Mihai Nesu to create chances for disabled people in Romania
The Mihai Nesu Foundation (www.mihainesufoundation.com) kicked off in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on Monday 16 January 2012. Its primary objective is to create opportunities to improve the living conditions of people with a disability in Romania and enable them to integrate more fully into daily life.
The opportunities will range from the provision of wheelchairs and other aids to the establishment of good revalidation centres where people with a disability can recover and take part in recreational activities and sport on a daily basis, perfectly normal in the Netherlands but not as common in Romania.
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mihai-Nesu-Foundation/168533143253036
The Foundation’s second objective is to encourage young children in Romania and the Netherlands and help them develop their footballing talents by facilitating their education and providing specific, individual training courses and supervision. Read more
Udinese vs. Celtic Glasgow UEFA Europa League preview
Udinese Calcio will look to avoid UEFA Europa League disaster when they take on Celtic FC, the only side that can deny them a top-two finish in Group I.
Udinese lead Celtic by three points but should the Italian outfit lose, the Bhoys would secure second place by virtue of a superior head-to-head record.
It was a tale of two penalties when the teams met on matchday two. Celtic got off to the perfect start as Ki Sung-Yong converted a third-minute spot kick, but Almen Abdi salvaged a draw for the Italian contenders by converting a similar effort on 88 minutes. It was Udinese’s first game against a Scottish club. Read more
Steaua Bucuresti vs. AEK Larnaca UEFA Europa League preview
Steaua Bucuresti and AEK Larnaca both need a win on matchday six to have any chance of finishing in the top two in UEFA Europa League Group J.
With both sides set to lose out in the event of finishing level on points with second-placed Maccabi Haifa FC, only a winner in Bucharest would have a chance of going through and even then they need Haifa to drop points against section winners FC Schalke 04.
Steaua earned a 1-1 draw when the sides met on matchday two. The Cypriot side struck first through Miljan Mrdakovic in the 59th minute before Mihai Costea responded six minutes later for Steaua, who had Pablo Brandán sent off with eight minutes to go. The result prompted the resignation of Steaua’s Israeli coach Roni Levy. Read more
Zidane, Ronaldo, Drogba and Friends at the UNDP Match Against Poverty
Football superstar Didier Drogba will be joining a star-studded team of 30 international players at the “Match against Poverty” on Tuesday, December 13 at Hamburger Sportverein (HSV), one of Germany’s premier football clubs. With this match, the players are campaigning to raise funds for hunger relief programmes in the Horn of Africa.
Ronaldo, Zinédine Zidane and Drogba, who are Goodwill Ambassadors to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), have gathered international stars such as Luís Figo, Pavel Nedvěd, Serginho and Christian Karembeu for a match against an equally star-studded HSV All-Star team including Zé Roberto, Jörg Albertz, Sergej Barbarez, Mehdi Mahdavikia and Anthony Yeboah. The match will kick off at 19.05pm local time in Hamburg’s IMTECH Arena.
“I feel honoured to support people in the Horn of Africa, who are affected by drought and hunger, and I would like to encourage the public to join forces to overcome the crisis,” says Drogba, who will be participating for the first time.
The annual “Match against Poverty”, now for the ninth time, aims at supporting measures within the UN’s Millennium Development Goals: eight internationally acknowledged objectives for defeating extreme poverty by 2015. The match will be aired live by more than 20 national and international television channels. Two thirds of the revenue will go to UN measures to fight the ongoing food crisis; the remaining proceeds will be donated by HSV to local sports, youth and environmental projects.
Joining Ronaldo, Zidane, Drogba & friends are, among others: Dida, Paulo André, Serginho (Brazil) Jens Lehmann (Germany), Fernando Hierro, Michel Salgado (Spain), Gheorghe Popescu and Georghe Hagi (Romania), Luís Figo, Maniche, Fernando Couto (Portugal), Christian Karembeu, Claude Makélélé, Robert Pirès (France), Steve McManaman (England), Pavel Nedvěd (Czech Republic), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy) and Dwight Yorke (Trinidad/Tobago).
The referee will be legendary Pierluigi Collina, while Marcelo Lippi, Bora Milutinović and Boris Becker will take on the role of coaches. Tickets are available online at http://www.hsv.de/ticket.
Villarreal CF vs. Napoli UEFA Champions League preview
Napoli will hope lightning does not strike twice when they visit El Madrigal on matchday six with their UEFA Champions League fate back in their own hands.
The Serie A side suffered elimination from the UEFA Europa League when losing 2-1 at Villarreal CF in February and will want to avoid a repeat on a night when victory would take them into the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the first time.
Napoli‘s 2-1 home win against Manchester City FC on 22 November lifted them back into second place in Group A, with a one-point advantage over the English side. So long as they match City’s result against FC Bayern München, they will progress but a win would guarantee Walter Mazzarri’s side qualification whatever the result in Manchester.
Bottom-placed Villarreal are completely out of the equation but have pride to play for – and an unbeaten home record against Italian opposition to defend. Read more