Athens, Greece

EFFL Goes On 2 Week Holiday!

EFFL will go on break for two weeks after all games are simmed for the Q-Finals of the EFFL Cup. Games will resume Sept 3rd (Friday), you have until then to get your Round 10 line ups in, should be enough time for some of you! :-) Enjoy the break and here's some "sport" pictures for you all.

EFFL Cup Season Five
Match Day 6

AT

AC Milan 3 - 1 Chelsea



AC Milan 37' Claudio Marchisio (Oscar Cardozo)
Chelsea 45' Luis Fabiano (Alexandre Pato)
AC Milan 45'+3 Marco Borriello (Claudio Marchisio)
AC Milan 63' Domenico Criscito Own Goal (Marco Borriello)

Venue: Stamford Bridge
Attendance: 40,975
: None
Suspensions: None


LINE UPS & RATINGS:


AC Milan: Shay Given (c) 9.1 - Davide Santon 7.3 - John Arne Riise 7.7 - Nicolas Burdisso 6.8 - Salvatore Bocchetti 7.2 - Gaby Mudingayi 6.8 - Angelo Palombo 6.8 - Claudio Marchisio 8.8 - Lucas Barrios 6.7 - Marco Borriello 8.1 - Oscar Cardozo 7.0
: Juan Angel Albin 6.5 @ 72' (Barrios), Alberto Aquilani 6.9 @ 75' (Marchisio)


Chelsea: Iker Casillas 6.1 - Glen Johnson 4.7 - Domenico Criscito 6.0 - Lucio 6.5 - Pepe 6.2 - Esteban Cambiasso 5.8 - Mikel Arteta 5.9 - Daniele De Rossi (c) 6.6 - Frank Lampard 6.5 - Luis Fabiano 5.7 - Alexandre Pato 5.3
: Raul Albiol 6.7 @ 60' (Cambiasso), Mauro Zarate 6.1 @ 60' (Pato)

--------------------------------



1---------------------------Goals------------------------3
14--------------------------Shots-----------------------12
5---------------------Shots On Target------------------5
6---------------------Shots Off Target------------------3
3----------------------Blocked Shots--------------------4
0-------------------------Woodwork---------------------1
3--------------------Clear Cut Chances-----------------1
8------------------------Long Shots---------------------5
46%--------------------Possession---------------------54%
6-------------------------Corners------------------------7
18-----------------------Free Kicks----------------------16
13-----------------------Throw Ins----------------------16
14--------------------------Fouls------------------------15
2-------------------------Off-Sides----------------------3
68%----------------Passes Completed-----------------70%
11%---------------Crosses Completed-----------------29%
75%-------------------Tackles Won---------------------59%
56%-------------------Headers Won--------------------63%
0-----------------------Yellow Cards---------------------0
0------------------------Red Cards-----------------------0
134.7----------------Kilometres Run-------------------128.3
6.50------------------Average Rating-------------------7.44


MAN OF THE MATCH PICTURE: Shay Given

Paris, France

TRANSFER MARKET TO CLOSE SATURDAY JULY 24th at 12PM PACIFIC TIME

The transfer market will close on July 24th at 12PM Pacific, this will keep the window open longer on the Eastern and Euro front as late deals are worked on. If 12PM comes and we have 6 or more owners in the chat room talking trade, I will consider an extention there and then in the chat room for an extra 30 minutes. Remember all deals must be posted by BOTH parties to be confirmed.

Trade Talks - Talks have been heating up with some of the biggest names in football perhaps changing hands. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have been told to pack there bags by Sir Alex Ferguson. Bayern Munich are odds on favorite to land Lionel Messi while PAO are in talks to grab Cristiano Ronaldo. Other big names perhaps changing teams include Drogba, Sneijder, Xabi Alonso, Ibrahimovic and Robinho! Stay tuned for a week of speculation and perhaps a few blockbusters!

Madrid, Spain

Breaking news out of the Spanish capital reports Real Madrid has dealt superstar goalkeeper Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon to Turkish club Galatasray for fellow Italian national team player Riccardo Montolivo & French keeper Sebastien Frey.

Real Madrid were toying with the idea of moving Buffon last week as they held talks with at least 6 EFFL clubs but no other club was willing to part with a ready made stand in replacement for Buffon and a midfield player who can step into Real Madrid's starting eleven straight away. Montolivo is a 25 year old midfielder while Frey is two years younger than Buffon (32) at 30 years of age.

Galatasaray manager Guus Hiddnik told reporters that "Gigi is an obvious upgrade over Frey" while explaining the deal to the harsh Turkish media who seemed to be in a better mood after Galatasaray defeated German giants Bayern Munich 1-0 only an hour before the deal was announced. "Montolvio was injured the full season, so we won't miss him, you see the thing with Riccardo is that he is a prototypical "regista" (deep-lying playmaker), very similar to Andrea Pirlo who of course is a starter on our team, Riccardo was eventually going to be our replacement for Pirlo when he decides to hang up the boots but we believe we have time on our hands to find another replacement"

On the other side of the Mediterranean Sea Real Madrid Fabio Capello was under intense pressure after being held without a goal against Newcastle United at home over the weekend. Reporters fired questions at Capello asking why he has now moved perhaps the top two keepers in the world within months of each other. One reporter even went as far as suggesting Casillas has now turned into Frey. The Spanish media took a hard time understanding the Spanish national teams #1 keeper being traded but it was explained to them that Buffon was the best keeper in the world, so they accepted it along with the fans. But results haven't been what they were in the previous Championship winning side and now Capello was forced to answer his hardest question, why?

"Frey is coming into his prime, he's only 30 years of age and in my mind is a top top keeper, Gigi didn't like living in Madrid, something we kept under wraps for some time but when we saw the offer from Galatasaray which not only included Frey but a top class midfielder in Montolivio too, it was just to hard to turn down"

These are pressing times in both cities as Galatasaray looks to get out of the relegation zone while Real Madrid's Capello needs his new players to start bringing in immediate results.

NY, USA

Diego Milito has been the name of every EFFL managers lips recently. The Argentinean striker has been in blazing form this season scoring 8 goals in 5 league matches including 2 helpers of his own. While Milito leads the league in goals, he's tied for first with the most man of the match performances with Romanian hit-man Adrian Mutu. The nearest player in terms of goals is Hulk, Rooney & Aguero, all stuck on five. It's most likely because of his outstanding form that Newcastle has kept Milito away from the EFFL Cup matches, something the fans have been annoyed with.

When asked about his possibilities of winning player of the year, Diego told the press that he doesn't care nor need personal trophies and that he would much rather help Newcastle on a run to the title and at the very least, remain in the Premiership. Milito did acknowledge that defenders were paying much more attention to him lately but that didn't stop him from scoring 3 on the famous Red Devils of Manchester. Player of the year honors for Milito? Could very well happen. Watch this space.

By Phil McNulty, Rustenburg

Milan, Italy

Milan continue fine form.

Championship side AC Milan are the hottest club in EFFL at the moment. Milan recently beat Marseille 4-1 at the San Siro to remain in first place in the Championship division with 4 wins and no defeats or draws. When asked if he thought his club would have 12 points after 4 matches, James Eklund replied "Of course you idiot, I've assembled perhaps the greatest club since Roux, we're going to win 3 titles in a row!"

Along with four league wins in the early season, AC Milan also knocked Millwall (1-0) out of the EFFL Cup during the qualification round and also defeated Premiership side Newcastle United 3-1 during Match Day 1 Group Phase action. Milan has been in suberb condition being lead by hard tackling midfielder Gennaro Gattuso who has decided to add goal-scoring midfielder to his resume. Along with Gattuso's fine form has been Oscar Cardoza's dazzling performances with Yoann Gourcuff's wonderful vision on the field. AC Milan are the real deal and are definitely setting there sights on the Premiership next season.

Kansas, Usa

Kansas City splash out 85,000,000 Euros On Teen Sensation Sergio Canales.

The Kansas City Wizards broke the transfer record this week in considerable fashion as they outbid a plethora of clubs including PAO, Inter Milan, Manchester City & Arsenal FC to sign Teen sensation Sergio Canales. The Wizards, bankrolled by Roman Abramovich's senior club Chelsea FC surprised many when they put down a final bid of 85,000,000 Euros. The bid doubled the previous one by Arsenal who wouldn't go any higher than 42.5 Million. Ray Henderson, the general manager of Chelsea & Kansas City was delighted with the signing but was very concerned with the clubs finances. That however didn't stop Henderson from splashing out a further 13.5 Million on Micha Richards for the senior side.

Sergio Canales was expecting a bidding war but told reporters "I never thought me, a simple boy from Santander would break the world record". "I am so so happy to sign for EFFL's most prestigious franchise in Chelsea, their record in EFFL is second to none"

Even more surprising is that the youngster has yet to win a call up to the Spanish national side.

The port city of Santander which is the capital of Cantabria, an autonomous community hasn't seen this many reporters in their small town since Santillana signed for Real Madrid in the early 70's. Sergio Canales scouting report states he's an 18 year old attacking midfielder who likes to get forward whenever possible. It's believed that he's signed for a "modest" 45,000 Euros a week with Kansas City. With so much pressure now placed on this boys shoulders, it's going to be a very interesting ride for not just Ray Henderson, the man responsible for the signing but also Canales himself and the possible major uproar from Chelsea's fans if this deal tours sour.

Sergio Canales celebrates a goal in a recent match, Ray Henderson hopes he'll be doing this a lot in the upcoming season.

Season 5 League Schedule Released

EFFL tonight released Season 5 schedule for the Premier and Championship divisions for both senior and under 22 leagues. In the Premier league, defending champions Real Madrid start off their campaign away to Chelsea FC.

Newley promoted side Galatasaray & Schalke 04 play each other in both teams first ever EFFL competitive matches since moving from Eindhoven & Valencia. 2nd Place finishers from Season 4 Manchester United host 3rd place Bayern Munich while Season 4 Championship winners Newcastle United make a return to the promise land with a match against heated rivals Arsenal FC.

On the Championship side of things, Marseille start off against relegated side HSV. Manchester City, widely tipped to be promoted last season will line up on the road in Poland against Lech Poznan who moved from Inter Milan during the off-season. Greek side Panathinaikos host AC Milan while FC Barcelona get to show off their African-Espanol side to visiting dutch legends Ajax FC who are back in the EFFL via a stop in Feyenoord.

On the Under-22 circuit, the KC Wizards hit the road against Serbian outfit Red Star, Cadiz hosts St Pauli, Young Boys get ready to be invaded by Raja Casablanca and Kobenhavn host Warta Poznan.

The Lowest league in the EFFL see's newly created NY Red Bulls play Millwall in England, while fellow American side Philly will visit Sparta Prague and PAOK host VVV Venlo.

Hot favorites for the U-22 Championship title, CSKA Moscow play their Round One Match up against Barnsley.

The First official game of the season will be Arsenal FC vs Newcastle United.

Paris, France

TRANSFER MARKET TO OPEN ON THE 5th OF MARCH AT 12 MIDNIGHT

The transfer market will re-open on the 5th of March at exactly 12 midnight. Any free agent bids placed before then (even a milo second) will be considered INVALID. For season Five the league will be a lot more strict when it comes to transfers. You must follow the posting rules when placing a free agent bid. Many owners don't include in the bid there current roster sizes, doing this in the future will result in an INVALID trade/bid. If you cut a player after you place a bid or have plans on releasing a player only if you win, your bid will be considered INVALID. All cuts MUST be made BEFORE your bid if you are at the roster limit. If you have 22 outfield players on your roster, your bid will be INVALID.

This has always been a rule but it was a relaxed rule, from now on it will not. This rule is also in place when making a trade. You must post your CURRENT roster size when making a deal. If you are at the roster limit your trade will be INVALID. Please make all cuts or multiple trades at the same time. I will allow a ONE HOUR WINDOW for you to post any other deals that might lower your roster size to league relegations. You may also use this hour to release any players to make the trade legal. This one hour window rule only counts against making trades, you can't use it for making a free agent bid or countering a free agent bid.

Many teams are currently over the roster limit, you have until March 5th at 11.30 PM to get under the limit or the league will automatically RELEASE your lowest OV rated players for you. You have ONE WEEK to get your clubs into shape. Please do so. Also, do not edit any trades, bids or counter bids. If I see an owner make an edit, that bid, counter bid or trade is INVALID.

If you agree a trade with a FELLOW owner and you back out after another owner has decided to make cuts or another move, if given substancial proof, you will be fired. TRADE IN GOOD FAITH.

EFFL CUP FINAL

79': Aaron Ramsey (Yoann Gourcuff)

Substitutions Made: Aaron Ramsey 7.4 @ 41' (Zarate), Alan Kardec 6.7 @ 72' (Dzeko)

London, England

Real Madrid can finally lay claim to be the undisputed champions of Season 4 in the EFFL by defeating Brazilian wonder-kids Sao Paulo in a much anticipated final that saw the first ever Under 22 side reach the El Presidente Cup final. Madrid recently crowned champions of the Premiership last week came out looking to punish Sao Paulo. Andres Iniesta, the Spanish international smashed one past Rui Patricio and into the back of the old onion bag to make it 1-0 after 17 minutes. Eric Abidal took a quick throw in which was received by Gonzalo Higuain who slipped the ball to Iniesta who in turn blasted a shot about 30 yards out. The mostly pro Madrid crowd at the Emirates in London went wild. Two minutes later Iniesta came close to snatching his second when his shot beat the keeper but  not the post. Sao Paulo midfielder Mauro Zarate was taken down by Thiago Silva around the 41st minute of the match. Everybody in the stadium was expecting Silva to get a straight red but to everybodies surprise he let off with a yellow. Zarate had to exit the match which he did in tears on a stretcher. The first half ended on a sour note but did have its moments of brillance from Iniesta.

Madrid came out like they did at the start of the match controlling the ball and getting up the pitch in a hurry. Francesco Totti left Ramsey in his dust as he made a run down the wing but Ramsey reached out and took down the Italian hit man which resulted in a free kick. Mikel Arteta stepped up to take the FK and sent it high into the box towards Diarra only for Sao Paulo defender Fazio to tower above Lass and clear it wide and while it looked set to run out of play, Higuain saved it turned the defender inside out, passed to Arteta who was on the outside of the box and quickly fed the ball inside to Totti who had two Sao Paulo players on him. Totti turned and fired and sent Madrid's second goal past a helpless Rui Patricio. It didn't take long for the boys in white to make it 3-0 when Arteta picked up his second assist of the game as he sent in a well crossed corner on 53' minutes. Thiago Silva got to the ball first but it bounced off his feet onto Marcellis who couldn't control nor expected the ball to hit him. At this point the ball once again deflected off Marceillis and back to Silva who cooly sliced the ball past the keeper.

Raul came on for the Injured Higuain and took the Captains armband from Adrian Mutu. It was Raul who made a gorgeous pass from the wing to Iniesta who then fed the ball into the box onto a running Arteta. With 2 assists already to his name, Arteta blasted the 4th goal of the game into the net. Sao Paulo did get a consolation goal from Welsh man Aaron Ramsey on 79' minutes but it was to little to late for the Brazilian club. Raul in his last Real Madrid game lifted the El Presidente Cup above his head as tears ran down his face. Madrid have written themselves into the EFFL history books with this spectacular double. Real Madrid owner David was seen celebrating with his family near the owners box and quickly declared his Madrid side will be ready to defend not only the EFFL Cup but the Premiership title as well. Congratulations to Real Madrid on a wonderful season.

EXTENDED MATCH STATS PACK

STARTING LINE UP FORMATIONS

Real Madrid Full Player Stats

Sao Paulo Full Player Stats

EFFL CUP FINAL IN PICTURES

Emirates Stadium played host to this Epic Final between Madrid & Sao Paulo.

England ex Captain, David Beckham took in the Cup final with his son Brooklyn.

Iniesta Celebrates with Madrid fans after scoring the opening goal

Sao Paulo Crowd Up In Arms After Foul On Zarate See's him hobble out of game.

Madrid Celebrate Much Deserved EFFL Cup.

FINAL SCORE PICTURE

© EFFL

Sponsored by

Villarreal, Spain

Championship side Villarreal announced that they reached a deal with Premiership giants Manchester United on a deal that sends Man United Croatian wing back Darijo Srna for a hefty price tag of 25.5 million euros. Villarreal chairman James Eklund released the following statement.

"We decided a few weeks ago to clean house and this is just the beginning, we have had a lot of offers over the past few weeks and we'll decide throughout the season which ones are best for us"

When asked if they have given up on the season, an angry Eklund quipped back, "We're balancing the books and making room for our younger, better players. We'll never throw in the towel, our fans wouldn't let us!!!"

It's believed that a huge bidding war had broken out between United's Don G & Bayern Munich's chairman Paul K. The bidding war went on for a full two weeks before Munich simply couldn't match United's spending power.

Srna released a statement via his twitter which read.

"I'll miss playing in front of the Madrigal faithful when the deal does become finalized but until then, I will give my all for the el submarino Amarillo."

Manchester United Celebrate Signing

United's Sir Alex Ferguson was "over the moon" with the signing of Srna. "We've been chasing him for a while and for him to come onto the open market, I told Don G to get him at whatever price, he is essential to my plans for Season 5"

Hanover, Germany

German Keeper Robert Enke Has Passed Away.

German keeper Robert Enke who plays for Hanover 96 and Valencia in the EFFL, has passed away today on this very sad Tuesday. Robert had 8 caps for the German Senior International squad and played for some of the worlds best clubs such as Hanover, FC Barcelona, Tenerife, Fenerbache, Benfica and Borussia Monchengladbach. It is believed that Mr.Enke committed suicide by throwing himself under a train due to the death of his daughter 3 years ago. Everybody here at EFFL send out condolences to Robert Enke's family, His extended family over at Hanover and Valencia. Rest in Peace.

Here at EFFL headquarters, Robert Enke will be the first player to enter our hall of fame. We don't feel it right to continue to let Robert's sim player continue playing here in the EFFL and so he will be retired from Valencia's squad and ushered into the Hall Of Fame.

NY, USA

EFFL President Don G tonight announced that the transfer window will re-open Saturday, November 7th at 5PM Eastern. The window will remain open for a period of two weeks. You can announce deals now but they will not be made official until the window opens. Start your talks now so you don't get left behind in the dust!

Fabio Cannavaro, Amauri & Alex Pato To Be Traded???

An insider in HSV's camp has amazingly suggested that top Brazilian striker Alex Pato may be on the move. It's strongly believed that the Brazilian ace might be heading to Barcelona or Real Madrid after the youngster expressed a desire to play in Spain. HSV's owner Vishnu has been holding back his anger at Pato's latest attempt to get out of the freezing German City. Vish just might consider moving him this time.

Fabio Cannavaro has expressed his disgust at Manchester United's recent form and has told the evening papers that he wants to win now and win in his home country Italy. Strong links have him going to either AC Milan or division one side Inter Milan. Many believe that a Cannavaro/Amuri swap might be going down but Inter bigwig Adam Kotecki has denied that saying Amauri will most likely end up with PSV Eindhoven or Valencia.

Other players known to be on the market include Robinho, Francesco Totti, Sergio Ramos, Kaka, David Villa, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard and Lukas Podolski.

New York, United States

EFFL President Don G today announced that under 22 rosters may expand if they wish from 2 keepers and 18 outfield players to 3 keepers and 22 outfield players. That matches the roster size that senior clubs are allowed. The rule change comes just before the season starts and hopefully doesn't unsettle most owners. 

Don G also announced that due to this new rule, EFFL will allow until Thursday any senior club to send down any Under 22 players (86' born) down to the junior roster if they played less than 10 games last season. 

This doesn't mean I expect to see Lionel Messi in the juniors like we saw a few seasons ago, I will not stand for that and will not allow it.