Tag Futebol

Despite three home defeats already this season Arsene Wenger stated that he was delighted to be in the title mix going into the Christmas period. A title win is long overdue at the Emirates and Arsenal fans will be hoping that this team has the stomach to go all the way.

At FFC we have seen a mixed bag of articles which include Arsenal fans set for another transfer pantomime; Arsene Wenger should ignore Spanish advances, while the Barca draw could prove a blessing in disguise for Arsenal.

We also look at the best Arsenal articles around the web this week.

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TOP TEN Grand Entrances in Football sponsored by Heineken

The TEN Premier League Players of the season so far…in my view

Is there really no room at The Emirates for an England legend?

In light of George Graham’s comments, do Tottenham play more attractive football than Arsenal?

Another transfer pantomime with Arsene Wenger?

Wenger should continue to ignore bid, despite Jack’s progress

The wrong move for Arsenal and the player

Why for Arsenal it could ultimately prove a blessing in disguise

Will top clubs embrace idea to avoid the shackles of Platini’s proposal?

What to do with Ramsey and Wilshere?

The Top TEN Worst Football Fads Of Our Time

Have derby matches lost their edge?

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Best ARSENAL blogs around the web this week

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Arsenal’s home form will win us the league, is there a message in his message? – Le Grove

Few tips for Santa this Christmas, add yours…. – Highbury House

Poles Apart & Chamakh Needs To Be A Bully – A Cultured Left Foot

The XI That Got Away – Online Gooner

Exclusive: Arsenal shareholders quarterly letter / Danny Fiszman moves shares on! – Le Grove

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Holy Crap – it’s live fantasy football! Become part of Arsenal v Chelsea and play Picklive for FREE Watch and bet live – spices up any game!

France moved to within a point of qualifying for the last eight of Euro 2012 beating co-hosts Ukraine in Donetsk after an electrical storm threatened to abandon the game.

Dutch Bjorn Kuipers was forced to bring a halt to proceedings in the fourth minute as a torrential downpour and lightening pounded the Donbass Arena and the pitch soon became unplayable amid concerns over the safety of  the players and fans. Play resumed an hour later but it took until the second half for France to make the breakthrough as Jeremy Menez scored from close range on 53 minutes before Yohan Cabaye sealed the win three minutes later with a neat finish. It was harsh on Ukraine who had chances of their own but paid the price for poor defending on both goals and must home England are held by Sweden to keep their hopes of progressing to the quarter finals ahead of their meeting with Roy Hodgson’s men on Tuesday.

Once the weather had calmed and the game was able to get underway but the delay didn’t seem to effect Laurent Blanc’s side as Karim Benzema tested Andriy Pyatov. Menez then thought he’d opened the scoring in the 16th minute after converting Frank Ribery’s pass but had strayed into an offside position before blasting over after being teed up by Ribery again before. A third chance came Menez’s way mid-way through the half as Ribery seized upon Anatoliy Tymoshchuk’s weak backpass and crossed for the winger who could only shoot straight at Pyatov’s legs.

Ukraine’s first clear sight of goal came in the 34th minute but Andriy Shevchenko couldn’t repeat his heroics of the win against Sweden lashing a half volley straight at Hugo Lloris after stealing in behind Adel Rami. Pyatov then ensured they would go in at halftime on level terms keeping out Phillipe Mexes’ header from Samir Nasri’s free kick. But he was beaten eight minutes after the break as Menez latched onto Benezema pass, drifted inside Yevhen Selin on the right and lashed a low effort inside the near post to give France the lead. That was doubled just three minutes later and Benzema was again the provider playing in Cabaye and the Newcastle man kept his composure to strike a low shot across Pyatov and into the bottom corner.

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A wonderful spell of fluid passing and movement ended with Cabaye cracking a fierce right footed volley off the post whilst Ukraine posed little threat to Les Bleus’ lead to win their first game in nine at a major tournament and put them in pole position to qualify from Group D ahead of their game with Sweden on Tuesday.

Asian football chief Mohamed Bin Hammam has been banned for life by FIFA after being found guilty of corruption allegations.Bin Hammam, the president of the Asian Football Confederation since 2002, had been accused of trying to bribe Caribbean football officials ahead of last month’s FIFA presidential election.

The ban was announced on Saturday by Petrus Damaseb, deputy chairman of FIFA’s ethics committee, after a two-day hearing in Switzerland.

Damaseb told reporters: “Bin Hammam is hereby banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for life.”

The 62-year-old Bin Hammam, who did not attend the hearing, has pledged his innocence since being suspended from football-related activities on May 29.

He said through a statement on Friday that he expected a guilty verdict and that he would appeal.

Following the verdict, a spokesman of the Qatari said: “He (Bin Hammam) maintains his innocence. He will continue to fight his case through the legal routes that are open to him.”

The draw for the knockout stages of Champions League paired Tottenham Hotspur with AC Milan in the last 16, meaning that Spurs fans will travelling to the Italian city once more this season. Many Tottenham fans went to see Spurs be defeated by Inter Milan in an entertaining match earlier in the season that ended 4-3, with some respectability for Tottenham earned by Gareth Bale’s hat-trick. However, if you didn’t travel to Milan for the Champions League group stage game, here is a guide to the Italian city so that you can watch Tottenham in Milan this time round.

The first thing you’ll want to do is get your hands on those coveted tickets for the match in the San Siro. The first leg takes place in Milan on Tuesday 15th February and you can check ticket availability by clicking here. The stadium is located in the San Siro district, in the Western Milan area, about 5.5 km from the centre of Milan. You can take the Metro on Line MM1 to Molino Dorino or Line 16 on the tram from Cathedral Square.

If you go down the route of car hire then heading to Milan from Torino you need to proceed towards Venice after the pay-station, up to the intersection for ‘Milano Certosa’. From there follow the road signs to the stadium. If you’re travelling from Rome you need to take the ‘Tangenziale Ovest’ Bypass and get off the road at the Statale 11 Interchange. From there, follow the signs to the stadium. You can search for car hire options, alongside flights, by clicking here.

Buy AC Milan v Tottenham Champions League tickets here!

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There are a number of flight options available to you, although as the Champions League fixture approaches the demand for air travel to Milan is sure to increase. Flights are available from Luton, London Gatwick, Stanstead and Heathrow direct to Milan Malpensa Airport. You can decide to stay in Milan for the night and get a return flight back the next day so that you can explore the Italian city as well as watch the football.

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If you plan to stay in Milan for the night then you’ll need to book hotel accommodation alongside flights. The Football FanCast Travel Page is ideal for this as you can bring up all the hotels within a five mile radius of the San Siro. The available hotels are also listed in order of price so that your Italian football trip doesn’t have to cost you the earth. A handy map illustrates just where you’ll be staying, too, with Hotel San Siro Fiera on the doorstep of the AC Milan stadium.

So you can book football tickets, flights, hotel and accommodation for the AC Milan v Tottenham Champions League fixture with a couple of clicks of your mouse. This will ensure your trip to Italy is as simple as possible, then you just have to hope that Spurs do the business in the San Siro.

Schalke are set to win the race to sign out-of-contract Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou, according to Mirror Football.

The Ivory Coast international was largely a bit-part player at the west London club in 2011-12, but did get more chances to play once Roberto Di Matteo took over from Andre Villas Boas.

Despite this, with the Blues on a recruitment drive to bring in a host of new young players to Stamford Bridge this summer, Kalou has seemingly been overlooked and has not been offered a new deal.

A number of Premier League sides have been speculated as having an interest in the African attacker, whilst a move back to former club Feyenoord has also been rumoured to be on the cards.

However, Schalke are thought to have negotiated terms with Kalou, who will move to the Bundesliga club once the transfer window opens.

The Gelsenkirchen club are looking to bolster their attack after seeing legendary Spanish forward Raul leave the club this summer.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Transfer rumours are infinite, some of them materialise from thin air and the majority of them disappear before they’ve really had time to grow. A tiny percentage are actually based in truth. Whether they are dismissed out of hand by those alleged to be involved or are just too far-fetched or tenuous to ever really be believed, the survival rate of the football rumour is like that of baby turtles on a beach, few of them are hardy enough to make it. Every summer however, there are those rumours that persist. Like little Rambo turtles, they are unstoppable, gaining momentum all the time.

So, which are the ten likeliest transfers left to take place this summer? The return of the Fabregas to Barcelona story has been a constant and is hotting up nicely. The Nasri to a Manchester club noises are growing ever louder. The Modric to Chelsea grumblings continue and the flight of Carlos Tevez is an absolute mess that could go either way. These stories are much more than just tittle tattle, there is a chance they might actually happen.

Much of the summer’s business has quickly trundled to completion. Connor Wickham, Ashley Young and Charlie Adam are amongst those already settling into their new socks and surroundings, futures certain, ambitions stated. But there is always a late flurry, so what do we still expect to happen? Who are the names on everybody’s lips and where are they heading?

Click on Gary Cahill below to see the 10 likely transfers this summer

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Arsenal moved to the top of the Premier League table thanks to a 2-1 victory at home to Fulham, while Chelsea had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Samir Nasri put the Gunners in front on 14 minutes but they were pegged back on the half-hour mark when Diomansy Kamara levelled matters for the visitors.

Nasri grabbed his second goal of the game 15 minutes from time to take Arsene Wenger's men above Manchester United and into top spot.

Chelsea looked to be on their way to three points thanks to Didier Drogba's 41st-minute penalty but Jermaine Beckford struck five minutes from time to earn David Moyes' men a deserved point.

Manchester City remain in the title hunt as Carlos Tevez's 10th goal of the season helped them to a narrow 1-0 win over Bolton at Eastlands.

Tottenham's run of four straight Premier League wins came to an end as they drew 1-1 at Birmingham. Sebastien Bassong put Spurs in front but a late header from Craig Gardner salvaged a point for the Blues.

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Elsewhere, Blackburn bounced back from their 7-1 defeat at Manchester United to send Wolves bottom with a 3-0 win. David Dunn, Brett Emerton and Ryan Nelsen got the goals.

Wigan fought out a 2-2 draw at home to Stoke with all the goals coming in the first half.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Harry Kane is widely regarded as the talisman at Tottenham Hotspur due to his scintillating form in front of goal over the last few seasons.The England international has been the Premier League’s top scorer over the past two campaigns and he could claim his third in the coming weeks, but he will have to overcome Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.The Egyptian currently leads the way with 29, five more than Kane, who recently had a spell on the sidelines with injury.Even though the striker is deemed Tottenham’s best player, former defender Graham Roberts believes that another member of the team deserves to be named the club’s Player of the Year.https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/harry-kane-100.mp4On Twitter, the 58-year-old suggested that Jan Vertonghen should be handed the accolade for his performances in defence this season.Much of the campaign has been focused on the centre-back’s partner Toby Alderwerield due to the Belgian’s ongoing contract situation.Vertonghen has been going about his business away from the radar but his consistently strong displays in the Premier League have not gone unnoticed.

Cardiff City fans rejoiced on Friday after controversial owner Vincent Tan made an astonishing U-turn and announced the ‘Bluebirds’ would be back in a blue home kit with immediate effect.

Tan’s decision came as a surprise to most, considering it was just Christmas Day when he announced the Welsh club will be staying red. The Malaysian tycoon’s well documented talks with his mother over the festive period, as well as poor results and serious fan backlash , was a compilation of factors behind his shock decision.

The Bluebirds’ fans have seen it all over the last few years – an FA Cup and League Cup final, a Play-Off final, promotion, relegation and a season in the Premier League. But there’s one thing that has eclipsed all of those achievements, and that’s the long-awaited return to their 100-year historic colours. Many teams would be envious of Cardiff’s recent success, but they also wouldn’t have accepted all of those recent accomplishments for a loss of identity. Finally all the protests and the dwindling Cardiff City Stadium crowds have had the fans’ desired effect on the owner, and the feel-good factor is well and truly back n South Wales.

Now the Cardiff supporters have got their wish it’s up to them to turn out in force and give the side the 12th man the team have been in desperate need of for quite some time. Slade’s side celebrated the news with a hard-fought and extremely important home win over fellow underachievers Fulham on Saturday. The former Leyton Orient boss praised the City fans in his post-match press conference, telling BBC Sport; “It was a totally different atmosphere to any I’ve witnessed so far this season. I was very proud.

“Although the game was very tight throughout, as it’s always going to be at 1-0, the fans were fantastic, awesome, right behind us from the first minute until the last. I was told about the passion of the fans when I came to Cardiff City and what a good group they were, and they were overwhelming today.”

Cardiff City have no excuses now, and must kick on to try and regain their Premier League status as soon as possible. In Vincent Tan’s recent statement, he showed no signs of leaving the Welsh capital anytime soon, and it seems a very apparent case of ‘let’s finish what we started’ for Tan at Cardiff. The charismatic owner, who’s been in the spotlight ever since taking ownership of the Bluebirds, has pumped an awful lot of money into the club, with transfers, facilities and a stadium expansion – it’s up to Slade now to get the club back to the promised land.

The last time Cardiff were in the Championship, Malky Mackay guided them to the Premier League as Champions in 2013 – that looks very unlikely this term, but the play-off’s are a real possibility with Cardiff currently seven points off in 11th.

Russell Slade undoubtedly knew the enormity of the challenge that was ahead of him  when he took over at the Cardiff City Stadium from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in October. January is set to be a very busy month for Slade as he attempts to bring in the players that he feels are the right acquisitions for the club. Cardiff have recently signed Scott Malone from Millwall, and Alex Revell from Rotherham – they may not be the calibre of players the Bluebirds’ fans are used to seeing in recent years, but they could potentially be exactly what the team needs.

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Now all of the off-field shenanigans have left the club, Cardiff City and Russell Slade can focus on getting things right on the pitch. After two-and-a-half years of painful ups and downs – the Bluebirds faithful are finally all pulling together, and Cardiff could now be set for a bright, blue future.

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Swansea manager Michael Laudrup has ruled out a January move for Barcelona striker David Villa.

A number of Premier League clubs have been linked with the Spanish star in recent weeks, amid speculation that he may be able to leave the Nou Camp on loan to regain match fitness.

The Swans are one of the parties to have been mentioned, with some speculating that their style of play may suit the former Valencia hit-man.

With star performer Michu suffering a bad ankle injury in their draw with Reading, the South Wales outfit are rather short on goal scoring options, which has furthered rumours of the club delving into the transfer market.

However, Laudrup confessed that a move for Villa is unlikely, and that he has not been in contact with the player or Barca:

“There have been a lot of rumours, but the only Villa coming to Swansea is Aston Villa.” He is quote by the Daily Mail.

“He is a fantastic player, but unfortunately I don’t think he will be coming to Swansea.

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“In fact, although I haven’t spoken to (Andoni) Zubizarreta or (Tito) Vilanova, I think he will stay at Barcelona.”

Villa has also bee linked with Arsenal and Liverpool in recent weeks, with both sides keen to bolster their attacking options in January.