Fútbol Internacional – Últimas noticias del fútbol mundial

The English premier league season is now in full swing and the rumour mill has gone into overdrive. We bring you a number of the more exciting rumours doing the rounds today.

Jose Mourinho to reunite with Didier Drogba?

Apparently, Jose Mourinho pleaded repeatedly with Florentino Perez the president of his new club Real Madrid to sign the Chelsea Ivory Coast striker, Didier Drogba. Remember, both Didier Drogba and Jose Mourinho teamed up at Chelsea in the three fruitful years that the latter spent with the Stamford Bridge club in the EPL. Jose was reported to have tried to persuade the money men at Madrid to bring in Drogba up to the very last minute of transfer day deadline. Of course, it’s one thing to say that Mourinho wanted the star striker but it’s an entirely different kettle of fish to imagine that Chelsea would ever want to part with their talismanic goal scorer.

Liverpool to get rid of two midfielders in exchange for one striker?

Another rumour doing the rounds is that Liverpool are ready to offer both Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva and Dutch forward Ryan Babel in exchange for West Ham striker Carlton Cole. While Carlton Cole is undoudbtedly a striker of high pedigree, one must wonder what Liverpool fans make of the proposed deal. Moreover, neither player apparently was keen to leave Anfield for Upton Park, which is probably not surprising given that West Ham are widely tipped to struggle this season having only barely managed to stay in the top flight of the English premier league in the last season.

Arsenal to sign a new goal keeper?

As any die-hard arsenal fan will argue, they only fell out of the running for the premier league title last season because of lax defending and rather glaring goalkeeping errors. Well, it would have been news to their ears to hear that manager Arsene Wenger was looking to remedy that situation as his team goes into the new season. Unfortunately, the word on the street is that Arsenal missed out on signing reliable goalie, Mark Schwarzer from Fulham as Mark Hughes, the new Fulham manager, was unable to find a suitable replacement in time for the English premier league transfer deadline of August 31st.

With the January transfer window now open, the big question on everyone’s lips remains the same. Will Chelsea FC sign any players during the window? Their team is nowhere near full strength at the moment, and with an aging squad the problem may only get worse. In my opinion, they need to sign a couple of players at least. Due to their transfer embargo they won’t be able to sign any players until 2011 otherwise.

Their best players are out of action right now. Drogba (their best striker), Kalou, Mikel John Obi and Essien (their best defensive midfielder) are all at the African Cup of Nations for the entire month of January, and Nicholas Anelka (their second best striker) is out with an injury he recently picked up whilst training. Many fans have been left bewildered by Chelsea Manager Carlo Ancelotti’s comments that he would ‘streak on the pitch’ if he signed any players during this transfer window.

That being said, they are top of the English Premier League, so maybe Carlo Ancelotti (who is, lest we forget a proven winner wherever he’s been) knows exactly what he’s doing. In the F.A. Cup against Watford FC he played the young striker Daniel Sturridge up front and he repaid the manager’s faith in him by scoring two goals in a 5-0 win.

News has leaked out recently that Chelsea are looking to buy Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini from surprise Italian package Sampdoria. The deal would reportedly be for around £22 million pounds, although a potential stumbling block could be that Sampdoria would want Pazzini loaned back to them for the rest of the season.

Up close it’s an elephant but as the place becomes bigger and the amount of people playing the Vuvuzela increases the sound is more like a swarm of angry bees. Its ancestor is said to be the Kudu horn which was blown to summon the African villagers for meetings. The vuvuzelas have caused health concerns as tiny droplets at the bottom of the instrument can carry flu and cold germs that are so small that they stay suspended in the air for hours and can effect a person’s lungs by entering through the airway. It is also dangerous for the ears, as it can lead to permanent hearing loss.

Many sporting arenas have banned the 65 centimeter plastic device due to the sound it makes.   A lot of people called on FIFA to ban the instruments from being brought into the stadiums but the president of FIFA Sepp Blatter refused by saying «we should not Europeanize an African World Cup that is what African football is all about, noise, excitement, dancing, shouting and enjoyment.» Columnist Jon Qwelane described the device «as an instrument from hell.» Majority of the Barclays Premier league teams have banned the usage of Vuvuzela in their stadiums.

Although many fans enjoy the exuberance brought by the Vuvuzela they would appreciate it if it was used more sparingly than on a regular basis. New ways such as the audio filtration technique have been used in order to reduce the sound that the Vuvuzela makes.   There is a common misconception that the Vuvuzela can only produce a single note, though with a special playing technique you can produce different notes. No matter how annoying, but the Vuvuzela did make you feel like you’re watching an African World Cup.

Take the most successful team of the world, ever, the strongest team of Africa, and one of the most competitive European squads, put them all together, and what do you get? The group of death!

Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal cannot afford to take any match in group G lightly, including the one against  the relatively weak North Korea, the 4th squad in the group.

Tuesday’s match between Portugal and Ivory Coast promises to be one of the hardest fought group matches and perhaps the most intriguing of all.

Ivory Coast  coasted through their qualifiers with Drogba scoring six goals. In contrast, Portugal barely qualified having to  engage in a play off with Bosnia.

Ivory Coast have suffered misfortune ahead of their opening match at the World Cup, with their star Didier Drogba fracturing his arm in a warm up against Japan.

Though he is said to be recovering after an operation, Drogba could sit the first match out.

Drogba is among the world’s best goal scorers, and his absence will hurt Ivory Coast who will look to  another Chelsea star Salomon Kalou to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Ivory Coast manager Eriksson will rely on his strong midfield comprising Yaya Toure and Zakora, and speedy winger Eboue, apart from the in form Tiote who plays for Dutch champions FC Twente.  If Drogba plays, they are likely to concentrate on feeding him.

Kolo leading the defence are other reliable players who have distinguished themselves for Ivory Coast, in the past, as is Arsenal full back, Emmanuel Eboue, who is coming off a successful club season.

Portugal have had their share of injury woes, their Manchester United winger Nani the latest casualty with a collarbone injury sustained in training. Benfica midfielder Ruben

Amorim has replaced Nani. This adds up to an additional load on Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, the captain of the side. Ronaldo has not scored for Portugal since Euro 2008, and he will be desperate to end the goal drought.

Before his current goal drought began, Cristiano Ronaldo was considered by many  as the world’s best player, with great dribbling skills, speed, and a happy penchant for scoring especially from set play situations.

 

Portugal will depend on Atletico Madrid winger Simao to reduce the pressure on his captain. Chelsea’s Ricardo Carvalho along with Pepe and Bruno Alves comprise a reliably strong defence.

Apart from an experienced midfield comprising Meireles, Deco and Mendes, Portugal has a solid defence, which will be bolstered further if Pepe is fully fit.

With a cloud over Drogba’s participation, Portugal enjoy a marginal advantage that is in turn offset by Ronaldo’s indifferent form. It’s hard to see a result in this match. Both teams might actually be happy to share points.