Thursday, July 31, 2008
Azizah resigned to make way to Anwar
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Stuttgart 1-3 Arsenal: Wilshere stakes his claim
Wenger - who today further strengthened his squad with the signing of Portugal Under-21 midfielder Amaury Bischoff - had named a strong starting XI, but it was his young substitutes who would prove the match winners.
There was a debut for summer signing Samir Nasri, the first pre-season appearance by Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor - a target for AC Milan - and the side was led by captain William Gallas.
Lehmann easily collected an attempted chip from Robin van Persie in the 11th minute, before current Arsenal number one Manuel Almunia made a smart save at the near post from Romania striker Ciprian Marica and Nasri fired a 25-yard effort over following a quick counter-attack.
Veteran Lehmann, 38, showed brilliant reactions to deny Theo Walcott from point-blank range after he was set up by van Persie.
Young Danish striker Bendtner - who bagged four goals on Monday night - was introduced for the second half, as was promising Mexican Vela, back from his loan spell in Spain, while Pole Lukasz Fabianski replaced Almunia in the Arsenal goal.
However, the Gunners were behind six minutes after the restart when Stuttgart substitute Yildiray Basturk drilled in a low strike from the edge of the box.
Arsenal were, though, soon level.
Bendtner, 20, slipped Vela in on the right side of the penalty area. The 19-year-old Central American held off both his marker and Lehmann before smashing the ball in off the underside of the crossbar to take his tally to four goals in two games.
Nasri's debut lasted an hour before he was replaced by Wilshere and £5million summer signing Aaron Ramsey, the Wales Under-21 midfielder, was also introduced.
Vela then turned provider for Bendtner, who nodded on a chipped pass to power into the area and stab the ball past Lehmann as Arsenal went ahead in the 65th minute.
Wilshere - who netted his first senior goals for the Gunners earlier this week - made it a night to remember when he drilled in a left-foot shot following persistent work by full-back Gael Clichy.
Arsenal will now return home ahead of this weekend's Emirates Cup, which also includes Hamburg, Real Madrid and Juventus.
Wenger praised the performance of his youngsters.
He told Arsenal's website: 'It is good for the confidence to win here and you could see that the young players did well again tonight. I believe the strikers have shown it can work.
'Vela is a little bit like Eduardo da Silva, and Nicklas we already know from the end of last season is a very powerful striker. They both did very well.'
Wenger, though, continues to maintain Wilshere will be allowed to develop at his own pace.
'He has talent and gets experience in these kinds of games, he learns a lot, but he is here for that,' said the Arsenal boss.
Nasri was used in a more central midfield role, and Wenger said: 'It was a very positive performance for his first game.
'He has all it takes to be a good player in this team.'
Chelsea end tour with win over Malaysia XI
KUALA LUMPUR, July 29 (Reuters) - Chelsea rounded off their pre-season tour of Asia with a 2-0 win over a Malaysia select XI thanks to goals by Nicolas Anelka and Ashley Cole on Tuesday.
The Champions League finalists secured the third win of
their three-leg tour in hot and humid conditions in front of a
crowd of 80,000 at the Shah Alam stadium.
The Malaysians battled hard to fend off a Chelsea side
orchestrated by new signing Deco and the industrious Anelka, who
put the visitors ahead after 26 minutes.
The France striker latched on to a neat through ball from
Joe Cole, skipped past the defence and slotted home into the
bottom right hand corner from inside the penalty area.
The hosts created a handful of chances and forward Amiral
Hadi Zainal almost opened the scoring inside three minutes when
he broke free in the area and fired inches wide of the far post.
He also blew a perfect opportunity to equalise before
halftime when he popped up unmarked in the box but fired a weak
effort past the post with Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech beaten.
Portugal midfielder Deco then came close to a memorable
first goal in a Chelsea shirt when his spectacular volley from
22 metres was tipped over the bar by the Malaysian keeper.
Chelsea grabbed their second goal eight minutes after the
break when Ashley Cole received a Frank Lampard pass and blasted
the ball into the top right hand corner from five metres.
The match was a stark contrast to the previous two games,
when Chelsea romped to 7-0 and 4-0 victories over Chinese sides.
Premier League Chelsea's Brazilian manager Luiz Felipe
Scolari said the rugged pitch hampered his team's performance
and he was relieved that his players came out unscathed.
'I crossed my fingers to finish without injuries,' he told
reporters. 'It was impossible to play on this pitch, my players
tried to play but it was difficult, but I saw some players play
better than in the other games.'
Malaysia coach B Sathianathan said: 'I'm surprised. Everyone
thought Chelsea would steamroll past us but they didn't.'
Mystery of the Telco Tower
PILING work carried out for the construction of a telecommunications tower in Taman Bukit Semenyih has caused a sense of uneasiness among the residents.
Homemaker Eng Yann Yann said the five-storey block of Mutiara Flats where she had lived for the past two years shook when the piling work began on Tuesday morning.
“The noise was deafening but the contractors continued their work till 6pm.
“The work area is only a few metres away from the flats; shouldn’t there be a buffer zone?” she asked.
A resident in neighbouring Taman Semenyih Mewah, Chen Yee Thong, said a monopole telecommunications tower was built in the area a year ago.
”But the workers who erected the structure maintained that it was a test tower and would eventually be dismantled.
”Now, following the piling work, concrete pillars have been embedded into the ground. They are obviously aiming for a permanent structure,” he said.
Flat resident Mokhtar Hussin, who approached the workers for clarification, was told that they were simply carrying out orders.
“I asked them where they were from and which company had authorised the building of the telco tower but they remained mum,” he said.
Kajang municipal councillor S. Arutchelvan said there was no signboard informing the authorities or the residents about the tower and no information was available on the company that had authorised the work. "I have spoken to council president Datuk Hasan Nawawi Abd Rahman, who has informed the engineering department.
“They will look for those responsible,” he said.
He also urged residents to lodge a police report on the matter stating the piling was causing noise pollution and no information was forthcoming about the company responsible for it.
Meanwhile, flat residents Loke Kah Weng and Yap Lee Ling said they hoped the authorities would take crime prevention measures to curb the problem of drug addicts and frequent thefts and break-ins in the area.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Coloccini set for Newcastle move, insists agent
Lombilla met with club president Augusto Cesar Lendoiro again last night to negotiate a move after Depor slapped an £11million price tag on Coloccini's head.
Tottenham are also said to have thrown their hat into the ring, but Lombilla claims he knows nothing about any rival bid.
'The only offer I am dealing with is that of Newcastle,' Lombilla told Spanish sports daily AS. 'Which is the one that I brought about.'
Depor were set to leave for a pre-season tour of Venezuela yesterday but Coloccini was not included in the travelling party and a line on the club website revealed: 'The footballer Fabricio Coloccini remains in La Coruna as his future will be decided in the upcoming days.'
Coloccini, naturally a centre-half but capable of playing at full-back, has made nearly 100 appearances in his three and a half years at the Riazor, and Depor coach Miguel Angel Lotina knows it will be a blow to lose the 26-year-old.
'If Coloccini goes it will be the great disappointment of the summer,' he told Marca.
'The team that takes Coloccini will be getting a quality footballer, a footballer to take your hat off to and they will be playing a dirty trick on me.
'He is a tremendous footballer for what he gives on the pitch and in the dressing room.'
