Tuesday Backpasses: Who’s a good gaffer, then?

An look at the life of Rene Higuita, still playing for Deportivo Periera [SI]
Speaking of has-beens, Rivaldo promises to stay at his Uzbek club [SI]
Millenium Stadium has to re-turk their pitch because of parasites [BBC]

How do you teach foreigners football terms in the EPL? Plus, ‘Arry uses Cockney rhyming slang on the sidelines [The Sun]
Levski, Leeds, And Russian smears [Guardian]
Nando doesn’t want a big homecoming, he just wants to play [Guardian]

And, finally:
“Everyone knows management interests me” says the guy who had no interest last season [Guardian]

Written by Darkvader on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Football-Player.

Save Your Money to Get to 2010 World Cup!

With news that the economic vitality of South Africa 2010 in the face of a worldwide economic meltdown is good, word that fans better start saving their cash should they wish to attend the World Cup in approximately 600 days time.

An article in England’s The Sun lays it all out for fans wishing to see the Three Lions in South Africa - should they make it …

For no-frills fans:

Those on a shoestring who fly economy, stay in budget accommodation and take cheap seats at the matches would need to amass £3,372.76 – which means they need to put away £169.76 per month.

At today’s rates, that’s about $5,626.91 total or $283.21/month.

Yikes!!! That’s economy class … going on the cheap!

Now, if you have some disposable cash or tucked some money away before every bank in the world collapsed …

Those looking to fly business class, staying in luxury accommodation and taking premium stadium tickets will need to amass a whopping £11,174.79 - and squirrel away £562.46 per month.

That’s $18,645.44 total or $938.42/month …

Better call that rich uncle of mine … oh wait, I don’t have one …

GULP!!!!

Written by Darkvader on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 2010 World Cup and England.

World Cup Not Affected by World Economy?

Apparently football’s greatest tournament isn’t affected by world economics …

According to Danny Jordaan, president of the South African organizing committee, the world economic crisis will only have a “limited impact” on preparations for the 2010 World Cup.

Jordaan said stadium construction costs had gone up by 10 percent compared with the initial budget, due to the rising cost of steel, concrete and exchange rate variations.

“These increases were calculated some while ago and all costs are now frozen. There will therefore not be an impact on our stadium budget,” he added.

“No one in the world can say they are not affected by the world economic crisis but its impact should be less on our country. What worries us the most is the long term consequences and the quicker we get through this, the better. We are keeping an eye on what is happening but as I speak there is not a serious or direct impact on World Cup preparations.”

MY POV: Well, at least something is immune from the pressures of the world economic crisis. Why not let it be football? Of course we all know that the Cup’s attendance figures may suffer and the South African economy may be impacted a bit during the games.

But it’s nice to know there’s a stable constant in this world: football.

Something tells me that people will pay out of their nose no matter their economic situation should their country make the Cup …

Written by Darkvader on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 2010 World Cup and Danny Jordaan.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP H & E QUALIFIERS 2008: REAL MADRID LOSE & VILLAREAL WIN

REAL MADRID again lost at Turin against a disciplined & well
organized JUVENTUS that rocked the Spaniards early with a goal
& displaced them again in the early 2ºhalf to scored their 2º goal.
Real Madrid reacted late & was the owner of the 2ºhalf with a goal,
post & near misses, but it was too late. The final score was 2-1 to
put the Italians leaders of Group H.

Real Madrid lost this match because of a poor strategy - 4, 3,3
against Juventus 4,4,2 that overran the Spaniards in the midfield
to allow DEL PIERO to score in the 5th min a grand goal.

However, there was more bad decisions from the start. Coach
Schuster favoured Raul over Robben & Gago over De La Red, & in
SFS opinion, neither Raul nor Gago were the correct men for this type
of game.

Madrid struggled all the 1ºst half, Juventus started the 2ºhalf as
the beginning of the match, they overran again Real & scored early
via AMAURI (above) in the 48th min.

Then Coach Schuster did want was not done from the start, put on
ROBBEN who revolutionized the Spaniards & gave them options, the
wings & chances. Opportunities that came when VAN NISTELROOY
headed in a goal for Madrid in the 66th min to give them hopes of
drawing. Real dominated, hit the post & continued attacking, but the
Italians did what they do best & controlled the game by shutting the
defense & the door to Real Madrid. Too late, bad starting line up for
Madrid & great play from Juventus!

The other game saw VILLAREAL pass a tough time up to the
2ºhalf against AALBORG, to take control in the 2ºhalf to finally
win well 6-3.

Aalborg got ahead first in the 19th min via SAGENOWSKI, to see
ROSSI for Villareal draw in the 28th min & get ahead in the 33rd
via CAPDEVILA. But Aalborg were in a fighting mood & drew via
ENEVOLDESEN in the 36th min.

An own goal by Villareal defender CAPDEVILA gave Aalborg its
3ºrd goal, to see the game end 6-3.

Villareal secures its Group E qualifying place & should fly through
comfortably from now on into the next stages.

Written by STRIKER on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Champions League and real madrid and villareal.

Scotland Round Up

Thanks to a 1-0 away win, this column comes back. Inside, a look at the weekend that was in Scotland.

The weekend started out on Saturday with a 12.30 kickoff in Inverness. Just over 7000 fans showed up to see Caley Thistle host Celtic. Boruc was the early hero for Celtic, as his shot stopping kept the hosts without a goal in a frenetic, home-dominated, first half. Things quickly changed after the break. In the 48th minute, Lee Naylor crossed the ball in, and Scott Brown put it away. Less than 20 minutes later, Celtic struck again as Glenn Loovens redirected a Barry Robson cross. Caley Thistle replied quickly, but were unable to overcome the two goal deficit.
Inverness Caley Thistle 1-2 Celtic

The day’s 3 o’clock kickoffs had no real top of the table implications, but plenty of bottom feeders looking to put some distance between themselves and relegation.

Hamilton hosted St Mirren, and for all the talk of their status as worst team in the league, the Buddies acquitted themselves well, scoring three times. Though not all for the same team. St Mirren took the lead in the 17th minute through Franco Miranda whose blistering shot came from outside the 18. Hamilton levelled 10 minutes later, when Jack Ross knocked a cross into his own net. St Mirren retook the lead before halftime, when Billy Mehmet headed home. The second half produced no more goals.
Hamilton Academical 1-2 St Mirren

Aberdeen took to the road at Falkirk and, as should be no surprise, took home all three points. Coming into the match, Aberdeen had two things going for them. First, they had taken wins in two of three previous away matches this season. Second, they have not lost to Falkirk in league in a dog’s age. Still, it took Lee Miller heading in from Andrew Considine’s cross on Aberdeen’s only real chance to secure the win. The goal came in the 48th minute.
Falkirk 0-1 Aberdeen

The last of the three mid-afternoon kick offs seemed to be heading for a nil draw until Craig Bryson scored late into injury time. Motherwell had looked a good bet to hold on for a point despite being a man down for 25 minutes until Bryson slotted home a deflected shot from Jamie Hamill.
Kilmarnock 1-0 Motherwell

Sunday’s game was an Edinburgh derby, as Hibs hosted Hearts. Hibernian started the game off brightest, and only needed 90 seconds to go in front. Steven Fletcher was the early goal scorer. Hearts replied five minuted before the break when Bruno Aguiar beat both the wall and the keeper. This was a spirited contest, with five yellow cards handed out, though no more goals were to come.
Hibernian 1-1 Hearts

There was one more match to be played, but Rangers-Dundee United was postponed on the news of the death of Eddie Thompson, United’s chairman. The game has been rescheduled for November 4. United’s next home match will be a tribute to Thompson. All seats for the match against St Mirren will be £5.

As far as the table goes, Celtic take advantage of Rangers’ weekend off to build a three point lead at the top. Kilmarnock consolidate their third position, and Falkirk fall to the bottom, two points adrift of Hamilton. As for Aberdeen, 10th and climbing!

Written by Darkvader on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on SPL and Scotland and ü75.

Juventus retain faith in Ranieri

Juventus’ chief operating officer, Jean Claude Blanc, has rejected renewed rumours that his club are preparing to part company with coach Claudio Ranieri.

Juve were beaten 2-1 by Napoli at the weekend and are down in 12th place in the Serie A table, having won just twice in seven league games so far this season.

However, Blanc told Sky Italia: “We gave a vote of confidence to our coach once, there is no need to discuss the matter again.

“Ranieri has the full faith of this club. We will carry on and try to improve.

“We know there is work to be done, but we must also analyse the injury situation.

“This is not an excuse, because we are Juventus and should win regardless of handicaps, but it is also true that we have paid a very heavy price for all these fitness problems.”

Written by eugeniu on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Football-Player.

Some People Are Never Happy!

Written by Darkvader on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Bigus Dickus and booing and mick mccarthy and wolves idiots.

Attention: The Touchline is a Drug-Free Zone. Guns are Acceptable.

What you see above is NOT a soldier taking a relaxing break by playing some footy. No, my friends, that is the new kit for all youth teams in the Lubbock Soccer Association. Sure, it might make things difficult for the match officials to distinguish between teams if players on both clubs are wearing camo and body armor, but it’s all about Safety First!

Last month, Melanie Hain had her concealed-carry gun license revoked when parents complained that her gun (not a euphemism) was clearly visible on her hip while she was watching her 5 year-old daughter’s soccer match. On October 15th, common sense prevailed and the Lebanon County (PA) soccer (and gun-nut) mom had her license reinstated by a county judge.

Apparently having heard this patriotism-affirming ruling, Tye Burk (seen below) decided that he should bring his gun (for which he had a concealed-carry permit) to his child’s soccer match at the Berl Huffman Athletic Complex in Lubbock, Texas.

In fact, Burke was so excited to be able to bring his gun to the game, that he demonstrated his enthusiasm by pointing his gun (again, not a euphemism) at the head of the coach’s husband. It seems that at some point Burke became upset with his child’s coach for an unknown reason (one would assume he was upset over playing time), and began yelling at the coach. The coach’s husband, in turn, did not appreciate this and told Burke to pipe down. Tension escalated, and the husband pushed Burke, who responded in the rational manner and drew his weapon, pointing it at the husband’s head. An off-duty prison guard tackled Burke before things got out of hand, and the pistolero was hauled off to the hoosegow.

Although this was only his first match of the season, Burke has started off poorly at 0-1 after failing to get a single shot on goal.

Written by Darkvader on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on The NY Kid and Violence and Youth Leagues.

Milan rubbish Mexes interest [Digg]

Milan have scotched rumours that they are set to sign Roma ace Philippe Mexes in the New Year.

Written by Darkvader on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Football-Player.

Milan rubbish Mexes interest

Milan have scotched rumours that they are set to sign Roma ace Philippe Mexes in the New Year.

There were widespread reports this morning that the Rossoneri had agreed a deal with the Giallorossi that would see Daniele Bonera and Marek Jankulovski travel in the other direction.

“The news that has been communicated by several media sources that Mexes is coming to Milan in exchange for Bonera and Jankulovksi is completely untrue,” a short statement from the Diavolo reads.

However, Milan are expected to enter the winter market in a bid to strengthen their ageing and increasingly brittle defence.

Chelsea’s Serbian starlet Branislav Ivanovic has been a regular target and Liverpool’s Daniel Agger recently entered the frame.

Written by Darkvader on October 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Roma and ac milan.