Move to oust Gaspart and Van Gaal

Graham Hunter in Barcelona
Tuesday December 17, 2002
The Guardian

The Barcelona president Joan Gaspart spent yesterday conducting his club's annual Christmas visit to children's hospital wards in Catalonia, leaving behind him another patient struggling on a life-support system.
Barcelona's 3-0 home defeat to Seville on Sunday night left Louis van Gaal's team two points off the relegation zone, and their gormless performance sparked almost 90 minutes of continuous white handkerchief-waving by the 54,000 crowd who, unanimously, demanded that Gaspart and Van Gaal be sacked.
Yet during a tearful speech in the early hours of Monday Gaspart showed a remarkable lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation when he said neither he nor his coach would go voluntarily.
"I was elected democratically and because I feel responsible for what is happening I will not quit," he said. "The members have the right to protest but everything is working fine at the club - except the football team in the league." That such a problem might have more than a minor impact on the clubs health did not seem to occur to Gaspart.
Barcelona's Argentinian goalkeeper Roberto Bonano showed a sharper grasp of reality. "We probably couldn't play worse if we tried to," he said. The club's players were last night called to a crisis meeting where they were likely to be asked to explain their loss of form.
Despite 10 wins in a row in the Champions League preliminaries and group stages, Barcelona are in domestic chaos, 16 points behind the leaders Real Sociedad. The prospect of a previously unthinkable relegation cannot be treated as a joke.
It is for this reason that one Barca member, Ivan Carrillo, is raising a motion of no confidence against Gaspart. If by this weekend that motion has raised at least 4,500 legitimate members' signatures - Barca's fans are almost all members of the club - then the entire membership will be balloted. A two-thirds majority supporting the move against Gaspart in that vote would mean the president had to resign.
Still more seriously, a meeting of the club's general assembly is likely in mid-January. Any decisions it takes are binding so if the compromisarios decide Gaspart and Van Gaal must go they will be dismissed instantly.
Gaspart will certainly give Van Gaal until this weekend's game against Real Mallorca in the hope that a victory will ward off criticism long enough for new signings to arrive in January. However, if an enticing candidate - Sven-Goran Eriksson, for example - made himself immediately available, Gaspart would instantly jettison Van Gaal to save himself.
For now, partly because of the lack of good replacements, Van Gaal, who was reappointed to the post in April because nobody else of any calibre would accept, seems to have at least a couple of days' grace. But with Gaspart backed into a corner, anything could happen in the next 48 hours.

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¡Crisis in Catalunya!
It's really not going that well at all at Camp Nou, observes Sid Lowe, as he watches club president Joan Gaspart go through hell

Monday December 16, 2002

Some people enjoy nothing more than a spot of punishment and self-flagellation. Public schoolboys, for example. Or rabid puritans hankering after a bit of redemption. Others, like the mullet-ridden Muppets who open their hearts to Jerry Springer, prefer public humiliation.
And then there are some really weird people who opt for both. Freaks like FC Barcelona president Joan Gaspart, the man who last night combined punishment with humiliation in one prolonged and very public moment of misery in the Camp Nou.
For last night Barça collapsed to a 3-0 home defeat against Sevilla. It was their fourth defeat in five, confirming the club's worst start ever - one that leaves them just two points off relegation - and Barça's supporters decided it was time that Gaspart was punished for his sins; a fan-induced flogging that their pained president had no choice but to go along with.
The culés' reaction was as inevitable as it was justified. When Toedtli scored Sevilla's second, courtesy of a Frank De Boer blunder, they turned to Spanish football's best-loved gesture of disgust: the panolada. Suddenly the Camp Nou had more hankies than a granny's sleeve, with the whole stadium shaking the snot out and chanting "¡Dimisión, dimisión!" ("Resign! Resign!").
But it was on the final whistle, by which time Barça had conceded a third, that Gaspart really suffered and - to the delight of Canal Plus - give a dramatic and wonderfully understated performance of intense human emotion: with fans again turned to the director's box, waving their hankies and cranking up the abuse, Gaspart faced his fate - live on zoomed-in, super close-up television.
Rather than hide, the Barça president took his punishment like a true Etonian: on the, er, chin. He stood motionless while 50,000 hanky-wielding culés abused him. But if he did nothing, his face said it all. A broken man close to tears, Gaspart seemed to be taking one last look at the Camp Nou as if he was trying to make a final, defiant gesture of dignity. One by one Barça's directors encouraged him to leave, to escape the stinging lashes of the Camp Nou crowd, but he refused. He physically pushed them away and insisted on standing alone, accepting his humiliation.
When Gaspart did eventually made his way back inside, Canal Plus reporter Josep Pederol was waiting. "Are you going to resign, presidente?" he asked. Gaspart ignored him but, a few minutes later, the club announced that the president would make a statement "later on".
Make that much later on. At gone 1am, with the wait merely increasing the tension and the drama, Gaspart re-appeared. But he delivered the news that no-one (except Real Madrid fans, obviously) wanted to hear: he wasn't going anywhere; and nor would he be sacking Van Gaal.
"Everything at Football Club Barcelona works fine," he said, presumably unaware as to what it is FC Barcelona actually does, "except the football team." Gaspart did announce a meeting of club directors this week, though, prompting speculation that he was just putting his departure on hold. He also agreed to arrange an assembly so that the fans could let him know what they really think.
Which pretty much proves that he's bizarrely - and maybe even clinically - addicted to pain. After all, he already knows what the fans think: a series of polls have shown that over 90% want Gaspart to resign and take Louis Van Gaal with him, while over 150 supporters' clubs have called for him to leave, and a petition led by one club member is already well on the way to the number of signatures needed to carry a motion of censorship (which would force Gaspart to defend himself in front of Barca's members).
Today's sports papers say it all. Sport's front cover shouts "¡Dimisión!", while El Mundo Deportivo leads on "¡Dimisión!" and Marca's banner headline is, er, "¡Dimisión!". Only As bucks the trend with "Final Judgment."
"Barcelona", read Marca's match report, "attended their own funeral", while Sport bemoaned a "total crisis". Exaggerations? Possibly, but the situation really is dire. Van Gaal, who didn't so much burn his bridges as blow them to smithereens when he last left the club, has failed to win back the fans - last night he was booed every time he ventured off the bench - and Gaspart, the only one who wanted the Dutchman back, knows that if his manager falls, he'll go with him. (And vice versa.)
Van Gaal could barely be less popular if he was Luis Figo. And it's not just because of his mangled Spanish - exaggerated in any case - or his "Hollandization" of Catalunya's national flagship. There's even some football reasons: few understand why Gaizka Mendieta spends half his time playing at full-back, why centre-forward Dani started on the right wing yesterday, or why a player as good as Philip Cocu gets wasted at centre-back. And then there's Frank De Boer, the Camp Nou's other sacrificial cow - the man that El Mundo Deportivo describes as "disastrous: everything he does, he does wrong."
All of which just makes Gaspart suffer even more. Since he became president three summers ago, Barcelona have won nothing - not even the Copa de Catalunya. Meanwhile, he's watched Real Madrid pick up a European Cup, a League title and - worse still - Ronaldo and Luis Figo. With everyone queuing up to whack him one, if Gaspart does hold on until Christmas it can mean just one thing: he really is a glutton for punishment

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Harvest time
New Brazilian stars come of age with champion Santos
Posted: Monday December 16, 2002 6:14 PM
CNNSI.COM

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- Brazilians call it a "harvest" -- a new generation of soccer players coming of age. And the latest harvest promises to extend Brazil's domination of the sport for years to come.
The Brazilian national championship that ended Sunday was a showcase for the next generation, and especially for the brash youngsters who led Santos to its first national championship since Pele retired three decades ago.
Santos -- with an average age of 22 -- steamrolled three-time champion Corinthians 3-2 in the second leg of the final to take the title 5-2 on aggregate. It was the team's fifth win in six playoff games -- and it hasn't even reached its full potential.
"They can produce a lot more," coach Emerson Leao said.
The new champions join a core of revelations that includes 20-year-old Kaka, a member of Brazil's World Cup champions and voted the league's top player in a TV survey.
With veteran stars like Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos rounding 30, Brazil will be looking to its young promises as it begins its quest for an Olympic gold medal -- the one prize missing in its trophy room -- and a sixth World Cup title in 2006 in Germany.
Promises like Robinho, the 18-year-old striker who almost singlehandledly dismantled the Corinthians defense with his bewildering dribbles and wizardly ball handling. Voted the game's outstanding player, Robinho scored a goal on a penalty kick -- after forcing a foul by veteran defender Rogerio Pinheiro -- and set up the other two.
Other names to remember are Diego, the 17-year-old heir to Pele's No. 10 jersey and the youngest player ever to win Brazil's national championship; 21-year-old midfielder Paulo Almeida, the youngest winning captain; and 20-year-old Alex, whom Leao called one of the finest defenders in the country.
But Sunday was Robinho's show, especially after a thigh injury sent Diego hobbling to the locker room with the game barely three minutes old.
"I was aware of my responsibility to the team, especially after Diego left. So I decided to take it into my own hands," he said.
And he took it straight at Rogerio Pinheiro, feinting right and left, finally catching the former all-star leaning the wrong way and driving past him. Pinheiro committed the foul, and Robinho himself converted the penalty kick to make it 1-0.
Riding a 2-0 win in the first leg, Santos seemed to have the title locked up, but Corinthians stormed back to take a 2-1 lead on goals by Deivid and Anderson. Another goal could have eliminated Santos, which had a poorer regular-season record than Corinthians and was at a disadvantage in the tiebreak.
But Robinho stepped up again. With two minutes left, he blew past his marker, shed a defender and passed to a charging Elano who fired to make it 2-2. In injury time, Robinho again outdueled two defenders and found Leo for the game-winner.
"We were down 2-1 and we didn't get nervous," said Leao, who admitted that his notorious bad humor improved with the constant joking and horseplay of his "boys."
"The kids are wiseguys, but they can really play," he said.
Robinho hailed
For years in Brazil bright young players have been hailed as "the new Pele," but Robinho has stronger credentials than most.
He shares the same slender build that Pele possessed at the same age -- and he plays for Santos, the club where Pele spent 17 years of his career and helped turn into arguably the best club side in the world at the time.
Like Pele, Robinho has already shown that he will not be intimidated by threats and aggression from opposing defenders.
After the first leg of the semifinal tie against Gremio, rival goalkeeper Danrlei warned that Robinho -- born in the year that Santos last won a domestic title -- could end up with a broken leg if he kept making defenders look stupid.
But Robinho, who finished the championship with 10 goals, has kept on taunting defenders, apparently unmoved by what Danrlei claimed to be friendly advice but which many interpreted as a straightforward threat.
"A top-line player, a genius, a rare precious stone who, without exaggerating, reminds us of the King [Pele]," said Cesar Seabra, a columnist in the sports daily Lance.
"His performance yesterday [Sunday] is never to be forgotten."
O Globo wrote: "Robinho's artistic football has made him the heir to Pele's thrown at the Vila Belmiro [Santos headquarters]."
Garrincha comparisons
Other pundits preferred to compare him to the late Garrincha for his irreverent dribbling skills.
"He upset the Corinthians defense on the right, as if he were Garrincha, taking the ball to the byline and then placing it on Elano's foot for the second goal," said Fernando Calazans in O Globo.
On Monday, almost every Brazilian news program showed replays of the incident in which Robinho tormented and provoked his marker Rogerio into giving away the penalty by feinting repeatedly.
He lifted his foot over the ball seven times, twisted his way into the penalty area and went down after receiving the slightest of contacts from Rogerio's arm in what appeared a harsh decision on the Corinthians player.
"It was a move that will go down in history," said Marcos Augusto Goncalves in Lance.
Santos president Marcelo Teixeira insists the player is staying put at least until the middle of next year, which will make him available as Santos enter the Libertadores Cup -- the South American equivalent of the European Champions League -- for the first time since 1985.
But long-suffering Santos supporters are now wondering when the club's most prized possession is snapped up by one of the big European clubs.
They will also be hoping that, with three sportswear corporations already reported to be chasing him for a sponsorship deal, the trappings of success do not spoil his career.
Coach Emerson Leao, referring to his whole team and not just Robinho, warned after the game: "Now the difficult part begins, which is to live with success and a full wallet."

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Real's talisman
Champions League offsets World Cup for Zidane
Posted: Saturday December 14, 2002 8:29 AM
CNNSI.COM


MADRID (Reuters) -- If it had not been for a dismal World Cup, French midfielder Zinedine Zidane may well be giving Ronaldo a closer run as the two Real Madrid teammates fight it out for football's end of year awards.
The pre-tournament injury to the inspirational playmaker effectively torpedoed his country's chances of a successful defense of the crown it won so convincingly on home territory four years ago.
In terms of morale the team never recovered from the blow of missing its talisman, while in purely footballing terms it missed his presence so much that by the time he returned to face Denmark in the final group match there was little he could do to stop an ignominious first round exit.
But World Cup failure aside, 2002 was still an exceptional year for the world's most expensive player.
The balding, slightly uneasy-looking figure, who looks a good deal older than his 30 years, scored what was probably the goal of the season with his stunning winner in the 2-1 victory against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League final at Hampden Park.
Keeping his eyes fixed on a high and hopeful cross from Roberto Carlos the Frenchman drifted away from his markers before unleashing an unstoppable left-foot volley from the edge of the area which sailed into back of the net.
Collector's piece
It was a collector's piece of a goal and the perfect way for Real Madrid to secure its ninth European crown.
Zidane's goal would have graced the legendary European Cup final which Real won 7-3 against Eintracht Frankfurt on the same ground some 42 years earlier, and which is generally regarded as the greatest club match ever played.
With one moment of technical genius the Frenchman, showed just why Real had been prepared to pay a world record US$66 million to secure his services last year.
That goal also enabled the modest Frenchman to add a missing medal to his burgeoning collection and helped him get the vote from UEFA as the most valuable player in last season's competition.
Despite having to serve the remainder of a five-match ban incurred while he was still at Juventus, Zidane proved to be the most influential player in Real's journey to the final, scoring a crucial goal in the first leg of the semifinal against archrival Barcelona.
In one fluid movement he connected with a sweeping pass from Raul and sent a dipping right-foot shot into the far corner to open the scoring at the Nou Camp, in a game Real went on to win 2-0.
But it had not been all plain sailing in his first season at Real.
The mild-mannered Frenchman took time to settle at his new club and later admitted that he was affected by the degree of media pressure he was subjected to following his move from Juventus.
He took time to gel with his new teammates, but eventually began to show touches of the almost balletic control and sublime skill that make him one of the most aesthetically-pleasing players in the world to watch.
Of course, he was not capable of producing his best week in and week out in the league, but he proved once again that he is capable of turning it on in the key games.
No player in the modern game possesses his vision or his passing ability. He sees gaps in defenses even before they appear and his apparently lazy passes unleash his attackers with unerring effectiveness.
Determination to win
His calmness on the ball and the apparent ease with which he floats behind his strikers hides an aggressive streak and determination to win, while, as he proved at Hampden and the Nou Camp, he can score great goals too.
When he is not exhibiting his skills on the football pitch Zidane tends to shy away from the media spotlight, preferring instead to spend time with his wife Veronique and his children.
The son of humble Algerian immigrants Zidane has become a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations and is the embodiment of multi-ethnic France.
He has become a role model for thousands of French children who share similar roots. His status transcends his position as a world-class footballer and he was clearly aware of this when he stood up and called for a massive vote against the extreme right-wing candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen in this year's presidential elections.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez claims Zidane was born to play for the club.
It is an indication of the esteem in which the Frenchman is held at Real, but it is also true that the president of any other club in the world would love to be able to echo Perez's boast.
Zinedine Zidane Factbox
1972 - Born June 23, Marseille, France.
1988 - Joins AS Cannes. Scores 6 goals in 61 league appearances for the club.
1992 - Joins Girondins Bordeaux. Scores 28 goals in 139 league appearances for the club during four seasons.
1994 - August 17, makes French international debut versus Czech Republic. Scores two goals in 17 minutes after coming on as a second half substitute.
1995-96 - UEFA Cup runner-up with Bordeaux.
1996 - Moves to Juventus. Helps the club to two Serie A titles in his first two full seasons.
1996 - Wins the European Super Cup and the World Club Cup with Juventus.
1997 - May 28, plays for Juventus in 3-1 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in final of Champions League in Munich.
1998 - May 20, plays for Juventus in 1-0 defeat by Real Madrid in final of Champions League in Amsterdam.
1998 - June 1, sent off after 70 minutes of France's 4-0 first round victory over Saudi Arabia. Misses France's next two matches.
1998 - July 12 heads two first-half goals to help France win their first World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Brazil.
1998 - December 21, wins the Reuters 1998 Sports Personality of the Year poll.
1998 - December 21, wins the 1998 European Player of the Year award - the Balon d'Or.
1999 - February 1, wins FIFA 1998 World Player of the Year award.
2000 - June, Named player of the tournament as he helps lead France to victory in Euro 2000, masterminding his side's defeat of Spain in the quarterfinals and playing a vital part in the win over Portugal in the semis and in the dramatic golden goal victory against Italy in the final.
2000 - September, Extends his contract with Juventus to 2005.
2000 - October, Receives five-match ban from UEFA after being sent off after headbutting Jochen Kientz of Hamburg SV. It is Zidane's second successive sending off in Champions League matches.
2000 - December, wins FIFA World Player of the Year for the second time.
2001 - Juventus finish second in the Serie A, two points behind champion Roma. Zidane plays what turns out to be his last match for Juventus in 2-1 victory over Atalanta. Scored 28 goals in a total of 191 matches in five seasons at Juventus.
2001 - June, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez expresses interest in signing Zidane as part of his desire to construct a "superteam" to mark the centenary of the club in 2002.
2001 - July 9, becomes the world's most expensive player as he makes a move from Juventus to Real Madrid worth up to US$66 million.
2002 - May 15, helps Real Madrid win the Champions League with a majestic winner in the 2-1 final victory over Bayer Leverkusen.
2002 - May 27, a thigh injury picked up in a warmup match against South Korea forces Zidane out of the first two matches of the World Cup finals.
He returns for the final group match against Denmark, but has no impact as France lose 2-0 and head out of the tournament without scoring a goal.
2002 - August 29, named the most valuable player in the Champions League by UEFA.
2002 - August 30, part of Real side that wins the European Super Cup with 3-1 victory against Feyenoord in Monaco.
2002 - December 3, wins second World Club Cup as Real beat South American champions Olimpia 2-0 in Yokohama.
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'The Best in the World'
Spain hails Real Madrid's Toyota Cup triumph
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Many Spanish newspapers toasted Wednesday Real Madrid's Toyota Cup soccer victory over Paraguay's Olimpia in Japan, describing the powerhouse as "world champion" and singling out man-of-the-match Ronaldo for special praise.
"The Best in the World" crowed the headline of the leading sports daily Marca, which ran a full-page photo of the Brazilian striker, scorer of the first goal of Tuesday's 2-0 win in Yokohama.
Devoting its opening 17 pages of Thursday's edition to the match, the paper said that it marked a new triumph for Ronaldo, who netted both goals in Brazil's World Cup final victory over Germany at the same venue five months ago.
Since joining Madrid from Inter Milan at the end of August for 45 million euros (US$ 45 million), the star player has sometimes been accused of being overweight and below top form.
"Ronaldo shut many mouths and proved that he can be very useful as long as Madrid plays the way he needs it to play," the daily said.
Another sports paper As used a similar shot of Ronaldo on its front page, adding "It was true: Ronaldo came to Madrid for matches like this".
The daily used 25 pages to describe the team's victory, its third in the annual meeting between the European and South American champions, and hailed Madrid as "Kings of the Earth".
Spain's leading daily El Pais also paid tribute to Madrid, running the headline "The day of the great actors" and comparing the team's impressive display Tuesday with its poor recent form, with three wins in its last 13 matches.
"With the egotistical vanity that characterizes great actors, the stars of Real Madrid took advantage of their trip to Japan to offer the best of their extensive repertoire," the paper's match report began.
However, the Barcelona-based sports daily Sport, traditionally hostile toward the team from the Spanish capital, devoted a mere two pages to Madrid's victory.
It remarked that Madrid fans had shown indifference to the triumph in contrast to "the enormous relevance that those at the club had given it".
The paper offered as proof their failure to assemble in large numbers at the traditional site for celebrating the team's triumphs, the statue of the goddess of plenty Cibeles in downtown Madrid, after the final whistle blew lunchtime Spanish time.
"A few dozen supporters gathered at Cibeles after the match, less than the number of police officers who were there to protect the monument," it said.
Club Cup title boosts global marketing plan
MADRID (Reuters) -- Real Madrid president Florentino Perez believes that victory in the World Club Cup was as important to the club's global marketing strategy as it was to its sporting fortunes.
Real brought an end to a recent run of poor results with an emphatic 2-0 win over Olimpia of Paraguay in Yokohama on Tuesday to earn themselves their third victory in the annual fixture staged between the current European and South American champions.
But for Perez, the image projected by the club, who are celebrating their centenary this year, will play a vital role in boosting its sales of merchandise in the Asian market.
"This third World Club Cup will do a lot to increase the prestige and universal appeal of Real Madrid," Perez told Spanish media after the match.
"The important thing was not just to win it, but to have won it the way we did by giving an exhibition of entertaining and attacking football.
"From a business perspective this game was tremendously important because it strengthens our image in the Asian zone, which is becoming an increasingly important market for us."
Perez has admitted on a number of occasions that the club's recent transfer policy, which has seen them sign Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo in the last three seasons, had as much to do with marketing as with footballing considerations.
The Brazilian striker, who scored both goals in his country's 2-0 victory over Germany in this summer's World Cup final, made a triumphant return to the Yokohama stadium by grabbing Real's opener on 14 minutes and scooping the man-of-the-match award.
Real dominated the game throughout, stringing together a succession of sweeping moves and finally wrapping up a deserved win with a neat headed goal from substitute Guti six minutes from time.