The Word on the Street

05 Jul 2006

Djorkaeff gets rude awakening in Germany

French World Cup winning midfielder Youri Djorkaeff had a rude awakening last Saturday when he was arrested by German police over an outstanding fine for a traffic accident dating back five years.

The 38-year-old former France international - a member of the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winning sides - had returned to Germany from the United States for France's World Cup quarter-final with defending champions Brazil - which his former team-mates won 1-0.

However, Djorkaeff, who had a spell with German outfit Kaiserslautern, was taken into custody by the German police and subsequently released on bail as he still owes a 77,000 euro fine for having damaged a car with his in September 2001 and fleeing the scene.

Ronaldo to have knee operation

Real Madrid and Brazil striker Ronaldo is to have a knee operation over the close-season in order to get fit for the new campaign, Brazil team doctor Jose Luis Runco said on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old has suffered bouts of pain in his knee over the past eight months owing to calcification of the tibia and surgical scarring on his left knee.

Runco said that the striker, who scored three times at the World Cup to become the all-time tournament leading scorer despite Brazil's exit to France in the quarter-finals, had complained of pain at times during the event.

"He said now the event was over he would use the break to have surgery as he's had to put up with it for eight months," Runco said.

"If it is what I think it is, it will involve swift surgery and he will be ready for the new season," said Runco, who added Ronaldo would also consult Real's medical staff.

Capello takes over at Real Madrid

Fabio Capello was confirmed as the new manager of Spanish club Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Capello resigned from Italian side Juventus on Tuesday after losing patience with the match-fixing scandals currently engulfing the Serie A champions.

The Italian will be unveiled at the Bernabeu on Thursday with new president Ramon Calderon stating Capello will sign a three-year deal.

A statement on the club's website confirmed: "Fabio Capello will be the next coach of Madrid. He will arrive in the Spanish capital in the next few hours and look over the facilities at the club.

"It is expected he will be presented to the media at 12pm (local time) on Thursday."

Calderon believes former Roma boss Capello, who managed Real for one season in 1996-97, is the man to end the club's recent trophy drought and he told Sky Sports News: "He will be here for three years. He is a winner and this is very important at this club after three years without a title."

Italy will play the World Cup final on Sunday against either France or Portugal.

German fans damage Italian restaurants after defeat

German fans vandalised Italian restaurants and torched garbage bins after the host nation was defeated by Italy in the World Cup semi-finals, police said on Wednesday.

In the central town of Quedlinburg, some 25 fans stormed into an Italian restaurant and knocked over chairs and tables after Italy won 2-0 late in extra-time on Tuesday.

In Stendal, also in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, some 40 German fans targetted an Italian ice cream parlour and in nearby Magdeburg, they ripped the flowerboxes off the windows of an Italian restaurant.

The police said 150 troublemakers torched garbage bins and smashed bottles in Hoyerswerda in the eastern state of Saxony.

Police spokesman Jens Baehr said seven people were arrested and later released.

In the western city of Zweibruecken a brawl broke out between about 200 people, but nobody was seriously injured. Twelve people were arrested.

Germany licks wounds after nail-biter defeat

Germany on Wednesday wept bitter tears over the 0-2 loss to Italy by Jurgen Klinsmann's young national side at the football World Cup but took heart in the host nation's surprisingly long run.

"It's a pity. It was a great game," said Chancellor Angela Merkel, who sat next to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi in the Dortmund stands.

"Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough. But this team can still accomplish a lot."

The top-selling Bild newspaper also tried for a glass-half-full view with the banner headline "We are crying with you! You are still heroes" around a giant photo of Klinsmann, head in hands.

President Horst Koehler told the newspaper that Germans must try to sustain the new-found patriotism they discovered during the tournament, when for the first time since the war waving German flags and singing the national anthem were accepted as natural gestures of healthy national pride.

"We are on the right track toward standing up for ourselves and taking pride in what we have achieved since 1945," he said.

Germany waits on Klinsmann

German football fans, down in the dumps after their country's World Cup semi-final loss to Italy, were Wednesday waiting with bated breath to see if the man who has transformed the team's previously stolid mentality would stay at the helm.

Jurgen Klinsmann, World Cup winner as a player in 1990, fell short in his aim of emulating Franz Beckenbauer, who lifted the trophy both as player and coach with 'Die Mannschaft' - and his future is now in doubt as he and his family live in California.

"He needs time to discuss matters with his family. I know how important that is to him. I hope he come out with a positive decision," said outgoing German Football Federation (DFB) chairman Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder.

"He has brought the team the benefits of his positive aura and optimism," said Mayer-Vorfelder, who insisted that "I hope he can carry on transmititng that to the team."

Match-fixing case tempers Italy joy

The Italian football world was in a bitter-sweet state on Wednesday with the joy of reaching the World Cup final mixed with the possibility of several top clubs being relegated for match fixing.

Italy's 2-0 win over Germany to reach the July 9 final in Berlin against either France or Portugal contrasted sharply with the court proceedings in Rome where Juventus, AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio are all in the dock.

On Wednesday it was the turn of the defendants to plead their cases in the trial at the Olympic stadium in Rome which has 25 individuals and four clubs under the spotlight for sporting fraud -- influencing the choice of referees for Italian league matches in the 2004/05 season.

On Tuesday, Italian football federation prosecutor Stefano Palazzi requested Juventus be dropped to below the second division and that AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina be relegated to the second division.

Palazzi also asked that the last two Italian leagues titles won by Juventus be stripped from the club.

A final, binding decision however is not expected till the end of the week.

Record numbers expected for Berlin final

Lufthansa says that a record number of passengers are set to swarm into Berlin for Sunday's World Cup final before heading out on Monday.

With 11,000 Monday departures expected "that is double the norm," according to Berlin-based Lufthansa director Stephan Weinmann.

"Since 1990, when Lufthansa regained the right (following German unification) to land in Berlin again we have only experienced one such stream of passengers - for the wrapping of the Reichstag by (artists) Christo and Jeanne-Claude in summer 1994," he said.

France fans accused of killing Brazil supporter

Kenyan police said Wednesday they were searching for two men suspected of beating to death a fan of Brazil's World Cup team after the reigning football champion's weekend loss to France.

The 21-year-old Brazil fan died after being savagely attacked by the France-supporting suspects who allegedly chided and ridiculed the victim when the Brazilian side lost to the French on Saturday, police said.

The three had been watching the match at a popular video shop in a remote village in western Kenya when they began to fight over Brazil's 1-0 loss to France and the altercation spread into the street, they said.

The victim, Austin Ochieng Okello, was beaten unconcious and left on a footpath but then managed to stagger to a nearby home in Siaya village where he was found dead on Sunday, police said, citing witness accounts.

Siaya district deputy police chief Charles Gathiari said the assailants, who fled the scene but are known to villagers, would be captured and charged with murder.

French leaders confident of victory

French President Jacques Chirac cheered on France's football team on Wednesday hours ahead of its decisive battle against Portugal for a place in the World Cup final against Italy.

Chirac told a cabinet meeting that "the whole country is behind our team", Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin -- who was to attend the match in Munich along with three ministers -- told reporters.

"We're going to win," said Villepin, while Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy forecast that France would come out one goal ahead of Portugal.

Some 2,000 police will be on duty in Paris Wednesday -- including a large deployment on the Champs-Elysees Avenue -- to deter potential troublemakers in the wake of the match.

Police arrested 69 people on Saturday night as half a million people flooded the streets to celebrate France's quarter-final victory over Brazil.

Chirac cheers on French side ahead of Portugal

French President Jacques Chirac cheered on France's football team on Wednesday hours ahead of its decisive battle against Portugal for a place in the World Cup final against Italy.

Chirac told a cabinet meeting that "the whole country is behind our team", Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin -- who was to attend the match in Munich along with three ministers -- told reporters.

"We're going to win," said Villepin, while Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy forecast that France would come out one goal ahead of Portugal.

Some 2,000 police will be on duty in Paris Wednesday -- including a large deployment on the Champs-Elysees Avenue -- to deter potential troublemakers in the wake of the match.

Police arrested 69 people on Saturday night as half a million people flooded the streets to celebrate France's quarter-final victory over Brazil.

Czech coach Bruckner agrees two year extension

Czech national team manager Karel Bruckner will sign on for a further two years under a deal that is as good as signed, a top member of the national football federation said on Tuesday.

Czech and Moravian Football Federation board member Vlastimil Kostal said only a few formalities stood in the way of a new agreement with Bruckner being signed.

"We shook on it. All that is needed now is the signature on the agreement, otherwise we agreed on everything," said Kostal.

The two year extension means that 66 year old Bruckner will manage the Czech team through qualification for the 2008 European Championships in Austria and Switzerland.

Bruckner has been manager of the Czechs since the end of 2001.

Ferdinand ashamed after England exit

England centre-back Rio Ferdinand said he was embarrassed to go out in public following his country's quarter-final exit in a penalty shootout against Portugal.

"I'm gutted. I genuinely went into this tournament believing that we would get to the semi-finals at least - and I would have been disappointed with that," the 27-year-old Manchester United defender told Wednesday's Sun tabloid.

"It's embarrassing if I'm being honest. I was a bit embarrassed to set foot outside the door when I went shopping with my girlfriend Rebecca."

England's players and coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had claimed before the tournament they were genuine contenders to win the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

Ferdinand admitted: "If I was a fan I would be desperately disappointed. I would have expected more than what we gave them.

Mbeki in Germany for World Cup handover

South Africa President Thabo Mbeki will visit Germany this week for the official handover of the football World Cup to be hosted by South Africa in 2010.

Mbeki will also meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his three-day working visit to discuss South Africa's preparations for sport's most prestigious event, deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad said in Pretoria.

"The president will participate in the 2010 handover ceremony and launch the logo for the World Cup that we are hosting," said Pahad.

"His visit comes in the context of South Africa's stated commitment to making the 2010 Soccer World Cup a truly African event," he said.

Zico heads to Fenerbahce

Turkish giants Fenerbahce said Tuesday that they had signed a two-year contract with Brazilian football legand Zico who quit as coach of Japan's national team following the Asian champions' exit from the World Cup.

The 53-year-old Zico will fly into Istanbul on Wednesday for an official signing ceremony and to meet the players, the Istanbul-based club said.

The financial details of the contract were not dislosed.

He had announced before the competition that he would leave Japan and look for a coaching post in Europe.

His stint at Fenerbahce will be only his second job as a coach.

He will replace German coach Christoph Daum who was ditched by Fenerbahce last month following the loss of the Turkish league title to arch rivals Galatasaray.