I've made my choice."Anelka told the French newspaper that he had made an irrevocable decision to leave England after Arsenal beat Wimbledon 5-1 without him on 19 April "The manager rested me. The next day the British papers said that Arsenal didn't need me," he said.Asked whether it was truly only his dislike of the British press which had persuaded him to go, Anelka said: "Yes Just that They started as soon as I arrived. Even when I played well, they criticised me."The young striker accused Arsenal of acting hypocritically when they protested that Real Madrid had spoken to him without their permission. "Arsenal officials did the same thing with me when I was at Paris," he said. "It wasn't very intelligent [of them] to make a fuss about that... and it did no good."Anelka, however, paid a warm tribute to the Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger "I am where I am because of him.. he always helped me when I doubted myself.
He always did what he promised he would do."He said that, for this reason, he had delayed telling Wenger that he was definitely leaving until last Friday "I was uncomfortable about it... He was a bit disappointed but he has always been very understanding with me."He said he left England without any regrets "In England, I learned a lot about commitment. Technically, the standard is not very high but they make up for it physically."Reports had suggested that Juventus were interested in making a massive bid of pounds 22m plus pounds 10m-rated striker Thierry Henry. But the club's managing director, Luciano Moggi, has now made it clear to the Italian media that Juventus have no plans to bid for Anelka.Even pounds 18m would represent a massive increase on the pounds 500,000 which the Gunners paid Paris St Germain for the 20-year-old Frenchman two years ago. Whatever the figures involved are, with some reports putting the total fee offered by Lazio - including the agents' cut - at pounds 20m plus a 15 per cent cut of any future sale - and Arsenal's demand at pounds 26m, the two sides still appear to be at least pounds 4m apart.. URUGUAY REACHED the Copa America final in the early hours of yesterday morning, defeating Chile 5-3 on penalties after a drab match ended level at 1-1 after 90 minutes.
There was controversy following the match when the Chilean coach, Nelson Acosta, accused Paraguayan police of mistreating him and abusing their power after he had been dismissed from the dug-out. The incident overshadowed a forgettable match in which Alejandro gave Uruguay a first-half lead before Ivan Zamorano equalised for Chile with his third goal of the tournament. His striking partner, Marcelo Salas, was less proficient, missing a penalty which could have earned his side victory. Uruguay will play either Brazil or Mexico, who were due to stage the second semi-final, at Ciudad del Este, early this morning.Acosta was sent off shortly after Chile's equaliser but, instead of being allowed to go quietly to the stands, he was surrounded by five armed officers who led him away. "It was abhorrent, humiliating and disrespectful of the police to take me from the field in the way they did," Acosta said. "Instead of protecting you, they try to remove you from the field of play. They were trying to attract attention by doing something which is not part of their job."Uruguay reached the final despite resting their European-based players after a long season with their clubs.
The game, played in a near-deserted stadium, was possibly the worst of the tournament.The result means Uruguay have managed to win only once in normal time on their way to the final, having needed penalties to get through both their quarter-final and semi-final matches.Extra time is not played in the Copa America and in the penalty shoot- out, Chile's Mauricio Aros was the only player to miss when his effort was saved by Fabian Carini.. THE SUMMER'S longest-running managerial saga reached its conclusion yesterday when Stoke City unveiled Gary Megson as the successor to Brian Little, who resigned five weeks ago. Megson, sacked by Stockport last month, became Stoke's fifth manager in two years - the seventh including "caretakers" - and promptly admitted there were no funds to strengthen a side which fell away to eighth in the Second Division under Little. "It's going to be extremely tough, but passion, enthusiasm and desire don't cost anything," Megson said. "The biggest thing this club has going for it is the support. They can play an active part in getting us up."Megson played under Jack Charlton, Howard Wilkinson and Brian Clough before managing Norwich and Blackpool. He was at the top of a shortlist comprising John Rudge, Steve McMahon and Kevin Ratcliffe after Tony Pulis opted for Bristol City rather than Stoke on leaving Gillingham.Workmen had told reporters seeking the Waddington Suite that it had "Circus" written over the door.
The ringmaster, Stoke's chief executive Jez Moxey, listed intelligence, character, commitment and the ability to coach, motivate and work with "very little money" among the requisite attributes.. DEAN RICHARDS, the Wolves central defender, agreed a four-year contract with Southampton yesterday, writes Phil Shaw. Richards, 25, leaves Molineux on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling, four years after a pounds 1.8m move from Bradford. Dave Jones, the Southampton manager, now hopes to buy the Birmingham striker Peter Ndlovu. Jones has, however, failed with a pounds 1m bid to sign the Argentinian Under-21 midfielder Mario Turdo. Birmingham City have pulled out of a deal to sign Bjarne Goldbaek, the Danish international winger, despite agreeing a pounds 1.6m fee with Chelsea.