October 29th, 2008
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Blues quintet on FIFA gong shortlist
Chelsea are the best represented club on the shortlist for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, with five Blues named among the candidates.
The English duo of Frank Lampard and John Terry are joined on the list, which was released on Wednesday, by team-mates Michael Ballack, Deco, Didier Drogba.
Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard is the only other Englishman nominated but Premier League-based players account for 10 of the 23 nominees chosen by FIFA, who will reveal the top three at the start of December before the overall winner is announced on January 12 next year
Manchester United are represented by Cristiano Ronaldo, who is one of the favourites to land the title after his 42 goals for the European and English champions last season, while Emmanuel Adebayor flies the flag for Arsenal.
Six Spaniards are included in the list, giving the Euro 2008 champions a great chance of providing a winner for the first time since the award’s introduction in 1991.
Last year’s winner Kaka is also on the shortlist, as is Barcelona forward Lionel Messi who finished second in 2007, ahead of Ronaldo in third.
As well as the trio of Englishmen and six Spaniards, there are two Portuguese, two Argentinians and one each from Italy, France, Germany, Holland, Russia, Sweden, Brazil, Togo, Ivory Coast and Cameroon.
Shortlist for FIFA World Player award:
Chelsea(5) - John Terry (England), Frank Lampard (England), Michael Ballack (Germany)Deco (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
Barcelona(4) - Andres Iniesta (Spain), Xavi (Spain)), Lionel Messi (Argentina)Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
Real Madrid(2) - Iker Casillas (Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)
Liverpool(2) - Fernando Torres (Spain), Steven Gerrard (England)
Arsenal(2) - Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Cesc Fabregas (Spain)
Atletico Madrid(1) - Sergio Aguero (Argentina)
Juventus(1) - Gianluigi Buffon (Italy)
Inter Milan(1) - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
AC Milan(1) - Kaka (Brazil)
Bayern Munich(1) - Franck Ribery (France)
Valencia(1) - David Villa (Spain)
Zenit St Petersburg(1) - Andrei Arshavin (Russia)
Man U(1) - Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Written by Jackson Ng Ghim Pheng True Blue Chelsea Fan on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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Reduced: 89% of original size [ 571 x 470 ] - Click to view full image
EPL - 29/10 - 10ª Week
VS 
Hull City 0 x 3 CHELSEA
Goals
0 x 1 - Lampard (3 minutes)
Download
0 x 2 - Anelka (50 minutes)
0 x 3 - Malouda (75 minutes)
HIGHLIGHTS
Download
Credits alltrillian
—————————————————–
Hull City 0-3 Chelsea
Goals
Frank Lampard 0-1
DOWNLOAD
Anelka 0-2
DOWNLOAD
F. Malouda 0-3
DOWNLOAD
Highlight of full match
Download
Credit : Kooora
Written by Darkvader on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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Hey, Arsene and Cesc, keep your frakking mouths shut [The Sun]
Cruyff, van Persie and Bergkamp talk footie [Telegraph]
Dammit. I’m never becoming a soccer coach. It’s the new ice cream man.
Proof 1 [Gazette.net] (a repost, but with new, more disgusting, details)
Proof 2 [9 News]
And, finally:
Breathe easy, EPL fans. Russian oligarchs are so over your league’s charms [Yahoo!]
Written by Darkvader on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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All but one of the matches during this mid-week tilt took place on Wednesday, but it was one of the clubs in the Tuesday match that takes this week’s “image honors” (what, you haven’t noticed that a different club logo appears each week?). Bordeaux destroyed Le Havre 4-0 to briefly go top of the table.
Tuesday, October 28th:
Bordeaux 4-0 Le Havre - In a match that pitted a club unbeaten in their last 7 (Bordeaux) against one who had lost 6 of their first 10 (Le Havre), the outcome was never truly in doubt. In the 4th minute Cavenaghi fired barely over the Havre crossbar and the pressure was on. Cavenaghi was busy again in the 15th minute, forcing Havre GK Revault into a nice save. Bordeaux finally broke through in the 30th minute when Gouffran played Bellion through, and the resulting shot deflected off a defender and into the net. Le Havre had their best chance in the 39th minute, but Faure shot wide. Bellion (once again assisted by Gouffran) struck to complete his brace in the 47th minute, but was denied his hat-trick in the 57th when Revault made another brilliant save. The rest of the match belonged to Chamakh, who hit the post and then assisted on goals from Cavenaghi (72nd minute) and Wendel (80th minute).
Wednesday, October 29th:
Caen 1-1 Nice - In another example of parity in Ligue 1, the clubs were relatively even on shots (18-17) and fouls (18-17), and the match ended in a draw. Nice had the first opportunity of the match, but Hellebuyck was denied by Caen GK Plante. Nice GK Letizi was then called upon to make saves on Savidan, and then Nivet (who sent the rebound over the bar). Savidan finally broke through in the 67th minute on a well-struck header, only to see Remy salvage a point in the 84th minute on a PK after Bamogo was brought down in the box.
Grenoble 0-0 Lille - Although Lille was clearly dominant in this match, they were unable to put the ball in the back of the net and were left with only 1 point. Lille had their first opportunity early, as Balmont struck the bar in the 4th minute. Grenoble GK Wimbee was kept extremely busy throughout the rest of the match, as he made saves on a 30-yard strike from Debuchy and a screaming Obraniak free-kick in the 26th minute. It was not until the 58th minute that Grenoble had their first chance, put Batlles put his shot right at Lille GK Malicki, who stopped Batlles again in the 80th minute to preserve the tie. Obraniak got one last chance for Lille, but Wimbee responded well once again.
Le Mans 0-2 Auxerre - Auxerre for their first win in 4 matches, and sent Le Mans to their 3rd home defeat of the season thanks to a brace from Oliech. In the 35th minute Kahlenberg sent an excellent through-ball forward and Oliech finished cleanly. Only 4 minutes later, Oliech intercepted a poor pass from Keita and did the work himself to seal the win.
Monaco 3-1 Nancy - Monaco were on a string of 5 matches without a win, but Nancy had won only 1 match all season and they showed why today. The story for Monaco was the aggressiveness of Park, who had his first shot cleared off the line early in the match. Park’s second shot, in the 32nd minute, forced Nancy GK Bracigliano to give up a rebound and Nimani slotted home the second chance. Bracigliano then stopped shots from Pokrivac on either side of half-time, but the third shot was the charm as Pokrivac sent in a screamer on a free-kick in the 64th minute. Although Hadji pulled a goal back for Nancy in the 76th due to defensive sloppiness, Licata secured the 3 points for Monaco in the 87th minute. Freddy Adu watch: Languishing on the bench for the entire match.
Nantes 1-1 Marseille - Despite being dominated in shots (3-17) and possession (27%-73%), Nantes managed to hold on for 1 point. This match had a little bit of everything, as Nantes GK Heurtebis was kept busy and Nantes had a player sent off. The first real action of the match did not come until late in the first half, when a short clearance on a corner allowed Mareval to blast home a shot into the upper 90 for Nantes in the 44th minute. The second half saw Heurtebis makes saves on Ben Arfa and Kone, and then things got strange. During the last 20 minutes of the match, Marseille increased the pressure in an attempt to salvage 1 point in a match where they should have had all 3. They were rewarded in the 78th minute when Samossa played a brilliant through-ball for Kone, who left Heurtebis with no chance at a save. In the 80th minute, L’OM were given increased hope when Bekamenga, who was already on a yellow card, was sent off for a deliberate handball. Despite the 1-man advantage, Marseille could not score again, coming close only once, when Heurtebis made an acrobatic save on a Cana header to the far post.
Paris Saint-Germain 0-1 Toulouse - PSG had not lost in their last 4 matches, but an inceasingly dominant (in the Ligue) Toulouse was lucky to take the 3 points. After PSG GK Landreau came out of his 6-yard box for a corner in the 65th minute, his defender Camara sent a perfect header back into his own net. The rest of the match was characterized by poor play on both sides, with relatively few chances on goal.
Sochaux 0-2 Lyon - In another typical Lyon effort, the Ligue leaders won despite uninspired play. This match didn’t get interesting until the second half, the opening goal coming from a beautiful long-range strike by Benzema in the 66th minute. Play then got somewhat chippy, with Delgado (Lyon) picking up a yellow card in the 79th minute, and Perquis (Sochaux) acquiring a yellow card in the 80th minute. Unfortunately, Sochaux also had Dalmat sent off with a straight red card in the 80th minute for a very poor challenge on Pjanic, and Perquis was sent off for his second yellow (for making an unsuitable gesture toward the referee) in the 94th minute. In between those red cards, Delgado managed to score the 2nd goal for Lyon (92nd minute), making him this week’s “Goal-scorer to get carded” award winner.
Valenciennes 0-0 Rennes - Valenciennes had suffered 5 defeats in a row, but pulled off a draw against Rennes, whose GK Douchez was the busier of the two. Douchez was called upon to make a great save on a header by Bisevac early in the match, and stopped him again in the 67th minute. Valenciennes GK Penneateau was only troubled once, although the brilliant long-range strike from Lemoine crashed against the bar.
Saint-Etienne 1-4 Lorient - In another match with counter-intuitive statistics, Saint-Etienne outshot (11-5) and out-possessed (68%-32%) Lorient, but it was the latter club who made their chances count. Morel opened the scoring for Lorient in the 20th minute, but Gomis equalized in the 32nd minute when his header bounced against the crossbar and came down across the line. The rest of the scoring took place in the second half, with Robert scoring a brace (56th minute and 70th minute), and Ayew ending the scoring in the 89th minute when Saint-Etienne GK mistakenly sent the ball directly into his path for an easy finish.
So, after Matchday 11, the top of the table looks like this: (1) Lyon on 24 points from a 7-3-1 record and a +8 goal differential; (2) Bordeaux on 21 points from a 6-3-2 record and a +8 goal differential; (3) Toulouse on 21 points from a 6-3-2 record and +2 goal differential; and (4) Marseille on 20 points from a 5-5-1 record and a +7 goal differential.
Written by Darkvader on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Ligue 1 and Results and The NY Kid and le championnat.
We (ok, me … ) here at Road to 2010 have been watching football for a mere 11 years as an avid fan.
Call me a neophyte but it’s been long enough to have seen some incredible European finals (my team Valencia in 2000, the ‘05 classic in Istanbul between Liverpool and AC Milan), some wicked goals (Zidane in 2002, David Bentley’s smacker today), some awesome World Cup games (Italy-South Korea in ‘02) and the ultimate - Spain winning Euro 2008.
Before that, I didn’t follow football. Sure, it was here and there, popping up on TV now and again. But here in the USA, we watch American football and baseball, basketball and pro wrestling.
‘Soccer’ is for the rest of the world … and let them have it, for all we care.
That changed for a month in 1994 when the USA hosted the biggest tournament in world sports - the World Cup.
Honestly, not that many people in the States cared. Sure, the Italian-Americans in New York and the … Irish-Americans in New York (I’m in New York, by the way) cared.
But the rest were focused on the impending baseball strike and the upcoming NFL season.
For this and many other reasons, USA ‘94 is considered one of the worst World Cups in history.
But wait … today’s Guardian Unlimited has an interesting article from writer Rob Smyth saying the ‘94 Cup wasn’t quite as bad as we imagined …
Maybe he’s right. I wouldn’t remember. I watched Brazil win a putrid final against Italy in the heat of the Rose Bowl in California and thought, ‘What’s all the hub bub about?’
Now look at me … obsessed, in love and totally consumed by ’soccer’. Funny how time makes us think differently about things …
Here’s a small excerpt from the article. Clink the little blue line for more.
Then there were the little details, the one-liners that embellish the plot. In what may turn out to be the longest paragraph ever, we’ll attempt to list them. The late kick-off times in England, nirvana for the freaks, geeks and insomniacs; Barry Davies doing his only World Cup final; Martin Dahlin and Andersson proving that direct football could be both thrilling and classy (Sweden were the tournament’s top scorers with 15); the haircuts, from Yordan Letchkov legitimising baldness to Alain Sutter’s uber-Fabio mane, Tony Meola’s Shep-from-Fargo greaseback, the Happy Days side-parting of Mexico’s Zague, Alexi Lalas’s - well what exactly was that? - and, of course, future Reading keeper’s Borislav Mikhailov’s syrup; Romania, the World Cup’s best loose cannons since ever (and to think it could have been Wales); the Americans’ cool but hangover-baiting home kit and their hideous away kit; Rashidi Yekini’s throatlump-inducing celebration after scoring Nigeria’s first World Cup goal; a dead rubber given significant life by the record-breaking of Roger Milla, the oldest World Cup goalscorer, and Oleg Salenko, the first man to score five goals in one World Cup game; the story of Italy, who went closer to the precipice than James Bond in almost every game but kept surviving; Clive Tyldesley’s absurdly extravagant pronunciation of ‘Dooooooomidrescu’; Romario slithering magisterially through a non-existent space between two defenders only to eventually have his shot cleared off the line in the semi-final against Sweden; the bravest decision in managerial history, by Arrigo Sacchi, when he took Roberto Baggio off after Gianluca Pagliuca was sent off against Norway; the magnificent certainty of Dunga’s spot-kick, the eighth and penultimate in the final, which put Brazil in the lead for the first time and was the first example of the ‘captain’s penalty’; the glorious meltdown of John Aldridge and Jack Charlton; the brutality and Hitchcockian suddenness of Leonardo’s elbow on the USA’s Tab Ramos, an incident that has become more unfathomable as we have got to know him subsequently; Greece being so inept that they allowed Argentina to have a four-on-one attack in the second minute of their first-ever World Cup game; Viola’s 14 minutes of fame; a group of death so tight that Mexico, Italy, Ireland and Norway finished on the same points and with the same goal difference; the forgotten contribution of Daniele Massaro, the only non-Baggio to score for Italy in the tournament and the other man besides Baresi and Baggio to miss in the final shoot-out; and a performance of such comic ineptitude from the referee Jamal Al Sharif in the Mexico v Bulgaria match that even Trevor Brooking eased himself away from the splinters of the fence to call it: “(An) absolute scandal … I cannot find words to find the stupidness of that decision”.
It wasn’t all bad, was it.
Written by Darkvader on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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So who is the best African footballer right now?
The debate rages …
Over on MTN African Football, one of the premier African football news sites and sponsor of both the African Cup of Nations and African Champions League, there’s a vote updated daily tracking the Top 20 African players in world football.
So who is #1 right now?
That would be Egyptian striker Amr Zaki, currently on loan from Egyptian squad El Zamalek with English Premier League side Wigan.
The guy’s on fire, having scored 7 goals in just 9 games with the Latics. Not bad …
People are raving about the 25-year old international.
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan compared him to a certain former English international:
When you look at this lad and his build, he is the same height, weight, everything about him, he is like Alan Shearer. He has the same confidence when he gets the ball, he knows where the goal is, he doesn’t need to look up, he has this instinct. Strikers like that have an instinct as to where the goal is. You can’t describe it, you can’t give it to anybody.
That’s a very nice compliment!
Numbers 2-5 are Didier Drogba, Egyptian Mohamed Zidan, Samuel Eto’o and Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor.
No surprises there.
The Toure brothers, Yaya and Kolo, come in at #5 and #6 with the injured Michael Essien at #8 and Sevilla scorer Frederic Kanoute at #10 …
So? What do you think? Who is the best right now???
Written by Darkvader on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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”But I have always been an ambitious player. I try to improve every season, not because I have to prove myself to anyone, just because I want to be the best I can be…I am still young and if I am being honest, I did not think I would reach this level so quickly…But I always believed in my talent and I have learned a lot, so it made me think that maybe I would become the best player in the world.”
> Info Source
Written by Darkvader on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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Some surprise results tonight in the Spanish Cup, like the defeat of
Villareal (5-0) & Sevilla FC. See all the results below.
SPANISH CUP
last 32 team phase, Wednesday 1ºleg results:
Benidorm 0 - FC Barcelona 1 (Yesterday)
Ponferridina 1 - Sevilla 0
Portugalete 1 - Valencia 4
Orihuela 0 - At.Madrid 1
Poli Ejido 5 - Villareal 0
Hercules 1 - Valladolid 5
Rayo V 1 - Almeria 2
Celta 2 - Espanyol 2
Castellon 0 - Betis 2
Murcia 2-Racing 1
Elche 0 - Deportivo 2
Numancia 0 - Sporting de Gijon 1
Malaga 1 - Mallorca 1
At.Bilbao 2 - Recreativo 0
Getafe 0 - Osasuna 0
Written by STRIKER on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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Soccernet.com has observed that FIFA’s list of nominees for its World Player of the Year award consists of 6 Spaniards.
That doesn’t surprise me - given both the high quality of that team and it’s wonderful individual players.
Still - we think the award will go to Cristiano after the coaches and captains have cast their votes.
Here is the full list of nominees:
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid and Argentina), Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg and Russia), Michael Ballack (Chelsea and Germany), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus and Italy), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid and Spain), Deco (Chelsea and Portugal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona and Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal and Spain), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool and England), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan and Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain), Kaka (AC Milan and Brazil), Frank Lampard (Chelsea and England), Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich and France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Portugal), John Terry (Chelsea and England), Fernando Torres (Liverpool and Spain), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid and Netherlands), David Villa (Valencia and Spain) and Xavi (Barcelona and Spain).
> Info Source
Written by Darkvader on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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What a treat! Less than 4 days after a round, we get another one. It’s like Christmas come early! Well, 3 days early. And on a Wednesday.
Full slate of EPL (not counting Newcastle and West Brom, who 2-1′d it yesterday), but still plenty of intrigue, like how Spurs will use their new-found Redknapp Power at the Emirates, and just how well Liverpool will fail to convert their momentum from the Chelsea match as they host Pompey at Anfield (who have their own brand of New Manager Power too!)
Oh, and Aston Villa will play someone.
After the jump, the fixtures. Comment away!
Arsenal v Tottenham
Aston Villa v Blackburn
Bolton v Everton
Fulham v Wigan
Hull City v Chelsea
Liverpool v Portsmouth
Man Utd v West Ham
Middlesbrough v Man City
Stoke City v Sunderland
I predict the following:
Draw, Home Win, Draw, Away Win, Away Win, Home Win, Big Home Win, Away Win, Draw
Written by Darkvader on October 29th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on EPL and Lingering Bursitis and Open Thread.
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