jose - soccer

Andrei Arshavin could soon be appearing at a Barclays Premier League ground near you, with Arsenal taking a look at Russia's star of Euro 2008.From talented drafts player to one of the hottest properties in world football, here is all you need to know about the 27-year-old on Arsene Wenger's wish list...

1) Andrei Sergeyevich Arshavin was born in St Petersburg - then called Leningrad - on May 29, 1981.
2) As a schoolboy, he showed great promise as a drafts player before turning his full attention to football.
3) While at university he wrote a thesis on sportswear production, but dismissed his decision to study for a diploma in fashion design as an opportunity to meet girls.
4) As a boy, he fell in love with the Barcelona team coached by Holland legend Johan Cruyff and has previously said moving to the Nou Camp would be his dream.
5) Arshavin made his debut for Zenit St Petersburg when coming on as a substitute against Bradford at Valley Parade on August 2, 2000. The Russians won the InterToto Cup semi-final match 3-0.
6) He scored 71 goals in 310 games for Zenit, while for Russia he has scored 15 in 41 caps. With Zenit he won the Russian Premier League title in 2007, the League Cup in 2003, and the UEFA Cup, European Super Cup and Russian Super Cup in 2008.
7) Individually he has won a number of player of the year awards and was ranked the sixth best player in the world in 2008 for the Ballon d'Or - won by Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.
8) Arshavin once stood for local elections in St Petersburg for the United Russia party led by Vladimir Putin (right) but withdrew his candidacy before a vote was cast.
9) The Communists of Leningrad group accused Arshavin of being a 'traitor' for his desire to leave the country. Berating him for 'putting up his body for sale for greedy Western clubs', they warned: 'If you want to sign for any Western team you will lose your spiritual connection to Mother Russia and Russians will never forgive you.'
10) Arshavin may be on the verge of leaving Zenit, but he stares out from the April page of the club's official 2009 calendar.

Andrei Arshavin last night partied with his Zenit St Petersburg team-mates for what he believes will be the last time before sealing a move to Arsenal. The Gunners may be furious that their far-from-concluded negotiations have become public but the Russia forward hopes any problems can be overcome so that he can achieve his dream of playing for one of Europe's elite clubs. It would be the perfect Christmas present as the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the festival two weeks later than in England.

The 27-year-old spent the public holiday with his wife Yulia and their two young children before saying goodbye to his Zenit colleagues at St Petersburg's five-star Grand Hotel Europe at their annual Christmas bash. It is a farewell that the forward knew he had to make after starring for his country in their bold march to the Euro 2008 semi-finals before losing to Spain.

Those performances - along with his key role in winning the UEFA Cup against Rangers with Zenit last season - made him famous across the world, but returning home to a country that had appreciated his talent for years felt too much like getting back in the depressing old routine.

(source: dailymail.co.uk)

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp rubbishes talk of a reported £30m swoop for Portsmouth trio Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Glen Johnson. The January transfer window has opened, which gives clubs their first opportunity to buy or sell players since the end of August. Several deals have already been agreed, including Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra's £20m move to Real Madrid while a number of others are being finalised. A record £150m was spent by Premier League clubs in January 2008.

But that figure could be eclipsed this season if, as expected, Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is given major funds to strengthen his squad by his club's billionaire Arab owners. Any buys by City could kick-start activity from other Premier League sides but the Eastlands club are yet to delve into the market.

Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz is believed to be top of Hughes' wish-list but Rovers boss Sam Allardyce says he has not received any offers for the Paraguay star, while Chelsea defender Wayne Bridge is widely tipped to be heading to Eastlands.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has underlined his desire to sign new players, and has already had a bid of around £6m rejected for West Ham striker Craig Bellamy as well as confirming his interest in Pompey frontman Jermain Defoe and Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing. But teams such as Manchester United and Chelsea insist they will not be buying and others, like Portsmouth and the Hammers, may be forced to sell some of their stars to balance the books.

Wigan are keen to keep hold of England striker Emile Heskey, who is out of contract in the summer, while Newcastle striker Michael Owen and goalkeeper Shay Given are also in demand. Most Premier League managers have already had their say over how they see the next month going:

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger:
"Although we are not close to signing anyone at the moment, if we do buy I think what we need is maybe someone with a bit of experience. I need a creative midfielder and eventually another midfielder, because we are short. "We already have many young players so, if we buy, it will be somebody who is ready to play straight away. A loan deal could also be a possibility. "What we might need is someone who can create a little spark."

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill:
"We are definitely looking at trying to do something if it is at all possible. "I do not know whether the credit crunch has affected the market but this is a chance for all clubs to add to their squads."

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce:
"There have been no bids whatsoever for Roque Santa Cruz. "At the moment I am more focused on getting him fit because I haven't seen him play since I've been here. I'm looking to getting him fit and producing the form he produced last year to get us out of trouble. I'm also more focused on getting players in rather than players out. Certainly my focus over the last two days has been speaking to the chairman about that. "We're both going to go out and try and improve our squad as quickly as possible."

Chelsea manager Luiz Filipe Scolari on his side's transfer policy:
"I knew that it's a different time for Chelsea but, if we suffer more injuries, the board understand that I'll need one or two players to replace some [injured] players. "They understand this. If, on the other hand, the players are in good condition and there are no more injuries, I think it's maximum one player they'll replace because we need one more. Only one. A striker.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon says transfer activity will be kept to a minimum:
"I don't think we will be doing any business in the January transfer window because the type of players we are looking for are not available. "Another reason is that we have still got some long-term injuries coming back and in January or February, Chelsea will have more player availability."

Everton manager David Moyes:
"We are actively looking at what will make a difference, but I don't think I will be able to do much in January. I am more likely to be looking at loans. "Anything the club have got they will give me. But that doesn't mean to say I am not out there looking for loans or Bosman signings or anything else that can help us. "I don't think we will be selling because we don't have the numbers. We are short at this present time and that limits what I can do off the bench."

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez admits signings are unlikely:
"It will be difficult to bring anyone in January because we have a good squad. "To bring in anyone better than what we've got isn't easy and could be expensive."

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes:
"We're aware of this assumption about the level of finance that we'll throw at the project in January, but we still have realistic market values. "There is also an assumption that we will stimulate the market, that the money sloshing around will be from the deals that we have started, but we have to make sure we protect the club as well. "We're hoping to go into the market and acquire players that we think will help us, but it is still dependent on whether clubs are willing to deal with us or not. "The deals that we do will have to be good ones, but we are quite happy at the moment. We know that there will be a premium that we will probably have to pay because it's January, and teams don't want to lose their better players. "But it will not be to the extent where we are paying hugely over the market value."

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson:
"I do not think there will be any January transfers, I am happy with what I have got. "We are probably going to bring back a couple of young players who have been on loan. That may just give us extra protection. "We took 23 players to Japan (for the Club World Cup) and they are substantial players. I would be happy to play any one of them."

Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear insists goalkeeper Shay Given is not for sale:
"Shay won't be leaving - he has no interest in that whatsoever. He loves the football club - he's part of the city and that suits us because he's a world-class goalkeeper."

Portsmouth manager Tony Adams:
"The board are going to do exactly what they did for [former boss] Harry Redknapp to me, and I had money anyway [before Real's move for Diarra]. I have had new signings in mind since I have been in the job."

Stoke chairman Peter Coates:
"We've got a few things on the go. I think Tony Pulis would like about three players, but I don't want to give too much away. "I do know we'll have a stronger squad at the end of January than what we have now."

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp on his January targets:
"If could find a wide-left player I would like to get one. That and a frontman would be the priority." "I think Portsmouth have had a massive offer from somebody for Jermain Defoe, so good luck to them - I paid about £9m when I signed him. He is a good player but we're not going to pay over the top for anyone. "It's not finished but if they don't want to sell him [Defoe] it's up to them. I am not going to upset the applecart. "If they say 'we'll have that', then we can do something. If they say 'we don't want to sell him' then it is end of story. "I like Stewart Downing but I don't know whether Middlesbrough want to sell him."

West Ham chief executive Scott Duxbury:
"We must not be afraid of interest in or bids for our leading players. "Each approach will be considered in terms of fee, fitness, form and where the manager thinks the player is in his career. "We have to consider the will of the player and whether he is committed to what we are trying to achieve. "A bid may be evaluated by the manager as allowing him to significantly improve his team."

(source: BBC, goal)

Inter Milan moved four points clear at the Serie A summit with a 1-0 win over arch rivals Juventus in the Derby d'Italia tonight. After a ferocious first half, it took a 72nd-minute goal from Sulley Muntari to decide the game in the home side's favour.

Jose Mourinho prevailed in the much-anticipated battle of two former Chelsea coaches against Claudio Ranieri and saw his side cement their place on top of the table. Mourinho recalled Adriano to his starting line-up after overlooking the Brazil frontman for five matches due to a disciplinary matter.

Inter appeared to get lucky in the 24th minutes when referee Nicola Rizzoli waved away Juve's claims for a penalty after Muntari looked to have impeded Marco Marchionni inside the area. He earlier denied the hosts a spot-kick in the first minute when Zlatan Ibrahimovic's cross struck the arm of Giorgio Chiellini at point-blank range.


Juve lost midfielder Tiago to a suspected serious knee injury after only four minutes. Claudio Marchisio replaced him and he had Juve's only other effort of the first half two minutes before the break when Julio Cesar tipped his shot over the crossbar.

The rest of the first 45 minutes belonged to the Nerazzurri, who had three excellent opportunities to go ahead.

Dejan Stankovic had the first after 12 minutes when he broke the offside trap, but he was never able to get the ball fully under control as Cristian Molinaro and Chiellini both stopped him in his tracks. Ibrahimovic was the next to break, capitalising on an error by Nicola Legrottaglie on the halfway line. With his head down, the Swedish striker made like a train for the Juventus goal, leaving Legrottaglie in his wake before shooting just wide of the far post. And Muntari had a header from Adriano's cross touched past the post by the leg of Juve goalkeeper Alex Manninger, who also touched a cross-shot from Adriano wide of the post and parried another Muntari effort in stoppage time.

The Bianconeri took the sting out of Inter in the second period. When the home side did break through, Ibrahimovic fired another free shot wide of the post.

A touch of fortune enabled the Swede's next mis-hit shot to reach Muntari, who put the home side ahead in the 72nd minute. The Ghana midfielder was on hand to pass the ball into the unguarded net. Juve's response was a header from Alessandro Del Piero which Julio Cesar clawed off the goal line, but the visitors could not muster anything else as their seven-game winning run was ended at the San Siro.

They saw Inter pull six points away, but could have few arguments after doing too little over the 90 minutes to deserve anything else.

(source: soccernet.espn.go.com)

Competition at the scene outside the Spanish La Liga Primera presumably become the arena over Real Madrid. Once beaten twice by Juventus in the Champions League, Madrid again swallowing the results of bad removed when Real Union in the round Copa Del Rey. hat-trick from Raul Gonzalez in 36 minutes, 51, 86 and additional goals from Alberto Bueno in the minutes to-68 can not save opportunity in Madrid that pirouette of 32. Despite winning 4-3, 6-6 aggregate Unsurprisingly, the team of Division III.

Madrid is the source of disaster Eneko Romo. Players Union is adding goals in the third minute to-90 team that escaped the eye of the needle because the party wins 3-2 in the first Santiago Bernabeu. This means that the Union is entitled to make a pass because of away goals.


Weak defense Madrid again disastrous. Disaster that occurred when Enoko not by the national line of defense because of filthily Madrid, which is sure the match is over. When Enoko press, it also occurs immediately to the goal Jerzy Dudek.
"We do not tend to be vigilant in determining the final minutes, Raul complaint, the complete score 300 goals during his career night".

Penetrated many goals in the cage - eight goals in the last three fight - also make Madrid coach, Bernd Schuster great surprise. "I do not think exhausted. I'm not worried about the high number of goals but I understand that other people would boggle my performance, "said the German coach. "It's very logical after seeing what happens.". That is not as Union dominating, and that thrill me, "he asserted concerned.

From the last three domestic fight, Madrid win only two times that of the Athletic Bilbao 3-2 and 4-3 over Malaga, but a reflection that the defense champion 2007/08 is fragile.