Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Barcelona 3 Atletico Madrid 0: Messi and Santos magic starts another rout for Barça

They were slow off the blocks but Barcelona are now fully in their stride and it is difficult to see who might knock them out of it. It was certainly too big a task for Atletico Madrid who were well beaten inside the first 45 minutes of this encounter here last night.

The Barcelona, coach Frank Rijkaard, recalled Ronaldinho after a three-match absence – three games in which Barça had scored 10 goals and collected maximum points.

An inspired Leo Messi had been the major reason why the Brazilian had not been missed and Messi it was who jump-started this display. After 10 minutes he was a hero in his own penalty area with a last ditch tackle on Mariano Pernia just as the full-back was about to shoot. For Pernia it was the first and last time he had the Barcelona forward on the back foot.

The sometime Spain international left-back, was turned inside out by the Argentine throughout the first half and booked after a late challenge on 14 minutes.

Seconds later Messi's dominance of Pernia brought about the first goal. He skipped past him after running onto a pass from Deco. Messi's cross was too close to the goalkeeper Christian Abbiati but the Italian spilled it and Deco, who had continued running after his pass started the move, finished from close range.

A majestic Messi pass then set up Henry only for the Frenchman to shoot wide before it was Ronaldinho's chance to combine with Barcelona's No 19 with the move that extended the home side's lead.

The two worked the tightest of one-two's on the edge of the Atletico Madrid penalty area and Messi finished with a shot inside Abbiati's left-hand post for his sixth league goal in six league games.

A big scare for home fans came when the captain Carles Puyol, starting his first game for four months after recovering from a knee injury, needed attention. Despite worried groans from home fans it was to a head wound and not a recurrence of his injury.

Barcelona should have gone in three up at the break. First Ronaldinho shot wide after another fine Messi pass then Deco was beaten by the bounce as he tried to finish an exquisitely lofted pass from Henry.

Atletico Madrid swapped the disappointing Jose Antonio Reyes for Maxi Rodriguez early in the second half and the substitute stung Victor Valdes' hands with a shot from distance that he had to palm away for a corner.

But at the back Atletico's defence were still seeing stars from the first half and Deco, Puyol and Henry all had the chance to extend Barcelona's lead.

For all his running the ball was not quite dropping for Henry and, when it did, Abbiati was there to deny him – getting down low to his left to turn the Frenchman's shot round the post.

The visitors' keeper was at full stretch again to keep out Deco's drive minutes later as Barcelona looked for a score to reflect their dominance. Henry was taken off with four minutes remaining to rapturous applause, just as had Ronaldinho just moments earlier.

Both continue to live in the shadow of Messi, who hit the post with the clock running down, but for as long as Barcelona are this emphatic that is something they will happily accept.

Giovanni Dos Santos, the man who replaced Ronaldinho, crossed for Xavi to make it three at the death.

Barcelona (4-3-3): Valdes, Oleguer, Puyol, Milito, Abidal, Xavi, Iniesta, Deco, Messi, Henry (Krkic, 86), Ronaldinho (Dos Santos, 81). Substitutes not used: Crosas, Gudjohnsen, Jorquera (gk), Sylvinho, Thuram.

Atletico Madrid (4-4-2): Abbiati, Seitaridis, Pablo Ibáñez, Ze Castro (Eller, h-t), Pernia, Reyes (Rodriguez, 55), Maniche, Raul Garcia, Simao, Aguero (Luis Garcia, 63), Forlan Substitutes not used: Lopez, Falcon (gk), Jurado, Loureiro.

New York champion Marilson dos Santos to lead Latin American charge in Udine

Brazil's 2006 New York Marathon winner Marilson dos Santos leads the Latin American charge for the 2nd IAAF World Road Running Championships, to be held this Sunday (14) in Udine, Italy.

Dos Santos heads a 25-member seven nation contingent from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela, among more than 150 competitors who will run on the Udine streets.

Marilson dos Santos, a four-time Pan American Games medallist will use the event as a preparation for his New York title defence in November. The 30-year old has enjoyed a successful season so far, breaking the South American 10,000m record with 27:28.12 in June.

On the roads, he had previously finished fourth at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March, with 1:00:45 on what is a slightly downhill course. Then in April, he improved his marathon best to 2:08:37 to finish eighth in London.

Dos Santos will be joined by Clodoaldo da Silva (1:03:37), Giomar da Silva (1:04:22), João Ferreira de Lima (1:03:53) in the Brazilain line-up.

Aside Brazil, other top men are Mexico's half marathon specialist Juan Carlos Romero and marathoner Francisco Bautista, as well as Colombia's 2003 Pan American Games marathon bronze medallist Diego Colorado and Cuba's Aguelmis Rojas.

In the women's race, Ednalva da Silva is the region's best bet after winning the Rio de Janeiro Half Marathon in early September with 1:12:15, a time that ranks her sixth on the all-time South American lists, exactly one minute slower than the record, set by her countrywoman Silvana Pereira in 1991.

Maria Zeferina Baldaia (1:12:45 in 2001), Marizete dos Santos (1:13:50), Lucélia de Oliveira Peres (1:13:44) complete the Brazilian quartet.

Colombia's Bertha Sánchez (1:13:11 in 2005) and Cuba's 2007 Pan American Games marathon champion Mariela Gonzalez are also expect to produce a fine run in Udine, while Mexico's chances are centered on Paula Apolonio and Karina Pérez.

Latin America's other representatives will be Colombia's Giovanni Amador, Edwin Romero, Lina Arias, Martha Ines Ronceria, Costa Rica's José Francisco Chaves, Uruguay's Marisol Redón and Venezuela's Robert Lugo and Norelys Lugo.

In 2006 in Debrecen, the number of Latin Americans was smaller, and the best placed runners, Mexico's Juan Gualberto Vargas (37th) and Brazil's Maria Cristina Rodrigues (45th) finished very distant from the winners Zersenay Tadesse of Eritrea and Lornah Kiplagat of The Netherlands.

Jimenez wins debut as Sevilla beats Valencia; Madrid and Barcelona also win

MADRID, Spain - Frederic Kanoute, Christian Poulsen and Luis Fabiano scored Sunday for Sevilla to beat Valencia 3-0 in the Spanish league and give coach Manolo Jimenez a winning debut.

Kanoute took advantage of a defensive mishap to score his first league goal in more than a month in the 10th minute. Poulsen and Fabiano added goals late into the second half as Sevilla played with the flair that allowed it to win back-to-back UEFA Cup titles under the departed coach Juande Ramos.

Sevilla won consecutive league games for the first time in six weeks to improve to 12 points, 10 behind leader Real Madrid, which beat Deportivo La Coruna 3-1. Sevilla has played a game less.

Substitute Raul Gonzalez tapped a short pass from Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy past goalkeeper Dudu Aouate in the 79th for the winner at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

"Raul's entrance was decisive," Madrid coach Bernd Schuster said. "It was influential and it helped us achieve the win."

Substitute Lionel Messi scored his league-leading seventh goal and French international Thierry Henry added another as FC Barcelona beat Almeria 2-0 to keep pace with Real Madrid.

Messi converted from the penalty spot in the 81st after Bruno Saltar was booked for a foul on Mexican youngster Giovanni Dos Santos in the area.

Henry had earlier slotted home a bouncing rebound in the 37th after Dos Santos poked the ball free from goalkeeper David Cobeno.

Valencia and Villarreal, which lost to Zaragoza 4-1, both stayed at 18 points.

Atletico Madrid continued its best start for a decade with a 1-0 win over winless Levante, joining Espanyol with 17 points.

Also Sunday, it was Osasuna 2, Valladolid 2; Racing Santander 2, Getafe 0; and, Murcia 1, Recreativo Huelva 0.

Jimenez coached Sevilla's second-division team for seven years before replacing Ramos, who quit to join English club Tottenham Hotspur.

Poulsen hit a half-volley through Timo Hildebrand in the 71st, while Fabiano played a neat 1-2 with strike partner Renato in the 86th at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.

Valencia failed to register a shot on goal.

Xisco Jimenez eluded German Christoph Metzelder to shoot under goalkeeper Iker Casillas and give Deportivo a 1-0 lead in the second minute.

Six minutes later, Van Nistelrooy scored from the penalty spot after being tripped by Andres Guardado.

Robinho, who hit the post from long range in the 71st, scored the third goal in the 89th. It was the Brazil forward's third in two games since being omitted from last week's loss at Espanyol after turning up late from international duty.

It was an important win for Madrid with matches against Valencia on Wednesday and Sevilla next weekend.

"With all of (the problems), I can see we are leaders with the most goals scored and least allowed ... but there are still areas we can improve on," Schuster said.

At the Nou Camp stadium, Barcelona threatened but didn't stretch Cobeno in the first half except for a save on Ronaldinho's curling free kick in the 33rd.

Cobeno stopped shots from Henry, Dos Santos and Andres Iniesta in the second half, while Messi scored seven minutes after coming on for Ronaldinho.

"Winning these types of games are fundamental since they are never easy and that keeps me happy at least," coach Frank Rijkaard said.

Sergio Garcia, Diego Milito, Oscar Gonzalez and Ricardo Oliveira all scored at La Romareda to lead Zaragoza over Villarreal, which lost its second straight game.

French international Robert Pires scored Villarreal's goal in the 82nd.

Uruguayan Diego Forlan met Sergio Aguero's chested pass in the 27th and poked it over onrushing goalkeeper Marco Storari for Atletico's winner.

Storari made two more stops in a 65th-minute goalmouth scramble as Atletico continued to improve on its best start since 1997-98.

Substitute Eduardo Fernandes Pereira "Dady" scored in the 73rd and 77th as Osasuna rallied.

Alvaro Rubio scored with a header in the 36th and Jonathan Sesma with a shot in the 52nd but Valladolid failed to hold for a fifth time this season.

Oscar Serrano and Jorge Lopez scored in the 40th and 75th, respectively, as Racing Santander moved up to eighth in the standings with 15 points.

Mario Regueiro headed Enrique De Lucas' corner kick in the 47th as Murcia improved to 12 points.

On Saturday, Daniel Guiza scored in the 69th minute as 10-man Mallorca rallied for a 2-2 draw against Espanyol, while Athletic Bilbao and Real Betis drew 0-0.

Who Did Fergie Scout?

Sir Alex Ferguson had watched in person as Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 last Sunday in the Spanish League. He could have watched Giovanni dos Santos, Andres Iniesta or Raul Garcia.

All reports suggest different one but one thing is clear. None of them is a striker what we need above all. Iniesta and Dos Santos, both of Barcelona, are versatile attacking midfielders who could do a job at United but have countless rivals for their positions.

Raul Garcia of Atletico would of been a great signing two years ago I think but with Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves now occupying position and Fletcher improving beyond hope, this acquisition might seem unnecessary.

Other reports suggest that Barca are growing uneasy over our and Chelsea's interest in Iniesta who is one of the best performers in the Catalan side, with Ronaldinho struggling to recapture the form that made him one of Europe's most feared (and coveted) players. Losing him would be a bad blow for the blaugrana but I just can't see why we would buy him.

The Dos Santos rumour is not a new thing and it's believed that both his and another teenage superstar, Bojan Krkic's agent/father demanded more first-team opportunities for them. We do not need Dos Santos, for all his brilliance: he's just another Anderson. And there are no rumours linking us with Bojan... though that's what I'd like to see.

Oh, and to answer my own question: I don't know who he scouted of the three. It's possible that he only wanted to watch Diego Forlan in action, out of pure curiosity. OR just wanted to watch a good game. He got that though it was quite one-sided.

Giovanni Dos Santos Photos


Monday, October 15, 2007