Football Dispatch

Tuesday Football
08 July 2008
by Jerrad Peters

Ronaldinho resurfaced on June 28, captained a squad of international superstars, and scored a pair of goals as FIFA’s anti-racism match finished in a 7-7 draw in Venezuela. The comeback begins.

Away from football since last appearing for Barcelona in early March, the two-time World Player of the Year will now represent Brazil at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. With his career having stalled in Spain, the 28-year-old is hopeful that a good performance at next month’s tournament will revitalize his reputation as one of the premier talents in world football.

It will be a long way back to the top. After missing much of the previous season through a variety of injuries and fitness problems, Ronaldinho was shown the exit at the Nou Camp after scoring just 9-goals in 26-matches for Barcelona. The total represented his poorest campaign in seven years of European football since moving from Gremio in 2001.

Ironically, Ronaldinho’s inclusion in Duga’s Brazil squad reveals just how much his star has fallen. With each nation limited to just three players over 23-years of age, veteran footballers are typically loathe to participate and significantly shorten their summer holidays. Furthermore, the clubs are reluctant to release their experienced players to the Olympic tournament – as evidenced by AC Milan’s blocking of Kaka’s inclusion in the Brazil lineup.

Ronaldinho, however, experienced no such obstruction from Barcelona. Quite the contrary. With Blaugranes president Joan Laporta having already showed him the door, the player’s path to the Olympics was all but clear. All that remained was convincing Dunga that he belonged in the squad. Ronaldinho has not played a match for Brazil in 2008 and was completely omitted from the setup during the recent World Cup qualifiers.

Still, the prospect of a hungry, desperate Ronaldinho was too much for Dunga to ignore. Already armed with high-profile talent including Lucas, Anderson, Jo, Diego, and Alexandre Pato, Ronaldinho’s inclusion gives Brazil its best chance at a first Olympic gold medal since taking silver in 1988 in Seoul. They also finished runners-up in 1984 in Los Angeles.

The upcoming UEFA Cup may be the final installment of the tournament in its current guise. Widely held as tedious and meaningless by many of Europe’s top clubs, the competition is set for a third reincarnation in less than 40 years.

The idea was conceived at this week’s general assembly of the European Club Association in Switzerland. UEFA is set to make a decision on the proposal in September; although it is highly unlikely that the ruling body would overturn the ECA’s suggestion.

“Everyone has always had the impression that the UEFA Cup is a second-class competition,” remarked Bayern Munich technical director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “I believe we have to change the branding in order to increase interest.”

To that effect, the event will be renamed the Europa Cup as early as the 2009-10 season. The modern UEFA Cup replaced the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1971 before merging with the Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1999. Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool won the first two installments and Zenit St. Petersburg are the current holders.

Benfica president Joao Vale e Azevedo was arrested, Monday, in conjunction with an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud and corruption in Portuguese football. The 51-year-old reported to London’s Belgravia police station before being detained. He was held through an EU arrest warrant issued by the Portuguese authorities. Azevedo maintains a house in the affluent Knightsbridge area of the English capital.

After making an initial court appearance on Tuesday, he will reappear before a magistrate on July 25. Portuguese investigators have been looking into the workings of Portugal’s top clubs since early 2004. Porto president Pinta da Costa has been detained twice in the past four years and was recently handed a two-year ban from football.

Porto were deducted six points in 2007-08 for their part in a match-fixing scandal. Rivals Belenenses were levied a three-point penalty and Boavista, after a ninth-place finish, were relegated to the second division. Benfica escaped punishment altogether.

Aston Villa are expected to sign Steve Sidwell before the weekend. The 25-year-old central midfielder was a key cog in Reading’s push to the Premier League in 2005-06 before joining Chelsea on a free transfer last summer. He is expected to join Villa for approximately 5M-pounds.

The deal almost certainly signals the end of the road for Gareth Barry at Villa Park. The 27-year-old England midfielder has been a Liverpool target since January and finally looks poised to make the swap to Anfield. Reds manager Rafael Benitez had been reluctant to accept Villa manager Martin O’Neill’s 18M-pound asking price. But with Peter Crouch about to join Portsmouth for 10M-pounds, the Spaniard has raised the necessary funds to finance the move for Barry.

Sidwell, meanwhile, will be the first of several summer signings for O’Neill. The Northern Irishman is also thought to fancy Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson, West Ham defender Anton Ferdinand, and Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster. He has also expressed his admiration for Blackburn Rovers winger David Bentley. The 23-year-old would prefer a move to London, however, and is expected to join Spurs before the end of next week.

Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters covers football for the Winnipeg Free Press, Soccer Three-Sixty magazine, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com. His work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.

Get all your soccer gear at SOCCERPRO.com