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Showing posts from February, 2006

Owen bids to repair damage from Sven gaffe

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Instead the England striker finds himself attempting to repair a fracture in his relationship with Newcastle's fans caused by Sven-Goran Eriksson's ill-considered suggestion that he is unhappy at Newcastle and only joined the Magpies for the money. Eriksson's claim was made during an indiscreet discussion with an under-cover reporter posing as a sheikh claiming to be interested in taking over Aston Villa and installing the England manager as boss of the Midlands club. Along with a description of Rio Ferdinand as "lazy", it was the comments about Owen which were most embarassing for Eriksson because they appeared to confirm an impression that was already firmly implanted in the minds of many Newcastle fans. Owen, who has just had the cast on his broken foot removed, insisted however that he was happy on Tyneside following his 16-million-pound move from Real Madrid in August. "I'm enjoying my time here," the 26-year-old claimed. "I enjoyed it out

JI-SUNG PARK, profile

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Ji-sung Park, or "Ji" as he is called by his United team-mates, is a skilful and energetic player, who can play on the left, on the right, or in the centre of midfield. His potential to make the leap from Asia to Europe was spotted by Guus Hiddink, who coached Park in the national team before and during the 2002 World Cup. Later that year, after Korea's phenomenal run to the semi finals, Park followed Hiddink to PSV. Although he gained widespread recognition in 2005 after scoring against AC Milan in the Champions League semi-finals, Park had been gradually building a reputation at PSV as one of the most highly-regarded young midfielders in Europe. He began his career with Japanese side Kyoto Purple Sanga in 2000. A regular in the South Korean national side from a young age, he played in all of his country's seven matches in a sensational run to the semi finals of the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. He moved to PSV on 21 December 2002, but played only a fleeting pa

Argentina in thrall to Messi

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Lionel Messi became the toast of Argentina when, just days after his 18th birthday, he inspired his country's U-20 side to a fifth world title with a series of masterful displays at the FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005. Such was the impression made by the prodigious midfielder that in addition to taking home a gold medal he also picked up the adidas Golden Shoe award as top scorer, and the adidas Golden Ball as best player. "Although he's already a great player, Lionel needs to take things slowly. What he did in this tournament was fantastic, but in order to keep developing his game and improving, he needs to continue along the same lines," said his Argentina coach Francisco Ferraro. 'Messimania' has also broken out back in Argentina with many supporters and analysts already comparing him to the young Diego Maradona. Indeed 'El Diego' himself was so taken with the youngster's mercurial displays that he personally phoned to offer his