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Adebayor to miss Roma clash

LONDON (AFP) – Arsene Wenger has admitted Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor will miss Arsenal’s Champions League tie with Roma on Wednesday but the Gunners manager hopes Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure will be fit.

Adebayor has been sidelined for a month after suffering a hamstring injury in the goalless Premier League draw with Tottenham and will not travel to Italy for the last 16 second leg clash as Arsenal try to hold onto their one-goal lead.

Although Toure missed Sunday’s FA Cup victory over Burnley with a minor injury, Wenger believes he has a good chance of recovering in time.

"Adebayor definitely won’t be able to play, but I will wait to see what the report is on Kolo before I decide what my starting XI will be," Wenger said.

Despite Adebayor’s absence, Wenger will have more attacking options after Eduardo and Theo Walcott played against Burnley.

Eduardo marked his return from a hamstring injury with a superb goal, while England winger Walcott played the last 20 minutes in his first appearance since shoulder surgery in November.

Walcott admits he is not fit enough to start yet, but he hopes to make an impact from the substitutes bench in the Stadio Olympico.

"I need a few more training sessions, a few more games coming off the bench and hopefully if I am doing well the boss will put me in," Walcott said.

"I am just looking forward to another experience in Italy. In Arsenal training, you obviously dont want to injure your own players so you tend to be a little softer but matchdays are totally different.

"I still haven’t experienced getting clattered yet so that’s the next test but our new doctor has come from a rugby background. He has dealt with two dislocated shoulders a year and he said, touch wood, I’ll be OK."

With Walcott and Eduardo and Cesc Fabregas set to return by the start of April, Arsenal are approaching full strength again at a crucial stage of the season.

The Gunners are through to the FA Cup quarter-finals, where they face Hull for the right to play Chelsea in the last four, and are only three points behind Aston Villa in the battle for a top four finish in the Premier League.

"I believe everyone at this club is a big player but the more there are in the squad it boosts the fans which is very important. As soon as we have got these players back, hopefully we will be flying," he said.

"We haven’t really lost that many games, we have just drawn a few. I am going to try and give something back to the team and try and push for those Champions League spots.

"We are not going to get too ahead of ourselves. But if we play football like we did against Burnley we can beat anyone."

Sumber: http://www.footballcupleague.com

Ronaldo is the best but not for long says Scolari

COBHAM, England (AFP) – Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari admits Cristiano Ronaldo deserves to be crowned the world’s best player but he has warned the Manchester United winger he could lose the title in 2009.

Ronaldo is favourite to collect the FIFA World Player of the Year award for 2008 when it is presented in Zurich on Monday.

The Portugal star, who is nominated alongside Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, AC Milan playmaker Kaka and Barcelona duo Lionel Messi and Xavi, has already won the European honour and Scolari is convinced his superb form for United last season deserves another reward.

But the Brazilian knows Ronaldo better than most after coaching him with the Portugal national team for five years and he hinted that the United idol has been below par so far this season.

"In the last season, for me, he was the best in the world. If he doesn’t receive the award it will be wrong," Scolari said.

"He is a very intelligent player that changes games. When you expect him to be on the left, he turns up on the right. When you expect him to shoot with his left, he shoots with his right.

"But this season maybe some other players are in a good position to discuss it."

Ronaldo scored 42 goals to help United win the Premier League and Champions League last season, but he spent most of the close season unsuccessfully trying to enginner a move to Real Madrid and has cut a forlorn figure at times since then.

The 23-year-old has scored just nine times and has failed to hit the net in his last eight appearances, yet he could easily prove Scolari wrong by helping United to a crucial win over Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.

He only made a cameo appearance as a subtitute in the 1-1 draw between the teams at Stamford Bridge earlier this season. Now the stage is set for a more significant contribution.

Scolari knows none of his Chelsea players have Ronaldo’s flamboyant skills but he belivies the likes of Deco, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack and Joe Cole are just as capable of winning a match on their own.

"I have some players who don’t have his characteristics but I have others who have fantasy," he said. "They cross very well and pass very well.

"This is different player with a different style. Maybe we have here with a different style but who are as good as Ronaldo.

"For sure, one player from Chelsea will be in the best five players in the world this year."

Source: http://www.footballcupleague.com

Kaka expects a nice welcome at the San Siro

Real Madrid ace Kaka returns to the San Siro tonight to play against his former club, AC Milan. The Brazilian star is looking forward to his return to the stadium that was his stage for six seasons.

Real Madrid will be eyeing a win tonight, looking for revenge for the previous match between the two European giants (2-3 win for Milan at the Bernabeu). Kaka will be giving his best tonight even though he won’t celebrate if he scores a goal against the Rossoneri.

“For all that has been in the past years between me and the fans I expect a nice welcome,” he explained.

It will be a difficult game – I know my former teammates very well.”

During the week Milan striker Marco Borriello noted that Kaka hasn’t been as good in the past few seasons but the Brazilian has no hard feelings.

“I didn’t read what he had to say but I am sure he didn’t mean it that way.

“He is a friend and knows me very well.” (Paul Haring)

Source: http://www.footballcupleague.com

Ferrari F10 Silences critics Massa ends day P1

Ferrari’s confidence in the F10 grows after Felipe Massa ends day 1 of pre-season testing in P1 Valencia topping the time sheets.

Formula 1 erupted back to life as the first of pre-season tests kicked off in Valencia, Spain. Ferrari were joined by rival teams all working on preparations for the upcoming 2010 Formula 1 season.

After the morning session, Felipe Massa set the benchmark time to beat with a time of 1:13.088s just before lunch completing a total of 32 laps.

As the test went on into the afternoon, times subsequently began to drop. At the end of the day, testing ended with the Brazilian setting the best time of the day with a 1:12.574s with 18minutes still remaining in the session.

The F10s launch in Maranello last weeks was overshadowed by rumors, that the new Ferrari lacked in aerodynamic efficiency and went as far as to suggest that a B-spec version of the car was being redyed in Maranello. With Ferrari having a flawless day in Spain the scuderia may finally begin to lay the rumors to rest.

Massa just after the test: “It went even better than i could expect – says Massa. I found the car very easy to drive, reacts well, we have completed the work program. Clearly there has been a much better start than last year, but nevertheless we know we have a lot of work to be ready at the first race, and especially to be so too in the last races,the ones that will decide the championship. “

1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:12.574 – 101 laps
2. Pedro De la Rosa Sauber 1:12.784 – 74 laps
3. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:12.947 – 39 laps
4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:13.543 – 39 laps
5. Gary Paffet McLaren 1:13.846 – 77 laps
6. Rubens Barrichello Williams 1:14.449 – 75 laps
7. Sebastian Buemi Toro Rosso 1:14.762 – 18 laps
8. Robert Kubica Renault 1:15.000 – 69 laps

Source: http://ferrarif1forum.com

Stefano keeping Ferrari testing pace in perspective

After a lackluster 2009 season, it’s easy to get carried away in thinking that Ferrari are back on top. Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso occupied the top of the time sheets at the first pre-season testing event in Valencia, Spain. The scuderia’s cars were the only single seater’s lapping in the 1 minute 11 second range with the rest of the drivers failing to break the 1 minute 12 second barrier.

A great start to the F1 pre-season, but team principal Stefano Domenicali may now face the toughest job while preparing the team for the 2010 championship, and that is keeping the prancing horse’s feet firmly on the ground.

This job will be made that much easier by team driver Fernando Alonso who has already made his stance clear on Ferrai’s recent performance. When asked by Autosport if he shared the sentiments of those attending the even that Ferrairi are the team to beat, the Spaniard replied: “No, I don’t think so. It’s just the first day and as I said now at least for me the priority was getting completely comfortable. There are many things to discover for me, many things to learn.

I think maybe if we topped the times the three days it’s related to fuel load or whatever, or maybe because it’s true we are competitive. But before being competitive we need to make sure we do a lot of laps and that the car is strong and can finish all the grands prix. We are at that period of winter testing. We need to make the car very, very strong and until Barcelona or the last test at Jerez I think we will not look for the performance.

Stefano will inevitably be faced by a team much rejuvenated by the testing performance but he is keeping Ferrari’s sucesses on the track thus far in perspective.

“There are no miracles in Formula 1: if you want to be fast you have to work hard for months and months and then you’ll meet your competitors, who have as much capacities and are as motivated as you,” read the quote on Ferrari’s official website.

“We can’t take anything for granted and we shouldn’t delude ourselves by indications, which could be completely misleading. We can’t work like in football where two good or bad results are enough [for you] to pass from riches to rags or vice versa.”

“We know very well that the tests’ lap times, especially this year, have to be handled with care. Using an Italian expression from football, we’re still in ‘August football.’

“We can’t forget where we were in terms of performance at the last GP last year. There is still a lot of work to do to close the gap and there are still many problems we have to solve. And then we don’t know the petrol loads the other cars had on board, so it’s impossible to get a clear idea of the relative strengths on the track. Maybe someone also wants to play hide and seek, and some still have to present their cars.”

Stefano did let a bit of enthusiasm slip when talking about the success Ferrari has thus far seen in terms of reliability.

“If there is one thing we’re really satisfied with then it’s the reliability the car has shown,”

“More than 1,400 kilometres driven is a very good start and we need to ensure that the intense work at the test stand, and in terms of simulations over the weeks before the debut on the track, will bear fruit.

“In Valencia we also started to get to know the new Bridgestone tyres’ behaviour, also related to the petrol load. But the data is still absolutely relative: this track is not particularly demanding on the tyres and the temperatures weren’t the ones we’ll have for example during the season’s first three races.”

Stefano added that both Ferrairi drivers also shared his sentiments on the reliability of the F10 which had a flawless three days in Valencia letting Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso complete their testing program. Domenicali added that the ability to finish the program has already paid dividends in terms of feedback from the drivers on how to address the car’s further development.

“They were both very happy with how things went. Especially regarding the car’s reliability. They are both extremely motivated and have a great desire to drive: it would have been frustrating if we hadn’t started on the right track here. Both Felipe and Fernando know that we have to work a lot and they already gave many indications where we have to improve the car.”

The team will now head to Jerez for the next series of tests on the 10 – 13 of February.

Source: http://ferrarif1forum.com

Stobart Cyprus Rally update after SS9: Matthew Wilson up to fifth

Written by Scott Coursey

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Matthew Wilson had a storming start to day two of the Cyprus Rally moving up from eighth to fifth after three stages as he thrived on the challenging gravel stages in the Troodos mountains.

The hard work of the team overnight to get the cars switched to a full gravel set up paid off as both Wilson and Henning Solberg performed well in the slippery conditions caused by heavy overnight rain in Cyprus.

Wilson held his nerve in the mud on SS8 while other drivers faltered on the muddy roads finishing fifth on the 28.1 kilometre Pano Panagia stage. The result moved him up to sixth in the overall rankings and put him within striking distance of Evgeny Novikov just ahead. And on the final stage of the morning Wilson reeled in Novikov’s 0.6 second lead to take fifth place overall.

Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud put yesterday’s crash behind them as their rally finally got underway and they immediately started their charge to earn manufacturer points finishing sixth on SS8 23.6 seconds behind team mate Wilson. Despite collecting a puncture a couple of kilometres from the end of SS9 Solberg posted another good time just 7.9 seconds behind Wilson.

With no repeated stages today the drivers face two long stages of 30.9 kilometres and 26.2 kilometres on the twisting mountain roads where Wilson will look to keep up the pace he set in the morning and stretch his lead over Novikov.

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Matthew Wilson said:
“It is great to have moved up three places in three stages. It felt good this morning and we’ve found a good rhythm. We lost a bit too much time on the tarmac but today has been a big improvement on yesterday. We really didn’t make any mistakes this morning which is great because it is quite easy to with all the mud this morning. The middle stage was quite difficult and it was tough keeping the car on the road even at low speed. There’s a lot of mud out there and it’s horrible stuff; we’ve just had the car weighed and we’re carrying about 100kg of mud.”

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Henning Solberg said:
“I feel like I am playing catch-up today as this morning was my first stage when everyone else has had a full day out there. The stages are very muddy in places and in the sections with the mud it is very difficult to keep the car on the road. The mud is making the car feel very sluggish. We picked up a puncture on the last stage but it happened a couple of kilometres from the end and didn’t really slow us down. We’ll keep concentrating on what we’re doing this afternoon; the stages are more twisty with lots of corners and lots of pacenotes to listen to"

Source: http://www.rallybuzz.com

Gronholm tests Mikkelsen’s Rally Sweden Fiesta S2000

Written by Scott Coursey

Marcus Gronholm is testing the Ford Fiesta S2000 today that Andreas Mikkelsen will use on next weekend's Rally Sweden, according to the Norwegian's website.

The double world champion (who is Mikkelsen's mentor) was testing the Fiesta, in Kall, northern Sweden, alongside the Ford Focus WRC 08 that he will drive under the Stobart banner in Sweden. Mikkelsen will begin his test with the super 2000 Fiesta on Monday.

When asked by autosport.com if he can win the Swedish Rally this year, Gronholm replied: "I would say it's quite difficult. I haven't driven for so long now and to be competitive straight away is tough. I will be disappointed if I'm not in the right kind of speed with the other drivers, though. I think it's fully possible to make the podium."

Source: http://www.rallybuzz.com