"Purgatory's kind of like the in-betweeny one. You weren't really shit, but you weren't all that great either. Like Tottenham."
This quote is from the very funny 2008 film In Bruges.
After watching Aston Villa lose to Fulham away 3-1 at the weekend the above quote came in to my head.
Let’s be honest; if you don’t support a team in the top four of the English Premier League then like the above quote; your team isn’t really shit or that great either.
Your team is like Aston Villa who has given up the comfortable lifestyle of mid-table mediocrity for challenging for European spots.
Yet this season after qualifying for the Uefa cup, Villa fielded a weakened side when they played CSKA Moscow, the Villa manger left eight first team regulars at home for this match. The small size of the Villa squad then saw the Birmingham’s side get unceremoniously dumped out of the cup during the last 32 tie.
Perhaps from that all encompassing view of hindsight, that was the wrong decision to make.
Buying Emile Heskey from Wigan is surely not going to go down as one of the buys of the season when with 12 games to go Villa where six points ahead of Arsenal and very close to Chelsea who were leading at the time.
Is coming fifth in the EPL better than winning the Europa league? It appears it’s too hard to do both.
The top four have a mortgage on the Premier league title. Mortgage literally means death contract.
Morbidly you can say that your chances of watching your team win the title before you die is slim.
So with no chance of your team winning the title, what about other glory like cup competitions for instance?
The Uefa cup is soon to be replaced by the Europa cup is a competition that can feature mid-table teams and fluky cup winners or runner up of cup competitions.
In a guardian interview Villa manger Martin O’Neil still was not convinced:
“There are too many games," said O'Neill.
If Villa is to win the Europa league then that is 17 fixtures they have to play.
Even with European glory on the line Premier League managers have one eye to the EPL, in the past this would not happened.
Aston Villa is not on their lonesome, when it comes to teams that aren’t shit but not that great either.They are in fine company with Everton who without Tim Cahill playing, the toffees can make football look very difficult to play at times.
Tottenham also are in the purgatory group as well, however they do treat their fans to a yearly league cup runners up trophy.
Maybe it’s better to support a team with no title or European ambitions. Perhaps living the mantra of no expectations no disappointments, is the way to go?
If you supported Stoke and their basketball lookalike of a team this season, your thought about how your team went would have been one of supreme triumph. Stoke after all did avoid the drop and did produce a secret weapon.
Every one who can throw long is now being touted as the new Rory Delap.
Surviving the drop can be as exhilarating as winning the league or the FA cup. Watching Newcastle play Middlesbrough at the weekend was enthralling, however if that fixture was played earlier in the year it wouldn’t have carried as much infatuation.
So it seems that if you follow a club outside the top four the only last day glory your club will achieve is surviving the drop. During the year you might get the odd win against the top four, go all the way till the knockout stages of a cup competition and maybe lose a cup final.
And if that is all the glory you get then that is ok because your club share’s a special place, in being not really shit, but not being all that great either.
Like {enter club here}.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Russian Premier League Preview: Matchday 9
Pryvet (Hello) and Da-bro pa-zha- la-vat (Welcome) to the Russian Premier League Preview.
The clash between CSKA Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg features as the headline act during Matchday 9 of the RPL.
The top four:
Rubin Kazan 17pts, CSKA Moscow 16pts, Zenit and FC Moscow 15pts, Spartak Moscow 13pts.
Bottom two:
Saturn Moscow 5pts, Khimki 2pts.
Top Goal Scorers:
Dominguez (Rubin Kazan) and Wellington (Spartak Moscow) five goals, Pavel Pogrebniak (Zenit) four goals.
Fixtures Matchday 9 (all kick off times GMT)
Saturday, May 16
9:00 Amkar Perm'- Rubin Kazan
11:15 Lokomotiv Moscow- Terek Grozny
13:30 Rostov-Na-Donu - Spartak Nalchik
16:00 FC Khimki- FC Moscow
Sunday, May 17
9:30 Tom' Tomsk - Spartak Moscow
12:00 Kryliya Sovetov(Samara) - Kuban Krasnodar
14:30 Saturn Moscow - Dynamo Moscow
17:00 CSKA Moscow - Zenit St Petersburg
Saturday
Amkar Perm' - Rubin Kazan
Amkar Perm where unlucky to lose right at the death away to Terek last week. Meanwhile, current RPL champions Rubin had some time to practise their shooting as they easily beat Tom Tomsk 4-0 last week.
Rubin Kazan will face CSKA Moscow in the final of the Russian cup. Former Tottenham flop and current Kazan player, Serhiy Rebrov, spoke about the ensuing final and Rubin’s looming Champions League matches
"The Champions League is the competition that doesn’t need to be advertised and our club doesn’t have to attract people to the stadium because interest of our fans is already guaranteed," he said to Sport Express.
“Supporters will come to Kazan from the all closest regions. When I played in Kyiv, Dynamo’s matches in the Champions League attracted people from Russia and from other Ukrainian cities.
"Kazan is much smaller than Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kyiv, but just look how many high-class teams we have! I think that supporters will like our football.
"Rubin will also compete for the Russian Cup with CSKA and of course I am eager to win the trophy. In general it would be strange if Rubin doesn’t claim for any serious title because we are the current champions and we are sure of our power."
All things being equal, top of the table Rubin should get the victory fixture over13th placed Amkar.
However, Russian football is known for its difficult away trips. Rubin have to travel to the Ural Mountains to face Amkar in Perm.
Perm was formally known as Molotov - as in the 'cocktail' - until 1957.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Amkar Perm – DWLLD
Points: 7 Position: 13th
Rubin Kazan - WWLWW
Points: 17 Position: 1st
Lokomotiv Moscow - Terek Grozny
The Railwaymen have had their wheels come off somewhat this season, with only one win in their past five games.Last week Lokomtiv drew with FC Moscow 0-0, ending Moscow's winning streak in the RPL at four games.
Terek got a good result, managing to salvage a point late against Amkar Perm.Twice RPL champions Lokomotiv should be favourites for this game as they have home advantage and Terek, who are the only Chechen team in the RPL, will hope the referee is not the main talking point.“We don’t pay attention to referees’ strange attitude to Terek anymore, but we are not going to give up," the Terek coach quipped to Sports Express.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Lokomotiv Moscow – LDLWD
Points: 10 Position: 10th
Terek Grozny - LLDLD
Points: 9 Position: 11th
FC Rostov - Spartak Nalchik
Spartak Nalchick travel to the wide leafy streets and scattered parks of Rostov on Don this weekend.The giant killers of Rostov came crashing back to earth last week after beating CSKA and Zenit in their two previous gamesLast time out the Dons only played out a dour 0-0 draw with Kuban Krasnador.
Spartak Nalchick also served up a 0-0 draw in their last match, which was away to Khimki. For the sake of the fans, one of these teams has to score a goal.Otherwise both fans will be staring at the Don River thinking of Mikhail Sholokhov's novel, Civil War: "And quiet flows the Don and the Don flows home to the sea."
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Rostov-Na -Donu - LDWWD
Points: 13, Position: 7th
Spartak Nalchik – DLWLD
Points: 6 Position: 14th
FC Khimki - FC Moscow
FC Khimki are staring up at the others unmoved from bottom spot.In the league, FC Moscow were on a four game winning streak before they drew 0-0 with city rivals Lokomtiv.The trip to Khimki in the Moscow Oblast region should see the away team victorious.Khimki, which is famous for aerospace development centres, will hope to blast off the bottom some time soon.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
FC Khimki - LLLDD
Points: 3 Position: 16th
FC Moscow – WWWWD
Points: 15, Position: 4th
Sunday
Tom' Tomsk - Spartak Moscow
There was some speculation this week that benched Spartak goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa could move to another club in the summer.
His manger, Marko Naletilic, stated,
“He has found himself on the bench in recent matches... his position as the first-choice goalkeeper has been out of question during several seasons. It’s clear that his switch to the reserves has been caused by the limits on foreigners in the Russian championship, but it doesn’t console us.”
The RPL has a limit that only six foreign players can be on the field for any one team at any time.
Spartak travel to Siberia to play in the university town of Tomsk. Last week’s 4-0 thrashing of the Aliens of Saturn Moscow will still be fresh in their minds.
Tom Tomsk suffered the same scoreline against Rubin, only the Siberian climate will save Tom Tomsk in this one.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Tom Tomsk - DWLWL
Points: 10 Position: 9th
Spartak Moscow – LWWLW
Points: 13 Position: 5th
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) - Kuban Krasnodar
There was good news this week for Krylya Sovetov. Having finished sixth in the RPL last year, they will play in the Europa League next season thanks to FC Moscow’s loss to Rubin in the Russian Cup semi-final. Sport Express reported on the reaction of excited Krylya Sovetov general director Yuri Makeev:
“A place in the Euro cups is not only a reason for happiness, but also a serious responsibility,” he said. “First of all we are planning to strengthen our attack and defence. Our headhunters have three candidates for each position.”
The 'Kubantsy', as the Kuban fans are known, will travel to Samara to face Kryliya Sovetov on the banks of the lazy Volga River. In summertime, this area is frequented by bathing beauties, in-line skaters and beer drinkers.
After a short spell leading the RPL, Kryliya Sovetov have suffered two consecutive losses.The canaries of Kuban Krasnodar have not won in their last two outings either.The home team will be looking for a win to get their season back on track while the Kubansty will be looking to get clear of the bottom two relegation places.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) - WDWLL
Points: 13 Position: 6th
FC Kuban Krasnodar - DLWDD
Points: 9, Position: 12th
Saturn Moscow - Dynamo Moscow
A Moscow derby of sorts takes place as the Aliens of Saturn take on Dynamo. There were some interesting developments from both teams this week as the two clubs look to make changes for the future. Yesterday, Saturn appointed a new general director of the club, Igor Efremov, who previously headed the Moscow region football federation. Efremov takes over after previous director Boris Zhiganov announced his retirement.
The Aliens plan to make some coaching changes, with the future of the head coach Jurgen Rober to be probed. Sport Express reported on two candidates who could replace Rober; they are the youth team head coach Andrey Gordeev and sporting director Dmitry Galyamin.
Meanwhile, Dynamo go into this game fresh from being dumped out of the Russian cup by CSKA and are looking to prepare for next season's Champions League Dynamo general director Dmitry Ivanov spoke to Sport Express after the loss:
"Of course it’s a pity to suffer a loss in the shootout series, since it’s a lottery," he lamented"At the same time it’s pleasant that our players didn’t give up after failing in the first half and showed worthy play after the interval."
The Champions League qualifying round begins in less than two-and-a-half-months and Ivanov has about 15 players he is looking at. He was also concerned about getting enough players before the July 23 deadline.
"We understand that Dynamo's line-up requires strengthening by acquiring new players and we are searching for suitable variants now," he explained.
“According to the UEFA regulations, we can do it until July 23 and we are allowed to add only those players who are included to our roster in the Russian championship. However, the opening day when we can add new players to the team in Premier League is August 3!" he claimed.
“A couple of months ago we applied to the Russian Football Union asking to clear this situation, but we haven’t received the answer yet. "We have already outlined the list of possible candidates, which includes 15 players.”The future can wait as the Aliens will do well to get something out of a game Dynamo will hope to win.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
The Aliens – DLDLL
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Dynamo Moscow –WLLWL
Points: 12 Position: 5th
CSKA Moscow - Zenit St. Petersburg
Coached by Brazilian legend Zico, CSKA Moscow have had some excellent results of late. They are in the final of the Russian Cup after beating Dynamo in midweek and they are also sitting high in the RPL ladder, only one point behind leaders Rubin Kazan.
CSKA president Evgeny Giner spoke to Sport Express after the Army Men beat Dynamo for the second time in a week - the 2-1 league win over their old city rivals proceeding their victory in their cup semi-final, which they won 6-5 on penalties after a dramatic 2-2 draw.
"We knew that the second match with Dynamo in four days would turn out to be tense because at this stage of the tournament it can’t be otherwise. Dynamo is a good and well-organised team. Our challengers fought their best but it was CSKA who paved their way to the final match," the director said
The president also spoke about strengthening his squad for the next Champion’s League campaign:
"Today I assess our readiness for the coming Champions League campaign as not more than 65-70 per cent. First of all we are just starting the season. The situation will be quite different in the autumn. I can’t say who could leave us in summer transfer window.
"I keep in contact with the managers of Europe’s top clubs. It just happened that Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Chelsea executive director Peter Kenyon and Bayern [Munich] general manager Uli Hoeness praised our players, and sometimes somebody asked us whether we are ready to let them go,” Giner said.
Last but not least, the final game of Matchday 9 features second-placed CKSA Moscow taking on third-placed Zenit.Who will win the bragging rights as the historical cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg fight it out for Russian football supremacy?
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
CSKA Moscow – WWLWW
Points: 16 Position: 2nd
Zenit St. Petersburg - DDWLW
Points: 15 Position: 3rd
Spasiba (thank-you) for reading the RPL preview, enjoy the weekend’s football and dasvidania (goodbye).
The clash between CSKA Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg features as the headline act during Matchday 9 of the RPL.
The top four:
Rubin Kazan 17pts, CSKA Moscow 16pts, Zenit and FC Moscow 15pts, Spartak Moscow 13pts.
Bottom two:
Saturn Moscow 5pts, Khimki 2pts.
Top Goal Scorers:
Dominguez (Rubin Kazan) and Wellington (Spartak Moscow) five goals, Pavel Pogrebniak (Zenit) four goals.
Fixtures Matchday 9 (all kick off times GMT)
Saturday, May 16
9:00 Amkar Perm'- Rubin Kazan
11:15 Lokomotiv Moscow- Terek Grozny
13:30 Rostov-Na-Donu - Spartak Nalchik
16:00 FC Khimki- FC Moscow
Sunday, May 17
9:30 Tom' Tomsk - Spartak Moscow
12:00 Kryliya Sovetov(Samara) - Kuban Krasnodar
14:30 Saturn Moscow - Dynamo Moscow
17:00 CSKA Moscow - Zenit St Petersburg
Saturday
Amkar Perm' - Rubin Kazan
Amkar Perm where unlucky to lose right at the death away to Terek last week. Meanwhile, current RPL champions Rubin had some time to practise their shooting as they easily beat Tom Tomsk 4-0 last week.
Rubin Kazan will face CSKA Moscow in the final of the Russian cup. Former Tottenham flop and current Kazan player, Serhiy Rebrov, spoke about the ensuing final and Rubin’s looming Champions League matches
"The Champions League is the competition that doesn’t need to be advertised and our club doesn’t have to attract people to the stadium because interest of our fans is already guaranteed," he said to Sport Express.
“Supporters will come to Kazan from the all closest regions. When I played in Kyiv, Dynamo’s matches in the Champions League attracted people from Russia and from other Ukrainian cities.
"Kazan is much smaller than Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kyiv, but just look how many high-class teams we have! I think that supporters will like our football.
"Rubin will also compete for the Russian Cup with CSKA and of course I am eager to win the trophy. In general it would be strange if Rubin doesn’t claim for any serious title because we are the current champions and we are sure of our power."
All things being equal, top of the table Rubin should get the victory fixture over13th placed Amkar.
However, Russian football is known for its difficult away trips. Rubin have to travel to the Ural Mountains to face Amkar in Perm.
Perm was formally known as Molotov - as in the 'cocktail' - until 1957.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Amkar Perm – DWLLD
Points: 7 Position: 13th
Rubin Kazan - WWLWW
Points: 17 Position: 1st
Lokomotiv Moscow - Terek Grozny
The Railwaymen have had their wheels come off somewhat this season, with only one win in their past five games.Last week Lokomtiv drew with FC Moscow 0-0, ending Moscow's winning streak in the RPL at four games.
Terek got a good result, managing to salvage a point late against Amkar Perm.Twice RPL champions Lokomotiv should be favourites for this game as they have home advantage and Terek, who are the only Chechen team in the RPL, will hope the referee is not the main talking point.“We don’t pay attention to referees’ strange attitude to Terek anymore, but we are not going to give up," the Terek coach quipped to Sports Express.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Lokomotiv Moscow – LDLWD
Points: 10 Position: 10th
Terek Grozny - LLDLD
Points: 9 Position: 11th
FC Rostov - Spartak Nalchik
Spartak Nalchick travel to the wide leafy streets and scattered parks of Rostov on Don this weekend.The giant killers of Rostov came crashing back to earth last week after beating CSKA and Zenit in their two previous gamesLast time out the Dons only played out a dour 0-0 draw with Kuban Krasnador.
Spartak Nalchick also served up a 0-0 draw in their last match, which was away to Khimki. For the sake of the fans, one of these teams has to score a goal.Otherwise both fans will be staring at the Don River thinking of Mikhail Sholokhov's novel, Civil War: "And quiet flows the Don and the Don flows home to the sea."
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Rostov-Na -Donu - LDWWD
Points: 13, Position: 7th
Spartak Nalchik – DLWLD
Points: 6 Position: 14th
FC Khimki - FC Moscow
FC Khimki are staring up at the others unmoved from bottom spot.In the league, FC Moscow were on a four game winning streak before they drew 0-0 with city rivals Lokomtiv.The trip to Khimki in the Moscow Oblast region should see the away team victorious.Khimki, which is famous for aerospace development centres, will hope to blast off the bottom some time soon.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
FC Khimki - LLLDD
Points: 3 Position: 16th
FC Moscow – WWWWD
Points: 15, Position: 4th
Sunday
Tom' Tomsk - Spartak Moscow
There was some speculation this week that benched Spartak goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa could move to another club in the summer.
His manger, Marko Naletilic, stated,
“He has found himself on the bench in recent matches... his position as the first-choice goalkeeper has been out of question during several seasons. It’s clear that his switch to the reserves has been caused by the limits on foreigners in the Russian championship, but it doesn’t console us.”
The RPL has a limit that only six foreign players can be on the field for any one team at any time.
Spartak travel to Siberia to play in the university town of Tomsk. Last week’s 4-0 thrashing of the Aliens of Saturn Moscow will still be fresh in their minds.
Tom Tomsk suffered the same scoreline against Rubin, only the Siberian climate will save Tom Tomsk in this one.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Tom Tomsk - DWLWL
Points: 10 Position: 9th
Spartak Moscow – LWWLW
Points: 13 Position: 5th
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) - Kuban Krasnodar
There was good news this week for Krylya Sovetov. Having finished sixth in the RPL last year, they will play in the Europa League next season thanks to FC Moscow’s loss to Rubin in the Russian Cup semi-final. Sport Express reported on the reaction of excited Krylya Sovetov general director Yuri Makeev:
“A place in the Euro cups is not only a reason for happiness, but also a serious responsibility,” he said. “First of all we are planning to strengthen our attack and defence. Our headhunters have three candidates for each position.”
The 'Kubantsy', as the Kuban fans are known, will travel to Samara to face Kryliya Sovetov on the banks of the lazy Volga River. In summertime, this area is frequented by bathing beauties, in-line skaters and beer drinkers.
After a short spell leading the RPL, Kryliya Sovetov have suffered two consecutive losses.The canaries of Kuban Krasnodar have not won in their last two outings either.The home team will be looking for a win to get their season back on track while the Kubansty will be looking to get clear of the bottom two relegation places.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) - WDWLL
Points: 13 Position: 6th
FC Kuban Krasnodar - DLWDD
Points: 9, Position: 12th
Saturn Moscow - Dynamo Moscow
A Moscow derby of sorts takes place as the Aliens of Saturn take on Dynamo. There were some interesting developments from both teams this week as the two clubs look to make changes for the future. Yesterday, Saturn appointed a new general director of the club, Igor Efremov, who previously headed the Moscow region football federation. Efremov takes over after previous director Boris Zhiganov announced his retirement.
The Aliens plan to make some coaching changes, with the future of the head coach Jurgen Rober to be probed. Sport Express reported on two candidates who could replace Rober; they are the youth team head coach Andrey Gordeev and sporting director Dmitry Galyamin.
Meanwhile, Dynamo go into this game fresh from being dumped out of the Russian cup by CSKA and are looking to prepare for next season's Champions League Dynamo general director Dmitry Ivanov spoke to Sport Express after the loss:
"Of course it’s a pity to suffer a loss in the shootout series, since it’s a lottery," he lamented"At the same time it’s pleasant that our players didn’t give up after failing in the first half and showed worthy play after the interval."
The Champions League qualifying round begins in less than two-and-a-half-months and Ivanov has about 15 players he is looking at. He was also concerned about getting enough players before the July 23 deadline.
"We understand that Dynamo's line-up requires strengthening by acquiring new players and we are searching for suitable variants now," he explained.
“According to the UEFA regulations, we can do it until July 23 and we are allowed to add only those players who are included to our roster in the Russian championship. However, the opening day when we can add new players to the team in Premier League is August 3!" he claimed.
“A couple of months ago we applied to the Russian Football Union asking to clear this situation, but we haven’t received the answer yet. "We have already outlined the list of possible candidates, which includes 15 players.”The future can wait as the Aliens will do well to get something out of a game Dynamo will hope to win.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
The Aliens – DLDLL
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Dynamo Moscow –WLLWL
Points: 12 Position: 5th
CSKA Moscow - Zenit St. Petersburg
Coached by Brazilian legend Zico, CSKA Moscow have had some excellent results of late. They are in the final of the Russian Cup after beating Dynamo in midweek and they are also sitting high in the RPL ladder, only one point behind leaders Rubin Kazan.
CSKA president Evgeny Giner spoke to Sport Express after the Army Men beat Dynamo for the second time in a week - the 2-1 league win over their old city rivals proceeding their victory in their cup semi-final, which they won 6-5 on penalties after a dramatic 2-2 draw.
"We knew that the second match with Dynamo in four days would turn out to be tense because at this stage of the tournament it can’t be otherwise. Dynamo is a good and well-organised team. Our challengers fought their best but it was CSKA who paved their way to the final match," the director said
The president also spoke about strengthening his squad for the next Champion’s League campaign:
"Today I assess our readiness for the coming Champions League campaign as not more than 65-70 per cent. First of all we are just starting the season. The situation will be quite different in the autumn. I can’t say who could leave us in summer transfer window.
"I keep in contact with the managers of Europe’s top clubs. It just happened that Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Chelsea executive director Peter Kenyon and Bayern [Munich] general manager Uli Hoeness praised our players, and sometimes somebody asked us whether we are ready to let them go,” Giner said.
Last but not least, the final game of Matchday 9 features second-placed CKSA Moscow taking on third-placed Zenit.Who will win the bragging rights as the historical cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg fight it out for Russian football supremacy?
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
CSKA Moscow – WWLWW
Points: 16 Position: 2nd
Zenit St. Petersburg - DDWLW
Points: 15 Position: 3rd
Spasiba (thank-you) for reading the RPL preview, enjoy the weekend’s football and dasvidania (goodbye).
Russian News Wrap: Zenit St. Petersburg Boss Dick Advocaat On Belgian Radar
In Russian football news this week:
CSKA To Play Rubin In Cup Final
CSKA beat Moscow rivals Dynamo for the second time in a week to go through to the Russian Cup final.
After beating beat Dynamo 2-1 in the league on Saturday in what was a dress rehearsal for the Wednesday night’s semi-final, CSKA were looking to make it two wins in a week against their old city rivals.
So, with the score 2-0 in CSKA’s favour and five minutes left on the clock, the Army Men must have had one eye on the final.
Brazilian striker Wagner Love scored the first goal. The blue and black dreadlocked one scored from the penalty spot late in the first half. Yuri Zhirkov doubled the lead early in the second half.
However, Dynamo fought back late in the game. First, Dmitri Khokhlov scored for the Blues and Whites in the 85th minute.
Then Russian national team striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov netted an equaliser close to full-time.
Extra-time couldn’t separate the teams, so penalties decided who would face Rubin Kazan in cup final.
Spot kicks ended 6-5, with CSKA victorious. The Army Men go through to play Rubin Kazan in the final on May 31.
Dick Advocaat Set For Belgian Role
Reports in numerous Russian media outlets have suggested that Zenit St. Petersburg boss Dick Advocaat could be coaching Belgium by the end of the year.
Russian newspaper Sports Express was told by the head of the Belgian FA that Zenit St. Petersburg boss Dick Advocaat will take over as coach of the Belgian national side when his contract expires at the end of this year.
"You can consider the deal closed," Francois De Keersmaeker told the paper. "We have held comprehensive talks with Advocaat and he will sign a two-year contract in the next few days."
It appears that Zenit will not let their manger go so easily. Advocaat, who took over at Zenit in 2006 and has led them to the Russian title and the UEFA Cup, has previously managed his native Netherlands (twice), South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Glasgow Rangers and Germany's Borussia Moenchengladbach.
"Advocaat's contract expires on December 31, 2009," Zenit's general director Maxim Mitrofanov told the paper. "Until then there can be no question of him combining the posts."
Belgium had wanted Advocaat, 61, to combine his work with Zenit and their national side, however, De Keersmaeker said that the UEFA Cup holders were "categorically against" this option."As regards the future, we are entirely satisfied with our current trainer, and we would like to continue our joint work," Mitrofanov added.
The Belgians look unlikely to allow Advocaat to remain in Russia."We are in principle against the practice of combining posts, but when we are talking about a respected trainer we can make exceptions," commented De Keersmaeker. "That said, this is unlikely to be possible in Advocaat's case as the distance between Belgium and St. Petersburg is too great."Sport Express said that Advocaat's salary will be €2 million a year.
The Zenit trainer told the paper in a brief statement that the deal with the Belgium FA would only be sealed "next week".
Russia - Argentina Arranged For August 12
Yesterday the Russian Football Union management confirmed information that the Russian national team will play a friendly match with Argentina in Moscow on August 12.
Both sides have already reached an agreement, with only the stadium to be decided.RFU general director Alexey Sorokin spoke about holding a friendly match between the teams of Guus Hiddink and Diego Maradona.
“These details concern demands for the lineup and other organizational issues,” he explained.“
For example it’s still unclear at which stadium the game will take place, as it will depend on the ongoing consultations and desire of the Argentinean side".
Con Stamocostas, Goal.com
CSKA To Play Rubin In Cup Final
CSKA beat Moscow rivals Dynamo for the second time in a week to go through to the Russian Cup final.
After beating beat Dynamo 2-1 in the league on Saturday in what was a dress rehearsal for the Wednesday night’s semi-final, CSKA were looking to make it two wins in a week against their old city rivals.
So, with the score 2-0 in CSKA’s favour and five minutes left on the clock, the Army Men must have had one eye on the final.
Brazilian striker Wagner Love scored the first goal. The blue and black dreadlocked one scored from the penalty spot late in the first half. Yuri Zhirkov doubled the lead early in the second half.
However, Dynamo fought back late in the game. First, Dmitri Khokhlov scored for the Blues and Whites in the 85th minute.
Then Russian national team striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov netted an equaliser close to full-time.
Extra-time couldn’t separate the teams, so penalties decided who would face Rubin Kazan in cup final.
Spot kicks ended 6-5, with CSKA victorious. The Army Men go through to play Rubin Kazan in the final on May 31.
Dick Advocaat Set For Belgian Role
Reports in numerous Russian media outlets have suggested that Zenit St. Petersburg boss Dick Advocaat could be coaching Belgium by the end of the year.
Russian newspaper Sports Express was told by the head of the Belgian FA that Zenit St. Petersburg boss Dick Advocaat will take over as coach of the Belgian national side when his contract expires at the end of this year.
"You can consider the deal closed," Francois De Keersmaeker told the paper. "We have held comprehensive talks with Advocaat and he will sign a two-year contract in the next few days."
It appears that Zenit will not let their manger go so easily. Advocaat, who took over at Zenit in 2006 and has led them to the Russian title and the UEFA Cup, has previously managed his native Netherlands (twice), South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Glasgow Rangers and Germany's Borussia Moenchengladbach.
"Advocaat's contract expires on December 31, 2009," Zenit's general director Maxim Mitrofanov told the paper. "Until then there can be no question of him combining the posts."
Belgium had wanted Advocaat, 61, to combine his work with Zenit and their national side, however, De Keersmaeker said that the UEFA Cup holders were "categorically against" this option."As regards the future, we are entirely satisfied with our current trainer, and we would like to continue our joint work," Mitrofanov added.
The Belgians look unlikely to allow Advocaat to remain in Russia."We are in principle against the practice of combining posts, but when we are talking about a respected trainer we can make exceptions," commented De Keersmaeker. "That said, this is unlikely to be possible in Advocaat's case as the distance between Belgium and St. Petersburg is too great."Sport Express said that Advocaat's salary will be €2 million a year.
The Zenit trainer told the paper in a brief statement that the deal with the Belgium FA would only be sealed "next week".
Russia - Argentina Arranged For August 12
Yesterday the Russian Football Union management confirmed information that the Russian national team will play a friendly match with Argentina in Moscow on August 12.
Both sides have already reached an agreement, with only the stadium to be decided.RFU general director Alexey Sorokin spoke about holding a friendly match between the teams of Guus Hiddink and Diego Maradona.
“These details concern demands for the lineup and other organizational issues,” he explained.“
For example it’s still unclear at which stadium the game will take place, as it will depend on the ongoing consultations and desire of the Argentinean side".
Con Stamocostas, Goal.com
Aussie Analysis: An Update On Australia's World Cup Bid
Australia’s bid for the 2018 World Cup just intensified with news last week that Russia’s football governing body says it intends to spend $10 billion on the World Cup.
Sportal Australia reported this week that Football Federation Australia (FFA) CEO Ben Buckley met with South Australian sports minister Michael Wright this week to discuss the possibility of Adelaide hosting matches at either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup should Australia win the hosting rights to either tournament.
With reports that the South Australian government has ruled out any chance of building a new stadium for the event, an existing plan to extend the Adelaide Oval to a 36,000 capacity has thrown Adelaide’s participation into question, with Ben Buckley telling Wright that it would not be big enough to be part of any bid.
The purpose of the meeting with the South Australian sports minister was to inform the government of some key time-lines related to the bid and to brief them on FIFA's technical requirements."I also advised that FIFA's technical requirements include a minimum capacity of in excess of 40,000 spectators," Buckley said.
Buckley has stated that the stadium does not have to be built or even under construction in that timeframe."It simply means that there needs to be a commitment to a FIFA compliant option on the basis that the bid is successful," he continued."We've always been committed to a solution in Adelaide to ensure it is part of a successful bid, and we look forward to continuing to work constructively with the South Australian government to make that happen."
Russian Threat
While the FFA is trying work with the various state governments in getting the stadium issue sorted, Russia is steam-rolling ahead its with plans.
The Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Minister has promised that five world-class stadiums will be completed by 2013: two in Moscow and one each in St. Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi, which is scheduled to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
It has also been reported that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ordered Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Minister Vitaly Mutko to prepare the bid for Russia to host the 2018 football World Cup.“Prepare the host bid for the 2018 football World Cup. Such participation will let us develop the infrastructure in cities like we’ve been doing in Sochi, and even if Russia fails to win the bid, all state programs, like building new stadiums and sport centres, should be accomplished anyway,” Putin said
.Mutko, who is also the head of Russian football's governing body, says the country is ready to spend some $10 billion on the World Cup.FIFA has confirmed that 13 countries, including two with joint bids, submitted applications to hold either the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.
The FIFA website has stated that Australia, Belgium together with the Netherlands, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain and neighbouring Portugal, and the United States have submitted bids for both competitions, while South Korea and Qatar have turned in bids for the 2022 World Cup.
The countries approved for hosting the 2018 and 2022 competitions will be announced in December 2010.
A Thorn In The Side
The FFA will decide on the cities and stadiums which will be part of its bid later this year.The issue of football stadiums in Australia has been a thorn in its side over the years as all over the country, Australia doesn’t really have any football specific stadia.
The Sydney Olympics in 2000 saw the football tournament played over the country, however, when the stadiums where upgraded, most of the money went into upgrading Aussie Rules and cricket grounds.
Friends In High Places
There were two important outcomes for the FFA in its quest for the World Cup in 2018 last week:Firstly, the outcome of the election for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) FIFA Executive, which took place in Kuala Lumpur last week at the AFC annual congress. The election was won by incumbent Mohammed Bin Hammam in a contest against the President of the Bahrain Football Association, Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa.
Having the support of Bin Hamann will be crucial as Australia will need the support of the AFC chief to lobby other Asian nations.
The second positive outcome for Australia was the election of Ms Moya Dodd to an official position on the AFC executive. Dodd, who becomes the first Australian elected to such a role, will act as a vice president on the board.
"In only our fourth year as a member of AFC, it is wonderful to have an Australian on the executive of the AFC and Moya is a great representative for us," said FFA Chairman Frank Lowy.
December 2010 is the deadline for the announcement of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. All of the Australian football family hopes the FFA and the state governments can work together in bringing the best bid to FIFA.
Like at the World Cup in Germany 2006, Australia will hope to topple the heavyweights; competing with the likes of favourites England and resource rich Russia will be tough, but that’s the way Australians like it.Con Stamacostas, Goal.com
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Russian Premier League: Matchday 8 Round-Up
There was no Russian Premier League action on Saturday as Russia celebrated Victory Day, marking the anniversary of the end of World War II.
And the big teams celebrated their own Victory Day as RPL Matchday 8 saw the big guns announce their intentions for the title. CSKA, Spartak Moscow, Zenit St Petersburg and Rubin Kazan all completed important victories. The table is still tight, with five points separating the top eight teams.
The top four:
Rubin Kazan 17pts, CSKA Moscow 16pts, Zenit and FC Moscow 15pts, Spartak Moscow 13pts.
Bottom two:
Saturn Moscow 5pts, Khimki 2pts
Top Goal Scorers:
Dominguez (Rubin Kazan) and Wellington (Spartak Moscow) 5 goals, Pavel Pogrebniak (Zenit) four goals.
Sunday
Dynamo Moscow 1 - 2 CSKA Moscow
The first game of Matchday 8 started off with old city rivals Dynamo and CSKA facing each other. This encounter was a dress rehearsal for the Russian Cup semi-final this week; the winner to face current RPL champions Rubin Kazan.
The tale of these two old city rivals was that Russian national team defender Vasili Berezutski scored in the 90th minute to the disappointment of the home fans as CSKA came from a goal down to beat Dynamo 2-1.
Dmitri Kombarov scored first for Dynamo in the fifth minute.The Army boys then had Tomas Necid to thank for the equaliser, the 19-year-old Czech Republic striker was a 78th minute substitute and scored after being on the field for only four minutes.
It’s the second week in a row the Army Men have come back to win after being a goal down; last week CSKA beat Kryliya Sovetov(Samara) 3-1.
CSKA climb up to second, a point behind current champions Rubin Kazan. Inconsistent Dynamo fall from fifth to eighth.
Form Guide - Last Five Games
Dynamo Moscow – WLLWL
Points: 12 Position: 5th
CSKA Moscow – WWLWW
Points: 16 Position: 2nd
Terek Grozny 2 - 2 Amkar Perm
After having four goals ruled out in seven games, Terek Grozny's manager, Vyacheslav Grozny, had some strong words to say to the Russian media about referees and some “hucksters” that were trying to undermine his team’s cause.
All the drama occurred after Matchday Seven when the Chechen side lost 2-1 to Tom Tomsk in West Siberia.
Matchday Eight saw the Chechen’s side luck turn; the Tsentralnyi Stadium in Pyatigorsk was the setting for 12,000 fans to witness a Terek comeback as the home team rescued a point in the 90th minute to record a 2-2 draw with Amakr Perm.
It was tall Romanian striker Daniel Pancu who opened the scoring for the home side; the 31-year-old striker converting a penalty for Terek as early as the second minute.Amkar Perm, who were defeated by FC Moscow last week, responded by having 35-year-old Bulgarian veteran striker Martin Kushev level the score in the28th minute.
The same player also gave Amkar the lead right before half-time.
Then, right at the death when it looked like the away side would get the three points, it was Terek’s 1.87 metre Romanian striker Daniel Pancu who grabbed an equaliser and in the process rescued a point for the home side.Both teams got a point but on the RPL table, they stay where they are.
Form Guide - Last five games
Terek Grozny - LLDLD
Points: 9 Position: 11th
Amkar Perm – DWLLD
Points: 7 Position: 13th
Zenit St. Petersburg 2 -0 Kryliya Sovetov(Samara)
In the last round, Zenit St. Petersburg were upset away by newly promoted Rostov 2-1.This time out, in front of 21,000 at the Petrovski Stadium in St. Petersburg, Zenit were able to beat fourth placed Kryliya Sovetov (Samara).
After a goalless first half it was Russian international midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov who opened the scoring on the 57th minute. After being a substitute in the last two games, Russian national team striker Pavel Pogrebnyak was rewarded with a start for this match and 25-year-old repaid his coach, Dick Advocaat, with the game-clinching goal in 68th minute.
It was the national team player’s third goal in three games and the striker's fourth in the RPL this season.Zenit climb three places up to third while Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) went in the opposite direction down to sixth position.
Form Guide - Last Five Games
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) -WDWLL Points: 13
Position: 6th
Zenit St Petersburg -DDWLW
Points: 15 Position: 3rd
FC Moscow 0 -0 Lokomotiv Moscow
The Eduard Streltsov Stadium in Moscow was the venue where 8,000 fans bore witness to the biggest fear of any football supporter: the scoreless draw.
The only talking points from this Moscow derby game were the eight yellow cards and a sending-off for Lokomotive’s 26-year-old Montenegro defender Marko Basa, who picked up his second yellow card in the 58th minute.
FC Moscow go down to fourth place, still only two points behind RPL leaders Rubin Kazan, and Lokomotiv Moscow stay in tenth position.
Form Guide - Last 5 Games
FC Moscow – WWWWD
Points: 15, Position: 4th
Lokomotiv Moscow –LDLWD
Points: 10 Position: 10th
Rubin Kazan 4 - 0 Tom' Tomsk
Current RPL champions Rubin Kazan have enjoyed three big wins in the last week. The leaders of the RPL thrashed the Aliens of Saturn Moscow 5-0.during Matchday 7, beat FC Moscow 1-0 to advance to the final of the Russian Cup and, just for fun, the team from Kazan thrashed Tom Tomsk 4-0 to keep themselves at the top of the RPL.
The 15,000 at the Tsentralnyi Stadium in Kazan were singing at full voice at the beginning, middle and end of this home game.
The first half saw Russian national team defender Roman Sharonov, the 33-year-old veteran, open the scoring in the 23rd minute.Turkish midfielder Gokdeniz Karadeniz then doubled the lead only three minutes later after he had been set up by the in-form and skilful Argentinean, Alejandro Dominguez .
Russian striker Roman Adamov got the third goal for Rubin 12 minutes from time after he was set up by Christian Noboa.
Hasan Kabze, a 79th minute Turkish substitute made it 4-0 in the 84th minute to complete the rout.
Rubin stay atop of the RPL ladder, a solitary point above CSKA Moscow, while Tom Tomsk fall two spots to ninth.
Form Guide - Last Five Games
Tom Tomsk - DWLWL
Points: 10 Position: 9th
Rubin Kazan -WWLWW
Points: 17 Position: 1st
Spartak Moscow 4-0 Saturn Moscow
Spartak Moscow thrashed the Aliens of Saturn Moscow 4-0.
The RPL preview was right when it anticipated that the person who had the job of adding the goals on the scoreboard could be very busy in this game.
Last week, the RPL review stated that Saturn had reached their nadir after they were beaten by Rubin Kazan 5-0.
The RPL round-up concedes it was wrong.
Every week Saturn Moscow seem to find a new low.
The Aliens are now only two points from the bottom.
The first goal for Spartak Moscow came in the sixth minute. Spartak’s Brazilian attacker Alex found Russian international midfielder Vladimir Bystrov lurking near the outside of the box.
The 25-year-old left his Saturn defender for dead as he motored towards the byline, there he had the composure to lay the ball into the path of Yevgeni Makeyev, the Russian teenager scoring his first ever goal in the RPL.
The second goal came during the 21st minute of play. In-form Brazilian striker Welliton ran onto a pass that was delivered from midfield.
The Brazilian's rebounded shot fell into the path of Spartak’s big No. 9 Artem Dzyuba, the 20-year-old Russian striker netting his first for the season.
A busy first half saw another goal arrive for Spartak in the 26th minute. Vladimir Bystrov was tearing the Aliens apart and he set up Welliton, whose clever run into the box allowed him to shoot the ball into the goal.
Spartak should have scored more but only converted one more chance; the goal coming right on the 72nd minute. Wellington got his second goal of the game and fifth of the season, taking the Brazilian to the top of the RPL goals scoring charts.
Form Guide - Last Five Games
Spartak Moscow – LWWLW
Points: 13 Position: 5th
The Aliens – DLDLL
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Spartak Nalchik 0-0 Khimki
The RPL preview speculated that the neutrals would not be enthralled by this contest. It was no surprise, therefore, that these teams played out a 0-0 draw at the Spartak Stadium.Khimki 'keeper Roman Berezovsky was the hero for the visitors after the referee awarded a penalty right at the death.Berezovsky stopped Aleksandr Amisulashvili's powerful shot to earn Khimki a lucky draw
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Spartak Nalchik – DLWLD
Points: 6 Position: 14th
FC Khimki - LLLDD
Points: 3 Position: 16th
Kuban Krasnodar 0-0 Rostov-Na-Donu
The Kuban stadium and its 12,000 supporters greeted newly promoted Rostov and current giant killers of the RPL.The past two matches have seen Rostov beat 2005 UEFA Cup winners CSKA Moscow and current holders Zenit St. Petersburg.However, it was back to normal in this game as the Canaries of Kuban held out the giant killers of Rostov for a 0-0 draw.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Kuban Krasnodar - DLWDD
Points: 9, Position: 12th
FC Rostov-Na -Donu: LDWWD
Points: 13, Position: 7th
Con Stamocostas, Goal.com
And the big teams celebrated their own Victory Day as RPL Matchday 8 saw the big guns announce their intentions for the title. CSKA, Spartak Moscow, Zenit St Petersburg and Rubin Kazan all completed important victories. The table is still tight, with five points separating the top eight teams.
The top four:
Rubin Kazan 17pts, CSKA Moscow 16pts, Zenit and FC Moscow 15pts, Spartak Moscow 13pts.
Bottom two:
Saturn Moscow 5pts, Khimki 2pts
Top Goal Scorers:
Dominguez (Rubin Kazan) and Wellington (Spartak Moscow) 5 goals, Pavel Pogrebniak (Zenit) four goals.
Sunday
Dynamo Moscow 1 - 2 CSKA Moscow
The first game of Matchday 8 started off with old city rivals Dynamo and CSKA facing each other. This encounter was a dress rehearsal for the Russian Cup semi-final this week; the winner to face current RPL champions Rubin Kazan.
The tale of these two old city rivals was that Russian national team defender Vasili Berezutski scored in the 90th minute to the disappointment of the home fans as CSKA came from a goal down to beat Dynamo 2-1.
Dmitri Kombarov scored first for Dynamo in the fifth minute.The Army boys then had Tomas Necid to thank for the equaliser, the 19-year-old Czech Republic striker was a 78th minute substitute and scored after being on the field for only four minutes.
It’s the second week in a row the Army Men have come back to win after being a goal down; last week CSKA beat Kryliya Sovetov(Samara) 3-1.
CSKA climb up to second, a point behind current champions Rubin Kazan. Inconsistent Dynamo fall from fifth to eighth.
Form Guide - Last Five Games
Dynamo Moscow – WLLWL
Points: 12 Position: 5th
CSKA Moscow – WWLWW
Points: 16 Position: 2nd
Terek Grozny 2 - 2 Amkar Perm
After having four goals ruled out in seven games, Terek Grozny's manager, Vyacheslav Grozny, had some strong words to say to the Russian media about referees and some “hucksters” that were trying to undermine his team’s cause.
All the drama occurred after Matchday Seven when the Chechen side lost 2-1 to Tom Tomsk in West Siberia.
Matchday Eight saw the Chechen’s side luck turn; the Tsentralnyi Stadium in Pyatigorsk was the setting for 12,000 fans to witness a Terek comeback as the home team rescued a point in the 90th minute to record a 2-2 draw with Amakr Perm.
It was tall Romanian striker Daniel Pancu who opened the scoring for the home side; the 31-year-old striker converting a penalty for Terek as early as the second minute.Amkar Perm, who were defeated by FC Moscow last week, responded by having 35-year-old Bulgarian veteran striker Martin Kushev level the score in the28th minute.
The same player also gave Amkar the lead right before half-time.
Then, right at the death when it looked like the away side would get the three points, it was Terek’s 1.87 metre Romanian striker Daniel Pancu who grabbed an equaliser and in the process rescued a point for the home side.Both teams got a point but on the RPL table, they stay where they are.
Form Guide - Last five games
Terek Grozny - LLDLD
Points: 9 Position: 11th
Amkar Perm – DWLLD
Points: 7 Position: 13th
Zenit St. Petersburg 2 -0 Kryliya Sovetov(Samara)
In the last round, Zenit St. Petersburg were upset away by newly promoted Rostov 2-1.This time out, in front of 21,000 at the Petrovski Stadium in St. Petersburg, Zenit were able to beat fourth placed Kryliya Sovetov (Samara).
After a goalless first half it was Russian international midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov who opened the scoring on the 57th minute. After being a substitute in the last two games, Russian national team striker Pavel Pogrebnyak was rewarded with a start for this match and 25-year-old repaid his coach, Dick Advocaat, with the game-clinching goal in 68th minute.
It was the national team player’s third goal in three games and the striker's fourth in the RPL this season.Zenit climb three places up to third while Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) went in the opposite direction down to sixth position.
Form Guide - Last Five Games
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) -WDWLL Points: 13
Position: 6th
Zenit St Petersburg -DDWLW
Points: 15 Position: 3rd
FC Moscow 0 -0 Lokomotiv Moscow
The Eduard Streltsov Stadium in Moscow was the venue where 8,000 fans bore witness to the biggest fear of any football supporter: the scoreless draw.
The only talking points from this Moscow derby game were the eight yellow cards and a sending-off for Lokomotive’s 26-year-old Montenegro defender Marko Basa, who picked up his second yellow card in the 58th minute.
FC Moscow go down to fourth place, still only two points behind RPL leaders Rubin Kazan, and Lokomotiv Moscow stay in tenth position.
Form Guide - Last 5 Games
FC Moscow – WWWWD
Points: 15, Position: 4th
Lokomotiv Moscow –LDLWD
Points: 10 Position: 10th
Rubin Kazan 4 - 0 Tom' Tomsk
Current RPL champions Rubin Kazan have enjoyed three big wins in the last week. The leaders of the RPL thrashed the Aliens of Saturn Moscow 5-0.during Matchday 7, beat FC Moscow 1-0 to advance to the final of the Russian Cup and, just for fun, the team from Kazan thrashed Tom Tomsk 4-0 to keep themselves at the top of the RPL.
The 15,000 at the Tsentralnyi Stadium in Kazan were singing at full voice at the beginning, middle and end of this home game.
The first half saw Russian national team defender Roman Sharonov, the 33-year-old veteran, open the scoring in the 23rd minute.Turkish midfielder Gokdeniz Karadeniz then doubled the lead only three minutes later after he had been set up by the in-form and skilful Argentinean, Alejandro Dominguez .
Russian striker Roman Adamov got the third goal for Rubin 12 minutes from time after he was set up by Christian Noboa.
Hasan Kabze, a 79th minute Turkish substitute made it 4-0 in the 84th minute to complete the rout.
Rubin stay atop of the RPL ladder, a solitary point above CSKA Moscow, while Tom Tomsk fall two spots to ninth.
Form Guide - Last Five Games
Tom Tomsk - DWLWL
Points: 10 Position: 9th
Rubin Kazan -WWLWW
Points: 17 Position: 1st
Spartak Moscow 4-0 Saturn Moscow
Spartak Moscow thrashed the Aliens of Saturn Moscow 4-0.
The RPL preview was right when it anticipated that the person who had the job of adding the goals on the scoreboard could be very busy in this game.
Last week, the RPL review stated that Saturn had reached their nadir after they were beaten by Rubin Kazan 5-0.
The RPL round-up concedes it was wrong.
Every week Saturn Moscow seem to find a new low.
The Aliens are now only two points from the bottom.
The first goal for Spartak Moscow came in the sixth minute. Spartak’s Brazilian attacker Alex found Russian international midfielder Vladimir Bystrov lurking near the outside of the box.
The 25-year-old left his Saturn defender for dead as he motored towards the byline, there he had the composure to lay the ball into the path of Yevgeni Makeyev, the Russian teenager scoring his first ever goal in the RPL.
The second goal came during the 21st minute of play. In-form Brazilian striker Welliton ran onto a pass that was delivered from midfield.
The Brazilian's rebounded shot fell into the path of Spartak’s big No. 9 Artem Dzyuba, the 20-year-old Russian striker netting his first for the season.
A busy first half saw another goal arrive for Spartak in the 26th minute. Vladimir Bystrov was tearing the Aliens apart and he set up Welliton, whose clever run into the box allowed him to shoot the ball into the goal.
Spartak should have scored more but only converted one more chance; the goal coming right on the 72nd minute. Wellington got his second goal of the game and fifth of the season, taking the Brazilian to the top of the RPL goals scoring charts.
Form Guide - Last Five Games
Spartak Moscow – LWWLW
Points: 13 Position: 5th
The Aliens – DLDLL
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Spartak Nalchik 0-0 Khimki
The RPL preview speculated that the neutrals would not be enthralled by this contest. It was no surprise, therefore, that these teams played out a 0-0 draw at the Spartak Stadium.Khimki 'keeper Roman Berezovsky was the hero for the visitors after the referee awarded a penalty right at the death.Berezovsky stopped Aleksandr Amisulashvili's powerful shot to earn Khimki a lucky draw
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Spartak Nalchik – DLWLD
Points: 6 Position: 14th
FC Khimki - LLLDD
Points: 3 Position: 16th
Kuban Krasnodar 0-0 Rostov-Na-Donu
The Kuban stadium and its 12,000 supporters greeted newly promoted Rostov and current giant killers of the RPL.The past two matches have seen Rostov beat 2005 UEFA Cup winners CSKA Moscow and current holders Zenit St. Petersburg.However, it was back to normal in this game as the Canaries of Kuban held out the giant killers of Rostov for a 0-0 draw.
Form Guide - Last Five Games:
Kuban Krasnodar - DLWDD
Points: 9, Position: 12th
FC Rostov-Na -Donu: LDWWD
Points: 13, Position: 7th
Con Stamocostas, Goal.com
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Russian Premier League Preview Matchday 8
The Russian Premier League table is congested as the action on Matchday 8 gets ready to kick off.
Four points separate nine teams with Rubin Kazan and FC Moscow leading on 14 points, and Spartak Moscow and Tom Tomsk sitting in eighth and ninth place, respectively, on 10 points.
Khimki are bottom with only one point gained so far, while the Aliens of Saturn Moscow lie a place above them with five points.On Wednesday current RPL champions Rubin Kazan beat FC Moscow 1-0 to advance to the final of the Russian Cup.
It was 22-year-old midfielder Alexander Ryazantsev who got the goal in the 49th minute.The other semi-final takes place next week, when holders CSKA face city rivals Dynamo Moscow.
In further Russian news the website Russia today reported that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ordered Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Minister Vitaly Mutko to prepare the bid for Russia to host the 2018 football World Cup.
”Prepare the host bid for the 2018 football World Cup. Such participation will let us develop the infrastructure in cities like we’ve been doing in Sochi, and even if Russia fails to win the bid, all state programs, like building new stadiums and sport centers, should be accomplished anyway,” Putin said.
Mutko, who is also the head of Russian football's governing body, says the country is ready to spend some $10 billion on the World Cup.
The Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Minister has promised that five world-class stadiums will be completed by 2013 – two in Moscow and one each in St. Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi, which is scheduled to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
FIFA has confirmed that 13 countries, including two with joint bids, submitted applications to hold either the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.The FIFA website has stated that, Australia, Belgium together with The Netherlands, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain and neighbouring Portugal, and the United States have submitted bids for both competitions, while South Korea and Qatar have turned in bids for the 2022 World Cup.
The countries approved for hosting the 2018 and 2022 competitions will be announced in December 2010.
So to the action in the RPL this week:
It’s derby week again as 5th placed Dynamo Moscow take on the Army Men of CSKA who are 3rd. FC Moscow, who are joint top with Rubin, host the Railway Boys of Lokomotiv; while an intriguing contest should take place between 6th placed Zenit St Petersburg and the team in 4th , Kryliya Sovetov(Samara).
Fixtures Matchday 8 (all kick off times GMT)
Saturday, May 8
11:00 Dynamo Moscow - CSKA Moscow
11:00 Terek Grozny - Amkar Perm
13:30 Zenit St Petersburg - Kryliya Sovetov(Samara)
16:00 FC Moscow - Lokomotiv Moscow
Sunday, May 9
11:00 Rubin Kazan - Tom' Tomsk
13:30 Spartak Moscow- Saturn Moscow
13:30 Spartak Nalchik - Khimki
16:00 Kuban Krasnodar - Rostov-Na-Donu
Saturday
Dynamo Moscow - CSKA Moscow
The first game of Match day 8 kicks off with old city rivals Dynamo and CSKA facing each other with what promises to be an exciting derby clash.
This encounter looms as a dress rehearsal as the two combatants will face each other next week in the Russian Cup semi-final; the winner to face current RPL champions Rubin Kazan.Dynamo had a great 2-0 win over Spartak Moscow last week after having had two losses in their previous games.
Last week the Army Men came from a goal down to beat Kryliya Sovetov(Samara) away 3-1. Brazilian international Vagner Love and his long blue and black dreads helped secure the win for CSKA.
The 24-year-old striker was the Russian Premier League's top scorer last season, and the Brazilian hopes to add to his 21 appearances for the national team.
"I'm still waiting and hoping," he told Sport Express. "I'm sure that it will happen sooner or later."
CSKA went to third after that win while Dynamo’s win helped them climb up to 5th position.
Form Guide- Last 5 Games:
Dynamo Moscow –LWLLW
Points: 12 Position: 5th
CSKA Moscow –DWWLW
Points: 13 Position: 3rd
Terek Grozny - Amkar Perm
Terek Grozny's manager, Vyacheslav Grozny, was furious after the Chechen side lost 2-1 to Tom Tomsk in West Siberia last week.
After the game he vented his frustration at a NTV+ journalist:
"We have had four goals ruled out in seven games, a perfectly good goal wasn't given - you saw it yourself. They scored against us from offside! How long can this go on?"
The manager then had some strong words to say to Sport Express:
"Someone doesn't want to see Terek in the Premier League. I'm not talking about the Russian Football Union or the Russian Football Premier League [Russian football's governing bodies], but rather some hucksters who don't feature anywhere officially. It looks like there are ways to influence the outcome of games.
"We are gathering information and will name names," he added.
The only Chechen side in the RPL, this is not the first time Terek has complained about referees.In 2005, Terek sent a letter to then-president Vladimir Putin. The letter complained that they were being discriminated against, that penalties were being unfairly awarded against them, and appealed for the president to intervene. Unfortunately Terek were relegated that season.
Amkar Perm were defeated by FC Moscow last week and the team situated on the banks of the Karma River have had only one win so far this season.
Form Guide Last 5 games:
Terek Grozny -WLLDL
Points: 8 Position: 11th
Amkar Perm–DDWLL
Points: 6 Position: 13th
Zenit St Petersburg - Kryliya Sovetov(Samara)
Last round Zenit St Petersburg were upset away by newly-promoted Rostov 2-1.
"This wasn't our best game," Zenit's Portuguese defender Fernando Meira told the club's website. "The match was very open, and we didn't defend well as a team”.
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) have had pretty good start to the RPL this season.
The team situated on the east bank of the Volga River started well against CSKA Moscow last week, scoring first, but ended up losing 3-1.
A win for either team will put them on top of the league, such is the closeness of the competition 7 games in.
Form Guide Last 5 Games:
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) -LWDWL
Points: 13 Position: 4th
Zenit St Petersburg -WDDWL
Points: 12 Position: 6th
FC Moscow - Lokomotiv Moscow
Yet another Moscow derby, what story will come out of this tale of old city rivals?
The less famous of the Moscow sides FC Moscow moved into second place, behind Rubin only on goal difference, with a 1-0 win over Amkar Perm in the Urals, thanks to a 21st minute strike from Slovakian forward Martin Jakubko.
Lokomotiv Moscow were also part of the winner’s circle last week, as the Railway Men got their first win in four games against Spartak Nalchick.Midfielder Tomislav Dujmovic scored on 65 minutes to present new caretaker coach Vladimir Maminov with a home victory in his first game in charge.
Lokomotiv fired coach Rashid Rakhimov at the end of April due to a weak start in the Russian Premier League.
Caretaker Vladimir Maminov, who finished his playing career at the end of last season, will work with the team till June.
Speculation on who will take up the job after Maminov has already begun with ex-Chelsea mentor Avram Grant being touted as a possibility, Russia’s Sport Express newspaper reported.
Other candidates for the Lokomotiv job are current Dinamo Kiev coach, Yury Semin, who coached the Moscow team from 1986-2005, winning the Russian championship in 2002 and 2004, and Valery Gazzaev, the only Russian coach to win the UEFA Cup; he lost his job at CSKA last autumn.
FC Moscow will look to consolidate their position in the table with victory in this game; the team in equal first has not lost since the first round of the RPL and has won four games in a row.
Locomotiv’s Railway Men will also hope to win so they can march up the ladder. The Moscow side sit in 10th position and had just one triumph out of six games, before their win last week.
Form Guide Last 5 games
FC Moscow – DWWWW
Points: 14 Position: 2nd
Lokomotiv Moscow –WLDLW
Points: 9 Position: 10th
Sunday, May 10
Rubin Kazan - Tom' Tomsk
Current RPL champions Rubin Kazan enjoyed two big wins in the last week.During the week Rubin beat FC Moscow 1-0 to advance to the final of the Russian Cup.
Last match day Rubin thrashed the Aliens of Saturn Moscow 5-0.
Hard to please Rubin manager Kurban Berdiyev was still far from happy:
"We made a lot of mistakes in defence," he was quoted as saying by the sportbox.ru website. "This is upsetting, despite the fact that we won the match."
Rubin captain Sergei Semak had a somewhat different view:"Saturn were completely outplayed on all counts,”The win put Rubin back on top of the league and the Kazan team will look to stay there with a win against ninth-placed Tom Tomsk.
Rubin also have the leading scorer in their midst with skilful Argentinean Alejandro Dominguez leading the charge with five goals, followed by eight others on three.
Tom Tomsk carry some form into this game as they beat Terek 2-1 last matchday.
Form Guide Last 5 games:
Tom Tomsk - LDWLW
Points: 7 Position: 9th
Rubin Kazan -DWWLW
Points: 14 Position: 1st
Spartak Moscow- Saturn Moscow
Spartak Moscow's mini-revival came to a halt last week after they lost against cross-town rivals Dynamo 2-0.
New coach Valery Karpin had done well in orchestrating two wins in his first two games, with the help of legendary Russian trainer Oleg Romantsev assisting in a consultant's role.
The vast majority of Spartak players refused to comment on the match after the game.
"Of course they didn't want to speak," noted trainer Karpin. "They are very bitter, something that pleases me."
The Aliens of Saturn Moscow reached their nadir last week and seem to be floating away from the RPL as they where thrashed 5-0 by Rubin; they sit in second last position.
The person who has the job of adding the goals on the scoreboard could be very busy in this game.
Form Guide Last 5 games
Spartak Moscow – WLWWL
Points: 10 Position: 8th
The Aliens – WDLDL
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Spartak Nalchik - Khimki
Spartak Nalchick had a narrow 1-0 loss away to Lokomotiv Moscow last week, while Khimki escaped with a 2-2 draw after scoring at the death to salvage a point at home against Kuban Krasnodar.
While the neutrals will not be enthralled by this contest fans of both teams will hope a win for their team will help the struggling clubs get off the RPL bottom positions.
Form Guide Last 5 games:
Spartak Nalchik – LDLWL
Points: 5 Position: 14th
FC Khimki - LLLLD
Points: 2 Position: 16th
Kuban Krasnodar - Rostov-Na-Donu
The fans of Kuban Krasnodar the Kubantsy where singing victory songs during last week's away game at Khimki; however disaster struck when the Canaries conceded right at the death.
Newly-promoted Rostov are current giant-killers of the RPL, having beaten 2005 UEFA Cup winners CSKA Moscow and current holders Zenit St Petersburg in the past two weeks.
The Rostov players are getting excited, midfielder Dmitri Ivanov, who scored a goal and set up the other in the 2-1 victory over Zenit, was being particularly animated:
"No one thought we would do so well," he told Sport Dyen Za Dnyem paper. "Why not dream of Europe!” he claimed.
Form Guide Last 5 games:
FC Kuban Krasnodar - LDLWD
Points: 8, Position: 12th
FC Rostov-Na -Donu: WLDWW
Points: 12, Position: 7th
Four points separate nine teams with Rubin Kazan and FC Moscow leading on 14 points, and Spartak Moscow and Tom Tomsk sitting in eighth and ninth place, respectively, on 10 points.
Khimki are bottom with only one point gained so far, while the Aliens of Saturn Moscow lie a place above them with five points.On Wednesday current RPL champions Rubin Kazan beat FC Moscow 1-0 to advance to the final of the Russian Cup.
It was 22-year-old midfielder Alexander Ryazantsev who got the goal in the 49th minute.The other semi-final takes place next week, when holders CSKA face city rivals Dynamo Moscow.
In further Russian news the website Russia today reported that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ordered Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Minister Vitaly Mutko to prepare the bid for Russia to host the 2018 football World Cup.
”Prepare the host bid for the 2018 football World Cup. Such participation will let us develop the infrastructure in cities like we’ve been doing in Sochi, and even if Russia fails to win the bid, all state programs, like building new stadiums and sport centers, should be accomplished anyway,” Putin said.
Mutko, who is also the head of Russian football's governing body, says the country is ready to spend some $10 billion on the World Cup.
The Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Minister has promised that five world-class stadiums will be completed by 2013 – two in Moscow and one each in St. Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi, which is scheduled to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
FIFA has confirmed that 13 countries, including two with joint bids, submitted applications to hold either the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.The FIFA website has stated that, Australia, Belgium together with The Netherlands, England, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain and neighbouring Portugal, and the United States have submitted bids for both competitions, while South Korea and Qatar have turned in bids for the 2022 World Cup.
The countries approved for hosting the 2018 and 2022 competitions will be announced in December 2010.
So to the action in the RPL this week:
It’s derby week again as 5th placed Dynamo Moscow take on the Army Men of CSKA who are 3rd. FC Moscow, who are joint top with Rubin, host the Railway Boys of Lokomotiv; while an intriguing contest should take place between 6th placed Zenit St Petersburg and the team in 4th , Kryliya Sovetov(Samara).
Fixtures Matchday 8 (all kick off times GMT)
Saturday, May 8
11:00 Dynamo Moscow - CSKA Moscow
11:00 Terek Grozny - Amkar Perm
13:30 Zenit St Petersburg - Kryliya Sovetov(Samara)
16:00 FC Moscow - Lokomotiv Moscow
Sunday, May 9
11:00 Rubin Kazan - Tom' Tomsk
13:30 Spartak Moscow- Saturn Moscow
13:30 Spartak Nalchik - Khimki
16:00 Kuban Krasnodar - Rostov-Na-Donu
Saturday
Dynamo Moscow - CSKA Moscow
The first game of Match day 8 kicks off with old city rivals Dynamo and CSKA facing each other with what promises to be an exciting derby clash.
This encounter looms as a dress rehearsal as the two combatants will face each other next week in the Russian Cup semi-final; the winner to face current RPL champions Rubin Kazan.Dynamo had a great 2-0 win over Spartak Moscow last week after having had two losses in their previous games.
Last week the Army Men came from a goal down to beat Kryliya Sovetov(Samara) away 3-1. Brazilian international Vagner Love and his long blue and black dreads helped secure the win for CSKA.
The 24-year-old striker was the Russian Premier League's top scorer last season, and the Brazilian hopes to add to his 21 appearances for the national team.
"I'm still waiting and hoping," he told Sport Express. "I'm sure that it will happen sooner or later."
CSKA went to third after that win while Dynamo’s win helped them climb up to 5th position.
Form Guide- Last 5 Games:
Dynamo Moscow –LWLLW
Points: 12 Position: 5th
CSKA Moscow –DWWLW
Points: 13 Position: 3rd
Terek Grozny - Amkar Perm
Terek Grozny's manager, Vyacheslav Grozny, was furious after the Chechen side lost 2-1 to Tom Tomsk in West Siberia last week.
After the game he vented his frustration at a NTV+ journalist:
"We have had four goals ruled out in seven games, a perfectly good goal wasn't given - you saw it yourself. They scored against us from offside! How long can this go on?"
The manager then had some strong words to say to Sport Express:
"Someone doesn't want to see Terek in the Premier League. I'm not talking about the Russian Football Union or the Russian Football Premier League [Russian football's governing bodies], but rather some hucksters who don't feature anywhere officially. It looks like there are ways to influence the outcome of games.
"We are gathering information and will name names," he added.
The only Chechen side in the RPL, this is not the first time Terek has complained about referees.In 2005, Terek sent a letter to then-president Vladimir Putin. The letter complained that they were being discriminated against, that penalties were being unfairly awarded against them, and appealed for the president to intervene. Unfortunately Terek were relegated that season.
Amkar Perm were defeated by FC Moscow last week and the team situated on the banks of the Karma River have had only one win so far this season.
Form Guide Last 5 games:
Terek Grozny -WLLDL
Points: 8 Position: 11th
Amkar Perm–DDWLL
Points: 6 Position: 13th
Zenit St Petersburg - Kryliya Sovetov(Samara)
Last round Zenit St Petersburg were upset away by newly-promoted Rostov 2-1.
"This wasn't our best game," Zenit's Portuguese defender Fernando Meira told the club's website. "The match was very open, and we didn't defend well as a team”.
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) have had pretty good start to the RPL this season.
The team situated on the east bank of the Volga River started well against CSKA Moscow last week, scoring first, but ended up losing 3-1.
A win for either team will put them on top of the league, such is the closeness of the competition 7 games in.
Form Guide Last 5 Games:
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) -LWDWL
Points: 13 Position: 4th
Zenit St Petersburg -WDDWL
Points: 12 Position: 6th
FC Moscow - Lokomotiv Moscow
Yet another Moscow derby, what story will come out of this tale of old city rivals?
The less famous of the Moscow sides FC Moscow moved into second place, behind Rubin only on goal difference, with a 1-0 win over Amkar Perm in the Urals, thanks to a 21st minute strike from Slovakian forward Martin Jakubko.
Lokomotiv Moscow were also part of the winner’s circle last week, as the Railway Men got their first win in four games against Spartak Nalchick.Midfielder Tomislav Dujmovic scored on 65 minutes to present new caretaker coach Vladimir Maminov with a home victory in his first game in charge.
Lokomotiv fired coach Rashid Rakhimov at the end of April due to a weak start in the Russian Premier League.
Caretaker Vladimir Maminov, who finished his playing career at the end of last season, will work with the team till June.
Speculation on who will take up the job after Maminov has already begun with ex-Chelsea mentor Avram Grant being touted as a possibility, Russia’s Sport Express newspaper reported.
Other candidates for the Lokomotiv job are current Dinamo Kiev coach, Yury Semin, who coached the Moscow team from 1986-2005, winning the Russian championship in 2002 and 2004, and Valery Gazzaev, the only Russian coach to win the UEFA Cup; he lost his job at CSKA last autumn.
FC Moscow will look to consolidate their position in the table with victory in this game; the team in equal first has not lost since the first round of the RPL and has won four games in a row.
Locomotiv’s Railway Men will also hope to win so they can march up the ladder. The Moscow side sit in 10th position and had just one triumph out of six games, before their win last week.
Form Guide Last 5 games
FC Moscow – DWWWW
Points: 14 Position: 2nd
Lokomotiv Moscow –WLDLW
Points: 9 Position: 10th
Sunday, May 10
Rubin Kazan - Tom' Tomsk
Current RPL champions Rubin Kazan enjoyed two big wins in the last week.During the week Rubin beat FC Moscow 1-0 to advance to the final of the Russian Cup.
Last match day Rubin thrashed the Aliens of Saturn Moscow 5-0.
Hard to please Rubin manager Kurban Berdiyev was still far from happy:
"We made a lot of mistakes in defence," he was quoted as saying by the sportbox.ru website. "This is upsetting, despite the fact that we won the match."
Rubin captain Sergei Semak had a somewhat different view:"Saturn were completely outplayed on all counts,”The win put Rubin back on top of the league and the Kazan team will look to stay there with a win against ninth-placed Tom Tomsk.
Rubin also have the leading scorer in their midst with skilful Argentinean Alejandro Dominguez leading the charge with five goals, followed by eight others on three.
Tom Tomsk carry some form into this game as they beat Terek 2-1 last matchday.
Form Guide Last 5 games:
Tom Tomsk - LDWLW
Points: 7 Position: 9th
Rubin Kazan -DWWLW
Points: 14 Position: 1st
Spartak Moscow- Saturn Moscow
Spartak Moscow's mini-revival came to a halt last week after they lost against cross-town rivals Dynamo 2-0.
New coach Valery Karpin had done well in orchestrating two wins in his first two games, with the help of legendary Russian trainer Oleg Romantsev assisting in a consultant's role.
The vast majority of Spartak players refused to comment on the match after the game.
"Of course they didn't want to speak," noted trainer Karpin. "They are very bitter, something that pleases me."
The Aliens of Saturn Moscow reached their nadir last week and seem to be floating away from the RPL as they where thrashed 5-0 by Rubin; they sit in second last position.
The person who has the job of adding the goals on the scoreboard could be very busy in this game.
Form Guide Last 5 games
Spartak Moscow – WLWWL
Points: 10 Position: 8th
The Aliens – WDLDL
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Spartak Nalchik - Khimki
Spartak Nalchick had a narrow 1-0 loss away to Lokomotiv Moscow last week, while Khimki escaped with a 2-2 draw after scoring at the death to salvage a point at home against Kuban Krasnodar.
While the neutrals will not be enthralled by this contest fans of both teams will hope a win for their team will help the struggling clubs get off the RPL bottom positions.
Form Guide Last 5 games:
Spartak Nalchik – LDLWL
Points: 5 Position: 14th
FC Khimki - LLLLD
Points: 2 Position: 16th
Kuban Krasnodar - Rostov-Na-Donu
The fans of Kuban Krasnodar the Kubantsy where singing victory songs during last week's away game at Khimki; however disaster struck when the Canaries conceded right at the death.
Newly-promoted Rostov are current giant-killers of the RPL, having beaten 2005 UEFA Cup winners CSKA Moscow and current holders Zenit St Petersburg in the past two weeks.
The Rostov players are getting excited, midfielder Dmitri Ivanov, who scored a goal and set up the other in the 2-1 victory over Zenit, was being particularly animated:
"No one thought we would do so well," he told Sport Dyen Za Dnyem paper. "Why not dream of Europe!” he claimed.
Form Guide Last 5 games:
FC Kuban Krasnodar - LDLWD
Points: 8, Position: 12th
FC Rostov-Na -Donu: WLDWW
Points: 12, Position: 7th
Friday, May 8, 2009
I Just Wanna Dance
The best coming of age, rites de passage film is the1993 movie Dazed and Confused.
You know those films, they always start with:
It was the last day of school in 1976, a time they'd never forget..........
In one scene, Adam Goldberg’s character leans forward from the back seat of a car; his eyes revealing nothing but a fierce determination; he hugs himself; then yells excitedly “I just wanna dance!”
These movies are such a clique, and the coming of age film has now been hijacked by a new genre; the Judd Apatow Bromance.
What has this got to do with football?
Football is dancing. Yeah, right?
Well the best footballers can be argued are Brazilians and the best dancers are Brazilian dancers.
Well the Brazilians would say that they are the best footballers and dancers anyway; and usually they tend to prove it at the World Cup.If not on it, then most definitely off it.
When Brazil plays at the World Cup the camera man always seems to pan the direction of the camera towards the beautiful Brazilian girls dancing the samba in the stands.
Some footballers spend as much time in the nightclubs as they do on the pitch.
Arguably the best dancer to ever grace a football pitch, Maradona used to train in the afternoons when he was at Barcelona. The coaches had to schedule the training at that time because he was always out clubbing.
Messi was also dancing all over pitch against Real Madrid during Barcelona’s 6-2 demolition in the El Classico over the weekend.
And what of other football dancing cultures?
The Russians have a history of achieving excellence in the art of ballet and gymnastics.
There football can be structured, based on form and shape and mixed with moments of great beauty and power.
Andrei Arshavin has been making plenty of fancy moves for Arsenal recently.
At the 2008 European Championship the Russians danced their way to the semi-finals.
Famous Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich once said of the beautiful game that:
“Football was the ballet of the masses.”
Not forgetting the Greeks, they have a long history of expressing themselves through dance, and even most of the Barbarians can dance to Zorba the Greek.
The skillfull Karagounis is the Greek’s best dancer I would say.
Of course one of the best examples of footballers dancing is when the goal celebration occurs.
Sometimes it best to stick to the football and leave the dancing to the experts.
Seeing Arsenal’s African duo, Adebeyor and Toure trying to teach RobinVan Persie African dance moves during a goal celebration recently certainly proved once again that dancing next to black people; can make whitey look a bit foolish.
Not to forget the Spanish.
With the Real Madrid and Barcelona divide causing most folks in Spain to be apathetic to the Castillian cause. That division was given as the reason as to why Spain where considered major tournaments failings.
The Spanish where all tango and in sync for Euro2008 championships, the final of the Spanish flamenco football style compared with the funny way German people dance was a win for the dancing purists.
Here are some visual examples of French freestyle football dancing.
This is Le Frank Style:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVEga3hrEV4
Here is footage from the Championnat de France de Freestyle Football
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jd2nGBwIWs&feature=related
Melbourne Shuffle
Even the Aussies have got some dance moves, the Melbourne shuffle is everywhere on YouTube.
Modern football is so quick these days; you can see similarities in the high energy modern form of dance like the Melbourne shuffle.
Below is a link to the Melbourne shuffle; it perhaps goes a little way towards explaining why the
Aussies have a habit of sometimes going 100 miles an hour on the football field:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPaMdxC6CQI
It’s also not uncommon to see this move brought out at rave parties in the UK, Germany, Malaysia and also Thailand.
So do you think you can dance?
These are just a few examples, I’m sure there are more out there.
If you want to watch dancing with real stars, there is no better place than on the worlds football pitches.
You know those films, they always start with:
It was the last day of school in 1976, a time they'd never forget..........
In one scene, Adam Goldberg’s character leans forward from the back seat of a car; his eyes revealing nothing but a fierce determination; he hugs himself; then yells excitedly “I just wanna dance!”
These movies are such a clique, and the coming of age film has now been hijacked by a new genre; the Judd Apatow Bromance.
What has this got to do with football?
Football is dancing. Yeah, right?
Well the best footballers can be argued are Brazilians and the best dancers are Brazilian dancers.
Well the Brazilians would say that they are the best footballers and dancers anyway; and usually they tend to prove it at the World Cup.If not on it, then most definitely off it.
When Brazil plays at the World Cup the camera man always seems to pan the direction of the camera towards the beautiful Brazilian girls dancing the samba in the stands.
Some footballers spend as much time in the nightclubs as they do on the pitch.
Arguably the best dancer to ever grace a football pitch, Maradona used to train in the afternoons when he was at Barcelona. The coaches had to schedule the training at that time because he was always out clubbing.
Messi was also dancing all over pitch against Real Madrid during Barcelona’s 6-2 demolition in the El Classico over the weekend.
And what of other football dancing cultures?
The Russians have a history of achieving excellence in the art of ballet and gymnastics.
There football can be structured, based on form and shape and mixed with moments of great beauty and power.
Andrei Arshavin has been making plenty of fancy moves for Arsenal recently.
At the 2008 European Championship the Russians danced their way to the semi-finals.
Famous Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich once said of the beautiful game that:
“Football was the ballet of the masses.”
Not forgetting the Greeks, they have a long history of expressing themselves through dance, and even most of the Barbarians can dance to Zorba the Greek.
The skillfull Karagounis is the Greek’s best dancer I would say.
Of course one of the best examples of footballers dancing is when the goal celebration occurs.
Sometimes it best to stick to the football and leave the dancing to the experts.
Seeing Arsenal’s African duo, Adebeyor and Toure trying to teach RobinVan Persie African dance moves during a goal celebration recently certainly proved once again that dancing next to black people; can make whitey look a bit foolish.
Not to forget the Spanish.
With the Real Madrid and Barcelona divide causing most folks in Spain to be apathetic to the Castillian cause. That division was given as the reason as to why Spain where considered major tournaments failings.
The Spanish where all tango and in sync for Euro2008 championships, the final of the Spanish flamenco football style compared with the funny way German people dance was a win for the dancing purists.
Here are some visual examples of French freestyle football dancing.
This is Le Frank Style:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVEga3hrEV4
Here is footage from the Championnat de France de Freestyle Football
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jd2nGBwIWs&feature=related
Melbourne Shuffle
Even the Aussies have got some dance moves, the Melbourne shuffle is everywhere on YouTube.
Modern football is so quick these days; you can see similarities in the high energy modern form of dance like the Melbourne shuffle.
Below is a link to the Melbourne shuffle; it perhaps goes a little way towards explaining why the
Aussies have a habit of sometimes going 100 miles an hour on the football field:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPaMdxC6CQI
It’s also not uncommon to see this move brought out at rave parties in the UK, Germany, Malaysia and also Thailand.
So do you think you can dance?
These are just a few examples, I’m sure there are more out there.
If you want to watch dancing with real stars, there is no better place than on the worlds football pitches.
Link here:
http://goal.com/en/news/808/australia/2009/05/07/1251648/comment-i-just-wanna-dance
The A-League Lemon
If it’s not the cute little piggie flu, the global credit crunch or an over aggressive tennis father; the queue to the antagonist line in this world is very long.
The main antagonist during last season of the A-League was the injured player, better known as the A-League Lemon.
All A-League clubs have suffered from this problem in the past. The players may look shiny and new from the outside, but inside they are poorly built and likely to break down at any moment.
Step up, Hayden Foxe (actually most of the Perth Squad in the last four seasons) Charlie Miller and Jardel.
Sydney FC have had three big lemons in recent times; Juninho who was as fragile as a new born baby, John Aloisi at times looked like a cartoon character who whose legs where moving quickly but the body remained stationary.
The other Lemon at Sydney FC was Simon Colosimo
This new upcoming season A-league season for Sydney FC is all about atonement.
The senior players especially need to take some responsibility for last season debacle.
If Simon Colisimo plays more than five games this season then he has already bettered last season’s personal best.
The noises coming out of Sydney FC players since they started training with their new Czech coach in the last week have been positive.
Regarding the methods of the new coach Aloisi had this to say during an interview with 442’s John Ritson:
“In some ways it's very similar to the way Guus Hiddink trained us before the World Cup in 2006, intense, a lot of sessions and tactical sessions.”
In football code this means:
“The old coach couldn’t train a monkey to eat bananas”.
The national spokesperson for dandruff also had this to say:
“Nobody starts eating before every member of the squad is in place. We're always as a unit, always together and that brings the team closer. We're already strong and I think it will get stronger.”
One of the problems I found at Sydney FC over the years has been the atrocious table manners displayed by the players; elbows on the table, players constantly playing and talking to their food.
Well it’s good to see that the new coach Latislav Lavicka is instilling some culinary discipline.
Are you watching Melbourne Victory?
Now that the players are waiting for the each other so they can eat together, the sky is the limit for Sydney FC this season.
With rumours that Kevin Muscat likes to eat his lunchtime kebabs in the corner with the light switched off, perhaps this new love of group bonding could be Sydney FC’s competitive advantage this year.
In another interview this time with the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) journalist Sebastian Hassett, the chatty Sydney FC striker John Aloisi wanted to quash rumors that he was one of the senior players who got rid of John Kosmina.
“Stop blaming us” the article said.
"There's been a lot of talk that the older players are the ones who had a falling out with Kossie or got rid of Kossie, but I can't understand why people are saying that," Aloisi said.”
The people that are saying “that’ is none other than Michael Cockerill; Sebastian Hassett’s colleague at the SMH.
Here is what Michael Cockerill wrote about the issue in the SMH on April 27, 2009:
“Some of the players who agitated to get rid of John Kosmina were the same players who campaigned to get rid of Branko Culina. Come to think of it, they had a bit to do with the departure of Terry Butcher as well. Player power has been the bane of Sydney FC's short existence.”
I find this quite hilarious really.
The reason why Kossie got sacked is because Sydney FC did not make the finals last season. And the reason that happened is because the senior players and the coach underperformed. So in effect the players where the ones responsible for Kossies departure more because of their poor form rather than their agitation to get a new coach.
So if you underperform does it naturally give you the authority to then call the shots? I would see the players’ power base at that moment would be quite low and nonexistent.
Hopefully Viteslav Lavicka’s ignorance of the clubs politics will help build a united group at Sydney FC one that is not controlled by Lemons.
The main antagonist during last season of the A-League was the injured player, better known as the A-League Lemon.
All A-League clubs have suffered from this problem in the past. The players may look shiny and new from the outside, but inside they are poorly built and likely to break down at any moment.
Step up, Hayden Foxe (actually most of the Perth Squad in the last four seasons) Charlie Miller and Jardel.
Sydney FC have had three big lemons in recent times; Juninho who was as fragile as a new born baby, John Aloisi at times looked like a cartoon character who whose legs where moving quickly but the body remained stationary.
The other Lemon at Sydney FC was Simon Colosimo
This new upcoming season A-league season for Sydney FC is all about atonement.
The senior players especially need to take some responsibility for last season debacle.
If Simon Colisimo plays more than five games this season then he has already bettered last season’s personal best.
The noises coming out of Sydney FC players since they started training with their new Czech coach in the last week have been positive.
Regarding the methods of the new coach Aloisi had this to say during an interview with 442’s John Ritson:
“In some ways it's very similar to the way Guus Hiddink trained us before the World Cup in 2006, intense, a lot of sessions and tactical sessions.”
In football code this means:
“The old coach couldn’t train a monkey to eat bananas”.
The national spokesperson for dandruff also had this to say:
“Nobody starts eating before every member of the squad is in place. We're always as a unit, always together and that brings the team closer. We're already strong and I think it will get stronger.”
One of the problems I found at Sydney FC over the years has been the atrocious table manners displayed by the players; elbows on the table, players constantly playing and talking to their food.
Well it’s good to see that the new coach Latislav Lavicka is instilling some culinary discipline.
Are you watching Melbourne Victory?
Now that the players are waiting for the each other so they can eat together, the sky is the limit for Sydney FC this season.
With rumours that Kevin Muscat likes to eat his lunchtime kebabs in the corner with the light switched off, perhaps this new love of group bonding could be Sydney FC’s competitive advantage this year.
In another interview this time with the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) journalist Sebastian Hassett, the chatty Sydney FC striker John Aloisi wanted to quash rumors that he was one of the senior players who got rid of John Kosmina.
“Stop blaming us” the article said.
"There's been a lot of talk that the older players are the ones who had a falling out with Kossie or got rid of Kossie, but I can't understand why people are saying that," Aloisi said.”
The people that are saying “that’ is none other than Michael Cockerill; Sebastian Hassett’s colleague at the SMH.
Here is what Michael Cockerill wrote about the issue in the SMH on April 27, 2009:
“Some of the players who agitated to get rid of John Kosmina were the same players who campaigned to get rid of Branko Culina. Come to think of it, they had a bit to do with the departure of Terry Butcher as well. Player power has been the bane of Sydney FC's short existence.”
I find this quite hilarious really.
The reason why Kossie got sacked is because Sydney FC did not make the finals last season. And the reason that happened is because the senior players and the coach underperformed. So in effect the players where the ones responsible for Kossies departure more because of their poor form rather than their agitation to get a new coach.
So if you underperform does it naturally give you the authority to then call the shots? I would see the players’ power base at that moment would be quite low and nonexistent.
Hopefully Viteslav Lavicka’s ignorance of the clubs politics will help build a united group at Sydney FC one that is not controlled by Lemons.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Russian Premier League: Matchday 7 Round-Up
Matchday 7 saw the big city derby take place as Dynamo upset in-form Spartak Moscow at home. Zenit were beaten by the giant killers Rostov –Na-Donu and FC Moscow won their fourth league game in a row after accounting for Amkar Perm away.
SaturdayTom Tomsk 2 -1 Terek Grozny
The first game of the round kicked off with tenth-placed Tom Tomsk taking on ninth-placed Terek Grozny at the Trud Stadium.
Sergey Kornilenko opened the scoring for the home side, the Belarus international putting the hosts in front after 27 minutes by finishing off a nice move that split the Terek defence in two.
The Chechen side came back and after some concerted attacking Terek equalised just before half-time, Romanian striker Daniel Panku slotting the ball home on 43 minutes.Tom Tomsk brushed aside the agony of two consecutive losses to FC Moscow and it was their first effort on goal in the second half by Goran Maznov that put them ahead again; the Macedonian’s header on 62 minutes was enough for the home side to grab the victory and send the majority of the 12,000 home fans happy.
Form Guide
Tom Tomsk - LWLDWLW
Points: 7 Position: 9th
Terek Grozny - WDWLLDL
Points: 8 Position: 11th
Spartak Moscow 0 – 2 Dynamo Moscow
The biggest game of the year, between the two biggest Moscow rivals, took place on Saturday.
The setting for this occasion was the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and a healthy crowd of 30,000 were there to see the big derby take place between Spartak and Dynamo Moscow.
There is some fresh history between these two teams as they recently met in the quarter-finals of the Russian Cup. The game ended with Spartak getting thrashed by Dynamo 3-0, which led to the premature end of the Michael Laudrup era, and Dynamo ending a 20-year winless streak against Spartak at their home ground.
First Half
Spartak took control of the game early but could not convert any of their opportunities into goals.
Dynamo scored with their first shot in the 28th minute. The goalscorer for the Blue and Whites was Argentine defender Leandro Fernandez; he smashed a half volley first time that flew into the back of the net. The corner by midfielder Dmitry Kombarov floated invitingly for the Argentine and he had plenty of time to compose himself and line up his close range shot. Spartak keeper Soslan Dzanaev had no chance as the ball smashed into the roof of the net.
Spartak came back and in the 33rd minute their two Brazilians combined well. Welliton ran down the left and made room for a pass that fed the advancing Alex, who lined up a left-footed shot from just outside the box. A lovely first touch gave him the room he needed to take the shot; however, the 27-year-old hit the ball with too much power and it just flew over the bar.
A few moments later some lovely inter-passing down the left again saw Russian international Ivan Saenko in some space for Spartak. He turned to leave his defender in his wake but his cutback from the byline was well defended by Dynamo midfielder Dmitri Kombarov, who belted it away to safety.
Spartak ended the first half attacking but still could not penetrate the resolute Dynamo defence.
Second Half
The sun was shining brightly as the teams ran out for the second half. The stadium was bathed in half sunshine and half shadow.
There were ten minutes gone in the second half before the first chance came. Australian international Luke Wilkshire played a beautiful 40-metre diagonal pass that found half-time substitute Aleksandr Kokorin lurking outside the Spartak box. He dribbled forward and then laid off the ball to team-mate Alexander Kerzhakov who shot on target.
The strike did not really trouble Dzanaev, Sparak’s 22-year-old Russian keeper.The home side finally managed their first shot on target through Alex on 60 minutes, Dinamo keeper Vladimir Gabulov moving well to save low to his left.
Spartak thought they had scored only a minute later as teenager Yevgeni Makeev’s long bomb from outside the box went in the goal. The officials ruled that because Welliton was in front of the Dinamo keeper Vladimir Gabulov as the shot went in, the goal then was to be disallowed for offside.Replays suggested it was the correct decision.
Dynamo then ran down the pitch and almost scored straight after the disallowed Spartak goal. Alexander Kerzhakov motored into the box and then cut the ball back into the feet of team-mate Dmitri Kombarov, who blazed the ball over the bar from six yards out; the 22-year-old Dynamo midfielder really should have done a lot better with that chance.
The game was midway through the second half when Dynamo were on the attack. An audacious turn, which would not have been out of place at a performance of a Russian ballet at the Moscow opera house, by Kerzakhaov gave him room to run down the left wing. The Spartak defence could only stop the 26-year-old by cynical means as the Dynamo striker was stopped just outside the box.
Meanwhile Spartak, who had 60 per cent of possession, had to settle for shooting form distance as Alex found space for a shot in the 77th minute. It simply wasn’t inventive enough to trouble the Dynamo keeper, who saved it easily.With 10 minutes left to go and Spartak looking for the equaliser, Welliton ran into the box and shot at the near post.
The ball went out for a corner after Vladimir Gabulov parried the shot away to safety.Spartak attacked for the last 10 minutes as they tried to find an equaliser but could not find a break in Dynamo’s defence.
Then, right on 90 minutes, a brilliant dummy by Zerkazhov, who showed off his repertoire of skills and tricks in this game, allowed Dmitri Kombarov to cruise into space down the left. He in turn teed up 18-year-old Aleksandr Kokorin to expertly guide the ball into the goal from around the penalty spot.The Dynamo fans screamed and shouted with joy as Dynamo secured their first league win in three games while Spartak boss Valery Karpin suffered his first loss as caretaker coach.
Form Guide
Spartak Moscow – DLWLWWL
Points: 10 Position: 8th
Dynamo Moscow – WWLWLLW
Points: 12 Position: 5th
Amkar Perm 0–1 FC Moscow
FC Moscow secured their fourth RPL win in a row in disposing of Amkar Perm in front of 10,000 fans at the Zvezda Stadium.
The solitary goal was scored by Slovakian striker Martin Jakubko, the 1.9 metre international grabbing the vital goal in the 20th minute.
FC Moscow climb from 6th to equal top after this victory, they share the lead with Rubin Kazan.
Form Guide
Amkar Perm–DLDDWLL
Points: 6 Position: 13th
FC Moscow – LDDWWWW
Points: 14 Position: 2nd
Saturn Moscow 0 –5 Rubin Kazan
Current champions Rubin Kazan got back on to the winners' list and went top of the league after thrashing the Aliens of Saturn in front of 8,000 space men and women at the Saturn Stadium.
Argentinean Alejandro Damian Dominguez beamed himself up the top scorers list as the skilful number 10 grabbed a hat-trick; the goals arriving in the 27th, 43rd and 48th minutes.
The other goals were scored by South African international Macbeth Sibaya, the 31-year-old getting the fourth goal in the 52nd minute followed by Cristian Noboa 85th minute effort.The Aliens are drifting towards a black hole after being without a win in four games.
Form Guide
The Aliens – LLWDLDL
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Rubin Kazan -WDDWWLW
Points: 14 Position: 1st
SundayKryliya Sovetov (Samara) 1–3 CSKA Moscow
The 18,000 at the Metallurg Stadium created a loud and noisy atmosphere for the visit of CSKA Moscow.
Kryliya Soveto Samara, who were top of the league before the game, came into this home match against CSKA having only lost once this season and only conceded one goal.
CSKA were already 10 points off the lead before this game after they lost at home to unfancied Rostov –Na-Donu 2-1 in their last outing.
The army men were happy to see Brazilian international striker Vagner Love return to the starting line up after he missed last week’s loss. He was partnered up front by exciting young Nigerian striker Masul.
For some reason the coach of Samara, Leonid Viktorovich Slutsky, is sometimes known as the Russian Jose Mourinho.
The First Half
The first 15 minutes saw both teams eyed each other up without making any penetrating moves.Then a few moments later the first chance of the game arrived with a free-kick to Krylia Sovetov.
The ball was swung in from the right and the CSKA Moscow keeper Igor Akinfeev had to react quickly so he dived and acrobatically punched the ball away to safety. Punching by keepers is the fashion for the gloved ones these days.
The chances started to come and a noisy home support was helping inspire the home team against CSKA; a raid down the left hand side saw the Krylia Sovetov crowd get to their feet as 27-year-old left-back Silva Leilton found some space in the box, however the Brazilian shot straight at the CSKA keeper Akinfeev.
A raid of its own down the right by CSKA on 20 minutes tested Kryliya Sovetov's defensive organisation but the team from Samara held strong.
Half-way thought the opening half the home team looked likely to score first, but against the run of play CSKA had a break and it was their two strikers who almost engineered the opening goal.
Nigerian striker Masu had acres of space down the right and he took advantage of it and as he got closer to the goal he looked and up and inside was Vagner Love running into the box; not far behind were his blue dreads blowing in the wind.Masu crossed the ball and the Brazilian could only contrive to fluff the shot with a miskick, but the misfired shot almost troubled Eduardo Lobos, the Samara goalkeeper, luckily for the home team the ball just flew safely over the bar.
The quick pace of the game finally delivered a goal in the 36th minute when a long clearance by the home keeper Eduardo Lobos found its way into the CSKA box, the army men’s defenders hesitated and Evgeni Savin pounced for Krylia Sovetov, his weak connection still had enough as the ball as the ball went past the keeper's right hand.
The Samara crowd cheered loudly as the home team were first to open the scoring.CSKA manager Zico was keeping the interpreter busy on the bench as he replaced Nigerian defender Chidi Odiah with Lithuanian international Deividas Semberas a few moments later.
The first half finished with Kryliya Sovetov making another inroad on CSKA’s goal as the away sides defence was in tatters, the score remained 1-0 as the teams went to the break reaching for the oranges.
Second Half
Five minutes in and plumes of black smoke started emanating from the stands as a flare was let off, the culprit perhaps choosing the black variety as a way to mark the occasion for CSKA.The 59th minute saw veteran giant Czech Striker Jan Koller make a nuisance of himself as he almost took out the CSKA goalkeeper, the beanpole attacker competing for a loose ball in the box; but nothing came of it, and the ref wave played on as CSKA were able to keep possession.
Then in the 63rd minute CSKA equalised; an Alan Dzagoev corner found Russian national team defender Vasili Berezutsky running on to the ball, the 24-year-old heading the ball forcefully into the goal for the equaliser.
The goal definitely coming against the run of play.
CSKA now had the momentum and only a couple of minutes later Vagner Love and his long blue dreads gave the army men the lead; CSKA took possession off the home team with an intercept in their own half. The army men ran the ball 30 to 40 metres straight up the field before the Brazilian was given a pass near the top of the box.The Kryliya Sovetov defence stood off the dreaded one, who took the invitation and made some room in the box as he beat a defender, before slotting the ball coolly past Los Lobos, the keeper.
So Kryliya Sovetov tried to get back in the game and started leaving holes open, then in the 78th minute CSKA went through one of them and Vagner Love should have scored on the break only for his tame shot to go straight at Los Lobos.
Some late drama ensued as CSKA had a man sent off in the 81st minute. Georgi Shchennikov stupidly pulled the shirt off a Kryliya Sovetov player, the whistle was then blown for the foul and the CSKA defender petulantly kicked the ball away. Referee Vladimir Pettay had no option but to give the CSKA defender two yellow cards for that mad act.
The army boys then sealed the win with a late strike to Moussa Maazou, the Nigerian taping in after latching onto a rebound, after Vagner Love’s initial shot came back off the keeper.The final score 3-1 in favour of CSKA Moscow.
CSKA Moscow climb to 3rd place, only one point off the leaders Rubin Kazan and FC Moscow. Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) go down to fourth place following this loss.
Form Guide
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) - WWLWDWL
Points: 13 Position: 4th
CSKA Moscow – WLDWWLW
Points: 13 Position: 3rd
Rostov –Na-Donu 2–1 Zenit St Petersburg
Rostov –Na-Donu claimed their second big scalp in a row following last week’s defeat of CSKA Moscow, as this time around they also took care of Zenit St Petersburg.
Dmitri Akimov put the home side up in the 55th minute. An action-packed last 10 minutes saw Zenit equalise with a penalty. The referee blew his whistle for a handball in Rostov's box, and with seven minutes of normal time remaining, substitute Pavel Pogrebnyak levelled for Zenit St Petersburg from the spot.It’s the second week in succession the Russian international has scored after coming on as a substitute.
It was then left to Moldovan international striker Alexandru Gatcan to steal the points for home side, the 25 year old scoring in the 86th minute after being let in by Dmitri Akimov to send the 15,000 home fans at the SKA SKVO Stadium delirious.
This defeat was Zenit’s first loss of the season and it sees them drop down to 6th after being second last week. FC Rostov-Na –Donu climb up three places to 7th spot.
Form Guide
FC Rostov-Na -Donu: DDWLDWW
Points: 12, Position: 7th
Zenit St Petersburg - DWWDDWL
Points: 12 Position: 6th
Lokomotiv Moscow 1– 0 Spartak Nalchik
The railway men of Lokomotiv Moscow got their first win in four games to finally give the almost 12,000 home fans at the Lokomotiv Stadium some joy.Midfielder Tomislav Dujmovic scored on 65 minutes to present new caretaker coach Vladimir Maminov with a home victory in his first game in charge; newly sacked head coach Rashid Rakhimov still did not have time to move his possessions out of his old office.
The win sees the railway men move up three places to 10th position.
Form Guide
Spartak Nalchik – LDLDLWL
Points: 5 Position: 14th
Lokomotiv Moscow – DDWLDLW
Points: 9 Position: 10th
FC Khimki 2 –2 Kuban Krasnodar
The Rodina Stadium was the venue for this high scoring affair. The 6,000 home fans would have been relieved their team got a point as second half substitute Serhiy Pilipchuk rescued a draw for the last placed team in the 90th minute.Striker Aleksandr Antipenko opened the scoring for the home side putting Khimki 1-0 up in the 11th minute.
No more goals were scored until late in the second half; Maksim Zhavnerchik equalised for the Kubansty eight minutes after he came on as a substitute, the goal arriving in the 71st minute.Defender Alan Kasaev thought he scored the winner for the Canaries in the 79th minute only for Khimki to equalise at the death, the final score 2-2.
It was Khimki’s first point since match day one.
Form Guide
FC Khimki - DLLLLLD
Points: 2 Position: 16th
FC Kuban Krasnodar - LWLDLWD
Points: 8, Position: 12th
The Leaders:
Rubin Kazan, FC Moscow 14 points, CSKA Moscow points Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) 13 points,
Alejandro Damian Dominguez is top scorer with 5 goals followed by eight others on three goals.
SaturdayTom Tomsk 2 -1 Terek Grozny
The first game of the round kicked off with tenth-placed Tom Tomsk taking on ninth-placed Terek Grozny at the Trud Stadium.
Sergey Kornilenko opened the scoring for the home side, the Belarus international putting the hosts in front after 27 minutes by finishing off a nice move that split the Terek defence in two.
The Chechen side came back and after some concerted attacking Terek equalised just before half-time, Romanian striker Daniel Panku slotting the ball home on 43 minutes.Tom Tomsk brushed aside the agony of two consecutive losses to FC Moscow and it was their first effort on goal in the second half by Goran Maznov that put them ahead again; the Macedonian’s header on 62 minutes was enough for the home side to grab the victory and send the majority of the 12,000 home fans happy.
Form Guide
Tom Tomsk - LWLDWLW
Points: 7 Position: 9th
Terek Grozny - WDWLLDL
Points: 8 Position: 11th
Spartak Moscow 0 – 2 Dynamo Moscow
The biggest game of the year, between the two biggest Moscow rivals, took place on Saturday.
The setting for this occasion was the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow and a healthy crowd of 30,000 were there to see the big derby take place between Spartak and Dynamo Moscow.
There is some fresh history between these two teams as they recently met in the quarter-finals of the Russian Cup. The game ended with Spartak getting thrashed by Dynamo 3-0, which led to the premature end of the Michael Laudrup era, and Dynamo ending a 20-year winless streak against Spartak at their home ground.
First Half
Spartak took control of the game early but could not convert any of their opportunities into goals.
Dynamo scored with their first shot in the 28th minute. The goalscorer for the Blue and Whites was Argentine defender Leandro Fernandez; he smashed a half volley first time that flew into the back of the net. The corner by midfielder Dmitry Kombarov floated invitingly for the Argentine and he had plenty of time to compose himself and line up his close range shot. Spartak keeper Soslan Dzanaev had no chance as the ball smashed into the roof of the net.
Spartak came back and in the 33rd minute their two Brazilians combined well. Welliton ran down the left and made room for a pass that fed the advancing Alex, who lined up a left-footed shot from just outside the box. A lovely first touch gave him the room he needed to take the shot; however, the 27-year-old hit the ball with too much power and it just flew over the bar.
A few moments later some lovely inter-passing down the left again saw Russian international Ivan Saenko in some space for Spartak. He turned to leave his defender in his wake but his cutback from the byline was well defended by Dynamo midfielder Dmitri Kombarov, who belted it away to safety.
Spartak ended the first half attacking but still could not penetrate the resolute Dynamo defence.
Second Half
The sun was shining brightly as the teams ran out for the second half. The stadium was bathed in half sunshine and half shadow.
There were ten minutes gone in the second half before the first chance came. Australian international Luke Wilkshire played a beautiful 40-metre diagonal pass that found half-time substitute Aleksandr Kokorin lurking outside the Spartak box. He dribbled forward and then laid off the ball to team-mate Alexander Kerzhakov who shot on target.
The strike did not really trouble Dzanaev, Sparak’s 22-year-old Russian keeper.The home side finally managed their first shot on target through Alex on 60 minutes, Dinamo keeper Vladimir Gabulov moving well to save low to his left.
Spartak thought they had scored only a minute later as teenager Yevgeni Makeev’s long bomb from outside the box went in the goal. The officials ruled that because Welliton was in front of the Dinamo keeper Vladimir Gabulov as the shot went in, the goal then was to be disallowed for offside.Replays suggested it was the correct decision.
Dynamo then ran down the pitch and almost scored straight after the disallowed Spartak goal. Alexander Kerzhakov motored into the box and then cut the ball back into the feet of team-mate Dmitri Kombarov, who blazed the ball over the bar from six yards out; the 22-year-old Dynamo midfielder really should have done a lot better with that chance.
The game was midway through the second half when Dynamo were on the attack. An audacious turn, which would not have been out of place at a performance of a Russian ballet at the Moscow opera house, by Kerzakhaov gave him room to run down the left wing. The Spartak defence could only stop the 26-year-old by cynical means as the Dynamo striker was stopped just outside the box.
Meanwhile Spartak, who had 60 per cent of possession, had to settle for shooting form distance as Alex found space for a shot in the 77th minute. It simply wasn’t inventive enough to trouble the Dynamo keeper, who saved it easily.With 10 minutes left to go and Spartak looking for the equaliser, Welliton ran into the box and shot at the near post.
The ball went out for a corner after Vladimir Gabulov parried the shot away to safety.Spartak attacked for the last 10 minutes as they tried to find an equaliser but could not find a break in Dynamo’s defence.
Then, right on 90 minutes, a brilliant dummy by Zerkazhov, who showed off his repertoire of skills and tricks in this game, allowed Dmitri Kombarov to cruise into space down the left. He in turn teed up 18-year-old Aleksandr Kokorin to expertly guide the ball into the goal from around the penalty spot.The Dynamo fans screamed and shouted with joy as Dynamo secured their first league win in three games while Spartak boss Valery Karpin suffered his first loss as caretaker coach.
Form Guide
Spartak Moscow – DLWLWWL
Points: 10 Position: 8th
Dynamo Moscow – WWLWLLW
Points: 12 Position: 5th
Amkar Perm 0–1 FC Moscow
FC Moscow secured their fourth RPL win in a row in disposing of Amkar Perm in front of 10,000 fans at the Zvezda Stadium.
The solitary goal was scored by Slovakian striker Martin Jakubko, the 1.9 metre international grabbing the vital goal in the 20th minute.
FC Moscow climb from 6th to equal top after this victory, they share the lead with Rubin Kazan.
Form Guide
Amkar Perm–DLDDWLL
Points: 6 Position: 13th
FC Moscow – LDDWWWW
Points: 14 Position: 2nd
Saturn Moscow 0 –5 Rubin Kazan
Current champions Rubin Kazan got back on to the winners' list and went top of the league after thrashing the Aliens of Saturn in front of 8,000 space men and women at the Saturn Stadium.
Argentinean Alejandro Damian Dominguez beamed himself up the top scorers list as the skilful number 10 grabbed a hat-trick; the goals arriving in the 27th, 43rd and 48th minutes.
The other goals were scored by South African international Macbeth Sibaya, the 31-year-old getting the fourth goal in the 52nd minute followed by Cristian Noboa 85th minute effort.The Aliens are drifting towards a black hole after being without a win in four games.
Form Guide
The Aliens – LLWDLDL
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Rubin Kazan -WDDWWLW
Points: 14 Position: 1st
SundayKryliya Sovetov (Samara) 1–3 CSKA Moscow
The 18,000 at the Metallurg Stadium created a loud and noisy atmosphere for the visit of CSKA Moscow.
Kryliya Soveto Samara, who were top of the league before the game, came into this home match against CSKA having only lost once this season and only conceded one goal.
CSKA were already 10 points off the lead before this game after they lost at home to unfancied Rostov –Na-Donu 2-1 in their last outing.
The army men were happy to see Brazilian international striker Vagner Love return to the starting line up after he missed last week’s loss. He was partnered up front by exciting young Nigerian striker Masul.
For some reason the coach of Samara, Leonid Viktorovich Slutsky, is sometimes known as the Russian Jose Mourinho.
The First Half
The first 15 minutes saw both teams eyed each other up without making any penetrating moves.Then a few moments later the first chance of the game arrived with a free-kick to Krylia Sovetov.
The ball was swung in from the right and the CSKA Moscow keeper Igor Akinfeev had to react quickly so he dived and acrobatically punched the ball away to safety. Punching by keepers is the fashion for the gloved ones these days.
The chances started to come and a noisy home support was helping inspire the home team against CSKA; a raid down the left hand side saw the Krylia Sovetov crowd get to their feet as 27-year-old left-back Silva Leilton found some space in the box, however the Brazilian shot straight at the CSKA keeper Akinfeev.
A raid of its own down the right by CSKA on 20 minutes tested Kryliya Sovetov's defensive organisation but the team from Samara held strong.
Half-way thought the opening half the home team looked likely to score first, but against the run of play CSKA had a break and it was their two strikers who almost engineered the opening goal.
Nigerian striker Masu had acres of space down the right and he took advantage of it and as he got closer to the goal he looked and up and inside was Vagner Love running into the box; not far behind were his blue dreads blowing in the wind.Masu crossed the ball and the Brazilian could only contrive to fluff the shot with a miskick, but the misfired shot almost troubled Eduardo Lobos, the Samara goalkeeper, luckily for the home team the ball just flew safely over the bar.
The quick pace of the game finally delivered a goal in the 36th minute when a long clearance by the home keeper Eduardo Lobos found its way into the CSKA box, the army men’s defenders hesitated and Evgeni Savin pounced for Krylia Sovetov, his weak connection still had enough as the ball as the ball went past the keeper's right hand.
The Samara crowd cheered loudly as the home team were first to open the scoring.CSKA manager Zico was keeping the interpreter busy on the bench as he replaced Nigerian defender Chidi Odiah with Lithuanian international Deividas Semberas a few moments later.
The first half finished with Kryliya Sovetov making another inroad on CSKA’s goal as the away sides defence was in tatters, the score remained 1-0 as the teams went to the break reaching for the oranges.
Second Half
Five minutes in and plumes of black smoke started emanating from the stands as a flare was let off, the culprit perhaps choosing the black variety as a way to mark the occasion for CSKA.The 59th minute saw veteran giant Czech Striker Jan Koller make a nuisance of himself as he almost took out the CSKA goalkeeper, the beanpole attacker competing for a loose ball in the box; but nothing came of it, and the ref wave played on as CSKA were able to keep possession.
Then in the 63rd minute CSKA equalised; an Alan Dzagoev corner found Russian national team defender Vasili Berezutsky running on to the ball, the 24-year-old heading the ball forcefully into the goal for the equaliser.
The goal definitely coming against the run of play.
CSKA now had the momentum and only a couple of minutes later Vagner Love and his long blue dreads gave the army men the lead; CSKA took possession off the home team with an intercept in their own half. The army men ran the ball 30 to 40 metres straight up the field before the Brazilian was given a pass near the top of the box.The Kryliya Sovetov defence stood off the dreaded one, who took the invitation and made some room in the box as he beat a defender, before slotting the ball coolly past Los Lobos, the keeper.
So Kryliya Sovetov tried to get back in the game and started leaving holes open, then in the 78th minute CSKA went through one of them and Vagner Love should have scored on the break only for his tame shot to go straight at Los Lobos.
Some late drama ensued as CSKA had a man sent off in the 81st minute. Georgi Shchennikov stupidly pulled the shirt off a Kryliya Sovetov player, the whistle was then blown for the foul and the CSKA defender petulantly kicked the ball away. Referee Vladimir Pettay had no option but to give the CSKA defender two yellow cards for that mad act.
The army boys then sealed the win with a late strike to Moussa Maazou, the Nigerian taping in after latching onto a rebound, after Vagner Love’s initial shot came back off the keeper.The final score 3-1 in favour of CSKA Moscow.
CSKA Moscow climb to 3rd place, only one point off the leaders Rubin Kazan and FC Moscow. Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) go down to fourth place following this loss.
Form Guide
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) - WWLWDWL
Points: 13 Position: 4th
CSKA Moscow – WLDWWLW
Points: 13 Position: 3rd
Rostov –Na-Donu 2–1 Zenit St Petersburg
Rostov –Na-Donu claimed their second big scalp in a row following last week’s defeat of CSKA Moscow, as this time around they also took care of Zenit St Petersburg.
Dmitri Akimov put the home side up in the 55th minute. An action-packed last 10 minutes saw Zenit equalise with a penalty. The referee blew his whistle for a handball in Rostov's box, and with seven minutes of normal time remaining, substitute Pavel Pogrebnyak levelled for Zenit St Petersburg from the spot.It’s the second week in succession the Russian international has scored after coming on as a substitute.
It was then left to Moldovan international striker Alexandru Gatcan to steal the points for home side, the 25 year old scoring in the 86th minute after being let in by Dmitri Akimov to send the 15,000 home fans at the SKA SKVO Stadium delirious.
This defeat was Zenit’s first loss of the season and it sees them drop down to 6th after being second last week. FC Rostov-Na –Donu climb up three places to 7th spot.
Form Guide
FC Rostov-Na -Donu: DDWLDWW
Points: 12, Position: 7th
Zenit St Petersburg - DWWDDWL
Points: 12 Position: 6th
Lokomotiv Moscow 1– 0 Spartak Nalchik
The railway men of Lokomotiv Moscow got their first win in four games to finally give the almost 12,000 home fans at the Lokomotiv Stadium some joy.Midfielder Tomislav Dujmovic scored on 65 minutes to present new caretaker coach Vladimir Maminov with a home victory in his first game in charge; newly sacked head coach Rashid Rakhimov still did not have time to move his possessions out of his old office.
The win sees the railway men move up three places to 10th position.
Form Guide
Spartak Nalchik – LDLDLWL
Points: 5 Position: 14th
Lokomotiv Moscow – DDWLDLW
Points: 9 Position: 10th
FC Khimki 2 –2 Kuban Krasnodar
The Rodina Stadium was the venue for this high scoring affair. The 6,000 home fans would have been relieved their team got a point as second half substitute Serhiy Pilipchuk rescued a draw for the last placed team in the 90th minute.Striker Aleksandr Antipenko opened the scoring for the home side putting Khimki 1-0 up in the 11th minute.
No more goals were scored until late in the second half; Maksim Zhavnerchik equalised for the Kubansty eight minutes after he came on as a substitute, the goal arriving in the 71st minute.Defender Alan Kasaev thought he scored the winner for the Canaries in the 79th minute only for Khimki to equalise at the death, the final score 2-2.
It was Khimki’s first point since match day one.
Form Guide
FC Khimki - DLLLLLD
Points: 2 Position: 16th
FC Kuban Krasnodar - LWLDLWD
Points: 8, Position: 12th
The Leaders:
Rubin Kazan, FC Moscow 14 points, CSKA Moscow points Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) 13 points,
Alejandro Damian Dominguez is top scorer with 5 goals followed by eight others on three goals.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Russian Premier League: Matchday 7 Preview
It is often said that being a top line coach is like getting into a game of Russian Roulette, and so it was that the week’s major news in Russian football was the announcement by Lokomotiv Moscow that head coach Rashid Rakhimov was told by his employer to pack up his things and leave the premises quietly.
Perhaps the stimulus for the sacking came after losing to 14th placed Kuban Krasnodar during match day 6; couple that with the railway men only achieving one win from six games played so far, and the writing was on the wall for Rakhimov.
With caretaker coaches being in vogue at the moment, Vladimir Maminov, former midfielder for Lokomotiv, has been named boss for the next two months as they look for a replacement.
There was speculation in the Russian media this week with the Tvoi Den tabloid suggesting that the struggling English Premier League side Newcastle United have made enquiries into the possibility of signing Dynamo Moscow defender Denis Kolodin.
The paper said Dynamo had told Newcastle they would be willing to let the 27-year-old Russian international go for around $9 million, half the player's asking price for Russian clubs.
With Russian football on a roll thanks to former Zenit St Petersburg attacker Andrey Arshavin tearing up the English Premier League, the Russian national team success at Euro 2008 and the moonlighting Russian manager Guus Hiddink reviving Chelsea’s season, the speculation on Russian players moving to the EPL will only grow as the Russian Premier League season continues.
The other Russian star in the EPL is Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who has been having a tough time cementing a first team place recently and faces stiff competition from Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent.
Pavlyuchenko joined Tottenham from Spartak Moscow last summer, and has scored 14 goals in his debut season.Oleg Romantsev, the former manager of Spartak Moscow from 1989 to 2001, during which time the club developed a technical short-passing game that won them eight Russian titles and one Soviet championship, had some choice words to say about the striker’s decision to go to Tottenham, as reported by RIA Novosti this week.
Romantsev was quoted as saying “Pavlyuchenko would find it difficult to cement a first-team place at Tottenham Hotspur due to the club's kick-and-run tactics.”“It will be tough for Roman at Tottenham, as the club is not for him. They play a physical style of football with lots of battling," the 55-year-old trainer, who has recently returned to Spartak as trainer-consultant, told the Trud newspaper."
That kind of football also has a right to exist - at an amateur level," Romantsev added.
"Pavlyuchenko is used to more technical football," Romanstev, who left Spartak before the striker joined the club, also told the paper. "[Andrei] Arshavin was luckier."He joined Arsenal, a club that plays in the Spartak style - technical, with lots of short passes and running and unorthodox moves."
With Arshavin grabbing all the headlines recently with his sublime four goals against Liverpool; Pavlyuchenko has struggled with an injury and has managed less than 45 minutes of football in Tottenham's last seven games.
The games to watch out for on match day 7 are:
The old city derby on Saturday between a rejuvenated Spartak Moscow and out of form Dynamo Moscow, and on Sunday, current surprise leaders of the RPL, Kryliya Sovetov take on fifth placed CSKA Moscow.
Fixtures Matchday 7 (all kick off times GMT)
Saturday, May 2 2009
8:30 Tom Tomsk - Terek Grozny
11:00 Spartak Moscow – Dinamo Moscow
13:30 Amkar Perm – FC Moscow
16:00 Saturn Moscow – Rubin Kazan
Sunday, May 3, 2009
10:00 Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) – CSKA Moscow
12:15 Rostov –Na-Donu – Zenit St Petersburg
14:30 Lokomotiv Moscow – Spartak Nalchik
16:45 FC Khimki – Kuban Krasnodar
SATURDAY
Tom Tomsk - Terek Grozny
The first game of the round kicks off with 10th placed Tom Tomsk who are celebrating their 100th year birthday this season taking on 9th placed Terek Grozny from Chechnya.
Last week Tom Tomsk, who is based in Siberia, were beaten by FC Moscow twice; once in the league and the other time in the Russian Cup.
Terek Grozny has not won in their past three games, and they could only manage a point against the Aliens of Saturn Moscow last week.
Form Guide
Tom Tomsk - LWLDWL
Points: 4 Position: 10th
Terek Grozny - WDWLLD
Points: 8 Position: 9th
Spartak Moscow – Dynamo Moscow
The biggest game of the round sees the big Moscow derby take place between Spartak and Dynamo Moscow.
Care-taker coach Valery Karpin has taken over the training duties and former Russian national coach Oleg Romantsev is on board as a consultant coach; both men have seen Spartak win two consecutive games since the departure of Michael Laudrup.
The 2-0 away win against current champions Rubin Kazan last week, could be a defining moment in their season even at this early stage.
Dynamo have hit the opposite trajectory has they have lost their past two games. Last outing in the RPL was especially unpleasant as they lost at home to Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) and their position in the RPL also suffered as they went from 4th to 7th and the team from Samara went top.
Spartak’s two Brazilian strikers Alex and Wellington have been in good form of late, while Alexander Kerzhakov should be the danger man for Dynamo.
Form Guide
Spartak Moscow – DLWLWW
Points: 10 Position: 6th
Dynamo Moscow – WWLWLL
Points: 9 Position: 7th
Amkar Perm – FC Moscow
Amkar Perm where thrashed by 4-1 away to Spartak Nalchik last week while FC Moscow celebrated their fourth win in a row against Tom Tomsk.
FC Moscow is the form side in Russian football at the moment, and with Argentinean Hector “Braca” Bracamonte leading the attack Amkar Perm who are placed in lowly 12th will be hoping for some mercy.The question is will FC Moscow be so kind?
Form Guide
Amkar Perm–DLDDWL
Points: 6 Position: 12th
FC Moscow – LDDWWW
Points: 11 Position: 6th
Saturn Moscow – Rubin Kazan
The Aliens are not having such a good time on earth at the moment, with only one win so far and hovering in second last place; perhaps all that travelling to and from Saturn are draining the men from space?
Rubin Kazan lost the right to call themselves undefeated as they were beaten for the first time this season at home to Spartak Moscow.Rubin also fell to earth as they were pushed into third after that loss.
FORM GUIDE
The Aliens – LLWDLD
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Rubin Kazan -WDDWWL
Points: 11 Position: 3rd
SUNDAY
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) – CSKA Moscow
The team from Samara have had their fans singing “we are top of the league” all week and they will hope that singing will continue against an out of sorts CSKA Moscow.Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) had an excellent result against Dynamo Moscow and had Czech veteran striker Jan Koller to thank as he scored in last week’s 1-0 win.
The army men of CSKA lost at home to un-fancied Rostov –Na-Donu 2-1in their last outing.The current leaders have the home advantage in this game and Zico, who is coach of CSKA, will be hoping to atone for his team’s failings last week.
Form Guide
CSKA Moscow – WLDWWL
Points: 10 Position: 5th
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) - WWLWDW
Points: 13 Position: 1st
Rostov –Na-Donu – Zenit St Petersburg
Rostov –Na-Donu climbed to eighth after match day six.
Zenit St Petersburg beat FC Khmki in a high scoring affair 4-2 last round, former boss of South Korea Dick Advocaat replaced Russian national team player Pavel Pogrebnyak with Turkish star Fatih Tekke for that game.Both players got on the scoresheet and will look to add to their seasons tally against bottom placed Khimki.
Form Guide
FC Rostov-Na -Donu: DDWLDW
Points: 9 Position: 10
Zenit St Petersburg - DWWDDW
Points: 12 Position: 2
Lokomotiv Moscow – Spartak Nalchik
As mentioned above the owners of the railway men Lokomotiv Moscow, took last week’s loss to Kuban Krasnodar as a signal to send head coach Rashid Rakhimov into the coaches’ departure lounge.The main question for this game is whether new caretaker coach - Vladimir Maminov - can inspire his team to a win against Spartak Nalchick.
While a new coach can bring new ideas and enthusiasm, a positive result in the game against Spartak Nalchick is not a given as they put four goals past Amkar Perm last week.
Form Guide
Spartak Nalchik – LDLDLW
Points: 5 Position: 14th
Lokomotiv Moscow – DDWLDL
Points: 6 Position: 13th
FC Khimki – Kuban Krasnodar
FC Khimki is dead last; they have conceded 18 goals in six games.The canaries of Kuban Krasnodar put Lokomotiv Moscow coach out of work after beating them 1-0 during match day six.The Ghanaian national team midfielder, Haminu Draman, won the game for Kuban as the 23-year-old inflicted a painful moment for the army boys scoring in the final minute of the game.
Khimki may park the bus to stop the goals, while the Kubantsy will be looking to inflict another coaches job loss for the second week in a row.I suggest coach of Khimki Konstantin Sarsania check the barrel to make sure it’s empty.
Form Guide
FC Khimki - DLLLLL
Points: 1 Position: 16th
FC Kuban Krasnodar - LWLDLW
Points: 7, Position: 11th
Con Stamocostas, Goal.com
Perhaps the stimulus for the sacking came after losing to 14th placed Kuban Krasnodar during match day 6; couple that with the railway men only achieving one win from six games played so far, and the writing was on the wall for Rakhimov.
With caretaker coaches being in vogue at the moment, Vladimir Maminov, former midfielder for Lokomotiv, has been named boss for the next two months as they look for a replacement.
There was speculation in the Russian media this week with the Tvoi Den tabloid suggesting that the struggling English Premier League side Newcastle United have made enquiries into the possibility of signing Dynamo Moscow defender Denis Kolodin.
The paper said Dynamo had told Newcastle they would be willing to let the 27-year-old Russian international go for around $9 million, half the player's asking price for Russian clubs.
With Russian football on a roll thanks to former Zenit St Petersburg attacker Andrey Arshavin tearing up the English Premier League, the Russian national team success at Euro 2008 and the moonlighting Russian manager Guus Hiddink reviving Chelsea’s season, the speculation on Russian players moving to the EPL will only grow as the Russian Premier League season continues.
The other Russian star in the EPL is Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who has been having a tough time cementing a first team place recently and faces stiff competition from Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent.
Pavlyuchenko joined Tottenham from Spartak Moscow last summer, and has scored 14 goals in his debut season.Oleg Romantsev, the former manager of Spartak Moscow from 1989 to 2001, during which time the club developed a technical short-passing game that won them eight Russian titles and one Soviet championship, had some choice words to say about the striker’s decision to go to Tottenham, as reported by RIA Novosti this week.
Romantsev was quoted as saying “Pavlyuchenko would find it difficult to cement a first-team place at Tottenham Hotspur due to the club's kick-and-run tactics.”“It will be tough for Roman at Tottenham, as the club is not for him. They play a physical style of football with lots of battling," the 55-year-old trainer, who has recently returned to Spartak as trainer-consultant, told the Trud newspaper."
That kind of football also has a right to exist - at an amateur level," Romantsev added.
"Pavlyuchenko is used to more technical football," Romanstev, who left Spartak before the striker joined the club, also told the paper. "[Andrei] Arshavin was luckier."He joined Arsenal, a club that plays in the Spartak style - technical, with lots of short passes and running and unorthodox moves."
With Arshavin grabbing all the headlines recently with his sublime four goals against Liverpool; Pavlyuchenko has struggled with an injury and has managed less than 45 minutes of football in Tottenham's last seven games.
The games to watch out for on match day 7 are:
The old city derby on Saturday between a rejuvenated Spartak Moscow and out of form Dynamo Moscow, and on Sunday, current surprise leaders of the RPL, Kryliya Sovetov take on fifth placed CSKA Moscow.
Fixtures Matchday 7 (all kick off times GMT)
Saturday, May 2 2009
8:30 Tom Tomsk - Terek Grozny
11:00 Spartak Moscow – Dinamo Moscow
13:30 Amkar Perm – FC Moscow
16:00 Saturn Moscow – Rubin Kazan
Sunday, May 3, 2009
10:00 Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) – CSKA Moscow
12:15 Rostov –Na-Donu – Zenit St Petersburg
14:30 Lokomotiv Moscow – Spartak Nalchik
16:45 FC Khimki – Kuban Krasnodar
SATURDAY
Tom Tomsk - Terek Grozny
The first game of the round kicks off with 10th placed Tom Tomsk who are celebrating their 100th year birthday this season taking on 9th placed Terek Grozny from Chechnya.
Last week Tom Tomsk, who is based in Siberia, were beaten by FC Moscow twice; once in the league and the other time in the Russian Cup.
Terek Grozny has not won in their past three games, and they could only manage a point against the Aliens of Saturn Moscow last week.
Form Guide
Tom Tomsk - LWLDWL
Points: 4 Position: 10th
Terek Grozny - WDWLLD
Points: 8 Position: 9th
Spartak Moscow – Dynamo Moscow
The biggest game of the round sees the big Moscow derby take place between Spartak and Dynamo Moscow.
Care-taker coach Valery Karpin has taken over the training duties and former Russian national coach Oleg Romantsev is on board as a consultant coach; both men have seen Spartak win two consecutive games since the departure of Michael Laudrup.
The 2-0 away win against current champions Rubin Kazan last week, could be a defining moment in their season even at this early stage.
Dynamo have hit the opposite trajectory has they have lost their past two games. Last outing in the RPL was especially unpleasant as they lost at home to Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) and their position in the RPL also suffered as they went from 4th to 7th and the team from Samara went top.
Spartak’s two Brazilian strikers Alex and Wellington have been in good form of late, while Alexander Kerzhakov should be the danger man for Dynamo.
Form Guide
Spartak Moscow – DLWLWW
Points: 10 Position: 6th
Dynamo Moscow – WWLWLL
Points: 9 Position: 7th
Amkar Perm – FC Moscow
Amkar Perm where thrashed by 4-1 away to Spartak Nalchik last week while FC Moscow celebrated their fourth win in a row against Tom Tomsk.
FC Moscow is the form side in Russian football at the moment, and with Argentinean Hector “Braca” Bracamonte leading the attack Amkar Perm who are placed in lowly 12th will be hoping for some mercy.The question is will FC Moscow be so kind?
Form Guide
Amkar Perm–DLDDWL
Points: 6 Position: 12th
FC Moscow – LDDWWW
Points: 11 Position: 6th
Saturn Moscow – Rubin Kazan
The Aliens are not having such a good time on earth at the moment, with only one win so far and hovering in second last place; perhaps all that travelling to and from Saturn are draining the men from space?
Rubin Kazan lost the right to call themselves undefeated as they were beaten for the first time this season at home to Spartak Moscow.Rubin also fell to earth as they were pushed into third after that loss.
FORM GUIDE
The Aliens – LLWDLD
Points: 5 Position: 15th
Rubin Kazan -WDDWWL
Points: 11 Position: 3rd
SUNDAY
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) – CSKA Moscow
The team from Samara have had their fans singing “we are top of the league” all week and they will hope that singing will continue against an out of sorts CSKA Moscow.Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) had an excellent result against Dynamo Moscow and had Czech veteran striker Jan Koller to thank as he scored in last week’s 1-0 win.
The army men of CSKA lost at home to un-fancied Rostov –Na-Donu 2-1in their last outing.The current leaders have the home advantage in this game and Zico, who is coach of CSKA, will be hoping to atone for his team’s failings last week.
Form Guide
CSKA Moscow – WLDWWL
Points: 10 Position: 5th
Kryliya Sovetov (Samara) - WWLWDW
Points: 13 Position: 1st
Rostov –Na-Donu – Zenit St Petersburg
Rostov –Na-Donu climbed to eighth after match day six.
Zenit St Petersburg beat FC Khmki in a high scoring affair 4-2 last round, former boss of South Korea Dick Advocaat replaced Russian national team player Pavel Pogrebnyak with Turkish star Fatih Tekke for that game.Both players got on the scoresheet and will look to add to their seasons tally against bottom placed Khimki.
Form Guide
FC Rostov-Na -Donu: DDWLDW
Points: 9 Position: 10
Zenit St Petersburg - DWWDDW
Points: 12 Position: 2
Lokomotiv Moscow – Spartak Nalchik
As mentioned above the owners of the railway men Lokomotiv Moscow, took last week’s loss to Kuban Krasnodar as a signal to send head coach Rashid Rakhimov into the coaches’ departure lounge.The main question for this game is whether new caretaker coach - Vladimir Maminov - can inspire his team to a win against Spartak Nalchick.
While a new coach can bring new ideas and enthusiasm, a positive result in the game against Spartak Nalchick is not a given as they put four goals past Amkar Perm last week.
Form Guide
Spartak Nalchik – LDLDLW
Points: 5 Position: 14th
Lokomotiv Moscow – DDWLDL
Points: 6 Position: 13th
FC Khimki – Kuban Krasnodar
FC Khimki is dead last; they have conceded 18 goals in six games.The canaries of Kuban Krasnodar put Lokomotiv Moscow coach out of work after beating them 1-0 during match day six.The Ghanaian national team midfielder, Haminu Draman, won the game for Kuban as the 23-year-old inflicted a painful moment for the army boys scoring in the final minute of the game.
Khimki may park the bus to stop the goals, while the Kubantsy will be looking to inflict another coaches job loss for the second week in a row.I suggest coach of Khimki Konstantin Sarsania check the barrel to make sure it’s empty.
Form Guide
FC Khimki - DLLLLL
Points: 1 Position: 16th
FC Kuban Krasnodar - LWLDLW
Points: 7, Position: 11th
Con Stamocostas, Goal.com
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