There is a soap box drama happening at ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO which is worth a post for all the
Spanish Football Sports readers. After attempting to renew the contract of 27 year old forward
FERNANDO LLORENTE, the player has announced to his Club President that he does not wish to continue
another season.
Atletico Madrid need to secure Champions League football next season if they are to hang on to
striker Radamel Falcao, club president Miguel Angel Gil
The Colombia forward scored two stunning goals to help Atletico beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the
Europa League final on Wednesday, finishing the tournament as top scorer for the second season in a
row, with 12 goals.
Is Pep Guardiola's Barcelona reign coming to an end?
That was the question after Chelsea on Tuesday ended Barcelona's attempt to win back-to-back
Champions League titles, claiming a 3-2 aggregate triumph over Guardiola's side in the semifinal.
The loss came three days after Real Madrid defeated Barcelona, making it unlikely the Catalans will
repeat as La Liga champions either.
In the initial response to the announcement that work would soon begin on a ridiculous $1
billion Real Madrid-themed resort island in the United Arab Emirates, the focus was obviously on
talk of brand growth and jokes about Pepe. But now that the plan has progressed and the foundation
stone has been laid, Marca has noticed a tiny but interesting change Real Madrid made for this
project.
The Champions League quarter-finals are upon us and as if to say "Come at me, bro!",
Cristiano Ronaldo visited his hairstylist again to get new hair carvings done. You
know, because the two lines represent his new goals : To score twice at every
match from today AND outshine Messi's final goal tally, ideally
containing the number "2" in it.
Real Madrid has been known to push the envelope, whether it be with luring the world's top
players, or signing expressive coaches in an effort to remain at the forefront of world soccer.
What the club has up its sleeve now certainly ups the ante in that regard.
The Spanish power unveiled plans for a $1 billion island resort in the United Arab Emirates that
is due to open in January, 2015.
Mayhem continues to reign at Racing Santander as coach Juan Carlos Unzue and Director of
Football Manolo Saiz look set to be axed from the club.
Unzue and Saiz both signed contracts with the Racing club earlier this summer on June 22, with
Saiz agreeing to stay at the club in his Director of Football role for another three years.
Andres Iniesta got married to his long-term partner Xavi Anna Ortiz in a big ol' castle over the
weekend and an endless slew of footballing talent turned out for the occasion; with European and
World champions, Barca teammates past and present and even club president Sandro Rosell
congregating in Tarragona for the wee fella's big day.
The most successful manager in the storied history of FC Barcelona is walking away.
Pep Guardiola announced that he will be stepping down as Barcelona coach after the end of this
season instead of renewing his rolling one-year contract with the club, one which he led to 13
trophies in four years at the helm.
Barcelona have lined up Marcelo Biesla as a possible replacement for Guardiola who is set to
announce his resignation today. Guardiola's future with the club has remain in uncertainty ever
since his remarks to take a sabbatical surfaced early this year.
Reports emerging suggest that Guardiola met with both club president Sandro Rosell and sporting
director Andoni Zubizarreta on Thursday and informed them of his desire to leave at the end of the
season.
TweetPep Guardiola has announced that he will step down as Barcelona coach at the end of the season
after four glorious seasons in the dugout with assistant coach Tito Vilanova ready to take over.
Speaking at an official press conference with club President Sandro Rosell, Guardiola annouced his
decision to stand down as Barca coach [.
Pep Guardiola is expected to announce tomorrow whether he will sign a new contract at Barcelona
or quit the Nou Camp.
Reports in Barcelona this morning claimed that the Barcelona boss had already held a meeting
with club president Sandro Rosell, at which he outlined his future plans.
With the release of our U11 video showcasing unseen before soccer in the States, and the
subsequent chronicling of our younger U10s and those U11s competing in Barcelona, I've been
bombarded with emails from coaches, DOCs, and parents from across the country (internationally
even).
Former Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain has emerged as a leading contender to replace
Damien Comolli at Liverpool.
The Anfield club's American owners sacked their director of football ahead of the FA Cup semi-final
victory over Everton because they were unhappy that a big-spending approach had not resulted in any
progress in the Premier League.
Benfica manager Jorge Jesus has joined club president Luis Felipe Vieira in questioning the
performance of referee Damir Skomina during the Portuguese outfit's 2-1 second leg defeat away to
Chelsea and believes the Blues will not offer any resistance to holders Barcelona in the
semifinals.
A Javi Garcia header, with five minutes to go, brought Benfica within a goal of progress despite
playing with 10 men for the entire second half at Stamford Bridge following the 40th minute
dismissal of winger Maxi Pereira.
Our club president, Paul Walker, with Champions League trophy.
Barca Day 8
Woke up to a pleasant surprise on Sunday morning. A good friend of mine here in Barcelona,
Xavier Giralt Baldellou is immersed heavily in FCB through family in high places. He brought the
replica of the 2009 Champions League Trophy (the one used on world tours and museum) to our team
hotel so the kids and families could have a photo op.
Woke up at 9 am sharp to prepare the day's morning session to correct some errors we saw in game
vs Junior. The two major problems were our build up out of the back off restarts (goal kicks and
when gk gets the ball) and our front 3 pressuring and denying the switch of point of attack from
opposition's back line.
After nearly 20 years of service to Athletic Bilbao (he started his youth
career with Los Leones in 1996), modern-day football's answer to "The
Lion King", Fernando Llorente, has decided to leave the club. His contract
expires in June 2013 but he is free to leave San Mames, snap his fingers and yell :
"You must take your place in the Circle of Life!
France international striker Olivier Giroud is reportedly finalizing a transfer to Arsenal that
the player himself has described as a dream come true.
Giroud, 25, endured a frustrating Euro 2012 campaign as Les Bleus went from a 23-game
international unbeaten run to two consecutive 2-0 defeats in which they were outplayed completely
by Sweden and Spain.
With the European season winding down to a close, attention is starting to shift to potential
transfers that could happen in the summer. There has been a lot of talk recently concerning the
future of key players across the many big clubs in Europe.
In Italy, however, Milan's Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has ruled out the possibility of
leaving the Rossoneri.
Juventus legend Alsessandro Del Piero's career with the Italian giants could be winding down to
an end after club president Andrea Agnelli refused to grant him an extension on his contract which
runs out in the summer.
In an interview with Vanity Fair that is scheduled to be published today, Del Piero revealed how
Agnelli's comments took him by surprise.
D.C. United's front-office brass spoke Tuesday about how the club had no financial restrictions
following the introduction of new owners Jason Levien and Erick Thohir. The club's latest valuation
would seem to corroborate that.
According to a report from Forbes, D.C.'s two new owners bought 60 percent of the club to boost
its value to $50 million, with the ownership deal being the most expensive in league history.
As expected, D.C. United officially announced they would introduce new members of the club's
ownership on Tuesday afternoon. Current owner Will Chang and club president and CEO Kevin Payne
will be on hand with the new members of the expanded group and they will all discuss the future of
the club, with the topic of a soccer-specific stadium surely to be addressed.
D.C. United is not going anywhere. At least not in the next two years, anyway.
The club agreed to a two-year lease extension with RFK Stadium operator Events D.C. over the
weekend and announced the terms on Thursday. The new agreement ensures United of staying in the
only home stadium they have known through the 2013 MLS season.
Juan Roman Riquelme always said he would like to retire in a Boca Juniors jersey, but last
night's 3-1 aggregate defeat in the Copa Libertadores final against Brazilian side Corinthians was
surely not the way he wanted to go.
Shortly after Boca's ouster, the 34-year-old attacking midfielder and former Argentine
international informed gathered reporters of his decision to leave the club effective
immediately.
Dutch Play maker Arjen Robben looks like he could be on his way out of the Allianz Arena. Robben
has been at the centre of a protracted contract extension with Bayern Munich after his hesitancy on
signing a new deal emerged early last month.
Club president Uli Hoeness yesterday revealed that negotiations with the winger on a new deal
broke down and his future with the club is now uncertain.
AC Milan new boy Mario Balotelli has already found himself the victim of a nasty racial slur from the brother of the club president. Paolo Berlusconi, brother of former Italian prime minister Silvio, called the former Manchester City striker "the family's little n****r" during a political rally for Silvio's People of Freedom party.
TFC Ticket Centre - "Operators are standing nearby"Things have been conspicuously
quiet so far on the TFC Season Ticket renewal front. In fairness, the job of TFC ticket rep is
currently ranking in career satisfaction alongside "Part-Time Hobo Foot Carer" and "Assistant Crack
Dealer". Perhaps the club is waiting for TFC fans to forget Joey Saputo's awesomely dropped Impact
price reduction boast or maybe they are waiting for TFC to go on a 5-game winning streak to get
supporters' spirits up.
Reports in the Mail on Sunday and The Telegraph claim that Lucas Moura is set
to join Manchester United for around £30 million (almost €38 million). United have had several
bids turned down by São Paulo, but if the claims are correct, the midfielder who turns 20 later
this month, could finally be on his way to Old Trafford.
As the marketeers at Crystal Palace ably demonstrated, producing a YouTube video that shows a
little skin can help generate a huge amount of interest around a football club. Sunday League side
Playford FC have followed suit, but instead of using supple lip-synching cheerleaders, they've
captured their own pasty underwear-clad bodies and thrown some LMFAO over it.
Villarreal have agreed to sell playmaker Borja Valero to Serie A side Fiorentina for a fee
believed to be approximately €7m, according to the Spanish club's website.
Valero, 27, becomes the latest Villarreal star to leave as the club cut their wage bill after
unexpectedly suffering relegation from Spain's top flight last season.
Geoff Cameron's time in MLS appears to be rapidly coming to a close.
According to reports, Stoke City is nearing completion on a $2.7 million transfer for the
Houston Dynamo centerback, a move that could be completed as soon as this week. The Houston
Chronicle is reporting that the team is in full support of the move, with club president Chris
Canetti going as far to say, "The club is in favor of this transfer, and we are in support of it
happening.
Stories in the papers and online today suggest that a number of Premiership clubs are
considering a move for Borussia Dortmund's Japanese International Shinji Kagawa – a 23 year old
attacking midfielder.
Kagawa has one year left on his contract but according to Dortmund's club president, has refused
offers of a new deal amidst claims that he wants to play in England.
Very busy week of games in Major League Soccer. Before we get to the attendance figures here is
an article from the San Jose Mercury News with club President Dave Kaval. The article provides
some information about team season ticket sales (4,000) and preparations for a move into the team's
new stadium.
Less than three weeks after his heart stopped for 78 minutes, Fabrice Muamba is walking
again.
The Bolton midfielder, who suffered a heart attack in an FA Cup match at Tottenham on March 17,
has been up and about at the London Chest Hospital, according to Wanderers manager Owen Coyle.
Despite boasting the immeasurable talents of George Weah Jr and lots of Bulgarians you've never
heard of, PFC Kaliakra Kavarna have had a poor run of form lately, failing to pick up any points in
their past five league matches. As they languish eight points from safety in the Bulgaria A PFG
relegation zone, the club president has taken drastic action: wages will be suspended until the
team starts winning.
It is probably fair to say that 2012 hasn't been the greatest year for British football clubs so
far, financially speaking at least. Rangers, Portsmouth, Darlington and Port Vale all languish in
administration and it is possible that others will join them. The language of the discussion of
these clubs carries many tropes that are easily identifiable, but there is one that sends a cold
chill down the spine of supporters more than any other: the possibility of a club failing to
complete its fixtures.
