1) Sócrates. A oposição à direita está deveras nervosa. Já viu isto no Reino Unido. A terceira via pode ser uma plataforma e uma agenda que assegurem aos socialistas uma longa permanência no poder. Afinal um governo dito socialista que usa da agenda conservadora e liberal para governar. Seduzindo o eleitorado CDS e PSD. Assim se explica os elevados níveis de popularidade do Governo e do primeiro-ministro. Mais a mais como dizia Pedro Magalhães no Público desta semana, quando a maioria sociológica do eleitorado português é "socialista".
2) A deportação dos portugueses residentes ilegalmente no Canadá. Será que Freitas do Amaral vai conseguir demonstrar a "excepcionalidade portuguesa"?
3) O S.L. Benfica não foi cilindrado pelo clube estandarte da Catalunha. Será que na próxima semana vai conseguir resistir em Camp Nou?
4) A semana de todos os protesto em França contra o CPE. Desta vez temos os jovens da classe média-alta em oposição ao Governo nas ruas e campus das universidades de elite. E como razão. O CPE vai permitir aos magrebinos terem acesso ao mercado de trabalho nas grandes empresas, tradicional feudo da classe média "sanguínea" francesa...
quinta-feira, março 30, 2006
quinta-feira, março 09, 2006
Liverpool endure long night of frustration as chances go begging
The Times
March 09, 2006
Liverpool endure long night of frustration as chances go begging
By Oliver Kay
Liverpool 0 Benfica 2 (Benfica win 3-0 on agg): It was too much to ask Liverpool to defy the odds again this year
THE European Cup will remain under lock and key at Anfield after Liverpool won it for a fifth time in Istanbul last May, but this was always designated as the week their reign would end. Win or lose last night, Steven Gerrard had been booked on a flight to Paris tomorrow to take part in an official handover ceremony before the quarter-final draw, but, under the circumstances, his journey to the French capital will now assume a highly symbolic feel.
Rafael Benítez will conduct his inquest in the knowledge that Real Madrid and Inter Milan are waiting to pounce if he concludes that his Anfield revolution has run its course, but, while questions will rightly be asked about his forwards, who again wasted every opportunity that came their way, perhaps it is time for a reality check. Liverpool defied the odds and their own expectations last season and, although they are a better side this year, it was too much to ask for such an incomplete team to do so again.
NI_MPU('middle');
The frustration was that they fell to a Benfica team who, like Liverpool’s overachievers last season, cannot claim to belong to Europe’s elite. They have now added the scalp of the European champions to that of Manchester United, but the Portuguese team were 95 per cent perspiration and five per cent inspiration.
How ironic that the latter should be provided by Simão, who was due to move to Anfield on transfer-deadline day last August for £10 million. He scored a fabulous first-half goal to put his team 2-0 ahead in the tie, before Fabrizio Miccoli twisted the knife two minutes from time.
It is a matter of conjecture just how close Simão came to joining Liverpool last August. Rick Parry, the chief executive, claims that the Benfica captain was “on the tarmac” at Lisbon airport when Benfica’s management had a change of heart. All that mattered last night, though, was that his dipping, swerving shot in the 36th minute, after some uncertain defending from Djimi Traoré and Jamie Carragher left Liverpool on the canvas.
After that, there was no way back. Liverpool had scored three times in quick succession to defeat Olympiacos in the group stages and, even more memorably, AC Milan in the final last season, but this time there would be no such heroics. By that stage their best chances had been and gone, with Peter Crouch, Luis García and Carragher each squandering two. Ronald Koeman, the Benfica coach, suggested that scoring goals had become a “mental problem” for Liverpool ’s forwards.
Unwelcome as his comments may have been, the Dutchman was right. Liverpool paid a total of £28 million for Crouch, Fernando Morientes and Djibril Cissé, but none of the trio can buy a goal. Crouch hit the post early on before wasting a clear opportunity when put through by Gerrard, while Morientes posed no goal threat. Other players missed chances — notably Carragher, who scuffed his shot into the side-netting from six yards before heading against a post from Gerrard’s corner — but, in the final analysis, discussion of the forwards is inevitable.
Carragher will be more disappointed by his contribution to Simão’s strike. In truth, the rot set in the moment Traoré, a nervous stand-in for the half-fit Sami Hyypia, lost possession, but Carragher, as he tried to dig his team-mate out of trouble, was barged off the ball by Geovanni. It was then switched at pace by Laurent Robert via Nuno Gomes to Simão, who, cutting in on to his right foot, sent a beautiful shot curling beyond José Manuel Reina.
As in Istanbul, You’ll Never Walk Alone echoed around the stadium during the interval, but, on the pitch, inspiration was proving elusive. Gerrard struck a volley wide, while the admirable Xabi Alonso tested Moretto, but both efforts came from distance.
Crouch and Morientes were being thwarted by the dogged defending of Anderson and Luisão. It was time for something different, with Cissé and Robbie Fowler sent on in quick succession. Fowler, at least, found the net, but, for the third time since his return in January, his effort was disallowed, this time because Alonso’s corner was deemed to have gone out of play before he bundled it past Moretto.
It was clear by this stage that the goals were not going to come. Instead, as they pushed forward, Liverpool were caught on the counter-attack, Miccoli finding the net at the second attempt with a spectacular overhead kick. It was as much as Liverpool’s supporters could do to applaud and now it is somebody else’s turn. Benfica’s? Underestimate them at your peril, as Manchester United, as well as Liverpool, can testify.
March 09, 2006
Liverpool endure long night of frustration as chances go begging
By Oliver Kay
Liverpool 0 Benfica 2 (Benfica win 3-0 on agg): It was too much to ask Liverpool to defy the odds again this year
THE European Cup will remain under lock and key at Anfield after Liverpool won it for a fifth time in Istanbul last May, but this was always designated as the week their reign would end. Win or lose last night, Steven Gerrard had been booked on a flight to Paris tomorrow to take part in an official handover ceremony before the quarter-final draw, but, under the circumstances, his journey to the French capital will now assume a highly symbolic feel.
Rafael Benítez will conduct his inquest in the knowledge that Real Madrid and Inter Milan are waiting to pounce if he concludes that his Anfield revolution has run its course, but, while questions will rightly be asked about his forwards, who again wasted every opportunity that came their way, perhaps it is time for a reality check. Liverpool defied the odds and their own expectations last season and, although they are a better side this year, it was too much to ask for such an incomplete team to do so again.
NI_MPU('middle');
The frustration was that they fell to a Benfica team who, like Liverpool’s overachievers last season, cannot claim to belong to Europe’s elite. They have now added the scalp of the European champions to that of Manchester United, but the Portuguese team were 95 per cent perspiration and five per cent inspiration.
How ironic that the latter should be provided by Simão, who was due to move to Anfield on transfer-deadline day last August for £10 million. He scored a fabulous first-half goal to put his team 2-0 ahead in the tie, before Fabrizio Miccoli twisted the knife two minutes from time.
It is a matter of conjecture just how close Simão came to joining Liverpool last August. Rick Parry, the chief executive, claims that the Benfica captain was “on the tarmac” at Lisbon airport when Benfica’s management had a change of heart. All that mattered last night, though, was that his dipping, swerving shot in the 36th minute, after some uncertain defending from Djimi Traoré and Jamie Carragher left Liverpool on the canvas.
After that, there was no way back. Liverpool had scored three times in quick succession to defeat Olympiacos in the group stages and, even more memorably, AC Milan in the final last season, but this time there would be no such heroics. By that stage their best chances had been and gone, with Peter Crouch, Luis García and Carragher each squandering two. Ronald Koeman, the Benfica coach, suggested that scoring goals had become a “mental problem” for Liverpool ’s forwards.
Unwelcome as his comments may have been, the Dutchman was right. Liverpool paid a total of £28 million for Crouch, Fernando Morientes and Djibril Cissé, but none of the trio can buy a goal. Crouch hit the post early on before wasting a clear opportunity when put through by Gerrard, while Morientes posed no goal threat. Other players missed chances — notably Carragher, who scuffed his shot into the side-netting from six yards before heading against a post from Gerrard’s corner — but, in the final analysis, discussion of the forwards is inevitable.
Carragher will be more disappointed by his contribution to Simão’s strike. In truth, the rot set in the moment Traoré, a nervous stand-in for the half-fit Sami Hyypia, lost possession, but Carragher, as he tried to dig his team-mate out of trouble, was barged off the ball by Geovanni. It was then switched at pace by Laurent Robert via Nuno Gomes to Simão, who, cutting in on to his right foot, sent a beautiful shot curling beyond José Manuel Reina.
As in Istanbul, You’ll Never Walk Alone echoed around the stadium during the interval, but, on the pitch, inspiration was proving elusive. Gerrard struck a volley wide, while the admirable Xabi Alonso tested Moretto, but both efforts came from distance.
Crouch and Morientes were being thwarted by the dogged defending of Anderson and Luisão. It was time for something different, with Cissé and Robbie Fowler sent on in quick succession. Fowler, at least, found the net, but, for the third time since his return in January, his effort was disallowed, this time because Alonso’s corner was deemed to have gone out of play before he bundled it past Moretto.
It was clear by this stage that the goals were not going to come. Instead, as they pushed forward, Liverpool were caught on the counter-attack, Miccoli finding the net at the second attempt with a spectacular overhead kick. It was as much as Liverpool’s supporters could do to applaud and now it is somebody else’s turn. Benfica’s? Underestimate them at your peril, as Manchester United, as well as Liverpool, can testify.
Liverpool - 0 - Benfica - 2
A primeira vitória (o Boavista já tinha conseguido não perder...) de um clube português em Anfield Road.
Deixo-vos com a transcrição exasperada, pleno de surpresa e de um pouco de chauvinismo do jornalista do prestigiado diário de centro-esquerda "The Guardian". Vale a pena ler.
Simao provides killer blow as Liverpool surrender their title
Liverpool 0 - 2 Benfica (Agg 0 - 3) Simao 36, Miccoli 89Dominic Fifield at AnfieldThursday March 9, 2006
GuardianIn the end, the European Cup was yielded last night with little more than a whimper. Liverpool's proud defence of the trophy petered out, the holders jettisoned by opponents they would normally have hoped to devour, to leave the Kop offering only wailed defiance and appreciative applause for the Portuguese where once there was vehement belief. All that remains this morning is a numbing sense of what might have been.
That they effectively succumbed here at the hands of a player who might have been one of their own merely added to the deflation engulfing this arena long before the end. So hopeful had Liverpool been that the Portugal winger Simao Sabrosa would move to Merseyside last August that the chief executive Rick Parry had even mischievously suggested the player had been sitting on a plane bound for John Lennon Airport when Benfica suddenly hiked the price and wrecked the proposed £8m deal. In scoring a glorious opening goal here to push this tie away from the hosts, Simao cost Liverpool millions regardless.
There was a late second, scored by the substitute Fabrizio Miccoli, though those present to endure this occasion recognised that it was not the home side's uncharacteristic defensive fragility - the hamstrung Sami Hyypia was anchored on the bench - that cost them their trophy. Instead it was a familiar shortcoming. Liverpool have courted disaster for weeks while their forwards continued to splutter so dejectedly in front of goal. Last night, with profligacy biting yet again, Rafael Benítez's side duly suffered the consequences.
Benfica's coach Ronald Koeman had spoken of exploiting the "mental problems" the quartet of home strikers were enduring, with none having mustered a league goal this year. That continued wastefulness merely prompted exasperation here, on the pitch and in the stands, with the advantage surrendered at the Estadio da Luz in the first leg a fortnight ago weighing ever heavier. The pressure ultimately consumed the champions and, after half an hour of frenzied energy had yielded no reward, they wilted at the other end.
The toils of Peter Crouch, Fernando Morientes and, to a lesser extent, Robbie Fowler and Djibril Cissé are becoming painful to endure. The pair that started here have played over 30 hours of football with only one club goal to show for their effort.
The firepower introduced from the bench arrived late and, in Cissé's case, was limited to the periphery on the wing. The whirlwind whipped up in the opening exchanges by Steven Gerrard, tearing into befuddled opponents, and the clever prompting of Xabi Alonso should have blown Benfica away. Instead, wheezing amid the tumult, the visitors survived intact and bit back.
Quite how it came to that beggars belief. The ferocity of Liverpool's initial assault had the Portuguese panicking, a succession of opportunities squeezed from the fury only to be carelessly squandered. Crouch, the only striker from these parts to have managed a goal since New Year's Eve, was slipped free by Luis García's pass 11 minutes only to see his drilled shot deflected on to the post by Anderson's desperate lunge. If that was unfortunate, the England striker's attempt when sent clear by Gerrard's touch inside Luisao, prodded cagily at the sprawling Moretto, was that of a forward devoid of self-belief.
Not that Crouch was due blame alone. García skied another chance into the Anfield Road stand after exchanging passes with Alonso having earlier spun an overhead kick at Moretto from close-range. That effort was suffocated and Jamie Carragher prodded the rebound wide of a gaping goal. The centre-half meandered forward again before the interval to thump Gerrard's corner against the post, a whistle choking his frustration, though, by then, Liverpool trailed and the Portuguese had sensed they might be untouchable.
Simao had proved that much. When the dawdling Djimi Traoré slipped and Carragher failed to hack sufficiently clear, the busy forward gathered possession and cut across the centre-halves to curl a stunning shot from 22 yards beyond the diving Liverpool goalkeeper José Reina.
The hosts might have been punished earlier, Geovanni having belted against the bar from distance with Simao's follow-up header well claimed, yet the pace and elusive movement of the visitors' attacks always suggested they might prosper on the break.
They did just that with Liverpool hopelessly committed upfield in the final exchanges, Beto crossing for Miccoli to swivel and score.
Gerrard must travel to Paris tomorrow to play his part as last year's victorious captain in Uefa's grandiose unveiling of the new Champions League trophy. "The last thing I want is to be standing next to the trophy knowing someone else will be picking it up in May," he had said in the build-up to this tie. "If that happens I'll be gutted." The Kop will share his gloom.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
Deixo-vos com a transcrição exasperada, pleno de surpresa e de um pouco de chauvinismo do jornalista do prestigiado diário de centro-esquerda "The Guardian". Vale a pena ler.
Simao provides killer blow as Liverpool surrender their title
Liverpool 0 - 2 Benfica (Agg 0 - 3) Simao 36, Miccoli 89Dominic Fifield at AnfieldThursday March 9, 2006
GuardianIn the end, the European Cup was yielded last night with little more than a whimper. Liverpool's proud defence of the trophy petered out, the holders jettisoned by opponents they would normally have hoped to devour, to leave the Kop offering only wailed defiance and appreciative applause for the Portuguese where once there was vehement belief. All that remains this morning is a numbing sense of what might have been.
That they effectively succumbed here at the hands of a player who might have been one of their own merely added to the deflation engulfing this arena long before the end. So hopeful had Liverpool been that the Portugal winger Simao Sabrosa would move to Merseyside last August that the chief executive Rick Parry had even mischievously suggested the player had been sitting on a plane bound for John Lennon Airport when Benfica suddenly hiked the price and wrecked the proposed £8m deal. In scoring a glorious opening goal here to push this tie away from the hosts, Simao cost Liverpool millions regardless.
There was a late second, scored by the substitute Fabrizio Miccoli, though those present to endure this occasion recognised that it was not the home side's uncharacteristic defensive fragility - the hamstrung Sami Hyypia was anchored on the bench - that cost them their trophy. Instead it was a familiar shortcoming. Liverpool have courted disaster for weeks while their forwards continued to splutter so dejectedly in front of goal. Last night, with profligacy biting yet again, Rafael Benítez's side duly suffered the consequences.
Benfica's coach Ronald Koeman had spoken of exploiting the "mental problems" the quartet of home strikers were enduring, with none having mustered a league goal this year. That continued wastefulness merely prompted exasperation here, on the pitch and in the stands, with the advantage surrendered at the Estadio da Luz in the first leg a fortnight ago weighing ever heavier. The pressure ultimately consumed the champions and, after half an hour of frenzied energy had yielded no reward, they wilted at the other end.
The toils of Peter Crouch, Fernando Morientes and, to a lesser extent, Robbie Fowler and Djibril Cissé are becoming painful to endure. The pair that started here have played over 30 hours of football with only one club goal to show for their effort.
The firepower introduced from the bench arrived late and, in Cissé's case, was limited to the periphery on the wing. The whirlwind whipped up in the opening exchanges by Steven Gerrard, tearing into befuddled opponents, and the clever prompting of Xabi Alonso should have blown Benfica away. Instead, wheezing amid the tumult, the visitors survived intact and bit back.
Quite how it came to that beggars belief. The ferocity of Liverpool's initial assault had the Portuguese panicking, a succession of opportunities squeezed from the fury only to be carelessly squandered. Crouch, the only striker from these parts to have managed a goal since New Year's Eve, was slipped free by Luis García's pass 11 minutes only to see his drilled shot deflected on to the post by Anderson's desperate lunge. If that was unfortunate, the England striker's attempt when sent clear by Gerrard's touch inside Luisao, prodded cagily at the sprawling Moretto, was that of a forward devoid of self-belief.
Not that Crouch was due blame alone. García skied another chance into the Anfield Road stand after exchanging passes with Alonso having earlier spun an overhead kick at Moretto from close-range. That effort was suffocated and Jamie Carragher prodded the rebound wide of a gaping goal. The centre-half meandered forward again before the interval to thump Gerrard's corner against the post, a whistle choking his frustration, though, by then, Liverpool trailed and the Portuguese had sensed they might be untouchable.
Simao had proved that much. When the dawdling Djimi Traoré slipped and Carragher failed to hack sufficiently clear, the busy forward gathered possession and cut across the centre-halves to curl a stunning shot from 22 yards beyond the diving Liverpool goalkeeper José Reina.
The hosts might have been punished earlier, Geovanni having belted against the bar from distance with Simao's follow-up header well claimed, yet the pace and elusive movement of the visitors' attacks always suggested they might prosper on the break.
They did just that with Liverpool hopelessly committed upfield in the final exchanges, Beto crossing for Miccoli to swivel and score.
Gerrard must travel to Paris tomorrow to play his part as last year's victorious captain in Uefa's grandiose unveiling of the new Champions League trophy. "The last thing I want is to be standing next to the trophy knowing someone else will be picking it up in May," he had said in the build-up to this tie. "If that happens I'll be gutted." The Kop will share his gloom.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
terça-feira, março 07, 2006
Optimismo sobre a Europa
Extraído do www.riskcenter.com uma nota de optimismo sobre a evolução económica da União Europeia, desta vez à boleia do alargamento e liberalização do mercado dos serviços financeiros.
Don't discount Europe. Its inflexible labor market may be weighing on the economy, but greater financial integration across the euro area is continuing at a steady pace, setting the foundation for economic growth. And while many in Europe look uneasily eastward toward cheap labor and low-cost goods, others see the opportunities of a wide-open market.
Don't discount Europe. Its inflexible labor market may be weighing on the economy, but greater financial integration across the euro area is continuing at a steady pace, setting the foundation for economic growth. And while many in Europe look uneasily eastward toward cheap labor and low-cost goods, others see the opportunities of a wide-open market.
quinta-feira, março 02, 2006
Campanha da rolha de cortiça no Reino Unido
Jornal Público - Terça-Feira, 28 de Fevereiro 2006 - 1ª Página do Público Economia
"Mourinho defende rolha de cortiça no Reino Unido
José Mourinho, treinador português do Chelsea FC, é o rosto de uma campanha de defesa da rolha de cortiça que arranca amanhã no Reino Unido. Mourinho, ocupará espaços privilegiados na imprensa inglesa dedicadas a vinhos, e em outdoors. Esta campanha é uma iniciativa da Associação Portuguesa de Cortiça (Apcor) que pretende captar a atenção da rolha de cortiça junto do retalho inglês e do consumidor. Para o primeiro alvo, a Apcor optou uma estratégia de comunicação demonstrando que a rolha de cortiça significa qualidade. A campanha investe em mensagens recheadas de argumentos emocionais, relacionadas com o ritual de abertura de uma garrafa. A campanha de promoção do vedante português será ainda lançada nos Estados Unidos e Austrália, além de iniciativas já agendadas em França e Alemanha. A estratégia representa um investimento total de três milhões de euros e conta com o apoio do Icep Portugal - Instituto das Empresas para os Mercados Externos. A participação privada ronda os 30 por cento."
"Mourinho defende rolha de cortiça no Reino Unido
José Mourinho, treinador português do Chelsea FC, é o rosto de uma campanha de defesa da rolha de cortiça que arranca amanhã no Reino Unido. Mourinho, ocupará espaços privilegiados na imprensa inglesa dedicadas a vinhos, e em outdoors. Esta campanha é uma iniciativa da Associação Portuguesa de Cortiça (Apcor) que pretende captar a atenção da rolha de cortiça junto do retalho inglês e do consumidor. Para o primeiro alvo, a Apcor optou uma estratégia de comunicação demonstrando que a rolha de cortiça significa qualidade. A campanha investe em mensagens recheadas de argumentos emocionais, relacionadas com o ritual de abertura de uma garrafa. A campanha de promoção do vedante português será ainda lançada nos Estados Unidos e Austrália, além de iniciativas já agendadas em França e Alemanha. A estratégia representa um investimento total de três milhões de euros e conta com o apoio do Icep Portugal - Instituto das Empresas para os Mercados Externos. A participação privada ronda os 30 por cento."
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