L'Sporto Deal?: Zimbabwe discovers it played a Fake team
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Enugu II
L'Sporto Deal?: Zimbabwe discovers it played a Fake team
Read below. I thought this was supposed to have been a game put together by Zimbabwe's new sponsor -- L'Sporto. Very strange story, indeed:
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Fake El Salvador Squad Flees
The Herald (Harare)
January 7, 2004
Posted to the web January 7, 2004
Robson Sharuko And Augustine Hwata
Harare
THE fake El Salvador national football team fled the country yesterday, three days before their scheduled departure, after they were exposed by The Herald in a sensational story that has gripped the imagination of the football world.
One of the biggest scandals in world football unfolded yesterday when it was confirmed that the team that the Warriors played was not El Salvador but a select side called Metapan.
Yesterday the Metapan players, having been unmasked as fake representatives of El Salvador, fled the country and their whereabouts were not known.
The team had originally been scheduled to leave on Friday.
Their officials are scheduled to leave the country today and Zifa announced yesterday that the second international friendly between these crooks and the Warriors had been cancelled.
The match had been pencilled in for Rufaro tonight.
Zifa chief executive Edgar Rogers said the match was cancelled as the Latin Americans feared for their safety at Rufaro.
"The El Salvador team is very temperamental and have said they are unhappy with the media coverage they have been getting.
"They said it was very negative and felt it is not conducive to play another friendly football match during the evening at Rufaro," said Rogers.
While Rogers kept describing them as El Salvador, the entire football world was yesterday looking in amazement as to how a group of players could masquerade as a serious national team and play what was termed a full international friendly.
El Salvador papers splashed the news about the fake team on their front pages as details began to emerge about the whole fiasco that was organised by L-Sporto.
According to an El Salvadorian paper, the group of players left the Central American nation under the name Metapan to play in the Houston, United States.
How the same group ended in Africa, without being granted authority by the El Salvador Football Federation and masquerading as the national senior team, remains a mystery.
Carlos Enrique Lopez Vides, the Sports Editor of the newspaper El Diario de Hoy in El Salvador, confirmed yesterday that the team that played in Zimbabwe was a fake representation of their real national team.
"We have read your articles about Sunday's match between Zimbabwe's national team and a fake El Salvadorean one.
"We've important information to share with you and we can confirm that those players are not the El Salvadorean national team.
"We will try to give you information about the real El Salvadorean national team," said Vides.
He said last night that the team did not travel with the authorisation of the Salvadorean Football Federation.
Federation president Humberto Torres said on Monday that they will start investigations about this group.
"Seven of the players in that team belong to FAS, the actual champion club of our country but their coach, the Peruvian Agustin Castillo, didn't give them permission for this trip.
"They might be punished on their return to El Salvador.
"The coach of that team in your country, Ricardo Guardado, is not the official coach of the national team.
"The official coach is Juan Ramon Paredes, who is in El Salvador right now. Guardado is an ex-coach of a local team called Arcense and now he doesn't have any team that he is in charge of.
"The soccer players in your country are not tourists. Eleven of them play in our First Division but only Victor Velasquez and Gilberto Murgas are in the national team,"said Vides.
El-Sporto officials, who organised the international friendly and misled Zimbabweans that this was the El Salvador national team, have been tightlipped since the scandal broke out.
Fans were made to pay a record $75 000 for the VIP seats to watch a fake team while the Minister of Education, Sports and Culture Aeneas Chigwedere was invited as the guest of honour for the occasion.
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Fake El Salvador Squad Flees
The Herald (Harare)
January 7, 2004
Posted to the web January 7, 2004
Robson Sharuko And Augustine Hwata
Harare
THE fake El Salvador national football team fled the country yesterday, three days before their scheduled departure, after they were exposed by The Herald in a sensational story that has gripped the imagination of the football world.
One of the biggest scandals in world football unfolded yesterday when it was confirmed that the team that the Warriors played was not El Salvador but a select side called Metapan.
Yesterday the Metapan players, having been unmasked as fake representatives of El Salvador, fled the country and their whereabouts were not known.
The team had originally been scheduled to leave on Friday.
Their officials are scheduled to leave the country today and Zifa announced yesterday that the second international friendly between these crooks and the Warriors had been cancelled.
The match had been pencilled in for Rufaro tonight.
Zifa chief executive Edgar Rogers said the match was cancelled as the Latin Americans feared for their safety at Rufaro.
"The El Salvador team is very temperamental and have said they are unhappy with the media coverage they have been getting.
"They said it was very negative and felt it is not conducive to play another friendly football match during the evening at Rufaro," said Rogers.
While Rogers kept describing them as El Salvador, the entire football world was yesterday looking in amazement as to how a group of players could masquerade as a serious national team and play what was termed a full international friendly.
El Salvador papers splashed the news about the fake team on their front pages as details began to emerge about the whole fiasco that was organised by L-Sporto.
According to an El Salvadorian paper, the group of players left the Central American nation under the name Metapan to play in the Houston, United States.
How the same group ended in Africa, without being granted authority by the El Salvador Football Federation and masquerading as the national senior team, remains a mystery.
Carlos Enrique Lopez Vides, the Sports Editor of the newspaper El Diario de Hoy in El Salvador, confirmed yesterday that the team that played in Zimbabwe was a fake representation of their real national team.
"We have read your articles about Sunday's match between Zimbabwe's national team and a fake El Salvadorean one.
"We've important information to share with you and we can confirm that those players are not the El Salvadorean national team.
"We will try to give you information about the real El Salvadorean national team," said Vides.
He said last night that the team did not travel with the authorisation of the Salvadorean Football Federation.
Federation president Humberto Torres said on Monday that they will start investigations about this group.
"Seven of the players in that team belong to FAS, the actual champion club of our country but their coach, the Peruvian Agustin Castillo, didn't give them permission for this trip.
"They might be punished on their return to El Salvador.
"The coach of that team in your country, Ricardo Guardado, is not the official coach of the national team.
"The official coach is Juan Ramon Paredes, who is in El Salvador right now. Guardado is an ex-coach of a local team called Arcense and now he doesn't have any team that he is in charge of.
"The soccer players in your country are not tourists. Eleven of them play in our First Division but only Victor Velasquez and Gilberto Murgas are in the national team,"said Vides.
El-Sporto officials, who organised the international friendly and misled Zimbabweans that this was the El Salvador national team, have been tightlipped since the scandal broke out.
Fans were made to pay a record $75 000 for the VIP seats to watch a fake team while the Minister of Education, Sports and Culture Aeneas Chigwedere was invited as the guest of honour for the occasion.
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Gotti
Abeg make them take the 419 title from us. They have earned it.Waffiman wrote:419.
For many years upon this spot
You heard the sound of a merry bell
Those who were rash and those who were not
Lost and made a spot of cash
He who gave the game away
May he Brynn in hell and rue the day
Bryne V. Deane [1937]
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furiously frank
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bret- hart
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So much for the juicyness of the El' Sporto deal....
Form is temporary; Class is Permanent!
Liverpool, European Champions 2005.
We watched this very boring video, 500 times, of Sacchi doing defensive drills, using sticks and without the ball, with Maldini, Baresi and Albertini. We used to think before then that if the other players are better, you have to lose. After that we learned anything is possible – you can beat better teams by using tactics." Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool, European Champions 2005.
We watched this very boring video, 500 times, of Sacchi doing defensive drills, using sticks and without the ball, with Maldini, Baresi and Albertini. We used to think before then that if the other players are better, you have to lose. After that we learned anything is possible – you can beat better teams by using tactics." Jurgen Klopp
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Enugu II
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Enugu II
Zimbabwe in controversy
By Steve Vickers
BBC Sport, Harare
Zimbabwe thought they were playing El Salvador
Zimbabwe's Warriors have been caught up in controversy surrounding their recent opponents El Salvador.
The Central Americans drew 0-0 with Zimbabwe in a friendly match in Harare on Sunday and were due to play a second game on Wednesday as part of the Warriors' Nations Cup preparations.
But the El Salvador players left the country on Tuesday amid allegations that they were not the genuine national team.
Only two recognised members of the senior national El Salvador squad played in Sunday's match, which saw the visitors failing to create any shots at goal.
Furthermore, national team coach Juan Ramon Paredes did not travel to Zimbabwe, with Ricardo Guardado taking charge of the side.
Although the El Salvador Football Federation says that it will be investigating the matter, officials who accompanied the team to Zimbabwe insisted that they had not short-changed anyone.
"The allegations are not true, we are rebuilding the national team and these new players are all part of our future plans to take us to the 2006 World Cup," said head of delegation Jose Gundron.
Guardado said that he was coaching the team on behalf of Paredes and would be reporting to him.
"Zimbabwe couldn't score against us, and their world ranking is much higher than ours, so you can't say that we played badly," said Guardado.
With the cancellation of Wednesday's match, the Warriors may not play any further international friendlies before the Nations Cup.
Plans for a warm-up against Kenya have been shelved, and a fixture against Zambia scheduled for 11 January has been put back a week.
The match may not take place at all as the Zambians are demanding appearance fees that may be beyond the reach of the Zimbabwe FA.
By Steve Vickers
BBC Sport, Harare
Zimbabwe thought they were playing El Salvador
Zimbabwe's Warriors have been caught up in controversy surrounding their recent opponents El Salvador.
The Central Americans drew 0-0 with Zimbabwe in a friendly match in Harare on Sunday and were due to play a second game on Wednesday as part of the Warriors' Nations Cup preparations.
But the El Salvador players left the country on Tuesday amid allegations that they were not the genuine national team.
Only two recognised members of the senior national El Salvador squad played in Sunday's match, which saw the visitors failing to create any shots at goal.
Furthermore, national team coach Juan Ramon Paredes did not travel to Zimbabwe, with Ricardo Guardado taking charge of the side.
Although the El Salvador Football Federation says that it will be investigating the matter, officials who accompanied the team to Zimbabwe insisted that they had not short-changed anyone.
"The allegations are not true, we are rebuilding the national team and these new players are all part of our future plans to take us to the 2006 World Cup," said head of delegation Jose Gundron.
Guardado said that he was coaching the team on behalf of Paredes and would be reporting to him.
"Zimbabwe couldn't score against us, and their world ranking is much higher than ours, so you can't say that we played badly," said Guardado.
With the cancellation of Wednesday's match, the Warriors may not play any further international friendlies before the Nations Cup.
Plans for a warm-up against Kenya have been shelved, and a fixture against Zambia scheduled for 11 January has been put back a week.
The match may not take place at all as the Zambians are demanding appearance fees that may be beyond the reach of the Zimbabwe FA.
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General Trousers
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