The Oranje, having already qualified, rotated heavily for this encounter, with Robben being one of nine new starters drafted into the line-up.

Such a sea change brought with it speculation that Romania, who needed a win to secure qualification, would be given an easy ride, but Robben claims that the Dutch had their eye on all three points - a total that they managed.

“We went out there to win,” he told the BBC.

“It was to keep confidence high especially, I think, and I think we played an OK game - not brilliant like the last two - but it was OK, and a good result of course. Three games, nine points.

“Important to avoid injuries? Yeah, exactly. That’s the most important thing, I think, to be with 23 men for the quarter-finals. Everybody’s fit at the moment, and no suspensions, so we’re very happy.”

No Surprise

Robben was asked next if the squad were as surprised as some onlookers with how much success they’d enjoyed at Euro 2008 so far.

The Real Madrid man replied, “No, not really - I suppose we are a little bit surprised because it’s all going really, really well.

“But I think we have to stay down to earth and look game by game, and now there’s only one game that’s important, and that’s the quarter-finals.

“We go there with a lot of confidence, but we have to stay focused, and not get influenced by everything that’s being said outside.

“You know, everybody’s already saying we are the favourites now and stuff like that, but I think we have to stay concentrated. But everybody’s aware of that so I think it’s no problem.”

The Dutch will meet either Sweden or Russia in the next stage.

Roberto Donadoni’s men were the superior side and deserving of their victory, but Raymond Domenech and France were not afforded any luck by the footballing Gods this evening in Zurich.

Star man Franck Ribery went off injured just 10 minutes into the game, and a fairly soft but technically spot-on penalty decision was awarded to the Azzurri minutes later, with Eric Abidal dismissed for denying Luca Toni a goal-scoring opportunity and Andrea Pirlo hammering home the spot-kick.

Italy could and should have added more but France, to their credit, came back fighting in the second half as Italy invited them on, but the game was killed around the hour mark when Daniele De Rossi’s driven free-kick taking a cruel deflection off Thierry Henry beyond Gregory Coupet.

The result sent Italy through, with Romania losing 2-0 against the Netherlands, and France finishing bottom of the group.

From the outside Chelsea’s efforts to find a new manager over the last few weeks appear to have been conducted in their usual clumsy fashion – with Peter Kenyon running the ship what else did we expect – but there can be no doubt in my opinion that they have landed a top quality replacement for Avram Grant in the shape of Luiz Felipe Scolari. He’s one hell of an improvement isn’t he?!

Scolari’s record with a Portugal side that’s not blessed with any more than four or five top international players in recent tournaments has been magnificent – and before that of course he won the World Cup with a Brazilian team that couldn’t have laced the boots of previous Brazil sides that had failed to land the big one. Club football was previously a successful field for Scolari, who picked up all of the major domestic prizes and the Copa Libertadores (twice) with two different Brazilian clubs.

Carlo Ancelotti may have been Abramovich’s first choice but it’s still difficult to argue that the Blues haven’t acquired the best man for the job. He even deploys Chelsea’s 4-3-3 system for Portugal so they won’t even have to alter their formation.

There are only two negatives; 1) He’s never managed a European club before 2) He can’t speak a word of English

Are these factors going to make any difference? I see it like this…..

The fact that he’s never managed in European club football is not going to hinder Chelsea in my view. He’s seen more than enough of the Champions League and Premier League to know what it’s all about. He’s a proven manager and will adapt quickly I believe. The players know what to do. All he has to do is coach, motivate and organise them. You can do that anywhere in the world if you are good at your job – and he is.

The language barrier could be more of a problem in the early weeks as the players adjust to having a new translator and the likes of John Terry and Joe Cole won’t enjoy not being able to have normal conversations with him. That said, the Chelsea players will be busting a gut to impress him in the early days, so I can’t foresee too may issues with it. The fear factor and sheer desire to be a Scolari favourite should make the players highly motivated and override any translation difficulties.

So all in all I think Chelsea have made a wise choice. Big Phil has all the credentials in place to succeed in the major trophy department where poor old Avram failed.

There is just one thing playing on my mind however. Will he be able to handle any interference from a certain Mr Abramovich……?

Originally published on 4sportsake.com

United reported Real to Fifa last week due to their unhappiness with the Spanish champions’ continued pursual of Ronaldo partly through the use of sports newspaper Marca.

Both Madrid president Ramon Calderon and manager Bernd Schuster have acknowledged their admiration for the Portuguese winger in weeks gone by as the transfer saga rages on.

In taking the case to Fifa a week ago, United felt they had ‘no alternative but to make a formal complaint to the world governing body’, although Calderon claimed that United had ‘no evidence’ of any wrongdoing.

FIFA have released a preliminary statement last week after reviewing the complaint and suggested that there was no case to answer.

And now the game’s governing body have confirmed that no action will be taken against the Spaniards.

“We can confirm that we received last week a formal complaint from Manchester United related to the player Cristiano Ronaldo and the club Real Madrid. From the documentation received, no breach of contract appears to have occurred yet,” the statement read.

“Therefore, in accordance with the applicable practice, no kind of formal procedure has been opened by Fifa regarding this matter.

“The Spanish Football Federation has been informed of the complaint lodged by the English club and been asked to remind its member club Real Madrid about the potential legal consequences of a breach of contract without just cause during the protected period and of a possible inducement to such a breach of contract, as established by the Fifa Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.”

Both Madrid and United will be looking to win their third successive national league titles next season, while Ronaldo himself is set to finally confirm where his future lies upon the conclusion of this summer’s Euro 2008 tournament.

Arsenal is delighted to announce that Wales Under-21 international Aaron Ramsey has today signed for the Gunners from Championship side Cardiff City on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.

Although still only 17, Aaron has already represented his country at Under-21 level and became the youngest player ever to represent Wales at this level in August 2007, in a 4-3 victory over Sweden Under-21s. He was also recently called up to the full Welsh squad for their friendly international matches in Iceland and Holland, but was an unused substitute on both occasions.

Young midfielder Ramsey progressed through the youth ranks at Cardiff City and also became the youngest ever player to represent the Bluebirds, coming on as a substitute in the League match against Hull City on April 28, 2007, at just 16 years 124 days, breaking the previous record set by John Toshack.

Since making his debut for Cardiff City in the 2006/07 season, Ramsey went on to make a total of 22 appearances for the Welsh side, including a substitute appearance in last season’s FA Cup Final against Portsmouth at Wembley Stadium.

Ramsey, born in Caerphilly on Boxing Day 1990, has already had a good experience of Emirates Stadium. Aaron actually scored Cardiff City’s first goal in the FA Youth Cup Quarter-Final in 2007, in a match which was watched by 11,610 supporters, with Arsenal eventually coming out 3-2 winners.

Manager Arsène Wenger said: “We’re delighted to have signed Aaron Ramsey. He is a young player who has shown huge potential with his performances for both Cardiff City and Wales at under-17 and Under-21 levels. He is still only 17, but has already shown that he is a very intelligent and mature player with great quality. Although he mainly plays in midfield, Aaron is a versatile player and can also play across the defence. We are all looking forward to welcoming Aaron to the Club for our pre-season preparations.”

Aaron Ramsey said: “I’m so happy to have signed for Arsenal. I am joining one of the biggest clubs in the world and can’t wait to meet my new team mates. I recently met with Arsène Wenger and he was a big factor in my decision to join Arsenal. He talked to me for a long time about the Club and the plans for the future, which really excites me. Arsenal is a Club which always gives young players an opportunity at the highest level of the game and I am going to work my hardest to be part of future successes here.

“It was a really difficult decision to leave Cardiff City, they are my local club with great supporters and I would just like thank everyone at Cardiff City for their support and help in my early career. I will still look out for their results and there will always be a place in my heart for the Bluebirds.”

Aaron will join up with his new team mates at Arsenal for pre-season training in early July.

Switzerland 2-0 Portugal

Luiz Felipe Scolari’s decision to rest a number of his key personnel for this encounter has threatened to disrupt Portuguese momentum for Euro 2008. A shadow Portugal side was subjected to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of hosts Switzerland, who restored national pride after an hitherto ignominious campaign.

Hakin Yakin completed a second half double to gain the win for the Swiss, assisted by Erin Derdiyok in the 71^st minute, before an 85^th minute penalty awarded for a foul on Tranquillo Barnetta.

Portugal made most of the early running, and should have scored the opener during the first half. Helder Postiga had a seemingly legitimate effort ruled offside and Pepe had an effort deflected onto the crossbar by Pascal Zuberbuhler.

In the second period, Nani had the guests’ best opportunity but he could only strike the post with the goal at his mercy.

Gokhan Inler was in fine form for Switzerland and tested Ricardo with a number of stinging long range drives.

Barnetta made a significant impact after his introduction, first going close at the near post and ultimately winning the penalty to secure the three points, and with them, restored Swiss pride.

First Half:

With qualification already assured, Luiz Felipe Scolari rang in the changes for his Portugal side; Only Ricardo in goal, Pepe in central defence and Paulo Ferreira at left back retained their places in the line up.

There was a farewell appearance for Pascal Zuberbuhler in goal for Switzerland, he retires on completion of the group formalities.

Even without Simao and Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal possessed potent attacking options with Ricardo Quaresma and Nani eager to impress in an otherwise meaningless fixture.

Quaresma was at the heart of the Portuguese attack; his impudent cross on eight minutes gave Helder Postiga his first chance of the game. The ex-Spurs man headed wide.

Switzerland, hoping for a dignified display with their fate already sealed, had chances of their own with Velon Behrami making an impression.

He had two opportunities in quick succession just past the quarter hour; Firstly, his shot was blocked by Fernando Meira, the stand-in Portugal captain, and just after, he had a shot through a crowded penalty area.

The Portuguese responded, Nani’s long range free-kick was deflected on target by the immense Pepe, but Zuberbuhler’s reactions were sufficient to block the shot.

The game ebbed and flowed without the urgency of previous matches, leaving space for attacks at both ends. Gokhan Inler went close shortly after, his long range drive was smartly tipped over by Ricardo.

The same Swiss player was almost responsible for his side conceding just before the half hour. Nani picked Inler’s pocket to release Postiga, who saw his angled drive blocked by Phillipe Senderos.

As the game opened up, Hakin Yakin spotted the run of Senderos with a deep set play. As the ball came over Fernando Meira’s head, the Arsenal defender failed to direct his sliding effort on target.

Yakin and Postiga swapped headed chances before Portugal were denied the opener by an offside flag.

Meira drove at the heart of the Swiss defence and played a short pass to Ricardo Quaresma. The Porto man found Postiga with a through ball, who finished smartly. The passage was ruled redundant however, thanks to an erroneous decision.

Second Half:

Nani had the first significant opportunity of a low-key second half opening. After being played through on the left wing by Ricardo Quaresma, the Manchester United winger could only strike the base of the post. Shortly after, Quaresma himself had an effort repelled by the experienced Zuberbuhler.

The Swiss took their time to settle into the second half but were dragged forward by Udinese’s Inler. The midfielder beat Miguel all ends up and crossed for Derdiyok on the hour, who saw his close range shot blocked down by Pepe.

Inler was to be involved again five minutes later, as his 25-yard drive skimmed the outside of Ricardo’s post.

The Swiss, for the first time in the encounter, looked the more capable side and stole into the ascendancy after 70 minutes. The Portuguese disrupted themselves by making a substitution and paid the price for the ensuing confusion.

A swift midfield pass found Derdiyok, who cushioned the ball to Yakin on the right side of the area. Shorn of Portuguese defensive pressure, the 31-year-old settled himself and positioned his shot through the legs of Ricardo.

Ten minutes later and the Swiss had the chance to double their lead from the penalty spot. Tranquillo Barnetta, effective after his introduction, was tripped by Fernando Meira inside the area. From the resultant spot kick, Hakin Yakin smashed the ball high to Ricardo’s right.

Ultimately, too many changes disrupted the fluency of a jittery Portugal side. With no cohesion, they struggled to make the fluid impression of which they are capable.

The Swiss, determined to send their fans home cheering will be pleased with their consolation win. In spite of the loss, Portugal top the group and will face the second place team in Group B – most likely Germany or co-hosts Austria.

Torres, who scored the opener in Spain’s 2-1 victory over Sweden in Euro 2008 yesterday, enjoyed a stellar first season in English football after signing from Atletico Madrid last July.

Although both Liverpool and Torres have previously stated that the striker is happy to stay at Anfield, Chelsea are thought to believe they can cash in on the current unrest between the Liverpool owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and manager Rafael Benitez, by offering a British record bid that the owners will find difficult to turn down.  This in turn could unsettle the youngster.

New Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is reportedly determined to make the striker his first signing even though he knows it will not be easy. A Chelsea source said: “Scolari is will aware it will be a real battle to try to get Torres out of Liverpool.”

However despite this, Scolari reportedly believes a huge bid may just make the transfer a possibility.

“He’s ready to make the sort of bid that will make even the Americans sit up and take notice” the Chelsea source said before adding, “Obviously he knows that Liverpool don’t want to sell one of their star assets but he still believes he can exploit the troubles and turmoil at Anfield to get his man.”

Torres signed for Liverpool last summer costing the Anfield club somewhere in the region of £21 million. He scored 33 goals in his first season breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record as the most prolific foreign striker in their debut season in the Premier League.

As recently as this week he told the media in no uncertain terms that he was going nowhere and that he was eager to continue with the Reds

The club have announced the news following months of speculation linking the player with a move back to Italy.

Zambrotta is believed to have arrived on a three year deal from the Camp Nou side and reports in Italy claim Milan paid €8.5m for him. He will earn around €4m per season.

A statement on the club’s official website reads:

“It’s now official. Gianluca Zambrotta is now a Milan player.

“The defender is about to play in the European Championship with Italy and he leaves Barcelona to strengthen the Milan defence.”

Only hours ago, Galliani hinted that his side needed someone like Zambro and his wish has been granted. Zambrotta has always stated his desire to play for the Rossoneri in the past and he has given up Champions League football next season in order to return to Italy.

He will now be looking to partner former Azzurri team mate Alessandro Nesta in defence.

The Rossoneri have, so far, strengthened their midfield and their defence. All they need now is a goalkeeper and a decent striker.

Chelsea and Manchester United, the Premier League’s two representatives in tomorrow’s Champions League final, owe creditors £1.5bn between them. According to the latest accounts of Chelsea Limited, the company which owns the football club, Chelsea owed £736m to all its creditors. United’s accounts, also recently filed at Companies House, showed total creditors at £764m. Those unprecedented figures will fuel concern that at this time of English football’s greatest club triumph its clubs are carrying too much debt.

Covering the year to June 30, 2007, Chelsea’s accounts show that the club’s largest creditor was the owner himself, Roman Abramovich, who had poured £578m into the club, not as a donation but as an interest-free loan. As stated by the chief executive, Peter Kenyon, in February, Chelsea did not owe “external debt” to any bank.

However, with Abramovich’s £578m loan, introduced to sign players and pay wages since he bought the club in 2003, plus general amounts owed, taxes and some categories listed among creditors for formal accounting purposes, Chelsea’s creditors stood at £736m in total.

Chelsea’s director of communications, Simon Greenberg, confirmed that the £578m, described in the accounts as “Other loan”, is indeed the loan from Abramovich. Greenberg reiterated that Chelsea has no “external debt” and pointed out that the creditors included season-ticket holders for 2007-08, whose money has technically to be treated as owed until the season is over, “and other normal operating creditors”. The figure also included £36.3m still owed on a Eurobond taken out by Chelsea’s previous owner, Ken Bates, in 1997. That, the last of Chelsea’s “external debt”, was then repaid last December.

Kenyon released headline figures from these accounts in February, highlighting that the club made a record turnover, £190.5m, and that its losses were down from £80.2m in 2005-06 to £75.8m last year. Kenyon said then that the club was in a healthy financial position, still aiming to break even by 2009-10, partly because it did not owe money to outside creditors and retained Abramovich’s support. “With the company being external debt free and our ownership clearly demonstrating continuing commitment to the long term,” Kenyon said, “I am very confident about the future.”

United’s accounts showed the club’s total creditors at £764m. United does have “external debt” - £666m owed to financial institutions, including £152m to hedge funds - taken on by the Glazer family when they bought the club in 2005, then loaded on to United itself. While United’s loans incurred interest of £81m last year, the loan to Chelsea by Abramovich is interest-free. Abramovich has funded Chelsea’s extraordinary acquisition of stars and, although transfers showed a profit last year, he continued to allow Chelsea to be run at a substantial loss.

Kenyon’s role is to transform Chelsea into a club which can survive on its own earnings. In February he acknowledged it was an “ambitious” target to aim to be self-financing by 2009-10 but the accounts bear out commercial progress in all areas. Having finished runners-up in the Premier League, won the FA Cup and League Cup and reached the Champions League semi-final, the club’s sponsorship, match-day and media income all increased to push total turnover 25% up.

However, there is no doubt that the club remains wholly reliant on Abramovich’s continued funding. Chelsea’s chairman, Bruce Buck, has stressed that Abramovich “loves football” and will not “walk away” from Chelsea.

If the owner’s enthusiasm were ever to wane, and Abramovich decided he did want his loan back, the accounts show that Chelsea would have 18 months to find the money.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/20/premierleague.chelsea

Russia have beaten European Champions Greece 1-0 in their Euro 2008 Group D clash at the EM Stadion Wals-Seizenheim in Salzburg, Austria on Saturday, meaning Greece are out of the EURO 2008 Finals and that Spain have qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament.

The game started slowly, but with Russia commanding possession, however failing to find a way through the organised Greek defence in the opening stages of the match.

The game began to pick up, with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov finding space on the right, but his shot flew well over Antonis Nikopolidis’ crossbar.

In the 14th minute Nikopolidis was forced to tip the ball over the bar for a corner, after Bilyaletdinov tried to curl it past him from inside the area.

Angelos Charisteas had an amazing chance to break the deadlock in the 20th minute, but he failed to latch on to Angelos Basinas’ free-kick, with Igor Semshov putting the ball away for a corner, which ended up being cleared.

Christos Patsatzoglou did well to create a chance down the Greek right-wing, but despite crossing well to Charisteas, the FC Nuremburg striker missed the target completely.

Patsatzoglou had a long-range shot saved easily on the half-hour mark, but Russia were still the more cohesive passing team and made the current European Champions pay in the 33rd minute.

A mistake from Greece keeper Nikopolidis led to the goal, with Segei Semak chasing a ball headed for a goal kick, but the Greece number one left his goalmouth to chase the ball and was beaten by Sergei Semak’s smart back-flick to the feet of Konstantin Zyrianov in the penalty area, with the Zenit St Petersburg midfielder tapping-in from close range to open the scoring.

Russia almost doubled the lead minutes later, but Roman Pavlyuchenko’s shot went just wide of the Greek goalpost.

Giorgios Karagounis came on for Giourkas Seitaridis in the 40th minute, with the Panathinaikos midfielder seeing a booking within two minutes of coming on after hauling down Semshov.

The game went into half-time 1-0 to Russia, who commanded the first-half and could have extended their lead.

The second-half kicked-off at a terrific pace with chances for both sides, and with Greece becoming far more of a threat on the Russian goal, with Igor Akinfeev being involved properly for the first time in the match, being forced into a couple of saves from Karagounis and Basinas.

Pavlyuchenko was causing a nuisance at the other end, but failed to extend the lead for Russia.

In the 58th minute Liberopoulos was booked for dissent, and was substituted for Gekas two minutes later.

Bilyaletdinov had a great chance to extend the lead in the 63rd minute, but his shot on the turn was blocked superbly by Dellas in a last-ditch tackle yards from goal.

Karagounis saw his attempt in the 71st minute go wide as the European Champions tried to find an equaliser, but it was always the Russians who looked the more threatening.

Bilyaletdinov was substituted by Saenko a minute later, with the substitute immediately making a wonderful cross-field pass to Pavlyuchenko, but the Spartak Moscow striker shot wide.

Stelios Giannakopoulos came on for Amanatidis with ten minutes remaining, but the closing stages were all in the Greek half of the pitch as Russia looked to seal the match.

Greece had a goal ruled-out for offside in the 87th minute, with the linesman flagging Gekas.

The match finished 1-0 to Russia, who now hope for a result against Sweden to progress to the knock-out stages of the tournament.

The result means that Greece are out of the tournament and Spain have definitely qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament.