|
Post by mape on Sept 26, 2003 20:53:01 GMT -5
Associated Press 9/26/2003
Milan — Brazilian veteran star Rivaldo, unhappy with his season start on AC Milan's substitute bench, is leaving the Italian soccer powerhouse.
Vice-president Adriano Galliani said Friday that the club, owned by Premier Silvio Berlusconi, and Rivaldo decided on a separation by mutual consent.
"It was a request by Rivaldo (to part) and we agreed with serenity," Galliani said at AC Milan's training camp in Milanello.
Rivaldo said the decision to leave AC Milan "was a personal choice and I believe it was a fair decision ... It's not the time to engage in controversies." "I could no longer stand the idea of having few chances to play. I understood this in Ancona (in the season opener) when I sat on the bench for the entire match," Rivaldo told reporters at Milanello. Rivaldo, a 31-year-old midfielder-forward and a regular player on Brazil's World Cup team, joined AC Milan in 2002 from Barcelona.
His first season in the Italian Serie A was less than impressive due to questionable form, family problems and some injuries that sharply reduced the number of his appearances on the field and goals.
Rivaldo wasn't included on AC Milan's team which clinched the Champions League title last season and the European Supercup last month.
And he hasn't been started in official matches so far this season. Rivaldo had lamented in interviews that he risked losing his place on the Brazilian national team as a result of his limited appearances in Italy. Rivaldo said he was looking forward to joining another European club "as I can be fielded in the European competitions from next January." He said that moving to England was a possibility, but did not elaborate(chelsea anyone?). Rivaldo's contract, granting the player six million euros a year, was due to expire in 2005.
|
|
NoelyG
Oasis Roadie
Posts: 434
|
Post by NoelyG on Sept 27, 2003 8:21:48 GMT -5
We can bag him. He'll be great up front with Basham
|
|