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Sportsphere

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Spanish Football Special!

Messi How it all came to be for

the Argentine superstar.

MalagaA fairytale story for the

small club on the coast.

LanceHas he ruined cycling

for ever?

+ Feature report of the week!

May 2013

Contents

Page 3 - Letter from

the Editor

Page 4 - Lionel Messi

Page 7 - Special report

Page 8 - Malaga c.f.

Page 10 - Lance Armstrong

Letter from the editor

Welcome! To this months edition of Sportsphere where we cover the sports strories you need to know from around the globe. This May edition is a Spanish football special where we have Lionel Messi and the fairytale journey of Malaga C.F. from their humble beginings to the glitz and glamour of the champi-ons league. In this issue we also have all the fallout from Lance Armstrong and our regualr special report of grass roots sports here in Britain. Our aim here at Sportsphere is to keep you up to date on the sports you need to know, hope you enjoy this issue and feed you sports hunger.

Jacob Scrivens

Chief Editor

Sportsphere

Messi

Lionel Andreas Messi, was born on the 24th of June 1987 in Rosario Argentina, the player of his generation who maybe even the great-est ever. With 147 goals in 201 appearances he could be on his way to setting records only Ronaldo can contest. Messi started playing at five years old at Grandoli where he played under his father Jorge Mes-si who was a steel factory worker. In 1995 at the age of eight Messi moved to Newell’s Old Boys a team in Rosario. At the age of 11 Messi had a setback when he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficien-cy, an expensive treatment which his family couldn’t or no local clubs could afford, and his career look to end before it had begun.

Barcelona gave Messi a chance when they offered to take him on at La Masia

and take care of his medical bills that set his family back so much. The original con-tract was done on a napkin, the FC Barcelona executive would not let Lionel go home as Jorge demanded they make a decision about Leo’s future after a long trial at the Catalan club. Messi played for the youth teams at Barca, Infantil B and Cadete B & A teams from 2000 to 2003 (scoring 37 goals in 30 matches in Cadete A), a promising start to his career impressing at a very early age.

He played for Barca B carrying on his good form getting numerous goals and assists throughout the

season. He was given his chance for the first team in 2003 on the 16th of No-vember in a friendly against FC Porto at the age of 16 years and 145 days.

In the 2005-2006 season Messi’s contract was re-newed twice to when he was paid as a first team player and gained Spanish citizenship on the 26th of September 2005. He made his debut in the Spanish first division and then his first home appearance in the Champions League. The fans immediately took to him as he impressed with his link up play with Ronaldinho, the fans gave him a standing ovation as

“his career look to end before it had begun”

he was substituted. His career Sky rocketed from this, scoring more goals as he progressed he started to gain appear-ances for the Argentina national team. He was offered the chance to play for the Spanish under 20 team in 2004 as he could through his citizenship but declined as he wanted to play for his home country of Argentina.

Lionel Messi made his full international debut on the 17th of August 2005 against Hungary at the age of 18, but his inter-national career has been somewhat unfruitful since it began with no major honors and lack of liv-ing up to potential in the major tournaments. His club career was going in a different direction, as the head coach Frank Rijkaard lost his ties at Barca he

was somewhat graciously forced out, leaving way for Barcelona’s own Josep Gaurdiola to take the reins but with a defeat to newly promoted Numancia on the opening day of the season some were in doubt and predicting this one would be a flopper, but oh how some could be wrong.

Messi thrived under Pep Guardiola and gained a great trust in him as Guar-diola let him play for Ar-gentina in the Olympics, as Guardiola did himself he understood why Leo had to play and by letting him travel with the nation-al squad Messi warmed to him. In his first season playing under Pep, he won the big three trophies in Spain, La Liga, The Copa Del Rey and The Cham-pions League scoring the winner against Manchester United with a header which was a touch of class looping over a helpless Edwin Van Der Sar at the back post.

With this incredible first year where Barcelona had been the first ever Spanish outfit to win the treble, they then went onto win three more trophies including the Spanish super cup, the European Super cup and a World Club Cup marking Messi the best player on the planet. In the 2009 he won the Ballon d’OR getting ahead of runner up Cristiano Ronaldo by the biggest margin in history of over 200 votes. He has

continued this great form winning it again two more times arguably establishing his position as the greatest player in history.

He has added another league title to his name and another Champions League beating Manchester United again at Wembley in 2011 scoring the second of Barca’s three as they ran out 3-1 winners. Of recent where Barcelona have lost out to Madrid in the league and knocked out of the Champions League in the semi finals against eventu-al winners Chelsea it has become apparent that Messi has become quiet with Ron-aldo taking the stage again but he is still young and has time to come back again stronger proving that with-out doubt he is the greatest ever.

Special report of the weekThis months special report is sticking with the football theme and Orpington F.C in Bromley in their clash with Woodstock park.

target but the Orpington keeper put it over the bar. Alex Campbell Chambers and Lewis Gregory be-tween them had plenty of chances and finally min-utes before the half time whistle Alex Campbell Chambers went around the keeper and tapped it into the back of the net, leaving it 1-0 at half time.

The game was soon put back on level terms when Woodstock Park come out fighting after half time when Pat Lucey put in an early header which went passed the Orpington keeper Sam I’anson.

Again in the second half there was end-to-end play but Orpington FC was

Mighty O’s do it again!

By Becky butcher

Robbie Haines last minute strike at Woodstock Park secured another 3 points away from home for the Mighty O’s.With Woodstock Park on a back streak they were hoping to take three points at home from mid-table Orpington FC. There were plenty of chances in the first half with end-to-end play and Woodstock Sports were first to have a shot on

the stronger side.

Eventually Orpington’s domination paid off when Robbie Haines picked up the ball in his own half, burst through the middle, and completed the move with a 30yard scorcher which flew passed the Woodstock keeper and Haines last minute strike gave a the visitors a well deserved 3 points.

Malaga c.f. The small club on the Spanish coast has gone from lower league football to playing with Eu-ropes biggest.

A Frenchman once said, “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea” not so much a philo-sophical quote, more of a stumping riddle. This coming shortly after from a man who had just ka-rate kicked a fan in the crowd after being sent off in a premier league game. But when a Qatari Sheikh came to open the shelf climbing can of anchovies in the Andalucía coast of Spain, it sparked the following of a large flock of “seagulls”.

In the summer of June 2010 Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdul-lah Al Ahmed Al Thani bought Malaga CF for 36 million euros. The goal was simple, get into the

Champions League. In a press conference on the day of the take-over the Qatari Sheikh said “I am overjoyed to be in one of the world’s best leagues” a modest Thani seems more happy than phased over the 14 million debt he was about to pay, but when challenging a seem-ingly untouchable top two in Spain the challenge seems smaller when mon-ey is no object. This an-other club in sky blue can relate too.

There was a plan and the start was simple: get a team good enough for Eu-rope. The spending started with the Sheikh emptying his accounts of more than 10 million on a group of players including Salomon Rondon and Ruben Ma-tinez. A slow start to the

season lacking noticeable improvement because the club still needed an estab-lished manager.After being let go by Real Madrid earlier in the year it was Manuel Pel-legrini who got the offer in November, which he gratefully accepted. The man from Chile was no stranger to tackling the top four in Spain and Champions League foot-ball for a club that had risen from the bottom after his experience with Villarreal who he took all the way to the semi-finals.

The 2010/2011 season saw Malaga CF finish 11th, a mid table finish was not what they were aiming for but it was the first step of the ladder. A year had passed and the Sheikh did not feel any closer to the glitz and glamour of European football. Pellegrini needed more players if he was to repeat the unlikely of be-fore with the yellow sub-marine. He got his wish, an array of stars such as Demichelis, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jérémy Toula-lan, Joaquín Sánchez and Santi Cazorla arrived at La Rosaleda. 52 million Eu-ros spent over the summer on fresh new talent and experience, both of which needed to build a team to qualify for the Champions League.

The 2011/2012 season was to be the making of Malaga CF. After a huge summer spending ex-pectations for the season were high and the crusade for the top four began. The campaign proved to be fruitful as the An-chovies gained points

where necessary and by the half way stage they were sitting in eighth place, far away from their goal. Over the rest of the season form crept in and saw Malaga pick up points, moving up the table into fifth knocking on the door. Reaching the goal came down to the wire and it was left until the last day to secure the prize. On the 13th of May Malaga hosted Sport-ing Gijon needing only three points. Summer signing Rondons headed goal put them into the qualifying rounds for the 2012/2013 Champions League.

The Anchovies played Athens based Panathinai-kos for their stake in the round of 32. They won comfortably at home 2-0

with two first half goals. A cagey affair in Athens ended goalless giving Malaga their place in the group stages. It had only taken two years for Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Abdullah Al Ahmed Al Thani to achieve his and Malaga CF’s goal, play in the UEFA Champions League. He had reached a goal that should take sev-eral years to achieve. He did it in a couple. They’re two for two in their debut in the Champions League, with a trip to Milan be-ing their toughest test. Finishing in the top two of their group will put them in the round of 32; maybe Pellegrini isn’t too far away from a repeat like 2006 and with the world’s biggest club tournament anything can happen.

What a dopeThe bomb had been dropped.

On a highly anticipated Oprah Winfrey show Lance Armstrong revealed the truth on the case that not even Sherlock Homes could solve. You

would think it was what the professional cycling world had been desperate for, a confession which would clear the air. But you would be naive into thinking it was in the best interest for the sport.

USADA (United States Anti Doping Agency) CEO Travis Tygart called it “the most sophisticat-ed, professionalised and successful doping pro-gramme that sport has ever seen”. If they handed out awards for doping then Lance Armstrong and the US postal service would be world cham-pions, an honour they could truthfully claim. The biggest fear for any sport’s governing body is for a doctor to develop an untraceable performance enhancing drug. I say this in future tense but it could have been all along that athletes have been using an untraceable drug and nobody would be any the wiser, if today’s Premier League football-ers are anything to go by the only drug they will be taking is morphine by the amount of pain they appear to be in after a tap on the face.

The USADA and the UCI (International Cycling Union) have done all they can to punish Armstrong by giving him a lifetime ban and stripped him of his seven Tour De France titles with his Olympic Bronze medal being taken

as well. But they know just as well that cycling has gone into disarray and now the job is to bring it back from the low blow dealt by Armstrong.

In his autobiography “Every Second Counts” Lance Armstrong talks about his life and bat-tle back to fitness after cancer. The way he talks about it you would think he was a walking miracle; it was what we all thought at the time. He starts talk-ing about a place called dead man’s hole. It is a deep crevasse with a pool of water at the bottom; he jumps down to feel the adrenaline to keep him feeling alive. Now he is just an asshole crawling back into his hole with the amount of crap he has

been giving us over the years. It wasn’t the adren-aline that was fuelling your comeback now was it Lance? On the Tour De France in 2000 there was a stage which was a climb up Mount Ventoux. He describes leading the race with Pantani breathing down his neck to steal the lead.

Armstrong slowed down and encouraged the Ital-ian to go faster. Pantani didn’t take this very well and was outraged claim-ing Armstrong did it to patronize him; maybe he knew something we didn’t? But in whatever way Lance meant it, it was very patronizing and audacious. The Texan was only leading the race after using blood transfusions

and doping, he cannot flaunt a performance he did not earn honestly.

Coming back from can-cer is respectable in every way. The bravery and willingness he showed to try to get back on the bike and keep cycling was a mean feat. But the question we need to ask our self is would we have respected him if he had competed honestly and come last? Is the cycling world more hurt by the lie rather than discovering it is not possible to mimic his achievement without blood doping? His sto-ry was an inspiration to cancer patients reminding them that their fight is not over. There could be a harsh reality that this set back could have affected the attitudes and belief of those patients which would be the biggest shame of all because no matter how you look at this story, sport is not bigger than life. Cycling is now labelled a drug sport. If that is the case then don’t be surprised when you see a fluctuation in visits to crack houses by professional cycling teams.

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