Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Pongolle Eager For Liverpool Reunion

New Atlético Madrid striker Florent Sinama-Pongolle is eager to meet up with his former club, Liverpool, in the Champions League.

Speaking to Marca, the French forward stated that reuniting with the Reds would be a dream scenario.

"Of course I'd love that," he said.

"It's not about revenge for me because it's already well in the past.

"I started off there playing many matches, but then I picked up a knee injury and everything ended. Liverpool would be good, but also Juventus, Marseille... If we play Liverpool, that's good. Those are the matches that everyone wants to see."

The former Recreativo man added that he felt that Atleti were sufficiently grand to be counted alongside these illustrious names.

"I believe that opponents don't want to play against Atlético because we are a great club with superb players, and they know that we're hard to play against," he said.

"Our qualification round? On the 12th we will face a key game and we're keen to see the draw on Friday to find out who we'll play. We're continuing well with pre-season to be physically ready. That's key."

It is thought that Sinama is third-choice for the two striking berths at the Vicente Calderón, given that Diego Forlán and Sergio 'Kun' Agüero comprise the regular partnership.

"Forlán and I are similar players: we love playing in space and we're always ready to make a move," said the 23-year-old.

"The lineup? I think that, as the coach said yesterday, it's possible for us to play with a forward force of three, but now Kun isn't here (due to the Olympics) so we'll try to do damage in each game we play.

"How many will I score? I never set a target of a certain amount. I'm a striker - to score is my job - but I always put the team first in these matters. The more I score, the better, but if I can help my colleagues, that's better still."

Looking at the case of his teammate Maniche, who could still be exiled from the club, he said, "We met on Monday - that was the first time I've seen him and spoke to him.

"I don't know what happened and I'd rather not get embroiled in the controversy, because that's a personal matter for him.

"As for Messi, I would personally go (to the Olympics) as that's a great competition for professional sportsmen.

"There were many players such as Zinedine Zidane who lacked only an Olympic medal, and they didn't have the luck to go.

"I'm also of the Olympic age but in the end we didn't reach the competition.

"Messi, they must let him go. He's a young guy. Atleti let Kun go. That's best for the club and the player."

No comments: