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Soccer Break Thursday
So there were no incredible comebacks after all. Sorry Tottenham and hapless Heurelho Gomes, but the neutrals have got their Real Madrid v Barcelona semi-final and expect the hype to be greater than almost any two games ever played.
In the other semi-final Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson will be able to take a close look at Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who was largely untroubled by departing holders Inter Milan last night.
With Edwin van der Sar set to retire, United are on the lookout for a new keeper and many reports say Neuer is top if the list although Bayern Munich will also be sniffing. Atletico Madrid’s David de Gea has also been linked to Old Trafford.
Now Inter are out, what about a cheeky bid for Julio Cesar? Gianluigi Buffon may also be available from Juventus while Liverpool’s Pepe Reina may want to quit if they miss Champions League football again.
If you were Fergie would you instead try to persuade the giant Dutchman to play one more year? Look at how Ryan Giggs and Raul get better and better with age.
Van der Sar wont have to worry about Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez as the Argentinian is out of this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final while back in his neck of the woods Deportes Quindio, who fielded a junior side swamped 5-0 while their professional players were on strike over unpaid wages, have been handed a suspended 30-day ban by the Colombian government’s sports regulator.
The realities of world soccer are sometimes a long way from the riches of the Champions League.
Would Juve not be better off selling Buffon?
Juventus need a striker desperately but don’t want to bust their budget and yet have two top goalkeepers.
The answer? Why not sell one of the goalkeepers and use part of the proceeds to recruit a world-class forward?
The only problem is the most obvious and lucrative keeper to offload is Italy number one Gianluigi Buffon, widely recognised as one of the best if not best in the game.
Many Juve fans though would agree with the idea of letting Buffon go and entrusting the keeper jersey to the ever reliable Marco Storari if it meant the likes of Diego Forlan or Luis Fabiano could ease their injury and confidence crisis upfront.
Injury-prone Buffon has only just returned after over six months out with a back problem, during which time Storari has been superb.
The spectre of Buffon leaving Turin looked quite possible at the start of January with the likes of Manchester United linked in the media but he has now committed himself to Juve as the days run down in the transfer window.
Juve though still need that striker and having missed out on lesser lights like Antonio Floro Flores, who chose Genoa over the Old Lady, it’s all looking a bit desperate.
Buffon is the sole world class player of Juventus at the moment. Selling him would be tantamount to admitting that Juve has turned into a second-grade team.
Could Birmingham’s Hart be Capello’s England number one?
England manager Fabio Capello might well have found himself an unexpected Christmas present this year in Birmingham City goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Filling the gap between the sticks at next June’s World Cup finals in South Africa is perhaps the biggest conundrum Capello will face in the run up to soccer’s most glittering event, but Hart may just have made it a little easier.
The energetic England Under-21 international, on a season-long loan at the Midlands club from Manchester City, has been in inspired form this season — highlighted by two superb performances in recent games against Chelsea and Stoke City in the Premier League.
He is also currently the only in-form English keeper in international contention.
Current number one David James is 39-years-old and has not played in Portsmouth’s last eight matches due to injury, while West Ham’s Rob Green has never impressed in an England shirt and continues to be sporadic at club level.
Other contenders include Ben Foster, still residing third in Manchester United’s pecking order, and Paul Robinson, who has shown only slow signs of improvement at Blackburn Rovers.
Kirkland did not have the best time against United, true, but he is a very good goalkeeper and at least playing every week in comparison to Foster or Carson. He could be a handy third choice keeper for the World Cup.
Final tragedy for Robert Enke
Germany and Hanover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke has died after being hit by a train in an apparent suicide, local police said on Tuesday.
“First indications point to suicide,” a media officer for the Niedersachsen police told Reuters before adding that Enke’s body was found at a train crossing some 25-km northeast of Hanover.
The German soccer federation (DFB) said in a statement: “The German team has learned of the death of Robert Enke with great shock.”
His two-year-old daughter died of a heart ailment in 2006.
PHOTO: Germany’s goalkeeper Robert Enke gestures during his team’s World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match against Liechtenstein in Vaduz September 6, 2008. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
Enke was a hero and 1 of da best keepers in da world!!! I miss a man like him because i wanted 2 see him in SA next year
Lehmann on brink of Germany comeback?
When former Germany keeper Jens Lehmann said earlier this month he wants to play at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, many said it was just another provocative statement by the 39-year-old at the twilight of his career.
Even Germany coach Joachim Loew and national goalkeeping coach Andreas Koepke ruled out a return, saying there were four talented keepers in the squad already, with Bayer Leverkusen’s Rene Adler, Hanover 96 keeper Robert Enke, Manuel Neuer who plays for Schalke and Werder Bremen’s Tim Wiese.
Lehmann, who retired from the team after their Euro 2008 final loss to Spain, kept at it, saying he wanted to come back. “If the national team has the need for a keeper like me then they will approach me,” the former Arsenal and now VfB Stuttgart keeper said this week.
After Werder Bremen and Leverkusen qualified for the German Cup final, Lehmann could actually be right.
Germany are on an Asian tour from May 29 to June 3, but it now looks like they are fresh out of keepers. Wiese and Adler will play in the May 30 Cup final, Neuer will be at the U21 European championships and Enke could be locked in a relegation play-off with his club.
That leaves a few other options but none as attractive as Lehmann.
Opinion split as Atletico Madrid rotate keepers
Two is better than one, or is it?
Atletico Madrid coach Javier Aguirre has stirred up a debate over goalkeepers by refusing to name a first choice custodian at the Calderon, rotating Argentina’s Leo Franco with France’s Gregory Coupet.
The Mexican’s policy has prompted a flurry of differing opinions after Atletico were trounced 6-1 at Barcelona last weekend, with new recruit Coupet in nets.
The Frenchman has conceded nine goals in five league games. Leo Franco, who has mainly been used in Europe, has let in three in four Champions League matches and a league encounter. (more…)
Is Rensing good enough to replace Kahn at Bayern?
I’ve blogged before about the wealth of youngish goalkeeping talent in the Bundesliga, a list headed by Rene Adler at Bayer Leverkusen, Manuel Neuer at Schalke and Bayern Munich’s new number one Michael Rensing.
While Adler remains first choice in Leverkusen, and Neuer will certainly regain the gloves from the 19-year-old Ralf Faehrmann as soon as he’s fit, Juergen Klinsmann might just be getting a bit worried about Rensing, who had a shocker in Bayern’s 5-2 defeat at home to Werder Bremen at the weekend.
Rensing was anointed as Oliver Kahn’s successor as long ago as 2004, when at the age of 19 he made his Bundesliga debut in a 1-0 win over Hamburg. From then on he made occasional appearances as cover for Kahn and always acquitted himself at least decently, and sometimes very well indeed.
When Kahn finally retired at the end of last season there was no debate at the club, Rensing would be the number one, but the transition has not been a smooth one.
His record of never having appeared on the losing side for Bayern in 27 previous Bundesliga games came to an end with a series of comical errors against Bremen but even before then (just see the Champions League game against Steaua Bucharest) it was becoming clear that his greater agility is not going to make up for the loss of Kahn’s great presence.
Klinsmann has pledged his support to Rensing and no one expects the coach to take drastic action any time soon. Still, Klinsmann’s decision to bring in the former Leverkusen keeper Hans-Joerg Butt as cover is starting to look an ever more sensible move.
