Top Football Players: June 2011

Bobby Zamora Fulham

The much-maligned Zamora scored his fifth Premier League goal of the season as Fulham drew 1-1 with Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday as the visitors extended their unbeaten run in the league to four games.

The former England U21 striker has his critics for a lack of goals at Craven Cottage, but Hodgson was believed to have given the former West Ham marksman the highest praise after being widely quoted as saying his form could earn a Three Lions call-up.

However, the Cottagers boss has denied he ever called for Fabio Capello to consider the 28-year-old in his World Cup squad.

"I was asked whether there was space in Capello's squad for a player who comes in from the left - how anyone can interpret that as me saying he should play for England is almost laughable," said Hodgson of Zamora, who would have been Trinidad & Tobago player earlier this year but for injury.

Bobby Zamora Fulham

Bobby Zamora Fulham"I've been a national coach in three countries and the thing I hated most was a club coach saying I should pick his player. I have vowed never to do that and I never will.

"There's an awful long way between saying what I said and touting Bobby Zamora to play for England."

Hodgson was still keen to praise Zamora's performance after he struck the visitors ahead before Wade Elliott volleyed Burnley a share of the points.

Hodgson added: "Bobby is playing well. He had a slight knock at half-time but he managed to carry on and he scored a good goal. He's leading the line very well."

Bobby Zamora

There were two rare sightings at Craven Cottage: Scooby-Doo and a Bobby Zamora goal. The fictional character was at Fulham to promote a new stage show of the 60s cartoon and Scooby, Shaggy and friends witnessed Zamora’s first goal in 22 Premier League games.

Albion were always second best but would have gotten away with it if it hadn’t been for that meddling Zamora, who scored one and had a part in Andrew Johnson’s second for Fulham.

Zamora, signed in the summer for £5 million from West Ham, had gone more than 29 hours – 1,763 minutes to be precise – without scoring in the Premier League, so the euphoric response to the striker’s first League goal since September was understandable.

Roy Hodgson, his manager, admitted: “As a front player you want to score goals and after he scored he had two more great strikes, one produced the second goal, so it’s pretty obvious a weight has been lifted from his mind.”

Bobby Zamora

Bobby Zamora

Bobby ZamoraThe result hoisted Fulham into the top half of the Premier League while condemning Albion to another weekend at the bottom, and the margin of victory would have been greater but for the woodwork and the athleticism of the outstanding Scott Carson, who impressed in front of Fabio Capello.

Bobby Zamora

Bobby Zamora

Bobby Zamora

Bobby ZamoraThe memories of Carson’s Wembley howler against Croatia and Niko Kranjcar were finally put to be bed in front of the England coach, but Albion could not replicate his performance against a Fulham side inspired by the midfield duo of Danny Murphy and Dickson Etuhu.

Fulham have now taken 27 of their 33 points at Craven Cottage; if Hodgson could inspire an improvement in the away form they would be threatening to qualify for Europe. That Mark Schwarzer, their goalkeeper, saved Roman Bednar’s penalty two minutes into added time only served to make Albion’s afternoon that more disappointing.

In the first-half Fulham saw a hat-trick of chances foiled by the woodwork. After five minutes Murphy’s free kick was touched on to the left post by Carson, who then saved from Simon Davies and Etuhu.

Clint Dempsey struck the top of the right post and then Murphy sent another effort against the cross bar as Fulham dominated.

The second half was a similar story with Carson impressive and Albion chasing shadows, though the early introduction of Chris Brunt offered the visitors more options.

Gianluigi Buffon Juventus

Juventus goalkeeper and Italian international Gianluigi Buffon (31) has said in an interview with Italian televison channel Sky that when he left Parma in 2001, he was close to joining Barcelona:

"I chose Juve because my agent, Silvano Martina, and my father advised me to do that. Back then, I had to choose between Roma, Barcelona and Juve.

At the start my friendship with Totti and Vito Scala [Roma physical coach] made me prefer Roma, where Capello had just arrived and he seemed to start an era of an invincible team. I remember that Silvano and my father went there to talk with president Sensi but Roma took a step back and in the end they preferred to sign Pellizzoli, whom they could get for a lower transfer fee but who was at that time one of the most promising goalkeepers.

With Barcelona we had serious negotiations but right when Silvano Martina was going to Spain to close the deal, Moggi [Juventus general director at the time] called him and the Agnelli family got involved. I had a great desire to win an Italian league and my father told me that Juve hadn't won the title for five years but that they would again win it in the next two years. In the end I followed his advice and it has been a good choice."

Gianluigi Buffon Juventus

Gianluigi Buffon Juventus

Gianluigi Buffon Juventus

Gianluigi Buffon Juventus

Gianluigi Buffon Juventus

Gianluigi Buffon Juventus

Gianluigi Buffon Juventus

Gianluigi Buffon Saves

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was a Serie A regular at 18, an international at 20 and could one day be remembered alongside such greats as Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks.

The late Juventus president Gianni Agnelli forked out 40 million euros to take the then 23-year-old to Turin in July 2001 and credited Buffon's performances as key to their championship trophy in his first season.

His celebrated reflexes helped Juve to a second consecutive title a year later, but despite two penalty shoot-out saves in the Champions League final, he was unable to prevent AC Milan winning Europe's most prestigious prize in 2003.

He is a colourful and outspoken man who claims to have taken to goalkeeping due to his distaste for running.

Gianluigi Buffon Saves

Gianluigi Buffon Saves

Gianluigi Buffon Saves

Gianluigi Buffon Saves

Gianluigi Buffon Saves

Gianluigi Buffon Saves

Gianluigi Buffon Saves

Gianluigi Buffon

Over the next week and a half, here at the Juventus Offside we will be profiling Juventini, their characteristics, and what role they play for their national team. It might not be the most useful for regular readers or general Juventus fans, but I think we Juventini are most apt, perhaps, to describe the quality of these players as we watch them week-in, week-out. The Juventus players going to South Africa are as follows: For Italy, Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Claudio Marchisio, Fabio Cannavaro, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Amauri, and Mauro Camoranesi. (Pending the last cut) For Uruguay, Martin Caceres. For Brazil, Felipe Melo. For Denmark, Christian Poulsen. After the jump, the first, for Mr. Gianluigi Buffon.

Gianluca Pessotto

Torino, 29 giugno 2006 - Gianluca Pessotto «è stabile in una condizione di gravità pesante». Lo ha sottolineato nel pomeriggio il direttore del reparto di rianimazione delle Molinette, Pier Paolo Donadio, che ha in cura l'ex giocatore bianconero.
In particolare il medico ha sottolineato che Pessotto «ha superato una fase di altissimo rischio e ora sta avviandosi in una di maggiore tranquillità anche se questo non esclude complicazioni e il rischio per la vita».
La dimostrazione che tra i sanitari c'è un cauto ottimismo sulle condizioni del paziente sta nel fatto che per domattina è stato programmato l'intervento per ridurre la lussazione del piede destro.
Intanto nel corso della giornata Pessotto è stato sottoposto ad alcune finestre di sedazione, che significa che è stata ridotta progressivamente la sedazione farmacologica, per consentire di valutare se l'ex calciatore abbia riportato danni neurologici gravi.
A questo proposito i sanitari hanno riferito che il paziente, sollecitato, ha mosso tutti e 4 gli arti, dunque paiono scongiurati i rischi di paralisi, così come i rischi di danni cerebrali.

Fausto Rossi

The whole squad got one day's rest, the deserved reward after the TIM Trophy and most of all after a heavy week when the Bianconeri also played two international games in Copenhagen and Dortmund (the latter with the inconvenient postponement due to heavy storms).

It was a Wednesday of rest and relaxation, to recover from the effort and to recharge the batteries in view of the upcoming, glamorous engagements. Indeed on Thursday morning the squad will leave Turin for England, where they will stay for a whole week.

Three prestigious friendlies are lined up and there’ll be many chances to keep growing in view of the Champions League preliminary round. First stop of the tour will be in London, where our boys will play the prestigious Emirates Cup with Arsenal and Hamburg. First match on Saturday August 2nd (4.15 pm local time, 5.15 pm in Italy) against the Gunners, hosts of the event; the following day, at 2 pm (3 pm in Italy), the game against the German side.

Fausto RossiAnd then on Wednesday the 6th the whole squad will travel on to Manchester, where in the evening (8 pm local time, 9 pm in Italy) they have a top-level friendly scheduled at Old Trafford against European and English champions United.

Three vital games to best prepare for the preliminaries and for which Claudio Ranieri is going to bring the whole first team squad, with the sole exception of Almiron, who's still held back in Argentina. Five Youth Team players will also be going on the tour: Nocchi, Ariaudo, Esposito, Rossi and Pasquato.

Douglas Maicon

Douglas Maicon, of Inter, debuted the Nike Elite Series today in the club’s 0-2 win over Munich as Inter completed historic treble in Madrid. The kicks, which feature clear spikes, have a split solar orange and grey upper with a black swoosh. Maicon performed well in the shoes as Munich was left score-less. From Nike themselves, “From a European showpiece to South Africa, the stages for the Elite Series have been set.”

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