Football Dispatch

Summer Football
06 July 2007
Manchester United's impending acquisition of Carlos Tevez looks to be an extended loan arrangement with West Ham. With the Premier League threatening to scuttle any deal which would circumvent the flow of transfer funds to Upton Park, United will proceed with caution until the situation has surpassed all legal requirements. The 2-year deal will afford Hammers adequate time to sort-out their own legal wraggles surrounding the player. Meanwhile, United will pay between 2 and 3M-pounds in "rent" to Kia Joorabchian -- the Iranian businessman who retains the playing rights to Tevez and fellow Argentine Javier Mascherano. Liverpool struck a similar deal with Joorabchian when they brought Mascherano to Anfield in January. Rafael Benitez reportedly agreed a 1.8M-pound rental fee over an 18-month period. That aside, Tevez looks ready to sign a new contract at Old Trafford. The 23-year-old striker will earn 110,000-pounds next season. "For me, United will be a destination," the player remarked from Venezuela, where he is on international duty for Argentina at the Copa America. "To be a member of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad will be absolutely spectacular." He continued, "My dream is to be an idol in English football." At the conclusion of the 2-year loan spell, United will retain the option of buying the full rights to the player for 15M-pounds.

Manchester City have officially presented Sven-Goren Eriksson as the club's new manager. The announcement follows 6-weeks of uncertainty at Eastlands following the departure of Stuart Pearce. The 59-year-old ex-England boss has already amassed a sizeable shopping list for the summer's closed season. Near the top is thought to be Bayern Munich and Paraguay forward Roque Santa Cruz. The 25-year-old popped a hat-trick this week against Columbia in the Copa America.

Sheffied United may have been struck-down in their quest for Premier League re-instatement; but that hasn't stopped chairman Kevin McCabe from pursuing some form of justice for his relegated side. "Now it's us versus the Premier League," remarked the chairman, yesterday. The Blades are set to launch an appeal to the High Court to recover upwards of 50M-pounds in lost revenue. United will be denied the significant television monies which will be distributed among the 20 top-flight clubs ahead of the 2007-2008 season.

With Leeds United teetering on the brink of collapse, the club have resorted to selling-off more of their big-name players. Northern Ireland striker David Healy is next in line for the exit gate. The 27-year-old is an obvious target of Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez -- the former Northern Ireland boss and admitted admirer of the Downpatrick man. Healy's sale is expected to fetch 2M-pounds for Kevin Bates. Still, the Leeds owner will owe 5.5M-pounds in unpaid backtaxes.

Real Madrid will unveil Bern Schuster as their new manager in the coming days. President Ramon Calderon has admitted that Schuster will be presented at the Bernabeu and that one or two new signings will be soon in following. Schuster, 47-years-old and the former Getafe boss, enjoyed a prolific playing career with Madrid's arch-rival, Barcelona. He scored 63-goals in 170-appearances for the Catalan side -- winning three league titles, six Copa's del Rey, and the Cup Winners' Cup. He also won the European Championship with Germany in 1980.

Argentina finished atop Group-C in the Copa America, yesterday, by virtue of a 1-0 win over 2nd-place Paraguay. Still, both sides will advance into the quarter-final stage of the competition. Argentina have been tied with Peru while Paraguay will face Mexico. Both matches will be played on Sunday, 08 July, at Barquisimento and Maturin, respectively.

Barquisimento was also host to the final pair of fixtures in Group-C, yesterday. The matches were played in the Metripolitano Stadium of the northwestern city -- just west of Caracas. Columbia defeated the United States 1-0 in the day's early start. Jaime Alberto Castrillon scored the game's only goal in the 16th-minute -- heading a superb Camilo Ziniga cross past Brad Guzon in the American goal. Hugo Rodallega looked to have his side on the cusp of a 2-0 advantage when he was awarded a penalty in the 35th-minute. He fluffed the effort, however; and both sides looked content to play out the string. With Argentina and Paraguay having run roughshod over their Group-C rivals, both teams took the field knowing that qualification for the last-8 was already out of reach. The most interesting storyline of the match came within the final 20-minutes. Columbian goalkeeper Robinson Zapata was shown his first of two yellow-cards in the 72nd-minute. His second was awarded for time-wasting with 3-minutes of normal-time to play. With Jorge Luis Pinto already having made his three substitutions, striker Rodallega went into the goal for the remainder of the match.

Argentina-versus-Paraguay was the show-down for 1st-place in Group-C. By virtue of their superior goal-differential, however, Paraguay required only a draw to guarantee a tie with Peru in the quarter-final. Over their first two matches, La Albirroja managed an impressive 8-goals -- Bayern Munich striker Roque Santa Cruz leading the way with 3-tallies against Columbia. But they seemed rather in over their heads against Argentina. Aimar, Cambiasso, Gago, and Gonzalez dominated the midfield while Roberto Abbondanzieri made several key saves in goal. With both sides guaranteed a place in the next round, the manager's opted to rest a handful of key players. Gabriel Heinze, Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Hernan Crespo, and Juan Roman Riquelme were among the substitutes on the Argentine bench. Mascherano, however, got his chance to come onto the field in the 67th-minute. The change paid immediate dividends for manager Alfio Basile. The Liverpool midfielder scored the game's only goal in the 79th-minute. In truth, Argentina might well have been 3-0 up at the final whistle. Carlos Tevez hit the bar shortly after the interval and Pablo Aimar also missed a superb opportunity.