Football Dispatch

Summer Football
29 June 2007
Barcelona and Juventus are scrambling to sign Frank Lampard. The 29-year-old midfielder appears on the cusp of bolting Stamford Bridge; and both the Spanish and Italian giants have been alerted as to his availability. New Juventus manager Claudio Ranieri brought Lampard to Chelsea from West Ham in 2001 and is believed to be keen on a reunification with the England international. Barcelona, on the other hand, appear the more likely business partner for Jose Mourinho. The Catalans are dangling Deco and an additional 12M-pounds as bait. Deco was a key contributor in Mourinho's Porto squads which won the UEFA Cup and Champions' League in back-to-back seasons. Lampard has 2-years remaining on a contract that pays him 118,000-pounds per-week. It is believed that he is holding-out for a wage of approximately 140,000-pounds per-week. Just as the news broke that Barcelona and Juventus were preparing offer-sheets for Lampard, various rumors surfaced that the player was on the verge of signing a new contract at Chelsea.

Rafael Benitez looks to have finally got his man. Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres, currently on holiday, is set to join Liverpool for a club-record 26M-pounds. The terms are purely financial; and Luis Garcia, once thought to be part of a package for the 23-year-old phenom, will remain at Anfield for the time being. Atletico agreed to sell Torres after securing Diego Forlan from Villarreal in a 14M-pound deal. The transaction is the first indication that new Liverpool owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks are prepared to make a significant investment in the closed-season.

Manchester United are poised to make a shock swoop for Michael Owen. The 26-year-old Newcastle and England striker has yet to clear the air as to his future at St. James' Park; and Sir Alex Ferguson is monitoring the situation closely. In speaking with reporters in Barcelona, yesterday, Toon manager Sam Allardyce admitted that Owen's 9M-pound escape clause could be a hindrance to his remaining on Tyneside. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid forward is desperate for Champions' League Football -- something United could offer next season. Ferguson would be prepared to offer 4M-pounds and Alan Smith in exchange for Owen.

Carlos Tevez seems to have done an about-face regarding his move to Inter Milan. The Argentina international was given until today to agree a switch to the Serie-A champions -- an ultimatum he allowed to pass. Real Madrid are thought to be next in line for his services. Muddying the waters however, was a statement from Kia Joorabchian implying that Tevez would prefer to remain in the Premiership. Joorabchian owns the player's transfer rights and was a prospective owner of West Ham at the time of Tevez' and Mascherano's controversial arrival at Upton Park.

Sam Allardyce was in Barcelona, yesterday, to discuss the futures of striker Eidur Gudjohnsen and midfielder Edmilson. The Newcastle boss is keen to bring both to Tyneside ahead of the new season. His interest in Gudjohnsen seems to indicate a belief that one or both of Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins will exit the club over the summer. Edmilson, a 30-year-old defensive midfielder and World Cup winner, will be sidelined until October with a knee injury.

Hernan Crespo scored twice as Argentina cruised to a 4-1 over the United States in Venezuela, yesterday. Kansas City Wizards striker Eddie Johnson opened the scoring after just 8-minutes -- pacing the USA to an early lead in their first-ever Copa America appearance. Johnson, having run onto a brilliant through-ball from Benny Feilhaber, was taken-down in the box by Gabriel Milito and awarded a penalty. His subsequent goal, however, was canceled by Crespo's first of the night just 4-minutes later. The two sides remained level until just after the hour-mark when things finally clicked for the Argentineans. Crespo's second goal, on 64-minutes, was the 34th of his international career -- tying Diego Maradona's total for Argentina. Esteban Cambiasso was substituted in favor of Pablo Aimar in the 58th-minute; and Aimar responded by tallying in the 78th-minute. With Argentina 3-1 up, Lionel Messi made way for Carlos Tevez. Manager Alfio Basile's golden touch with his substitions continued as Tevez struck Argentina's 4th-goal on the night with 5-minutes remaining in normal time. Argentina will face Columbia on Monday while the United States will play their next game against Paraguay.

American Bob Bradley will, no doubt, have his hands full. Paraguay eased past Columbia on Thursday afternoon -- riding a natural hat-trick from Roque Santa Cruz. Still, Columbia were very much alive in the match through the opening 45-minutes. Their bright start reached its peak at 26-minutes when Alvaro Dominguez took to the penalty -spot -- David Ferreira having been brought down in the box. Dominguez' weak effort was saved by Justo Villa, however; and Santa Cruz opened the floodgates for Paraguay just 4-minutes later. The Bayern Munich striker doubled the lead just after the interval before both sides settled for the balance of the 2nd-half. Santa Cruz completed his hat-trick 10-minutes from time; and Club America forward Salvador Cabanas added 2-goals within a 3-minute period just before the final whistle.