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Follow us onNº 53 FRIDAY MARCH 14, 2014
RIVALDOFOOTBALL
LEGENDS
VAN BASTEN
POSTER INSIDE
TOMORROWFFoFolllllllowowow uu u usss s ononononon
FOOTBALL LEGENDS
509 games / 254 goals
RIVALDOPaulista (Brazil)April 19, 1972
ATTACKING MIDFIELDERCAREER1994-96
Palmeiras1996-97
Deportivo Coruña1997-02
Barcelona 2002-04
Milan 2004-07
Olympiakos2007-08
AEK Athens2008-10
Bunyodkor2011
Sao Paulo (loan)2012
Kabuscorp2013
Sao Caetano
Brazil National Team74 games / 34 goals
POSTER INSIDE
BAYERN CHIEF PUNISHED
ELIMINATION LEAVES CITY ONLY FIGHTING FOR DOMESTIC TITLE
Pellegrini’s side sent
crashing out of Europe
and the FA Cup once more
ONE
BARCELONA STAR LAUDED BY WORLD’S PRESS AFTER STUNNING SHOW
HOENESS FACES 3.5 YEARS IN JAIL FOR TAX FRAUD
F1 REVOLUTION STARTS
THE FIRST RACE TAKES PLACE ON SUNDAY IN AUSTRALIA
Man City must win the
Premier League to make
this a successful season
AIM
MESSI BACK TO MAGICAL BEST“We are the team we want to be and the one fans expect us to be” says Leo
After lifting the League
Cup, Manchester City
believed they could go
on to win the quadruple.
That’s what Manuel Pel-
legrini and Samir Nasri said after
the game. Although they were in
a tricky spot after the Champions
League first leg defeat against
Barcelona, the club seemed confi-
dent again. But they came crashing
down to earth the following week,
against Wigan in the FA Cup. Pel-
legrini’s team looked out of ideas,
bereft of inspiration, as they took
on their conquerors from the previ-
ous year’s final. At their home sta-
dium, City were shown up by the
Championship side.
On Wednesday night in Barce-
lona, they didn’t play too badly.
They had chances, through Nasri,
and an Edin Dzeko header which
was superbly tipped over by Victor
Valdés. But they didn’t do enough
and were dumped out of Europe
before the quarter-final stage yet
again. It means the only competi-
City must win the title rManchester City only have the Premier League left to fight for this season and the club’s owners will be demanding success
tion they have left to fight for is the
Premier League.
Samir Nasri believes City will
emerge a stronger team from
their Nou Camp defeat, which fin-
ished 2-1 on the night and 4-1 to
Barcelona on aggregate. French
midfielder Nasri said: “I think we
played a good game. I think we did
everything we could. We can have
regrets about the first leg - it is in
the first leg we lost it - but here we
did everything. I think this defeat
is going to be good for us in the
future. This is where you get experi-
ence and get much stronger as a
team and a group. Next year our
target is to be up there with the
best. We don’t have a choice. Now
our target is to win the league.”
But there’s only so far that en-
thusiasm and desire takes you.
Given the vast amounts of money
that has been poured into the club
- over €1.2billion - since the takeo-
ver in 2008 by the Abu Dhabi Unit-
ed Group, a return of one Premier
League and one FA Cup is simply
not good enough. Sheikh Mansour
is entitled to question whether he’s
getting value for money. City could
make it two Premier Leagues by
the end of the season, if City can
beat Chelsea, Arsenal and Liver-
pool to the title.
You would imagine that Pel-
legrini’s job is safe, even if City
don’t win - so long as they come
within inches of success. The Chil-
ean manager is liked by supporters
and players; he has united a squad
After being knocked out of the Champions League...
Rik Sharma
Analysis
SPORT QATARFRIDAY
March 14, 20142 Football
This is the most intriguingly balanced title
race in years. Liverpool are in the best form
but have some points to make up. Chelsea
are going strong but have European distrac-
tions. Arsenal and City are wobbling but
both have the ability to win it. The weeks
ahead will be thrilling.
Game on! Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal are in their way
In the 2013 FA Cup final, Wigan stunned
the world by beating Manchester City at
Wembley. Nobody believed it would happen
again, this time at the Etihad in the quarter-
finals, but it did. The Latics went two goals
up and although Samir Nasri struck, City
couldn’t force a replay.
Wigan give City déjà vu with another FA Cup knock-out
This was City’s best Champions League
campaign yet, but it still ended in disap-
pointment. Lionel Messi and Dani Alves
struck in both legs of the tie, with City’s only
goal coming through Vincent Kompany late
on at the Nou Camp. They still have a long
way to go to beat the best in Europe.
Barcelona showed too much class for City to match
LEAGUE CUP
Manchester City beat Sunderland at Wem-
bley to take home English football’s first
- and least prestigious - trophy of the sea-
son. On the way to the final they only had
to get past West Ham, Leicester City, New-
castle and Wigan, certainly not the most
formidable of opposition.
Triumph over Sunderland earned them some respite
Man City Status Check
FA CUP CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREMIER LEAGUE
Manchester City only have the Premier League to play for // AFP
race
which Roberto Mancini wore down.
Nasri is one player who has flour-
ished this season, after Pellegrini
unshackled him.
The club will need to reinforce
the centre of defence in the sum-
mer, which has been badly ex-
posed in the Champions League
ties against Barcelona. Martin
Demichelis was found out in the
first leg, sent off as he conceded a
penalty. Joleon Lescott was made
a mockery of by Lionel Messi on
Wednesday night. Matija Nastisic
has spent a long time injured and
is only 20-years-old. Only Vincent
Kompany fits the bill, and they will
be vying with Barcelona for the
best of the defensive talent when
the transfer window opens. They
will be regretting not buying a cen-
tre-back last summer, instead of
lavishing €26m.
Complaints about the officials
from Pablo Zabaleta, who was sent
off, did little to disguise the fact
that City are not operating at the
level they need to be. The strikers,
Sergio Agüero, Alvaro Negredo
and Edin Dzeko, who couldn’t stop
scoring earlier this season, now
have a combined 907-minute goal
drought between them. They will
need to break that sooner rather
than later, if they are to fight for the
one remaining title open to them
this season. They may be without
Agüero for a while, because he
was substituted at half time be-
cause of a hamstring injury. “It is
very early, so we cannot say how
long he is going to be out,” Rubén
Cousillas, Pellegrini’s assistant,
said. “Hopefully, it is nothing se-
rious, but he felt some pain. It is
more a precaution, but we are do-
ing some tests to assess it.” The
forward said: “I felt a twinge in the
leg early on after a challenge with
Messi. I carried on with it for the
rest of the half but at half-time we
decided not to risk it.”
City chief executive Ferran So-
riano, formerly of Barcelona, set
Pellegrini a target at the start of
the season, saying he wanted the
club to win five trophies in the next
five years. He said: “If we look at
the next five years, I would say I
want to win five trophies. That
may mean we win no trophies one
year and two in another, but on av-
erage I want one trophy or title a
year. If next year we don’t win, but
progress our football and get to
the semi-finals of the Champions
League, finish second in the Pre-
mier League and lose the FA Cup
final again, that will be fine.”
Having won the League Cup,
Pellegrini and City are on course
to hit Soriano’s target. But some
titles are worth more than others.
The manager will demand his side
gets back to winning ways against
Hull on Saturday, when focus turns
back to the Premier League.
Samir Nasri: “I think we did everything we could. We don’t have a choice,
now our target is to win the league. ”
Pellegrini has been
set a target of five
trophies to win in the
next five seasons
Winning the league
is essential to give the
club a return on the
€1.2bn spent already
3FootballSPORT QATARFRIDAYMarch 14, 2014
Pablo Zabaleta blasted
referee Stephane Lan-
noy for three ‘shock-
ing decisions’ made
during their Champi-
ons League last 16 second leg
tie with Barcelona. Zabaleta
claimed there was a foul in the
build up to Lionel Messi’s open-
ing goal, that City should have
been awarded a penalty, and that
he should not have been shown
the red card.
Zabaleta said: “It was very
clear - Piqué came from behind
and made the tackle on Edin Dze-
ko, and the referee was only two
metres away. He saw that very
clearly. It was also a foul against
Dzeko just before Barcelona’s
first goal.
He held the
b a l l a n d
turned, and
Piqué had
hold of his
shir t, and
the ref gave
a free-kick
to Barcelo-
na. Some-
times in the game you are nerv-
ous because you are trying to get
the result, and sometimes shock-
ing decisions by the ref make you
a bit angry. I don’t know why I
got a red card because I went to
him to talk in a good way. I was
a little bit angry to him because
he didn’t give the penalty but I
was always respectful to him. I
am very frustrated at the deci-
sion because it was a shocking
decision. I am disappointed but
also very proud of the team be-
cause I think we played a fantas-
tic game.”
What Zabaleta didn’t mention
was that Lannoy also missed
Joleon Lescott’s foul on Messi
in the area, which should have
been given as a penalty to Barce-
lona. Jordi Alba was also wrongly
adjudged to be offside
and when he crossed
for Neymar to score,
it was unfairly ruled
out.
Yaya Touré was
also on the warpath,
hitting out at Chelsea
manager Jose Mourin-
ho. The Ivorian spoke
to Marca about Mourinho’s propen-
sity to offer his opinion about other
teams and players in the press.
“I think he talks more than be-
fore, perhaps because the English
press likes it,” Touré said. “He is a
coach and he must give
respect a little bit. He is
always talking about eve-
ryone and that is not the
correct way. That is why
Barcelona always beat
Madrid when Mourinho
was here.”
NEVILLE KNOWS
Manchester United
legend Gary Neville has admitted
that arch-rivals City are better than
his former side, but does not think
they will win the Premier League
this season. “For about 20 years
of my life they [Man City]
were irrelevant,” he said.
“Then they became a
little bit annoying. Now
they are actually better.
It’s a bit of a worry. My
uncle is a City fan. We
all know City fans, we all
know United fans. And
I have to say, that gen-
Complaints: Zabaleta was left fuming after the game // AFP
City rage: Zabaleta hits out at ref and Touré blasts Mourinho
Zabaleta claimed the referee wronged City three times and Touré thinks Chelsea’s boss needs to talk less
Zabaleta:
“The ref
made me
angry with
his shocking
decisions”
erally it’s a huge positive to have
two clubs of that stature for Man-
chester. You can’t really think about
Manchester without thinking about
football and the importance of it.”
Asked who would win this year’s
Premier League, Neville
replied: “I said City cer-
tainly up to two months
ago but if you asked me
now I’d say Chelsea.”
Manchester United
are currently nine points
behind City, although
Manuel Pel legrini ’s
team have two games in
hand on them. Neville
has been working with Ryan Giggs
since he retired from the game,
opening a football cafe and he’s
currently constructing Hotel Foot-
ball, next to Old Trafford. “I’ve not
played football since Paul Scholes’
testimonial and it was such an em-
barrassing experience,” he said. “It
was painful. And I thought ‘I’m not
playing again’. I don’t play football.
I’ve no interest in it at all. If you
said to me tomorrow would you
kick about, I wouldn’t want it. I’d
rather be in a suit, either watching
the game or having meetings.”
Yaya Touré:
“Mourinho is
talking about
everyone and
that is not
correct”
Gary Neville:
“Two months
ago I thought
City, but
now I’d say
Chelsea”
Manchester City may have cre-
ated a series of clear goalscor-
ing chances at the Camp Nou,
but Messi was never concerned
that the Prermier League side
were going to stage an upset.
It was the Argentinian He told
Canal Plus: “We knew that we
only had to score one goal to
finish off the tie and calm our
nerves down a bit, because we
knew what City were capable of
and the quality they possess.
But even before we scored, the
tie was never in danger. We
were always in control and we
created chances throughout the
game which we weren’t able to
convert but we’ve qualified for
the next round, which is what
we were looking to do.”
Messi acknowledged that the
team had disappointed fans
with the recent defeats at Real
Sociedad and Valladolid, but
believes they produced the
right response against City. “Of
course we had two big slip ups
in the league, and above all
we played very badly in those
two games. But today we were
the same old Barça again, the
team we want to be and what
the fans expect us to be, and
we did that while playing against
a really good team.” However,
the striker did not appear too
bothered by what the media
had been saying about Barce-
lona after those defeats. “We
were more critical of ourselves
than anyone else, because we
didn’t play as well as we should
have done and we missed an
important chance to win and
keep fighting at the top of the
league,” he said. “We always
try and distance ourselves from
criticism. We have to listen to
each other and try and turn
things around. ourselves.”
Today we were the same old Barça again, the team we want to be and the team the fans expect us to be
Messi believes Barça were back to their best against City
Just in case it was needed, Li-
onel Messi reminded the world
once again who he was, and just
exactly how good he is. It was the
Argentine’s 66th minute goal that
saw off Manchester City once and
for all and banished any fears Barça
might have had of being the victim
of a late comeback from the Pre-
mier League side, but even before
he spun the ball past Joe Hart with
the outside of his mythical left foot
to open the scoring, he had won
over the crowd with a scintillating
performance. Aside from earning
and scoring the penalty which had
put Barça on their way to victory at
the Etihad stadium — which also
lead to Martin Demichelis being
sent off — Messi had not exactly
conquered Manchester in the first
leg. But on Wednesday, on his trust-
ed home turf, the four-time Ballon
d’Or winner honed in on his victims,
toyed with his prey and then moved
in for the kill. City felt the fear the
moment they set eyes on their pred-
ator, with the woefully mismatched
Joleon Lescott grabbing onto Messi
in the fourth minute in an attempt
The forward had the world’s press eating out of his hands after blitzing City and sending Barça into the quarters
Messi show silences d
Messi struck
fear into the
Manchester
City defence
every time
he picked
up the ball
BARCELONA Argentine produced dominant performance just when questions were being asked
Richard Martin
Report
SPORT QATARFRIDAY
March 14, 20144 Football
doubters
to halt a bursting run through the
middle. Lescott simply could not
cope with the forward during the
90 minutes, and was fortunate
not to concede a penalty when he
brought him down in the area a few
moments later. He then skipped
past Yaya Toure, Lescott and Ale-
ksandr Kolarov but could not pre-
vent the ball going out of play. While
he was on a mission to add to his
goal tally, Messi was also keen to
tee up his team-mates delivering an
acute pass for Xavi, who could only
shoot at Hart, and then releasing
Neymar, whose shot was headed
off the line by Fernandinho.
He was just as rampant in the
second half, striking the far post af-
ter humiliating Lescott again. The
Barça fans responded by chanting
their hero’s name, and the next
time Messi went for goal, he found
it. Inevitably it was Lescott who
gifted him the chance, failing to
clear a through ball from Cesc Fà-
bregas, and Messi took one touch
to bring the ball under control with
his left foot, before flicking the out-
side of his boot to send the ball
into the opposite corner. This time
the Camp Nou was able to give
Messi a proper ovation, and so too
did the press tapping away at their
keyboards high above the pitch.
The Daily Telegraph spoke of the
“guile and wizardry of Messi, who
reaffirmed his pre-eminence in the
starkest terms”, while The Guardi-
an noted: “With each touch he had,
each run he made, space opened.”
It was easy to forget the talk in the
Spanish media before the game
about Messi’s star fading, follow-
ing Barcelona’s 1-0 defeat at Val-
ladolid the previous weekend. In
the press conference before the
City game, Javier Mascherano and
Barça coach Gerardo Martino had
to take questions about whether
Messi still had the hunger and the
talent that lead him to winning the
Ballon d’Or four times in a row.
Some suggested he was burned
out, still not fully recovered from
suffering three hamstring injuries
in the space of eight months.The
debate was quickly forgotten after
his exhibition at the Camp Nou.
As The Independent put it: “Messi
made a whole heap of nonsense
last night out of all the talk of his
diminishing influence.” Now the
press are eating out of his hand.
The Daily Mirror wrote: “Messi
shone. He shone brightly. He domi-
nated the game. And though City
gave everything, he taught them a
harsh lesson.” Spanish newspaper
AS joined in: “Messi was stupen-
dous and once again showed he’s
still the best in the world. He is like
the 7th Cavalry; he always arrives
just in time.”
Joleon Lescott was woefully mismatched against Messi and had a torrid time trying to keep up with him
looked to be another
message to the Barça
faithful, but Alves in-
sisted he had been
misunderstood, and
thought the fans had
suppor ted the team
throughout the game.
He said: “All I wanted
was for the fans to get
behind us. I’m a transpar-
ent guy and people need
to know that if the fans
and the team are united
we will be much harder to
beat. Today I have nothing
to complain about.” He
added: “We’ll always de-
fend this club with dignity
and honour.”
“If the fans
and team are united we’ll be much harder to beat”
Alves calls on Barça faithful to keep the volume up
Dani Alves has never
been a man of subtle-
ties and celebrated
his late goal against
City with an exuber-
ant dance by the corner flag,
followed by a series of facial
expressions towards the home
fans. The full-back has been cri-
ticial of the club’s supporters in
recent weeks, remarking after
the January defeat to Valencia
at the Camp Nou: “At times it felt
like we were playing away from
home”. He was also outspoken
after the defeat at Valladolid,
declaring: “Anyone who doesn’t
believe in this team should get
off the ship”. His fiery celebra-
tion after scoring against City
The Brazilian ran towards supporters after scoring but insists he was not pointing the finger at anyone
Alves ran towards the home fans after scoring the final goal of the game// AFP
Messi ran City ragged from minute
one, creating numerous chances
for himself and his team-mates
key points
His 66th minute goal finished off
any hope City had of launching
a late comeback in the tie
He overtook Raúl as the player with
the most Champions League goals
for a single team (67 and counting)
1
2
3
Busquets tells people to be realisticIf Barcelona want to find an
explanation for why they have
been hounded by the press for
the crime of losing a couple of
matches, they could listen to a
song by the popular Manchester
band James and in particular the
line “If I hadn’t seen such riches,
I could live with being poor.”
It was a theme Sergio Busquets
touched on in an interview with
Barça TV after the City game. The
midfielder pointed out that the
team’s fans have been spoiled
in recent years, feasting on one
jawdropping victory after another,
a title win followed by a European
triumph, that they do not know how
to react when the team falls short
from time to time. “Maybe people
are just too used to us winning
everything,” said Busquets. “We’d
all love to win every game 5-0 and
not have to suffer, but that’s just
impossible.” The midfielder called
for a sense of perspective, remind-
ing fans that despite losing three
games in 2014, Barça still have
everything to play for. “We are four
points behind the league leaders
and I don’t think that means it’s the
end of an era,” he said. Next up for
Barça is a home game with Osasu-
na, followed by one of their biggest
league games of the season, the
Clásico with
Real Madrid
at the Berna-
b é u . B u s -
quets added:
“We will keep
fighting for all
the titles until
the end of the
season.”
“Maybe
people have got too used to us winning everything”
Bartra agrees new contract until 2017Barcelona have renewed their
longstanding commitment to
homegrown players by offering
academy graduate Marc Bar-
tra a new contract.
The 23-year-old has
agreed a fresh deal
with the club that
will keep him tied to
Barcelona until June
2017. The contract
is a reward for the pa-
tience the youngster
has shown in spite
of limited first team opportuni-
ties, and the €25million buy-out
clause that has been inserted into
the contract to warn off interested
clubs also reflects how
much Barecelona value
him. Although Bartra is
still behind Gerard Piqué
and Javier Mascherano
in the pecking order, in
defence, he can expect
more first team opportu-
nities next season, with
veteran Carles Puyol
announcing he will leave the club
in the summer. Bartra joined Bar-
celona’s world famous academy
La Masia in 2002 when he was
just 11 years old, Pep Guardiola
handing him his first team debut
eight years later in a league game
against Atlético Madrid. Bartra
then returned to the club’s B team
but was made a fully fledged mem-
ber of the first team squad at the
start of the 2012-13 season and
has grown in stature this season,
starting 10 games in La Liga.
The contract
contains a €25m buy-out clause to warn off other clubs
5FootballSPORT QATARFRIDAYMarch 14, 2014
Getafe-Granada Friday 14, 23:00h.
Levante-Celta Vigo Saturday 15, 18:00h.
Rayo Vallecano-Almería Saturday 15, 20:00h.
Málaga-Real Madrid Saturday 15, 22:00h.
Atlético Madrid-Espanyol Sunday 16, 00:00h.
Elche-Real Betis Sunday 16, 14:00h.
Barcelona-Osasuna Sunday 16, 19:00h.
Sevilla-Valladolid Sunday 16, 21:00h.
Real Sociedad-Valencia Sunday 16, 23.00h.
Villarreal-Athletic Bilbao Tuesday. 18, 00:00h.
Fixtures
La Liga
Team PLD W D L GF GA Pts
Real Madrid 27 21 4 2 76 26 67Atlético 27 20 4 3 63 21 64Barcelona 27 20 3 4 74 22 63Athletic 26 15 5 6 49 30 50Villarreal 27 13 5 9 47 33 44Real Sociedad 26 12 7 7 46 36 43Sevilla 27 11 8 8 47 42 41Espanyol 27 10 6 11 32 33 36Levante 27 9 9 9 26 34 36Valencia 26 10 5 11 38 37 35Celta Vigo 27 8 6 13 32 39 30Granada 27 9 3 15 24 36 30Osasuna 26 8 5 13 24 39 29Elche 27 7 8 12 24 40 29Getafe 27 7 6 14 23 42 27Malaga 26 6 8 12 24 35 26Valladolid 27 5 11 11 29 44 26Almeria 27 7 5 15 26 49 26Rayo 26 7 2 17 26 59 23Real Betis 27 4 6 17 23 56 18
Champions League Europa League Relegation
Table
We fear nobody, says Atlético Madrid’s KokeThe Atlético Madrid midfielder
Koke stated that in ‘no way’
would his side ‘fear’ any team
they find themselves drawn
against in the next round of
the Champions League after
Atleti hammered Milan to
progress to the quarter-finals.
“It’s an exciting game and
in no way will we have any
fear because we’ve already
beaten some great teams”,
Koke said. He also said that
it’s important for Atlético to
contribute more players to the
Spanish national team, such
as Diego Costa, who made
his debut recently, Juanfran,
and Mario Suárez.
Real Madrid
w inger Ga-
reth Bale has paid tribute to the
high technical standard of La Liga
after spending six months with the
Spanish giants. Bale joined Real
for a reported fee of €91million
from Tottenham Hotspur in a pro-
tracted transfer deal in September
after being crowned the Premier
League’s best player by football
writers and his fellow players, af-
ter a series of staggering perform-
ances last season.
Bale says he is enjoying the
changes to a less physically de-
manding style of play and has been
impressed by the determination of
even the league’s lesser sides to
try and play a passing game. “The
big difference is the tactical play
and the way all teams play a lot of
good football”, he said on Thurs-
day.
“That is the biggest thing about
Spain, it is all passing and move-
ment. It has been a new experi-
ence which I am obviously learning
from and enjoying. All the teams,
no matter if they are at the top or
the bottom, try to play football. It is
exciting , it is a great league and it
is great to be playing here.”
A succession of injuries dis-
rupted Bale’s start to the season,
but his return to form and full fit-
ness has helped Real embark on a
29 game unbeaten run which now
stretches back to October. Barcelo-
na’s shock 1-0 defeat at Valladolid
at the weekend allowed Real to
open up a four-point gap on their
bitter rivals at the top of the table.
But Bale is taking nothing for
granted as he and his side target
trophies in his first season in Ma-
drid. “Obviously we are in a very
good position at the moment, but
there’s still 11 games left to go,”
the Welshman said. “We need to
take every game as it comes and
concentrate on our own perform-
ances. Hopefully we can keep play-
ing well and achieve our goals.”
Real will face Barcelona twice
next month in La Liga and the Copa
del Rey final and they could even
meet four times in 25 days if they
Bale loving life in La Liga
Bale’s enjoyed his time in Spain and the Real Madrid galáctico hopes to keep on improving
are drawn together in the quarter-
finals of the Champions League.
Barça sealed their passage to the
quarters on Wednesday with a 4-1
aggregate victory over Manchester
City
Real, for their part, are all but
in the last eight already given that
they lead Schalke 6-1 from the first
leg of their encounter in Germany
but Bale is certain that they will
face a tougher test in the next
round. “The Champions League is
full of great teams.” he asserted.
“Every team left in the competition
can potentially win it.”
“For me, everybody left in the
competition can consider them-
selves a favourite and whoever we
draw next it is going to be a diffi-
Gareth Bale has overcome his initial injury problems to find his best form at Real Madrid but thinks he can still improve
ON LA LIGA
In Spain it’s all about passing and movement. All the teams try to play a passing game
ON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
It’s full of great teams, every team left in the competition can win it. It’s wide open
cult game. The tournament is really
wide open and it just depends on
who takes their chances.”
Bale’s enjoyed a productive first
season in Madrid, chipping in with
14 goals and 11 assists in just 25
performances in La Liga and the
Champions League to date, but
he reckons there is more to come
having overcome the initial difficul-
ties of the change of lifestyle when
moving countries.
“Naturally it’s taken me a bit of
time to get used, but I am really
enjoying the football and especially
the weather”, he laughed. “I’ve en-
joyed my six months in Spain so
far. It took me a bit of time to get
up to speed but I think my perform-
ances have come on as well.”
Real Madrid full-back Álvaro
Arbeloa has suffered a knee
injury that places his World Cup
hopes in jeopardy. The injury is
a fracture to his right kneecap
and the Spain international
will have to spend at least two
months on the sidelines. At first
the injury wasn’t feared to be
serious, although it was certain
that he was going to miss this
weekend’s clash with Levante
as well as the upcoming clásico
against Barcelona on March 23.
Now it’s feared that the injury
could be a lot more serious
and there are questions as to
whether he’ll be ready when
Vicente del Bosque names his
World Cup squad on May 25. He
was not part of the latest squad
which faced Italy in a friendly.
Arbeloa suffers knee injury and his World Cup place is now in jeopardy
MADRID STAR’S INJURY BLOW
REAL MADRID Bale happy in Spanish capital and reckons this year’s Champions League is wide open ahead of quarters
Joseph Sexton
News
SPORT QATARFRIDAY
March 14, 20146 Football
Booming Bundesliga most attended leagueThe Bundesliga remains the
most attended league in the
world, the figures for the first
half of the season tell us, and
the trend remains upward.
Each top division game was
attended by an average of
43,125, an increase of 1.81
percent on last season,
where the average figure
was 41,377. In total, the
league has drawn some 6.4
million fans between August
and December which was
also an increase of 1.14
percent. There was also an
increase in attdences in the
German second division, the
Bundesliga 2 in that time.
Augsburg-Schalke 04 Friday 14, 22:30h.
Borussia Dortmund-Borussia M’Gladbach Saturday 15, 17:30h.
Braunschweig-Wolfsburg
Saturday 15, 17:30h.
Hertha Berlin-Hanover 96 Saturday 15, 17:30h.
Hoffenheim-Mainz 05 Saturday 15, 17:30h.
Werder Bremen- Vfb Stuttgart Saturday 15, 17:30h.
Bayern Munich-Bayer LeverkusenSaturday 15, 20:30h.
Hamburg-Nurnberg Sunday 16, 17:30h.
Eintracht Frankfurt-Freiburg Sunday 16, 19:30h.
Fixtures
Bundesliga
Team P W D L GF GA Pts
Bayern Munich 24 21 2 0 72 11 68 B. Dortmund 24 15 3 6 55 27 48 B. Leverkusen 24 14 2 8 40 27 44 Schalke 04 24 13 5 6 46 35 44 Wolfsburg 24 12 3 9 41 38 39 Mainz 05 24 11 5 8 33 36 38 B. M’Gladbach 24 11 4 8 41 35 37 Hertha 24 10 6 8 35 28 36 Augsburg 24 10 5 8 34 27 35 Hoffenheim 24 7 8 9 52 52 29 Hannover 24 7 7 10 28 46 28 Eintracht 24 7 5 12 31 43 26 Werder Bremen 24 6 8 10 27 40 26 Nuremberg 24 4 11 9 27 42 23 Stuttgart 24 5 5 14 38 51 20 Hamburg 24 5 5 14 39 53 20 Freiburg 24 4 7 12 22 45 19 E. Braunschweig 24 4 5 15 19 44 17
Champions League Europa League Promoción Relegation
Table
A German court on
Thursday sentenced
the president of Bay-
en Munich, Uli Hoe-
ness, to three and a
half years in prison on tax evasion
charges.
“In the name of the people, Mr
Ulrich Hoeness is sentenced for
seven serious counts of tax eva-
sion to a prison term of three years
and six months”, judge Rupert
Heindel told the Munich court.
This verdict, with one year for
each count of tax cheating, likely
spells the end of the career of the
former football player, whose trial
has captivated the football-mad
country. Hoeness had admitted
to dodging some €27.2 million
in taxes by hiding his wealth in
Swiss accounts while “gambling”
on stocks and currencies over a
period of years, the court heard.
He was allowed to walk out of
the court for now because he has
one week to lodge an appeal. His
defence team stated that he will do
so. The butcher’s son rose to fame
as the club’s powerful football boss
only to end his career with an own
goal. When he entered the dock on
Monday he confessed to a large
scale tax fraud of €18.5 million,
almost five times more than the
prosecutors believed. His vow of
full disclosure was contradicted
the next day by a tax officer who
testified that Hoeness had evaded
€27.2 million.
Hoeness first turned himself in
and paid €10 million in back taxes
on January 17 last year, with the
tax investigators already pursuing
his case. In March the police raided
his villa and he was arrested briefly
before being released on bail of
five millions euros, facts which
were only reported in the media
weeks later.
Hoeness said he had been hop-
Bayern chief guilty of tax evasionIn a case which has grabbed the public’s attention Uli Hoeness has been found guilty and sentenced to prison following trial
ing to benefit from a tax deal Ger-
many was negotiating with Switzer-
land which would have guaranteed
immunity to tax cheats who came
clean. But the amnesty deal was
scuppered by Germany’s centre-left
opposition of the time, who argued
that wealthy criminals should not
be treated so leniently.
In a comment that’s since come
back to bite Hoeness he told the
newspaper Bild in 2005 that “I
know it’s stupid but I pay all my
taxes.” Unbeknownst to the pub-
lic, Hoeness was obsessively gam-
bling millions of euros on stocks
and currencies through the funds
in his Swiss bank accounts.
Hoeness twice narrowly evaded
death, first from a serious car ac-
cident in 1975 and then a plane
crash in 1982 which killed three
friends. A dazed and hurt Hoeness
was found wandering through the
woods telling his rescuer “I am
cold, I am freezing”.
Alongside Franz Beckenbauer
and Gerd Mueller, Hoeness was
a star of the team that won three
European Cups in the 1970s.
Fall from grace: Bayern’s Uli Hoeness could be set for spell in prison // AFP
HOENESS Club stands by disgraced president
Butcher's son
Hoeness found guilty
of seven counts of tax
evasion in Munich
Hoeness had hoped
to avoid jail under
proposed amnesty
but deal struck down
Leverkusen are up next for Bayern
Runaway Bundesliga lead-
ers Bayern Munich host Bayer
Leverkusen on Saturday while sec-
ond placed Borussia Dortmund,
who have 20 less points, play
Borussia Moenchengladbach at
home. The weekend programstarts
today with a game between the sur-
prise package of the season Augs-
burg and Schalke ahead of their
Champions League trip to Madrid.
The clash between Bayern and
Leverkusen pits off two teams in
completely different situations.
So far this calendar year Bay-
ern haven’t tasted defeat, while
Leverkusen appear to have forgot-
ten how to win. At least in their last
two games Leverkusen have shown
some signs of life. Last Saturday
Leverkusen face daunting Bayern taskthey picked up their first point since
the winter break against Hanover
and on Wednesay salvaged some
dignity in bowing out of the Champi-
ons League with a 2-1 defeat away
to Paris Saint-Germain after los-
ing the first leg 4-0 at home. “If we
go with the same attitude there,
we can take something out of the
game’, said manager Sami Hyypia.
When the sides met in earlier in the
season the result was a 1-1 draw,
Leverkusen becoming one of only
two teams to draw with Bayern.
BUNDESLIGA Leverkusen showing signs of life ahead of big Bayern test
Leverkusen one
of just two teams
to take points off
Bayern domestically
Joseph Sexton
News
7FootballSPORT QATARFRIDAYMarch 14, 2014
FOOTBALL
LEGENDS
509 g
am
es /
254 g
oals
RIV
ALD
OPaulis
ta (Bra
zil)
April 1
9, 1
972
ATTA
CKIN
G M
IDFI
ELD
ER
CAR
EER
1994-9
6
Palm
eira
s1996-9
7
Dep
ort
ivo C
oru
ña
1997-0
2
Barc
elona
2002-0
4
Mila
n
2004-0
7
Oly
mpia
kos
2007-0
8
AEK
Ath
ens
2008-1
0
Bunyo
dko
r2011
Sao P
aulo
(lo
an)
2012
Kabusc
orp
2013
Sao C
aet
ano
Bra
zil N
ati
onal Team
74 g
am
es /
34 g
oals
Cassano could still make the World CupItaly boss Cesare Prandelli
has said he is open to picking
Parma star Antonio Cassano
for his World Cup squad. “The
door has never been closed
for Antonio [Cassano] and to
anyone,” The 31-year-old has
not featured in Prandelli’s
plans with the national team
since the 2012 European
Championships, but is still
in with a chance of making
the summer tournament. He
is a very talented player who
makes the team play well,
but cannot do it all alone, he
would need to be placed in the
context of a perfect team.
Serie A
Team P W D L GF GA Pts
Juventus 25 21 3 1 60 19 66 Roma 24 17 6 1 49 11 57 Nápoles 25 15 6 4 50 28 51 Fiorentina 25 13 6 6 45 28 45 Inter 25 10 10 5 43 29 40 Verona 25 12 3 10 43 42 39 Parma 24 9 10 5 38 29 37 Torino 25 9 9 7 39 32 36 Milan 25 9 8 8 39 35 35 Lazio 25 9 8 8 33 34 35 Genoa 25 8 8 9 28 32 32 Udinese 25 8 4 13 29 36 28 Sampdoria 25 7 7 11 27 37 28 Atalanta 25 8 4 13 25 37 28 Cagliari 25 5 10 10 23 35 25 Chievo 25 5 6 14 19 35 21 Bolonia 25 4 9 12 22 41 21 Livorno 25 5 5 15 26 45 20 Catania 25 4 7 14 19 43 19
Sassuolo 25 4 5 16 25 54 17
Champions League Europa League Relegation
Table
Verona-Inter Saturday, 1945
Atalanta-SampdoriaSunday, 1130
Cagliari-LazioSunday, 1400
Milan-ParmaSunday, 1400
Livorno-Bologna Sunday, 1400
Sassuolo-Catania Sunday, 1400
Fiorentina-Chievo Sunday, 1945
Genoa-Juventus Sunday, 1945
Torino-Napoli Monday, 1800
Roma-Udinese Monday, 2000
Fixtures
Serie A
SPORT QATARFRIDAY
March 14, 201410 Football
A C M i l a n
striker Mario
Balotelli has
come in for
severe crit i -
cism from the Italian media follow-
ing his series of insipid displays in
the Champions League and Serie
A this season.
Milan exited the Champions
League at the hands of Atletico
Madrid 5-1 on aggregate, with the
Italian outfit being swept aside
in the second leg held in Madrid.
No player has taken more nega-
Balotelli critics come out Under pressure: Balotelli has received considerable criticism in the wake of Milan’s defeat to Atleti
tive reaction than Balotelli for the
failure.
Newspapers singled out the
striker, with Gazzetta dello Sport
claiming the Italy international
failed to make any impact over
both legs. “Balotelli remains
switched off,” read one headline.
Examining his performances they
said fans have lost patience with
the sub-par displays and antics,
while also claiming the dressing
room was divided over what he
brings to the club.
Meanwhile, the equally influen-
tial Corriere dello Sport referred
to Balotelli as a ‘disaster’. On the
front page they showed a picture of
the 22-year-old and next to it a cap-
tion saying the Italian national can-
not expect to rely upon someone
like this. They went on to say that
Balotelli is untrustworthy too, and
that this isn’t a quality you want
in the man leading your line at a
World Cup.
Questions continue to be asked
about Balotelli’s true level, and if
he can produce at the very top.
With only eight goals in 31 appear-
ances in the Champions League it
is understandable why some are
questioning the player who many
thought would become one of the
world’s best. In Serie A he’s fared
slightly better getting 10 goals in
18 appearances. Goals are only
half the story for many though, and
seeing a more desirable attitude
would be as appreciated.
Milan coach Clarence Seedorf
is seen as someone who can get
the best out of Balotelli, and can
offer strong guidance to a player
that is still working his way up the
football ladder. Still, there needs
to be more from Balotelli and he
can’t expect everyone to do every-
thing for him.
Seedorf has recently backed
the striker, insisting he’ll always
be fighting his corner, “I only think
positive things towards him. What
position do I like him best in? I like
Balotelli, full stop. He can play on
the right or the left.”
There have even been sugges-
tions in recent days that Balotelli
could head back to England, with
Arsenal. It’s difficult to see how
such a move could benefit him; he
would be swapping the unforgiv-
ing and cutting Italian press for the
English version. The most sensi-
ble thing Balotelli can do right now
however is focus on football with
his current team Milan, and head
into the World Cup this summer on
the back of a run of form.
The controversial Milan and Italy striker has been subjected to most criticism yet in his short career
Corriere dello Sport
call Balotelli a disaster
after Champions
League display
Seedorf speaks out
in defence of Balotelli
and insists he only
thinks positive things
NAPOLI AIMING TO KEEP SPANIARD
Reina happy with life in NapoliNapoli director Riccardo Bigon has hinted Pepe Reina could stay at
the Italian club after this season, when his loan expires. “We are in
a very clear situation. Pepe told us he appreciates this city, the team
and the fans. It means when the time comes to make decisions,
we’ll do so safe in the knowledge he likes being here.” Reina himself
suggested this past week that staying in Naples is an option that
attracts him, despite links persisting with Barcelona.
MILAN DUO TARGET MIDFIELDER
Milan rivals eye Napoli’s InlerCity rivals Milan and Inter are both interested in securing the signa-
ture of Napoli midfielder Gökhan Inler this summer. The 29-year-old
has performed well this season and both Milan based clubs could
look to bolster their squads. Inler’s deal expires in 2016 with Napoli,
and right now the club aren’t entirely against the sale of the player.
The Swiss International has made 24 appearances this season and
in the process scored two goals.
David Cartlidge
Report
Ligue1
Team P W D L GF GA Pts
PSG 28 20 7 1 67 18 67 Mónaco 28 17 8 3 46 22 59 Lille 28 15 7 6 33 18 52 Saint-Etienne 28 14 6 8 38 24 48 Olymp. Marsella 28 12 7 9 38 30 43 Olympique Lyon 27 11 9 7 40 31 42 Reims 28 11 9 8 37 36 42 Girondins 27 11 7 9 34 31 40 Toulouse 28 10 9 9 34 38 39 Bastia 28 10 7 11 31 41 37 Lorient 28 10 6 12 36 38 36 Niza 28 10 4 14 24 33 34 Montpellier 28 6 15 7 33 33 33 Guingamp 28 8 8 12 26 29 32 Nantes 28 9 5 14 25 32 32 Rennes 28 7 10 11 32 34 31 Évian TG 28 7 9 12 28 43 30 Valenciennes 28 6 7 15 29 47 25 Sochaux 28 5 7 16 23 50 22 Ajaccio 28 2 9 17 24 51 15
Champions League Europa League Relegation
Table
Montpellier clear out set to include CabellaMontpellier Hérault SC
President Louis Nicollin
has said that AC Milan-
owned striker M’Baye
Niang will not have his
loan extended beyond the
current season, after proving
a dissapointment. Also
leaving the club could be
Rémy Cabella, who is highly
rated all across Europe,
with Newcastle remaining
interested. “When I give my
word to someone, I respect
it. Cabella was promised that
if it was an ambitious club
who came in for him then we
would let him go.”
Stade Reims-Olympique Marseille Friday, 2030
Lille-Nantes Saturday, 1630
Ajaccio-Guingamp Saturday, 2000
Evian-Valenciennes Saturday, 2000
Nice-Bastia
Saturday, 2000
Stade Rennais-ToulouseSaturday, 2000
Sochaux-LorientSaturday, 2000
Montpellier-BordeauxSunday, 1400
Lyon-MonacoSunday, 1700
PSG-Saint Etienne Saturday, 2100
Upcoming fixtures
L a u r e n t B l a n c
was not pleased,
despite his side’s
win against Bayer
L e v e r k u s e n i n
the Champions League last 16
on Wednesday night and wants
them to improve. He warned Paris
Saint-Germain players that there
will be no easy opposition in the
next round. They beat the German
side 2-1 at the Parc des Princes
and won the tie 6-1 on aggregate
overall.
Marquinhos and Ezequiel Lavez-
zi helped them come from behind
after Sidney Sam had opened the
scoring. It means they have at least
matched their performance in the
competition last season, where
they were knocked out on away
goals by Barcelona in the quarter-
finals. Now Blanc wants his men
to step up to the mark and push
on further.
“It’s not a bonus” to be in the
quarter-finals,” said Blanc. “We
need to prepare well, be very pro-
fessional, but I’m not worried about
that. I think the players will respond
to the challenge. We have an end
to the season that could become
very exciting. First of all we are
happy, satisfied, but we have won
nothing. At the end of the season
what counts is trophies.” He con-
tinued: “We prepared well for this
match but were mediocre at the
start. But paradoxically the Bayer
goal woke us up a bit too. PSG
were clearly not brilliant tonight. I
expected more, but the essential
thing is that we are through.”
PSG are eight points clear of
Monaco at the top of Ligue 1 and
are through to the French League
Cup final, where they will face Lyon.
Although they are on course to win
the domestic double, winning the
Champions League as well would
be a giant feat. “I think first of all
the objective is to go as far as pos-
sible. Ok, we have done as well as
last year, but you want to win every
tie,” said Blanc.
“There are teams who have a le-
gitimacy in the Champions League
in terms of experience that we
don’t have, but I think the consid-
eration that our opponents have for
us has increased. They know we
are a club who can go far. We will
wait for the draw. Hopefully we can
get a bit of luck in the draw, but the
ideal opponent does not exist.”
Tenacious defensive midfield-
er Blaise Matuidi was rested by
Blanc, because he was at risk of
picking up a booking which would
rule him out of the next round. Sal-
vatore Sirigu had to save a Simon
Rolfes penalty with the scores at 1-
1 and Blanc showed his displeas-
ure after the game. He was, how-
ever, interested in club president
Nasser Al-Khelaifi commenting on
French television after the match
that he would be offered a new con-
tract. Blanc signed a two-year deal
at the club last summer.
“I expected more [from the play-
ers]. The attitude was not great but
the level in the Champions League
is a lot higher than the French
championship. I am still very hap-
py,” said Blanc. “I didn’t expect
that question,” he added about his
contractual situation. “I hope the
president’s comments will be veri-
fied in the coming weeks.”
Blanc: Danger lies ahead
Tricky: Laurent Blanc warned his team that they will not have it easy in the quarter-finals
Paris Saint-Germain boss is aware that his side won’t face any easy opponents in the Champions League
Paris Saint-Germain assistant
Claude Makélélé has backed
the club in their quest for suc-
cess, and says their emergence
sparks memories of the time
he left Real Madrid for Chel-
sea in 2003. “I came [to PSG]
because I was offered a great
project. The club was then in
trouble, but it already had very
high goals, but not the neces-
sary means to fulfill them.
Gradually, the club began to get
results and to dream. QSI [Qatar
Sports Investment] then arrived
and gave it a new dimension.”
PSG are currently sitting com-
fortably at the top of Ligue 1,
while they had no problems in
removing Bayer Leverkusen in
the Champions League with a
commanding aggregate win.
Makélélé backing PSG project for success after memories come back
“QSI GAVE IT A NEW DIMENSION”
Rik Sharma
News
Blanc was pleased
to progress but
not delighted with
PSG's performance
French coach
surprised by
president’s comments
about a new contract
11FootballSPORT QATARFRIDAYMarch 14, 2014
Former-Brazil star Romário
launched a scathing criti-
cism of FIFA president
Joseph Blatter and Sec-
retary-general Jérôme
Valcke, labelling the pair thieves.
Romario, who played for Barce-
Romario calls FIFA duo Blatter and Valcke thieves in latest outburstFormer-Brazil striker once again opens up with criticism of FIFA and the preparation by his home nation for the World Cup this summer
lona among other clubs in a glitter-
ing career, has been an outspoken
presence in the build-up to the
World Cup in Brazil, and has hit out
in his fiercest manner yet.
On the subject of Valcke ,
Romário said, “He just said that
the World Cup in Brazil can be
one of the worst ever, he comes
here, gives orders, says what he
wants, and everyone just claps
their hands.”
Romario has been an outspoken presence for a while when it comes to all matters FIFA
Romário’s lat-
e s t a t t a c k o n
F I FA c omes i n
response to com-
ments made by
Valcke, declaring
the former striker
as ‘’the worst person in the world,’’
and “anti-FIFA, anti-Jerome Valcke,
anti-everything.”
Speaking in an interview with
ESPN Brazil, Romário, who won
FIFA’s World Player of the Year in
1994, went on to say about Val-
cke: “that guy is one of the biggest
blackmailers in the world of sport,
he had been sacked, then he black-
mailed the corrupt FIFA president
who is a son of a b.....”
The former striker, who is cur-
rently a federal deputy in Brazil’s
senate, also caused controversy
in the past when it came to the
2018 World Cup. The tournament
is scheduled to take place in Rus-
sia, and according to Romário the
awarding of it was sold by FIFA to
Russia and taken away from Eng-
land.
“Blatter and Valcke are two
thieves at FIFA who are well-known
among Brazilians. There are many
others in both FIFA and Brazil’s FA,
who are going to become billion-
aires at our expense and nothing
is being done. Also our government
and president are also becoming
richer.”
The stadia has taken a heavy
bout of criticism from all corners
in the build-up too, and Romário
has also questioned the cost of the
much maligned Arena da Baixada
stadium in Curitaba. He went on
to say, “We have spent an absurd
amount of money with the World
Cup already, and from now on it will
become worse.”
“Many of these works, such as
the Atlético Paranaense stadium,
are now in an emergency stage, the
bidding contests won’t be in the
usual bureaucratic system, in or-
der to ensure the
money is avail-
able, so some-
thing that would
cost 20 will now
costs 60.”
When it comes
to Brazil’s chances on the pitch
though, he said: “We have to hope
Brazil will win the title on the pitch
as that would be wonderful for
Brazilian football, we have already
lost outside it and that can’t be
changed.”
The World Cup is set to start in
June, with hosts Brazil taking on
Croatia in the curtain raiser.
Romario was FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994, the same year
Brazil also won the World Cup
ROMARIO
Blatter and Valcke are two thieves at FIFA who are well known among Brazilians
VALKE
Romario is the worst person in the world. He is anti-FIFA and also anti-everything
Around 150 people gathered
Wednesday in Rio to protest
against Brazil hosting the World
Cup, with legendary star Pelé
blasted as a “traitor” for back-
ing the event which takes place
this summer. Pelé is an honor-
ary ambassador for the tourna-
ment, which kicks off on June
12, but his backing has caused
anger amongst many who feel
the vast sums of money being
spent should be spent else-
where on things such as public
services. “There will be no cup,
no election,” was one of the
chants coming from demonstra-
tors, while a banner being car-
ried read “Pelé, traitor
of the century.” More
demonstrations are
planned as Brazil con-
tinues to build-up to
the tournament which
gets underway in Rio.
Meanwhile, not every-
body is reacting nega-
tively about the World
Cup. Just yesterday in fact, the
first day of ticket sales, saw
207,649 sold for the competi-
tion via the internet throughout
the world, The United
States were one of the
biggest buyers, with
20,981 purchased.
People wanting tickets
have until as late as
April 15th, which is
classed as the final
ticket day in the FIFA
sales calendar.
Pelé labelled traitor and is target of anti-World Cup protest
Pele has taken heavy criticism over his role as World Cup ambassador
Pele was
targeted with
a banner
claiming he
was traitor of
the century
David Cartlidge
Report
SPORT QATARFRIDAY
March 14, 201412 Football
Court is shown graphic photos of Pistorius’ blood-splattered home TRIAL Graphic photos of Oscar Pistorius’ blood-splattered home
were presented at his trial with the prosecution arguing that the
nightmare scene showed he and Reeva Steenkamp fought before
she died. The prosecution used police pictures to follow a trail
of blood from the entrance hall where Steenkamp’s lifeless body
lay covered, up the stairs to the toilet where she was shot. In
the blood-soaked bathroom a pistol lay wrapped in a grey towel
beside an iPhone. The prosecution argues the 27-year-old runner
shot his girlfriend in a fit of rage following an argument.
Fenninger assured of women’s ski titleALPINE SKIING Austria’s Anna
Fenninger took the women’s
Alpine skiing overall World Cup
title taking advantage of the
injury suffered by Maria Hoefl-
Riesch. Fenninger was second
in the super-G at Lenzerheide,
won by Switzerland’s Lara Gut,
but with just a slalom and giant
slalom left, the Austrian cannot
now be caught.
Fife set for Scotland debut in Six Nations finaleRUGBY Edinburgh wing
Dougie Fife is set to make
his Scotland debut in their
Six Nations finale against
Wales at Cardiff’s Millennium
Stadium on Saturday. Fife, 23,
replaces the injured Tommy
Seymour (ankle) on the right
wing in one of three changes
to the starting XV announced
by coach Scott Johnson.
Betancur takes Paris-Nice stage, Thomas keeps yellow
CYCLING Carlos Betancur
claimed the 152.5km fifth
stage of the Paris-Nice race
on Thursday but Geraint Tho-
mas did enough to hang on
to the leader’s yellow jersey.
Colombian Betancur, of the
AG2R team, was part of a
three-man breakaway that
opened a gap on the peloton
9km from home.
Pelucchi wins stage, ‘Cav’ still in Tirreno lead
CYCLING Italian Matteo Pelucchi pipped French spinter Arnaud
Demare to win the second stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico, with
Mark Cavendish retaining the overall lead of the Italian stage
race Thursday. While Cavendish missed the final sprint, Pelucchi
caused a minor upset by beating a host of bigger-name rivals, in-
cluding Demare and German Andre Greipel, to take his fifth career
win. A late crash before the final sprint took down several riders,
including German stage contender Marcel Kittel.
In brief...
Kevin Anderson handed
Australian Open cham-
pion Stanislas Wawrin-
ka his first defeat of
2014 on Wednesday to
reach the quarter-finals of the In-
dian Wells ATP Masters. South Af-
rica’s Anderson beat Wawrinka 7-6
(7/1), 4-6, 6-1 to end Wawrinka’s
run of 13 straight match wins to
open 2014, which included a title
run in Chennai, before his maiden
Grand Slam triumph in Melbourne.
“I knew it was going to happen
some time,” Wawrinka said. “I’m
not going to keep winning every
tournament.”
Two-time Grand Slam champion
Andy Murray, of Britain, was anoth-
er fourth-round casualty, falling 4-6,
7-5, 6-3 to big-serving Canadian
Milos Raonic. But second seed
Novak Djokovic turned round the
challenge of in-form Croatian Marin
Cilic, rallying for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 vic-
tory. “It was very tough,” said Djok-
ovic, who posted his eighth victory
over Cilic in as many meetings.
“Marin was by far the better
player in the first 45 minutes. He
was striking the ball incredibly
well. I just tried to stay calm and
composed and believe that I could
come back.”
Djokovic next faces French-
Wawrinka and Murray toppled at Indian Wells
South Africa’s Kevin Anderson defeated Wawrinka and big-serving Canadian Raonic finish off Murray
TENNIS Djokovic and Federer reach quarter-finals
man Julien Benneteau, who beat
Spain’s Feliciano López 6-3, 7-6
(7/4). Wawrinka’s exit ended the
possibility of an all-Swiss quarter-
final between him and Roger Fe-
derer. Instead Anderson will face
Federer, a four-time champion in
the California desert who edged
German veteran Tommy Haas 6-
4, 6-4.
RADWANSKA IN SEMI-FINALS
Second seed Agnieszka Radwan-
ska, of Poland, reached the semi-
finals of the Indian Wells hardcourt
tournament on Wednesday with a
three-set win over Jelena Jankovic.
Radwanska triumphed 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
over the former world number one
from Serbia, who won the title back
in 2010.
News
Murray was beaten by South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, in three sets // AFP
St.Louis named to host US-France tieFrance and the United States will meet next month at St. Louis
in the Fed Cup world group play-off, the US Tennis Association
announced Thursday. The match between top women’s players
will be staged on April 19-20, on an indoor hardcourt at St. Louis
University’s Chaifetz Arena. The winners qualify for next year’s Fed
Cup world group while the losers are relegated to the second tier.
Anderson will
now meet Federer,
and Djokovic takes
on Benneteau
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Founder: ANTONIO ASENSIO PIZARRO
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Phone: + 974 44729932 Fax: + 974 44726822
SPORT QATAR
Director: Joan Vehils.
Assistant Directors: Joan Mª Batlle and Lluís Mascaró.
Subdirector and General coordinator: Albert Masnou.
Director Gerente: Antonio Pujol.
Director of Production: Mario Moya.
LOQMAN
Managing Director: José Díaz Villa.
Technical Manager: Carmen Álvarez Bermejo.
P.R.& Advertising Director: Samar Abou-Farah.
Regional Manager: Fatima Zohra Hamed Layasi.
Marketing Manager: Tariq Al-Taie.
GRUPO ZETA
Founder: ANTONIO ASENSIO PIZARRO
President: Antonio Asensio Mosbah.
President of the Executive Committee: Juan Llopart.
General Director: Conrado Carnal.
Editorial director and Communications: Miguel Angel Liso.
Editorial deparment: [email protected] Office: Palm Tower, 6 floor, office 606 Doha (Qatar) Advertising: [email protected] Administration: [email protected]
Phone: + 974 44729932 Fax: + 974 44726822
SPORT QATAR 13SportsFRIDAYMarch 14, 2014
A return to turbocharged
engines, a limit on fuel
and new energy recov-
ery systems are among
a number of significant
rule changes which look set to
shake up the new Formula One
season. The sport is pushing the
boundaries of hybrid technology in
a move that is likely to benefit road
car design, and means that 2014’s
F1 machines will run races on 35
percent less fuel than last season.
F1 revolution is hA new championship is about to begin marked by major changes as a result of technical regulations
Turbocharged engines are back
for the first time since 1988, with
last year’s 2.4-litre V8s replaced
by 1.6-litre V6s, and energy recov-
ery systems (ERS) instead of the
previous kinetic energy recovery
systems (KERS).
The new ERS will offer twice the
power of KERS, and consequently
any ERS failure during a race will
have a much bigger impact on per-
formance than it did under KERS.
The driver no longer has to push a
button to activate ERS - the pow-
er is simply delivered to the rear
wheels via the throttle pedal with
help from the car’s electronics. In
another form of energy harvesting,
cars will also use two separate Mo-
tor Generator Units, which convert
mechanical and heat energy to
electrical energy and vice versa.
Perhaps the most significant
rule change in this year’s F1 is
the introduction of a fuel limit.
Each car will be allowed to use a
maximum of
100 kilos (ap-
proximately
135 l i t res) ,
representing
around two-
thirds of the
loads carried
previously. As
a result, driv-
ing styles and
tac t i cs w i l l
have to adapt
with fuel con-
servation par-
amount. In a further change for the
teams, F1 cars will have eight for-
ward gears for the first time. The
gear ratios have been selected
during pre-season and will have to
be used for the whole season.
Each gearbox must now last six
consecutive races instead of the
previous five. Italian tyre-makers
Pirelli have been contracted by the
sport’s governing body the Interna-
tional Automobile
Federation (FIA)
to supply F1 cars
for the next three
years.
Fo l lowing a
turbulent 2013
season, it was
announced late
last year that
Pirelli would re-
main as the sole
supplier of tyres
for the F1 circuit.
The announce-
ment that the agreement will stand
for the next three years, further
underlines the FIA’s confidence
that Pirelli can iron out the safety
problems that dogged them last
year.
Last season was marred by a
succession of tyre blow-outs, cul-
minating at the British Grand Prix
at Silverstone which was almost
halted mid-race due to the number
of incidents. Among the teams,
Mercedes and McLaren appeared
to have adapted the best to the
new regulations during pre-season
testing while Red Bull and four-
time world champion Sebastian
Vettel struggled.
RED BULL PROBLEMS
Vettel endured a tough final test-
ing session in Bahrain when there
were problems with the new Red
Bull car. On one day, the German
failed to complete a single lap due
to electrical issues and problems
with the car’s Renault engine. Re-
nault are powering four teams in
the 2014 F1 championship -- Red
Bull, Toro Rosso, Lotus and Cat-
erham.
Away from the garages, one sig-
nificant and controversial change
is the decision to award double
points for the final race of the sea-
son in Abu Dhabi on November 23.
F1 revolution is here.
NEW S PEC IF I C ATIONS
Recovery fuel
system
2013
KER S (8 0 HP/6 sec)
2014
ER S (1 6 0 HP/3 0 sec)
Fuel capacity
2013
unlimited
2014
limited to 1 0 0 kilos
(1 40 litres aprox.)
Motor
2013
2.4 litres V8
750 HP
2014
1 .6 litres V6 turbo
6 0 0 HP
S ergi Mejías
Analysis
Atmospheric
V8 engines are
replaced now by more
efficient turbo V6
The electrical power
gains importance
with the new ERS
system recovery
All changes from 2013 to 2014
SPORT QATARFRIDAY
March 14, 201414 Motor Sport
ere
Lowest ‘Nose’ and thinnest
spoiler
Aerodynamics
Time for show
to hit the road
W e have been writing and
talking about the up-
coming Formula 1 season and
the impact of the new regula-
tions on the sport for some
time, and it finally begins this
Sunday in Australia. It is the
moment of truth. I must admit
that I am looking forward to
Melbourne, seeing who is the
quickest in qualifying and how
many cars finish a race which
is predicted to be chaotic. The
track will, once again, be deci-
sive in who is right and wrong.
Dear reader, we want the show
to begin. Apparently Mercedes
have done their homework bet-
ter this winter, but no one re-
ally knows for sure how each
will compete until we are un-
derway as times can be eas-
ily masked by fuel load, used
tyres or simply easing the foot
on the pedal. It’s the moment
of truth, the moment to see
the impact of the significant
changes, and if Ferrari re-
ally is going to be a rival for
Mercedes or if Red Bull will
remain in the mire.
Moment of truth The track in the end will shed the light after a winter full of doubts
In boxesboxesIn booxees
Josep Viaplana
15Motor SportSPORT QATARFRIDAYMarch 14, 2014
Hamilton rejects completely Mercedes ‘favourites’ tag
Mercedes dr iver
Lewis Hamilton
has played down
his team’s “favour-
ites” tag ahead of
the season-opening Australian
Formula One Grand Prix Sunday,
saying technical changes make
any predictions worthless. The
Briton and his teammate Nico
Rosberg have enjoyed the fast-
est times in off-season testing,
leading many to tip Mercedes
as the car to beat going into the
Melbourne race.
But the 2008 champion is
not sure Mercedes warrants all
the hype as
he prepares
for today’s
o p e n i n g
p r a c t i c e
sess i ons
at the A l -
ber t Par k
circuit. “All
the media
are talking
us up. Favourite driver, favourite
team,” Hamilton told reporters
on Thursday. “I just don’t know
what’s going to happen this
weekend,” he added.
Hamilton said a raft of sig-
nificant rule changes including a
return to turbocharged engines,
a limit on fuel and new energy re-
covery systems meant it was hard
to say which car would come out on
top. “It’s very technical this year.
Everybody is in the same boat,”
the 29-year-old said. “There are
lots of us trying to find where the
advantages can be.” Hamilton, who
finished fourth in last season’s
drivers championship, added that
“It’s very technical this year,” said the 29-year-old Mercedes driver. “Everybody is in the same boat”
he was still getting used to the set-
up of this year’s Mercedes. “Last
year’s car felt better, it was nicer to
drive and we had a lot more down-
force and that was the car that was
in its fourth year of evolution,” he
said. “Now we are in a new phase
and it’s something that takes some
time to get used to.”
The Briton
and Nico
Rosberg
have enjoyed
the fastest
timesHamilton was cautious about Mercedes options in Australia // AFP
“Little will change,” says AlonsoFerrari’s Fernando Alonso, whose
views are at variance with those
of many of his rivals, believes
that in reality little will change. “I
don’t think it will be a big differ-
ence compared to the previous
years, especially when Pirelli ar-
rived in F1,” he says. “We have
been managing the tyres a lot be-
cause of high degradation. Now
we will manage the tyres, we will
manage a little bit the batteries
(in the Energy Recovery System
or ERS) and the fuel consump-
tion - but all in the same way. It
will be hard to see on TV for the
spectators when we are saving
two or three tenths of a second,
or even from the grandstand. If
we save three tenths of
a second on one lap, at
one particular grandstand
we save half of one tenth
- so if someone can rec-
ognise when we are sav-
ing fuel they are quite
expert! “The acceleration
and torque delivery from
the power unit is a little
bit different, the gear us-
age is a little bit different compared
to the past and all these tools we
have available this year, we need
to maximise in a different way and
need to learn a couple of things. But
this is a motorsport competition.
When the green light is on nothing
will change in terms of adrenaline,
over takes, strategy,
driver management, or
tyre saving. Things will
be very, very similar to
last year when the green
light is on.”
Alonso finished 155
points behind Vettel last
year in an inferior car, but
the 31-year-old Spaniard
is widely respected as
the sport’s finest all-round driver.
Last season, Alonso only won two
races, in China and Spain, but with
the arrival of fellow former world
champion Kimi Raikkonen as his
new team-mate, he is under inter-
nal as well as external pressure to
produce the goods.
“Things will
be very, very
similar to last
year when
the green
light is on”
Massa set for Schumacher tribute Felipe Massa will display a message
of support for Michael Schumacher
at Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix,
the first Formula One race since
a skiing accident left the German
legend fighting for his life. The Bra-
zilian driver, a former teammate of
Schumacher’s with Ferrari, has said
he will drive with the initials “MS”
emblazoned on his helmet for the
season opener in Melbourne. Seven-
time world champion Schumacher
remains in a medically induced coma
since hitting his head on a rock while
skiing at the French resort of Mer-
ibel on December 29. The 45-year-
old is showing “small, encouraging
signs” of recovery, his family said
on Wednesday, while acknowledging
that he faces a long battle ahead.
FORMER TEAMMATE
Ronaldo and Messi ready to be burned at the FallasVisitors to the Fallas celebration in Valencia inspecting Ninots, figures of Real Madrid’s Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo (L) and
Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi, on March 13. The football players will be burned in the streets of Valencia along with
other figures as part of the yearly Fallas in March. It is a tribute to Saint Joseph, the patron saint of the Guild of Carpenters.
SPORT QATARFRIDAY
March 14, 201416 Shot of the Day