Snak

Nogen som husker det Paris første forsøg på at skabe et klubhold af kvalitet, med Enzo-drengen i spidsen ?

Matra Racing Paris, el ‘otro’ parisino rico

Aprovechamos que este domingo el PSG puede proclamarse campeón de la Ligue 1, para recordar cómo en París ya existió un proyecto millonario con tintes épicos pero con fatal desenlace.

París ha mantenido y mantiene un estrecho idilio con el mundo del arte. Sin importar la disciplina, ni la época. Por sus calles han paseado Salvador Dalí, Oscar Wilde, Cole Porter o Luis Buñuel y en sus bares han germinado movimientos artísticos y tendencias. Sin embargo, el fútbol le ha sido esquivo. París es una de las capitales europeas -junto a Berlín- con menos tradición futbolística. El París Saint-Germain vive -o pretende vivir- su edad de oro en la actualidad, pero su pasado únicamente está alumbrado por una Recopa (1996) y un par de títulos de Ligue 1, más allá de una decena de copas. París, por lo tanto, nunca ha sido una tierra fertil para los sueños futbolísticos, algo que Jean-Luc Lagardére se atrevió a discutir durante la década de los ochenta.

Tras cosechar tanto éxito como millones en el sector de la aeronáutica, Lagardére quiso utilizar su fortuna para construir un equipo poderoso en París, primero para que compitiera con el PSG y, después, para conquistar Europa. Los sueños de grandeza comienzan con pequeños gestos y en 1982 Lagardére se hizo con el poder en el Paris FC, un equipo de la segunda división francesa. Su primera intención fue fusionarlo con el Racing de France, pero el conjunto galo rechazó el acuerdo por no tener informaciones precisas de la economía del club de Lagardére. La reacción del empresario ante la negativa fue rebautizar al Paris FC como Racing Paris 1 y le vistió con los colores azul cielo y blanco tradicionales del Racing de France.

Tras una primera temporada exitosa, en la que el nuevo Racing Paris 1 logra terminar cuatro en la segunda división francesa, el Racing de France acepta la fusión y para la temporada 83-84 el equipo ya competiría bajo el nombre de Racing Club de Paris. La ambición de Largardére era elevada, pero primero debía lograr el ascenso a la Ligue 1 y por eso decidió construir el equipo más potente de la categoría. Ficha a jugadores de primer nivel entre los que destaca Rabah Madjer, quien venía de destacar en el Mundial de 1982. El argelino se convierte en el referente del equipo y esa temporada se logra el ascenso tras quedar segundo y superar tres rondas eliminatorias en las que elimina a Olympique de Lyon, Nice y Saint Etienne.

De este modo, Lagardére veía cumplido su sueño, aunque las cosas no fueron tan bien como se esperaban. El equipo no encontró el respaldo de París. El Parque de los Príncipes mostraba un aspecto desolador en cada partido, con las gradas semivacías, y equipo desciende por la vía rápida, terminando colista de la Ligue 1 y regresando a la segunda división francesa. El primer batacazo no desalentó a Lagardére, quien volvió a la carga cerrando los fichajes de Bossis y Kabongo. El Racing Club de Paris arrasó esa temporada, se proclamó campeón de la categoría y logró el ascenso directo. Lagardére volvía a estar en la Ligue 1 y para evitar que sucediera el mismo desastre en su primer intento utilizó un as que se guardaba bajo la manga. Matra, su empresa, se convertiría en el principal patrocinador del club.

De este modo, el Racing Club de Paris pasaría a denominarse Matra Racing Paris y se implantó una política de fichajes ambiciosa con la que se logró reclutar a algunos de los mejores jugadores del planeta. Llegaría el internacional de Alemania Pierre Littbarski procedente del Colonia, el jugador del Burdeos Thierry Tusseau, el mítico Luis Fernandez, y la joya de la corona Enzo Francescoli. A los mandos del equipo llegaría el técnico Artur Jorge, quien acababa de proclamarse campeón de Europa con el Porto (a Abramovich le suena esta estrategia). Un proyecto mastodóndico que esta vez sí atrajo la atención de la ciudad (aunque no demasiadas) pero no cosechó resultados. En la temporada 86-87 terminaron en 13ª posición, la siguiente acabaron séptimos tras un pésimo final de liga y en la 88-89 el equipo vuelve a decepcionar. Lagardére, impaciente y cansado de esperar unos éxitos que nunca llegan, recogió sus bártulos, su ambición y sus millones y abandonó el club.

Si la figura de Lagardére y, sobre todo, sin su fortuna, el Matra Racing Paris se hundió desde el primer momento y entró en una profunda crísis económica de la que no ha logrado escapar y todavía se están pagando los excesos de la época de Largadére. Tras varios cambios de nombre -ahora se llama Racing Club de France Football Levallois 92- y refundaciones, el club pena sus tiempos de delirios de grandeza hundido en las catacumbas del fútbol francés, compitiendo en CFA2, la quinta división gala. Los sueños millonarios ya fracasaron una vez en París. El PSG lo intenta ahora con los millones de la familia Al Thani y tras fracasar en el primer intento, ha redoblado su inversión para cerrar el doble fichaje de Ibrahimovic y Thiago Silva. El fútbol parisino quiere resurgir a base de millones. ¿Lo conseguirá esta vez?

Resultater fra gårdagens kampe:

Brasilien - Serie B
Avaí FC x Bragantino 1-2
Icasa x Sampaio Correa 0-3
Parana Clube x Joinville 2-3
Atletíco-GO x Ponte Preta 2-2
Luverdense x Vasco da Gama 2-1
Nautico x Vila Nova 2-0
Portuguesa x Santa Cruz 1-1
Oeste FC x America-RN 2-1
ABC x Boa Esporte Clube 1-0
America-MG x Ceara 3-0

Det ser ud til at de brasilianske klubber spiller lidt med musklerne;-)

Cruzeiro Director of Football Alexandre Mattos confirms bids for Dedé and Everton Ribeiro have been rejected



Cruzeiro Director of Football Alexandre Mattos has confirmed that big offers for Dedé and Everton Ribeiro have been rejected.

Both players had a starring role in A Raposa’s 2013 Brasileirão win and, as such, have attracted admiring glances from numerous clubs.

Manchester United were strongly linked with Everton Ribeiro in January, but Mattos has intimated that the strongest interest in the 25 year-old came from an investment fund. He’s also claims that Russian Premier League holders FC Zenit made a notable bid for defender Dedé.

We had a $16 million offer from Zenit for Dedé and an investment fund offer for Everton Ribeiro but we turned both of them down,” he said, as reported by HITC Sport. “That was about two or three months ago."

Fra kl 23 tror jeg at jeg skal følge først UCR-Saprissa og derefter Herediano-Alajuelense. Det er første kamp i semifinalerne. Især den anden ser jeg frem til. Alajuelense er jo ikke et hold, som Herediano har haft det alt for godt med de senere år, når den står på finalekampe.

NPATO

Ser godt ud, der skal bare penge i kassen, syntes det fint forlanges penge for spillerne, samt at de nye transferområder i Rusland, Ukraine, Kina og USA plejes ...kvali skal koste.


Dibben

Krydser fingrene for Herediano, der en del prestige opgør i dag - I Guatemala el Clasico Centroamericano mellem Comunicaciones og Municipal, vi har Corinthians - Flamengo, Gremio - Atl. Mineiro (mener jeg) så er der langhåret bold Boca mod det ægte Arsenal, Olimpo mod River.

Også naturligvis den ældste clasico uden for de britiske øer.

Peñarol - Nacional

Do or die for August Town in RSPL survival fight

It´s do or die for August Town in their fight for the Red Stripe Premier League survival knowing nothing but a win against Montego Bay United will good enough on Sunday.

August Town, which gained promotion to the Premier League this season along with Rivoli United, are rooted to the bottom of the league with 27 points. They can only reach a maximum of 36 points and are currently six points adrift of Portmore United on 33 points and seven points behind both Humble Lion and Boys Town on 34 points each.

If August Town failed to win or even draw with Montego Bay, they will have only two games remaining and a possible 34 points which would not be good enough to stay in the league.

So with that in mind, August Town will be firing from all cylinders but having won just five times from 30 games, they will find it extremely difficult against a Montego Bay unit in fourth spot with 48 points and preparing themselves for the playoff.

This game will be of paramount interest for August town and will be their most critical game of what has been a most disappointed season.

But August Town won’t be the only team in danger of relegation as a host of teams including Portmore United (33), Humble Lion (34), Boys Town (34) and Cavalier (36) can join August Town in parish football next season.

The biggest and most surprising name in that lot is the 2012 Premier League champion Portmore, lying in 11th spot on 33 points. They have a massive game against sixth-placed Rivoli United on 38 points at the Bramwell Clark Sports Complex starting at 4:00 pm. Portmore United still remain a strong team and based on their 4-1 demolition of Rivoli in their last game on February 16, they should be confident of securing another win. It will be a tough game for both parties but the pressure will more likely be felt on the shoulders of Portmore United players.

Although they will be playing on Monday, the match between eighth-placed Cavalier on 36 points and ninth-placed Boys Town with 34 points will also be a mammoth game in which the loser could very well drop into the dreaded relegation zone. Boys Town have won both games this against Cavalier and a third win might very well be the most important this season.

At the Effortville community Centre, home team Humble Lion winless in their last four games are hovering just above the relegation in 10th spot on 34 points. They must get a positive result against a fifth-placed Tivoli Gardens on 39 points and still harbouring thoughts of making the playoffs. It will be a difficult game but Humble Lion must get something from it to alleviate their precarious situation. On the other hand, Cavalier are not safe either and they can drop into that relegation zone by the wink of an eye but a win would basically secure premier league football for next season.

Third-placed Arnett gardens on 48 points need just a draw against seventh-placed Sporting Central Academy with 37 points to seal their playoff spot. The atmosphere won’t be that intense at the Anthony Spaulding Complex because they are sitting nine points ahead of the fifth placed team and will have to lose all their three remaining games while

Tivoli Gardens will have to win all their games to knock them out of contention. So they are safe and might want to rest some players with the semi-final in mind.

Sporting on the other hand are four points above the relegation zone and are fairly safe also but cannot afford to be complacent and be dragged back into that relegation dog fight.

At the other end of the spectrum, leaders Waterhouse on 56 points will be hoping to send a statement to second-placed Harbour View on 52 points when the meet in the top of the table clash at Drewsland starting at 6:00pm.

It will be a battle of psychology, as both teams will want to have that edge entering the semi-final playoffs bearing in mind that they are likely to be contesting the final. Both teams have shared victories this season and it will be interesting to see the starting eleven for this game.

Benitez awaits Higuain injury diagnosis

Napoli coach Rafael Benitez is awaiting the diagnosis of an ankle injury leading scorer Gonzalo Higuain sustained in the 0-0 draw at Inter.

The Naples club moved a point closer to securing a UEFA Champions League at San Siro on Saturday, but there were concerns when Argentina striker Higuain was carried off following a challenge with Inter defender Marco Andreoll late in the Serie A game.

After spurning a couple of opportunities to add to his 17-goal tally in the league, the former Real Madrid man contested a 50-50 challenge with Andreolli and came off worse.

The sight of the 26-year-old in considerable pain will also be a concern for Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

And with Napoli´s next fixture comes in the Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina on Friday, Benitez faces an anxious wait to discover how badly injured the 26-year-old is.

"Higuain has a trauma to the ankle, a bruise and we´ll have to see over the next few days," he told Sky Italia.

"We still don’t know what the situation is."

Benitez was left to rue his side´s inability to secure all three points after they had the better of the game, which was his first back at his former employers since he was sacked by Inter in 2010.

"I think the team played to win," he added. "We had a lot of possession against a very strong side that has played only one game per week since the start of the season.

"We pushed hard and I think against them it was a good result, though we could also have won tonight.

"I always seek balance. If the team concedes, then we have to score more goals. I saw the team do well at both ends of the field tonight, but we couldn´t get the goal."

Maracanazo, Brazil´s National Tragedy

The newly-built Maracana stadium was full to bursting with 200,000 people on July 16, 1950 -- but an eerie silence reigned after Brazil lost their World Cup decider to Uruguay.

The surprise 2-1 loss, dubbed the "Maracanazo," was a huge shock and a veritable tragedy. The match was the denouement of a final round with Brazil, having beaten Spain, needing just a draw to take their first world title. The visitors needed to win to claim their second crown after 1930.

Friaça opened the scoring for Brazil two minutes after the break but Schiaffino leveled on 66 minutes and Alcides Ghiggia scored the winner 11 minutes from time. Brazil was stunned as FIFA president Jules Rimet handed the Cup to Uruguayan skipper, Obdulio Varela. The cast comprised heroes and villains. Ghiggia, the only one of the 22 still alive, set up the equalizer and then cut inside to fire the winner.

"I only realized what impact it had years later when people started writing books about the subject, when people started asking me about it," he told AFP.

Along with Ghiggia and Juan Schiaffino, Varela, his side´s "grand captain," is the other main Uruguayan hero. Varela used the over-optimistic pre-match euphoria of the hosts to motivate his side. Barbosa, the Brazilian goalkeeper, was accused of giving Ghiggia too clear a sight of goal. Shortly before he died, Barbosa complained he was the only Brazilian to have endured a true life sentence -- under Brazilian legislation those given life jail terms serve a maximum 30 years.

Left back Bigode, beaten twice by Ghiggia en route to the two goals, was also scapegoated by the press. "I thought of killing myself -- that was the best (option) for me," he said in Teixeira Helder´s book "Maracanazo". "Then, I told myself that even dead, the people would still have continued to hate me."

The story lives on in the images and gestures which have survived on film and survived for posterity.

Ghiggia´s 40-metre (yard) dash towards goal has weighed on Brazil´s collective memory. Playback after playback, there is Barbosa, coming off his line in anticipation of the cross which had preceded the first goal.
Instead, Ghiggia cuts in and fires home.

Brazil star Zizinho had warned his teammates: "The Uruguayans lace their boots with their own veins!"
But Ghiggia was even more eloquent with a comment that found the mark. Only three people have reduced the Maracana to silence: Frank Sinatra, the pope -- and me."

Other Brazilians found other words to express their dismay.
"It was perhaps the biggest tragedy in the contemporary history of Brazil," says anthropologist Roberto Da Matta. "It happened just as Brazil wanted to take its place as a nation destined for great things."

As Europe struggled to rise from the debris of World War II, Brazil saw its moment to host the first post-conflict World Cup, build the largest stadium and win the competition. But defeat dented national pride.

Coach Flavio Costa decided to transfer the squad´s base camp to Sao Januario, a noisy district, and to open it up to fans, journalists -- and politicians, harboring political ambitions of his own. Then there was the media hype. O Mundo daily published a photo on match day captioned "these are the world champions!"

Brazilians were aghast afterwards - but were there suicides afterwards? "I think the alleged suicides are an urban myth," Geneton Moraes Neto, author of "Dossie 50," told AFP.

Brazil would go on to lift the trophy a record five titles before hosting another Cup. Current coach Luiz Felipe Scolari says the players who suffered the 1950 loss are "the precursors of the five titles."

Defeat brought almost a "decade of silence," ending in 1958 when Pele, who vowed to become a player after seeing his own father cry in 1950, lifted the Cup in Sweden. "When (English referee George) Reader blew the final whistle the Maracana was the setting for a huge wake," wrote journalist Mario Filho. Since his death in 1966 the stadium also bears the name of the dogged Maracana campaigner.

Husk Kanal Sport viser Corinthians-Flamengo live med kickoff kl. 21.00

Vi holder 0´et...........