Neymar could be next Messi, says Lampard

AFP

Rio de Janeiro: England midfielder Frank Lampard said that new Barcelona signing Neymar has the potential to be as good as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Speaking Saturday, on the eve of England's friendly against Brazil in the official reopening of the Maracana Stadium, Lampard praised the 21-year-old striker, reports Xinhua.

"I played against Neymar at Wembley in February and I've also seen some videos of him on Youtube. He does some spectacular things," said Lampard, who is England's captain in the absence of the injured Steven Gerrard.

"I have spoken about him with David Luiz, Oscar and also Ramires. For me he is a young superstar and he has what it takes to do well for Barcelona. I hope he is successful. Football needs big players like Messi and Ronaldo and I think Neymar could also be one of those players at the top."

Lampard was among a group of England players that visited Rio's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue Saturday. He admitted the city had a charm like no other he had visited and said the trip had whetted his appetite to return for next year's World Cup.

"Being here is a nice. There is a certain magic in Brazil and particularly in Rio. We know there's work to be done to qualify and it is up to us to do that. I'm confident. There are lads that are going to make a name for themselves and possibly will be peaking at the perfect time," the 34-year-old said.

Lampard added he was looking forward to playing at the Maracana Stadium, whose reopening comes after almost three years of reconstruction work and cost overruns.

"The Maracana is world renowned. I grew up hearing stories about it and it's an honour to play there. It's a new stadium now but the name remains the same. In England we have Wembley which is a great stadium and the Maracana is in that category."

Bayern Munich win Cup final to earn historic treble

Reuters

Berlin: Champions League winners Bayern Munich became the first Bundesliga team to win the treble after their hard-fought 3-2 win over VfB Stuttgart in Saturday's German Cup final.

Having claimed their fifth European crown in Wembley last Saturday and won the Bundesliga with a record tally of 91 points, Bayern completed the set with their 16th German Cup title.

 The Bavarian giants won the European Cup in three straight seasons in the 1970s, but coach Jupp Heynckes ended his two-year tenure in charge of the most successful Bayern side of all time.

 Striker Mario Gomez, who made a rare start ahead of Mario Mandzukic, hit two after the break to add to Thomas Mueller's first-half penalty as Bayern cruised to a 3-0 lead.

 But a bullet header on 71 minutes, then a well-placed shot, both from Austria's Martin Harnik, 10 minutes from time, ensured a nervous finale as Bayern weathered Stuttgart's late onslaught.

 But Bayern were not to be denied their 45th win from 53 matches in all competitions this season.

 Ex-Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola will replace Heynckes as Bayern head coach on June 26, but after just three defeats and 11 league points dropped all season, it is hard to see where he can improve.

 After the exertions of their Wembley triumph seven days before, Bayern failed to take control early on at Berlin's Olympic Stadium in front of 75,000 fans as both sides had their chances.

 Wembley match winner Arjen Robben found space on the left but Gomez sent his effort high on 14 minutes.

 Stuttgart's Harnik then first headed at Neuer, and Georg Niedermeier failed to prod the ball home at the back post after lightening reactions from Bayern's off-balance Manuel Neuer on 22 minutes.

 Bayern had a clear penalty turned down when Stuttgart captain Serdar Tasci tackled Robben before the ball, but referee Manuel Grafe waved away Bayern's protests on 32 minutes.

 Grafe pointed straight to the spot four minutes later when Guinea's Ibrahima Troare brought down Philipp Lahm as the Bayern captain sprinted into the area on the right.

 Mueller drilled his penalty into the bottom left corner with 37 minutes gone.

 It could have been more as Gomez squandered two clear chances as the break approached when his shot cannoned off Stuttgart goalkeeper Sven Ulreich's leg, then he fired over the bar as it stayed 1-0 at half-time.

 But Gomez made no mistake on 48 minutes when Lahm's cross gifted him a simple close-range tap-in.

 The Germany star then added a third and his second on 61 minutes when Mueller fired in from the right and the ex-Stuttgart forward tapped his shot past Ulreich on 61 minutes.

 Stuttgart were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty when Vedad Ibisevic's shot deflected off Jerome Boateng's hand on 79 minutes.

 But Harnik slotted home his second moments later, but Bayern held on for their third title.

Mathematical model helps predict footballers’ ‘goal-scoring potentials’

AP

Madrid: A statistical model can rank footballers according to their best goal-scoring potentials as researchers have found after analyzing football league players over nine seasons from 2000 to 2009.

Researchers from the faculties of Economic and Business Sciences at the Universities of Granada and Jaén have analyzed the performance of football players over nine seasons with the aim to create a mathematical model based on Bayesian statistics to evaluate their goal-scoring potential.

The researchers explained that whether a player scores or not depends on easily quantifiable extrinsic factors, such as the number of minutes or matches played, the position on the pitch and the team quality, but there are some other factors as well.

According to one of the researchers, Professor José María Pérez Sánchez said that individual characteristics of the players also make them different from the rest of the players.

Pérez Sánchez also said that she finds it remarkable that the strikers do not rank very highly in terms of overall performance, adding that apart from Messi, who ranks sixth, the rest rank below the 15th place.

The study gives an in-depth analysis of the careers of several emblematic football players to assess their goal-scoring performance over the nine seasons such as that of Messi.

The researchers have claimed Messi's development as interesting although they said that his performance is high in early seasons and his productivity has decreased significantly thereafter.

The model can quantify an additional individual factor that influences the qualities of each footballer as a goal-scorer, using which the researchers have been able to rank Spanish league players.

Mathematical model helps predict footballers’ ‘goal-scoring potentials’

AP

Madrid: A statistical model can rank footballers according to their best goal-scoring potentials as researchers have found after analyzing football league players over nine seasons from 2000 to 2009.

Researchers from the faculties of Economic and Business Sciences at the Universities of Granada and Jaén have analyzed the performance of football players over nine seasons with the aim to create a mathematical model based on Bayesian statistics to evaluate their goal-scoring potential.

The researchers explained that whether a player scores or not depends on easily quantifiable extrinsic factors, such as the number of minutes or matches played, the position on the pitch and the team quality, but there are some other factors as well.

According to one of the researchers, Professor José María Pérez Sánchez said that individual characteristics of the players also make them different from the rest of the players.

Pérez Sánchez also said that she finds it remarkable that the strikers do not rank very highly in terms of overall performance, adding that apart from Messi, who ranks sixth, the rest rank below the 15th place.

The study gives an in-depth analysis of the careers of several emblematic football players to assess their goal-scoring performance over the nine seasons such as that of Messi.

The researchers have claimed Messi's development as interesting although they said that his performance is high in early seasons and his productivity has decreased significantly thereafter.

The model can quantify an additional individual factor that influences the qualities of each footballer as a goal-scorer, using which the researchers have been able to rank Spanish league players.

Mathematical model helps predict footballers’ ‘goal-scoring potentials’

AP

Madrid: A statistical model can rank footballers according to their best goal-scoring potentials as researchers have found after analyzing football league players over nine seasons from 2000 to 2009.

Researchers from the faculties of Economic and Business Sciences at the Universities of Granada and Jaén have analyzed the performance of football players over nine seasons with the aim to create a mathematical model based on Bayesian statistics to evaluate their goal-scoring potential.

The researchers explained that whether a player scores or not depends on easily quantifiable extrinsic factors, such as the number of minutes or matches played, the position on the pitch and the team quality, but there are some other factors as well.

According to one of the researchers, Professor José María Pérez Sánchez said that individual characteristics of the players also make them different from the rest of the players.

Pérez Sánchez also said that she finds it remarkable that the strikers do not rank very highly in terms of overall performance, adding that apart from Messi, who ranks sixth, the rest rank below the 15th place.

The study gives an in-depth analysis of the careers of several emblematic football players to assess their goal-scoring performance over the nine seasons such as that of Messi.

The researchers have claimed Messi's development as interesting although they said that his performance is high in early seasons and his productivity has decreased significantly thereafter.

The model can quantify an additional individual factor that influences the qualities of each footballer as a goal-scorer, using which the researchers have been able to rank Spanish league players.

Suarez eyes Real Madrid move

AP

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez says he's tired of "putting up" with the British media and it would be difficult to say no if Spanish giants Real Madrid offers him a role.

The Uruguay forward, who has been fiercely criticised by the English media for his bizarre on-field antics including biting opponents, has been linked with Real Madrid, reports Xinhua.

"Liverpool has treated me very well and I only have words of thanks for the fans, but I'm not prepared to keep putting up with everything the British press says," Suarez said. "I love Liverpool and everyone knows I have a contract, but if there's a chance of playing elsewhere I'd think about it."

Suarez admitted that there was "nothing concrete" about a move, but added "it would be difficult to say no to Real Madrid".

Suarez had been suspended for eight games in December 2011 for making racist remarks toward Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during a match. He was suspended 10 matches for biting an opponent in April.

"I know I've made mistakes and when I have I've apologized, but the press has dedicated itself to talking about me as if they've known me all my life, saying things that have nothing to do with football," Suarez said.

Hope India qualifies for 2022 FIFA World Cup: Tendulkar

PTI

Navi Mumbai: Cricket great Sachin Tendulkar Tuesday said he hoped the Indian football team would qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar.

Tendulkar gave an inspirational speech at the presentation ceremony of the final of the Coca-Cola Cup, a national under-15 sub-junior football tournament, which Meghalaya won 1-0 against Odisha at the Father Agnel School ground here.

"I know in 2022 there is something really big happening for Indian football. I hope India qualifies for that World Cup. That is something that should be your target and your senior players will guide you. Just follow their steps and chase your dreams," Tendulkar told the young footballers during the presentation.

The Mumbaikar said the key to being successful in sports was to follow one's dream and be passionate about it.

"A simple advice I can give you is be passionate about the sport. Fall madly in love with the sport and that will allow you to work harder. Have dreams and chase them. Dreams will come true," said the batting legend.

Tendulkar, who Sunday retired from the Indian Premier League (IPL) after the Mumbai Indians victory, thanked the fans for supporting him throughout his career.

"I was madly in love with cricket. I am still madly in love with cricket. Also the support and love I have received from all the people has been my strength. It has allowed me to move out and give my best. The right platform was set for me to go out and perform. A big thank you to all the people who have supported me for the last 23 years," he said.

Tendulkar praised the organisers of the tournament and said more grassroot initiatives such as this were the need of the hour for Indian sports.

"I keenly look forward to many of the youngsters seizing this opportunity and showcasing their talent and skills. Emerging sports persons in the country require similar grassroot initiatives and competitive platforms to unlock and realise their true potential," he added