Football Dispatch

Summer Football
03 July 2007
A three-man tribunal headed by retired High Court judge Sir Philip Otter has found West Ham not guilty of misconduct in the controversial transfers of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. The verdict comes as a blow to Sheffield United. At worst, the Blades were hoping to be re-instated in English football's top-flight as part of a 21-team Premier League. Sheffield and Fulham were at the fore of the legal proceedings -- with support being offered from each of Wigan, Watford, Charlton Athletic, and Portsmouth. After upholding the Premiership's original ruling of a 5.5M-pound fine levied against the Hammers, the legal panel released the following statement: "The tribinal have found in favor of the FA Premier League on both issues and dismissed the claims of Sheffield United FC and Fulham FC."

Fernando Torres has ended his holiday in the Polynesian Islands. The 23-year-old Atletico Madrid and Spain striker is hopeful that his 26M-pound move to Liverpool will be completed in the next few days. He is scheduled to undergo a physical examination on Merseyside this afternoon. Torres will sign a new contract at Anfield worth approximately 90,000-pounds per-week. He would prefer a 4-year deal while Rafael Benitez is attempting to sign the player for 6-years.

Liverpool forward Luis Garcia was offered-up to Atletico Madrid as something of a goodwill gesture in the Fernando Torres transaction. The 29-year-old Spanish international played the 2002-2003 season at Atletico before a move to Barcelona. His return to La Liga earned Liverpool 3.5M-pounds and he has signed a 3-year contract at his new club.

Benni McCarthy failed to report for pre-season training, yesterday. The Blackburn Rovers striker scored 18-goals last term and is seeking a move to a Champions' League participant. Chelsea is rumored to be interested in the 29-year-old South Africa international. The acquisition, if completed, would re-unite McCarthy with Jose Mourinho. The two won the UEFA Cup and Champions' League together while with Porto.

Frank Lampard rejected Chelsea's contract offer of 135,000-pounds per-week over the weekend. His decision immediately sparked speculation that the 29-year-old England international was on the move to one of Barcelona or Juventus. Lampard, however, has insisted that his top priority is to agree a new contract at Stamford Bridge; and he is scheduled to join his Chelsea teammates for their tour of the United States next week. He scored 21-goals in all competitions, last season -- his second consecutive 20-goal season.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho looks poised to make his first big-money signing of the summer. Daniel Alves, having already rejected the overtures of Liverpool, is Mourinho's latest target and is sure to fetch upwards of 14M-pounds. The 24-year-old Brazilian can play either right full-back or right-wing; and Mourinho has already sold Geremi to Newcastle in order to clear the way for him. Chelsea's previous signings, Steve Sidwell, Claudio Pizzarro, and Tal Ben Haim, were attained via free transfers.

Darren Bent trained with Tottenham Hotspur for the first time, yesterday. His arrival at White Hart Lane is sure to signal the end of Jermaine Defoe's Spurs career. The 24-year-old England striker has been linked with at least seven Premiership clubs so far this summer but has yet to seal a move. It appears that Roy Keane is leading the pack for his signature. The Sunderland manager is hoping to aquire Defoe for 9M-pounds.

Paraguay and Argentina have advanced into the last-8 of the Copa America. Paraguay defeated the United States 3-1 at La Carolina, yesterday while Argentina dismissed Columbia 4-2 at the Jose Parchencho Romero stadium. Level on 6-points atop Group-C, the two sides will lock horns on Thursday, 05 July at Estadio Metropolitano.

NIC Nijmegen midfielder Edgar Barreto opened the scoring for Paraguay, yesterday afternoon. The 22-year-old's strike was canceled by Houston Dynamo defensive midfielder Ricardo Clark just 10-minutes later. And while Oscar Rene Cardozo regained the lead for Paraguay just shy of the hour-mark, the Americans missed scores of opportunities for an equalizer over the final 30-minutes. Salvador Cabanas rubbed salt in the wound with his insurance-marker in added-time. The goal was his third of the tournament thus far. "The result was difficult for us," stated American coach Bob Bradley. "We feel the effort of the team was strong."

Argentina tallied 4-goals for the second consecutive match -- routing Columbia 4-2 through a Juan Roman Riquelme brace. The Columbians started brightly, however. Edixon Perea, the 24-year-old Bordeaux player, opened his country's account after 10-minutes -- deflecting David Ferreira's effort with a superb back-heel. Hernan Crespo equalized for Argentina on a penalty-kick just 9-minutes later after Lionel Messi was tripped in the area. Unfortunately for the Inter Milan striker, he pulled a muscle while taking the kick and was immediately replaced by Real Zaragoza forward Alberto Diego Milito. Argentina tallied twice more before the interval. Riquelme scored both times -- the first a header from a lovely Javier Zanetti cross. Jaime Alberto Castrillon pulled Columbia to within a goal with his strike in the 73rd-minute. But Milito made good on his substitution -- rounding-out the scoring in 2nd-half added-time.

Sunday's fixtures included a 3-0 win for Brazil over Chile and Mexico's 2-1 defeat of Ecuador. The victory gives Brazil its first points of the competition after last week's loss to Mexico. The Mexicans, on the other hand, are through to the quarter-finals with the win. Nery Castillo and Omar Bravo did the business for Mexico while Robinho struck a hat-trick for Brazil.

In today's action, Peru will face Bolivia while Venezuela take on Uruguay.