| Adjudicator looks at A-League round 10 The Adjudicator casts his eye over round 10 of the A-League, and offers salient advice for coaches of struggling teams. foxsports.com.au |
Capello: England were 'lucky' to draw • Manager praises the Montenegro team• Rio Ferdinand says England should have wonRio Ferdinand said that England "should be winning games like that" as the team left here to a chorus of boos, having failed to score for the first time in their redeveloped national stadium.Montenegro, who are ranked 40th in the world, stayed on top of Group G after England revisited their World Cup failings in South Africa over the summer by producing a disjointed and lethargic performance. The England manager, Fabio Capello, echoed his captain's frustration with the team's display and said that his side had even been "lucky" to draw, after Milan Jovanovic hit the visitors' only real opportunity against the crossbar, seven minutes from time."We can take a few positives but we really should be winning games like that," said Ferdinand. "I think we deserved better. They hit the bar late on but up until then we were on the front foot trying to create chances and their goalkeeper made a couple of good saves. It seemed like it would be his day."Maybe we did try too hard, but that's what happens. You want to please the manager and the fans, but it just wasn't to be."Capello's side had not been held at home for two years – indeed, England had not drawn a home match 0-0 since Macedonia left Old Trafford with a point in 2006 – and this was a sobering evening after the recovery hinted at by victories over Bulgaria and Switzerland last month. It was more reminiscent of the struggles endured by the Italian's side against Algeria in Cape Town in June.Asked if England should be expected to beat teams like Montenegro, who were without arguably their best player, the injured Roma striker Mirko Vucinic, Capello said: "Yes, I think so. But, at the moment, they are a wonderful team, a really compact unit which works a lot and runs a lot."I suppose we were lucky because they had one shot at goal and hit the bar. In their other group games they created one chance in each and scored, winning 1-0 each time. So we were lucky."They're not a bad team, though. Sometimes little countries produce good players and psychologically they're at a really high moment after winning their first three games. They were strong, compact and their quality was really good."We didn't create a lot against Algeria in that match but had four or five chances here. The goalkeeper was Montenegro's best player but we have to accept this result. This is football. It's not like boxing where you win by punching the opponent more."England's frustration was exacerbated by the officials' refusal to award them a penalty after Jovanovic's apparent handball – "He might as well have caught the ball, put it under his shirt and run home with it," said Ferdinand.Montenegro, increasingly, are confident that they can squeeze the favourites from the automatic qualification position in the group."The next game against England is a year away so we hope we have a full-strength team for that match," said their coach, Zlatko Kranjcar. "England are still the clear favourites in the group and will find a way of winning all the games ahead of that match. But if it comes down to the result of that one game, we have the quality and strength to step forward and make sure we are the team that goes forward to the championships."EnglandRio FerdinandFabio CapelloMontenegroEuro 2012Dominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Rookie referee Willie Collum receives death threats after Old Firm game Willie Collum still in the spotlight as Celtic write to the Scottish FA about his display. telegraph.co.uk |
On Soccer: Through Feast of Goals, Stealthy Genius Is Revealed Dimitar Berbatov scored five goals for Manchester United on Saturday in a transcendent performance against Blackburn. feeds.nytimes.com |
Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid José Mourinho always said that his side would lose one day but he did not expect to lose like this – not after enjoying the greatest start of any coach in Real Madrid's history. His team, so impermeable before, were punctured. Five times. They were sunk. A 5-0 victory for Barcelona was described by the Madrid coach as a "historically bad result" for his club – it was the worst defeat he has suffered in his career.The final whistle arrived amid cheers and olés, plus boos for Sergio Ramos, sent off at the death for a wild scythe at Leo Messi. At last Mourinho could move from the bench where he had been sitting powerless. The chant going round was inspired by Mourinho's infamous accusation that Messi had play-acted during a Chelsea-Barcelona Champions League clash: "Mourinho, go to the theatre!" He might have wished he had. By his own admission, he had felt "impotent".There was little comfort in the fact that this Barcelona team are genuinely special. Pep Guardiola's side were imperious, their control breathtaking. Speaking of genuinely special, if this was indeed the game that decided the best player in the world, there can be only one answer. Messi failed to score for the first time in 10 matches but his performance – like those of Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández and Sergio Busquets – was sublime. There were fewer brilliant dribbles, less fantasy but there was a stunning assuredness and impeccable precision in the passing. This was the Messi who controls the game and then decides it.For Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the most glittering of stars in a match featuring 11 world champions, there was a sense of this being a definitive test. Ronaldo has never scored against Barcelona; Messi is yet to get a goal against Mourinho. The last two winners of the Ballon d'Or, they had scored against everyone else. Ronaldo reached 50 goals for Madrid quicker than anyone in the club's history; Messi had struck 70 in 71 games.But it was Xavi, the ideologue behind Spain's World Cup success, who opened the scoring after nine minutes. Messi, who spent the match dropping from his 'false No 9' role into midfield, content to play simple passes and keep the ball moving, combined with Xavi. The Argentinian then swept the ball out to Iniesta. His pass into the box found Xavi running though and as the ball bounced fortuitously off his heel, Xavi nudged a volley past Iker Casillas. It was the perfect demonstration of Barcelona's football. Short, clever passing, a man always in support. Even the goalkeeper Victor Valdés refused to hit aimless punts.Barcelona did things that would be risky for any other side, playing out of the tightest corners. Soon, Camp Nou was roaring olés as their team swept the ball about.When it looked like Barcelona were playing for its own sake, Xavi speared a wonderful diagonal ball to the left. David Villa collected and delivered a cross that Casillas could only just reach. As the ball squirmed free, Pedro got ahead of Marcelo to push it over the line and make it 2-0. Almost immediately, it was nearly three when Iniesta's sumptuous assist found Villa clean through but he was fractionally offside.Madrid had little of the ball but when they did recover possession they broke rapidly and with murderous intent. Ronaldo saw a shot flash wide, a free-kick dip past the post and just before half-time he appealed for a penalty. The referee, Iturralde González, felt Ronaldo had looked for the penalty; replays suggested he may have found it. In the end it was academic and there could be no complaints.Within two minutes of the start of the second half, Messi had a goal disallowed for offside. He, Pedro and Villa had already made a mess of a superb opportunity. Four minutes after that, Messi slipped an angled delivery through for Xavi. Unfortunately for Barcelona it was not the only thing that was angled; as Xavi stepped round Casillas he could only hit the side netting.Barcelona would not be denied. Messi did much the same thing three minutes later and Villa made no mistake. The pass was perfectly weighted and Villa, sneaking in behind Pepe, struck his seventh goal of the season. In a flash, it was eight. Again Messi gave the clever ball. Again, Villa slipped free. This time he toe-poked the ball home.There was still more than half an hour remaining. For Madrid and Mourinho it was an eternity. Barcelona barely let them see the ball, still less touch it. Barcelona added a fifth in stoppage time when Jeffren finished off Bojan Krkic's cross to complete a miserable night for Mourinho's team. Bojan had been on the pitch only three minutes. In the second half, Madrid had barely been on it at all.La LigaBarcelonaReal MadridEuropean footballSid Loweguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |