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Germany international striker PATRICK HELMES (left) of Bayer Leverkusen, who leads the Werkself with four goals in the UEFA Europa League this season, and Atletico Madrid defender JUAN VALERA battle for the ball on the snow-covered pitch at the Bay Arena in North Rhine-Westphalia. (Frank Augstein/AP)
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BAYER LEVERKUSEN continues its UEFA Europa League campaign unbeaten with the 1-1 draw against Spanish La Liga outfit Atletico Madrid — the Bundesliga’s second place side finished first in Group B with three wins from six matches.
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(Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images)
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20-year-old Bayer Leverkusen reserve goalkeeper FABIAN GIEFER (36) collects the ball safely ahead of Atletico Madrid’s 22-year-old Argentina World Cup reserve striker SERGIO AGUERO (10), who cost a reported 23.0 million Euros when purchased from South American club CA Independiente in May of 2006, at the Bay Arena. (Frank Augstein/AP)
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BAYER LEVERKUSEN : Giefer – Castro (da Costa 46′), Schwaab, Hyypia, Vida – Bender (Vidal 88′), Balitlsch – Kaplan, Renato Augusto (Kiessling 46′) – Jorgensen, Helmes
ATLETICO MADRID : De Gea – Valera, Perea, Dominguez, Filipe – Assuncao, Suarez (Tiago 84′) – Garcia, Simao (Merida 71′) – Forlan (Costa 67′), Aguero
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Bayer Leverkusen midfielder HANNO BALITSCH (14) clears the ball away from Uruguay World Cup striker DIEGO FORLAN, for whom Atletico Madrid paid a transfer fee of 21.0 million Euros to CF Villarreal in June of 2007, as the snow falls at the Bay Arena in western Germany. (Frank Augstein/AP)
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(Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images) — “Holy cow farts in Denmark, this is ridiculous. There is absolutely nothing in my playing contract that says anything about this! And these Progressive Liberal morons want to tax the snot out of my salary so I can pay for a bunch of carbon credits I neither need nor want?…” Atletico Madrid’s 20-year-old first choice goalkeeper DAVID DE GEA thinks to himself while his intestinal fortitude suffers a wardrobe malfunction at the Bay Arena in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
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(Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images) — “What a fucking mamby-pamby pussy,” 20-year-old Bayer Leverkusen reserve goalkeeper FABIAN GIEFER muses while looking over his shoulder at his Spanish counterpart shivering his face off at the other end. “Wear a warm sweatshirt underneath your game jersey, jackass…”
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At some point, Uruguay World Cup striker DIEGO FORLAN must really begin to dread the sight of any team connected to Germany on the old fixtures schedule.
Forlan and full-strength Uruguay, of course, were put on ice by the reserve team of Germany in the 3rd Place Match at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Now, the high-priced striker with the girly hairband suffers the indignity of going goalless in two games against Bayer Leverkusen as defending champion Atletico Madrid ingloriously exit the UEFA Europa League at the group stage in snowy Germany.
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Spanish striker and club captain KOKE (10) of FC Aris Thessaloniki settles the ball in front of BK Rosenborg Trondheim’s Ghana World Cup midfielder ANTHONY ANNAN (4) at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium in the northern Greek port city. (Nikolas Giakoumidis/AP)
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A goal in injury time on either side of the halftime whistled allowed Greek side FC ARIS THESSALONIKI to maintain its noteworthy 40-year-plus home unbeaten record and advance to the knockout round of the UEFA Europa League this spring at the expense of the defending title holders Atletico Madrid of Spain.
Goals from Croatian striker DANIJEL CESAREC and substitute French midfielder RICARDO FATY, who arrived from Italian Serie A side AS Roma on a free transfer this summer, carried FC Aris Thessaloniki to a stirring 2-0 victory over visiting Norwegian outfit BK ROSENBORG TRONDHEIM.
Cesarec’s third goal in the UEFA Europa League this season ties him with Guatemala international striker CARLOS RUIZ for the FC Aris Thessaloniki team lead; the 27-year-old Croatian, signed from FC Asteras Trioilis this summer, tops the Greek Super League club with five goals in all competitions this term, as well.
FC ARIS THESSALONIKI
home record in Europe since 1969-70 season
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69/70 — 1-1 — Cagliari (Italy)
70/71 — 1-1 — FC Chelsea (England)
74/75 — 1-0 — SK Rapid Vienna (Austria)
79/80 — 3-1 — Benfica Lisbon (Portugal)
79/80 — 1-1 — Perugia (Italy)
79/80 — 3-3 — AS St. Etienne (France)
80/81 — 3-1 — FC Ipswich Town (England)
81/82 — 4-0 — Sliema Wanderers (Malta)
81/82 — 1-1 — SC Lokeren (Belgium)
94/95 — 3-1 — FC Hapoel Be’er Sheva (Israel)
94/95 — 1-0 — GKS Katowice (Poland)
99/00 — 1-1 — FC Servette Geneva (Switz)
99/00 — 2-2 — RC Celta Vigo (Spain)
03/04 — 2-1 — FC Zimbru Chisinau (Romania)
03/04 — 1-1 — Perugia (Italy)
05/06 — 0-0 — AS Roma (Italy)
07/08 — 1-0 — Real Zaragoza (Spain)
07/08 — 3-0 — Red Star Belgrade (Serbia)
07/08 — 1-1 — Sporting Braga (Portugal)
08/09 — 1-0 — NK Slaven Belupo (Croatia)
10/11 — 2-2 — Jagiellonia Bialystok (Poland)
10/11 — 1-0 — FK Austria Vienna (Austria)
10/11 — 1-0 — Atletico Madrid (Spain)
10/11 — 0-0 — Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
10/11 — 2-0 — BK Rosenborg Trondheim (Norway)
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(Nikolas Giakoumidis/AP)
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BK Rosenborg Trondheim manager NILS ARNE EGGEN (left) observes as all the scrap paper greeting the visiting Norwegian side’s arrival is gathered by the grounds crew at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium in the northern Greek port city. (Sakris Mitrolidis/AFP/Getty Images)
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Highly-skilled midfielder MARCEL RADUCANU of Borussia Dortmund, who fled his native communist Romania and notorious dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1981, takes a break at the near post during a West German Bundesliga match at the Westfalenstadion in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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The thunderous roar of the crowd following a goal for the national team against famous England, World Cup winners in 1966. The terrifying fear inflicted by a telephone call from the Securitate, the secret police of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. It was the footballing talents of Romania international midfielder MARCEL RADUCANU which were responsible for both.
The finest hour of Raducanu’s all too short senior international career arrived with the World Cup qualification game from UEFA Group IV contested at the Stadionul National in Bucharest on October 15, 1980.
After completely deceiving the England defender with a fake left-footed shot, Raducanu deftly cut the ball back and rifled a low drive past the diving FC Liverpool goalkeeper RAY CLEMENCE for the game’s first goal in the 35th minute as Romania went on to claim a memorable 2-1 win.
Raducanu, who had been named his country’s Footballer of the Year in 1980, soon became disillusioned after not getting on the field for the return game with England at Wembley, a goalless draw, in April of 1981. Apparently, the Steaua Bucharest midfielder, who earned 21 caps and scored three goals in all for Romania, had the opportunity to defect in May following the World Cup Group IV 1-0 loss to Hungary in Budapest but did not take advantage of the situation. Raducanu later admitted to regretting that decision; the playmaker would not let the next lucky break pass him by.
In the summer of 1981, Steaua Bucharest went on tour in West Germany to prepare for the upcoming season. An old friend of Raducanu, a Romanian expatriate living in Hannover, contacted the footballer where the army club were staying near Kassel. After learning of the player’s desire to defect, the old friend immediately offered to help and a plan was hatched.
For Steaua Bucharest’s next Testspiel versus Borussia Dortmund, Raducanu would play his best to impress potential Bundesliga employers, then inform the coach at halftime of an imaginary injury. The scheme worked to perfection, and the midfielder was left all alone with a heavily-bandaged knee after the break in the visitors’ locker room. Raducanu then packed a quick bag and simply strolled out to the stadium parking lot, where his old friend was waiting with a car to whisk away to Hannover.
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Midfielder MARCEL RADUCANU of Steaua Bucharest (above) played 229 elite league games and scored 94 goals for the Romanian army club before defecting in the summer of 1981 with his 27th birthday approaching that fall. Because Raducanu held the rank of captain in the country’s armed forces, the midfielder was formally charged with desertion by a military court and tried in absentia. Convicted, the Romania national team player was sentenced to six years in prison.
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As was order of the day with all Eastern Bloc defectors, the Romania international midfielder was suspended from all football competition for one year by Union of European Football Associations and, so, Raducanu was forced to sit out the 1981-82 season. There were no shortage of Bundesliga suitors, though, and a dispute errupted between Borussia Dortmund and Hannover 96 over the player’s contract status. The problem was solved when Borussia Dortmund paid Hannover 96 half a million marks, a considerable sum at the time.
Raducanu made his Bundesliga debut in late August of 1982 in a 1-1 draw with Vfb Stuttgart; operating in the role of an attacking midfielder, the Romanian recorded nine goals in 26 Bundesliga games and added another pair in five DFB Pokal matches for Borussia Dortmund his first campaign in West Germany.
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In all, MARCEL RADUCANU spent six seasons with Borussia Dortmund (above) and contested 163 career Bundesliga games scoring 31 goals. Including DFB Pokal and UEFA Cup matches, the Romania international midfielder appeared 178 times and totaled 34 goals for die Schwarzgelben. At the age of 33, Raducanu transferred to FC Zurich in Switzerland to start the 1988-89 campaign.
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Years later, Raducanu confessed in an interview that, after his defection, the Romanian government confiscated all his earthly possessions, such as his house and car. He tried to maintain contact with his family via the telephone, even though he knew the line was tapped by the dictator Ceausescu’s Securitate. Initially, the player stated he had felt safe in West Germany until the phone rang one day.
It was the Securitate calling long distance.
“Wir kriegen dich, Verbrecher!” — We catch you, criminal.
It is interesting to note that when Borussia Dortmund were drawn to play FK Velez Mostar in the 1987-88 UEFA Cup, Raducanu — after having started the first leg for Borussia Dortmund in West Germany — did not make the trip to Yugoslavia for the return match of the second round tie.
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While holding the shirt of his # 8 counterpart, FC Sevilla’s Ivory Coast World Cup midfielder DIDIER ZOKORA (left), Turkey international midfielder NURI SAHIN of Borussia Dortmund watches FC Sevilla’s substitute Argentine defender FEDERICO FAZIO (2) easily win the aerial contest at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. (David Ramos/Getty Images
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Bundesliga leaders BORUSSIA DORTMUND let an early goal evaporate and could only rally to tie FC SEVILLA 2-2 in Group J of the UEFA Europa League; the result allowed the La Liga club to retain second place and sent the Germans crashing out of the UEFA Europa League for this season.
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37-year-old veteran goalkeeper ANDRES PALOP of FC Sevilla reaches out to deny Borussia Dortmund’s Japan international midfielder SHINJI KAGAWA (23), who scored his fourth goal in Europe and 12th overall on the season in the only the fourth minute of the match, as France international defender JULIEN ESCUDE (14) arrives on the scene at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. (David Ramos/Getty Images)
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As FC Utrecht’s 21-year-old midfielder BARRY MAGUIRE (18), who is native to the Netherlands but pledged his alliegance to Ireland this past September, attempts to keep pace with England World Cup midfielder JOE COLE (10) of FC Liverpool at fabled Anfield on the Isle of Great Britain. (Clint Hughes/Getty Images)
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UEFA Europa League
Group Stage
12/15/2010
0 – FC Liverpool (ENG)
0 – FC Utrecht (HOL)
“Liverpool may have given children free tickets for the Europa League tie against Utrecht at Anfield but even they will have felt short-changed by the disappointing goalless draw…”
Hey! — What is so bad about error-free goalkeeping, organized defense and a clean sheet?
Besides, the blog would have been thrilled just to be at Anfield on someone’s else’s dime…the blog has every confidence the children somehow managed to enjoy themselves in spite of the dearth of goals scored.
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Australia international goalkeeper BRAD JONES, a purchase of 2.3 million English pounds by manager Roy Hodgson from Middlesborough this past August who has appeared exactly twice now for Liverpool since, punches the ball to safety against FC Utrecht at Anfield. (IHN/dailymail.co.uk)
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Having already qualified for the knockout round of 32 this spring, FC Liverpool manager ROY HODGSON did the right thing to send out the reserves for the Scousers’ final match at the group stage.
Australia international goalkeeper BRAD JONES, who had previously made just one start for the Reds in the Carling League Cup since signing from Middlesborough this summer, appeared in Europe for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
Holland international striker RICKY VAN WOLFSWINKEL, who leads FC Utrecht with 11 goals in 18 Eredivisie games this season, was taken off at halftime by visiting manager TON DU CHATINIER in favor of 19-year-old attacker LEON DE KOGEL; thus, the promising 21-year-old ends his 2010-11 European campaign with a record of eight goals from 12 UEFA Europa League matches.
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Holland World Cup reserve goalkeeper MICHEL VORM, who collected his third shutout in six UEFA Europa League group stage games against FC Liverpool, barks out instructions to his FC Utrecht defense during the match against the Reds at Anfield in England. (Clint Hughes/Getty Images)
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FC LIVERPOOL : Jones – Kelly, Skrtel (Kyrgiakos 46′), Wilson, Aurelio – Jovanovic (Kuyt 73′), Poulsen, Shelvey, Cole – Babel, Eccleston (Pacheco 56′)
FC UTRECHT : Vorm – Cornelisse, Keller, Wuytens, Nesu – Duplan (Oar 71′), Silberbauer, Nijholt, Maguire (Sarota 83′), Mertens – van Wolfswinkel (de Kogel 46′)
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With a hand on the stomach of Holland World Cup midfielder DEMY DE ZEEUW (20) to keep the Ajax Amsterdam midfielder at bay, AC Milan’s two-time World Cup forward RONALDINHO, who has won 88 caps and scored 32 goals for Brazil in his career, attempts to settle the ball at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in northern Italy. (Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)
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UEFA Champions League
Group Stage
12/8/2010
0 – AC Milan (ITA)
2 – Ajax Amsterdam (HOL) ——— de Zeeuw 57′, Alderweireld 66′
A determined effort for the new head coach resulted in a pair of deserved second half goals as visiting Dutch Eredivisie side AJAX AMSTERDAM defeated hosting Italian Serie A club AC MILAN 2-0 in Group G of the UEFA Champions League.
Ajax Amsterdam took the game to AC Milan immediately and would continue to apply pressure throughout the game as the 21-9 advantage for shots-at-goal would indicate. In fact, if not for the work of Italy international MARCO AMELIA between the sticks for the Rossoneri, the defeat for the home side might have easily been much heavier. The 28-year-old Amelia, on loan to AC Milan for the season from FC Genoa, was credited with eleven saves by the official website of the UEFA Champions League.
Even though French club AJ Auxerre lost in Madrid and, thus, Ajax Amsterdam would have claimed third place in Group G and the resulting spot in the UEFA Europa League this spring anyway, the away win in Milan was still a fine way for de Godenzonen to begin the managerial tenure of FRANK DE BOER.
The 40-year-old de Boer, the former Ajax Amsterdam and two-time World Cup defender who earned 112 caps for the Netherlands over the course of his playing career, replaced the preceding MARTIN JOL, who resigned on December 6.
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Serbia international MIRALEM SULEJMANI (7) of Ajax Amsterdam, whose proposed season-long loan to Premier League side West Ham United collapsed when the 22-year-old winger did not receive an English work permit from the Home Office back in August, seeks to escape the clutches of AC Milan’s 34-year-old veteran international defender MARIO YEPES (76), who has collected 72 caps and scored four goals for Colombia in his day, at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. (Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)
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AJAX AMSTERDAM: Stekelenburg ; van der Wiel, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Enoh ; Emanuelson, de Jong (El Hamdaoui 84′), Eriksen, de Zeeuw (Lindgren 82′) ; Sulejmani, Suarez (Tainio 90+2′)
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(Reuters photo)
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On the heels of a rocket fired into the lower corner of the net for Ajax Amsterdam’s first goal of the match against AC Milan, Holland World CUp midfielder DEMY DE ZEEUW (20) races off trailed by 18-year-old Denmark World Cup midfielder CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN (8) — the youngest participant at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa — and Holland U-21 international midfielder SIEM DE JONG (10) at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in northern Italy. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images)
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MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
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Armenia international goalkeeper APOULA EDEL of Paris St. Germain makes an outrageous, one-handed save while on his back from the rebound attempt of Borussia Dortmund’s Japan international midfielder SHINJI KAGAWA (23) in the 90th minute of the early November UEFA Europa League match at the Parc des Princes in the capital city of France. (Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images)
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Bundesliga leaders BORUSSIA DORTMUND can only muster a 2-2 draw with La Liga side FC SEVILLA in Andalusia, then, and, thus, remove themselves from the UEFA Europa League for the 2010-11 campaign…
In retrospect, the sensational double save — particularly from the rebound shot — pulled off by Armenia international goalkeeper APOULA EDEL of Paris St. Germain in the dying moments of the match with die Schwarzgelben at the Parc des Princes is, perhaps, where Borussia Dortmund’s hopes essentially died.
For the benefit of those who may have missed the match report here at BETWEEN THE STICKS, the blog presents a re-post of the remarkable highlight involving PSG keeper Edel and the attacking Bourssia Dortmund international pair of Poland striker ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI and Japan midfielder SHINJI KAGAWA.
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APOULA EDEL’s double save
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Brazilian midfielder RODRIGO TABATA of JK Besiktas Istanbul is caught in between the SK Rapid Vienna pair of Norway international defender RAGNVALD SOMA (22) and Austria international midfielder STEFAN KULOVITS and loses the ball at the Fiyapi Inonu Stadyumu in the capital city of Turkey. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)
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UEFA Europa League
Group Stage
12/15/2010
2 – JK Besiktas Istanbul (TRK) ———— Quaresma 32′, Ernst 45′
0 – SK Rapid Vienna (AUT)
In a match with little for either side to play for save pride, a pair of first half goals allowed Turkish host JK BESIKTAS ISTANBUL to coast to a 2-0 victory over visting Austrian side SK RAPID VIENNA in Group L of the UEFA Europa League.
Portugal international winger RICARDO QUARESMA, an off-season acquisition costing JK Besiktas 7.3 million Euros from defending UEFA Champions League titlist Inter Milan of Italy, rocketed the hosts ahead shortly after the half hour mark with a thunderous blast beating Rapid Vienna’s Austria international goalkeeper HELGE PAYER to the top corner.
31-year-old defensive midfielder FABIAN ERNST, who has won 24 caps and scored one goal for Germany in his career, fashioned a second for JK Besiktas by heading home the cross of Spain international midfielder GUTI, the 34-year-old veteran who arrived via a free transfer from La Liga giant Real Madrid this summer, in the final minute of the first half.
JK Besiktas Istanbul, managed by former Real Madrid and West Germany international midfielder BERND SCHUSTER, finished second with four wins and a tie from six Group L games and will advance with Portuguese outfit FC Porto in the UEFA Europa League knockout round of 32 this spring.
SK Rapid Vienna, still without the injured pair of German captain STEFFEN HOFMANN and Holland international striker JAN VENNEGOOR of HESSELINK, conclude their European campaign for the 2010-11 season with five losses in six games at the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.
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Germany international midfielder FABIAN ERNST, who spent ten and one half seasons in the Bundesliga with SV Hamburg, Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 Gelsenkirchen before moving to the Istanbul club for 3.0 million Euros in February of 2009, signals his goal for JK Besiktas at the Fiyapi Inonu Stadyumu in Turkey. (Mustafa Ozer/AFP/Getty Images)
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Classic UCLA Bruins Rediscovered 