Japan 2012 FIFA Club World Cup: Sanfrecce book Japan 2012 spot

Saturday 24 November 2012

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.”