Real Madrid have admitted defeat in their battle to persuade Kaka to join them from AC Milan and will begin to look for other transfer targets.
The Spanish giants have been linked with the Brazilian superstar since president Ramon Calderon promised to sign him in his election manifesto in 2006.
While the stories have raged in the press, Milan refused to budge and Kaka seemingly in no hurry to leave the Rossoneri to move to the Bernabeu.
Now Madrid's sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic, has revealed that the club are no longer pursuing any lines of enquiry regarding the player.
"We cannot allow ourselves to waste too much time on something that is extremely difficult to obtain," he said.
"We have spoken a lot about this player over the past year and a half. Everybody likes him, but we know his situation and where he is playing, we'll move on to something else."
Los Merengues may have held out hopes of Kaka asking for a transfer, but Milan supremo Silvio Berlusconi was adamant that the player would be going nowhere.
"There has never been any possibility of it happening," he stated recently.
"He has never wanted to leave and I believe that he will never do so. Kaka is the symbol of Milan."
27 October 2007
Celtic boss Gordon Strachan has hit out at critics who labelled his tactics during the Champions League defeat by Benfica as defensive.
Strachan rested top scorer Scott McDonald and handed Chris Killen his second start for the club as a lone striker, with Aiden McGeady and Jiri Jarosik the wide men in a five-man midfield.
McGeady, Scott Brown and Massimo Donati all had shooting opportunities before Celtic were pegged back in the final quarter.
Oscar Cardozo's 87th-minute goal left the Hoops bottom of Group D but Strachan believes his tactics had offered scope for attacking as well as the rearguard action of the latter stages.
He said: "We were described as a defensive team on Wednesday - the same team that played against AC Milan apart from one. It was the same system and that was hailed as a fantastic performance and 'up and at 'em'. It's a system that Rangers and Hibs use, but nobody calls that defensive. But we play it again and that was a defensive performance. I couldn't see that. I wouldn't call Jarosik and McGeady defensive players by any stretch of the imagination."
Celtic may need to repeat their home win over Milan when Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk visit Parkhead but Strachan has faith in his team to progress.
"I think if we had lasted another three minutes, I'm sure even the harshest of critics would have said it was a fantastic result," the Hoops manager said.
"What gives me heart is the players. We are trying to play a system, it's working not too badly. It got us to the top of the table, it has got us three behind the leaders of our table in the Champions League, it has got us through to the next round of the League Cup. But our system needs to be tweaked a bit, we need to work it even more and to try to improve on that. So it's the players that give me heart."
Strachan started with McDonald on the bench at the Estadio da Luz to avoid losing his main striker, as Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Maciej Zurawski are out injured.
Celtic are also without a recognised right-back with Mark Wilson and Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe missing but Strachan was insistent that he would never use the injury list as an excuse.
"It's not a problem to us, I get on with it," he said.
"I'm not looking for excuses. The same people were out when we played AC Milan - we can deal with it. There can't be a blame for everything that happens in football. I think people have to say 'well, why did that happen?' It's football, it's just football sometimes. We do not have an answer to everything that goes on in the world, it's the same with football."
26 October 2007
Celtic midfielder Teddy Bjarnason has urged Gordon Strachan to give the club's key players a rest - so that he can take their place.
The Iceland international recovered from a broken metatarsal to take his place on the bench during the Old Firm defeat at Rangers last Saturday.
And the 20-year-old, who made his Celtic debut in the 2-1 defeat by Hibernian in May, is hopeful of getting his first game of the season as the club's heavy schedule continues.
Celtic suffered an energy-sapping late 1-0 defeat at Benfica on Wednesday and have Mark McGhee's in-form Motherwell to contend with at Parkhead in the Scottish Premier League.
And Bjarnason is waiting in the wings if Strachan feels his midfield needs freshening up.
"There have been loads of games and people must be starting to tire," Bjarnason told the Celtic View.
"That's when I'll be hoping to get my chance, when the manager has to use more players, and I'll be ready to take it. But I'll just have to wait and bide my time. The team is playing well this season and they have shown that by beating AC Milan, last season's Champions League winners. They have had a lot of difficult games and they have done very well, so I have to be patient."
Motherwell centre-half Mark Reynolds is also hoping to capitalise on Celtic's return from Portugal and tough 90 minutes in the Estadio da Luz.
The Scotland Under-21 defender said: "I do know from personal experience that doing a lot of travelling before games does take it out of you. They have a busy schedule so hopefully that will work in our favour, but at the same time they have a massive squad full of quality players that they can pull in who have fresh legs. We just need to concentrate on our game and as long as we turn up and put on a good show for our fans then hopefully the result will take care of itself."
The Steelmen last week followed up their CIS Insurance Cup win over Hibernian by foiling the Edinburgh side's bid to go top of the SPL with a 2-1 victory at Fir Park.
The Lanarkshire side have won three games on the road in the league this season as well as their 4-2 cup triumph at Easter Road.
And such form has convinced the 20-year-old that they should go to Celtic Park with confidence.
He told the club's official website: "The team is not scared of going anywhere or playing against any team at the moment and we know that on our day we can compete and beat anyone in this league, including the champions. Celtic are one of the top teams in Scotland and Europe so we are looking forward to going in against them and proving to everyone that we are a serious threat to be reckoned with this season."
25 October 2007
World Cup-winning Azzurri coach Marcelo Lippi has declared himself ready to retake a managerial hotseat.
The boss-turned-pundit told the Gazzetta dello Sport, "I don't have a specific club in mind, but I'm ready for a new job. Working on TV has been enjoyable, but it was never going to be long-term. I'd love to coach in England, but since I can't speak English I'm at a massive disadvantage; after all, a manager has to manage his players. AC Milan? They already have a superb boss [in Carlo Ancelotti]; he's a great guy to have in charge."
Lippi resigned from the national team after that World Cup Final win over France in summer but, with Roberto Donadoni's new-look Azzurri struggling to hit form, many have called for the ex-Juventus man's return.
Some have even speculated that he would serve well as an assistant to Donadoni, but Lippi has laughed off such suggestions.
"Donadoni's a top coach and doesn't need my help," he puffed.
"The current Azzurri squad is fantastic and have only drawn and lost once against France. I'm sure that they will show the pedigree becoming of World Champions when they face Scotland [in November at Hampden] and consequently qualify."
Lippi is noted for having an eye for a player and, with that in mind, has made an unusual recommendation for the Ballon d'Or prize, awarded to the World Player of the Year by France Football magazine.
"I think that Andrea Pirlo deserves the prize," he said of the AC Milan midfielder.
"He's won as much as Kaka has and, of course, he's a World Cup winner. He's highly rated worldwide and is one of the few players can really exemplify a side."
25 October 2007
John Kennedy admits Celtic may have to depend on their home form to get them out of the group stages of the Champions League once again.
The Parkhead side's dismal away record in the group stages of the tournament was extended to 14 games without a win as they lost to a late Oscar Cardozo goal against Benfica in Lisbon.
Gordon Strachan's side are now bottom of Group D with one win against AC Milan in Glasgow set against a defeat in Ukraine against Shakhtar Donetsk and Wednesday's disappointment in the Stadium of Light.
Celtic won through to the last 16 of the Champions League last year with the nine points they garnered at Parkhead and Kennedy is looking for the same again.
The Celtic defender said: "Nine points could take us through again. If we can win all our home games then it gives us a great chance. We've done well in every game that we have played at home so we have to take that into the return game against Benfica in a fortnight and hope that we do well. Unfortunately we didn't get any points against Benfica so the return game is a big game now, it is crucial that we take three points to keep in touch and you never know what might happen."
The Scottish champions can have no complaints about the result which represented yet another disappointment on the road.
Strachan's side matched Benfica in the first half but after the break the Paraguay international Cardozo twice hit the woodwork and was denied by a world-class save from Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc before netting the winner four minutes from time.
Kennedy, however, insists the Parkhead side's dismal away record in the tournament is not affecting the players psychologically before games abroad.
He said: "I don't think so. It always gets mentioned but a lot of teams in Europe find it hard away from home and we are no different. Obviously last night was maybe a chance for us to get a point at least but we kind of threw it away at the end. You have to have a bit of luck to get results away from home and we thought for a long period that the luck was maybe with us. The boys worked so hard throughout the whole game to shut them down and so it was just so disappointing to lose at the end."
Benfica boss Jose Antonio Camacho was glad that his side got the late breakthrough.
He said: "It was horrible when we were creating chances and the ball wouldn't go in. I said that if we got the first goal we would not lose and that's what happened. The most important thing was three points, we were happy with that. Our next game is in Glasgow and we will be ready for that."
23 October 2007
Kaka could potentially miss Wednesday's Champions League meeting between AC Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk at the San Siro due to a knee injury.
Kaka sat out AC Milan's humiliating 1-0 home defeat to Empoli at the weekend in preparation for the impending Champions League encounter with Shakhtar Donetsk, but could potentially miss that tie, too.
The Brazilian maestro is a slight doubt for the Matchday 3 tie due to a knee injury - one that was earlier played down by Milanese vice-president Adriano Galliani.
First team coach Carlo Ancelotti, though, refused to guarantee Kaka's presence against the Ukrainians.
"We have one more day to see if he can recover or not," said the manager.
Reigning champions Milan have taken three points from six so far, beating Benfica in the first match before losing out 2-1 to Celtic in Scotland in the second.
Kaka, aged 25, has an all-time Champions League record of 23 goals in 54 games. The former Sao Paolo attacker also set up the winning goal in last season's final, AC Milan defeating Liverpool 2-1 in Greece.
22 October 2007
AC Milan are interested in solving their attacking crisis with a summer move with Nicolas Anelka, claim reports in the Daily Star.
The Trotters are facing a difficult task in retaining the services of in-shape striker Nicolas Anelka, who was linked with a move abroad for much of the summer.
Even though the France forward decided to stay in England, poor run in the Premiership might change his mind after recent reports suggest AC Milan joined the chase for former Arsenal and Real Madrid star.
Milan are ready to pay £12.5million to lure the hitman to the San Siro.
18 October 2007
Newcastle target Edmilson admits he will not be signing a new contract at Barcelona.
The Brazilian international moved to Camp Nou in 2004 and helped them to UEFA Champions League glory in 2006.
However, his time with the Catalan giants has been dogged by injury, including two serious knee ligament problems - one which ruled him out of the 2006 World Cup finals.
He is currently recovering from a summer operation on his knee and is not expected to return to fitness until January.
The 31-year-old was targeted by both AC Milan and Newcastle in the summer and English sources continue to suggest that he could move to Tyneside as early as January.
But the player himself seems set on regaining his fitness first.
"I am training hard to get physically fit and will be until the end of my contract," he told the media in Brazil.
"Personally I know that this is my last season at Barcelona. I want to be able to play again without feeling pain. I couldn't show the best of me last year but now I am a little bit better. Unfortunately I haven't been able to repeat yet at Barcelona the good performance that I had at Lyon."
Edmilson confirmed that he was close to joining Milan in the summer.
"Before the season began, I was approached by the people from Milan - there was a possibility but my knee was not good," he admitted.
Meanwhile, Barca striker Samuel Eto'o has been granted a Spanish passport.
La Liga rules state that clubs can only have three non-EU players in their squads.
Barca now only have one non-EU player in their squad, Yaya Toure, as both Ronaldinho and Giovani dos Santos were also granted Spanish citizenship earlier this year.
18 October 2007
Ajax midfielder Edgar Davids has returned to light training following a broken shin bone.
The 34-year-old suffered the injury in a practice match against Go Ahead Eagles on July 21 when he did not wear any shin pads.
It is not yet known when the former AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Internazionale and Tottenham Hotspur ace can return to first-team action.
17 October 2007
AC Milan have launched their appeal against a two-game ban handed to goalkeeper Dida following his histrionics in the Champions League defeat to Celtic.
Rossoneri vice-president Adriano Galliani confirmed on Wednesday that the European Champions have lodged their correspondence with Uefa, taking the opportunity to underline his belief that the Brazil international 'hasn't done anything'.
Dida was charged by the European governing body after an altercation with a Celtic fan in the 2-1 win for Gordon Strachan's side at Parkhead on October 3.
After seemingly being slapped by a supporter who entered the field of play following Scott McDonald's late winner, Dida initially gave chase before falling to the turf and then being stretchered off with ice being applied to his face.
Uefa reviewed the video evidence though and subsequently charged the keeper for breaching 'principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship', entailing a suspension that would rule him out of the group stage double header against Shakhtar Donetsk.
However, Milan have now appealed against the ban and Galliani has stated his belief that Dida is the wronged party in the incident that has sparked such controversy.
"We have just sent the appeal to Uefa for Dida," said Galliani.
"The important thing is that a definite decision is taken before next Wednesday's Champions League game. Dida hasn't done anything, in fact he was hit."
Celtic banned the supporter involved in the altercation for life after he handed himself into the club.
