Sunday, May 23, 2010

Mourinho's Tears For Chelsea



Jose Mourinho has revealed he cried after Inter Milan knocked Chelsea out of the UEFA Champions League and now wants to see Massimo Moratti shed tears of joy.

Inter are preparing for Saturday's Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Madrid having knocked out Mourinho's former club Chelsea earlier in the competition.

Mourinho masterminded a 1-0 win in the second leg of the last 16 tie at Stamford Bridge and admits he was overcome with emotion at the end of the game.

"At Stamford Bridge I cried because during the 90 minutes I wasn't thinking that I was playing against friends, but after the game I realised that my friends were out of the competition," he reflected.

"But that was crucial for Inter, without that victory we wouldn't be here today - it was a difficult emotional situation."

Success in the Santiago Bernabeu would crown Inter champions of Europe for the first time in 45 years and it is a trophy Mourinho is determined to win for the club's owner Moratti.

He added: "Defeat or victory, it will be unforgettable, but Moratti is a very special person for me.

"I would love to see him cry (with joy), I would love to see him with the cup in his hands, I would love to see him in a picture next to his father; I would love to give my little contribution to help make that happen."

Mourinho continued: "45 years is 45 years - it's a long time.

"Many of Inter's fans cannot remember that far back and many were not even born when the club last won the European Cup.

"The Champions League final is always important and you want to win it even if you won it last year, but I imagine that for these fans it will be even more special after such a long wait."

Grant Rejected Abramovich Offer To Make Shock Chelsea Return



Avram Grant has rejected a shock return to Chelsea.

The Daily Mail says Grant has rejected Roman Abramovich's invitation to return to Chelsea despite being offered more money than he stands to earn as manager of West Ham.

Grant has snubbed the director of football role he occupied at Stamford Bridge before replacing Jose Mourinho as manager in September 2007.

Despite being sacked by Abramovich two years ago after Chelsea missed out on the Premier League title to Manchester United before losing on penalties to Sir Alex Ferguson's side in the Champions League final, Grant remains close to the Russian billionaire.

Abramovich was prepared to top the £1.3million a year West Ham are offering Grant to replace Gianfranco Zola.

But Grant has opted to remain in the dug-out rather than take another behind-the-scenes post.

Yaya Toure Has Almost Made Up His Mind To Leave Barcelona For Chelsea



The future of Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure continues to be the subject of much discussion, and the Ivorian's agent has now stoked the flames after he revealed that his client has almost made his mind up to leave.

With the likes of Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Seydou Keita ahead of Toure in Pep Guardiola's pecking order, Dmitri Seluk believes that the best move for all concerned is to allow the 27-year-old to leave for the Premier League.

"If Chelsea want Yaya and everyone wins with this deal, why not?" the agent told the Daily Mirror.

"This last season, Toure has not played regularly and Pep Guardiola has preferred Busquets or Keita instead of him.

"If he prefers Busquets and Keita, then the best thing for Toure is to leave for Chelsea. He has made up his mind 90 per cent to leave."

In addition to the new English champions, Toure has been linked with a transfer to Arsenal as part of a deal that would take Cesc Fabregas back to Catalunya. It has been reported that the midfielder was unwilling to make the move, but his representative insists that Toure is not digging his heels in over a transfer.

"He has a good salary here but he doesn't want to earn money here and fall asleep on the bench. Some players would accept that situation. Not him. If he leaves, Barca will then understand what they will lose."

Manchester City Leave Liverpool Striker Fernando Torres To Champions League Heavyweights Chelsea And Barcelona



Manchester City have left Barcelona and Chelsea to fight for the £70 million signature of Fernando Torres after their failure to secure Champions League football.

The big-spending outfit has the resources to go toe-to-toe with their rivals due to owner Sheikh Mansour's bottomless wealth. According to The Guardian, important figures within the club have acknowledged that the lack of top-level European football has dropped them out of the running to prise the Spaniard from Liverpool.

City finished in fifth place in the Premier League last season after they targeted a top-four finish. Torres is understood to only be prepared to leave Merseyside for one of Europe's traditional elite.

Blues Keen On Kaka Swoop - Report



Chelsea is hopeful of signing Real Madrid playmaker Kaka in a cut-price summer deal, according to Spanish newspaper AS.

Blues chief Carlo Ancelotti, who has just won the Double in his first season in English football, worked with the Brazilian star during their time together at AC Milan.

The 28-year-old moved to Madrid in a £68.5million deal last summer but had a quiet first season in La Liga and has been tipped to move on.

Despite his amazing first season at Stamford Bridge Ancelotti is not resting on his laurels and is ready to bolster his squad, but whether central midfield is an area he needs to strengthen is debatable.

Michael Essien will be like a new signing next season, while Jon Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack have all performed superbly at different points of the season.

Chelsea Villain Tom Henning Ovrebo To Quit International Refereeing



Controversial Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo has quit international refereeing after he was ignored for the upcoming World Cup.

Ovrebo, 43, received death threats in 2008 when he denied Chelsea several penalty shouts in their Champions League semi-final defeat to Barcelona.

He continued to court headlines in this year's competition, when he allowed a Miroslav Klose goal in the first leg quarter-final meeting between Bayern Munich and Fiorentina to stand when the striker was clearly offside and then later declined to send the same player off for a dangerous tackle.

Speaking to Reuters today, he insisted his retirement after officiating 23 matches in Europe's top club tournament, plus numerous internationals was "no big drama", as next year he would have been over UEFA's age limit.

"This is based on signals Norway's Football Association got from UEFA about prospects for further assignments," Ovrebo said.

"Some will remember me for the Chelsea-Barcelona game in particular, but I can live well with that."

Youth Internationals: Borini On Target



Fabio Borini was on target to help Italy Under-19s to victory in the first game of a European Championship qualification tournament.

Italy beat Czech Republic 2-0 on Friday despite playing for over 30 minutes with 10 men. A Jacopo Sala cross led to the opening goal in the first half before Borini doubled the lead 15 minutes from the end with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Sala played the first-half; Borini was subbed on 78 minutes.

Italy faces Northern Ireland on Sunday and then host-nation Russia on Wednesday.

Chelsea youth products Josh McEachran and Nathaniel Chalobah were part of the England Under-17 team that ensured a place in the European Championship semi-finals with a win over Greece on Friday night.

A 1-0 victory in the second group game of the tournament in Liechenstein gave the young England side six points out of six. McEachran, playing behind the main striker, was typically creative while schoolboy defender Chalobah headed a corner just wide.

England's final group game is against Turkey on Monday with the semi-final on Thursday.

Jeffrey Bruma and Patrick van Aanholt have both been in action for the Dutch Under 19 side in two matches against Portugal. The first resulted in a 3-1 defeat; the second match, in which Van Aanholt only played the first half, ended goalless.

Charity Pitch Events Raise Vital Funds



Stamford Bridge played host to our national and global charity partners this week as they held separate football tournaments on the hallowed turf.

On Wednesday afternoon, Help a London Child held a five-a-side tournament on the pitch before the winners went on to play an 11-a-side match for the cup.

The competition was called Capital Kicks and Capital Radio's Breakfast Show host and life-long Chelsea fan Jonny Vaughan came along to show his support.

'Thank you very much to all the teams who took part,' said Vaughan, 'it was all in aid of our charity Help a London Child.

'There was loads of enthusiasm, we raised loads of money and it was a cracking day.'

The cup final pitted Capital/LBC, managed by Ron 'Chopper' Harris, and The Independent, managed by Scott Minto, against one another. Minto's side The Independent (pictured) won a tense encounter by a single goal.

'I just told them to go out and enjoy it. Don't try to be the hero and take on 10 people, you're all in it together so play as a team,' said the triumphant Minto.

Then on Thursday the club's global charity partner Right To Play also held a football tournament at Stamford Bridge.

The international charity held a World Cup-type of tournament for the fourth year and raised a phenomenal amount of money.

'We set up a World Cup tournament where teams don't represent Argentina and England which is the standard World Cup tournament format, we represent Liberia, Lebanon, Rwanda and so on,' said Mike Emery, director of Right To Play.

'Teams pay to take part, they are proud of the country they represent and last year we had a final that was Sierra Leone versus Rwanda, which is never going to happen in modern football.

'This year we have raised £125,000 which is great. This is the fourth year running and it has raised almost £100,000 every year so it is a really good event for us and the money is distributed to our projects around the world,' added Emery.

One person taking part in the Right To Play World Cup was Parkour founder Sébastien Foucan, who starred in the James Bond film Casino Royale by using his skills of jumping and climbing to overcome most obstacles.

'I am here because I have been really involved with Right To Play for more than three years now and I try my best to be with them as much as I can to really help the kids in poor countries,' said Foucan.

'I feel it is the type of tournament when it is not really about the competition, it is about participation and I am really happy to be here.'