Football Refugees - One football, soccer forum, message boards http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org PHP-Nuke Powered Site en-us ROMARIO REACHES MAGICAL MILESTONE http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22 Brazil legend Romario finally scored the 1,000th goal
of his distinguished career as Vasco da Gama beat Sport Recife 3-1 in the second round of the Campeonato Brasileiro on Sunday.

The 41-year-old World Cup winner had failed to score in his last five outings, which saw Vasco fail
 to reach the Campeonato Carioca semi-finals.
But, after missing the opening Campeonato Brasileiro game, Romario converted a 48th minute penalty, which led to a 20 minutes delay in the game.
Romario Closes In On 1000 http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=21
World Cup winning striker Romario moved a step closer to 1000 career goals after finding the net twice in a Brazilian cup game.
The ex-Adelaide United frontman – who appeared four times for the Reds this past season – scored two of Vasco De Gama’s six goals against Fast Clube and is now just eight away from the historic figure of 1000.

However there is some debate as to the accuracy of the tally, with Romario’s 992 goals being the player’s own estimation and includes several strikes scored in friendly games. The striker has set up the "Romario 1000 Project" in his quest for 1000 goals and several friendlies have been slated to help the 41 year-old reach the mark.

The Brazilian won the World Cup in 1994, as well as playing for European giants Barcelona, Valencia and PSV Eindhoven.

http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/46776,romario-closes-in-on-1000.aspx
 Fifa sets 2010 World Cup schedule http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20 Fifa has announced that the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will take place between 11 June and 11 July.


World football's Executive Committee has also decided to keep the qualifying format from the last World Cup so the host's place is guaranteed.

"We didn't change anything," said Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

Blatter reiterated that Fifa had faith in South Africa, but added: "...we have said that they should bring a little bit of fire to the preparations."

The decision to keep the same number of qualifying places will see five African teams plus South Africa secure a place in the tournament.

In addition, there will be places for 13 European countries, five Asian and Oceania teams, and a total of eight for South America and the Central American region.

Tricky draw for Copa America holders Brazil http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19
Holders Brazil landed a tricky draw for the Copa America on Wednesday as they were thrown into Group B along with Mexico, Ecuador and Chile.


CARACAS, (Reuters) -


Brazil lost 1-0 in their last meeting with Mexico while Ecuador reached the last 16 at the World Cup in Germany and Chile appear set for a revival with a talented crop of young players.
The draw was kinder to hosts Venezuela who will face Uruguay, Bolivia and Peru -
the latter pair regarded as the weakest two of the 12 teams - in Group A.

Argentina, beaten on penalties by Brazil in the 2004 final, will face United States, Paraguay and Colombia in Group C full of potential pitfalls.

The tournament, being held in Venezuela for the first time, takes place from June 26 to July 15.

Making Football History http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=18 From the World Cup series of articles...


By Peter Goldstein.


The last few months I've been studying Chile 1962: reading books, watching tapes, surfing the Web for diverse accounts. Why? Because if you're a World Cup fanatic, the only thing as important as watching the current tournament is studying the past tournaments. Names like Vavá and Masopust, games like the Battle of Santiago, goals like Garrincha's swerving shot against England are part of our common heritage. If you live in Germany, you know about Otto von Bismarck and Konrad Adenauer; if in France, Napoleon and Charles DeGaulle; on Planet Football, Didi and Lev Yashin. Football history is where we come to know ourselves.

    So I've learned lots about 1962. Did you know that Garrincha was sent off in the semifinal against Chile, but after Brazilian appeals, was still allowed to play in the Final? Or that Brazil used only twelve players to win the tournament? Or that a superstitious Uruguay didn't bring a jersey number 13?

    All interesting stuff, and there's plenty more where that came from. But in this column I want to focus on two facts about the 1962 tournament, facts which, while interesting in themselves, more importantly say much about the way in which football history is written. They're cautionary tales, I suppose, about the way in which our perceptions of the past can be rendered fuzzy, or warped. And they suggest a remedy, a project which, while by no means free from the imperfections of history, can go a long way toward both establishing and preserving our essential football heritage for as long as the game endures.

    Fact number one: the top scorer at Chile 1962 was Drazen Jerkovic of Yugoslavia, with 5 goals. This may surprise you. That's because for many years sources invariably listed a six-way tie for top scorer: Jerkovic, Garrincha, Vavá, Ivanov (USSR), Albert (Hungary), Sánchez (Chile), all with 4 goals. In fact, the large majority of sources on the Web still list the six-way tie, while only a small minority list Jerkovic alone. The single most authoritative Web statisticians' site, www.rsssf.com, lists the six-way tie. So does Planet World Cup. And so does FIFA. Go to their official site for Germany 2006, fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en, click on "Classic Football," "Previous FIFA World Cups," "1970~1958," then on "Overview" under "Chile 1962," and you'll see it quite clearly.
What's going on?
 Romario hits 10-minute hat-trick for Vasco http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17
RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Former Brazil striker Romario came off the bench to score a 10-minute hat-trick as Vasco da Gama routed Volta Redonda 6-1 in the Carioca championship on Sunday.

Romario, 41, took his career total to 990 goals according to the tally he has kept himself but which includes goals scored at junior level and in friendly matches.


Typically, all of his goals - his first since he returned for a fourth stint at the club where he began his career - were scored from the edge of the six-metre area.
Romario came on in the 65th minute with Vasco already 3-0 ahead and needed four minutes to make his mark as he nonchalantly headed home a cross from the right.
In the 75th minute, he scored again from close range after a one-two and four minutes later rose unmarked to head in another cross from the right.
In the Paulista championship, Sao Paulo extended their unbeaten run over arch-rivals Corinthians to 12 games when they beat their nine-man opponents 3-1 in a stormy match.
The growing talent of African footballers http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16 The Premiership is one of the top domestic leagues in the world, one where every footballer wants to play at some point in their career. Since the Premiership began in 1991 the league has been blessed with great British players like Shearer and Fowler, then the European flair of Cantona and Klinsmann but now theirs a whole new breed of player making their mark in the Premiership, players from Africa.

World Cup, Japan and Korea 2002 gave the world an insight into the quality of the African nations and in particular, Senegal. Little did anyone know that Senegal would be the catalyst for an influx of African players entering the Premiership. Yet their victory against the World Cup holders France in the opening game would be the turning point in African football. Their victory was reminiscent of David and Goliath. From this game the rest of Africa took inspiration from Senegal’s performance and courage.

Derby boss afraid of reputation like Warnock http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=15
Billy Davies fears his reputation is being tarnished after being sent to the stand in Derby County's last two Championship matches.


Davies will not be charged by the FA following the incident during Tuesday's home victory over Burnley but the Rams manager has a few more days to decide whether to appeal against his dismissal at Southend.
He is keen on a personal hearing to answer the charge of using abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official.

Davies had never been sent off as a manager before the two recent incidents.

"I was sent off once in my playing career and yet I have now been sent off twice in the past two league games," he said.


 Newcastle to lift Intertoto cup http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=14
Newcastle United will receive the Intertoto trophy before their match against Zulte Waregem this month.

They were declared the winners in December after getting further in the UEFA cup than the other ten teams.
The tournament changed in the 2006/07 season to allow 11 teams to go through to the UEFA cup instead of the three in previous years.
Newcastle’s last European trophy was the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and they now hope to become the first Intertoto qualifiers to lift the UEFA Cup.
The previous best run was FC Girondins de Bordeaux reaching the 1995/96 final.
Glenn Roeder said, “This is a little bit of a reward for the boys who had to come back on 26 June to play in the competition.”


 The Greatest Goal? http://footballrefugees.freephpnuke.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12 By Peter Goldstein

    What’s the greatest goal in World Cup history?
 
Silly question, I know. It’s Maradona against England, or maybe Carlos Alberto against Italy. Or maybe one of a hundred other goals that you just happen to be crazy about. And there’s nothing more futile than trying to convince someone that look, Dennis Bergkamp’s winner against Argentina was way better than Nelinho’s shot against Italy, because on a 12-point scale evaluating precision, unexpectedness, brilliance, etc. etc. etc., you know. It’s all personal taste. But since I’m lucky enough to write a column here at Planet World Cup, it means I get a couple of thousand words to indulge myself. So I will. So here follows an analytical catalogue of Great World Cup Goals, finishing up with my own idiosyncratic why-the-heck-did-you-pick-that choice for The Greatest Ever.

    Great goals can be divided roughly into three groups: individual, assisted, and team. Great individual goals take their greatness from the actions of a single player; great assisted goals take their greatness from the actions of two or three players; great team goals take their greatness from the actions of four or more players. As noted, these are rough distinctions--in some cases you can argue whether a goal fits into one group or another--but they’re distinct enough to offer a basis for discussion.

    Let’s take great individual goals first...