To celebrate the world renowned Cheltenham Festival that is taking place this week, we thought it would be apt to take a look at the cross-overs that occur between the worlds of football and horse racing.
Football and horse racing go hand-in-hand. Footballers have always loved to have a flutter at the races and with the increased amount of money in football these days, more and more players and managers are buying shares in horses.
So here’s a look at those people in the world of football that will be keeping a close eye on what is going on at Cheltenham this week and if they haven’t got a horse running, you can be sure that they’ll be having a bet instead!
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Aside from the plethora of terrible back-page puns, Keisuke Honda would bring a lot to the Premiership should he make a move there this summer.
Honda has been in eye-catching form for Japan at the World Cup and was easily their star player at the tournament. The 24-year-old midfielder was already showing glimpses of talent for his club CSKA Moscow in the Champions League last season, but now he has come to everyone’s full attention after his performances on the world’s biggest stage. He is one of only five players in the Japan squad who ply their trade outside of their home country, and his debut for the team coincided with his first move outside of Japan when he joined Dutch side VVV-Venlo in 2008.
Despite only spending two years at Venlo, he gained a cult following from the fans and the Dutch media dubbed him ‘Kaizer Keisuke’ – Emperor Keisuke for his good performances. He was named as club captain during his time there because of his consistency and ended up scoring 24 goals in 68 games for them. He signed for CSKA in January 2010 and ended up being thrown right into the deep end at the club, making his debut against Sevilla in the second round of the Champions League. In the second leg of the game in Seville he showed his class by setting up his side’s opener and then scoring the winner with a long-range freekick.
Having spent just six months in Russia the interest in him will be great and CSKA will be trying to do all they can to keep hold of him, particularly as their other star player Milos Krasic looks very likely to leave. Honda has many attributes that would appeal to Premier League clubs, his vision is first class and his technical ability on the ball can be outstanding at times. The only doubt about him is whether or not he could withstand the physical demands of the Premiership, but other than that he has enough about him to make sides very interested in securing his services. CSKA have no doubt landed themselves a bargain as they signed him from Venlo for just £4.9m. Now Honda has had a good World Cup they could probably make a profit of five times that amount should they decide to sell.
As he hasn’t been at CSKA for too long it seems unlikely that he would leave them this summer, however come the winter transfer window then things might have changed. Whoever can secure his signature will be getting a real talent and Honda definitely has the talent to take him all the way.
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Scotland defender Gary Caldwell has stated that despite missing out on the Euro 2012 playoffs, his team are moving forward under Craig Levein.
The celtic nation suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of world champions Spain on Tuesday night, which ended their chances of participation in Poland and Ukraine next year.
Despite not making the European Championships, Caldwell was impressed with his side’s fighting spirit in Alicante and feels they are getting better.
“Some of the football they played was exceptional. It was very difficult to deal with,”the Wigan man told Sky Sports.
“But nights like that are encouraging, we were up against the best team in the world and many teams would have folded but we never did and that was very encouraging.
“We showed we can compete and we are going to be playing lesser teams in the next competition and hopefully we will do a bit better.
“Craig Levein was a new manager at the start of the campaign and he had to find out things about the players and what formation he was going to play and we have got to a level now where the manager knows he can go forward and we can be successful,” the centre back concluded.
With Scotland in Group A alongside Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Macedonia and Wales in the World Cup qualifiers, the Tartan Army will be hopeful of qualification to the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
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Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness believes the Bundesliga club are a ‘superpower’ when star duo Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery are on song.
Bayern are currently third in the Bundesliga, thirteen points behind runaway leaders Borussia Dortmund.
However, if they can keep both Ribery and Robben fit and Dortmund begin to falter, the Bavarian giants still have an outside chance of defending their Bundesliga title.
Since Robben’s return to Bayern’s side after a thigh injury the Dutchman has scored four times in as many games, with his side winning all four matches.
However, Hoeness believes it is not just Robben who is making a difference.
“Even after all this the people should not forget that Franck Ribery has played exceptionally, on Saturday, for example, he didn’t score but he was involved in two or three of them,” Hoeness said, adding: “With both of them playing we are a superpower.”
In contrast, former Bayern defender Willy Sagnol believes that relying on Robben and Ribery too much is dangerous.
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“The other players always expect something from them, they expect the decisive goal or the decisive pass and even though that is normal, therein lies a problem,” Sagnol said.
Bayern’s next match in the Bundesliga is against fifth-placed Mainz on Saturday.
Dirk Kuyt could be interested in following former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez to new club Internazionale, according to his agent.
The Netherlands forward has been linked with a possible move to Italy following Benitez’s unveiling in the Inter hot-seat.
Benitez left Anfield earlier in the month on the back of a disappointing campaign which saw the Reds finish seventh in the final Premier League table.
The Spaniard is reported to have made both Kuyt and Argentina captain Javier Mascherano his main summer transfer targets.
And although claiming his client is happy at Anfield, Kuyt’s agent has suggested the 29-year-old Dutch international would be interested in joining Inter.
“It’s just rumours, we know nothing about this offer,” said Rob Jansen.“Dirk is thinking now only about the World Cup.
“He has an excellent relationship with Benitez, but we are commenting only on an hypothesis, because there is nothing concrete. When and if an offer arrives, we’ll see.
“Dirk is happy at Liverpool and has a contract until 2012.
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“Would he follow Benitez? Anything is possible, but, again, there is currently nothing.”
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Roy Hodgson is set to select his squad on Friday for the international friendly against Italy, but will leave out his entire back four from Euro 2012 The Telegraph claim.
The Three Lions were knocked out of the tournament in Ukraine and Poland by the Azzurri, and will face Cesare Prandelli’s men once more in Berne on August 15.
However, Hodgson has confessed that he will be shuffling his pack for the exhibition fixture.
“With regards to the Aug 15 friendly, you will definitely see some revolution there,’’ he has admitted.
John Terry, Joleon Lescott, Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson will all be omitted as the trainer looks to blood some fresh players.
A number of players are being touted for inclusion, with Frank Lampard and Kyle Walker set to be recalled after missing Euro 2012 through injury.
Youngsters such as Ryan Bertrand, Tom Cleverley and Daniel Sturridge are all expected to get a look-in also, as Hodgson looks to prepare for World Cup qualifying.
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Liverpool defender Daniel Agger has admitted he is enjoying being fit again, and that he is happy with his early season form.
The Denmark international has had a frustrating time at Anfield over the last number of seasons, as recurring injuries have stopped him from making extended runs in the Merseyside first-team.
Despite his, after a full pre-season, Agger has started all of The Reds first four Premier League fixtures, and is happy to get back to his best.
“The fact I got the full pre-season has helped me a lot. I feel a lot stronger, a lot better, but I still have more to come, hopefully. I feel I can give some more, have more to offer, so hopefully I can carry on playing games and that will help me,” the Scandinavian told the side’s official website.
“Fitness-wise I am happy right now, but as the season carries on you get more games under your belt and you get stronger, quicker and better.”
Kenny Dalglish’s outfit signed promising Uruguayan central defender Sebastian Coates in the transfer window, but Agger has revealed that he is not concerned by the extra competition for places.
“I have been here almost six years now and every year there are new players coming in and players going.
“It is normal for a big club like Liverpool to bring in players to add to the competition. Everything changes every year, so it’s good to have healthy competition as we have now. It’s good for the club and the players,” he concluded.
Agger will go head-to-head with Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor on Sunday, as Liverpool travel to White Hart Lane this coming Sunday.
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Mexican side Jaguares reached the second round of the Copa Libertadores with a 2-0 win over Alianza Lima on Tuesday.
Leading 2-0 on aggregate after the first leg away from home, Jaguares’ hopes of making the group stage of the competition were boosted when Lima’s Edgar Villamarin was sent off after 28 minutes of the return leg.
It took the Mexican side until well into the second half to make the most of their numerical advantage however, with Antonio Pedroza, who also scored the opener in the first leg, found the back of the net on 69 minutes.
Antonio Salazar then put the icing on the cake five minutes later to give Jaguares a 4-0 aggregate win and send them through to the next round.
Argentina’s Independiente also reached the group stage despite suffering a 1-0 loss to Deportivo Quito in their second leg match in Ecuador.
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Deportivo’s Michael Quinonez scored the only goal at the Estadio Olimpico Atahualpa, but it failed to overturn Independiente’s 2-0 lead from the first leg.
According to The Guardian, Everton are hopeful of being able to convince Paris Saint-Germain defender Yuri Berchiche to move to the Premier League at the end of the season.
What’s the story?
Everton are expected to be busy in this summer’s transfer window as they look to close the gap on the top six in the Premier League during the 2018-19 campaign.
A number of players have been linked with the Toffees in recent weeks, and according to The Guardian, PSG full-back Berchiche is very much on the club’s wish-list.
The 28-year-old is said to be considering his future in Paris, and La Liga duo Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao are both believed to be admirers.
According to transfermarkt.co.uk, Berchiche is valued at £15.3m, and there is no question that Everton would be interested at that price.
Would Berchiche fit in at Everton?
Leighton Baines is certainly not getting any younger, and Everton do not exactly have a wealth of options when it comes to the left-back position, which has been an issue with the club’s fans.
Berchiche joined PSG on a free transfer from Real Sociedad last summer, and the Spaniard has scored twice and provided five assists in 29 appearances for his French club this season.
The defender is a full-back capable of both attacking and defending to a high standard, and actually started his professional career with Tottenham Hotspur, which included a loan spell at Cheltenham Town back in 2009.
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The former Spain Under-17 international has come a long way since then, and has more than held his own at PSG during the 2017-18 campaign.
Everton will face competition from a number of clubs if they wish to sign Berchiche this summer, but it could turn out to be a very smart piece of business from the Toffees if they manage to pull it off.
It is normal for a player who has spent their entire career playing in the Premier League to want to stay there for as long as possible, but when Frank Lampard left Chelsea after 13 successful years he really should have chosen a different league to continue his football.
At the very least he should have joined a small, struggling club like Rio Ferdinand did but under no circumstances do you move to a rival.
Lampard had some free time between leaving Chelsea and the start of America’s MLS season. The midfielder had a contract to join up with New York City FC whose parent-club just so happened to be the Blues top four rivals Manchester City so Lampard secured a deal to play for the Northern club and has been doing so for the past nine months.
When he joined City they were the current Premier League holders and were hopeful of retaining their title but Lampard’s old team Chelsea quickly ran away with that honour, meaning that the 36-year-old has returned to English football for nothing.
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City have failed to progress in all four of the tournaments they were playing in, not even making a mark in the Cup competitions. Their form in the Champions League was particularly disappointing, as it was for all of the English teams, so Lampard risked his Chelsea legacy for a fruitless season.
It must have been very strange for Chelsea fans who have loved Lampard for so long to see him in City’s lighter blue shirt and scoring against them.
Just imagine if the Sky Blues had retained their title with Chelsea a close second.
Footballers should of course be allowed to play for whichever team they choose but when you become part of a clubs history like Lampard did, then loyalty has to play a role. Just look at Steven Gerrard. Liverpool failed to renew his contract and yet he doesn’t hold it against them and has sworn to never play for another Premier League side. That is what supporters want from their heroes.
And it’s not just Chelsea supporters Lampard has upset by playing for City this season. Lampard was supposed to stay with the Sky Blues for just six months, which would have made him available for New York City FC’s start of the MLS season, but the midfielder’s impressive displays back in Manchester led City to extend his contract.
Understandably many of his new supporters had brought season tickets expecting to see a world-class player but have been blown out by him instead. Not the best way to endear fans as it happens.
The Premier League is one of, if not the, best league in the world and I understand that being offered the chance to play in it for another year was just too good for Lampard to turn down. But the bigger picture is that he has upset many people and messed with his legacy.
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Lampard wasn’t at Chelsea for as long as Gerrard was at Liverpool but Blues supporters treated him just as well. But now I can’t see Chelsea supporters in five or ten years holding Lampard up in quite the same regard as Stevie G will be held up on Merseyside.