THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014 SPORTS Atletico aim to upstage big spenders again

MADRID: While Real and Barcelona and in the first leg of the Spanish Super Revamped Barcelona have once more spent vast sums to win Cup against Real Madrid they gave away Real are brimming with confidence back the crown, they are set to face little space to earn a 1-1 draw ahead of the after comfortably winning the European dogged competition again from champi- decisive leg back at the Calderon on Friday. Super Cup against Sevilla and have set ons Atletico Madrid who have a side built their sights on all six trophies available on a fraction of the cost. Atletico became Relaxed, confident during the . Real have made adjust- the first team since Valencia in 2004 to “We are looking forward to the season ments to the side that won the Champions knock Real and Barca from top spot, and we know that there will be a lot of League against Atletico, with breathing new life into the Spanish cham- expectation placed on us,” Atletico mid- Toni Kroos and keeper Keylor Navas com- pionship that had become a two-horse fielder Gabi Fernandez told Spanish paper ing in after shining at the World Cup. race. Diego Simeone found success by As. “It is difficult to say whether the team is Barcelona, however, have made major building a side based on a strong team better or worse with the changes. changes. Following the Catalan side’s first ethic and the belief that through hard Important players for the team have gone season without a major trophy in six years, work they could come out on top. but at the same time others have arrived, Barca have brought in Luis Enrique as Unsurprisingly, with Atletico winning the who are strong on a national and coach and strengthened the squad in league and reaching the Champions European scale, from top clubs. “Atletico’s many areas of the pitch. League final, their playing stocks have base is solid, we are very sure about our While the signing of Suarez has cap- been raided by richer clubs and talisman style of play and what our jobs are. The tured the attention of fans, the addition of Diego Costa has left for Chelsea. team is relaxed, with a lot of confidence defenders Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas But Atletico have also made some and we will have to see if we are better or MADRID: Real Madrid’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti (right) greets Atletico Vermaelen was badly needed and they shrewd buys ahead of the new season and worse than last year.” Madrid’s Argentinean coach Diego Simeone before the Spanish Supercup first- could make the difference in Barcelona’s replaced Costa with the accomplished Gabi said it did not concern him that leg football match on August 19, 2014. — AFP title hopes. Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich. The few backed Atletico last season but con- and it only happens when we are champi- want to be the best.” As Atletico lost key The defense has been Barca’s main last time Atletico won the championship in ceded the team faced a tougher task than ons. Everyone expects us to drop off and players, Real and Barcelona once again weak point in recent seasons and they are 1995-96, they quickly went downhill and their better-resourced rivals. “Personally go downhill but we have shown we are a reinforced with the cream of the market in the first centre-halves to be signed by the ended up relegated four years later but what people say doesn’t bother me team capable of everything. the close season. Last year, the marquee club since Dmytro Chygrynskiy in 2009. this time the club is better managed. The although it is true that is nice if your work “The team still has the same dreams. signings were Gareth Bale and Neymar for Coach Enrique is also set to reintroduce key to the side’s prospects, though, is is valued,” he said. “We are not better or We are all very ambitious and just because Real and Barca respectively. This year, Barca’s trademark short passing game fol- again set to be their compactness and worse and yet it is more difficult for us than we are not shouting it from the roof tops James Rodriguez and Luis Suarez have lowing the unsuccessful experiment under defensive frugality. They have conceded Real Madrid or Barcelona to win titles. It is doesn’t mean we don’t feel that way. We been brought in, both for a figure close to Tata Martino who tried a more direct just one goal in seven pre-season friendlies harder for our good work to be recognized are working with the same drive and we 65 million pounds ($108 million). approach. — Reuters

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLAYOFFS News Ba strikes the bar, in brief Kuwait defeat Persipura Besiktas held 0-0 Jayapura 3-2 in AFC Cup KUWAIT: Kuwait Club soccer team on Tuesday beat Persipura Jayapura of Indonesia 3-2 in the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Confederation’s AFC Cup at the Higuain rescues Napoli; Kuwait SC Stadium. Al-Qadisiya held a 1-1 draw with Al- Hadd of Bahrain in the same competition. Kuwaiti player Salzburg beat Malmo Shadi Al-Hammami scored the opener in the fourth minute, while Persipura Jayapura’s Lim Joon-sik scored BERNE: Besiktas hit the bar straight the Italian side’s Argentina forward the equalizer in the 13th minute and his teammate from kickoff as they were held 0-0 Higuain leveled in the 68th minute Gerald Pangkali scored the second goal in the 23rd at home by Arsenal in Tuesday’s when he brilliantly pulled down a minute of the first half. In the second half, Kuwaiti play- Champions League playoffs while a pass and, despite being surround- ers created many attacks on the goalkeeper of their rival. Their teammate Ali Al-Kandari scored the second and superb Gonzalo Higuain goal res- ed by three defenders, managed to third goals in the 83rd and 87th minute respectively. In cued Napoli in a 1-1 draw with visi- make space and score with a low the second game, Al-Qadisiya made an excellent per- tors . Jonatan shot into the far corner. Jose formance in the first half, scoring the opener by Badr Al- Soriano struck the woodwork three Callejon and Higuain missed sitters Motawaa in the fifth minute, yet some opportunities times and scored in Salzburg’s 2-1 and the latter also saw a close- were wasted. In the second half, Bahraini team dominat- win over visiting Malmo, Bayer range effort brilliantly stopped by ed the game and managed to score the equalizer by Leverkusen won 3-2 at FC Gorka Iraizoz as Napoli pressed in a Nawaf Al-Khaldi in the 47th minute. Copenhagen and a late goal gave frenetic ending. “Considering the Steaua a 1-0 home win way the game went, we can consid- over Ludogorets Razgrad in the er our reaction positive and must Ramsey says ‘sorry’ for other first leg ties. Arsenal, aiming begin again from that,” said Napoli Champions League red to reach the group stage for the coach Rafael Benitez. LONDON: Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey apolo- 17th season in a row, will be happy Austrian champions Salzburg, gized to the club’s supporters yesterday after being to have survived their tricky trip to who have been eliminated in the sent off in his side’s 0-0 Champions League play-off Istanbul, especially after Welsh mid- qualifiers six times since Red Bull’s draw away to Turkish side Besiktas.”Thank you to all the fielder Aaron Ramsey was sent off takeover in 2005, once again made fans that made the trip,” Ramsey wrote on his official in the 80th minute for a second life difficult for themselves against Twitter page. “Sorry for the red card. I’m sure the lads bookable offence. Malmo. will do the job in the second leg.” The Welsh midfielder, Beskitas’s Senegal forward Franz Schiemer and Soriano put 23, was sent off in the 80th minute of Tuesday’s game Demba Ba, who scored a hat-trick them 2-0 up in less than an hour in Istanbul after picking up two yellow cards. Arsenal in the previous round against and the Spaniard also hit the wood- manager Arsene Wenger was critical of Serbian referee Feyenoord, took a pot-shot at goal work three times as Salzburg domi- Milorad Mazic’s decision to dismiss Ramsey, describing straight from kickoff and his effort, nated the game. But the game end- it as “unbelievable”. “I think not the first and not the aided by the swirling wind, forced ed farcically for the hosts when a second yellow card was deserved for Ramsey,” Wenger Wojciech Szczesny to push the ball mix-up between Schiemer and told reporters. “When you see some of the fouls com- on to the bar. The Polish keeper keeper Peter Gulacsi in the 90th left mitted and you go home with a red card for Ramsey, it also turned away Ba’s fierce left- Emil Forsberg to tap into an empty is somewhat unbelievable.” Ramsey, who scored the footed volley after 10 minutes as net for the 1979 European Cup run- winning goal in last season’s FA Cup final and was vot- Arsenal survived a difficult open- ners-up, who have never played in ed Arsenal’s player of the year, will now be suspended ing. Despite losing Ramsey, Arsenal the group stage. for next week’s return leg at the Emirates Stadium. nearly grabbed the winner when Denmark’s chances of having Tolga Zengin tipped Alex Oxlade- two sides in the group stage for the Chamberlain’s curling effort on to first time look remote after Dortmund suffer injury the post. “It was a very good game Copenhagen’s home defeat against blows as season begins played with a good pace, a frenetic seasoned campaigners Leverkusen. BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund suffered a double injury blow pace from the first to the last Stefan Kiessling gave the days before the start of the Bundesliga with midfielder Oliver minute,” Arsenal manager Arsene Bundesliga side a fifth minute lead, Kirch ruled out for two months and Ji Dong-won set to miss Wenger told ITV. “In the end we only for the Danes to hit back with at least four weeks, the club said yesterday. Last season’s didn’t lose the game and hopefully headed goals by Mathias Bundesliga runners-up, who open their campaign against we can make it at home.” Joergensen and Daniel Amartey Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, will be without Kirch for at before 15 minutes was up. Karim least eight weeks with a thigh muscle injury, it said in a state- Higuain strikes Bellarabi and Son Heung-Min ment. His South Korean team mate, who joined from was left in danger of hav- replied before halftime for Augsburg this season, will be out for an estimated four ing only two teams in the group Leverkusen who should wrap up weeks with a thigh muscle tear. Both players were injured in stage after Napoli, playing their first the tie at home on Aug 27. Former training on Tuesday afternoon and underwent checks in a competitive match of the season, European champions Steaua Dortmund hospital yesterday that confirmed their injuries. failed to beat Bilbao. Iker Muniain Bucharest gave themselves a slen- Dortmund are also competing in the group stage of the Champions League, starting in September. side-footed the visitors ahead four der lead to take to Bulgaria when NAPLES: Napoli’s Italian midfielder Christian Maggio (right) vies with Bilbao’s Spanish defender minutes before halftime as Napoli Alexandru Chipciu scored the only Mikel San Jose during the first leg of the UEFA Champions League play off football match between struggled to find their rhythm. But goal in the 88th minute. — Reuters SSC Napoli and Bilbao Athletic Club in San Paolo Stadium. — AFP Argentina’s Fernandez and Swansea seal deal Nigeria FA suffers fresh blow; LONDON: Swansea City have signed Argentina defender Spurs, Inter poised for Federico Fernandez from Napoli for an undisclosed fee, the club announced yesterday. The 25- headquarters ravaged by fire year-old centre back, who has 26 caps for his country and made four appearances at the World Cup where Argentina ABUJA: Nigeria’s football association, riven by in-fighting and sanctioned by ‘killer’ Europa League reached the final, signed a four-year deal with the Welsh the world game’s governing body, suffered a fresh blow yesterday after fire club after passing his medical on Monday. Fernandez, part gutted its headquarters. The blaze at the two-storey building in an upmarket PARIS: Several former winners enter the Europa ready.” Three-time former champions Inter Milan of Napoli’s Coppa Italia winning team last season, revealed area of the capital Abuja, known locally as the Glass House, broke out as staff he sought advice from former Swans striker Michu, who League picture this week as the likes of Tottenham return to European competition after a year out arrived for work, an AFP reporter at the scene said. Flames took hold from an moved to Napoli on loan earlier in the transfer window, office on the upper floor of the premises and spread quickly before firefighters Hotspur and Inter Milan begin the long road to glo- and have been drawn against Icelandic minnows and Spanish defender Jordi Amat, who signed for Swansea arrived to extinguish the blaze. ry in the play-off round. Tottenham, champions of Stjarnan. Inter strengthened their squad in the from Espanynol last year. “I asked Michu and Jordi Amat Senior federal fire service chief Imo Eyo described the damage as “huge” the predecessor UEFA Cup in 1971 and 1984, travel close season with the arrivals of former Manchester about the club. I obviously trained with Michu at Napoli and said there was no immediate indication of foul play. “We suspect a circuit to Cyprus where they’ll face AEL Limassol in the United defender Nemanja Vidic, on-loan striker and while I was on loan at Getafe (in 2013) I played with fault to have led to the fire but a proper enquiry would be carried out by the first leg today. Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, Pablo Osvaldo and combative Yann Alvaro Vazquez. He is very good friends with Jordi, so I’ve authorities,” he added. Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) technical director plucked from Southampton in the summer, will M’Vila and Gary Medel. spoken to them too,” he explained. “Michu told me it is a Emmanuel Ikpeme said the blaze appeared to have started in the office of a make his European bow in a competition that he The start of the Italian domestic season is still family club and the city is very relaxed. He said I was join- senior accounts manager. “We thought it was something that could be con- last season denounced as uninteresting, unattrac- almost a fortnight away but Inter legend, turned ing a very good club. All I’ve heard are good things about tained by the fire extinguisher,” he told reporters. “But before we knew it, the tive and one that “kills you”. vice-president Javier Zanetti, who retired in May Swansea.” fire spread to the general-secretary’s office and from there, there couldn’t be However, since arriving at White Hart Lane the after 19 years at the club, said the Nerazzurri any control.” Argentine appears to have changed his tune, insist- wouldn’t be caught cold in their quest for more The NFF has been in crisis for several months and FIFA suspended the ing that Spurs plan to take the competition seri- continental success. “We care a lot about this com- Netherlands midfielder organization in July over what it said was “government interference” in its ously. “Tottenham, in every competition that we petition and we want to go all the way. We won’t De Guzman joins Napoli affairs. That followed a Nigerian court ruling that sacked the NFF high com- enter, we need to think, ‘We win the competition’. underestimate anybody because all teams are dan- ROME: Netherlands World Cup midfielder Jonathan mand and the government appointed a sole administrator to run the game. We need this mentality,” said Pochettino. “And if we gerous in Europe,” stressed Zanetti, who scored in de Guzman has joined Napoli from Villarreal after The ban, which threatened Nigeria’s participation in the FIFA under-20 play the Europa League, we need to play to win.” Inter’s 3-0 victory over Lazio in the 1998 final. spending the past two seasons on loan at Swansea women’s World Cup this month, was later lifted. But the NFF executive board Today’s opponents AEL, pipped to the Cypriot title “Our opponents have already played three City, the Serie A club said yesterday. De Guzman, born then gave a vote of no confidence in President Aminu Maigari and sacked him in Canada to a Filipino father and Jamaican mother, over allegations of financial misappropriation, misapplication and maladminis- by APOEL Nicosia on the final day of last season, rounds in the competition so they are obviously in played in three matches as the Netherlands finished tration. Maigari was however reinstated because FIFA said that correct proce- are under no illusions as to the task that awaits better shape than us,” he added. Defender Juan dure had not been followed. them. “(Spurs) are a massive club and it is crucial Jesus is hoping Inter take the pressure off them- third in the World Cup in June and July. The 26-year- He returned to work this week. NFF secretary-general Musa Amadu cau- we minimize our mistakes against them because selves with a commanding display in Wednesday’s old, whose brother Julian plays for Canada, will team tioned against attributing blame for the fire but added: “Thank God no lives they know how to punish every little error,” AEL first leg in Reykjavik. “We need to produce a big up with Spanish forward Michu, who moved from were lost but this is sad and unfortunate.” Ikpeme added: “It’s very sad, more so coach Ivaylo Petev told UEFA.com. performance up there and score as many as we can Swansea to Napoli earlier in the transfer window. Third that Nigerians know that we have been having some challenges in the Captain Marios Nikolaou chimed in, acknowl- so that we’re more relaxed going back to the San in Serie A last season, Napoli have been relatively qui- Nigerian Football Federation. “When we thought it was all over only for us to edging the odds are stacked against him and his Siro,” he told the club’s in-house TV station, Inter et in the transfer market with defender Kalidou come this morning and experience this kind of thing. It’s a very, very serious teammates, but remained confident of an upset. Channel. Hull City scraped past Slovakians Trencin Koulibaly their only other new signing. Rafael Benitez’s matter. “You can imagine, most of the NFF’s sensitive and important docu- “We know they are a great side but we certainly in their European debut but Tigers manager Steve team were held 1-1 at home by Athletic Bilbao in their ments of the NFF are in the secretary-general’s office and for the fire to destroy don’t fear them - we will look them in the eye. We Bruce expects a step up in class against Belgian Champions League playoff first leg tie on Tuesday, the accountants’ office is very sad. “It’s a set-back for the NFF.” — AFP will need to be at our best. We were handed a Cup winners Lokeren. “It will be a different game,” their first competitive match of the season. tough draw, but that is football and we need to be Bruce said of today’s tie in Belgium. —AFP