but Pietersen would be a more attractive asset – and command more money – if he could negotiate a longer window from the ECB. “We all know he will be worth gold, but his price will dip if he is available for only 15 days,” one franchise official said.
source:the london times
One year ago, Patel, 24, was barely on England’s radar, let alone that of the media moguls and liquor barons who own Twenty20 clubs in India. A former England Under-19 captain, he had plodded along for several years without quite fulfilling the talent that had given him a second XI debut for Nottinghamshire when he was 14 and his first-team debut at 17.
He is a top-order batsman who can bowl a bit – in 2007, he made four first-class hundreds and averaged 51, a mark he repeated last season – but it was as a limited-overs spin bowler who could add quick runs that he earned his first England selection.
After a wicket in each of his first two one-day internationals, Patel drew attention with five for 41 as England beat South Africa at the Brit Oval to win their first series under Kevin Pietersen’s captaincy. In the Stanford Super Series in November, he was the only England batsman to show much backbone, making 22 off 24 balls before being run out, and he made some good starts with the bat in England’s 5-0 defeat in India but his bowling has not stood out.
Although Patel has been linked with Delhi Daredevils, the franchise say that they have not made an approach. Patel would take his place on the auction of players for the IPL on February 6 only if a club had expressed an interest in signing him. Nottinghamshire have recently signed Alistair Brown and Jason Brown to bolster their batting and spin bowling should Patel or their other England players be wanted by the IPL.
Dimitri Mascarenhas was the only Englishman to play in the first IPL last year, but several centrally contracted players, including Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, are expected to feature in this year’s auction, even if the ECB restricts their participation to a window from April 10 to 25.
Pietersen was always going to attract the most interest and his price, which could be close to £1 million, will not have dropped despite resigning the England captaincy. Bangalore Royal Challengers have been courting Pietersen for months, but could find themselves in a bidding war.
Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders have made positive noises, but Pietersen would be a more attractive asset – and command more money – if he could negotiate a longer window from the ECB. “We all know he will be worth gold, but his price will dip if he is available for only 15 days,” one franchise official said.
source:the london times
Denman to go for National
CHAMPION trainer Paul Nicholls believes Denman can rewrite history after confirming that the Gold Cup winner will run in this year’s Grand National. The nine-year-old will defend his Gold Cup crown at Cheltenham on March 13 before heading to Aintree on April 4 in an attempt to complete an historic double.
If he wins both races, Denman will become the second horse to complete the double in the same year. The feat has been achieved only by the great Golden Miller in 1934.
Owners Harry Findlay and Paul Barber were both keen to enter Denman for the National and Nicholls has given his support after Paul Smith, the British Horseracing Association’s head of handicapping, dropped the top weight for the Aintree marathon by 2lb to 11st 10lb.
“The more I’ve thought about it, the more it makes sense while Denman is in his prime,” said Nicholls, writing in the Racing Post. The trainer has yet to win the National despite saddling 40 entries. “Paul Smith has offered a carrot by reducing the top weight and who’s to say he won’t offer us another inducement when he frames the handicap.”
Denman’s hopes will be boosted by the fact that with him as top weight only a handful of his opponents will be able to run off their correct mark. The horse was quoted at 16/1 for the National before Nicholls confirmed his intention to run. Last night he was a best-priced 10/1 favourite and as short as 7/1 with some bookmakers.
Despite the lowering in weights, Denman will need to buck the recent trend of National winners. Only Hedgehunter, lumbered with 11st 1lb in 2005, has managed to win the National in the past 25 years when carrying more than 11st. The most recent winner off top weight was Red Rum in 1974, when with 12st he recorded the second of his three victories. Master Oats was the last horse to challenge for the ambitious double, starting as favourite but trailing home seventh in the National in 1995 after winning the Gold Cup.
Since the days of Golden Miller, only Garrison Savannah has come close, finishing second in the 1991 National after winning the Gold Cup.
A leg injury has forced the retirement of Numbersixvalverde, the winner of the 2006 National. The 13-year-old suffered the setback in October 2007 and missed all of last season. Martin Brassil, his trainer, said: “We were hoping to train him for another tilt at the National but some heat has come back into his leg and we decided that retiring was the best thing to do.”
Yesterday’s meetings at Wincanton and Sandown were abandoned because of heavy overnight frost. Although take-off and landing areas were covered at Wincanton, the day’s racing could not be saved. Clerk of the course Barry Johnson said: “Things were not going to improve fast enough and we had no other option.” Sandown’s clerk, Andrew Cooper, said: “The hill here is frozen so it was a relatively easy call.”
The only meetings to go ahead were at the all-weather tracks of Lingfield and Kempton.
There will be an 8am inspection for today’s meeting at Plumpton.
source:the london times
If he wins both races, Denman will become the second horse to complete the double in the same year. The feat has been achieved only by the great Golden Miller in 1934.
Owners Harry Findlay and Paul Barber were both keen to enter Denman for the National and Nicholls has given his support after Paul Smith, the British Horseracing Association’s head of handicapping, dropped the top weight for the Aintree marathon by 2lb to 11st 10lb.
“The more I’ve thought about it, the more it makes sense while Denman is in his prime,” said Nicholls, writing in the Racing Post. The trainer has yet to win the National despite saddling 40 entries. “Paul Smith has offered a carrot by reducing the top weight and who’s to say he won’t offer us another inducement when he frames the handicap.”
Denman’s hopes will be boosted by the fact that with him as top weight only a handful of his opponents will be able to run off their correct mark. The horse was quoted at 16/1 for the National before Nicholls confirmed his intention to run. Last night he was a best-priced 10/1 favourite and as short as 7/1 with some bookmakers.
Despite the lowering in weights, Denman will need to buck the recent trend of National winners. Only Hedgehunter, lumbered with 11st 1lb in 2005, has managed to win the National in the past 25 years when carrying more than 11st. The most recent winner off top weight was Red Rum in 1974, when with 12st he recorded the second of his three victories. Master Oats was the last horse to challenge for the ambitious double, starting as favourite but trailing home seventh in the National in 1995 after winning the Gold Cup.
Since the days of Golden Miller, only Garrison Savannah has come close, finishing second in the 1991 National after winning the Gold Cup.
A leg injury has forced the retirement of Numbersixvalverde, the winner of the 2006 National. The 13-year-old suffered the setback in October 2007 and missed all of last season. Martin Brassil, his trainer, said: “We were hoping to train him for another tilt at the National but some heat has come back into his leg and we decided that retiring was the best thing to do.”
Yesterday’s meetings at Wincanton and Sandown were abandoned because of heavy overnight frost. Although take-off and landing areas were covered at Wincanton, the day’s racing could not be saved. Clerk of the course Barry Johnson said: “Things were not going to improve fast enough and we had no other option.” Sandown’s clerk, Andrew Cooper, said: “The hill here is frozen so it was a relatively easy call.”
The only meetings to go ahead were at the all-weather tracks of Lingfield and Kempton.
There will be an 8am inspection for today’s meeting at Plumpton.
source:the london times
Juninho prepares to retire in 2010
Lyon‘s former Brazilian international midfielder, Juninho, is preparing to call time on his stellar career at the end of his current contract in 2010.
The 33-year-old - who has been the inspiration behind Lyon‘s seven successive championships since he arrived from Vasco da Gama in 2001 - however wants to break the century of goals mark at the club, which he is presently six short of.
The Brazilian told AFP, ”I know that I am nearing the exit. I feel it is the moment to prepare for the future with my family. The younger players could probably express themselves better without my prescence.”
In an interview he gave to regional newspaper, Le Progres, on Tuesday, Juninho, who was capped 44 times and scored seven goals for Brazil added, ”I am under contract till 2010 and don‘t dare ask for an extension.”
However, Juninho, who had already intimated last October that he wanted to retire soon, refused to be explicit about when he would eventually call it a day.
”I have my ideas but I don‘t want to divulge them. But the club doesn‘t know what date I have set and I hope they are understanding about it,” added Juninho, who has two readymade replacements waiting in the wings in the shape of Miralem Pjanic and Honorato Ederson.
Juninho admitted he had played less often this term but believed he had lost none of his ability and confessed he still had targets.
”When I see the applause when Steven Gerrard scored his 100th goal for Liverpool, I think to myself that is a nice thing to achieve.”
source:the punch news paper.
The 33-year-old - who has been the inspiration behind Lyon‘s seven successive championships since he arrived from Vasco da Gama in 2001 - however wants to break the century of goals mark at the club, which he is presently six short of.
The Brazilian told AFP, ”I know that I am nearing the exit. I feel it is the moment to prepare for the future with my family. The younger players could probably express themselves better without my prescence.”
In an interview he gave to regional newspaper, Le Progres, on Tuesday, Juninho, who was capped 44 times and scored seven goals for Brazil added, ”I am under contract till 2010 and don‘t dare ask for an extension.”
However, Juninho, who had already intimated last October that he wanted to retire soon, refused to be explicit about when he would eventually call it a day.
”I have my ideas but I don‘t want to divulge them. But the club doesn‘t know what date I have set and I hope they are understanding about it,” added Juninho, who has two readymade replacements waiting in the wings in the shape of Miralem Pjanic and Honorato Ederson.
Juninho admitted he had played less often this term but believed he had lost none of his ability and confessed he still had targets.
”When I see the applause when Steven Gerrard scored his 100th goal for Liverpool, I think to myself that is a nice thing to achieve.”
source:the punch news paper.
End of Inter Milan love story nigh for Adriano
Think of this as a love story. A real one, with the inevitable peaks and troughs, misunderstandings and suspicions and rocky ending. It begins in the spring of 2001, when Inter Milan’s scouts become smitten with a man-child at Flamengo in Brazil. At the very beginning, it’s about the numbers: 6ft 3in, 14st of angry muscle, with a sprinter’s pace. But it’s the relationship between the striker’s left foot and the ball that leaves them open-mouthed. He can smack the leather off it or he can race with it up the pitch as if there were Velcro on his big left boot.
The man-child is Adriano Leite Ribeiro and he joins Inter that summer, making his debut in a friendly at the Bernabéu in which he scores a goal people talk about for years to come. Real Madrid fans applaud him off the pitch. Inter believe they have found the new Ronaldo: with his shaved head and frightening physical skills, he looks the bigger, stronger copy of the original. “He can turn you inside out, he can run away from you, he can go around you and he can run right through you,” says Fabio Cannavaro, a man who knows a thing or two about defending.
Adriano spends a year at the San Siro, playing little, but “maturing”, as per the club’s plans. They then loan him out to Fiorentina, in Serie A, always monitoring his progress. He has his flaws — he remains almost entirely one-footed, he doesn’t take too well to complicated tactics, he occasionally gets depressed — but the raw talent is still there.
Then, in the summer of 2002, the love begins to wane. Partly, it’s the coach, Héctor Cúper, who needs to win here and now and doesn’t want to invest time and energy into the club’s relationship with Adriano. Partly, it is a cluttered front line that includes Hernán Crespo, Christian Vieri, Álvaro Recoba and Obafemi Martins. Partly, it is Adriano himself, who wants more from the relationship: he’s tired of going on loan, he believes that the club don’t fully have faith in him.
So Inter enter into a co-ownership agreement with Parma in exchange for £4 million. Under the terms, he moves to the Serie A rivals, who pay his wages. Should there be a dispute over where he plays, it would be settled by sealed bids. It’s a bit like a trial separation, but one in which, if you’re willing to pay enough money, you can get your spouse back (cynics might say it’s a bit like real life).
Adriano flourishes at Parma, scoring 23 goals in 34 Serie A starts over the next 18 months. He becomes the hottest commodity in European football. Inter realise that they have made a terrible mistake and come crawling back. But he doesn’t come cheap. Because of the co-ownership agreement, they have to shell out £13.5 million to buy Parma’s half. But surely it’s worth it. He’s not even 22 yet.
And, for a while, everything works out magically. Upon his return, he scores 40 goals in his first 60 appearances. He’s rewarded with a £120,000-a-week contract, as befits the best centre forward in the world.
But the wedded bliss doesn’t last. This time, demons off the pitch begin to haunt him. His father passes away, the mother of his child leaves him, he begins to drink far more than he should. One thing leads to another, his fitness deteriorates, he starts to miss training sessions. Inter bend over backwards for him. They send him on long holidays in Brazil, they get him a personal trainer, they eventually loan him to São Paulo, in the spring of last season, thinking that some time at home will do the trick.
Nothing seems to work. When he returns to Inter in August, there’s a new sheriff in town, José Mourinho. The “Special One” has a reputation as a disciplinarian, but he knows that Adriano is too big a talent to let slide, so he dons his marriage-counsellor hat. But even Mourinho cannot connect with him. His tally for the first six months of the season is disappointing — three goals in 11 appearances — and when he returns to Brazil for the winter break, there is talk that he might not come back. “Adriano should maybe spend some time elsewhere,” Mourinho said last month. “He needs a tutor, I can’t be his tutor.”
Inter field offers for him, but ask him to return for training last Friday. When the scheduled flight from Brazil arrives, he’s not on it. The club initially claim that he simply took another, earlier flight and that he’s “undergoing a medical”. But that white lie is soon rumbled, when Adriano is spotted at the airport hours later, dozy after a transatlantic journey.
And so the club have no choice but to fine him £150,000, the maximum allowed, while adopting a “this hurts me more than it hurts you” attitude, like you might when spanking a small boy.
Because that’s what this love story has become. It was once a marriage of equals, it’s now a parent-child thing. And this particular child seems to have so many demons that it would take a raft of shrinks to sort him out.
Adriano turns 27 next month. Unless Mourinho decides he wants to embark on one of the greatest reclamation projects in footballing history (and manages to pull it off), the love affair will be over, the only evidence that it ever existed being his enormous contract, which runs through June 2010. When that expires, there will be nothing left.
source:the london times
The man-child is Adriano Leite Ribeiro and he joins Inter that summer, making his debut in a friendly at the Bernabéu in which he scores a goal people talk about for years to come. Real Madrid fans applaud him off the pitch. Inter believe they have found the new Ronaldo: with his shaved head and frightening physical skills, he looks the bigger, stronger copy of the original. “He can turn you inside out, he can run away from you, he can go around you and he can run right through you,” says Fabio Cannavaro, a man who knows a thing or two about defending.
Adriano spends a year at the San Siro, playing little, but “maturing”, as per the club’s plans. They then loan him out to Fiorentina, in Serie A, always monitoring his progress. He has his flaws — he remains almost entirely one-footed, he doesn’t take too well to complicated tactics, he occasionally gets depressed — but the raw talent is still there.
Then, in the summer of 2002, the love begins to wane. Partly, it’s the coach, Héctor Cúper, who needs to win here and now and doesn’t want to invest time and energy into the club’s relationship with Adriano. Partly, it is a cluttered front line that includes Hernán Crespo, Christian Vieri, Álvaro Recoba and Obafemi Martins. Partly, it is Adriano himself, who wants more from the relationship: he’s tired of going on loan, he believes that the club don’t fully have faith in him.
So Inter enter into a co-ownership agreement with Parma in exchange for £4 million. Under the terms, he moves to the Serie A rivals, who pay his wages. Should there be a dispute over where he plays, it would be settled by sealed bids. It’s a bit like a trial separation, but one in which, if you’re willing to pay enough money, you can get your spouse back (cynics might say it’s a bit like real life).
Adriano flourishes at Parma, scoring 23 goals in 34 Serie A starts over the next 18 months. He becomes the hottest commodity in European football. Inter realise that they have made a terrible mistake and come crawling back. But he doesn’t come cheap. Because of the co-ownership agreement, they have to shell out £13.5 million to buy Parma’s half. But surely it’s worth it. He’s not even 22 yet.
And, for a while, everything works out magically. Upon his return, he scores 40 goals in his first 60 appearances. He’s rewarded with a £120,000-a-week contract, as befits the best centre forward in the world.
But the wedded bliss doesn’t last. This time, demons off the pitch begin to haunt him. His father passes away, the mother of his child leaves him, he begins to drink far more than he should. One thing leads to another, his fitness deteriorates, he starts to miss training sessions. Inter bend over backwards for him. They send him on long holidays in Brazil, they get him a personal trainer, they eventually loan him to São Paulo, in the spring of last season, thinking that some time at home will do the trick.
Nothing seems to work. When he returns to Inter in August, there’s a new sheriff in town, José Mourinho. The “Special One” has a reputation as a disciplinarian, but he knows that Adriano is too big a talent to let slide, so he dons his marriage-counsellor hat. But even Mourinho cannot connect with him. His tally for the first six months of the season is disappointing — three goals in 11 appearances — and when he returns to Brazil for the winter break, there is talk that he might not come back. “Adriano should maybe spend some time elsewhere,” Mourinho said last month. “He needs a tutor, I can’t be his tutor.”
Inter field offers for him, but ask him to return for training last Friday. When the scheduled flight from Brazil arrives, he’s not on it. The club initially claim that he simply took another, earlier flight and that he’s “undergoing a medical”. But that white lie is soon rumbled, when Adriano is spotted at the airport hours later, dozy after a transatlantic journey.
And so the club have no choice but to fine him £150,000, the maximum allowed, while adopting a “this hurts me more than it hurts you” attitude, like you might when spanking a small boy.
Because that’s what this love story has become. It was once a marriage of equals, it’s now a parent-child thing. And this particular child seems to have so many demons that it would take a raft of shrinks to sort him out.
Adriano turns 27 next month. Unless Mourinho decides he wants to embark on one of the greatest reclamation projects in footballing history (and manages to pull it off), the love affair will be over, the only evidence that it ever existed being his enormous contract, which runs through June 2010. When that expires, there will be nothing left.
source:the london times
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