Sol y Futbol: Cold, Windy, Wet And Leaking Goals

Another bad day for the Rojillos, Ian Lane reports for Sol y Futbol.

GIMNÁSTICA TORRELAVEGA 5 LANZAROTE 0

7th December 2009

Lanzarote were once again torn apart by a far superior team on a wet, cold and windy day in the top North of Spain and for the second time this season conceded five goals.

The Rojillos, who are used to playing their football in tropical conditions did not acclimatize themselves well and within 15 minutes found themselves 2-0 down. The first was in the ninth minute. A harmless ball delivered into the 18 yard box left the Rojillos defence hesitant and striker Dani Cobo gratefully accepted the free gift and blasted his side into a 1-0 lead. Six minutes later and Lanzarote keeper Floro could only parry a shot from the edge of the area and centre forward Collado simply passed the ball into the open net from close range.

In the 38th minute Collado broke through the Lanzarote defence for the umpteenth time and neatly set up team mate Nando who buried the ball past Floro and sent his team into the half time break with an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Rojillos manager Carmelo Hernández brought on some width for the second half with wingers José Manuel and Ayoze Pérez both being introduced replacing Santi Torres and Maikel Padrón. Lanzarote began to press forward and held the majority of possession early in the second half though this only led the home side to produce deadly counter attacks.

In the 53rd minute Torrelavega were awarded a penalty with defender Ángel Gil bringing down the talented Collado inside the area. The Rojillos keeper saved well from the strike by defender Siro which gave Lanzarote just a glimmer of false hope.

That glimmer was extinguished on the hour mark and in the 77th minute strikes from Collado and Cursi finished the rout and the Rojillos then faced a long and tiring trip back to Lanzarote.

This win pushes Gimnástica Torrelavega into third in the table and on course for Segunda A (championship) football. This battering leaves the Rojillos shipwrecked somewhere off the coast of North Africa and a million miles from safety.

On the positive side they will be returning to blue skies and temperatures in the mid 20´s with the sea being a very pleasant 22 degrees.

Next week Lanzarote play at home to the much improved Badajoz side Villanovense.

World Cup 2010 - Post-Draw What We Hope To Look Forward To

Well after much deliberation and debate as to who the various favourites would get in their groups in the 2010 World Cup, today’s draw in Cape Town answered that question – and in doing so presented many more.

Firstly England have been drawn to face the United States, Algeria and Slovenia in the group stage of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Fabio Capello's men will play the United States in Rustenburg on 12 June, Algeria in Cape Town on 18 June and Slovenia in Port Elizabeth on 23 June. Now on the face of it, it looks an easy draw for Capello’s men, playing America up first will mean that England will have to start professionally.

America have good players in Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Alitdore and Landon Donovan so shouldn’t be taken lightly. England should be good enough to beat them. Another factor here worth mentioning is that Capello is wanting to base the team in Rustenberg, where of course this game will be played. This will hopefully be of benefit to the team as they can train in altitude ahead of the game in the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, which is at an altitude of around 1500m high.

Next up for the Three Lions is Algeria, the weakest african nation to qualify if you believe what the skeptics are saying. However Algeria dont look a bad team, they finished top with their qualifying group along with Egypt and had to face a one-off game in Sudan againgst the Egyptian’s to qualify for the finals. With alot more than sport on the line but politics as well, Rabah Saadane’s men pulled of a famous victory over their rivals, thanks to a splendid goal from Antar Yahia of German outfit Bochum.

Egypt by no means are a bad team and on reflection will feel that they should have won their qualifying group, after all they have won the last two African Cup of Nations. With that fact in mind, it’s useful for Capello and the FA to arrange a friendly with the Pharaoh’s as they should be a good test to play against. There’s also the fact that the friendly at Wembley should be a good opportunity to promote England’s 2018 World Cup bid and there’s no doubt that the Egyptian vote will be a welcome one.

There’s no doubt Capello and the various coaches will have a look at footage of Algeria’s as although they have a few players that British fans will know about. In Nadir Belhaj from Portsmouth, Hameur Bouazza from Blackpool, Majid Bougherra from Rangers and Hull's Kamel Ghilas, they have some decent players who will have come against the likes of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard before in Premeriship competition. However England should be have too much for the Algerian’s and hopefully would have sealed their place for the second round heading into their final group game.

That final group game of course comes up against unfancied Slovenia, who finished ahead of Czech Republic and Northern Ireland to grab the runners up spot behind Slovakia in Group 3 in the European section. After drawing Russia in the play-offs the odds were against the former Yugoslav state. However after nicking a goal late on in Moscow whilst 2-0 down – they put in a good performance in Maribor grabbing a goal from Zlatko Dedič and defending well to earn themselves a place in South Africa. Technically they’re a good team with players playing across the top European leagues, Robert Koren is their captain and the West Brom man will be the creative spark for them to watch out for. Although the fact that they beat Hiddink’s Russia to qualify shouldn’t be forgotten, England have recent history on their side with a 2-1 victory over Slovenia at Wembley this season. Ideally Capello will be looking at this game for an opportunity to give a few of the squad players a chance to play as qualification for the second round should be wrapped up.

Now the way the draw has worked, provided England win the group they will probably face Serbia, Australia or Ghana in the next round who should finish behind Germany. I say ‘should’ because the last thing we’d want is to play the Germans in the second round, after all if there’s a team who can win ugly and go to the later stages of a tournament – it’s them. All the three sides that I’ve mentioned above have their good points. Serbia are a good technical European team, Ghana are a physical unit and Australia are a team that shouldn’t be underestimated with the players that they have in their squad.

However England should be able to beat those teams, although i’m sure it won’t be plain sailing just like their second round match versus Ecuador was like going back to the last World Cup. Thankfully on that day we scrappd through thanks to a David Beckham freekick and heroic blocks from Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdiannd.

Providing we reach the quarters, our prospected opponents should be the French, who lets face it were bloody lucky to qualify for the finals. Firstly they looked far from convicing in their qualifying group when they finished runners up behind Serbia. Then of course they met Ireland in the play offs and although they won 1-0 at Croke Park, it was far from an inspiring performance and their goal scored by Nicolas Anelka shot only came about via a lucky deflection of Sean St Ledger.

The second leg of course was going great for the Irish who took the lead in Paris through a Robbie Keane strike and had chances missed to double that lead from Keane and Damien Duff to stop the game going into extra time. Of course sadly a place at the finals was taken away from them, before they even had the chance to take penalties when a cruel handball from Thierry Henry set up William Gallas to score and send the French through after extra time. To win a World Cup you have to beat the best teams and this is a game that we should really find out whether or not Capello’s men are up to it, if England play half as well as Ireland then i fancy they should nick a victory.

That should set them up with a semi-final tie against either Holland or Brazil, two of the best footballing teams to watch in terms of style, pace and entertainment. Holland v Brazil should be a good quarter final but you’d fancy Brazil to win, but then again no one thought France would beat Brazil in the 2006 quarter finals. Anyway if England do reach the semi’s, this is where the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and co need to put in the performances of their life if we’re going to reach a second ever world cup final. I’d like to think we can do it, but i think we may just be edged out in extra time via a moment of brilliance from Kaka or Luis Fabiano or knocked out on penalties – that great tradition we have in recent tournaments. Though who knows it could be our chance to win a shootout eventually, i mean it's about time isn't it?

Overall though the Draw gave some interesting results. It was really noticeable to my brother, dad and i that aside from maybe New Zealand, North Korea and Honduras their are not too many easy teams to beat. That hopefully should be good for the tournament and will make sure we see alot of close games. As for the other favorites, Spain should easily emerge from their group as should Italy who should finish ahead of Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia in Group F.

Aside from Germany’s group which i’ve mentioned above in this article, the one group that should be fascinating to watch is Group G. This will be the so-called ‘Group of Death’ in the media with Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea making the numbers up. If you were to give me £5 to say who would finish behind Brazil in the runners-up position, i think Ivory Coast will do it. They are a team full of confidence at the moment and in Didier Drogba, the two Toure brothers, Salamon Kalou and Emmaneul Eboue have stars who any team in Europe would want.

Although Portugal managed under Carlos Quieroz have the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Simao and Deco – i do wonder if they can actually play ugly when it matters and i think they will finish third in this group. The game between Ivory Coast and Portugal on the Tuesday 15th June for me is one of the games that I won’t want to miss out on. For those interested it’s a 3 o’clock kick off, so for those going to work that day – start early and get your work done!!! Or watch it on the BBC I Player online!

In conclusion, I can’t wait for the tournament to start. It’s only 185 days away but everyone’s already talking about the permutations and drama that is going to happen. It’s probably too close to call as to who the favourite is with nothing seperating Spain and Brazil for me. England have given a fair draw and now it’s up to the players and staff to remain in-form over the current season and get in shape for the World Cup. Hopefully the final few weeks of the season will be kind to all the footballers who have a chance of going to the World Cup.

The last thing that we want, although I think some aspects of the media would want is another Metatarsal escapade that has haunted David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and of course Wayne Rooney over the last decade or so. As for top scorer at the tournament favourite it’s probably going to be Luis Fabiano or David Villa but watch out for Wayne Rooney who i boldly predict will score four times in the tournament! Providing he's there of course. Best player of the tournament always goes to a player that makes the World Cup final, and judging by the way they're playing at the moment Xavi looks a good bet for that title.

Thanks to Chris Onderstall for the photos that haave been used in this article, for more information and news on the World Cup check out his great website: http://www.shine2010.co.za/community/ which looks at the tournament from a South African perspective.

Posted by Adam Dennehey - SportTrades Report Manager

Controversy Hits Chieftains, As Oxford Grab Draw

Last weekend saw the Chieftains stumble to a 4-4 draw in Oxford, although it wasn’t their own doing that cost the game, but poor decisions from the officials. SportTrades Pete Lewis as always reports for us:

In a game in which there were eight goals scored, Chelmsford went home feeling like they’d lost the game due to being on the wrong end of some poor decisions in the game. The Stars though were a test for Chieftains. Oxford should have gone ahead early on but Ken Forshee shot straight at Ben Clements in the Chieftains goal. Moments later and the first real chance at the other end fell to Ross Brears from a nice layoff from Danny Hammond. Referee Freeman towards the end of the period sent Richard Wojciak of the Stars for a 2 minute minor for hooking and as well as a further 10 minutes for questioning the referee.

On the resulting powerplay the Chieftains broke the deadlock thanks to a smart Alex Green finish who fired past Skaife. As the players were returning to re-start the game the referee sent Abu-Saada to the box also for 10minute misconduct and it appeared that the Stars discipline was rapidly going. As the buzzer went Stars new signing Andrew Shurmer went steaming in on Blaho Novak, only to be totally up-ended by the young forward who stepped into the onrushing defenseman and sent him sprawling across the ice. Instead of the usual melee that follows instances like that; many Stars players seemed to be laughing at Shurmer who had just been shown up by a 16 year old School boy! Who said kids can’t play against the big boys.

The second period started well for Chieftains when Hammond slotted home from another perfect Novak pass three minutes into the half to put make it 2-0. The Stars fired back minutes later through Shurmer who slid a shot in under Clements to reduce the lead. Goal of the night came ten minutes later when Hammond picked the puck up at centre ice and skated past his marker before slotting the puck past goaltender Skaife from a tight angle. Again though the Stars refused to lie down and captain Darren Elliot took advantage of the Chieftains stopping play as they thought the whistle had gone to wash out an alleged goal, but only to find the whistle hadn't gone and to their horror Elliot scored. The Chieftains made it 4-2 two minutes from the end of the second period when Jerry Pavlus finished past Skafie after a good team move.

It looked to be one-way traffic now, but the Stars had other ideas as the third period began. Forshee grabbed a goal three minutes into the period through somewhat controversial circumstances. Clements the goalie for the Chieftains was clearly been infringed in his crease, which under the rules of hockey isn’t allowed. Referee Freeman failed to see this error and much to the surprise of those in attence the goal was given - much to the displeasure of Clements and the Chieftains players. Even Stars Coach Simon Anderson seemed to motion to the Chieftains players a look of embarrassment. Then to cap it all, in the dying minutes of the game Freeman missed another infringement which allowed Stars Grant Bailey to level the game and earn the hosts a tie.

After the game Birrell said "We will take nothing away from Oxford, they were up for it and gave us a real tough game. I don't want to say too much about the officiating, but suffice to say 2 of their goals at least were down to the officials getting the basics wrong. I think Oxford deserved something from the game, but I'd rather they had earned their draw fairly rather than being gifted it". Looking ahead to this Sunday, little needs to be said.The Chieftains host Invicta Dynamos. Invicta are top of the league and will be a huge test. The teams have not met in league action in almost a decade and it’s a game that should live up to the hype, it's one that i certainly can't wait for!

Shout! Issue 1 - Welcome To Shout

Hello and welcome to the first official posting of Shout. We will be publishing this feature on the first Friday of every month from now on. Shout is the opportunity for SportTrades to share opinions on sporting debates from the past month and promote opportunities available at our partners.

At 5pm this evening in Cape Town, the draw for the 2010 World Cup takes place. England has found themselves seeded, so will be drawn from Pot 1. The remaining teams are distributed amongst the other 3 Pots by geographical location. The theory being that each group will contain teams from at least 3 continents. Good so far, simple, what could possibly go wrong? The draw will take hours, to milk as much from sponsorship as possible, and undoubtedly FIFA will find their route to incompetence, which makes for the entertainment. As a Sports Media and Marketing company, I would love to be able to give my clients so much uninterrupted coverage, and understand the lengthy process by FIFA is to accommodate the competitions pay masters. As a sports fan, I find that the organisation that wishes to bring 3G technology into matches, using pots and balls to determine groups in the ‘Greatest show on Earth’ slightly ironic.

We test drove SHOUT after the France vs. Ireland game and covered our opinions on technology. The introduction of technology is inevitable, but we are not convinced. Team sports can be divided into two groups’ momentum and segment. Segment being a game that has natural breaks where plays are restarted in pre determined positions or at the point of breakdown, for example American Football. Technology will not alter the rhythm of these games. Football is within the momentum group. It has irregular natural breaks and the introductions of technology will only slow the game and make it sterile. The vast amount of money at stake is one of the reasons sited for the introduction of technology. Life is a gamble, bonuses in other walks of life are sometimes giving to the people who least deserve it. Why should sport be different, it’s one of its appeals.

Can we rely on Human instinct and senses to officiate sporting occasions? I think we can, look at the recent ATP Tournament in the O2 Centre. When players used their challenges to dispute a call they were more than often wrong. I don’t know if there are any official statistics on this, but it must be very high in favour of the officials. Other sports such as Rugby League can on occasions and with technology, not confirm beyond reasonable doubt that a try has been scored.

A brief moment for the curse of Gillette. Thank goodness for Roger Federer, he only lost in a semi- final, what a close shave.

We move on to the Autumn Internationals. Ireland showed us they were the strongest team from the Northern Hemisphere over the tests. They surely must be installed as favourites for the Six Nations, starting in February. Andy Robinsons Scotland hit the highs with a fantastic win over Australia only to return to square one. Wales and France put in solid performances throughout and will challenge Ireland to the Six Nations crown.

England, what happened? Yes, injuries in key positions were crucial. Games against Australia and New Zealand are difficult without your preferred selection, an uphill struggle. We can never count upon Argentina as a nailed on victory and I’m sure we didn’t set the team up in that frame of mind. We, however, should always have a performance that shows grit, determination and pride no matter where the players are ranked in selection. I, like Martin Johnson - without doubt, want England to win every game, and his hand was forced into changes. This was an ideal opportunity to trial youth along side more experienced players. An opportunity missed, as they spent time sat on the bench. The spotlight has fallen on the amount of games our players are involved in, compared to those in the Celtic League. Central contracts prevent this being even more.

Top Celtic League sides very rarely play their strongest side in that competition until later stages. Concentrating on their provincial team’s progress through European Tournaments. An advantage? Well yes, but England should have a pool of players big enough to cope with this commitment. Should we change the Celtic League format rather than the English or French model to level the playing field, I believe so.

Let us just rip up the European Cups framework, start again and make it in unison throughout. The Premier European Competition should only select teams from the top 3 Leagues. Guinness Premiership, Top 14 and the Celtic League, including the 2 Italian teams now entering. Top 6 clubs from each league, then 2 further teams chosen from a greater try per game ratio qualify. Then split the teams into four groups of 5 with 8 matches each and the top 2 in each group going through to the Quarter final. The secondary competition also selected from the remaining teams within the three leagues but development teams included to make the numbers up to 24. A level playing field, possibly, some countries within the Celtic league may not have representatives in the premier European competition. So surely the best development of Rugby Union is for each country to have a strong National League to provide teams for exciting European competitions.

SportTrades are proud to announce our partnership with Hull Wasps Basketball club. We will be looking for sponsors in a number of areas of the club, to help them club develop and to increase involvement within the community. We continue to search for partners to promote Women’s Football with Polly Courtney at Girls in Football doing fantastic work. If you are interested in any opportunities in helping secure grassroots sport and beyond please contact us.

Shout will be back in January, however until then I would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Rob McAvoy

Hull Wasps sign with SportTrades

SportTrades are delighted to announce our partnership with Hull Wasps Basketball Club.

Hull Wasps play in the National League Division 4 North and SportTrades will be helping the club maximise their sponsorship potential.

SportTrades Directors are excited at the prospect of working alongside a club as progressive and professional as the Wasps in a City with so much pride in their sporting culture.

Sol y Futbol: Barnsley Robbo starts fight back - Just too Late

Our Man from Arrecife,Ian Lane, reports for Sol y Futbol

LANZAROTE 3 REAL MADRID B 4

30th November 2009

As customary it was another scorching hot day as the Rojillos (reds) found themselves two goals down before the half hour mark. At 1-4 down and with only 10 men Lanzarote made an extraordinary fight of it and were only a whisker away from stealing a point.

It wasn’t an ideal start for the Rojillos with central defender Francis being carried off in the opening two minutes with an ankle injury. Manager Carmelo Hernández had the unenviable job of restructuring his already fragile defence with the game in its infancy.

Seconds later and a swift move from the youth of Real Madrid saw the ball thunder off the underside of the bar and the defence of Lanzarote desperately scrambled the ball away to safety giving Lanzarote ample warning of things to come.

The future superstars of Real Madrid looked impressive with their fast, accurate passing and off the ball movement that had the Conejeros (locals) chasing shadows and it looked inevitable the breakthrough for the all whites would come soon.

In the 15th minute a corner whipped in low and hard was met by youngster Luis Hernández and his glancing header at the near post combined with the pace of the ball left the Lanzarote keeper with no chance and the B team of Real Madrid were 0-1 up. Once again horrendous defending from set pieces have left Lanzarote with the worst defensive record in the league conceding 39 goals in only 15 games.

In fairness Lanzarote began to gather their composer and started to join the tempo of the match. In the 22nd minute a cross swung in from the left was powerfully headed by Lanzarote’s big striker Rosmen but unfortunately his effort flew inches over when he really should have done better.

In the 28th minute Lanzarote lost possession in the centre of the park to the goal scorer Luis Hernández, his defence splitting pass released striker Juan Carlos who rounded the Rojillos keeper and coolly slotted the ball home giving his side a comfortable 0-2 lead.

Ten minutes before the break and the Rojillos were handed a lifeline when midfielder Maikel Padrón was brought down by defender Nacho just inside the box and the Catalan Ref ordered a spot kick. Rubén Rodriguez blasted home and the Rojillos were back in the match as the score remained at 1-2 till half time.

Just under10 seconds into the second half and the hope from Lanzarote’s faithful was shattered. Striker Juan Carlos immediately broke through the dormant defence of the Conejeros, and with the echo of the Refs whistle still ringing in our ears stroked the ball wide of the Lanzarote keeper and into the corner of the net restoring his sides two goal cushion at 1-3.

Things got worse. In the 53rd minute Lanzarote’s temperamental winger Toñito reacted to some shirt pulling and raised his hands to the face of his opponent and as customary in Spanish football the boy fell quicker than a sack of spuds. The Ref showed Toñito red and Lanzarote were forced to play with the remainder of the match with only 10 men.

Four minutes on and the mountain Lanzarote already had to climb exploded with volcanic force as the B team of Real Madrid scored their fourth of the day. Madrid striker Cristian beat off a weak challenge from centre back Faruk and neatly placed his shot wide of keeper Floro to give his side a 1-4 advantage.

Battling away in midfield for Lanzarote was Captain Vladi and his never say die spirit winning challenges egged on his team mates and forced Madrid to retreat. In the 69th minute Maikel Padrón blasted a low drive from the edge of the area which was blocked. The ball rebounded back to the midfielder and he fired in a similar effort which made its way through the crowd of players and even though the Madrid keeper got a hand to it, it was not enough as the ball crawled over the line leaving the score line at 2-4.

Lanzarote piled on the pressure and in the 74th minute a surging run from ex Real Madrid player Jotha ended when he was tripped two yards outside the box. Dead ball specialist Rubén Rodriguez curled a left footer around the wall and into the top left hand corner making the score 3-4. A beauty! Again the impossible was on.

There is no doubt that the introduction of Englishman Ian Robinson on the hour mark when the score was 1-4 contributed immensely to this fight back. The Barnsley boy will chase everything and closes down defenders creating errors and his speed terrifies the opposition. He is a great weapon to have but the Lanzarote management must learn to shoot this weapon before their prey gets too far away to become a target.

Many of the Lanzarote supporters had left on the hour mark which was extremely disappointing. One learns from a very young age that the only time a game is over is when the Ref blows. These supporters missed a great finale and five minutes from time a cross from the left from Lanzarote’s man of the match Rubén Rodriguez found the head of sub Ayoze Pérez and the midfielder headed powerfully but only into the arms of Madrid keeper Adam. That proved to be the last effort of note for the Rojillos in the match.

It may well be a spirited fight back but there are no points gained for that. The Rojillos remain bottom and have slipped to eight points from safety. Next week Lanzarote fly to Madrid then another flight to Northern Spain to the Santander region and will play fifth placed side Torrelavega.

Stanley and Barnet Draw in F.A.Cup Tracker

Accrington Stanley 2 Barnet 2 and Barnet will have to do it all over again after this dramatic draw. The winner of the replay will entertain Gillingham in the 3rd Round (Stage 9 - SportTrades Tracker).

Accrington took the lead in the 29 minute with a goal from Bobby Grant. Barnet were level 4 minutes after the break when Ismail Yakubu equalised, within 60 seconds Stanley regained the lead when Michael Symes scored. In the 5th minute of added on time and with the help of his team mates patting down the uneven surface, John O'Flynn slotted home a penalty to take Stanley back to Underhill.

Accrington finished with 10 men after the sending off, of John Miles.