TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2016 SPORTS China millions lure poor South America players

MONTEVIDEO: They may lack Barcelona “As long as they are receiving those Colombian striker Jackson Martinez, background. Most of them have many Transfermarkt. or Chelsea’s glamour, but Chinese foot- millions, it doesn’t matter to them 29, moved in early February from relatives and friends to support and they China lost all three of its matches in ball clubs are luring skillful South whether China has good or bad football,” Atletico Madrid to Guangzhou look to maximize their returns.” the only World Cup it played in, in 2002. Americans with irresistible multimillion- he said. Evergrande for around $46 million. The trend for buying up players has It let in nine goals and scored none. Now dollar chaues in their quest to make Unlike US teams who have scooped “They are taking South American raised skepticism as well as excitement. Chinese President Xi Jinping, a self-con- China a world soccer power. up European stars nearing retirement players because we have different skills “China bursting onto the scene is harm- fessed football fan, has said his aim is for While Argentina’s Lionel Messi or such as England’s David Beckham and from Asian ones,” Molina told AFP. ful for Brazilian football because it is China to host and win a World Cup. Brazil’s Neymar bathe in glory as well as Steven Gerrard, Asian sides want top inflating the market without much guar- He wants to “turn China into a sport- cash at Barcelona, a lower-profile Latin players with their best years ahead of FOOTBALL CASH ‘BUBBLE’? antee of consistency,” said Ary Rocco, a ing power as part of the Chinese dream.” legion is hearing the call of the east, them. China’s Super League has no fewer sports marketing expert at Sao Paulo “In China they wanted to make football where big-money transfers offer pre- Clubs in China in particular are paying than 26 Brazilian players-its biggest for- University. “We do not know how long grow and they wondered why they cious economic security for players from huge sums to get them, matching the eign contingent. Twelve more Brazilians this investment will last. It seems to be weren’t making progress,” said Sergio poor families. level of major transfers in Europe-but play in China’s second division, accord- driven by a temporary bubble.” Garcia, a coach who used to run a foot- “As professionals we have to see it as focusing on Latin America, where such ing to tracking website Transfermarkt. ball youth training school for Chinese a work opportunity. We have short riches are a distant dream. Brazilian media have calculated that CHINESE ‘SPORTING POWER’ players in his native Argentina. careers. We have to think of the econom- Brazilian midfielder Ramires last 134 Brazilian players played in China In the days when such transfers were “The problem was that a youth player ic stability of our families,” said month transferred from Chelsea to between 2003 and 2010. “A Brazilian still rare, Guangzhou Evergrande won its could not start at 16, because he had to Colombian midfielder Mauricio Molina, Jiangsu Suning in China for $31 million player does not start out on his foot- first top league title the year it signed study in school all day. Now they have who played for six years in South Korea. and scored on his debut. His country- balling career aiming to play for the Argentine midfielder Dario Conca in decided to teach football in the primary Luis Paulo Rosenberg, an economist man Alex Teixeira, 26, has just joined him national side or sign for Barcelona,” said 2011. and secondary schools,” he said. “But I and former vice-chairman of Brazilian at the Chinese club, which outbid Rosenberg. In the current Chinese transfer win- think investing so much money is more club Corinthians, sees such players as Liverpool to sign him from Shakhtar “He starts out to solve the economic dow, Super League clubs have spent for marketing than to make the sport “purely economic actors”. Donetsk for $56 million. problems stemming from his humble $314 million so far, according to grow.” — AFP Man City’s Pep talk may come back to haunt them

LONDON: Manchester City may come to “We will see at the end of the season regret their decision to announce Pep which is the best team,” he said, “but the Guardiola’s appointment as manager four first problem is our team. “We need to months before Manuel Pellegrini relin- improve on a lot of things. We have 36 quishes charge of the Premier League club. points more to play for. I think all the teams City are still in contention to win four will lose more points from now until the trophies but their form in the two weeks end of the season but when you don’t since they confirmed Guardiola’s arrival in depend just on what you do of course it’s July has raised questions about their ability more difficult.” City have a number of to mark Pellegrini’s departure with silver- world-class players on their books, includ- ware. ing striker Sergio Aguero, midfielder Yaya Successive home defeats by leaders Toure and defender Vincent Kompany who Leicester City and second placed returned to the side against Tottenham Tottenham Hotspur have left City six points after six weeks out injured. off the pace with serious doubts about “There is not a chance we will give up on whether their expensively-assembled the title. We have to improve,” said squad is still playing for the manager. Pellegrini. They need to do so quickly. City Backed by the wealth of Sheikh face rejuvenated Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth Mansour of Abu Dhabi, City are proving round at Stamford Bridge on Sunday that all the money in the world cannot before a taxing trip to Ukraine and the first guarantee success on the field. leg of their Champions League round of 16 Pellegrini, who guided City to the tie against Dynamo Kiev. Premier League title and League Cup victo- Four days later they play Liverpool in the ry in 2014, was honest enough after the 2-1 League Cup final at Wembley and meet the loss to Spurs on Sunday to admit his team same opponents at Anfield in the League had been beaten by the better side. three days later. FLORENCE: Fiorentina’s forward from Senegal Khouma Babacar (C) celebrates after scoring a goal during the Italian Serie A football match He defiantly suggested, however, that Adverse results over the next two Fiorentina vs Inter Milan, on Sunday at Florence’s “Artemio Franchi” comunal stadium. — AFP they could still win the title even though weeks could signal the end of a four- they have taken only one point out of 15 pronged trophy assault and condemn this season from matches against Leicester, Pellegrini to a painful farewell before Spurs and Arsenal, the three teams above Guardiola arrives with a huge task to reju- them. venate the club. — Reuters Babacar steers Viola Klopp purrs over ‘real to dramatic Inter win

striker’ Sturridge ROME: Fiorentina striker Khouma Babacar bun- with players from both sides given their marching welcomed Genoa to the San Siro on the back of a dled home a late winner in a dramatic finish to seal orders at the death, leaving the hosts to finish with run of six games without defeat. BIRMINGHAM: Liverpool manager Jurgen a five-game winless run, ending a difficult a 2-1 win over Inter Milan that reignited La Viola’s 10 men and Inter nine. Inter later protested by “In this second half of the season we’re doing Klopp hailed Daniel Sturridge after he set period for Klopp, who saw Sturridge and hopes of European football next season. imposing media silence. well, and can do better. We have to keep it going,” his side up for a 6-0 victory at Aston Villa in Philippe Coutinho make a difference on Babacar was a late replacement for Josip Ilicic, Inter’s Alex Telles saw red for a second bookable said Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic “I’m happy for his first Premier League start for the their returns from injury. who had helped set up Borja Valero’s 60th minute offence eight minutes from the finish although Honda because in the past he has, like (Riccardo) German. England striker Sturridge started “It is good for us when we have all our leveller following Marcelo Brozovic’s 26th minute replays suggested he got the ball in his challenge Montolivo, fallen out of favour. But both have in the league for the first time since players available, but football and life is not opener for Roberto Mancini’s visitors. on Bernardeschi. In the dying seconds tensions shown that with will and sacrifice you can trans- October after a series of injury setbacks like this,” said the German. And the Senegal striker seized the day when flared, with Mauro Zarate shown a red card for form the jeers into cheers.” and scored the opening goal in Liverpool’s “You have to get results when your best Samir Handanovic failed to hold Federico grabbing Inter defender Jeison Murillo by the back Honda stung Mattia Perin’s gloves with a rasp- rout of Villa on Sunday. players are not all available and that is what Bernardeschi’s weighted cross-shot into the six- of the neck as they exchanged some choice words. ing shot that the ‘keeper palmed out of the top cor- Now Klopp hopes for an injury-free run we didn’t do often enough. yard box, bundling home at the second attempt in ner on four minutes. for the 26-year-old, whose all-round game “We know about the problems we had the first minute of added-on time. ‘ JEERS INTO CHEERS’ From the resulting corner the ball was kept in impressed his manager more than his and I know you (the media) are not always The win moved Fiorentina two places up to At the final whistle, Inter midfielder Geoffrey play and it was Honda’s cross, flicked on by M’Baye headed goal in the 16th minute. “Of course interested in this and that is OK. third place, eight points behind new leaders Kondogbia was also given his marching orders Niang, that found Carlos Bacca unmarked at the we need the goals of Daniel and he needs “We believe in our work and in the Juventus, who pushed Napoli down to second at a after sarcastically applauding the referee. back post to slam the ball past Mattia Perin after the goals, that’s clear,” said Klopp. squad and in the way we work and this point adrift with a 1-0 win in Turin on Saturday. Sousa further applauded his players, as they bid just five minutes. “It’s not a surprise that he scores goals, time we got the benefit.” “Overall, I think we deserved the win,” Fiorentina for an unlikely top three finish and a possible It was Bacca’s 13th league goal of the campaign but it surprised me how good he is with James Milner, Emre Can, Divock Origi, coach Paulo Sousa told Mediaset. “We played open, Champions League qualifying place. and took the Colombian joint second in the league the team and his movement. He is a real Nathaniel Clyne and Kolo Toure also scored attacking football and tried to exploit them down “These lads believe in themselves, even when scoring charts alongside Juve forward Paulo striker. “It is good to see him fit and when as Liverpool strolled to a victory that lifted deep on both flanks.” things aren’t going well,” added the Portuguese, a Dybala, who is 11 strikes behind runaway leader he hides himself on the pitch he is really them up to eighth, three points shy of the Referring to Babacar’s late winner, he added: midfielder with Inter in his playing days. Gonzalo Higuain of Napoli. Honda doubled Milan’s difficult to defend against because he is European places. “We capitalise on the fact some of the goalkeepers “They have a good work ethic and want to suc- lead just after the hour with a superb strike from 20 always somewhere and you don’t know his It was Villa’s worst defeat at home since from these big teams help you with their rebound ceed, and that makes me proud to coach them.” yards, his first goal of the season ending a 483-day next move. saves.” Inter remain fifth but are now 12 points off Japan midfielder Keisuke Honda hit a late winner in goal famine. Genoa striker Alessio Cerci, who “For us this is very important and 1935 and plunged the Premier League’s bottom club into deeper crisis. the pace, four behind Fiorentina and only two an inspirational performance for Milan as they con- moved to the club from Milan in the January trans- changes a lot of things of course, but we ahead of city rivals AC Milan, who secured a pre- tinued their resurgence with a 2-1 win over Genoa. fer window, prompted even more jeers from the can only speak about this when he is avail- They are now eight points adrift of safe- ty at the foot of the table with 12 games to cious 2-1 home win over Genoa earlier on Sunday. Milan are bidding to secure a Champions largely partisan crowd when he hit a late consola- able. “When he’s not we cannot say, ‘But Fiorentina’s win, however, ended on a sour note League spot for the first time in three seasons and tion for the visitors. —AFP with Daniel it would have been different.’ In go and thousands of supporters walked this game it was brilliant.” out with less than an hour on the clock. Sturridge returned to the scoresheet on Many of those that remained chanted the same day that his England team-mate against owner Randy Lerner, while some in Match-fixing attempts uncovered by Dutch probe Danny Welbeck made his comeback for the main stand shouted directly at chief Arsenal and scored the winner against executive Tom Fox. Manager Remi Garde AMSTERDAM: Attempts to fix the come of the match. There is not Leicester City. said: “It’s very disappointing. I feel humilia- result of a Dutch league match seven enough legal evidence to determine Both men are eyeing a place in tion. “It was very painful with six goals con- years ago have been uncovered by a whether Aerts was involved and it is England’s squad for Euro 2016 in France. ceded, but it is three points thrown away, Dutch football association (KNVB) unclear who the third person was,” “It’s great,” said Sturridge. “‘Welbz’ is a good not more. We don’t have time to moan too investigation, it said yesterday. added the KNVB statement. friend of mine and he’s feeling good. I much about this. “It’s the worst defeat I’ve It is the first time such a case has spoke to him the other day and it’s good to had as a manager and I have a lot of feel- been established in the Netherlands, BENEFIT MATCH see him back. “Hopefully we will be there ings, but I will keep some of them to the KNVB added in a statement. It also said a benefit match in the summer and we can help the coun- myself. It said the probe had uncovered a between Willem II and the Sierra try have some success.” “As a manager it was the worst perform- bid by Ibrahim Kargbo, then a player Leone national team in November ance I’ve had. It was a very bad defeat. I’m at Willem II Tilburg, to fix the out- 2009 was specifically organised with GARDE ‘SAD AND FRUSTRATED’ very sad and frustrated. I’m very sorry for come of a league match against FC the objective of manipulating the For Liverpool, victory marked the end of the fans.” —AFP Utrecht in August 2009 in co-opera- result on behalf of an Asian betting tion with convicted Singaporean syndicate. fraudster Wilson Raj Perumal. Results of Sierra Leone national “Dutch football is one of the last in team in other competitions might Europe to lose its innocence in this also have been fixed by Kargbo, who matter,” said KNVB operational direc- was captain of the team, according to tor Gijs de Jong. the statement. “We have long warned this could Allegations made by a Dutch happen in the Dutch league but it is newspaper last year that other still difficult to swallow now that this Willem II matches had been manipu- has been established. Hopefully it will lated were not proven, the statement add urgency in the Netherlands to added, with KNVB saying it would the fight against this plague.” send the report to soccer governing The KNVB said Kargbo had prom- bodies FIFA and UEFA and the Dutch ised the then captain Michael Aerts police. and a third unidentified player would The 33-year-old Kargbo, who last work together with him to throw the played at English non-league club match against Utrecht in return for Thamesmead Town, would not be 25,000 euros ($28,025) each. allowed to participate in any capacity But although Utrecht won 1-0, in Dutch football in the future, said Perumal, who has already been pros- the statement. Kargbo has already ecuted and jailed in other countries been suspended in Sierra Leone for for match fixing, refused to pay say- alleged match fixing. Perumal, 50, has ing the agreement had been for a featured in cases involving more than ASUNCION: Brazil’s Sao Paulo players celebrate their victory over Uruguay ‘s win by more than a single goal. 100 manipulated matches around NELSPRUIT: Sierra Leone’s Ibrahim Kargbo, right, as he challenges Liverpool in their final Copa Libertadores U20, football match at Defensores del “Nevertheless, it has been estab- the world and been jailed in Finland South Africa’s Bernard Parker during their Africa Cup Of Nations qual- Chaco Stadium in Asuncion on Sunday. —AFP lished that they agreed on the out- and Hungary. —Reuters ifier in Nelspruit, South Africa. — AP