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Di Natale Aims For 200 Goals Before Retirement
July 14, 2014
It has been around 1 month since Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale made up his mind and continues to perform for the Italian club as the 36 year old forward has a few goals that he wants to accomplish before retiring.
When the Italian season concluded, Di Natale had already revealed to the media that he was thinking about hanging up his boots and step down from playing at a competitive level but the veteran attacker has now revealed that there still are things left to do in his career.
Antonio Di Natale said: “Three months ago I no longer had the wish to play, but then club owner Giampaolo Pozzo and my family made me change my mind. The people that are close to me have asked me to continue and to score my 200th goal. I am seven goals away from that mark. It would be fantastic to achieve that, but in order to do so I need to be well physically and prepare in the best possible way for the season. It would be amazing to equal the record of 205 Serie A goals set by Roberto Baggio.”
Even at his 36 years of age, Antonio Di Natale still plays a key role in Udinese as he was able on scoring 17 league goals in the previous season which was more goals than any other player of the entire squad.
Udinese has had a fairly busy transfer window as the Italian club secured the services of Pablo Armero, Juan Cuadrado, Cyril Thereau, Albert Riera, Alexis Zapata, Nicolas Lopez, Valerio Verre and Gabriel Torje.
The new head coach of the club, Andrea Stramaccioni is hoping that all of these arrivals will increase the performances of the team and have a better season than their previous campaign where they struggled on claiming victory and had to settle with the 13th spot in the Italian League.
COLLETT BACKS AGUIRRE
May 23, 2014
The president of Espanyol, Joan Collet is hoping that Javier Aguirre remains being the manager for the next season but he is aware that the Mexican also has other offers for him to choose from.
“We’re very happy with him but he needs to decide if he wants to stay, because there are other offers, other deals that his work here has earned, but I don’t really think he wants to go. I’ve little doubt that he has the enthusiasm to stay here.” Joan Collet said.
Espanyol’s goalkeeper Kiko Casilla is a summer target of Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester United but the 27 years old shot-stopper revealed that he has no intentions of leaving the club anytime soon.
“My intention is to stay here. This club gave me so much when things were going badly, and I always had a helping hand when I needed them. Now I am happy here, enjoying myself and playing. This is where I belong.”
“I’m not at all worried. I have a year on my contract and I’ll still be here for that time and hopefully even more. My intention has always been to stay here because when I’ve been out and things didn’t go well, I’ve always had the support of the club.” Casilla said.
Barcelona are still keeping their eyes opened in the transfer market for a replacement of Victor Valdez who will be leaving the club at the end meanwhile for Manchester United, Kiko Casilla can serve as a back-up for David De Gea.
Kiko Casillas has one year remaining in his contract with Espanyol and he has already expressed his desire and ambition of concluding the contract he signed with the Spanish club some time ago and the shot-stopper has even released statements of wanting to extend his stay with Espanyol for a longer period.
RIERA LEFT OUT
February 12, 2014
Earlier this year Albert Riera made his way out of the Turkish side Galatasaray and joined the Wellington Phoenix but the Spanish midfielder has suffered a groin tear during a training session with his new team that will be leaving him out of action for a few weeks.
The head coach of the club Ernie Merrick spoke about the condition of Riera on a press conference.
“It looks like Albert has torn a deep groin muscle just at the end of training. It doesn’t look good. We’ll assess it tomorrow. But Alex Rufer is on standby for his place in the travelling squad,” said Merrick.
“Deep groin muscles aren’t good to deal with, so it could be a little while before he’s back … It looks like Albert has torn a deep groin muscle, just at the end of training. So it doesn’t look good. He’s been outstanding … It is sad because he’s been playing very well; he’s been running the show. He’s turned out to be one of the best middle midfielders in the league.”
The side of Ernie Merrick has been taking a few blows in their squad with Paul Ifill, Louis Fenton and Leo Bertos all out with injuries and now Albert Riera is the latest player that joins the list of injuries.
West Bromwich is believed to be interested in securing the services of the former Liverpool player Alber Riera. The Premier League side which is struggling to keep themselves out of the bottom relegation zone took an interest in the Spanish midfielder ever since he was expected to leave Galatasaray.
INTO THE QUARTERS
December 17, 2013
Galatasaray lifted the expectations of their fans and supporters by getting into the quarter-finals of the Champions League but in this season their last encounter of the group stages sees them having to defeat the Italian titans Juventus in order for them to survive and keep on advancing any further in the European tournament.
The Turkish team faced Antonio Conte’s side during their 1st leg which concluded in in a 2-2 draw.
If the final result is another draw, it will not be enough for Galatasaray in their European journey as the only outcome that can put them ahead will be a victory with all 3 points propelling them into the next round of the Champions League alongside the already qualified Real Madrid.
This victory will be easier said than done considering that Mancini’s side has been struggling on getting consistent performances. The Turkish team is one of the clubs in the group stages of the Champions League that has conceded more goals this season and with a Juventus team that will be going all out in search of a victory it will be a hard task ahead of them when they face off against the Italian titans.
Meanwhile on the attacking department of Galatasaray, Burak Yilmaz is performing superbly in the Turkish league but it’s a totally different story in the Champions League as he has failed to score a goal despite his large number of appearances and while Umut Bulut has scored more goals in the European tournament he is not the consistent performer that Mancini might want to.
This leaves their passage into the round of 16 hanging in the balance with nothing more than a victory being the only thing that can see them going through.
MANCINI CHASES CITY PLAYERS
November 22, 2013
The manager of Galatasaray SK, Roberto Mancini, is believed to be looking to bid for a couple of Manchester City players during the mid-season transfer window. Those two players are Gareth Barry who has been playing for Everton on loan at the moment and Aleksandar Kolarov who was reported to be on the radar of Galatasaray during the pre-season transfer window as well.
Mancini knows both these players pretty well as he was the City boss until the last season. He is believed to have a good tuning with these two players and people should not be surprised that much if he manages to lure both of them to Turkey.
As far as Barry is concerned, his contract with the Sky Blues is going to expire at the end of this season and considering his age and form, the City management will not be too much interested in giving him a contract extension. So, securing his services should not be that difficult for Mancini.
But, getting Kolarov is not going to be that easy for the Italian manager. First, City would probably not let Kolarov go and even if they do so, there are already quite a few top clubs waiting in line to secure the services of the 28 years old left-back.
For Galatasaray, signing Kolarov is more important than signing Barry because they don’t have a quality left-back at the moment. In that position, they have been using Dany who is actually a centre-back.
A few days ago, when Kolarov was asked about him being on the radar of a lot of clubs around the world, he made it clear that he is currently not looking to take a transfer.
The Serbian international said, “There are a couple of years left in my contract and I am not looking to go anywhere else.”
SPAIN SQUAD ANNOUNCED
August 29, 2013
The Spanish squad has been announced for the upcoming friendly match against Ecuador which is going to take place at Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa on Wednesday.
As expected, the senior players have been rested and the youngsters have been brought in.
This will be Spain’s first match after their defeat against Brazil in the final of the Confederations Cup one and half months back.
The senior players who haven’t been picked are Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Fernando Torres and Xavi.
Quite a few members of the U-21 squad including Thiago Alcantara and Isco have been called up.
Announcing the squad yesterday, the manager of the Spanish team Vicente Del Bosque said, “This is just the beginning of the season and we will have to consider many factors at this point of time.”
“This shouldn’t be seen as a friendly fixture only. This is a very important match. If we do well here, we will go into the match against Finland in a positive frame of mind.”
Spain has performed quite well in the World Cup qualifiers so far. They have won 3 out of their 5 games. The remaining couple of games have been draws.
La Roja is currently at the first position in the Group I points table with 11 points. France which is at no. 2 has one point less than them.
Spain still has to play 3 World Cup qualifiers. The first one of them will be against Finland on 6th of September at Helsinki Olympiastadion. After that, there will be a couple of home games against Belarus and Georgia respectively.
When asked about Spain being in a comfortable position in Group I, Bosque said, “Yes, we are at the top of the table with only 3 games left. So, we have a great chance, but, we can’t be careless.”
GALA CLOSE IN ON MIKEL
June 24, 2013
Galatasaray are thought to be extremely close to signing Chelsea midfielder John obi Mikel. The player has said that in a statement that Galatasaray are in advanced negotiations with Chelsea over a potential transfer. This will come as a surprise to many especially because Mikel had several years left on his contract still. He has been a first-team regular for the club over the last few years after having been signed by Chelsea Mourinho back in 2006 as a teenager. He has said that he has spent several years at Chelsea to consider a move away from the club.
If he moves to Galatasaray, he will be joining his former teammate Didier Drogba, who moved to the Turkish capital a few months ago. Galatasaray have been spending big in the transfer market in the hope of becoming a superpower in Europe. They managed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League last season. Chelsea have been linked with Italian midfielder Daniele De Rossi over the last few months. They will be looking to sign the 29-year-old as a replacement for Mikel if he indeed leaves for Turkish football.
Mikel was initially criticised for not being mature enough, but the last few years have seen the best of the 26 year old. He recently managed to win the Champions League title as well.
“I have played at Chelsea for a long time and it’s now time for me to leave. I’m still only 26 and it’s great to receive an offer from a club playing Champions League football and doing well in the competition. Talks have reached an advanced level between Chelsea and Galatasaray. Chelsea won’t make the move difficult and regarding my salary there won’t be a problem. All that is left is for the clubs to reach an agreement,” said Mikel.
EVEN MATCH
February 26, 2013
Even with the presence of a striker like Didier Drogba, Galatasaray were unable to get a first leg advantage in the match against Schalke. The Turkish club were playing against the German club the last 16 stage of the Champions league. The first leg was at home of the Turkish club, but it was Schalke who managed to take the first leg advantage after drawing the match 1-1. The return leg will be at Schalke in a week’s time. Galatasaray showed off their new signing Didier Drogba, who helped Chelsea win the Champions League during the summer.
The Galatasaray team also featured the former Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder in the line-up as well. Schalke were coming into the match on the back of a brilliant away form in Europe, as they have not lost more than a match in the last 10 encounters. During this period, they have managed wins against the likes of Arsenal. Hence, it was definitely not an easy match for Galatasaray, but they would have been hoping to see the poor form of Schalke that had seen them go with just one win in the last 12 Bundesliga matches. The Schalke midfielder Jones, who scored the equaliser, has said that the German team are extremely happy with the result.
“We are really happy with the result. We made one or two mistakes and conceded the goal, but all together we played well. Our goal was important, we’ll see how things go from here. We have earned a lot of respect. The action which led to my yellow card was dumb from me, I hope I can still play in the quarter-final,” said the midfielder, who will be unavailable for the return leg after being booked. The goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand, meanwhile, praised the atmosphere generated by the home fans.
LAST 16 HOPES
January 17, 2013
The Galatasaray manager Fatih Terim is of the opinion that the qualification for the last 16 stage of the Champions League will prove to be the catalyst for the club in their efforts to bring about sustained improvement in all levels. Galatasaray have been showing a lot of resurgence in recent years, which has been the only positive aspect for Turkish football in recent seasons. After getting good results against the likes of Manchester United, Galatasaray have now qualified for the last 16 stage of the European cup. This is something that will boost the fortunes of the club significantly according to the manager.
Galatasaray made it into the last 16 stage following a tough victory over the Portuguese club Braga. They have been one of the consistent performers in the group alongside Manchester United and hence it was not a surprise that they qualified for the knockout stages. Galatasaray were in danger of being knocked out of the competitions as they were trailing the Portuguese club during the break. However, they recorded a stunning comeback in the second half to take all three points, and consequently, their progression to the next stages was sealed. Terim is of the opinion that the team can improve even more when the knockout stages resumes in February.
“I’m very pleased that we completed the job on our own instead of waiting for help elsewhere. Earlier I said ‘we haven’t had our final word, there’s more to come’. You see, Galatasaray still have plenty to say in Europe. It is a long road, but we’ll try anyway. If we encounter a hitch, we’ll try again. With the help of our fans, we can do this. With the prayers and positive energy of our fans, we created a thing of beauty,” said Terim after the Braga match.
TERIM UNSURE ON KAKA
December 21, 2012
The Galatasaray manager Fatih Terim has said that he is not sure whether the Turkish club have made an approach for the Brazilian midfielder Kaka after he expressed his interest on the player in the midweek press conference. The 30-year-old Brazilian midfielder is on the fringes of the first team at the Santiago Bernabeu and is widely expected to leave the club in the January transfer window. He has been linked with many clubs in the past, but has not been able to seal a move due to the exorbitant transfer demands by the club. However, due to the fact that he has only two seasons left on his deal, Real Madrid are willing to discuss terms with other clubs over the sale.
Galatasaray are one club who are chasing his signature for a long time, but Fatih Terim has said that he is not sure whether Kaka will be joining him at the Turkish club. Even if Kaka is indeed for sale, then he would cost a lot of money according to Terim not just transfer fees but in wages as well. Only very few clubs like the French club Paris St Germain will be able to afford him according to Terim. Yet, they will be looking into every avenue as they look to bring the former world player of the year.
“If there is contact with the player only the president knows. I know nothing about it. The president asked me if I wanted to sign Diego Ribas or (Wesley) Sneijder. I told him I wanted Kaka,” said the Galatasaray manager. “My colleagues and I are working with all our powers to fulfill his desires. Terim said he needed a player so we must sign someone in January. We will do it as Terim is very important for us and we want him to be happy,” said the Galatasaray president Aysal.