Juventus’ murky doping past has reared its ugly head and threatens to overshadow the Serie A champions’ fixture today against AS Roma.
In normal circumstances the Juve-Roma match would be one most neutral fans would be keen to watch, but comments on Thursday by Roma coach Zdenek Zeman on allegations made in a book by former Serie A player Matias Almeyda mean that the match could be more tense than usual.
Fourteen years ago, Czech coach Zeman hit the headlines when he raised his suspicions about the use of steroids by the Turin giants, suspicions which would eventually lead to sanctions being handed to a Juventus official and after Almeyda’s recently published book carried similar claims — notably that he believed he had been given drugs by former club Parma — Zeman stood by his past comments.
Photo: EPA
“Years ago I said there was doping in football. I have not yet read the autobiography of Matias Almeyda, but I’m not surprised,” Zeman said, according to ANSA. “Now even some of the players are saying what I’ve said — if they had done [something to remedy] the problem, it would have been eliminated long ago.”
The comments, naturally, have angered fans of Juventus, who go into today’s game top of the league, but level on points with second-placed SSC Napoli.
Although he is likely to face a special welcome in Turin, Zeman is ready for the backlash.
“I hope that we can concentrate on the football, but if they’re angry with me, they should also be angry with all the prosecutors, the courts and so many other people,” he said.
While on the field, Juventus will look to make amends for a scoreless draw against ACF Fiorentina on Tuesday, while Roma striker Pablo Osvaldo is hoping his expected return to action following a brief spell on the sidelines goes to plan.
“Both our teams play the best football in Serie A,” Osvaldo told Sky Sport Italia.
“I don’t know what the score of the match will be, but we’ll be going there looking to bring home the three points. We have a great team and we can do well,” he said.
Juventus, perhaps in anticipation of the storm of questions relating to Zeman and Almeyda’s allegations, announced that caretaker coach Massimo Carrera would not answer questions at the club’s weekly press conference yesterday.
Meanwhile, AC Milan will look to build on their first home win of the season, a 2-0 defeat of Cagliari, when they travel to Parma.
Italy under-21 international striker Stephan El Shaarawy was the two-goal star on Wednesday and he said the result was proof that the team are fully behind embattled coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“I want to dedicate them [goals] to the coach. He’s shown a lot of faith in me and he knows he has the loyalty of the entire team,” said El Shaarawy, who has scored three goals in his last two games.
The bulk of the weekend’s fixtures will be held tomorrow, with UC Sampdoria against SSC Napoli and Inter versus ACF Fiorentina arguably the pick of the bunch.
Napoli are the only team to have kept pace with Juventus so far and they did so in style on Wednesday when an Edinson Cavani hat-trick helped demolish SS Lazio 3-0, but like Juventus and Napoli, Sampdoria are unbeaten in five games so far and could be hard to turn over at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, where Roma had to settle for a draw on Wednesday after Francesco Totti had given them the lead.
Inter will be hoping to emulate city rivals AC Milan — who claimed the first victory of the season at their shared San Siro home on Wednesday — when they host Fiorentina.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping