Sanfrecce Hiroshima have secured the final berth at the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup in
Japan after being crowned champions of the J.League with one round to spare.
A
4-1 victory over Cerezo Osaka on Saturday gave Sanfrecce an
unassailable four-point advantage ahead of Vegalta Sendai, and with it
their maiden J.League title.
The Japanese
champions will now represent the host nation at December’s tournament,
beginning with a tie against Auckland City on 6 December in Yokohama.
Al-Ahly,
Chelsea, Corinthians, Monterrey and Ulsan Hyundai have also qualified
for the competition, which concludes on 16 December.
Picture © J.LEAGUE PHOTOS
Oscar: I want to win the biggest titles
(FIFA.com) Thursday 22 November 2012
© Getty Images
Gianluigi
Buffon has eternally hated conceding goals. Yet such was the splendour
of one he conceded two months ago that, for the first time ever, the
veteran Juventus goalkeeper admitted he was “proud to have been a part
of it”.
Its scorer had produced an exquisite flick, pirouetted
instantly, and employed curl and unerring accuracy to dispatch the ball
in the top corner. His name was
Oscar. It was his UEFA Champions League debut.
The
attacking midfielder’s quick adaptation to the prestigious competition
mirrored his quick adaptation to life at Stamford Bridge following a
big-money summer move from Internacional. Here, the 21-year-old, who has
scored four goals and registered six assists in ten senior Brazil
internationals this year, chats
about settling in at Chelsea, playing alongside
Juan Mata and
Eden Hazard, and the Blues’ hopes of winning the Premier League and FIFA Club World Cup.
Q: Oscar, there were various clubs interested in signing you before you moved to Stamford Bridge. Why did you choose Chelsea?
Oscar:
Chelsea were the best fit for me. They were the champions of Europe,
playing in the Premier League, which is maybe the best league in the
world. Chelsea also showed me they have a lot of ambition, and I knew it
was the right club for me. I want to win the biggest titles in the
world and I feel I can do it here. I’m very happy I joined Chelsea.
I
enjoy it a lot. They’re both superb players, among the best in the
Premier League. It’s always easier to play with players who are not only
great but also intelligent.
Oscar on playing alongside Eden Hazard and Juan Mata
English
football is very different to the Brazilian game, but you’ve adapted
very quickly to it and have already become an important player for
Chelsea. Did you expect this?
There’s obviously a process of adaptation, but I’m very pleased with how
I’ve settled in. I feel very comfortable playing in this system and I
have developed a good understanding with my team-mates. But I think me
settling in so quickly is because Chelsea have adapted to my style. Last
season they played a different way, but with me and Eden coming in to
join Juan, I think they’ve modified the way they play and become more
attacking. We get the ball down and knock it about more now, which,
being Brazilian, I really enjoy. But I want to keep improving as a
player.
How do you enjoy playing with Hazard and Mata?
I enjoy it a lot. They’re both superb players, among the best in the
Premier League. It’s always easier to play with players who are not only
great but also intelligent. I think we link up well and that our styles
complement each other. I think we give the supporters a good deal of
entertainment.
The Chelsea fans have really taken to you. How has this made you feel?
Everyone really likes me, and this is very pleasing. The Chelsea
supporters are great, very vocal. Wherever we play you can always hear
them, and this is very encouraging.
What’s the atmosphere like at the club? Do you spend more time with the Brazilian players?
There’s a realy good atmosphere at the club. I get along great with
everybody, but I’m still getting to grips with the language, so I
obviously spend more time with the Brazilians. We get on really well,
we’re always having a laugh.
Chelsea are in what appears to be a three-way battle for the Premier League title. Do you consider Manchester City or Manchester United to be your biggest rival for the trophy?
Both. City have a lot of excellent players and are the reigning
champions, and they’ve become very adept at grinding out results. But
Manchester United have been there and done it time and time again.
They’re both excellent teams. However, I’m confident Chelsea will do it.
We’ve got a different team to last season, so we’re in a transitional
period. I think as the season goes on, we’ll get more used to playing
together and play better as a result.
You’ve got the FIFA Club World Cup in December too. How important is that to Chelsea?
It’s very important; it gives you the chance to say you’re the champions
of the world. Barcelona took it very seriously last year and we’ll do
the same. But it won’t be easy. I know
Corinthians
well and they’re a very strong side, well organised. And they will be
desperate to win the World Cup – it’s so important in South America. But
we’ll be fully prepared for all our opponents.
You and Corinthians
midfielder Paulinho are both in the Brazil squad. Do you wind each
other up about a possible meeting in the FIFA Club World Cup final?
Yeah, we have pulling each other’s leg every time we’ve been in the
Seleção!
It’s all in good fun though. I respect Paulinho as a footballer, he’s a
very good player, but if we meet at the Club World Cup I will be doing
everything I can to beat him.
Al Ahly in seventh heaven after surprise win
(African Football Media) Monday 19 November 2012
© AFP
Al Ahly stunned Esperance Sportive de Tunis 2-1 (3-2 on aggregate) in
Tunisia
on Saturday to win a record-breaking seventh CAF Champions League and
claim a place in December's prestigious FIFA Club World Cup. The result
was similar to Ahly's 2006 title when they drew 1-1 at home in the first
leg against
Tunisia's CS Sfaxien and won away in the second leg.
Aboutrika out, Msakni in
Surprisingly Al Ahly coach Hossam El Badry dropped veteran midfielder
Mohamed Aboutrika from the starting line-up, opting instead to give
El-Sayed Hamdi a chance from the start. The striker scored Al Ahly's
all-important goal in the first leg and he again put the Esperance
defenders under tremendous pressure from the first whistle.
The
Blood and Gold also came up with a surprise as they started with
playmaker Youssef Msakni, who had been ruled out of the first leg after
an appendectomy. Somewhat unexpectedly, Esperance sat back in the
opening spell, allowing the visitors to have more of the play and create
the better chances, with Abdallah Al Saied twice shooting over the
crossbar with the goal at his mercy. Esperance, who knew that Al Ahly
had to score once to stand a chance to win the trophy, seemed content to
sit back and wait for breaks, coming closest in the first half through
Cameroon striker Joseph
Yannick Ndjeng, whose weak shot was easily saved.
Gedo changes the match
Shortly before the break, the 35,000 fans allowed into the 65,000-seater
Rades Stadium were stunned into silence as Al Ahly took the lead. Hamdi
set up Mohamed "
Gedo"
Nagy, whose his right-footed shot gave a diving Moez Ben Cherifia no
chance. After the half, Ndjeng again was wasteful for his side in the
54th minute, and the Tunisians were made to rue the missed opportunity
just seven minutes later when
Walid Soliman doubled his side's lead after a long defensive clearance.
And
although Ndjeng, who also hit the post, finally found the net for the
home side with five minutes remaining on the clock, it was too little,
too late. Having to score two more goals to retain their trophy, it was
never on the cards for Esperance. Instead, substitute Aboutrika should
have made it three for Al Ahly when the visitors were awarded a penalty
in the dying minutes of the game after Cherifia brought down Mauritanian
striker Dominique Da Silva. The goalkeeper however made amends for his
challenge by saving Aboutrika's spot kick.
What they said
"We were a lot better. We scored two goals and missed many other
chances. The coach told us to pile pressure from the very beginning and
even after the goal he urged us to keep on pressing to grab the second
and kill off the game. We wanted this trophy so much to offer it to the
families and the souls of the Port Said martyrs," said Abdallah Al Saied, dedicating the victory to the memory of those who died in the Port Said tragedy in February.
Moment of the game
With their backs against the wall, Esperance were desperately trying to
play themselves out of a corner in the second half, having fallen behind
shortly before the break. Cameroon striker Ndjeng was looking dangerous
for the home side upfront and it seemed only a matter of time before
Esperance would score. Instead, it was Soliman who found the net in the
61st minute for Al Ahly, putting the game - and hopes of defending their
title - beyond the reaches of the Tunisian team.
Player of the game
The 26-year-old
Gedo is a man for the important occasion, having scored the only goal of the match in
Egypt's
2010 CAF Africa Cup of Nations final victory against Ghana. On
Saturday, the striker was on hand to give his side the all-important
lead shortly before the break.
Stat of the Match
7 - The number of times that Al Ahly have now won the
competition. The Red Devils won their first titles in 1982 and 1987, but
have become by far the most successful club since the turn of the
century, repeating the feat in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008 and this year.
Japanese return for much-changed Santos
Wednesday 14 November 2012
© AFP
Back in 2006, life was certainly good for
Fabio Santos.
After coming through the youth ranks with home-town club Sao Paulo, the
21-year-old was competing for a first-team place with the recently
crowned FIFA Club World Cup champions, while comfortably surrounded by
family and friends.
It would have been entirely understandable
therefore if, faced with the prospect of leaving all that behind for a
move to Japan, the player was not exactly thrilled.
However, Santos not only accepted the opportunity but did so happily. “I was very young… but it was incredible,” the
Corinthians left-back told
us, recalling the loan deal that saw
O Tricolor Paulista’s promising young star head for Kashima Antlers.
“I’d
only ever played in my home city. I was living with my parents and
everything was so much easier. Suddenly I had to uproot, take on other
responsibilities and live by myself in a different footballing climate.
It was hard to believe,” he added.
Santos spent a formative season
with the J.League giants and gained a wealth of experience in the
process. “I went straight into the team and remained there the whole
year. It was very positive. I would have happily stayed longer but I was
contractually obliged to return,” the Brazilian explained. “No
question, though, I hope to play in Japan again before the end of my
career.”
It was very positive. I would have happily stayed longer but I was contractually obliged to return.
Fabio Santos on his season in Japan
Back
then, as a promising young talent, Santos alternated between two
positions: his original wing-back role and that of a linking midfielder,
at times replacing attacking midfield man Fernando during their time at
Cruzeiro. Should Santos ever make good on his plan to return to the
J.League, the local supporters might find a very different player than
the one they remember.
A whole different concept
In the footballing culture that Santos grew up in, the standard bearers
in his position were predominantly full-backs with attacking remits,
players who, upon joining European clubs, ended up being utilised more
as midfielders or even as wingers.
Serginho while at AC Milan, Ze Roberto with Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, and Junior while with Parma are just some examples.
“Those contemporaries were our role models. At Sao Paulo, when I was a youth player,
Serginho was on fire. That type of player was highly valued in
Brazil,
where everyone wanted to see the full-back get forward and create
goals. You might not be doing your job in defence, yet no one criticised
you for it. But that’s not how it is today,” the 27-year-old explained.
“Everything
happened very fast for me. By 17 I’d already competed in the Copa
Libertadores, and I was more interested in getting forward than
defending. It was about being young and uninhibited. Back then I didn’t
have the same sense of team spirit I do today.”
Santos cites coach
Paulo Autuori, who he has worked under on various occasions, as having a
decisive influence in gradually transforming his career: “I learned a
lot and began maturing. Paulo helped me with that. He always advocated
4-4-2 and a back line of four to support the guys up front.
“He
didn’t manage to establish it at Sao Paulo, perhaps because the team
wasn’t used to it, but for me it’s the best system,” he continued. “You
play with a defensive midfielder with a line of four behind him, and
that makes it difficult for opponents to threaten you.”
Coming here turned out to be the best decision of my career.
Santos on his move to Corinthians
Best decision
It was this more consistent full-back that joined
Corinthians in 2011, initially as cover for
Roberto Carlos.
“He was one of the reasons I decided to join the club, both to be able
to share a dressing room with a player of his stature and because I knew
I’d have opportunities when the squad was rotated over the course of
the season,” Santos said.
What he could not have envisaged was
that his chance would arrive so soon, with a crucial test coming in only
his second match for
O Timão. The game in question was a qualifier for the Copa Libertadores, in which Colombia’s Deportes Tolima famously dumped
Corinthians out of the competition.
The reverse prompted the departure of
Roberto Carlos
from the club and coincided with Ronaldo’s retirement shortly
afterwards. “I thought I might not play for them again,” said Santos.
“But it turned out to be very significant moment for me. With Roberto
now gone, I managed to get a run of games in the side, and so coming
here turned out to be the best decision of my career.”
Wearing the
famous black and white, the full-back went on to win the Brazilian
national championship and then this year’s Copa Libertadores. If that
were not impressive enough, he also got his first call-up to the
Seleção
senior squad in September – he had played U-20 level and won a bronze
medal at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2005 – and is again in the squad for
Wednesday’s friendly with Colombia in New Jersey.
Of course,
winning the continent’s premier club competition will allow Santos to
once again star on Japanese soil. The difference being that, when he
heads there in December for the FIFA Club World Cup, this mature and
battle-hardened player will not be just looking to pick up experience.
This time the goal is nothing less than a world title with
Corinthians.
Exposito: We will go to Japan with confidence
(FIFA.com) Thursday 15 November 2012
© Getty Images
Spanish striker
Manel Exposito is back for his second tilt at the FIFA Club World Cup with Oceania champions
Auckland City FC.
The
forward was a key performer for Auckland when they lost 2-0 to Kashiwa
Reysol in 2011, and the former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid player is
focused on the tournament's 6 December opener in Yokohama.
"The club won two games at this tournament three years ago and that is always our aim," Exposito
says.
"But we must focus on the Japanese champions first. After that then we
see. We're going there with confidence but it’s not going to be easy."
Auckland
gave a good performance in the second half of last year's meeting with
Reysol, when Exposito was one of a selection of Spanish players on show.
Team-mates
Angel Berlanga and Albert Riera Vidal, plus new arrival Pedro Garcia,
as well as coach Ramon Tribulietx, who brought Exposito Down Under, make
up a quintet of Spaniards at the club.
We're going there with confidence but it’s not going to be easy.
Auckland City striker Manel Exposito
Spain’s
involvement in the tournament this year is limited to individual
players, such as Exposito and Chelsea’s Juan Mata and Fernando Torres,
but the attacking midfielder is not entertaining thoughts of facing
La Roja players in blue.
"Sometimes you dream about playing the likes of Chelsea or, in last year’s case, Barcelona," said the Spaniard.
"But
to be honest, we need to be realistic and focus on the first match
because we are underdogs even in that game and the J.League champions
will be very tough. Winning that game is our only focus now."
The club from
New Zealand's
largest metropolis qualified for their fourth FIFA Club World Cup with a
3-1 aggregate victory over Tahiti's AS Tefana in the OFC O-League final
last May.
The Spaniard says lessons have been learned from last
year's experiences in Japan, but he insists the style City play remains
intact. "We play possession football with a good tempo and attack at the
right times. Defensively we are very solid," said Exposito, whose six
goals proved enough to be crowned the OFC O-League's top goalscorer.
High quality competition
The forward was honest in his appraisal that European champions Chelsea are the favourites to lift the trophy on 16 December.
"Chelsea
are the best team. The UEFA Champions League is the greatest
continental club competition in the world and for that you have to say
Chelsea," said the man known as
Xino.
"It would be unbelievable to play Chelsea, who have Mata from
Spain,
but also Roberto Di Matteo, who is an amazing coach. It would be a
dream to play them but this is a very difficult assignment - for us,
everything depends on our game with the J.League winners."
Auckland’s
top goalscorer was forthright with his opinion on which team is most
likely to challenge Chelsea for the FIFA Club World Cup – Corinthians of
Brazil.
Exposito said: "Corinthians are a typical Brazilian team,
very technical with the ball and very good. They have won the Copa
Libertadores for a good reason.
“Perhaps the biggest difference
in their style to, say, Spanish football, is that the ball speed is
maybe not as quick and the build-up play slower.
"The South
Americans will be more skilful in one against one situations. You have
to be very fit and press teams like Corinthians.”
Unión Española tiene clara ventaja para la vuelta.
Jorge Sampaoli ya tiene a su staff para las juveniles. 
La misión de Sampaoli en Italia es recuperar a Vidal.
