The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Record Madrid move was highly stressful, says Bale Posted: 05 Sep 2013 07:13 AM PDT The 24-year-old joined Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday for €100 million (US$131.97 million), a fee which made him the world's most expensive player, the day before the transfer window closed and after months of speculation about his future. "It was a long time. It was very stressful to say the least," Bale (pic) told BT Sport today. "I knew their interest from the start and I was always confident the move would go through but obviously the chairman Daniel Levy had to do his business and do Tottenham well so I kind of understood that. "But at the same time, thinking of myself, it was a hard time, it was stressful and I just had to be patient and try and focus." Bale is currently preparing for Wales's upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia and Serbia after being unveiled at Madrid's Bernabeu on Monday. He has not played since July and missed most of Spurs' pre-season training due to injury, so is unlikely to play the full 90 minutes in either tomorrow's or Tuesday's qualifier. He rejoined his Wales team mates soon after being presented to thousands of fans as Madrid's latest "galactico" signing and said it was somewhat of a relief to be back among familiar faces. "It's obviously been a whirlwind few days," the former Southampton player said. "It's quite nice to come back, relax and get back to normality, really." Having set the Premier League alight last season with 21 goals in 33 league appearances, Spurs fans were hoping he would stick with the club and help them continue their push for a spot in the Champions League, having missed out to bitter London rivals Arsenal by one point. However, Bale said once Madrid showed their interest in him he was determined to move and realise a boyhood dream, with a picture being revealed at his unveiling of him wearing a club shirt as a child. "When I was younger I had some close friends and we always loved European football and Real Madrid at that time were the dominant force and we always watched Real Madrid," he said. "I remember family holidays, we used to go Spain, and we'd bring back replica shirts of Real Madrid and wear them out and always pretend to be the players when we played in the park. "It just started from there and I followed them since. "Obviously the football they play, the team they are is amazing and it's just great to be there." – Reuters, September 5, 2013. |
| Maradona, Romario demand more transparency in South America Posted: 05 Sep 2013 06:29 AM PDT Former Argentina captain Diego Maradona (pic) and ex-Brazil striker Romario, now a member of his country's congress, are long-standing critics of the football establishment in the region. The pair met with 20 South American clubs and a group of Uruguayan lawyers to demand change in the way football is administered. "We have seen, with astonishment and great sadness, that football is for just a few," Maradona told reporters after a meeting of the group in Sao Paulo yesterday night. "It doesn't belong to the clubs, the supporters or the players. So we are going to form a commission to unmask these people who do so much harm to the game. "It's very serious, but thanks to all of us who are not afraid of those people ... we are here so that we can have a more transparent football," he added. Romario described CONMEBOL as worse than the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), which he has frequently criticised. "The situation is really much more serious than we imagined," he said. "What has been presented here is one of the biggest disgraces that I have seen. I couldn't imagine that there was an institution which ... did so much harm to the sport. "We have to get more people together. The clubs, the ex-players and the current players have to take the fight to CONMEBOL. It's a movement for transparency and dignity in football. "With this commission that we are going to form, we are going to see what has happened to all this money." Nicolas Leoz, a former FIFA executive committee member, quit as CONMEBOL president at the age of 84 in April, citing ill-health. One week later, a report by FIFA's ethics commission said that he had taken bribes for ISL, FIFA's former marketing partner which went bankrupt in 2001. He was replaced by his vice-president, 81-year-old Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay. CONMEBOL spokesman Nestor Benitez said he had no comment on the accusations. "Everyone has the right to their opinion, football is generous and is an open field for all opinions," he said in Paraguay, where the confederation is based. – Reuters, September 5, 2013. |
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