Author Topic: CSKA Win EUFA Cup (Read 266 times)

Woozie · « **on:** May 19, 2005, 08:00:55 AM »

CSKA Moscow's Uefa Cup victory will herald a new dawn in Russian football, says CSKA coach Valery Gazzayev.

Thousands took to the streets in Moscow to celebrate the 3-1 win in Lisbon that sealed Russia's first European trophy.

"It's is a great achievement of Russian football," said Gazzayev, who believes it is also proof a Russian side could reach the Champions League final.

"I'm proud of my players, I'm proud of our fans and I'm proud of my country."

The country's prime minister Mikhail Fradkov also joined the celebratory mood saying: "I would like to congratulate the CSKA players and coaches along with all Russian football lovers for a historic win."

Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the lower house of parliament, even suggested that 18 May could forever now be known as "The Day of Russian Soccer."

"People will be going to stadiums and seeing the appearance of new soccer idols," he said.

Roman's roubles

Gazzayev said it was a "landmark" for Russian football.

"Now every child in Russian youth football schools will know what to work for and what to dream about and will know those dreams can become true," he said.

"This...will give the nation the belief to go on and win more things at both club and international level.

"I hope the next medal I pick up will be a Champions League one," he said.

Powered by a £29m sponsorship deal with Russian oil company Sibneft, of which Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich is still the majority shareholder, CSKA only just failed to make it into the knockout rounds of this season's Champions League.

Having come through a second qualifying-round tie against Azerbaijan's Neftchi Baku in July, CSKA were paired with Porto, Chelsea and Paris St Germain.

A 3-1 win over the French side in their final game did not prove quite enough - Porto's last-gasp win over Chelsea putting the Portuguese side through and leaving CSKA to settle for a place in the last 32 of the Uefa Cup.

As a result, captain Sergei Semak left for Paris St Germain and Czech midfielder Jiri Jarosik joined Chelsea.

The team also had to cope with the departure of homesick Brazilian striker Vagner Love, though he later returned, and it was his goals, capped by the third against Sporting, that helped CSKA seal their Uefa Cup success.

Porto pair

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian teams have endured lean times.

The national side has never advanced past the first stage of the World Cup or European Championship, while club sides have continued a barren run in Europe.

But there are also signs the growing financial muscle of Russian clubs means they can attract top players.

Last week Dynamo Moscow splashed out £14m ($25.7m) to sign Porto pair Maniche and Costinha, who joined their former team-mate Derlei in the Russian capital.

Spartak paid £8.2m (12m euros) for talented young Argentine Fernando Cavenaghi and Lokomotiv brought home Russia striker Dmitri Sychev from Olympique Marseille.

I don't understand how Abramovich hasnt been proved to have a conflict of interest here...

Congrats to CSKA tho.

mauzip · « **Reply #1 on:** May 19, 2005, 09:00:16 AM »

After Sporting defeated AZ nobody still gives a shit about the UEFA Cup anymore.

TheDeli · « **Reply #2 on:** May 19, 2005, 09:23:35 AM »

Quote from: Woozie on May 19, 2005, 08:00:55 AM

I don't understand how Abramovich hasnt been proved to have a conflict of interest here...

Congrats to CSKA tho.

Was there not some sort of investigation done and all that they could prove was that Abramovich's company was the sponsers of CSKA & never had an interest, the following is from UEFA.com

No CSKA controlling interest
Thursday, 2 September 2004

UEFA has confirmed that Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich does not have a controlling interest in PFC CSKA Moskva. The two clubs have been drawn together in the forthcoming UEFA Champions League group stage.

Routine procedures
European football's governing body said that its legal department had verified the issue as part of routine procedures before the new club competition season. UEFA monitors the situation of all clubs taking part in its tournaments.

Competition rules
The European Union's competition laws and UEFA's competition rules forbid an individual owning a major share of two clubs in the same tournament. However, there are no laws limiting the amount that an individual can sponsor another team.

Sponsorship deal
Abramovich has owned Chelsea since last summer. In March, CSKA signed a sponsorship deal with the Russian oil company Sibneft, of which Abramovich is the former owner and still the majority shareholder.

Suffice · « **Reply #3 on:** May 19, 2005, 02:01:06 PM »

congrats to CSKA! I can't believe russian football won something, they really suck most of the time

Bomb-A® · « **Reply #4 on:** May 20, 2005, 01:48:36 AM »

Quote from: Woozie on May 19, 2005, 08:00:55 AM

"It's is a great achievement of Russian football," said Gazzayev, who believes it is also proof a Russian side could reach the Champions League final.