Info

Loeb cruises to victory in Rally of Ireland

SLIGO, Ireland (AFP) - World champion Sebastien Loeb cruised to victory in his Citroen C4 on Sunday to win the Rally of Ireland, the first leg of this year's World Rally Championship, repeating his 2007 triumph by seeing off teammate Dani Sordo.

Loeb won by 1min 27sec to bag his 48th career title alongside Monegasque co-pilot Daniel Elena.

Finn Mikko Hirvonen was third in his Ford Focus, more than two minutes off the searing pace that five-time champion Loeb had set from the outset despite the atrocious, rainy conditions.

Loeb had set out his stall by dominating the proceedings Friday and Saturday and in the 19th and final special around Donegal Town he successfully kept his rivals at arm's length.

Aussie Chris Atkinson of Citroen failed in his bid to deprive Ford Focus driver Henning Solberg of fourth place after he ran into difficulty in the 18th special but still held onto fifth at the expense of junior world champion Sebastien Ogier.

Source:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Ferrari and McLaren: The best of friends

Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni spent a day at McLaren's Woking factory on Thursday, meeting team boss Ron Dennis and other staff.

"If you had told me a year ago that I would be doing this I would not have believed you," he said at a media dinner co-hosted by the two teams.

McLaren were fined a record $100 million (£70m) in 2007 and stripped of all their constructors' points for their involvement in a spying controversy over leaked Ferrari technical data in their possession.

Champions Ferrari also started legal action against their rivals, with Dennis and other executives questioned by Italian police. The action was later dropped after a McLaren apology.

Since then, the climate has changed with Jean Todt handing over as Ferrari boss to Stefano Domenicali while Dennis is due to step down as McLaren principal on March 1 to make way for Martin Whitmarsh.

The Formula One Teams Association was set up last July to represent the teams in talks with the governing FIA and commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

FOTA is headed by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, with Dennis and Whitmarsh visiting the Italian team's Maranello factor for a meeting last season as the urgent need for cost cutting became apparent.

Montezemolo, who has criticised Ecclestone's running of the sport, described Dennis earlier this month as "a first-class person from a first-class team" and said F1 needed great competition on the track and great unity off it.

While FOTA have agreed significant savings with the FIA for this season and beyond, they want Ecclestone to hand over far more of the sport's revenues to them than the 50 per cent they currently receive.

Dennis said that McLaren and Ferrari were "working extremely closely together" and he would devote more of his time to FOTA activities.

"The result of our cooperation, supported by all the other teams, has already been profound," he said.

"The cost-cutting measures that FOTA put forward were agreed by (FIA president) Max Mosley, when we met him in Monte Carlo on December 10, and were taken further when FOTA met again, this time without Max, in London on January 8.

"As such, FOTA has already achieved great things, and it will achieve even greater things in the weeks, months and years to come.

"We're not complacent; we're not reluctant to embrace radical change; we're not hidebound by on-track rivalries," added Dennis.

"No - working together for the good of the future of Formula One, we'll continue to devise powerful strategies and innovations intended to improve our sport so as to make it more affordable, more environmentally friendly and more appealing to spectators and TV viewers."

Reuters

Source:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Hammers loan Julien Faubert to Real

Real Madrid confirmed Saturday they had taken French midfielder Julien Faubert on loan to the end of the season.

Real said they had an option to buy the 25-year-old if he impresses between now and June, adding he would be officially unveiled on Monday.

Faubert, who has one French cap to date, played for Cannes and then Bordeaux before heading to East London in 2007 - but an Achilles tendon rupture kept him sidelined shortly afterwards and he has not featured this season.

West Ham said the Spaniards would pay 1.5 million euros for the loan deal while AS sports daily put a future transfer fee at six million, around two million less than they paid Bordeaux for his services.

Real boss Juande Ramos has also been tracking Wigan's Ecuadorian star Luis Antonio Valencia.

Source:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Raul Equals Madrid Record

Real Madrid legend Raul equalled the club's all-time scoring record to send his side on their way to a 2-0 victory at lowly Numancia.

The 31-year-old striker netted his 307th goal for the Real, where he has spent his entire professional career, and Arjen Robben added a classy second to narrow the gap on leaders Barcelona, who play Racing Santander on Sunday.

The late dismissal of Madrid midfielder Fernando Gago for a second caution proved immaterial.

The gap is still nine points and may be back to 12 in 24 hours' time, but Saturday's win was Real's sixth in a row in the league and at least maintains the pressure on their arch-rivals.

In contrast, Numancia are becoming increasingly embroiled in a relegation battle having lost three on the bounce, although it could have been a different story had they taken their early chances at La Parajeto.

In Saturday night's other game Athletic Bilbao came from behind twice to beat Malaga 3-2 in an action-packed game at San Mames.

The Basques looked off-colour when falling behind to goals from Albert Luque and Lolo either side of Fran Yeste's first-half equaliser, but late strikes from Fernando Llorente and Markel Susaeta turned the match on its head.

After Llorente's equaliser both sides may have settled for a point but, with four minutes remaining, substitute Susaeta showed great technique to hang in the air and guide Gaizka Tuquero's left-wing cross back across goal into the far corner with a cushioned header.

Source:
SportingLife.com

Keane For Spurs Is Nonsensical Move...

By Jermain Defoe's own admission, he never wanted to leave Tottenham last January, but starting only three Premier League games in the first half of the season forced his hand. He could not play alongside fellow 'little man' Robbie Keane and manager Juande Ramos clearly favoured the Irishman as a partner for Dimitar Berbatov.

A year on and Defoe is back at Tottenham as first-choice striker alongside Roman Pavulychenko, scoring goals and happy as a pig in muck. So what does Harry Redknapp do? Talk about signing Keane back from Liverpool, of course. It's unlikely to happen, but that the idea was even mooted is ridiculous.

A move for Kenwyne Jones made sense until the figures got silly, bringing as it would much-needed height and a striker who could dovetail equally as well with both first-choice strikers.

A rumoured move for Roque Santa Cruz also seems sensible, bringing as he does aerial power as well as a touch of class. That Spurs will always be outbid by Manchester City makes it an unlikely transfer, but not an unreasonable one.

Redknapp was smart enough in the summer to buy Peter Crouch for Portsmouth as a foil for Defoe, who must have been happy with that gift of a strike partner. We can only assume Defoe is rather less enamoured at his manager's public interest in a player whose presence forced him out of the club a year ago.

Keane is a quality footballer, whatever Rafa Benitez believes, but his attributes are surplus to requirements at Tottenham. Interest in him smacks of an attempt to please fans, of being seen to undo the work of the previous regime, rather than a sensible footballing decision.

He's possibly available, he's a very good Premier League player, the fans loved him - Keane ticks a lot of boxes except that one next to 'Can play with existing strikers'. Can you imagine a front four of Defoe, Keane, Aaron Lennon and Luka Modric - a quartet who would just about make a Crouch if they stood on each other's shoulders.

If we didn't know better, we'd suspect Redknapp was just playing what my mother would call 'silly beggars', because surely even he can see the cul-de-sac of re-creating the same situation that forced out his star striker only a year ago.

Sarah Winterburn

Source:
http://www.football365.com

Inter’s Obinna Loaned To Real Betis

It has been well reported in recent times that the La Liga outfit Real Betis are keen to boost their attacking ranks ahead of the second half of the season.

One of their primary targets has been Victor Obinna of Inter Milan, a player that certainly would add a lot of creativity and spark to the Betis attack.

According to Sportsmediaset, both Inter and Betis have reached an agreement for Obinna, with it being decided that he will join the Spanish club for a six month loan period.

The move will see him stay in Spain for the remainder of the season, allowing the Nerazzurri to trim their squad down in the process.

It has also been reported that if both the player and the Spanish club are content at the conclusion of the season, then he can be purchased outright for a fee of €6 million.

Obinna has made eight appearances for the Nerazzurri, since joining the club from Chievo in 2008, where he excelled at from the 2005-06 season.

Adrian Del Monte

Source:
http://www.goal.com

Thai pair to star in Malaysia

Fresh from their Asian Team victory at the Royal Trophy earlier this month, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and his compatriot Prayad Marksaeng will join the line-up at the Maybank Malaysian Open from February 12-15.

Jaidee was undefeated over the three days at the Royal Trophy, and will be confident of collecting a third Malaysian Open title, having triumphed in 2004 and 2005. His maiden victory was a landmark event, in that it was the first time a Thai player had won a co-sanctioned European Tour event.

He said: “The Maybank Malaysian Open is one of my favourite events on Tour. I feel I’m in good physical condition, and would love to claim the trophy for a third time. Both victories for me came at Saujana Golf and Country Club so I’m familiar with the course and surroundings, which always helps me to focus on my game and relax.”

Jaidee was the first man to earn over US$2million on the Asia Tour, and has ten Asian Tour victories to his name. In the 2008 season, he won the Hana Bank Vietnam Masters and the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open, finishing in 14th position on the Order of Merit after playing 11 events on the schedule. His most recent appearance, at the Abu Dhabi Championship, saw Jaidee claim a creditable 13th place.

Marksaeng has been a member of the Asian Tour since it began in its current form in 1995. He has six Tour victories to his name, and became one of the first 10 men to reach US$1million in career earnings. His most recent Asian Tour win was at the 2007 Volvo Masters of Asia, and he collected three titles on the Japan Golf Tour last year.

Marksaeng partnered Jaidee to Foursomes and Fourball victories at the Royal Trophy, and also won his singles match against Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal on the final day.

He said: “The victory for Asia at the Royal Trophy was a great start to the season for me. Thongchai and I played well together in the opening two days, and I’m looking forward to teeing off beside him and the other players at next month’s Maybank Malaysian Open. “

Commenting on the progress the game has made in the past few years, Malaysian Golf Association President Datuk Robin Loh said: “The quality of players in Asia has grown tremendously in recent times. It’s great to have so many high profile players from the Asian Tour playing alongside the best of The European Tour at the Maybank Malaysian Open this year.

“Both Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng are popular with the locals, and on the back of their recent victories they will have lots of confidence and support from the fans.”

The Maybank Malaysian Open, which was the first event in Asia to be co-sanctioned back in 1999 by The European and Asian Tours, will offer players vital prize money in The Race to Dubai.

Kyi Hla Han, Asian Tour Executive Chairman, said: “The Asian Tour players always perform well at the Maybank Malaysian Open, and consider it one of their favourite events on the schedule. We have had many winners at this co-sanctioned event, and with the form of our Asian Team earlier this month we’re confident the Tour players will give good performances at Saujana Golf and Country Club. It would be great to see another Asian player lift the trophy.”

Source:
http://www.europeantour.com