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| More news can be found in the "country" pages of the relevant clubs. | |
16/01/00 Golden Ball (Best Player): Golden Shoe (Goalscorer): Fair Play Award: | |
14/01/00 1st: Corinthians (Brazil) | |
14/01/00 FIFA President Sepp Blatter said yesterday that the CWC2000 proved his point that clubs from Africa, Asia and Oceania are good enough to compete against European & South American teams. Many people predicted that the "weaker" sides would be completely destroyed by the footballing giants, whereas in fact no team won by a margin of more than 2 goals. Blatter also said a decision will be made in March as to whether the CWC will be held every 1 or 2 years - although there will be some changes made to the format. | |
14/01/00 Real Madrid players Roberto Carlos and Guti (Jose Gutierrez) have both been fined 5,000,000 pesetas ($30,850) for their red cards in the game against Raja Casablanca. They, along with Christian Karembeu and the injured Nicolas Anelka (who has today undergone a knee operation) will be absent for tonights 3rd/4th place playoff, leaving Real with somewhat of a crisis. | |
12/01/00 The coaches of Manchester United and South Melbourne have been speaking out in favour of the CWC2000, with Sir Alex Ferguson describing it as "a great experience" and Ange Postecoglou saying that for his team "this ha been a once-in-a-lifetime experience" and that "only positives will come out of this". | |
11/01/00 More bad news for Real Madrid. Striker Nicolas Anelka, who had scored no goals in 16 games for Real Madrid but had just started a run of form that sees him as one of the CWC2000's highest scorers, will be out of action for at least 3 months with a ligament injury sustained in the game against Raja Casablanca. With their current injury list and suspension list they will be short of many of their best players in the 3rd/4th place playoff gainst Necaxa. | |
10/01/00 The manager of Vasco da Gama has delivered a stinging rebuke of European football, saying that Brazilian football is the best in the world and not one player from Manchester United would ever make it into his team. Meanwhile popular TV presenter and newspaper columnist Juca Kfouri has also condemned football outside of Brazil and labelled the performance of Al-Nassr as "horrible Arabian football". | |
10/01/00 Real Madrid will play in the 3rd/4th place play-offs without many of their first team, as Christian Karembeu, Guti and Roberto Carlos were all sent off in the game against Raja Casablanca. | |
09/01/00 Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson has said he will probably rest many of the senior players of his squad for the game against South Melbourne on Tuesday and give many of the younger players a game. This indicates that the English team have no real interest in fighting for a 2nd place position in Group B. | |
08/01/00 South Melbourne are the second team to not have a place in the finals, having gained no points from their first two games. The first and second place in Group B are still up for grabs - if Necaxa beat Vasco da Gama in their final game they will take first place and Vasco second. If Necaxa and Vasco draw, Vasco will take first place and Necaxa second. If Necaxa lose and Manchester United beat South Melbourne by a significant number of goals, Vasco will take first place and Manchester United second. | |
08/01/00 Manchester United have lost their chance of a place in the final, having only gained 1 point from 2 games. They must now hope that they can win their last game and neither Necaxa or South Melbourne win either of their remaining games to fight for a 3rd or 4th placed slot. | |
07/01/00 Raja Casablanca are the first team to definitely not qualify for the finals of the CWC2000. After 2 games they have no points, and will be unable to finish in either first or second place in the group. The representatives of Africa will also have to play their final game, against Real Madrid, without midfielder Youssef Safri, who was sent off in tonights game. | |
07/01/00 Refereeing disputes threaten to overshadow the games of the tournament. After the wrongly allowed goal in the Corinthians - Raja Casablanca game, the disputed sending-off of David Beckham in the Manchester United - Necaxa game and the disallowed but legal goal in tonight's Real Madrid - Corinthians game many people will be calling for a reform of the way referees are allocated to tournaments in the future. | |
07/01/00 More Manchester United news... David Beckham has received a 1 match ban and a fine of 2,000 Swiss Francs for his sending off last night. United coach Sir Alex Ferguson has also received a 1 match ban, meaning he will not be able to sit with his team for the Vasco game, and a fine of 5,000 Swiss Francs for "improper conduct" - arguing with the fourth official over Beckham's sending off. Sir Alex has criticised the Argentinian referee in last nights game, saying that his decisions were uneven and improper. He said he looks forward to better decisions in Saturday's game - which will, ironically, be refereed by the same official he received his ban for arguing with! | |
07/01/00 Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson has leapt to the defence of under-fire David Beckham after his sending off last night, claiming it was "Mexican theatrics" that got his player sent off. Beckham will have his fate decided by a disciplinary commitee today - he will definitely miss the game against Vasco da Gama, but could be suspended for more. | |
06/01/00 Manchester United midfielder David Beckham recieved a red card and left the pitch in their game against Necaxa today. He will be suspended for their crunch game against Vasco da Gama. | |
06/01/00 Vasco stars Romário and Edmundo trained together for the first time yesterday and could possibly start in tonights game against South Melbourne. The pairs' differences are widely known, but if they can rekindle the chemistry they had on the field together at Flamengo they will present a formidable opposition. | |
03/01/00 Morrocan club Raja Casablanca will play the tournament without coach Oscar Fullone, who has been ordered to rest by doctors. Former player Fathi Yamal will take over temporarily. | |
22/12/99 Corinthians become this years Brazilian champions despite only drawing 0 - 0 with Atléico Minas Gerais. Their superior goal record (4 to Atléico's 3) ensured that they only needed the draw to win. | |
20/12/99 Today is the deadline for registering new players; with the exceptions of Al-Nassr & Vasco da Gama, none of the teams involved have significantly bolstered their squads. | |
19/12/99 Corinthians striker (and leading goalscorer in Brazil this season) Luizão has been accused of getting himself red-carded deliberately in order to play in the 3rd leg of the final on Thursday. He was yellow-carded earlier in the game and would have missed the Grand Final, but under Campeonato Brasileiro rules a red-card negates any earlier yellow cards and he is able to play. This has led to accusations of cheating on his part, and many people are already decrying the final as a farce. Vasco da Gama striker Edmundo was accused of the same crime in the 1997 play-offs. | |
12/12/99 The African Champions League winner is Raja Casablanca of Morocco, who will now take part in the CWC2000. They beat rivals Esperance of Tunisia 4-3 in a penalty shootout after the replay of the final once again drew 0-0. | |
04/12/99 Real Madrid suffered their worst home defeat in 25 years today, losing 5-1 to Zaragoza and continuing their slide down the league table. The result, the worst since 1974 when they lost 5-0 to Barcelona, is another huge blow for the struggling club. | |
02/12/99 The Romário saga refuses to go away... Saudi-Arabian club Al-Nassr claim they have the Brazilian strikers signature on a 3-month contract. Romário himself disputes this, saying that he has been in contact with them but only by fax and no contract was signed. | |
30/11/99 A small preview of the FIFA Club World Championship was had today when England's Manchester United played Palmeiras of Brazil in the Toyota Intercontinental Cup. Despite having the run of the game, Palmeiras failed to net the ball and went down to a solitary goal from Roy Keane. Manchester United seemed to struggle with the pace of the game at times but their persistence and strong defence (especially from goalkeeper Mark Bosnich) paid off in the end. | |
21/11/99 After a weekend of confusion, Romário has finally signed for Vasco Da Gama. Initial reports at the weekend suggested he had, then that he hadn't. The issue was further complicated by Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr claiming that they had the strikers signature on a 3-month contract with them. However, Romário will be playing for Vasco and will be taking part in the Club World Championship. | |
20/11/99 FIFA have extended the deadline for clubs to sign players. Following this change, any player signed before 20th December will be eligible to compete in the Championship. | |
20/11/99 Despite reports, Brazilian international striker Romário has not rejoined his old club Vasco. Romário was dismissed by his club, Flamengo, for attending a party the night before the final game of the championship. However, owing to rumours that at least 5 other teams want to sign him, including Flamengo's rivals Vasco, the club have said that if he apologises they will allow him back. Romário, however, has thus far refused to do so. | |
17/11/99 Real Madrid coach John Toshack has been dismissed from the club. Real Madrid have not been happy with the teams league performance this season, and despite a huge summer spending spree (including £23m on striker Nicolas Anelka, who yesterday announced his decision to go on strike if loaned to another club) results have continued to be poor. Toshack's criticism of the players, notably goalkeeper Bizarri, forced chairman Lorenzo Sanz to dismiss him. | |
31/10/99 FIFA have released an official announcement stating that only players signed to clubs before 15th November 1999 will be eligible to take part in the Club World Championship. Clubs must present a list of 23 players to FIFA at least 10 days before the commencement of the tournament. | |
31/10/99 Prize money has been announced; The 1st placed club will receive US$6,000,000, 2nd placed will receive US$5,000,000, 3rd and 4th will receive US$3,000,000 each and the remaining 4 clubs will each receive US$2,500,000. | |