Man City set for unexpected UEFA Cup spot
Manchester City are set to land a place in next season's UEFA Cup after the award of an extra place to English Premier League sides.
The European governing body revealed on Friday that English teams had topped their fair play competition, meaning an extra place in the first qualifying round of the 2008-09 UEFA Cup.
The English FA has confirmed that the berth will be awarded to the highest-ranked side in he Premier League fair play table that has not qualified for Europe by other means. City currently stand fifth in the English fair play table, behind Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool, who are all already guaranteed a place in Europe next season. It means Sven-Goran Eriksson's side, with only a single league game remaining, stand on the brink of an unexpected bonus, although it will mean an early start to the season.
Whether Eriksson will be at the helm to lead them into Europe remained a hot topic on Friday, with Portugal manager Felipe Scolari distancing himself from the City job despite media speculation.
"Portugal offers me everything I need," Scolari said in an interview late on Thursday with Portuguese broadcaster RTP. "I have no agreement with that club (Man City)."
Former England coach Eriksson has been told by club owner Thaksin Shinawatra that his position will be reviewed after the final game of the season on Sunday. Benfica confirmed on Thursday that they had approached the Swede with a view to him taking charge of them for the third time.
2008 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Could you tackle a game against pros? Qualify by raising the most money
WITH England missing out on the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, fans will be looking for another way to get their fix of the beautiful game this summer.
CLIC Sargent, the UK's leading children's cancer charity, is offering distracted soccer diehards a different competition to focus their attention on this July. Five-a-side teams from Medway are being given the chance to test their skills against ex-England international footballers in the Legends Charity Cup. The national competition has regional heats taking place all over the country, including the Soccer Kicks Centre in Strood.
Teams will compete to win a place at the final on the turf of the former England training ground at Bisham Abbey. They will be testing their dribbling, volleying and goal-scoring skills against a team of true football giants led by ex-England and Newcastle star Rob Lee. Joining Rob in the legends team will be ex-Arsenal stars Ray Parlour and Nigel Winterburn, shot-stopper and fans' favourite goalkeeper David Beasant and charismatic ex-manager and player Peter Reid. The legends are experienced, world-class players who between them have played for England 48 times and won an impressive 22 major trophies, so do you fancy your chances against them?
All the money raised from the Legends Charity Cup will go directly to help children and young people with cancer, and their families. It costs GBP 50 per team to enter and teams must raise a minimum of GBP 250 in sponsorship (GBP 35 per player). Don't forget, if your football skills are not first-class, your team can still make it to the final by raising the most money at your regional heat. Rob Lee, captain of CLIC Sargent's Legends team, said: "Taking part in the Legends Charity Cup is a fun and active way to help raise thousands for children and young people with cancer.
"So start practising your set pieces and penalties and you could be facing our legends team on July 27."
Copyright Kent Messenger Limited 1998-2008
Can you beat the ex-England pros?
WITH England missing out on the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, fans will be looking for another way to get their fix of the beautiful game this summer. CLIC Sargent, the UK's leading children's cancer charity, is offering distracted soccer diehards a different competition to focus their attention on this July.
Five-a-side teams from Medway are being given the chance to test their skills against ex-England international footballers in the Legends Charity Cup. The national competition has regional heats taking place all over the country, including the Soccer Kicks Centre in Strood.
Giants
Teams will compete to win a place at the final on the turf of the former England training ground at Bisham Abbey. They will be testing their dribbling, volleying and goal-scoring skills against a team of true football giants led by ex-England and Newcastle star Rob Lee.
Joining Rob in the legends team, will be ex-Arsenal stars Ray Parlour and Nigel Winterburn, shot-stopper and fans' favourite David Beasant, and charismatic ex-manager and player Peter Reid. The legends team is full of experienced, world-class players who between them have played for England 48 times and won an impressive 22 major trophies, so do you fancy your chances against them?
Copyright Kent Messenger Limited 1998-2008
Huntelaar follows Van Basten example
After another two goals took his Eredivisie career tally to 99 on Saturday, favourable comparisons are being drawn between AFC Ajax striker Klaus Jan Huntelaar and former club great and Netherlands coach Marco van Basten, a man he is looking to impress ahead of UEFA EURO 2008.
Van Basten clone
Huntelaar's double strike in Ajax's 4-2 victory over his former club SC Heerenveen on Saturday, a win that meant rivals PSV have to wait another game for their chance to seal the title, took his Dutch top-flight total to 99 in 135 games. His goalscoring feats have not gone unnoticed with Real Madrid CF coach Bernd Schuster the latest to be impressed. "It seems like they have cloned him from Marco van Basten," said Schuster. "His way of moving, shooting with both feet and heading power all remind me of Van Basten."
Ajax ambition
Former international striker Van Basten will leave his national team post to take over at Ajax after EURO and with all the admiring glances from across Europe, he hopes Huntelaar's future lies at the Dutch club where he has a contract until 2010. "He really wants me to stay at Ajax," said the 24-year-old, who revealed he regularly speaks with Van Basten about his future when the Dutch squad meet up. Huntelaar has already made his mark for the national side and following three goals in his last two games, looks sure to be included in Van Basten's squad for UEFA EURO 2008. The striker, though, remains modest about his chances. "One can never be sure, but I think I have made a huge step forward in the past two Oranje matches," he said.
Prolific record
The front man scored his first professional league goals with Dutch second Division side AGOVV Apeldoorn, striking 26 times in 35 matches during the 2003/04 season. The player now known as the Hunter was picked up by Heerenveen where he kept up his impressive scoring ratio by notching 34 goals in 46 outings. He then moved to Ajax two years ago where he has been even more prolific, becoming the Amsterdam club's first player to hit 30 goals in a season in 21 years. Unsurprisingly, the previous player to reach that mark was Van Basten, who got one more. With three games left in the season, many are backing Huntelaar to go on to eclipse the national team coach's achievement, then, like Van Basten star at the European Championship this summer
Copyright UEFA 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
Bayern batter Belgians
Uefa 2008 Cup favourites Bayern Munich can look forward to the quarter-finals after romping to a 5-0 away win in the first leg of their last-16 tie against Anderlecht.
Bayern's star-studded attack ran riot in Brussels after the home side had defender Marcin Wasilewski sent off in the 44th minute. Hamit Altintop gave Bayern a ninth-minute lead and Anderlecht's hopes of getting back into the tie were dashed when Bayern followed up Wasilewski's red card with a Luca Toni strike in first-half stoppage time.
Lukas Podolski scored 12 minutes after the restart and Miroslav Klose came off the bench to reinforce Bayern's dominance in the 67th minute, before fellow substitute Franck Ribery completed the scoring four minutes from time.
Early opener
Anderlecht started positively with Jan Polak's right-footed effort forcing a fine save from Bayern goalkeeper Michael Rensing in the fifth minute, but Bayern soon took the lead through Altintop.
The Turkish midfielder spotted Daniel Zitka out of position and stunned the Anderlecht keeper by smashing a superb long-range effort into the top corner. Anderlecht regrouped and went close again when Polak hit a post from a 21st-minute free-kick, but Bayern remained on top with Mark van Bommel's shot testing Zitka before Podoloski, making a rare start in place of Klose, sent a left-footed effort off-target. Wasilewski was then given his marching orders after managing to get himself booked twice in three minutes and, two minutes later, Bayern's top scorer Toni volleyed home his seventh goal of the competition from Philipp Lahm's cross.
Strength
Bayern demonstrated the strength of their squad at the start of the second half as they gave Toni and Bastian Schweinsteiger a breather, with prolific Germany striker Klose and French star Ribery coming into the fray. The Belgians battled gamely with Thomas Chatelle's 57th-minute strike forcing Rensing to tip the ball round his post, but moments later Podloski put Bayern further in front, claiming his fifth goal of the competition with a well-taken left-footed strike.
Klose then got in on the act by converting from Ribery's pull-back, and Argentinian youngster Jose Ernesto Sosa, who replaced Altintop just before the hour mark, almost claimed his first Bayern goal when he was denied by Zitka late on. But with time running out, Ribery hit a superb free-kick into the top corner to compound Anderlecht's agony and confirm Bayern's status as tournament favourites.
Sky Sports 2008 BSkyB
Moscow ticket sales commence
Ticket sales to the general public for the 2008 UEFA Champions League final in Moscow have kicked off, exclusively via uefa.com. The final of European club football's most prestigious competition takes place at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Wednesday 21 May at 20.45CET (22.45 local time).
Public sales process
The international general public ticket sales process began on Thursday at 12.00CET and will end on 19 March at 12.00CET. The application process will be undertaken exclusively via uefa.com. Each applicant has to fully complete the online application form. The allocation will be decided by lottery (ballot), and every valid application will enter the ballot, independently of the time of submission within the application period. Each successful candidate will be entitled to a maximum of two tickets.
Price categories
With the submission of the application, the applicant accepts the ticketing terms and conditions. Ticket price categories available to the general public are: Price Category 1 (centrally positioned) 200 euros; Price Category 2 (mainly in the corners) 140 euros; Price Category 3 (next to Category 2 seats, behind goals) 80 euros. The administrative fee is 10 euros if you order tickets from within Russia, 30 euros from within Europe and 40 euros from outside Europe. Payment can be made by credit card only (Eurocard/MasterCard, Visa). Applicants will be informed via email by 2 April at the latest whether they have been successful or not, and tickets will be dispatched from mid-April by secure mailing.
Distribution of tickets
The net capacity of the Luzhniki Stadium for the UEFA Champions League final will be 69,500. A total of 75 per cent of the tickets are reserved for the general public and the supporters of the two finalists. Each finalist club is able to take up to 21,000 tickets and distribute these directly to its supporters, while 10,500 tickets are available for sale to fans worldwide via uefa.com.
Do not deal with touts
All applicants will be bound by the ticketing terms and conditions, and action will be taken in cases of infringement. Online applications will be checked to ensure that anyone banned from attending football matches is unsuccessful in any attempt to purchase tickets. UEFA underlines that no tickets are being distributed via agencies or brokers. UEFA also encourages fans not to be lured into deals with touts who not only demand exorbitant prices, but are often not in possession of the tickets they purport to have for sale. Terms and conditions will be available on uefa.com.
uefa.com 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
Castrol ties fantasy football website to UEFA Euro 2008 sponsorship
LONDON - Castrol is asking football fans across Europe to choose their best 11 players participating at UEFA Euro 2008 to leverage its sponsorship of this summer's tournament
Castrol will launch a 'Best 11' website where fans can select a team. Every player in the tournament will then be ranked according to the Castrol Performance Index. The promotion gives customers the chance to win a VIP trip to the UEFA Euro 2008 final on 29 June in Vienna and the chance to meet the Castrol Player of the Tournament. Castrol will also run an 'Every 90 minutes' prize draw, giving customers entered into a random draw the chance to win tickets ahead of each game at the tournament.
The BP-owned company, which will invest GBP 8m leveraging its association, is launching pan-European marketing drive across 20 markets. The campaign will be promoted through retail outlets, including Halfords, BP forecourts, Asda, Tesco and Morrisons, and will span print, online and TV activity.
Copyright Haymarket Media
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