UEFA Champions League 2011-2012

[frederic38]

of the 8% of white dutch I did mean in the big citys yes, I forgot to say.
I did mean that 8% of the male white dutch youth in the big citys plays soccer.
the % of the participans that are whites in the big citys I don't know excatly but taking in they are like 50% of the youth and are less likely espacially to arabs to play soccer whites are probabaly 10% or slighly more ( less then 15% im pretty sure) at the very max. of the players poule in the big citys.
whites in holand are more likely to play soccer when they don't live in a big city.
probably becuase matches between white and maroccain or turkish teams nearly always if not always end in a fight.
Maroccains turks etc. are known for their temperament and whites espacially dutch whites are often what we call we even have a dutch word for it 'nuchter' which is the exact opposite of getting mad with high temperament very fast.
becuase whites dutch are often nuchter the arabs show even more temperament but then you have 1 or so white who isn't as nuchter as the others and the other whites have to help and then the party starts.

I wonder becuase whites are less % of pro in france if the patern of differnt price to quality ratio of whites and non whites in france is big.

yes, and what parents would want their children to grow up in this violent environment
that's the reason i never played soccer in a club, and not even that much in the streets, because my parents forbid me to do so
because if you play with them, you become like them, you talk like them ect




about the english clubs, they are in trouble
arsenal is going to qualify it seems, because of a weak group
but chelsea lost against a pretty white bayern leverkusen, while the almost all-white valencia won 7-0 against genk (they had a lot of black defenders....)
valencia had only 1 black i think, and he played right-back
so chelsea will play against valencia in the last match, valencia will have to win
it should be an interesting match to follow

and donetsk is eliminated, with their brazilian armada (but it seems that they were forced to respect the rule about non-europeans, because they didn't fielded all their brazilians)

 

[stephanieiverson]

yes, and what parents would want their children to grow up in this violent environment
that's the reason i never played soccer in a club, and not even that much in the streets, because my parents forbid me to do so
because if you play with them, you become like them, you talk like them ect




about the english clubs, they are in trouble
arsenal is going to qualify it seems, because of a weak group
but chelsea lost against a pretty white bayern leverkusen, while the almost all-white valencia won 7-0 against genk (they had a lot of black defenders....)
valencia had only 1 black i think, and he played right-back
so chelsea will play against valencia in the last match, valencia will have to win
it should be an interesting match to follow

and donetsk is eliminated, with their brazilian armada (but it seems that they were forced to respect the rule about non-europeans, because they didn't fielded all their brazilians)

It will really be interesting how they will mange to win against valencia who have 8 wins 3 draws 2 loses and rank 3 in the liga..

 

[frederic38]

It will really be interesting how they will mange to win against valencia who have 8 wins 3 draws 2 loses and rank 3 in the liga..

actually they don't need to win, a draw and chelsea is qualified i think
and the match will be in england, so it will be difficult for valencia

 

[frederic38]

velencia-chelsea is tonight
chelsea needs to win, or do 0-0, and they will be qualified (if genk doesn't win against leverkusen meanwhile)
if valencia wins, or does 1-1, 2-2, 3-3 ect, valencia is qualified


also tonight: fc porto-zenith st petersburg
the south american team will have to win against the all-white russian team
it won't be easy for zenith, it depends of the defenders porto will have (black or not)
porto has a lot of world class players


valencia has 0 blacks and 2 arabs (french, one of them, one of those "new zidanes", played in my city, i never saw such a non powerfull player)

chelsea has 4 blacks

porto has 7 south americans, but this limit of 3 south americans per match is annoying for me: the "portuguese" djalma (black) plays as the striker in this important match while brazilian international kleber (of german origin) sits on the bench

 

[Matra2]

chelsea has 4 blacks

And two of them have scored less than 22 minutes in.:icon_mad:

Truly awful defending by Valencia in the second goal. Victor Ruiiz is to blame. The British commentators said he underestimated the speed of black Brazilian Ramires but he should have just cleared it for a throw in or taken the ball towards the touchline then looked for space instead of taking an unnecessary risk like he did.

 

[Matra2]

Olympique Marseille looks like a very black team. I haven't seen them this year as I don't get the channel that shows French football. They are in trouble now as they are not only losing to Dortmund - that doesn't matter too much unless they concede five goals - but Olympiacos is beating Arsenal 2-0 at half time. If the Greeks win and the "French" lose OM gets eliminated.

 

[frederic38]

And two of them have scored less than 22 minutes in.:icon_mad:

Truly awful defending by Valencia in the second goal. Victor Ruiiz is to blame. The British commentators said he underestimated the speed of black Brazilian Ramires but he should have just cleared it for a throw in or taken the ball towards the touchline then looked for space instead of taking an unnecessary risk like he did.

the first one was awfull too, it's a shame to play like this in an important champions league, it looks like they don't truly want to win
drogba is officialy 33 years old, so more like 36 in reality, and his power is his main quality, so he is nothing now, taking a goal from him is ridiculous

but they still need 2 goals, and they will be qualified, so it's not the end

meanwhile dortmund needed to win 4-0 against the very black marseille to qualify, and they are leading 2-0 right now
will they make it? it would be incredible

edit: i think dortmund needs to win 4-0, regardless of the result of the second match
second edit: no, you'r right, right now marseille are eliminated

i go back to the match now, hoping valencia will score early

 

[Matra2]

Poor efforts from both Dortmund (losing a two goal lead to allow OM to qualify) and Valencia who never looked like threatening Chelsea.

 

[frederic38]

Poor efforts from both Dortmund (losing a two goal lead to allow OM to qualify) and Valencia who never looked like threatening Chelsea.

valencia showed they were not good enough for champions league
if you can't at least avoid defeat against this chelsea team, you don't deserve to go to the next stage

as for dortmund, they knew they had no chance to qualify since olympiakos was winning, so they abandonned


but zenith eliminated FC porto
0-0 in portugal
porto lost his qualification when they played with both rolando the capeverdian and mangala the "french" black as central defenders in the last matches

 

[frederic38]

if one country deserves to be stripped of a qualification for champions league (= a team less in champions league) it's not england, but spain, in my opinion
the english clubs are bad, because they have a lot of black players, but at least they come to the champions league to win

villareal and valencia didn't even tried, it's a shame
maybe malaga will do better than those two

outside of real and barca, the other teams are nothing
in italy and england it's better

maybe they should do like in USA, in football, where all the teams have similar budget
in brasil, every club is interesting to watch, all of them have star players

 

[Matra2]

maybe they should do like in USA, in football, where all the teams have similar budget

I understand what you're saying but when teams have the same budget there are no great teams, no dynasties, and good rivalries tend to disappear. Most American sports leagues are dull because the talent is spread so thin.

The problem in Spain is the opposite as there is no balance between the two really rich teams and everybody else. Both Real Madrid and Barca can negotiate their own TV deals whereas in other leagues (English and German) there is some sharing between the big teams and the rest.

In Germany, things could not be more different, as German football writer, Claus Melchior, describes:“The Bundesliga is more competitive than most of the other top European Leagues. I think it has quite a bit to do with the distribution of TV money. Whereas clubs in Spain have individual contracts with TV stations, Bundesliga rights are sold collectively. They bring less money than TV rights in Britain, but the money is fairly evenly distributed.â€Javier Tebas, sports lawyer and a central figure in the new television rights deal, claims part of the problem is mentality. He illustrates the difference between the Spanish and Anglo-Saxon perspective perfectly when he says: “The Anglo-Saxon philosophy is a lot different to the Italian and Spanish philosophy (in terms of promoting the competition). In the Latin world people always think: what can I get out of this? The Anglo-Saxon way is more long term: what can I give to this and then what can I get out of this later? What can I bring (provide) to the table? Then what can I take away. The Latin idea is much more immediate: what’s in it for me (as in right now)? Whereas the English idea is more long term. It’s the (difference in) mentality.â€The German way is not too dissimilar to the English. “They are like the Anglo-Saxons in their mentality,†Tebas added. However, he could not conceal his contempt for his compatriots’ thinking.“The problem is with the Latins. It’s a problem because they always want immediate results. They have no patience. The Germans, but more the English, have lots of patience. In conclusion: the English and the Germans believe in their leagues and this philosophy but the Spanish clubs don’t believe in La Liga. This is the problem.â€

http://www.spanishfootball.info/2011/07/del-nido-tv-money-and-the-pie-thing/

 

[frederic38]

i just watched basel-manchester united: it was so refreshing!
the swiss club qualified beating and eliminting manchester united, their suporters were on fire, frei scored (the under rated ligue 1 player, never gone to a big club despite being top scorer of ligue 1)

the swiss had a capeverdian (black) and a few albanians ("whites", they looked white at least) and a korean
manchester united had smalling, ferdinand, young, evra, giggs, nani (blacks) and the korean guy (asian)
great match!

manchester city is out too since napoli beat villareal


about the TV rights: yes, and it's the same in portugal, they only have 2 teams, so there is 2 matches in the season, like in spain
i think spain needs another big team, maybe it will be malaga in the future, as an arab invested in it
valencia should be the 4 th, maybe with a great number of cheap south americans, since they don't have the money to buy great european players
la liga would be more fun

 

[Porthos]

... and it's the same in portugal, they only have 2 teams, so there is 2 matches in the season, like in spain...

I think Portugal has 3 big teams: Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon - their "big three". However - Sporting has not being up to task recently. This makes for 6 big games in a year.

Great job by Bern and Napoli! A serious blow to Premier League and their "physical" playing style with all those black bodybuilders...

 

[frederic38]

I think Portugal has 3 big teams: Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon - their "big three". However - Sporting has not being up to task recently. This makes for 6 big games in a year.

Great job by Bern and Napoli! A serious blow to Premier League and their "physical" playing style with all those black bodybuilders...

sporting is historicaly a very big club in portugal, and a match against them is exciting, but these days braga are slightly better, and both are not on the same level as porto and benfica


indeed, i really enjoyed it, especially after valencia's poor showing yesterday
it's basel by the way, not berne
i think the commentators said it was the first time in history that a swiss club goes to the next round
it would have been impossible if the european teams from the big countries didn't fielded all these africans and european blacks
a big victory from a racial point of view!
napoli too ofcourse!
now, i can't wait for the french team to get annihilated

i was happy also because i'm not far from beeing swiss geographically

 

[frederic38]

i mentionned earlier in this thread how eastern european teams are often implicated in fixrd matches scandals, or at least in suspicious matches

another example in the defeat 7-1 of dynamo zagreb against lyon
the spanish media is talking about this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc4tJbbamks&feature=player_embedded

lyon needed a victory with 7 goals scored or something like that, and there was only 1-1 at halftime


zenith st petersburg with an almost all white team however qualified for the next stage, so eastern europe will be represented well

i don't really think the match was fixed, i think it was the same situation as dortmund (in their defeat against marseille), who didn't have enough motivation since they were already eliminated
or maybe lyon paid some of them to be even less motivated....

 

[Matra2]

The Lyon win against Zagreb is reminiscent of Argentina's similarly unexpected big win against Peru at the 1978 World Cup.

 

[frederic38]

i saw the goals, and yes, the croatian players weren't trying to defend themselves

but before this match, everybody thought lyon had no chance to qualify, as ajax only needed a nul against real madrid to qualify regardless of the lyon-zagreb match
and the match had absolutely no importance for madrid (already qualified and guaranteed to be first of the group)
and very soon is the barca-real match, the most important match of the seaon for them
so they fielded a very weak team, in an unimportant match for them
while lyon played a real madrid with all their best players (ronaldo ozil ect)
so it was a little bit unfair for lyon


but i definitely think zagreb were paid , or at least very un-motivated


i saw worse though
i remember a 3-0 defeat of FC porto in israel a year back or two, and i saw the lyon vs debrescen match, witch was said to be fixed (debrescen was condemned, but not for this match i think, for a less important one, as it would be too embarassing for UEFA)


but for gomis to score 4 goals, it takes a really cooperative defence

i thought the same thing after the first lyon-zagreb match, i thought zagreb was really not giving the best of them
i watched it because it's what the national TV diffuses here

i also remember that in their first match in this year's champions league, zagreb impressed, losing only 1-0 against real madrid, the commentators said they displayed a really aggressive style of play, like uruguay for example
they didn't play the same way in the 2 matches against lyon


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

also, about corruption in some of the eastern european clubs, something interesting happened in bulgaria
their president (or prime minister, not sure) was elected bulgarian footballer of he year ahead of berbatov
it was a way for the fans to criticize the low standard of bulgarian soccer right now

their president (or prime minister), named borisov, seems to be a jew, has links with organized crime
and every club in bulgaria is owned by organized crime figures

The confidential document says thatBulgarian soccer clubs are widely believed to be directly or indirectly controlled by organized crime figures who use their teams as way to legitimize themselves, launder money, and make a fast buck.

It points out that despite rampant rumors of match fixing, money laundering, and tax evasion, there have been few arrests or successful prosecutions.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=123742

 

[waterbed]

Frederic38 did you know 2 regulair goals of ajax were called off side.Also maybe te second goal of madrid was off side.The third was scored when it didn't mather anymore injury time.I dont care much about Ajax, but it was a strange soccer night.

 

[frederic38]

Frederic38 did you know 2 regulair goals of ajax were called off side.Also maybe te second goal of madrid was off side.The third was scored when it didn't mather anymore injury time.I dont care much about Ajax, but it was a strange soccer night.

for me, it was a fantastic soccer night because i watched the basel-manchester united match, and both teams played 100%, ofcourse some minor mistakes from the referee, and the referee letting a little more time at the end of the match for manchester united (3.40 instead of 3 minutes)

this sums it up:

(the match if anybody missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPXow8VfWEo&feature=youtube_gdata_player)


also manchester city is eliminated without any controversy, they were just horrible (we always said here i think how this team and his main players were over rated, it's always cool to see the proof that we were right)


yes i saw the goals, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U_j56Lf2Aw&feature=player_embedded#!

the two goals were regular goals , as you said
but i didn't see the match, so it's hard to tell, maybe real madrid has suffered from the same kind of mistakes from the referee

but believing that the referee was payed to let madrid win, and that at the same time lyon payed the zagreb players,i mean, it's a big cheat
i know players (from bad teams usually) are often offered money to play badly (we had proof of this, and many talked about it, abreu for example), but to pay a referee...it's possible, but it must be harder
possible though because lyon is a big club, the biggest french budget, and a giant even in europe (financially)

what is possible, and a thing i believe more realistic, is that the UEFA might have said to the referees to be kind with real madrid, because lyon is a big club, it's important for champions league to have lyon in the next stage ect
and, almost unconciously, the referee acted like they were paid to let madrid win
sometimes, they don't even have to tell this to the referee, if it's a kind of "david vs goliath" match, the referee will be afraid to take a decision that could eliminate the big team (example: no red card to piqué for his foul on cardozo wich gave a penalty to paraguay in the last world cup: there is no reason not to give the red card, the referee didn't even applied the rules, one could almost have sued him)


i think paying a referee to win a match only exists in small leagues, not in champions league
but i believe the FIFA or UEFA can tell the referee to be kind with a team
for example at the last world cup, the referees were kind with the african countries (see the videos i posted in the world cup thread)

from my point of view, no team, ajax or lyon, deserved to go to the next stage, and lyon will get thrashed in their next champions league match
but it sure was a strange ending.....

i was 100% sure that lyon had no chance to qualify, i was shocked to see the result

 

[Giles Daldanus]

Basel were very well-organized and deserved to win…Shaqiri is a very promising player, reminds me of Modric. Their goalie Sommer also seemed quite reliable.

I feel sorry for Ajax – what a way to go out of the Champions League (I never expected that). I am usually staunchly opposed to conspiracy theories, but the behaviour of the Dinamo Zagreb players was unusual (Lyon is a good team, but the Croatian goalkeeper and the defenders were way too slow to react on a number of occasions and gifted them goals). Also, the Lyon footballers (I doubt they were involved if there was indeed a fix) didn't celebrate much (perhaps they realized that there was something fishy about this match).

It's very sad to entertain the possibility that our beloved sport could be tainted even at the highest levels of the competition...


@Frederic, funny poll, some of the fans are probably dissatisfied that Berbatov is no longer accepting call-ups to the Bulgarian national team and want to deny him the prize. It seems as if Borisov has refused to claim the award. Yes, he is the Prime Minister. I am not completely sure about his ethnic background, but he is likely Bulgarian (the name is not untypical for the region and physical appearance could be quite deceiving). He does have a shady international reputation. I always assumed that match fixing tends to be confined to domestic leagues, but it appears to be happening even beyond the national level...

Unfortunately, most Bulgarian clubs (and probably the majority of Serbian and Croatian ones as well) are indeed very badly managed and the personal integrity/underlying motives of quite a few of the owners are bound to be suspect.


Another example from the mid 1990s:

"In June of 1996 Željko Ražnatović - Arkan took over a second division soccer team FK Obilić which he soon turned into a top caliber club, even winning the 1997/98 Yugoslav League championship. According to a book by Franklin Foer, How Football Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, Arkan threatened players on opposing teams if they scored against Obilić. This threat was underlined by the thousands of veterans from his army that filled their home field, chanting threats, and on occasion pointing pistols at opposition players during matches. One player told the British football magazine FourFourTwo that he was locked in a garage when his team played Obilić. Europe's football governing body, UEFA, considered prohibiting Obilić from participation in continental competitions because of its connections to Arkan. In response to this, Arkan stepped away from the position of president and gave his seat to his wife Ceca. Arkan was also a chairman of the Yugoslav Kick-boxing Association."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Željko_Ražnatović

Referee intimidation (especially in the semi-professional leagues) could also be a major issue in these countries.

 

[frederic38]

yes, shaqiri impressed a lot, he was at the origin of the two goals
very powerfull and very skilled
i aslo loved the tandem andreas frei-marco streller
they were like laurel and hardy

@Frederic, funny poll, some of the fans are probably dissatisfied that Berbatov is no longer accepting call-ups to the Bulgarian national team and want to deny him the prize.

i heard he refused because of the kidnapping affair
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...bulgaria-following-kidnap-threat-1832019.html

I am not completely sure about his ethnic background, but he is likely Bulgarian (the name is not untypical for the region and physical appearance could be quite deceiving)

i have read that borisov is a frequent jewish name in bulgaria, but i'm not sure, ofcourse


thanks for the example
a lot of people have been saying the same kind of thing about zenith st petersburg when they started winning

 

[Rebajlo]

I find it very difficult to muster any enthusiasm for the so-called "Champions League". The profusion of black and other non-White players is reason enough to be put right off, but the format itself is drawn out beyond belief, encompasses way too many teams (especially from the "top leagues") and almost guarantees that the "bigger" clubs always make plenty of money even if they fail in the group stages.

For example, Manchester City (who haven't won an English title since 1968...) received an automatic Champions League berth as they finished third in last season's Premier League (even better, Arsenal finished fourth and still find themselves in the "Champions League"). Now City have also finished third in their group so...as a reward for their poor showing they are promptly parachuted into the knockout phase of the Europa League! How many chances can such a club receive before being finally eliminated from European competition?

Bribery and match-fixing are nothing new in the Champions Cup / League. Internazionale's "triumphs" of the 1960s were littered with dodgy refereeing decisions in their favour. The best known instances involved three successive semi-finals.

In 1965, Liverpool had won the first leg at Anfield 3-1. In the second leg, the Spanish referee Jose Maria Ortiz de Mendibil allowed two "suspect" goals for Internazionale which helped them to a 3-0 win and passage to the final.

A year later, the Yugoslavian Branko Tesanic failed to send Inter's Luis Suarez off for a horrific foul which reduced Borussia Dortmund to ten men. Tesanic later had a holiday at an Adriatic resort paid for by the Italian club.

Internazionale attempted to suborn the Hungarian referee Gyorgy Vadas before the 1966 semi-final against Real Madrid, but Vadas refused the bribe. Funnily enough, Inter were unable to beat the Spaniards, who advanced to the final (which they won 2-1 against Partizan Belgrade).

Juventus were also in on the act. In the first leg of the 1973 semi-final in Turin, Derby County players spotted one of the Juventus substitutes, the German Helmut Haller, entering the referees' change rooms both before the game and at half time. Key Derby players Roy McFarland and Archie Gemmill were both booked under suspicious circumstances, which meant that they would miss the return leg in England.

Following the second leg, Portuguese referee Francisco Lobo informed UEFA that he had been offered a bribe by a Hungarian, Dezso Solti (who had also been a match-fixer for Internazionale), to favour Juventus. In typical UEFA style, Solti was "banned" yet Juventus went unpunished as they claimed that he had nothing to do with them.

Then there was the Marseille - Valenciennes scandal in 1993, when the president of Marseille, Bernard Tapie, bribed Valenciennes players to lose a league match against his team in the leadup to the Champions League final against AC Milan...

On the subject of eastern Europe, here is a little story from Poland (where almost everything was fixed at every level of the game during the 1990s and early 2000s).

Back in 1993, Legia Warszawa and LKS Lodz were level at the top on 47 points going into the final round. Legia had a goal difference of 24, while LKS's was 21. So what happened? LKS "beat" Olimpia Poznan 7-1...which of course didn't help them one bit as Legia "beat" Wisla Krakow 6-0 away.

As this was so bloody blatant even by Polish standards, the results of both matches were annulled and Lech Poznan (who therefore also ended up on 47 points, with a goal difference of 41!) were awarded the championship. The referee in the LKS - Olimpia match was none other than Michal Listkiewicz, who later became president of the Polish F.A....

 

[frederic38]

I find it very difficult to muster any enthusiasm for the so-called "Champions League". The profusion of black and other non-White players is reason enough to be put right off, but the format itself is drawn out beyond belief, encompasses way too many teams (especially from the "top leagues") and almost guarantees that the "bigger" clubs always make plenty of money even if they fail in the group stages.

For example, Manchester City (who haven't won an English title since 1968...) received an automatic Champions League berth as they finished third in last season's Premier League (even better, Arsenal finished fourth and still find themselves in the "Champions League"). Now City have also finished third in their group so...as a reward for their poor showing they are promptly parachuted into the knockout phase of the Europa League! How many chances can such a club receive before being finally eliminated from European competition?

Bribery and match-fixing are nothing new in the Champions Cup / League. Internazionale's "triumphs" of the 1960s were littered with dodgy refereeing decisions in their favour. The best known instances involved three successive semi-finals.

In 1965, Liverpool had won the first leg at Anfield 3-1. In the second leg, the Spanish referee Jose Maria Ortiz de Mendibil allowed two "suspect" goals for Internazionale which helped them to a 3-0 win and passage to the final.

A year later, the Yugoslavian Branko Tesanic failed to send Inter's Luis Suarez off for a horrific foul which reduced Borussia Dortmund to ten men. Tesanic later had a holiday at an Adriatic resort paid for by the Italian club.

Internazionale attempted to suborn the Hungarian referee Gyorgy Vadas before the 1966 semi-final against Real Madrid, but Vadas refused the bribe. Funnily enough, Inter were unable to beat the Spaniards, who advanced to the final (which they won 2-1 against Partizan Belgrade).

Juventus were also in on the act. In the first leg of the 1973 semi-final in Turin, Derby County players spotted one of the Juventus substitutes, the German Helmut Haller, entering the referees' change rooms both before the game and at half time. Key Derby players Roy McFarland and Archie Gemmill were both booked under suspicious circumstances, which meant that they would miss the return leg in England.

Following the second leg, Portuguese referee Francisco Lobo informed UEFA that he had been offered a bribe by a Hungarian, Dezso Solti (who had also been a match-fixer for Internazionale), to favour Juventus. In typical UEFA style, Solti was "banned" yet Juventus went unpunished as they claimed that he had nothing to do with them.

Then there was the Marseille - Valenciennes scandal in 1993, when the president of Marseille, Bernard Tapie, bribed Valenciennes players to lose a league match against his team in the leadup to the Champions League final against AC Milan...

On the subject of eastern Europe, here is a little story from Poland (where almost everything was fixed at every level of the game during the 1990s and early 2000s).

Back in 1993, Legia Warszawa and LKS Lodz were level at the top on 47 points going into the final round. Legia had a goal difference of 24, while LKS's was 21. So what happened? LKS "beat" Olimpia Poznan 7-1...which of course didn't help them one bit as Legia "beat" Wisla Krakow 6-0 away.

As this was so bloody blatant even by Polish standards, the results of both matches were annulled and Lech Poznan (who therefore also ended up on 47 points, with a goal difference of 41!) were awarded the championship. The referee in the LKS - Olimpia match was none other than Michal Listkiewicz, who later became president of the Polish F.A....

thanks for these examples, it is usefull to know these things happened, and i had no idea, i know very few from before 1998

i also heard about a player (english, or at least british) who was offered money to pretend he was injuried, and so his team would be stripped of their best talent
he refused, and in the match he got a yellow card for nothing, and he got suspended for the next match
i don't know who it was, i think it was against an italian club maybe, and it was in a very important match in champions league
he revealed this recently



about the loss of interest: man (or should i say "lad" ) , you really shoul have watched the basel-manchester united match, or the manchester city-napoli match
manchester city is not the best english club, but they are over-hyped enough to pretend being the best in europe
they basically can have all the players they want, and seeing napoli beating them was a real pleasure!

and the basel match! with these crazy suporters!
at first i thought that the english suporters came in switzerland in large numbers, because it sounded like an english stadium
but no, it was the basel suporters
the stadium was on fire in napoli-manchester city too

 

[Rebajlo]

Damn, I've just read my last post and realised that I made a stupid typing error, viz. - I wrote "A year later, the Yugoslavian Branko Tesanic failed to send Inter's Luis Suarez off for a horrific foul which reduced Borussia Dortmund to ten men."

I inexplicably typed "later" instead of "earlier", for the incident actually took place in the 1964 semi-final. Sorry for any confusion. Why the hell don't I proof read my posts? :sorry: :blush:

Anyway, no more from me for the time being as I'm off to Sydney for the weekend...

 

[Porthos]

Well, Inter-CSKA and Dortmund-Marseille matches were also suspicious. In both cases the hosts had nothing to loose and lost under suspicious circumstances with last minute goals (Dortmund after winning 2:0).
dinamo Zagreb was definitely a fixed match. Here’s an article with the picture of Vida, the Dinamo defender, winking and giving a thumbs up to the Lyon scorer after dinamo conceded their 5:1 goal ( http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2071829/Michel-Platinis-Champions-League-masterplan-flawed–Martin-Samuel.html ).

And many thanks to Basel (I hope I got it right this time ), great game, great players. I think many will be snatched away by big teams at the end of the season.

As for the history of corruption in UEFA - nothing new as Rebajlo says. My personal favorite is the 1984 match between Real and Rijeka (a Croatian team) when an (obviously bribed) belgian referee expelled a deaf and dumb Rijeka player for shouting insults at him. Here's from the article (http://www.soccerphile.com/soccerphile/news/referee-blunders.html ):


A Miracle at Bernabeu - Real Madrid 3-0 Rijeka (UEFA Cup 1984/85)

The Croats from Rijeka stunned Real by 3-1 at home in the then Yugoslav port city, but two weeks later they faced a far more formidable opponent: the extraordinary Belgian referee Schoeters. Real were no pushover; Juanito pulled one back from a less-than-clear penalty in the 67th minute with Rijeka down to 10 men. In the next 10 minutes, two more visiting players were sent off, most notably Desnica. The Croatian winger received the first yellow card because he did not stop play after Schoeters blew his whistle; the second ensued because the Croat, allegedly, insulted the referee. However, unbeknownst to the ref, Damir Desnica had been deaf and dumb since birth.
With Rijeka reduced to eight players, Real scored two more goals, went on to the third round and eventually won the trophy. Schoeters was never punished, but the anti-Madrid press spoke of the "miracle of Bernabeu". Where else could a dumb man talk if not at soccer's greatest shrine, Real Madrid's stadium.