Once Caldas Vs Porto/Dec 12 The Last One
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Colombia's Once Caldas' goalkeeper Juan Carlos Henao (C) is kissed by a Colombian fan resident in Japan upon his arrival with team mates at New Tokyo International airport in Narita, east of Tokyo December 3, 2004. The team flew in for the European-South American Cup club championship against European champions FC Porto of Portugal on December 12. This year's duel will be the last between Europe and South America. The FIFA Club World Championship TOYOTA Cup Japan 2005 will involve the champions of all six continents.
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I hope this ONE FUGLY dude scares the Porto strikers when approaching his goalmouth!! :dielaugh:
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One thing at a time, old stick, don't want to get ahead of myself.colocolo said:
I assume that this trophy will go the way of other tournaments that are ended, the winning team will get to keep the trophy outright.
That would make a nice addition to the winning team's trophy room.
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Porto head for Japan after Champions League scare
LISBON, Dec 8 (Reuters) -
Relieved Porto travel to Japan for Sunday's World Club Cup boosted by a last-gasp victory over Chelsea in the Champions League that took the title-holders into the last 16.
For 86 minutes it looked as though Porto would become the first European champions to be knocked out of the competition at the group stage.
With the score at 1-1 and the minutes ticking away, Benni McCarthy rose above William Gallas at the far post to head the winner past Chelsea keeeper Petr Cech.
CSKA Moscow beat Paris St Germain 3-1 in the other game in Group H. Porto's late win left the Russian side in third place with a UEFA Cup spot as consolation. Chelsea won the group.
Porto play Once Caldas of Colombia, winners of the Libertadores Cup, in Yokohama on Sunday. The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League is on December 17.
Porto's victory allowed coach Vitor Fernandez to exorcise the ghost of former manager Jose Mourinho who had moved to Chelsea in the close season.
"This victory over Chelsea has given us great heart," Fernandez said. "But it has left us with several injured players -- Maniche, Diego, Jorge Costa and Derlei left the pitch with problems.
"We will have gentle training and hope the players recover. We have very little time to adapt to the climate and time change in Japan."
LISBON, Dec 8 (Reuters) -
Relieved Porto travel to Japan for Sunday's World Club Cup boosted by a last-gasp victory over Chelsea in the Champions League that took the title-holders into the last 16.
For 86 minutes it looked as though Porto would become the first European champions to be knocked out of the competition at the group stage.
With the score at 1-1 and the minutes ticking away, Benni McCarthy rose above William Gallas at the far post to head the winner past Chelsea keeeper Petr Cech.
CSKA Moscow beat Paris St Germain 3-1 in the other game in Group H. Porto's late win left the Russian side in third place with a UEFA Cup spot as consolation. Chelsea won the group.
Porto play Once Caldas of Colombia, winners of the Libertadores Cup, in Yokohama on Sunday. The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League is on December 17.
Porto's victory allowed coach Vitor Fernandez to exorcise the ghost of former manager Jose Mourinho who had moved to Chelsea in the close season.
"This victory over Chelsea has given us great heart," Fernandez said. "But it has left us with several injured players -- Maniche, Diego, Jorge Costa and Derlei left the pitch with problems.
"We will have gentle training and hope the players recover. We have very little time to adapt to the climate and time change in Japan."
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Once Caldas turn South American football on its head
By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 9 (Reuters)
- The soccer world was too busy trying to digest Greece's performance at the European Championship last June to notice an even more astonishing upset across the Atlantic in South America.
Once Caldas, a small, provincial club from Manizales in the Colombian Andes, somehow managed to walk off with the Libertadores Cup and will line up against European champions Porto in Yokohama, Japan, for the World Club championship on Sunday.
After dispatching Brazilian clubs Santos and Sao Paulo in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, Caldas overcame defending champions Boca Juniors on penalties to win the two-leg final and turn South American club football on its head.
Their win can only be compared to a small-town team from East Europe upstaging Juventus, Real Madrid and Arsenal and winning the Champions League.
Caldas, founded in 1959 from a merger of Deportes Caldas and Once Deportivo, were taking part in the competition for only the third time after winning their first Colombian championship the year before.
Colombia itself had won the Libertadores only once previously, back in 1989 with Atletico Nacional.
Caldas's triumph reflects the fact that, while the power in European club football is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small elite, South America is going in the opposite direction.
Many countries have taken football to the provinces in the last decade and Colombian football, in particular, now shows an impressive strength in depth.
For the last two years, the country has managed to get two clubs to the Liberadores semi-finals while the last five domestic titles have been shared by four clubs from four different cities -- Caldas, Medellin, America from Cali and Tolima from Ibague.
In the past, Colombian teams have flattered to deceive, knocking the ball around the pitch in pretty patterns but failing to deliver when it matters.
But Caldas coach Luis Fernando Montoya, who is just completing two years in charge, went from the opposite approach and his realised the limitations of his side.
Instead, the 47-year-old carefully built a team of workmanlike, journeyman professionals, rather in the manner of the late Brian Clough, who won the European Cup with an equally unfashionable Nottingham Forest team in 1979 and 1980.
PLAYERS DEPART
Once past the first-round group stage, they ground their way through the knockout stages, playing out for goaless draws in three of their four away matches and a 1-1 draw in the other.
Single-goal victories at home took them past Santos and Sao Paulo, and they needed penalty shootouts to beat Barcelona and Boca after drawing in Manizales.
Their campaign was even more remarkable considering that key striker Sergio Galvan Rey departed halfway through to play in Major League Soccer.
Rey had been a stalwart for the club for nearly a decade, scoring a record 171 goals in competitive games.
With Rey gone, it was attacking midfielder Arnulfo Valentierra who provided most of the firepower, his devastating left-foot shot producing five of their goals including a 30-metre free kick against Santos which must rank as one of the goals of the tournament.
Unfortunately, Valentierra has also departed, lured by an money-spinning offer from a club in the United Arab Emirates.
Caldas have also lost striker Jorge Agudelo, who was suspended for six months after testing positive for cocaine following the quarter-final first-leg tie away to Santos.
There have been two major signings -- Venezuela midfielder Leo Jimenez and experienced Mexico forward Antonio de Nigris.
Other key players are goalkeeper Henao, defensive midfielder Jhon Viafara and central defender Samuel Yanegas.
Henao was the real star in the Libertadores, playing in all 14 games.
The fact that he is a long-haired Colombian goalkeeper brought inevitable comparisons to his eccentric compatriot Rene Higuita but the similarities end there.
Henao prefers an orthodox approach and rarely strays from his penalty area.
He was the hero against Boca, saving two penalties in the shootout.
Caldas might well gamble their chances on taking Porto to penalties and hoping that Henao could once more produce the goods.
By Brian Homewood
RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 9 (Reuters)
- The soccer world was too busy trying to digest Greece's performance at the European Championship last June to notice an even more astonishing upset across the Atlantic in South America.
Once Caldas, a small, provincial club from Manizales in the Colombian Andes, somehow managed to walk off with the Libertadores Cup and will line up against European champions Porto in Yokohama, Japan, for the World Club championship on Sunday.
After dispatching Brazilian clubs Santos and Sao Paulo in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, Caldas overcame defending champions Boca Juniors on penalties to win the two-leg final and turn South American club football on its head.
Their win can only be compared to a small-town team from East Europe upstaging Juventus, Real Madrid and Arsenal and winning the Champions League.
Caldas, founded in 1959 from a merger of Deportes Caldas and Once Deportivo, were taking part in the competition for only the third time after winning their first Colombian championship the year before.
Colombia itself had won the Libertadores only once previously, back in 1989 with Atletico Nacional.
Caldas's triumph reflects the fact that, while the power in European club football is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small elite, South America is going in the opposite direction.
Many countries have taken football to the provinces in the last decade and Colombian football, in particular, now shows an impressive strength in depth.
For the last two years, the country has managed to get two clubs to the Liberadores semi-finals while the last five domestic titles have been shared by four clubs from four different cities -- Caldas, Medellin, America from Cali and Tolima from Ibague.
In the past, Colombian teams have flattered to deceive, knocking the ball around the pitch in pretty patterns but failing to deliver when it matters.
But Caldas coach Luis Fernando Montoya, who is just completing two years in charge, went from the opposite approach and his realised the limitations of his side.
Instead, the 47-year-old carefully built a team of workmanlike, journeyman professionals, rather in the manner of the late Brian Clough, who won the European Cup with an equally unfashionable Nottingham Forest team in 1979 and 1980.
PLAYERS DEPART
Once past the first-round group stage, they ground their way through the knockout stages, playing out for goaless draws in three of their four away matches and a 1-1 draw in the other.
Single-goal victories at home took them past Santos and Sao Paulo, and they needed penalty shootouts to beat Barcelona and Boca after drawing in Manizales.
Their campaign was even more remarkable considering that key striker Sergio Galvan Rey departed halfway through to play in Major League Soccer.
Rey had been a stalwart for the club for nearly a decade, scoring a record 171 goals in competitive games.
With Rey gone, it was attacking midfielder Arnulfo Valentierra who provided most of the firepower, his devastating left-foot shot producing five of their goals including a 30-metre free kick against Santos which must rank as one of the goals of the tournament.
Unfortunately, Valentierra has also departed, lured by an money-spinning offer from a club in the United Arab Emirates.
Caldas have also lost striker Jorge Agudelo, who was suspended for six months after testing positive for cocaine following the quarter-final first-leg tie away to Santos.
There have been two major signings -- Venezuela midfielder Leo Jimenez and experienced Mexico forward Antonio de Nigris.
Other key players are goalkeeper Henao, defensive midfielder Jhon Viafara and central defender Samuel Yanegas.
Henao was the real star in the Libertadores, playing in all 14 games.
The fact that he is a long-haired Colombian goalkeeper brought inevitable comparisons to his eccentric compatriot Rene Higuita but the similarities end there.
Henao prefers an orthodox approach and rarely strays from his penalty area.
He was the hero against Boca, saving two penalties in the shootout.
Caldas might well gamble their chances on taking Porto to penalties and hoping that Henao could once more produce the goods.
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Pride at stake for Porto and Once Caldas. :excited:
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 10 (Reuters)
- Portugal's Porto have thrown down the gauntlet to unheralded Colombian side Once Caldas ahead of Sunday's World Club Cup in Japan.
Porto beat Chelsea 2-1 in midweek to advance to the last 16 of the Champions League and give the club a huge lift going into the last edition of the annual clash between the champions of Europe and South America under its present one-off format.
"This is the last Intercontinental Cup," Porto coach Vitor Fernandez said on Friday. "I want to show that European clubs are superior to South American teams by winning it."
Though less of a force than when they won the Champions League under present Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho in May, the Porto players also feel they will have the edge in Yokohama.
South African striker Benni McCarthy vowed that Porto would win the World Club Cup for the second time after beating Penarol of Uruguay 2-1 in extra time to win the title in 1987.
"It's natural for European clubs to win because the best players in the world are playing in Europe," said Porto's top scorer. "As a bonus I hope I'm man of the match so I get that nice car (on offer)."
However, South American clubs have traditionally taken the World Club Cup more seriously than their European opponents and have won 22 times against 20 victories for Europe.
Once Caldas will perhaps feel they are destined to win it after overcoming defending champions Boca Juniors on penalties to win the two-leg Libertadores Cup final in July.
Certainly Once Caldas's players are relishing the challenge of bringing the unofficial title of the world's best team to the small-town club from Manizales in the Colombian Andes.
"I'm trembling with nerves and excitement," said captain Samuel Vanegas.
Coach Luis Fernando Montoya warned that his team were capable of springing a surprise in Yokohama.
"We represent South America and that's a big responsibility," he said. "We may not have lots of money but you can still have success -- we've proved that and want to do it again."
Japan will host a new-look 2005 and 2006 World Club Cup competition, which will comprise a club from each of soccer's six confederations.
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 10 (Reuters)
- Portugal's Porto have thrown down the gauntlet to unheralded Colombian side Once Caldas ahead of Sunday's World Club Cup in Japan.
Porto beat Chelsea 2-1 in midweek to advance to the last 16 of the Champions League and give the club a huge lift going into the last edition of the annual clash between the champions of Europe and South America under its present one-off format.
"This is the last Intercontinental Cup," Porto coach Vitor Fernandez said on Friday. "I want to show that European clubs are superior to South American teams by winning it."
Though less of a force than when they won the Champions League under present Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho in May, the Porto players also feel they will have the edge in Yokohama.
South African striker Benni McCarthy vowed that Porto would win the World Club Cup for the second time after beating Penarol of Uruguay 2-1 in extra time to win the title in 1987.
"It's natural for European clubs to win because the best players in the world are playing in Europe," said Porto's top scorer. "As a bonus I hope I'm man of the match so I get that nice car (on offer)."
However, South American clubs have traditionally taken the World Club Cup more seriously than their European opponents and have won 22 times against 20 victories for Europe.
Once Caldas will perhaps feel they are destined to win it after overcoming defending champions Boca Juniors on penalties to win the two-leg Libertadores Cup final in July.
Certainly Once Caldas's players are relishing the challenge of bringing the unofficial title of the world's best team to the small-town club from Manizales in the Colombian Andes.
"I'm trembling with nerves and excitement," said captain Samuel Vanegas.
Coach Luis Fernando Montoya warned that his team were capable of springing a surprise in Yokohama.
"We represent South America and that's a big responsibility," he said. "We may not have lots of money but you can still have success -- we've proved that and want to do it again."
Japan will host a new-look 2005 and 2006 World Club Cup competition, which will comprise a club from each of soccer's six confederations.
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Another trophy for Porto!:happy:
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