Bayern win Audi Cup
July 31, 2009
Manchester United missed a handful of decent opportunities before losing out to Bayern Munich 7-6 in a penalty shootout in the final of the Audi Cup on Thursday.
Bayern, playing in front of a 70,000 crowd at their Allianz Arena home, delivered the first piece of silverware for new coach Louis Van Gaal a week ahead of the start of the new Bundesliga season.
But Sir Alex Ferguson’s English champions were left to rue a succession of decent opportunities with Dimitar Berbatov hitting the woodwork while Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney also came close.
Bayern had the first opening with Mario Gomez seeing a 12-metre drive crash of the crossbar with keeper Edwin van der Sar well-beaten
Three minutes before half-time, Berbatov slipped by the Bayern defenders only to see his shot come back off the post with goalkeeper Michael Rensing struggling to make up his ground.
Owen saw Rensing save a shot in the 62nd minute while Rooney also went close late on.
In the shootout, Rensing saved spot-kicks from Patrice Evra and Jonny Evans in the shoot-out before Daniel van Buyten stroked in the winner.
“We played some very good football in the first half,” said Van Gaal.
“We should have scored but Manchester United also should have found the target in the second period. It was tight right from the start so I am happy to have won.”
In the play-off for third place, Argentina’s Boca Juniors defeated AC Milan 4-3 in a penalty shootout after the two sides had been locked 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Thiago Silva gave the Italians the lead from close range after 27 minutes before Lucas Viatri levelled for Boca three minutes from time.
In the shootout, Brazilian star Pato saw his kick saved by Roberto Abondanzzieri after Milan’s Andrea Pirlo and Boca’s Federico Insua had also seen spot-kicks saved.
Inter defeat Monaco in friendly
July 31, 2009
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The Cameroon striker, who signed a five-year contract on Monday after agreeing a switch from European champions Barcelona, started on the bench but came on at half-time.
Argentine striker Diego Milito grabbed the only goal of the game scoring from a Sulley Muntari pass in the 56th minute.
Eto’o was eventually substituted by coach Jose Mourinho in the 87th minute.
“It was a great night because it was important to win,” said the 28-year-old Eto’o.
“On a personal level, I was tired. I have only trained three times. But little by little, I will feel better physically and I will be able to find an understanding with my teammates.
“I will be patient but also confident. Mourinho didn’t say anything in particular except to play my normal game, freely and in peace.
“Now our hope is to win the Italian Super Cup. This season we will be playing every match in the championship as if it’s a final. That’s what we did at Barcelona.”
Lyon end Remy chase
July 30, 2009
Ligue 1 powerhouse Lyon have officially ended their summer-long pursuit of Nice forward Loic Remy but remain determined to add firepower to their squad for the forthcoming season.
The Les Gones released a statement on Wednesday in which they bemoaned the “procrastination” and “outbidding tactics” of their Ligue 1 rivals as they attempted to secure the signature of 22-year-old Remy.
Lyon have put in a number of bids for the France international, who they sold to Nice for eight million euros last summer, but they have all been batted away by the southerners.
Lyon’s statement, released on the club’s website read: “The club recall that when it accepted the conditions demanded by Nice, namely 15m euros plus the transfer of Anthony Mounier who is valued at 4m euros, the Azureen board in the first instance declared they were no longer interested after all in this transfer before in the second case raising the selling price to 16.5m euros and then finally in the third instance readjusting it to 16m euros
“As a consequence, Lyon have decided to give up on this transfer for which it had nevertheless accepted to make an extremely substantial financial effort.”
Lyon have only three out-and-out strikers in their squad - Lisandro Lopez, Frederic Piquionne and Yannis Tafer - and coach Claude Puel has made it clear he is on the look-out for a fourth.
The deposed champions’ attempts to sign Toulouse’s Andre-Pierre Gignac, the top scorer in Ligue 1 last season, have also failed.
The Lyon statement read: “It (the club) is pursuing negotiations taken on at the same time with other clubs and with other players with the hope of quickly finalising the arrival of a new striker.”
Zaragosa to miss out on Ricardo Costa
July 30, 2009
Ricardo Costa will not be playing for Real Zaragoza this season. The Portuguese defender failed to reach an agreement with the Spanish club.
A day earlier, the transfer seemed to be all but official as Ricardo Costa travelled to Spain to sign the contract.
However, the documents handed to the player didn’t include particular demands that the 28-year-old had set, leading to his immediate departure back to Wolfsburg, his current club.
It seems unlikely that the player actually spends another year at the German champions, where he doesn’t form part of coach Armin Veh’s plans.
Spurs Land Peter Crouch Deal
July 30, 2009
Spurs successfully completed the transfer of Peter Crouch earlier in the week. Spurs are delighted to have the Pompey striker on force and Crouch is pleased as well. Harry Redknapp expressed his delight with their new signing in an interview once in Beijing. He said, “He’s a big lad, he holds the ball up well, he brings other players into the game, and naturally with his size he’s always a threat in the air. He will be a big, big player for us, a terrific signing.”
Crouch gave an interview to the club after his arrival saying he had no hesitation in signing for the North London club. “I’m really pleased. I had a couple of options but when Spurs came in I felt that it’s a massive club and it will be like coming home. The football club speaks for itself. Since Harry Redknapp came in he’s certainly got the club moving forward towards where it should be. When a club like Spurs comes in for you, it’s very hard to turn down. Spurs was always going to be my number one choice and I’m pleased it’s all come off.”
Jill Guthrie
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