Sport Drum

Saturday 13 December 2014 13.00 CET

The president of EURO 2016 SAS, Jacques Lambert, attended the French Football Federation’s (FFF) federal assembly to review the organisation of the EURO final round in France.

The FFF federal assembly took place at the Hôtel Méridien Etoile in Paris on Saturday, and Jacques Lambert, invited to the gathering, took stock of the progress made in the organisation of the EURO tournament which will take place in France from 10 June to 10 July 2016.

FFF president Noël Le Graët opened the assembly, and welcomed the number of delegates present, as well as the work achieved over the past year. "EURO 2016 may still be in the future, but it is already in the present for us. Our wish is that the EURO shines forth everywhere and is a festival, especially in France," added the FFF secretary-general Brigitte Henriques in her introductory remarks.

During his 20-minute address, Jacques Lambert expressed confidence that the stadiums would be ready for the tournament on schedule. Five stadiums are already operational (Saint-Denis, Lille, Nice, Marseille, Saint-Etienne), two are under construction (Bordeaux and Lyon) and three are being renovated (Paris, Lens, Toulouse).

Mr Lambert also highlighted the catalogue of base camps which has been made available to the national associations, and which is accessible online for the first time. “We have selected 66 base camps spread across the whole of the country, and beyond the boundaries of the host cities," said Mr Lambert, echoing the wish of EURO 2016 SAS to involve the entire population in hosting this event.

Turning to the start of ticket sales, Jacques Lambert confirmed that sales would begin for the general public “at a symbolic moment one year before the start of the tournament, on 15 June 2015." The EURO 2016 SAS president also reminded those present of the wide range of positive effects that the organisation of the third largest international sports competition will generate for France.

“Hosting the EURO not only involves costs for the country – it also creates an impact and brings in revenue, notably from a fiscal point of view. Given the figures involved, it would appear difficult for me to make any claim that the EURO could be a negative event for France," Mr Lambert added, before emphasising that “it is the attractiveness of France in economic terms, as well as in terms of hosting major events, that is at stake.”

“It is necessary that we maintain this capacity for the years to come,” he concluded.

Source. Fifa

(PA) Wednesday 10 December 2014

Barcelona have tied teenager Munir El Haddadi to an improved contract which includes a buy-out clause of €35m.

The 19-year-old forward scored on his league debut against Elche in August and has since then made 12 appearances for Barcelona's senior team.

The new deal does not extend El Haddadi's contract beyond its current expiry date of 30 June 2017, but it has improved the Spain international's wages as well as increasing the amount buyers will have to stump up if they want to sign him.

A statement from Barcelona read: "Munir El Haddadi has signed an updated contract in which his release clause, in accordance with the new agreement, rises to 35 million euros.

"The signing took place at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper and also present were the sporting vice-president Jordi Mestre and director of football Andoni Zubizarreta."

El Haddadi joined Barcelona's youth academy from Atletico Madrid in 2011 and broke into the senior squad this summer after impressing coach Luis Enrique in pre-season.

He has started in six league games for Barcelona, scoring one goal and setting up another.

El Haddadi, whose parents are Moroccan, earned his first cap for Spain in a UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier against Macedonia in September.

Source:  Fifa

The qualification issues have all but been decided in Groups E to H of the UEFA Champions League, with only two places still up grabs on the final matchday this Wednesday.

In Group E Roma, Manchester City and CSKA Moscow are all tussling for second place behind Bayern Munich, while Group G rivals Sporting Lisbon and Schalke will be keeping a very close eye on each other’s progress when they make respective trips to Chelsea and Maribor. The day’s other big game is the Camp Nou showdown between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, with top spot in Group F at stake.

Wednesday’s fixtures
Group E
Roma-Manchester City
Bayern Munich-CSKA Moscow

Group F
Barcelona-Paris Saint-Germain
Ajax-APOEL Nicosia

Group G
Chelsea-Sporting Lisbon
Maribor-Schalke

Group H
Porto-Shakhtar Donetsk
Athletic Bilbao-BATE Borisov

Match of the day
Roma-Manchester City, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
City are back in contention for a place in the knockout rounds following their 3-2 comeback win over Bayern Munich in their last outing, a victory they owed to Sergio Aguero’s stunning hat-trick. If they are to finish second behind the Bavarians, however, the English side need to win in Rome and hope CSKA Moscow do not to likewise in Munich. Failing that, a score draw will take them through provided that the Russian club lose. Manuel Pellegrini’s side will be hampered, however, by the absence of the suspended Yaya Toure and the injured Aguero, who has been in princely form of late, scoring 14 goals in his last 15 Premier League appearances.

Roma have lacked the defensive solidity they showed last season, a shortcoming mainly due to Mehdi Benatia’s departure for Bayern and the lengthy absence of Leandro Castan, who has just undergone brain surgery. One department where the Italian side are not lacking options is up front, where Gervinho has the ability to unsettle any defence and Miralem Pjanic, Adem Ljajic and the great Francesco Totti – now the oldest goalscorer in the competition – all pose a threat from distance. Encouragingly for Roma, they have won their last three home matches against Premier League opposition, while City have never won in Italy in four attempts, having drawn two and lost two.

Elsewhere
* PSG need a draw from their visit to Barcelona to top Group F, while the hosts, who will be without the suspended Rafinha and Dani Alves, need three points to head the section and become only the third side to record 150 Champions League victories. Real Madrid lead the way with 224, with Bayern Munich second on 165.

* Sporting Lisbon need at least a point from their trip to Chelsea, who are already through but suffered their first defeat of the season in all competitions on Saturday, a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle. If their recent away record is anything to go by, however, the odds are against Jose Mourinho’s compatriots reaching the next round. Sporting have won just once on their last 17 European road trips.

Did you know?
* One win out of six. That is Barcelona’s record against PSG over the years, that solitary win coming in the 1997 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final. Both the club’s current coaches were on Barcelona’s books at the time. Luis Enrique started the game, while Laurent Blanc had to be content with a seat in the stands.

* The 100 club. Should Xabi Alonso run out for Bayern against CSKA, it will be his 100th Champions League appearance and will take Spain level with England as the only countries with six players to have chalked up a century of matches in the competition.

The stat
19 out of 19 - Real Madrid have never failed to reach the knockout rounds in their 19 appearances in the competition. Next on the list are Bayern Munich with 18 appearances, having missed out only once, back in 2003.

On this day
Six years ago today, Bruno Alves and Lisandro Lopez got on the scoresheet as Porto beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Estadio Dragao to secure the club’s place in the last 16 of the 2008/09 competition. The Portuguese giants beat Atletico Madrid on the away-goals rule in the round of 16 before going down 3-2 on aggregate to Manchester United in the last eight.

Player to watch
Portugal midfielder Nani has rediscovered his best form since returning to Sporting, the club where he made his breakthrough. After arriving at Manchester United in 2007, the enterprising midfielder made an able replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo and was named the club’s Player of the Year in 2011, when he also featured in the Premier League Team of the Year. Nani’s fortunes waned at Old Trafford in the seasons that followed, and he was shipped out on loan to Sporting as part of the deal that saw Marcos Rojo move to United. Now 28, Nani is enjoying a new lease of life at his old stamping ground, having scored four goals and served up two assists for Sporting in this season’s competition, as many as he managed in 49 Champions League matches for United.

What they said
“You have to have a special player if you want to win something. In our case, that player is Sergio Aguero, and when he’s in this kind of form he makes things possible,” Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany.

Have your say
Can CSKA Moscow spring a major surprise and qualify from Group E?

An incredible 145 senior international appearances over the space of 17 years make Javier Zanetti the most capped Argentina player of all time. The man nicknamed Il Capitano in Italy, thanks to his lengthy spell as Inter Milan skipper, heads up a category that also features Roberto Ayala, Javier Mascherano, Lionel Messi and Diego Simeone in its top five.

And it is precisely the latter duo who will be bearing the Albiceleste standard come 12 January’s FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala, with Messi aiming to be crowned the world’s finest for a fifth time, and Simeone bidding for a first FIFA World Coach of the Year crown.

“El Cholo (Simeone) was always like a coach out on the pitch,” Zanetti told FIFA.com – in collaboration with the INTER CHANNEL – of his erstwhile team-mate for Inter and Argentina in the 1990s. Both were part of the Albiceleste squad that claimed silver at the Olympic Football Tournament Atlanta 1996 and reached the last eight of the 1998 FIFA World Cup France™, so Zanetti is well-placed to attest to the strength of character and obsession with tactics and strategy that Simeone showed even back then.

“I’m not surprised by what he’s achieving, which has come on the back of sacrifice and hard work,” continued the legendary former right-back or midfielder, who feels that El Cholo’s feats at Atletico Madrid last term – winning La Liga and finishing UEFA Champions League runners-up – make him a more than worthy contender for the coaching award. “With respect to (Carlo) Ancelotti and (Joachim) Low, I think that he’s done enough with Atletico to take home the top prize.”

The guys who play in midfield and up front are the ones who decide games. That said, Philipp Lahm also deserved major recognition.

Javier Zanetti

Given the recent dominance of the Ballon d’Or award by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the win by Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 now seems remarkably distant. What is more, the gifted centre-back, fresh from captaining his country to World Cup glory, was the last defender to date to win the coveted honour.

Zanetti, who began his career as a right-sided defender at Argentinian outfit Banfield, is aware of how unlikely one of his defensive fellows is to repeat Cannavaro’s achievement: “The guys who play in midfield and up front are the ones who decide games. That said, (Germany right-back and defensive midfielder) Philipp Lahm also deserved major recognition.”

Does that mean he feels goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is a longer shot for the Ballon d’Or than Messi or Ronaldo? “I couldn’t tell you how it’s going to go, because we’re talking about three great players and they’re all worthy contenders. I expect the voting to be very fiercely contested, and Neuer certainly deserves to be in the mix too.”

However, when it came to picking a personal favourite, El Pupi’s blue-and-white blood shone through: “I’m hoping that Messi wins it - he’s a true great. He never stops surprising people: at any given moment he’s capable of improvising with a touch of skill or something spectacular that can win you a game. In my view, he’s the best player in the world.”

The away side, who can leapfrog their opponents into third with victory at St Mary’s, have an excellent record against the south coast club, winning nine and losing just one of the last 12 league meetings.

Arsenal have denied newspaper reports that Jack Wilshere will be out of action until March.