Messi terlepas aksi Copa del Rey

BARCELONA – Bintang penyerang Barcelona, Lionel Messi mungkin terlepas perlawanan separuh akhir kedua Copa del Rey menentang Valencia hari ini kerana menjalani pemeriksaan buah pinggang, semalam.

Barcelona mengesah­kan Pemain Terbaik Dunia itu menjalani ujian lanjutan ekoran masalah buah pinggang yang dihadapi sebelum ini, selepas menjalani ujian pertama pada Di­sember lalu.

Pemain Argentina itu sebelum ini terlepas kejohanan Piala Dunia Kelab akibat masalah kolik (rasa ketidakselesaan perut yang biasa­nya disebabkan oleh batu karang).

 Media di Sepanyol semalam melaporkan Messi mungkin terpaksa melakukan pembedahan kecil untuk membetulkan masalah tersebut, yang didakwa telah berlarutan sejak beberapa minggu lalu walaupun pemain berusia 28 tahun itu hanya terlepas satu perlawanan pada 2016 setakat ini. Barcelona dalam satu kenyataan berkata, ujian perubatan mengambil masa selama dua hari minggu ini dan menjangkakan penyerang itu akan kembali berlatih bersama pasukan pada Khamis. 

“Messi akan dihantar untuk menjalani beberapa ujian pada Selasa dan Rabu untuk menilai perkembangan masalah buah pinggang yang dialaminya pada Disember lalu. “Pemain itu akan kembali berlatih bersama kesebelasan utama pasukan pada Khamis ini,” menurut kenyataan Barcelona yang disiarkan dalam laman web rasmi mereka semalam. Dalam perlawanan separuh ­akhir pertama Copa del Rey pada 4 Februari lalu, Barcelona mem­belasah Valencia 7-0 di Stadium Mestalla. Mereka boleh dianggap sudah se­belah kaki menjejak ke final. – AGENSI

Jangan layan kami begini (utusan)

KUALA LUMPUR - Bekas pertahanan Kelantan, Amiridzwan Taj Tajuddin mendakwa, Persatuan Bola Sepak Kelantan (Kafa) tidak bersikap adil kepada dirinya dan empat lagi pemain yang masih berdepan masalah tunggakan gaji. 

 Menurut Amiridzwan, pemain Kelantan yang lain sudahpun menerima tunggakan gaji masing-masing, kecuali lima pemain yang meninggalkan skuad The Red Warriors musim ini. 

Selain Amiridzwan, yang kini menyarung jersi Terengganu, turut berdepan isu tunggakan gaji dengan Kelantan adalah Amar Rohidan, Ahmad Fakri Saarani, Mohd. Fitri Omar dan Muhammad Nazri Ahmad. “Bagi saya Kafa tidak bersikap adil kerana pemain lain telah mendapat bayaran kecuali kami berlima yang meninggalkan pasukan.

 “Saya terkejut apabila mengetahui pemain yang baru sertai Kelantan pun telah mendapat bayaran mereka, kenapa Kafa buat saya begini?,” kata tonggak pertahanan kebangsaan berusia 29 tahun itu.

Turut meluahkan rasa kecewa adalah penjaga gol Syed Adney Syed Hussein terhadap bekas majikannya Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM). 

“Kami juga mempunyai komitmen seperti membayar rumah, kereta dan belanja seharian. “Jadi bila tidak dibayar enam hingga tujuh bulan perkara itu menyusahkan kami,” katanya. 

“Bila tidak dibayar gaji, situasi itu mengganggu minda pemain. Apabila datang latihan masalah gaji akan menjadi topik, bagaimana hendak bermain bola?,” jelas bekas pemain ATM, K. Reuben pula. 

Tindakan FAM terlalu lambat [utusan]

KUALA LUMPUR - Persatuan Pemain Bola Sepak Profesional Malaysia (PFAM) membidas Persatuan Bolasepak Malaysia (FAM) kerana mengambil masa terlalu lama untuk menyelesaikan isu tunggakan gaji pemain, sambil mendesak persatuan-persatuan terlibat agar menyegerakan pembayaran sebelum Liga Malaysia (Liga M) musim 2016 bermula, minggu ini.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif PFAM, Izham Ismail mendedahkan, badan bola sepak kebangsaan tersebut mengambil masa sehingga 100 hari hanya untuk membuka fail siasatan, itu belum lagi memulakan prosedur lain seperti memanggil pihak berkenaan bagi memberi keterangan.

PFAM turut mendesak agar tiga pasukan yang gagal melunaskan tunggakan gaji 21 ahlinya iaitu Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM), Kelantan dan Felda United segera menyelesaikan isu berkenaan yang sudah terlalu lama tertangguh.

Katanya, secara keseluruhan, ketiga-tiga persatuan itu terhutang hampir RM4.4 juta.

Kata Izham, ATM mempunyai jumlah tunggakan paling banyak iaitu RM3.7 juta melibatkan 15 pemain, manakala lima bekas pemain Kelantan belum menerima bayaran RM477,000 dan Felda United belum melunaskan bayaran pampasan RM220,000 kepada pemain Azrul Ahmad kerana menamatkan kontraknya terlalu awal.

“Jawatankuasa Status FAM amat perlahan dalam menyelesaikan sesuatu kes dan sistem penyelesaian masalah di negara ini tidak efisyen kerana mengambil tempoh masa yang lama.

“Kita dapati Jawatankuasa Status FAM mengambil masa 100 hari bagi membuka sesuatu kes melibatkan bayaran gaji pemain itu belum lagi proses pendengaran.

“Kita harap pihak FAM dan FMLLP (Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership) dapat mengambil satu tindakan tegas ke atas pasukan yang culas dalam membuat bayaran gaji pemain mereka,” katanya dalam sidang akhbar khas berhubung tunggakan gaji pemain di sini, semalam.

Pihak PFAM turut memaklumkan jumlah RM3.7 juta bayaran gaji tertunggak ATM adalah bagi tempoh tujuh bulan, manakala Kelantan tertunggak tiga hingga empat bulan bagi pemain mereka yang telah pun berhijrah.

Pada Ahad lepas Mingguan Malaysia melaporkan pihak FMLLP boleh menghukum pasukan yang gagal membayar gaji pemain dengan menyingkirkan mereka daripada liga.

Selain itu, pasukan terlibat juga boleh ditolak tiga hingga enam mata andai rundingan menemui jalan buntu.

Sementara itu, Timbalan Presiden PFAM, Reezal Zambry Yahya berkata, ketika ini pasukan bola sepak dilihat lebih berminat menentukan jersi baharu masing-masing dan menukar warna stadium berbanding menyelesaikan isu gaji tertunggak.

Malah, Reezal percaya kualiti bola sepak di negara ini dapat ditingkatkan andai masalah tunggakan gaji dapat diselesaikan.

“Saya harapkan mana-mana pasukan terlibat dengan isu tunggakan gaji ini dapat menyelesaikan isu gaji ini sebelum liga bermula,” kata Reezal.

Thierry Henry questions Arsenal's mentality despite win at Bournemouth (espn)

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry does not know if Arsene Wenger's side have the mentality to win the Premier League ahead of Sunday's crunch meeting with Leicester City.

Leicester will lead Arsenal by five points when they make the trip to the Emirates, with the Gunners knowing that victory over their title rivals will put them in a strong position to lift their first title since 2004.

The 2-0 win over Bournemouth brought to an end a poor run for Arsenal, in which they had gone three games without a goal and have slipped below Tottenham Hotspur in the league.

And Henry, who has had a role coaching the youth team strikers, believes that the club's failure to take control of the Premier League when many of the traditional powerhouses are struggling is a sign of weakness.

"If I had said to you that Chelsea would struggle, Manchester City would struggle, you would have thought that it would be a season that Arsenal would walk away with it easily," Henry told Sky Sports. "And it's not happening.

"I would question also the mentality of it. The game against Chelsea, they didn't score [lost 1-0]. Those are the sort of games you need to win.

"They need three points. It is business. You don't win the league for a very long time. Can you win it? It's time to wake up and do it.

"For me at the moment, Leicester are the team to win it. They're not only showing they can win it, they're showing they can cope with the pressure."

Keserian 1-1 pertemuan Chelsea Man United

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal hailed another "sparkling" display from his team but was left frustrated as Diego Costa's late strike gave Chelsea a comeback 1-1 draw in Sunday's match at Stamford Bridge.

A superb effort from Jesse Lingard put United on course for victory, but Van Gaal said his side's performance dipped in the latter stages, allowing Costa to give Guus Hiddink's men a share of the spoils in stoppage-time.

The draw leaves Man Utd fifth in the Barclays Premier League, six points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City.

Van Gaal said: "It is not a big disappointment because we played a very good match until the last quarter. It is frustrating they scored in extra-time, and how they scored."

"I'm happy with the performance. It was not a boring match. For the third time in a row it was sparkling."

 Zouma lies on the pitch after sustaining an injury. Photograph: John Sibley/Reuters

Rooney feeds the ball to Borthwick-Jackson, ahead of Ivanovic. Photograph: John Sibley/Reuters

Kembali di landasan kemenangan : Bournemouth 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal returned to winning ways with a  2-0 victory at AFC Bournemouth on Sunday that sees them move above Manchester City and into third place in the Barclays Premier League.

The Gunners came into the fixture on the back of four league matches without a win and having failed to score in their last three but two goals in quick succession midway through the first half at Vitality Stadium ended that run.

Mesut Ozil netted the opener with a powerful finish before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain swiftly doubled the lead to score his first BPL goal away from Emirates Stadium.

The victory moves Arsenal level on points with Tottenham Hotspur in second and to within five of leaders Leicester City, who the Gunners host in a crunch title clash next Sunday.

AFC Bournemouth, meanwhile, suffered their first defeat in four matches and remain five points clear of the relegation zone in 15th position.

Eddie Howe's men were unchanged for Sunday's contest, while Arsenal brought in Oxlade-Chamberlain for Joel Campbell.

The early stages saw Mathieu Flamini booked for a heavy challenge on Dan Gosling while Alexis Sanchez lashed a shot over from a tight angle after latching on to Aaron Ramsey's bouncing pass.

It was the match's first shot on target which produced a goal from Ozil on 23 minutes. A deep cross from Ramsey was headed down by Olivier Giroud and the German playmaker impressively arrowed a right-footed shot into the roof of the net.

Within 88 seconds, the lead was doubled. A poor piece of defending saw Steve Cook give away possession and Ramsey took advantage to slip a pass to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who directed an excellent finish in off the far post.

Bournemouth almost got back into the game when Harry Arter beat two men and unleashed an impressive dipping strike that was kept out by an acrobatic Petr Cech save.

Both sides exchanged decent chances early in the second half, with Adam Smith forcing his way past Laurent Koscielny before firing a shot against the side netting for the hosts.

A few moments later, Sanchez collected a pass from Ozil at the other end and had a shot beaten away by Artur Boruc.

AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "It was a slow start from us, which is totally against what we wanted. We wanted to put them under pressure and really make it a difficult start to the game. They dominated possession, we found it hard to get really good pressure on the ball which is unlike us.

"They scored two goals on the back on that and from that point I felt we reacted very, very well and second half we dominated. It's the early stages of the game that I was disappointed with."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "It was a must-win game - we had not won for a while. We started strong and after that you could see that our worry was to keep the result. We have only lost one game but we had not won for four games and of course that was on our mind.

"The most important is always to win. The confidence was not completely at its maximum but sometimes you have to scrap through games like that and get the three points. We had a strong start, with good finishing and we controlled the game. We beat a good side, it was three difficult points but three very important points."

La Liga : Atletico Madrid 3-1 Eibar

Fernando Torres has scored three goals in 25 appearances this season

Fernando Torres scored his 100th Atletico Madrid goal as they came from behind to beat Eibar and top La Liga with Barcelona.

The striker, on loan from AC Milan, had been waiting for the landmark goal since scoring his 99th against the same opposition back in September.

And it came when the substitute turned home Luciano Vietto's cross from close range in the last minute.

Keko put Eibar ahead, with Jose Gimenez and Saul headers turning it around.