ZENIT WANTS TO PART WITH PUYGRENIER

Zenit Saint Petersburg is ready to sell French defender Sebastian Puygrenier.


Contract of the French player with Saint Petersburg club will expire in 2012. last season Puygrenier played in Monaco on a loan and returned to Saint Petersburg to take part in preparation camp in Austria. According to sport press information Monaco would like to loan the defender again, but Zenit has different point of view on the situation.

"Puygrenier is good player, however we decided to put his name on a transfer list", Zenit general director Maxim Mitrofanov explained to sport press. "We want to sell him".

EUROPA LEAGUE QUALIFYING ROUND KICKS OFF

The opening leg of the first round of Europa League qualifiers kicked-off with a series of exciting results, led by Randers and Anorthosis Famagusta dominating performances and former CSKA Moscow man Juris Laizāns notching a late levelling goal for Skonto. In the third qualifying round, Russia’s Sibir Novosibirsk enters the tournament, with Lokomotiv and CSKA coming in during the playoffs.


Denmark's Randers started their Europa League efforts with a flourishing 6-1 victory over F91 Dudelange, with Yura Movsisyan leading the way with two goals. Continuing where they left off last year under veteran manager Ove Christensen, Randers took the lead at the sixteenth minute with Tidiane Sane hitting the mark. Only a minute later, Yura Movsisyan hit for the first of his two goals, with the hosts were in clear control. Twelve minutes shy of the break Ricki Olsen gave Randers the commanding 3-0 lead at the break. Two minutes after the restart, Søren Pedersen added to the lead from the spot before Sofian Benzouien pulled one back at the forty-ninth minute. As regulation time ticked-down, Yura Movsisyan added to his memorable evening with his second goal to give Randers the affirming 6-1 victory

Armenian Premier League side Banants problematic play on the European stage continued, as they were overwhelmed 3-0 by Cypriot powerhouse Anorthosis Famagusta. New manager Stevica Kuzmanovski saw his visiting side fall behind quickly as Nikos Katsavakis and Yiannis Okkas hit before the thirty-first minute to give for Anorthosis a two-goal lead and from general play, the match was ostensibly over. At the sixty-fourth minute, veteran Cafú added an insurance marker to bring the match to a 3-0 finale.

Latvia's Skonto added a last gasp leveller by former CSKA Moscow man Juris Laizāns to play host Portadown to a 1-1 draw. The Northern Irish side went in front seven minutes before the break with Richard Lecky's marker. With two minutes remaining in regulation time, Christopher Ramsey received his second yellow-card, forcing the hosts to play a man down for the remaining time. In the third minute of added-time, Juris Laizāns, who last played in Russia for Shinnik Yaroslavl, posted the leveller to bring the match to 1-1 draw, honours even.

In front of their home supporters, Dinamo Tbilisi defeated Estonia's Flora 2-1. After Alo Dupikov gave the visitors the lead at the ninth minute, Georgi Kakhelishvili levelled the contest midway of the half. Three minutes past the hour, Georgian international Levan Khmaladze scored from the spot to give the home side the 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.

Belorussian side Dnepr Mogilev added a last gasp goal to play KF Laçi to a 1-1 draw in Durres, Albania. After Bledar Marashi gave the hosts the 1-0 lead at the twenty-third minute, Laçi looked to be headed for the victory before Dmitry Turlin squared the match deep into added-time.

In front of their home supporters, Georgia's Zestafoni hammered Faetano 5-0. The San Marino side was overwhelmed as Nikoloz Gelashvili hit for two goals midway of the half, sandwiched between Jaba Dvali's marker. The latter added a second after the break with substitute Tornike Gorgiashvili scoring in added-time to round out the scoring.

Belarusian side Torpedo Zhodino gave their home fans something to cheer about with an affirming 3-0 victory over Reykjavík's Fylkir. After a scoreless opening half, Aliaksandr Lisouski's men erupted with Ihor Kryvobok, Ogar and Syarhey Kantsavy scoring within a fifteen-minute span starting at the fifty-second minute.

Moldovan side Dacia held host FK Zeta to a 1-1 draw. After Ghenadie Orbu gave the visitors the lead six minutes before the break, the Montenegrin's levelled at the seventy-ninth minute as Zarija Peličić connected from the spot.

Myllykosken Pallo (MYPA) of Finland's Veikkausliiga defeated host Narva Trans 2-0 at Lilleküla Stadium in Tallinn. After a scoreless opening half, Janne Lindberg's visiting side took the lead with Russian native Maxim Votinov’s goal at the forty-seventh minute with Aleksei Gorškov victimized for an own goal six minutes later.

Llanelli, of the Welsh Premier League, came from behind to play visitors Tauras Tauragė to a 2-2 draw. The Lithuanian's jumped in front at the ninth minute via Marius Kižys' effort, before David Thomas squared the match eight minutes later. Marius Kižys restored the lead three minutes later, with Stuart Jones levelling at the forty-seventh minute. With a minute remaining in regulation time, Andy Legg's side were forced to play a man down after veteran Christopher Holloway received his second yellow-card but they managed to hold off any advances with the match ending as a draw.

Icelandic force, KR Reykjavík defeated Glentoran at the KR-völlur. In front of their home supporters, Logi Ólafsson's side took the lead three minutes shy of the quarter-hour via Guðmundur Gunnarsson's marker. At the thirty-second minute, Kjartan Finnbogason, who spent time with Falkirk of the Scottish Premier League last year, doubled the margin. Veteran Icelandic international Björgólfur Takefusa rounded out the scoring just past the hour as Reykjavík cruised to the 3-0 victory.

Bosnia and Herzegovinan Premier League runners-up Široki Brijeg defeated Olimpija 2-0 in Ljubljana Slovenia. Veteran attacker Wagner gave Ivo Ištuk's men the lead just before the break with his Brazilian compatriot Renato making it 2-0 with twenty-two minutes remaining in regulation time.

At Hrazdan Central Stadium in Yerevan Armenia, host Ulisses played Israeli Premier League side Bnei Yehuda to a scoreless draw. Despite the dominating the match for long stretches of the contest, the hosts could not breakthrough goalkeeper Dele Aiyenugba, with Armenian international Norayr Sahakyan narrowly missing breaking the deadlock late in the affair.

Courtesy of a later marker by Ricardo Santos, host Kalmar FF of the Swedish Allsvenskan edged Faroese side EB/Streymur 1-0.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's HŠK Zrinjski Mostar defeated Tobol Kostanay 2-1, courtesy of Mate Dragičević's two goals. After Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev gave the host Kazakhstan's side at the thirteenth minute, Dragan Jović's side from Mostar came back with two second-half goals by the veteran for the victory.

Macedonian Premier League runners-up Rabotnički slaughtered Andorra's FC Lusitans before their home fans in Skopje. Zé Carlos and Macedonian international Wandeir gave the hosts the 2-0 lead at the break, before blowing the match wide open with three goals in five minutes just before the hour mark. After Fábio Silva scored twice within a minute of the fifty-fifth minute, Muarem made it 5-0 on the hour.

Visiting Ruch Chorzów of the Polish Ekstraklasa came from behind to defeat Shakhtyor Karagandy 2-1. After Aldin Ðidić gave the hosts the 1-0 lead at the seventh minute, Waldemar Fornalik's side levelled just before the break with Łukasz Janoszka finding the mark. Three minutes after the restart, veteran Wojciech Grzyb connected from the spot to give his side the 2-1 victory.

János Csank's Zalaegerszegi Torna Egylet of the Hungarian Soproni Liga played host KF Tirana to a scoreless draw, in a contest of few opportunities.

At Zimbru Stadium in Chişinău, host Olimpia Bălţi played Lankaran to a scoreless draw, in a highly defensive contest.

Finland's Turun Palloseura (TPS) devastated Wales side Port Talbot Town in front of their host fans with up and comer Riku Riski scoring twice and Babatunde Wusu adding a third before the break. Martin Rose lodged an important away goal with twenty minutes on the clock to bring the match to a 3-1 final.

Slovakia's Nitra came from behind to play Győri ETO to a 2-2 draw. In front of their home fans, Martin Tóth gave the Slovaks the 1-0 lead two minutes shy of the quarter-hour before Estonia international Tarmo Kink hit for two. Ten minutes prior to the end of regulation time, Roman Sloboda added the leveller.

Qarabağ defeated visiting Macedonian side Metalurg Skopje 4-1, in a match that featured three goals in the final six mintues. Rashad Sadygov gave the hosts the 1-0 lead from the spot at the twenty-sixth minute before Afran Ismayilov scored just before the break. Six minutes after the restart Admir Teli was red-carded but despite the man disadvantage Afran Ismayilov added his second three minutes later to make it 3-0. In added-time Giorgi Adamia scored in added-time before Marko Simonovski gave the Macedonian's hope and bring the match to a 4-1 conclusion.

Croatia's HNK Šibenik played visiting Malta side Sliema Wanderers to a scoreless draw that saw few notable advances.

Mogren of the Montenegrin First League visit of Andorra concluded with a 3-0 victory over UE Santa Coloma. After Petar Grbić gave the visitors the lead at the fourteenth minute, Danilo Čulafić and Marko Ćetković added late goals in the final ten minutes to round up the scoring.

Visiting Republic of Ireland side Dundalk played Grevenmacher to a 3-3 draw in Luxembourg. After Fahrudin Kudozović and veteran, player-coach Wayne Hatswell gave Dundalk the two goal advantage the Luxembourgian's fought back with three unanswered markers. After Tim Heinz, Gabriel Pereira and Jorge Almeida gave the hosts the lead, an own-goal by Khalid Benichou late in the contest squared the match.

Visiting Gefle IF of Sweden's Allsvenskan defeated Faroe Island's side NSÍ Runavík 2-0 in Tórshavn, courtesy of Alexander Gerndt's brace.

TOUGH CHOICES FOR YURIY SEMIN’S LOKOMOTIV

After a trying start to the campaign that saw their pre-season hopes languish with mid-table play, Lokomotiv Moscow were hopeful of re-tooling their anaemic attack with the acquisition of a premier striker during the summer transfer season.


The Railwayman had been hopeful of attracting Roman Pavlyuchenko from Tottenham, the Russian international's late season in-form and personal wishes to say in England saw that chance evaporate.

Manager Yuriy Semin has been anxious to upgrade his under-performing attacking unit with Dramane Traoré and Peter Odemwingie on the sales block. Hopes that Peter Odemwingie would raise his value with a quality performance for Nigeria in the World Cup quickly dissipated with sub-standard play and the once lofty fee in the €10 million range was undercut by England Premier League side Birmingham City with an offer of €2 million, to which club president Nikolay Naumov appropriately rejected.

While former Dynamo Kyiv man Oleksandr Aliyev has been an attacking revelation for the Railwayman, the lack for production at striker, the need to play Dmitri Sychev out of position and the extended absence of Wágner due to injury, has created a storm of problems for the Lokomotiv mastermind Yuriy Semin. Furthermore, as the Railwayman ready for the second half of the campaign, there is considerable concern that Renat Yanbaev could be on his way to London powerhouse Arsenal. Such a loss, akin to the departure of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov to Everton last year, could put a significant roadblock in their efforts to climb up the table.

With the Nigerian international’s stock dipping so low, Lokomotiv are a precarious position of trying to recoup their expected sales, attracting a more experienced striker such as Alexandr Kerzhakov, seemingly on his way out at Zenit Saint Petersburg or look for new man Maicon to play a greater role. Though Lokomotiv possesses a fine stable of young strikers that will play a role in the horizon, including Alexandr Minchenkov, Georgiy Nurov, Dmitry Poloz and sixteen year-old Soslan Dzhioyev, each will require significant time curing and unlikely to be a factor in the second half.

Lokomotiv Moscow returns to play on 10 July as they visit Anzhi Makhachkala.

ZENIT TO BUY RETO ZIEGLER

Leaders of the Russian championship Zenit is close to signing Swiss defender Reto Ziegler.


The Saint Petersburg club is interested in acquiring the 24-year-old defender Reto Ziegler, who made three appearances in World Cup group stage for Switzerland.

According to sport press information Zenit will pay € 4 million for transfer of Sampdoria man.

SLUTSKY: CHANGES ARE INEVITABLE

CSKA head coach Leonid Slutsky talks about ongoing World Cup in South Africa and about his club’s preparations in Austria.


"To my mind the time has come for FIFA to change something, because the World Cup is not so entertaining and favourites don’t impress very much because they look tired", Slutsky said to sport press. "Changes are necessary to make the World Cup not worse than the Champions League for instance".

"Players get exhausted in their clubs and as the result they are tired at the World Championship. FIFA obliged everyone to finish the season one month before the tournament, but it’s not enough. In this case players have only one week of vacations and they have to resume hard work again".

"I have no ready solution, but they can change system of the Champions League when the World Cup is held. In any case decision is to be made by FIFA, and they definitely should do something".

"I watch World Cup matches attentively, and I support teams and players emotionally more than analyze their games, especially when CSKA players are on the pitch".

"Doumbia appeared in the field only for twelve minutes on the day when CSKA played trial match against Metallurg Donetsk. I read that he scored a goal from off-side position".

"I saw Tosic playing and he produced very good impression on me, but again he had little playing practice. Odia looked not well in the first match, and he improved his play after that".

"I am not surprised that people are impressed by Honda’s display. The only thing which worries me is that position of a striker is not the best one for him. I think that he would play much better if he plays closer to midfield line".

"CSKA is in very difficult situation now, since we lack four key players and we cannot introduce our two newcomers Doumbia and Tosic to our playing scheme".

"I understand that we will play the first match after summer break with those players, who train with us now. IF Gonzalez and Honda don’t advance to the World Cup final match, they will return to us, but they will need to get rest from this tough competition. Moreover Guilherme is injures and it will keep him sidelined from action too".

"On 3 July we will play one more trial match in Moscow against team from Naro-Fominsk. And after that we will begin one-week preparations for Premier League match against Saturn".

BOZOVIC: DYNAMO IS NOT ABSOLUTELY NEW TEAM FOR ME

Dynamo head coach Miodrag Bozovic summarized his first preparation camp with his team.


"I cannot say that Dynamo is a new team for me", Bozovic said to sport press. "I worked with five players in my previous clubs and I knew others well too. There is nothing special about this training camp".

"We managed to fulfill the whole program, as we gave equal workload to all players and let youngsters show their best qualities".

"Now I can say that I know all players’ weak and strong sides. I was liked that our experienced players proved that they can take the initiative and fight to help their team".

"Each of our reserve players can establish himself in our football. Defenders Mijskovic and Karakin produced better impression than others, so I will keep an eye to our reserve team".

"Dynamo sealed two draws and lost one game during our preparations, and I don’t want to search for excuses. I take responsibility for our defeat to the Georgian team. I think that it’s necessary to achieve positive results even in trial matches, but anyway we shouldn’t overestimate their importance".

"We conceded seven goals in three matches, and I think that it’s better to concede now rather than in the Russian championship".

"Fyodor Smolov could possible move to Feyenoord. He is high-class player, but with Kuranyi’s move to our team he won’t have too much playing practice".

"I expect that our effectiveness will improve after Kevin joined us, as his link with Voronin is supposed to become successful. I cannot say which playing scheme I will choose, but our current model will be changed for sure".

ARSHAVIN: NOBODY EXPECTED THIS RESULT

Captain of the Russian national team and Arsenal striker Andrey Arshavin commented on England’s match against Germany at World Cup first knockout round.


"I began watching this match when Germany netter the second goal", Arshavin said to sport press.

"I am sure that everything could have happen in different way if the referee registered Lampard’s 100% goal. I said long time ago that it’s necessary to establish system of video replay in order to prevent these situations".

"There is no man who had expected this result. Germany team surprisingly won this clash rather easily. If Lampard’s goal had been registered by the referee, England could have won the game".

"Germans outplayed their opponents first of all thanks to their speed and quick attacks. Moreover English team was weakened by selection problems, as they had nobody to replace Rio Ferdinand".

"We talked a lot about weakness of their goalkeepers line ahead of our matches in 2007, and since then nothing has changed".

"Players looked tired, maybe because of difficult season in English Premier League where clubs play more games than in other championships".

"Leader of the team Wayne Rooney didn’t manage to return to his peak form after suffering an injury. No doubts he was Premier League best player before he got injured, but now he is not team’s leader anymore".

"In any case only Fabio Capello and players know real reasons of their defeat".

"In Moscow Germany played defensive football, and their play became quite different at World Cup. We can say that Germans know which style can lead them to victory and they can change their tactics very quickly".

"Unfortunately I watched not many games of the World Cup, but my main impression is low speed. Chile, Slovakia, Ghana look fresher than others. By that way I liked Chilean team and I won’t be surprised if they produce a sensation in the match with Brazil".