Ribery : Destinasi Anfield?

Saya agak terperanjat apabila membaca berita ini dari internet. Desas-desus terbaru dari England telah menyatakan Pengurus Liverpool, Rafael Benitez telah bersedia untuk membuat bidaan bagi mendapatkan bintang Bayern Munich, Franck Ribery. Setelah membuat komen mengenai kerisauan beliau tentang perbelanjaan di pasaran perpindahan pemain yang semakin tidak terkawal, Rafa hari ini dilaporkan telah mengalihkan perhatian beliau kepada Ribery dan beliau dijangkakan akan memulakan bidaan untuk Ribery pada 46 juta euro. Ribery yang menarik perhatian Real Madrid di sepanjang musim panas ini kelihatan tidak lagi berminat untuk mendapatkan beliau memandangkan tiada posisi lagi untuk Ribery di skuad utama mereka. Walaupun mempunyai wang, Real tidak tahu di mana hendak diletakkan Ribery. Desas-desus ini kelihatan seperti mempunyai asas yang kukuh apabila penerima taruhan di England telah mengurangkan kemungkinan Ribery menyertai Liverpool dengan drastik sekali dari 66/1 kepada 8/13. Keadaan yang sama muncul beberapa hari sebelum Owen menyertai Manyoo. Jika benar Liverpool akan memulakan bidaan ke atas Ribery, saya pasti kita akan menghadapi saingan daripada banyak kelab seperti Chelsea, Manyoo, Barcelona serta Arsenal yang sememangnya telah lama memburu tandatangan beliau.

Walau bagaimanapun, Bayern masih tetap dengan pendirian mereka tidak mahu melepaskan Ribery kecuali terdapat tawaran mega dibuat terhadap beliau. Ribery diberitakan telah menyatakan hasrat beliau untuk berpindah keluar dari Bayern Munich. Berita ini nampaknya telah menimbulkan spekulasi mengenai kedudukan Alonso dan Mascherano di Anfield. Walaupun Liverpool masih mahu mengekalkan kedua-dua pemain terbabit, namun dengan 17 juta pound yang telah dikeluarkan untuk membeli Glen Johnson, Rafa harus menjual sebelum beliau dapat membeli pemain seperti Ribery. Spekulasi ini turut membabitkan penjanjian pertukaran pemain seperti Dossena, Babel dan Voronin serta 25 juta pound sebagai tawaran kepada Bayern. Perkhabaran ini hanyalah desas-desus daripada internet. Sejauh mana kebenarannya amatlah diragui. Namun jika perkara ini benar-benar terjadi, Ribery pasti akan mewujudkan gandingan mantap dengan Torres dan Gerrard. Walau apapun yang bakal berlaku, kita berharap agar Rafa dapat memberikan yang terbaik kepada Liverpool!

Selain daripada menjadi penganut Islam yang taat, berikut adalah 10 perkara yang anda perlu tahu mengenai Franck Ribery. Artikel dipetik daripada mirror.co.uk :

1) Franck Bilal Ribery was born on 7 April 1983 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France, and brought up in poverty on a notorious estate. As a two-year-old he was hurled through a car windscreen in a crash, leaving him needing hundreds of stitches and with the famous facial scars which have seen him nicknamed Scarface.

2) He joined the Lille football academy as a 13-year-old in 1996 and impressed on the pitch – but was kicked out three years later because his schoolwork was not up to the same standards.

3) A late developer, he joined his hometown club, amateur side US Boulogne in 2001, moving on to national league club Olympique Ales a year later. His first professional match did not come until 2003 when he played for Stade Brestois in Ligue 2.

4) Ribery then began his steep rise up the footballing ranks and starred for League 1 club Metz on the right wing in 2004. He scored twice in 20 games, and his form prompted Turkish giants Galatasaray to snap him up. There he earned the nickname “Ferraribery” for his acceleration – but he left the club after only five months (having penned a four-year deal) over a pay dispute.

5) Fifa stepped in and ruled that he would be allowed to move from Turkey to Olympique Marseille – and Galatasaray later had their case for compensation thrown out by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. At Marseille Ribery made 68 appearances in all competitions and netted 14 times as he led the team to second place in Ligue 1 behind Olympique Lyonnais in 2006-07. In his time at the club he also took OM to two Coupe de France finals.

6) While at OM he earned his first international call-up and he made his debut for Les Bleus on 27 May 2006, when he came on as a substitute against Mexico in a World Cup warm up. Only a fortnight later he started for France in their opening group game of the World Cup, against Switzerland.

7) He went on to play in every game, including the final against Italy, and netted in the second round against Spain – a game that France won 3-1. Legend Zinedine Zidane described him as "the jewel of French football". He has won 36 caps for his country so far and scored seven goals.

8) With most of Europe’s top clubs eying up Ribery it came as a surprise that he opted for German giants Bayern Munich in the summer of 2007. After they signed him for a club record €25m, club president Franz Beckenbauer declared: "We have won the lottery." He was named the 2007-08 German Footballer of the Year.

9) This season he scored the only goals in two 1-0 victories over Lithuania to keep alive French hopes of qualifying for next year’s World Cup in South Africa. Though he has 12 goals to his name this season with Bayern, the No7 is reported to have fallen out with club officials.

10) After converting to Islam he married his childhood sweetheart, Wahiba, with whom he has two children, Hizya and Shakinez. Despite being a father, he still has a childish sense of humour at times.


YNWA