Japanese, Korean clubs remain on course for glory

TOKYO (AFP) – Japanese clubs remain on course to continue their AFC Champions League success after two J-League clubs booked quarter-final berths despite defeat for defending champions Gamba Osaka.

Osaka crashed out of the competition 3-2 to fellow J-League outfit Kawasaki Frontale Wednesday while Nagoya Grampus beat South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2-1 to book their place in September’s quarter-finals.

South Korea’s K-League also has two teams through to the last eight with victories for FC Seoul and Pohang Steelers.

The Japanese and Korean sides will battle it out against west zone teams Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, Umm Salal of Qatar, and Pakhtakor and Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan.

Kawasaki Frontale coach Takashi Sekizuka was delighted with his team’s result.

“Winning such an important game today will bring us good confidence, and we?d like to move on and keep fighting hard as a representative of the J-League clubs and Japan,” Sekizuka said.

Dejected Osaka coach Akira Nishino said: “Key players came back from injuries and we played better than I had expected. But we lost goals when my players slowed down in the second half.”

“But it was our best eleven. I was really disappointed, because we cannot play in the Champions League any more while we are regaining our best form,” he added.

Following his side’s clash against Suwon Bluewings, Nagoya’s Serbian coach Dragan Stojkovic said his side had come through a hard battle.

“It was really a tough game but we ended with a win. It gives us a lot of confidence to reach the last eight in Asia.”

Seoul’s Turkish coach Senol Gunes, who oversaw a 5-4 win for his side on penalties after a 2-2 draw against Kashima Antlers, predicted that the winner of the game would go on to lift the trophy.

“It was an exciting game between the top teams from the K-League and the J-League,” said Gunes. “I said before that the winners of this game will reach the final. I still think so.”

“We are going to take game by game to challenge further. It will be good for the team to have a dream (to win the Champions League),” he said.

“In this Champions League, I think Kashima Antlers and FC Seoul are the two strongest teams, so I don’t expect us to have a tougher game than today’s game,” he added.

South Korean side Pohang Steelers thumped Australia’s Newcastle Jets 6-0, with a hat-trick for midfielder Choi Hyo-Jin.

Pohang boss Sergio Farias was full of praise for his midfielder.

“We prepared well and I am happy to see a lot of goals tonight. Our aim was to proceed to the next round and that mission has been accomplished,” he told the AFC Champions League website.

Gamba Osaka won the 2008 Champions League after victory for fellow J-League side Urawa Red Diamonds in 2007.

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Arsenal must end trophy drought: Adebayor

LONDON (AFP) – Emmanuel Adebayor insists Arsenal must end their four-year trophy drought if they are to reclaim their place among European football’s elite.

Arsene Wenger’s side will attempt to ease their way past Villarreal in Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg, the first leg ended 1-1, before facing Chelsea in the weekend FA Cup semi-final.

After a troubled campaign, the Gunners have rescued their season on the back of a 17-game unbeaten run.

And Adebayor – who is adamant he is settled at the Emirates Stadium after being strongly linked with a move AC Milan last summer – believes Wenger’s young squad is now ready to step up to the next level and restore the club as a trophy-winning force.

“If you want to be a big club, of course you have to win things, which is normal,” the striker said.

“If most of the people say Manchester United are a big club in Europe, it is because they won the Premier League and the Champions League.

“They are the reasons they are big. We are ready for that. We were unlucky to go out in the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Liverpool last season. This season we have the chance to do it and just have to take our chances.

“I’ve been here three years and saying we have to win things and achieve things and now I think it is a real chance to win something because we are in the semi-final of the FA Cup and quarter-final of the Champions League. We just have to stand up and go for it.”

The prospect of Arsenal lifting silverware looked remote after the loss of key players Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini last summer and the reports of a dressing room split that followed William Gallas’s demotion as skipper.

Gallas was critical of the efforts of some of his younger colleagues but Adebayor has no doubt that the squad is now fully united – and that he is ready to shoulder the responsibility for scoring the goals that could make the difference of success and failure this year.

He added: “The pressure is there: all the fans, the newspapers, journalists. That is normal. I can understand that.

“For me as a footballer the most important thing is how I am going to help my team to win. We know Villarreal will be one of the toughest games I will have in my life and we will have to give 100 percent. After that we will talk about other things.

“It’s been difficult with all the problems, Hleb going to Barcelona, Matthieu Flamini going to Milan and everything was struggling a little bit, are we going to buy or not, all these thing, myself going or staying.

“I know we’ve had a difficult season in the Premier League, but we’re still in the Champions League, still in the FA Cup and that’s fantastic.

“For me we are now playing quite well and we enjoy playing together as a team, we are as a team and we are back in business, that is the most important thing.”

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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."
Written by: AFP

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Rossi in for Italy but no Totti, Cassano, Balotelli

Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi was the only new name in defending champions Italy’s 30-man provisional World Cup squad, announced on Tuesday by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

The 23-year-old, who has scored three goals in 14 international appearances, was the only addition to the 29-man group that was summoned to a 48-hour get-together in Rome last week.

Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi missed the rendezvous in the capital due to his participation in the Italian Cup but he has returned to the squad.

Rossi takes the place of Juventus centre-back Nicola Legrottaglie, who has often been called up by Italy coach Marcello Lippi but who has failed to hold down a first-team place with his Turin club this season.

As Lippi had announced on Monday, there were “no surprises” in the list, with Roma captain Francesco Totti, in-form Sampdoria playmaker Antonio Cassano and controversial Inter Milan forward Mario Balotelli all overlooked.

There was no place either for Luca Toni, Lippi’s first-choice striker at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, who is currently on loan at Roma from Bayern Munich.

Ten players from Italy’s triumph at the last World Cup are in the squad: goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, defenders Fabio Cannavaro, Fabio Grosso and Gianluca Zambrotta, midfielders De Rossi, Mauro Camoranesi, Gennaro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo and forwards Alberto Gilardino and Vincenzo Iaquinta.

Lippi will trim his list to 23 and four reserves in Rome on May 18 before submitting his definitive 23-man squad to FIFA by June 1.

Italy, four-time champions, will set up a training camp at altitude in Sestriere in the Alps from May 23 to June 5.

They will take on Mexico in a friendly game in Brussels on June 3 and Switzerland in Geneva two days later.

The Azzurri are scheduled to arrive in South Africa in June 9 ahead of their Group F opener with Paraguay in Cape Town on June 14.

Italy face New Zealand in Nelspruit on June 20 before rounding off their group campaign against Slovakia in Johannesburg on June 24.

Provisional 30-man squad:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo)
Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Mattia Cassani (Palermo), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Fabio Grosso (Juventus), Christian Maggio (Naples), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan)
Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Juventus), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Forwards: Marco Borriello (AC Milan), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal/ESP)
ROME (AFP)

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Italian football legend Roberto Baggio as expected joined the Italian Football Federation Technical

Italian football legend Roberto Baggio as expected joined the Italian Football Federation Technical Direction (FIGC) on Wednesday as Italy rebuilds after a disastrous World Cup which saw the 2006 champions exit in the first round.

The 43-year-old – known as the ‘divine ponytail’ in his playing days because of his hairstyle and his conversion to buddhism – was joined by two other greats of the game.

Former national coach Arrigo Sacchi – under whom Baggio reached the 1994 World Cup final where they lost on penalties to Brazil – has been appointed co-ordinator of the youth teams up to Under-21 level and Gianni Rivera, the first Italian to be named European player of the year, will be in charge of teaching and youth sector.

Baggio, who was also a member of the Italy side that reached the 1990 World Cup semi-finals, had earlier expressed his hope that Italy would focus on bringing on young talent.

“I dream of Italy being able to begin to cultivate great talent,” he told Rai Uno.

“But to achieve this we have to believe in the young players that are the future,” added Baggio, who retired in 2004 after a stellar career which saw him play for Fiorentina, Juventus and AC Milan.

Chief among the young talent Baggio believes in is Mario Balotelli, who much to the former star’s chagrin is set to join bigspending English Premier League side Manchester City from Italian champions and Champions League holders Inter Milan.

Italian football is still in shock after their side put up a limp defence of their world title, under the same coach Marcello Lippi, and finished bottom of their group with just two draws including with minnows New Zealand, who even finished above them.

Cesare Prandelli replaced Lippi in the hot seat and has already indicated he could bring in Balotelli and troublesome talent Antonio Cassano for next Monday’s friendly with Ivory Coast.

After the Ivory Coast game, Italy will play Estonia on September 3 and the Faroe Islands on September 7 in qualifying matches for the UEFA Euro 2012 championships in Poland and Ukraine.

Formerly a Juventus midfielder, Prandelli spent five years coaching Fiorentina, twice taking them into the Champions League, having previously coached Parma and AS Roma. (AFP)

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Guerrero double keeps Hamburg in title race

BERLIN (AFP) – Peru striker Jose Guerrero netted both goals on Sunday to seal Hamburg’s 2-1 win at Schalke 04 which keeps Martin Jol’s side in the heart of the title race and just a point behind leaders Hertha Berlin.

The three points in Gelsenkirchen leaves Hamburg fourth in the league, but level on 48 points with Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg with the three clubs all just a point behind Hertha who were humbled 2-0 in Stuttgart on Saturday.

The game was heading for a goalless draw until Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer went to head away a dangerous ball in the area, but only managed to nod his clearance into Guerrero’s path who fired the gift home on 70 minutes.

And the Peruvian striker made it 2-0 just five minutes later when Germany midfielder Marcell Jansen fired at goal to give Guerrero a simple tap in at the far post.

Schalke’s Dutch striker Jefferson Farfan scored a consolation goal with ten minutes left, but the defeat leaves Schalke eighth and just one point separates the top four sides in the Bundesliga.

On Saturday, defending champions Bayern Munich beat Karlsruhe 1-0 without injured striker Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose to close the gap behind Hertha.

Bayern welcomed back Franck Ribery, who had been suffering with a shin injury, and the French midfield maestro made his mark in the 34th minute when he split the Karlsruhe defence to set up Argentina striker Jose Ernesto Sosa.

Bayern had Brazilian midfielder Ze Roberto to thank for the three points in the dying seconds as he deflected an effort from Karlsruhe’s Michael Mutzel over the bar.

Karlsruhe stay bottom while the win keeps Bayern second, but just one point behind Hertha who were brought crashing down to earth after hosts Stuttgart scored two goals in four minutes to continue their rise up the table to sixth.

Brazilian striker Cacau scored just two minutes after the break to put the hosts ahead before a header from Germany Under-21 midfielder Sami Khedira to double the lead on 51 minutes.

Wolfsburg are joint second with Bayern and just a point behind Hertha after they won 3-0 at Arminia Bielefeld.

Brazil striker Grafite netted in the 58th minute to become the league’s joint top-scorer with 18 goals in 16 games to go level with Hoffenheim’s injured striker Vedad Ibisevic.

Hoffenheim dropped further back in the title race as their 2-2 draw at Hanover left them five points off the leaders in fifth and they are now four points off the title race.

Bayer Leverkusen are seventh after their 1-1 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Although they hammered Stuttgart 4-0 the week before, Werder Bremen continue their erratic season as Borussia Dortmund captain Alexander Frei slotted home a 61st minute penalty to take the three points as his side are ninth, with Bremen tenth in the table.

Cologne remain in mid-table after their 2-0 win at second-from-bottom Energie Cottbus, while on Friday night Borussia Moenchengladbach remain in the bottom three as they lost 1-0 at home to fellow strugglers VfL Bochum.
Written by: AFP

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Klinsmann sacking has helped Bayern: Podolski

MUNICH (AFP) – Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski admits confidence is returning to the defending Bundesliga champions after coach Jurgen Klinsmann was sacked last month.

Ex-Germany boss Klinsmann was axed on April 27 with five games remaining after his side were beaten 1-0 by Schalke 04 to leave them third in the league table while Jupp Heynckes took over as caretaker coach.

While a replacement is sought for Klinsmann, Bayern have moved up to second in the table and level with leaders Wolfsburg with two games remaining as Podolski, 23, has scored two goals in his last two games.

Bayern picked up their 19th league win of the season on Tuesday night in the 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen and Munich are on course to retain their crown if they can win their last two games as Podolski says the improvement is obvious.

“We?ve come on well as a team in the last few games,” said Podolski, who will leave Bayern at the end of the season to play for Cologne having spent most of the last two seasons on the bench.

“We?re well-organised, training is good, and you can see the results out on the park.

“Jupp Heynckes has restored my belief, I?m confident about starting matches, and I think I?ve repaid his faith when I?ve played,” added Podolski voted the best young player at the last World Cup.

And having taken over from Michael Rensing between the posts, Bayern’s former Leverkusen goalkeeper Hans-Joerg Butt says his experience in Munich has been an eye-opener where success is both expected and demanded.

“There?s a completely different mindset here at Bayern,” said the former Leverkusen goalkeeper who has three caps for Germany.

“The entire club is geared towards success, trophies are all that count here.

“You?re expected to win the league and every match, you?re not allowed slip-ups.

“In Leverkusen we often looked good and played brilliantly against big-name opponents, but we ran into trouble and lost to the smaller clubs.”

With two games left, Bayern have a tough run in with a trip to Hoffenheim on Saturday before the final game of the season on May 23 against title rivals at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

Wolfsburg are at mid-table sides Hanover and Werder Bremen for their remaining games and remain top by virtue of a two-point goal difference, while third-placed Hertha are at home to Schalke 04 and bottom side Karlsruhe.

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