jose - soccer

Hyundai and Kia to be the official sponsor and partner of automotive event Euro 2012 football competition. South Korean duo step is being rewarded with increased sales of Hyundai and KIA during the Euro held.

All the eyes of football lovers under the sun being fixed to the Blue Continent. Gridiron stars of the European range of Fernando Torres, Wayne Rooney, Andrea Pirlo or Lukas Podolski is struggling to be the best in Europe.

KIA and Hyundai are coming from outside of Europe, actually got a gift with a great record sales since May. In fact, car sales in Europe are experiencing a decrease of eight percent in May, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors posted a profit of 30 percent.

Combined sales of two South Korean car manufacturers in the last month is even able to surpass the German giant Mercedes-Benz and Japan's largest manufacturers, Toyota.

Hyundai last week said it plans to increase production at the Czech. Even the factory in czech, this will immediately be given the status of full capacity, with the addition of a third shift and employs more than 1,000 employees.

Hyundai-Kia has been listed as the official automotive sponsor Euro since 2000. The two companies also will be the sponsor of the 2010 World Cup and the 2014, 2018 and upcoming 2022. (autos.okezone.com)

Barcelona fought out a 2-2 draw with Real Madrid and went through to the Copa del Ray seminfinals thanks to a 1-2 win away in the first leg. (scoop.co.nz)

Real Madrid, 2-1 losers at home in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal against Barcelona, are desperate to edge out their fierce rivals and achieve an improbable place in the semifinals. In order to advance, they're going to have to ditch the brutal defensive tactics they've employed in the past and go instead with free-flowing attacking football. It's a gamble, and one that's not that likely to pay off, but it's definitely going to be entertaining. (sbnation.com)

Real Madrid coach, Jose Mourinho, applying different strategies in the second leg of this. If in the first leg Madrid dominated by players who bertipikal survive, this time Mourinho plays with the type of attacking players. The result, manages to look pressed Madrid Barcelona's defense since the beginning of the first round. Even a golden opportunity they have been able to create on the 3rd minute, when the Kaka kick must be blocked with difficulty by the host goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto.

Pinto re-create the brilliant rescue in the 11th minute. This time, the efforts of Cristiano RonaldoRonaldo, who succeeded his break. In the 24th minute, Lionel MessiLionel Messi is capable of directing the ball into the goal Madrid. Luckily for the hosts, attempts Messi free kick was still able to be broken easily by Iker CasillasIker Casillas. Madrid almost winning in the 25th minute. Speculative kick conducted Mesut Oezil just deliver the ball into the crossbar Barcelona. The ball was reluctant to enter into the host's goal. Two minutes later, Pinto made a blunder that nearly disastrous fruition. Pinto gave her the wrong bait that it leads to Gonzalo Higuain. Luckily, Higuain being selfish by executing its own opportunities so it is still able to be broken by both the Barcelona goalkeeper.

Continued to attack, Madrid conceded first in the 43rd minute. Is a substitute, Pedro Rodriguez, who was able to make the home fans cheered. Starting acceleration of Messi, who then releases a sweet feed to Pedro that is not guarded. Calmly, Pedro capable goalkeeper Casillas can only be stunned to see it. A few seconds before halftime, Barcelona have scored two. This time the goalkeeper Casillas is Dani Alves fired hard from outside the penalty box. The first half ended 2-0 to Barcelona excellence.

At the beginning of the second half, Madrid almost dropping them. Utilizing a free kick Xabi AlonsoXabi Alonso, Sergio RamosSergio Ramos able to find the net with a header Barcelona. Unfortunately, the goal was disallowed because the referee thought Ramos was a foul on Alves first. Already a two-goal lead, Barcelona continue to apply their attacking style of play. Effective game also characteristic of Pep Guardiola's troops in this fight. While Madrid's players more often wasting the ball by doing the wrong bait. Once get the chance, Madrid players could not actually used it well.

Entering the 65th minute, Real Madrid game improved and the results they managed to find the net Barcelona in the 68th minute.Receiving feedback from Oezil breakthrough, Ronaldo is able to fool Pinto before struck the ball into the goal with his right foot. Four minutes later, Madrid Barcelona goalkeeper again.Benzema who received a pass from Jose Callejon made it past Carles Puyol and beat Pinto with his right leg kick. Madrid was only needed one more goal to qualify for the next round.

Both teams alternated offensive. The threat by the threat of players born from both teams. However, it has not been successfully exploited to perfection. Disastrous for the Madrid occurred in the 89th minute. They have to play with 10 men after Sergio Ramos received a second yellow card for elbowing Sergio BusquetsSergio Busquets when the duel in the air. Of course this is a loss to Madrid to play with 10 men when they want to find one additional goal.

The result, Madrid failed to add a pot of their goals and given up their ambition to retain the title. (allvoices.com)

Manchester United’s dominance of English football, on and off the pitch, is underlined today with the release of a financial survey that shows a £45m leap in United’s year-on-year income. Thanks in large part to last season’s Premier League and Champions League double, United’s turnover grew by 21 per cent in the 2007-08 season to £257.1m. This makes United by far the highest-earning club in Britain, ahead of Chelsea (in second place, with income of £212.9m in the same period), Arsenal (£209.3m) and Liverpool (£167m).

The figures are revealed in the latest Football Money League report by Deloitte, in a survey that shows Real Madrid remain the world’s richest club in terms of revenue, ahead of United in second, then Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Chelsea. Only a drastic slump in the value of sterling has prevented United from reclaiming the title of “world’s richest club” from Real. Real Madrid’s income for 2007-08 rose a relatively modest four per cent to 365.8m euros, or £289.6m when converted at the June 2008 exchange rate of £1 = 1.2632 euros. United’s income at the same rate equated to 324.8m euros. But sterling has crashed significantly, and if Deloitte had used the same exchange rate as in their previous report (£1 = 1.4856 euros, from June 2007), United’s latest income would have been 381.9m euros against Real’s 365.8m euros.

One of the most intriguing aspects of today’s report is that Deloitte, rather than the clubs themselves, has become the vehicle of choice for headline income figures to be released. United will provide more details of their results in due course, including data on large profits, but Chelsea are expected to remain conspicuously quiet this week about their own results. A press conference and briefing, scheduled for Friday, has been indefinitely shelved, and it is understood that this is partly because of the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari. His pay-off, of around £7.5m, would not have been in the 2007-08 accounts but would have prompted embarrassing questions about Chelsea’s huge and ongoing losses.

An annual loss of £74.8m in 2006-07 on turnover of £190.5m meant the club had posted cumulative losses of £384m in four years. Haemorrhaging of money at such levels has always heaped ridicule on the long-standing claims of Chelsea’s chief executive, Peter Kenyon, that the club can break even by 2010. Yet further losses in the tens of millions are expected in the 2007-08 figures. And combined with the latest change in manager and wobble in form (and the financial ramifications of both) any suggestions of financial self-sufficiency soon are hollow jokes, as, increasingly, are Kenyon and Roman Abramovich themselves.

As the Deloitte report points out, Chelsea’s annual income growth of 12 per cent (£22.4m) in 2007-08 was driven mainly by increased TV cash, “but the club needs new successes with its match day and commercial revenues to deliver future growth and keep pace with its biggest European rivals.”

1 (1) Real Madrid £289.6m
Real Madrid's 4 per cent revenue growth is more modest than recent years, but the club have doubled their revenues since 2002

2 (2) Manchester United £257.1m
Manchester United's success in winning the Premier League and Champions League has contributed to significantly-increased revenue in 2007/08, but the depreciation of the pound against the euro means they remain in second position.

3 (3) FC Barcelona £244.4m
Barcelona's revenue increased by only 6 per cent.

4 (7) Bayern Munich £233.8m

5 (4) Chelsea £212.9m
Chelsea enjoyed a rise of 11.5 per cent.

6 (5) Arsenal £209.3m
Arsenal enjoyed a rise 18 per cent

7 (8) Liverpool £167.0m
Liverpool have gone up a place to seventh with a 25 per cent rise in turnover.

8 (6) AC Milan £165.8m

9 (11) AS Roma £138.9m

10 (9) Internazionale £136.9m

(source: independent.co.uk)

Awal karirnya di Arsenal dimulai saat Arsene Wenger – manajer Arsenal – menugaskan Steve Rowley berangkat ke Spanyol. Ketua pemandu bakat itu diinstruksikan memantau Fabregas di Barcelona, yang kala itu masih berusia 16 tahun. Saat itu Cesc – panggilan Fabregas – belum seterkenal sekarang. Dia hanya satu diantara banyak pemain muda yang tergabung di Barcelona junior. Rowley langsung kepincut. Dan musim panas 2003, resmilah Arsenal meminang Fabregas. Baru 2 bulan kemudian kebintangannya terlihat di Finlandia. Cesc berlaga di Piala Dunia U-17 bersama tim junior Spanyol. Meski bukan striker, Cesc mengemas 5 gol – termasuk golden goal spektakuler ke gawang Argentina saat menang 3-2 di semifinal. Walau kalah dari Brazil di final tapi penampilanya tetap mengundang decak kagum dan membuat Barcelona tersadar. Menyesal melepas pemain berbakatnya ke klub lain. Joan Laporta – presiden Barcelona – kecewa dan menuduh kubu Arsenal melakukan kecurangan saat mendapatkan pemainnya. Tapi komplain tersebut terlambat. FIFA telah mengesahkan kontrak 6 tahun Cesc dengan The Gunners – julukan Arsenal. “Laporta ‘menangis’ karena kebodohannya,” ujar Joseba Diaz – agen Fabregas. Sebulan sebelum Cesc pindah ke Arsenal dirinya berdiskusi dengan manajemen Barca. Hasilnya, “Klienku ingin pindah,” kata Diaz. Kehidupan baru di London, Cesc diberi tempat di tinggal High Barnet bersama Phillipe Sanderos – yang saat itu masih bermain di Arsenal. “Saat pertama kali pindah kesini merupakan saat yang beresiko. Tinggal sendiri, bergabung dengan tim yang para pemainnya belum kukenal, dan hal itu terjadi di negara lain,” kenangnya.
Cesc ternyata bisa beradaptasi. Pada Oktober 2003, dia tampil bersama tim utama. Bahkan mengukir rekor klub sebagai pemain termuda yang tampil di tim senior. Umurnya baru 16 tahun 177 hari saat Arsenal bertandig melawan Rotherham di putaran ke-3 Piala Liga. Prestasinya berlanjut dengan gol pada 2 Desember 2003 ketika Arsenal menang 5-1 atas Wolves di putaran-5 Piala Liga dan mencatatkan namanya sebagai pencetak gol termuda The Gunners. Wenger pun berujar, “soal Fabregas, visinya brilian. Dia memiliki semua yang dibutuhkan untuk menjadi pemain hebat.”

Musim pertamanya di Arsenal, Cesc cuma tampil 3 kali di tim senior. Itu pun hanya di Piala Liga. Selebihnya cuma di tim cadangan. Kesempatan tampil datang di laga pramusim Amsterdam Tournament. Diturunkan Wenger melawan Ajax dan River Plate. Juga bermain saat mengalahkan Manchester United di Community Shield. Penampilan sensasionalnya mengundang pujian The Professor – julukan Wenger. “Dia pebola yang luar biasa. Dia akan selalu berada di tim selama dia sanggup bermain lebih baik dibandingkan pemain lain.” Kemudian namanya mulai digadang-gadang sebagai pengganti Patrick Vieira. Dan saat akhirnya sang skipper benar-benar hengkang, posisinya menjadi seolah tak tergantikan. Bahkan Cesc sukses membawa klub London tersebut berlaga di final Liga Champion. Meski akhirnya ditundukkan Barcelona, yang memang saat itu tengah berjaya. Aksi gemilangnya di Premiere League, terpantau juga oleh timnas Spanyol. Fabregas sudah jadi langganan di tim junior Matador, U-17, U-19, dan U-21. “Ketika dia masih junior, kami sudah mengetahui bakat dan kualitas yang dimilikinya. Hebatnya lagi, hal itu dia tunjukan di luar Spanyol, yang tentu saja lebih sulit.” sebut Inaki Saez, mantan pelatih Spanyol.
Di negara asalnya itu juga isu kepindahannya merebak. Dari ibukota, klub raksasa Real Madrid pun tergoda. Siapa yang berani meremehkan urusan transfer Florentino Perez – bos besar El Real. Selain itu Barcelona yang masih “sakit hati” atas kecolongan mereka dulu, berniat mendatangkan kembali Fabregas. Bahkan tak tanggung-tanggung akan di jadikan satu paket transfer bersama Henry. Pada akhirnya cuma Henry yang jadi berlabuh ke Camp Nou. Tapi Barca tak berhenti menggoyah Arsenal. Seperti ingin balas dendam, musim berikutnya giliran Hleb yang dibajak dari Emirates Stadium.
Namun Wenger justru semakin yakin dengan tim muda-nya. Di lini depan aksi bomber asal Togo, Emanuele Adebayor yang tak kalah tajamnya dari King Henry. Begitu pun kepergian Hleb dan Flamini, yang digantikan Sameer Nasri. Fabregas juga punya keyakinan serupa terhadap timnya. Apalagi bersama Spanyol Cesc baru saja merengkuh trofi Piala Eropa 2008. Ketenanganya mengeksekusi tendangan adu penalty lawan Italia di perempat final, disebut-sebut sebagai awal kesuksesan tim yang saat itu masih di arsiteki Luis Aragones di Austria-Swiss. Tinggal menunggu hasil di akhir musim panas nanti, apa yang bisa Fabregas persembahkan bagi klub yang telah membesarkan namanya di lapangan hijau.

(referensi: Tabloid SOCCER no.16/v/sabtu, kolom spesial Ben Littleton)