World Soccer News 7 February 2010

Ozren Podnar reports

The only 1930 WC survivor celebrates 100th birthday

The former Argentinian player Francisco Varallo, the only survivor from the first World Cup finals in 1930, turned 100 last Friday. Varallo was the youngest member of Argentina's squad that got beaten 4-2 by Uruguay in the decisive match at the Centenario stadium in Montevideo.

Varallo, called "Canoncito" (Little Cannon) was born on February 5th of 1910 in La Plata, 50 km south of Buenos Aires, and until recently held the scoring record for Boca Juniors with 194 goals, until overtaken by Martin Palermo last year. With Boca, Varallo played for nine seasons winning three championships and five top-scoring titles.

"I remember that final match quite well. It was a tough game in which the Uruguayans overwhelmed us. We went 2-1 up, but ended up losing 2-4. We had a great team but some of the players lost stamina in the second half. I believe I should not have played that match because I was too young and inexperienced and also could not run due to a knee injury," Varallo told the media, while Argentina celebrates the jubilee of one of the countries heroes.

The plaudits include the creation of the award labelled "For career and chivalry", which will be presented to the veteran next Friday.

John Terry stripped of captaincy over sex scandal

England manager Fabio Capello punished John Terry for his umpteenth sex romp by removing him as captain. The Chelsea defender came under the scrutiny of the British tabloids over his affair with Vanessa Perroncel, who is the former companion of England teammate Wayne Bridge. Their relationship was crowned with Vanessa's pregnancy, which was terminated in agreement with Terry.

Terry's role as the captain was first questioned by sport minister Gerry Sutcliffe, who observed that "a captain's responsibilities reach beyond the field of play." The defender's fate was sealed when Capello travelled to London to visit him and resolve the captaincy issue in direct talks.
Terry was promoted to team leader by Steve McClaren in 2006, and was confirmed in the role by Capello when the Italian took over in early 2008. His successor is Rio Ferdinand, until now Terry's deputy as appointed by Capello.

In the meantime the press has compiled an enviable list of Terry's erotic conquests, which has singled out the Chelsea man as one of the top Casanovas in the country.

Jose Mourinho not taking over at Real

The media have again placed Jose Mourinho in the context of coaching Real Madrid since their president Florentino Perez is not satisfied with Manuel Pellegrini's work. The allegations meant that Mouringo's agent Jorge Mendes had an exhausting Friday having to deny his client's intentions of leaving the Italian champions Inter's bench.

"I have heard Mourinho say on several occasions that he would respect his contract. Real rumours? They are not surprising, because most journalists tend to publish some kind of fantasy all the time," said Mendes.

"It is obvious that Mourinho is doing fine at Inter, where he has a great team. Therefore I'm asking you why he would leave?"

Inter have yet again built a solid lead on top of the Serie A table and are likely to wrap up their fifth consecutive Italian title, which would equal Juventus' and Torino's "ancient" records.

Salvador Cabanas' condition improving

The Paraguayan international Salvador Cabanas has surprisingly improved twelve days after being shot in the head in a Mexico City bar. Still with the bullet lodged in his skull in an apparently harmless position, Cabanas is capable of sitting up, taking his own food and exchanging a few words. Among those is his desire to improve in order to take part at the World Cup in South Africa.

That may be slightly too optimistic, as the doctors are very happy that the Paraguayan has come this far in view of the severity of his wound.
"He speaks, obeys orders and moves his extremities without a major problem," said the surgeon Enrique Martinez, who performed the operation on the player's head.
There is no infection usually associated with bullet wounds, but there is still some presence of blood in the ventricular cavity, which required the doctors to set up a draining system "for the sake of safety," added the doctor.

The Mexican authorities have attempted to interview Cabanas over the incident, but the doctors have estimated he is still uncapable of making a full statement regarding the circumstances of the shooting.

Zlatko Kranjcar named Montenegro coach

Former Croatia national team manager Zlatko Kranjcar has taken over Montenegro on Friday after accepting FA chairman Dejan Savicevic's offer. Tottenham's Niko Kranjcar's father said he welcomed the new opportunity with enthusiasm, hoping to take Montenegro to Euro 2012 just as he did Croatia to the 2006 World Cup.
"Our common goal is to make a step further in comparison to what Montenegro did so far. I am well acquainted with the team's qualities and we'll try to achieve the best possible result", said Kranjcar, whose achievements include two League and Cup doubles with Dinamo Zagreb and one League with NK Zagreb, probably the biggest upset in the history of Croatian club competition.
"We managed to hire a coach with great experience at all levels," said Savicevic. "I am convinced we made a great choice and that our national team will be a tough competitor in the second qualifying cycle in our history."

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