November 17th, 2008
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Thanks to all who flooded the mailbox over at USSoccer.com. We have been nominated, so go vote for us. Just don’t be an asskiss and pick the USWNT blog. [US Soccer Blog]
Just to show we cover US soccer–Neven Subotic, who played in the US youth set up, is reported to have chosen to play for Serbia as a Senior international. It has not been confirmed as of yet. [SBI]
Oh, and if you are in a voting mood, go vote for MLS goal of the year. I say it is Cepero, but as long as it is not Blanco, I’m happy [MLS Net]
Now I’m just going all out. US U-17 women defeated in World Cup final. Their goal had a certain Delap-ness about it [NZ Herald]
Capello and Rafa go head to head over Gerrard’s fitness. Considering Robbie Keane bowed out as well for Ireland, does Capello have a point? [Soccernet]
Top Chinese channel says they will no longer show Super League matches because the product is tainted (perhaps with Melamine) [BBC]
And, finally:
Catania has an interesting new way to take free kicks [Comcast]
You can see video here. Unfortunately(?), the behind-the-goal footage only shows the one player too scared to take part. [101 Great Goals]
Written by Darkvader on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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Aston Villa win over Arsenal almost effectively rule them out of the race and Villa themselves are looking for the 4th Champions League Spot. While Man U dish out a 5 - 0 Trashing to Stoke with Roy Delap Missle Throw-Ins being useless that day. Chelsea also continue on top of the table with Nicholas Anelka scoring 2 goals and leading the goal scoring chart with 12 goals follow by C.Ronaldo and Amr Zaki 8 goals. Liverpool continue to pile on the pressure on Chelsea now on equal points but stay in second due to goals difference that might prove decisive come end of the season.
Written by Jackson Ng Ghim Pheng True Blue Chelsea Fan on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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Today’s post details the sixteen most active Scweinmannschaft in the English Premiership.
These players are the ones that Total Information Awareness, our trading network, believe to be the most compromised players in the league.
7 goalkeepers, 3 defenders, 2 midfielders and 4 forwards are indicative of where the match-fixers, in their various varieties, target their criminal attentions.
Seven goalkeepers…
One of these keepers, we know for a fact, is being coerced into underperformance.
Threatened…
This is not good for the ScudamoreWorld Product.
Why 7 goalies anyway?
Two reasons…
Firstly, at the peak of my incredibly limited footballing abilities, I appeared in goal for the University of Manchester 1st XI.
I read goalkeepers better than the other positions.
Secondly, one slip from any other position on the field of play, may result in anything.
One slip from a goalkeeper makes a 1.0 goal difference to the global betting markets.
Alan Hansen thinks it takes five or six players to fix a football match!
We think that he is demonstrating economies of hyperreality…
One agent represents three of the players on our list.
As Declan Hill correctly pointed out in his book ‘The Fix’, the agents are frequently the first port of call for the match manipulators.
Until recently…
Now the agents are amongst those acting as the primary source of such match corruptions.
Bribery and coercion, familial networks, solo rogue operators, even a mini-systemic infrastructure, they are all here in the first ever Football Is Fixed ‘Fucked Footie Players’ Listing.
From the top…
1. #######################################
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Over the next few months, I am going to be putting together a series of posts focusing on games where these sixteen schweinmannschaft are involved.
I will be teaming up with two of my colleagues for these posts.
A Sports Scientist, a Forensic Psychologist and a Market Analyst assessing #########
########### as he creatively underperforms for ########################### on an imaginative basis highly positively correlated with certain insider betting patterns.
Where else can you get stuff like this?
We will be offering our analyses to a smallish group as High Level Consultative Documents.
These rogue players exhibit their criminal fringe activities in real-time.
The value in knowing the individuals in question and being able to read their match input as the game develops is of marked significance in the market place as well as in in realistic assessment of the hyperreality of this alleged ’sport’.
Originally, the third in our troika of anti-free market posts was to have been published today.
Pressure of work commitments mean that this post is now delayed until Thursday next.
Each of the next two posts will be limited in scope due to several key work meetings and one and three quarter hours total devotion to the Hand of God from the cheap seats at Hampden.
One of the happiest days of my life…
The Argentinian psyche is my favourite, I think.
Italy plus Spain plus South America.
There is equivalent joy in Buenos Aires over the Hand of God goal as there is for the slaloming beauty of Maradona’s other perfection of human endeavour on that wonderful afternoon.
Is there any other culture that could provide Lionel Messi virtually mimicking to the muscle strain the exact same goal for Barcelona a couple of decades later?
All of my favourite footballers have been Argentinian.
As a seven year old, I even appreciated Antonio Rattin.
Catenaccio with South American flair trumps any other soccer system.
And I’m going to see this legend in the flesh.
OMG life does not get any better than this…
Las Islas Malvenas Argentina.
Unfortunately, the blocked out parts of the posts and all posts labelled # are available in full to subscribers only.
Our roster is now full for Football Is Fixed.
But, please enjoy the free snippets that we are posting on this site.
© Football Is Fixed/Dietrological
Written by Football Is Fixed on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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The football derby (pronounced “darby” by those crazy Brits) is alternatively a source of great pride or great shame, depending on the tendencies of your club in said matches. However, regardless of which one of those particular emotions your team evokes, the derby is almost always a source of anger, confrontation, and shenanigans. After all, what is more fun than verbally abusing and physically beating the supporters of your rival club? With those thoughts in mind, an industrious South African sports reporter has delineated the Top 50 “World’s Greatest Soccer Derbies” and the results are…interesting. There isn’t enough time (or willpower) to dissect the entire list, but let’s identify some of the more egregious decisions, shall we?
1. The first EPL derby mentioned is…Liverpool v. Manchester United? Umm, that’s not an actual derby. The argument that “silverware is at stake” when these 2 clubs meet is also not entirely accurate, as Liverpool have not won the League in almost 2 decades and the last time they finished as high as 2nd was in 2001-2002 (sorry boys!)
2. The only other EPL derby listed is Arsenal-Tottenham (an actual derby! Yay!), which comes in at #42 on the list. This is behind such notable derbies as Rapid Wien v. Austria Wien, Raja Casablanca v. Wydad Casablanca, ALK Sotckholm v. Djurgardens, Kaizer Chiefs v. Orlando Pirates, Pirouzi v. Esteghlal, and Al Ahly v. Zamalek. Umm, who with the what, now?
3. The vaunted(?) Marseille v. Paris Saint-Germain derby comes in at #11. Again, not an actual derby, and the explanation makes almost no mention of PSG other than to note that they were formed in 1970 (which is not entirely accurate, since “Stade Saint-Germain” first played as a club in 1904).
4. Many of the derbies (real or otherwise) mentioned on the list are simply put there due to their average attendance. Apparently, Mohun Bagan v. East Bengal draws a crowd of 120,000 to Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta, India, while Pirouzi v. Esteghlal play in Tehran, Iran in front of 90,000.
5. No mention of MLS’ “Superclasico” of Chivas USA v. LA Galaxy? (alright, that one’s forgiveable)
I found some of the derbies interesting, and it was nice to get a little background on clubs playing footy where 99% of us will never see a league match (in person or on TV), but the list overall seemed a little haphazard. Are we discussing interesting matchups or actual derbies in the accepted sense of the word? Are we trying to highlight one important match from every country (within reason), or are we haphazardly selecting whatever strikes our fancy?
Anyway, some suggestions for derbies (actual ones) that should have been highlighted:
1. Lyon v. Saint-Etienne - Separated by only 30 miles, this is a true derby and features the top 2 clubs, historically, in Ligue 1. Lyon has won 7 titles (all in a row), while Saint-Etienne has won 10 (mostly in the 1960s-1970s, and with a stint in Ligue 2 for brief periods in the 1980s and 1990s)
2. Liverpool v. Everton - The blue and red Scouse stare at each other across the park for the entire season, and twice a year (at least) they come together in nightmarish fashion. The only benefit of this match is that since both clubs are still in town, their players rarely have their homes robbed
3. Hearts v. Hibernian - The Edinburgh derby has all of the Old Firm derby panache with relatively little of the religious angst of Celtic v. Rangers.
4. Juventus v. Torino - This is class warfare, plain and simple. You could spend a month in certain parts of Torino and never know that a team besides Juventus played there. But stroll down the side-paths and less-travelled roads in the city and it is the smaller club that is preferred.
What do you all think of the original list? What about my suggestions? Any suggestions of your own?
Written by Darkvader on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on The NY Kid and derbies and moments in rivalry.
Here, some cool videos about the African Champions League final between Al Ahly and Coton Sport.
The first is a video from Cameroon showing the atmosphere around the stadium before the 2nd leg, played yesterday.
The second is of the penalty that clinched the championship for Ahly. Enjoy!
Written by Darkvader on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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Al Ahly coach Manuel Jose is beyond happy that his side won their record sixth African Champions League this weekend with a 2-2 draw against Cameroon side Coton Sport.
Their 2-0 win from the first leg in Cairo clinched the tie for them in the end, earning Ahly a 4-2 victory on aggregate and a third African title in four years.
“It’s fantastic,” Jose told BBC Sport.
“Now Ahly is the only club ever to win six Champions Leagues, and now we hope we’re going to win the African Super Cup.”
Ahly play the winners of the Confederation Cup in the African Super Cup in February.
In the meantime they face an even bigger challenge as they attempt to improve on their last showing at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.
The Egyptians travel to the tournament in December for the third time and will seek to better their bronze medal finish in 2006.
Still basking in Sunday’s win, Jose also paid tribute to Coton Sport, after the Garoua team put up a strong fight over the two legs.
“Coton Sport made a very good match [of it]. In Cairo we had a fantastic match, and could have scored four or five goals, but didn’t. So we came here, scored a lucky goal through Ahmed Hassan, then conceded a stupid goal. When they scored the second goal [my team] was scared about [conceding] a third goal, but I have very experienced players.
“So congratulations to Coton Sport but I think we deserved to win.”
Coton Sport Alan Oumbleon paid tribute to his own team’s efforts and said the experience of reaching their first final will make his players hungry for more success.
“It was wonderful to reach this final for my team, for my players, for the club and for the fans,” he said.
“So now we know how wonderful it is, we want to reach this level every year.”
He also conceded, however, that he will find it difficult to hold onto some of his best players after they attracted attention during their impressive march to the final.
“They deserve to go outside [Cameroon] because they have succeeded in playing very good football during this competition,” he said.
Oumbleon also said his biggest challenge in the short term will be to try to motivate his players to return to playing in the Cameroonian national league.
From next weekend they will turn out in front of considerably smaller crowds than the estimated 20,000 at the Omnisport Stadium in Garoua on Sunday and the 70,000 at the Cairo International Stadium.
“It will be very difficult because they are used now to playing against great clubs in big stadiums with a lot of people and now we will play in a bad stadium, with a bad field.
“But our players will want to reach this level again.”
MY POV: Hopefully the experience of playing in the Final will motivate fans to come out to watch Coton.
Besides that, can Ahly improve on their performance from a few year’s back at the Club World Cup? They’ll represent Africa just fine …
Written by Darkvader on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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Comic relief at White Hart Lane has been easy to find this season as their stumbling stopper Huerelho Gomes has entertained with his ridiculous goal keeping. But has ‘Arry ‘ad enough?
It appears as if the Bungling Brazilian has made his final blunder. Spurs have recalled keeper Ben Alnwick from his loan spell at Carlisle and he could be in line for a start this weekend. The move to bring Alnwick back in the wake of Gomes latest blunder at Fulham on Saturday could spell the end of silly season between the sticks at Tottenham. With the transfer window set to re-open on January 1st, a new keeper could be the priority for Spurs as they look to stay free of the relegation zone.
Gomes has been an absolute liability for Tottenham this season and has kept just 2 clean sheets in 18 games for the north Laaaaandon club. Botching up between the up-rights is nothing new to Gomes who had a reputation as a flapper long before Spurs ponied up $18 million for him. See below…
Gomes flaps with PSV before his big money move to Spurs.
Then there is this one…
and then there is THIS from Saturday at Craven Cottage.
Maybe ‘Arry will look to his old pal, Portsmouth keeper David James. James has recently pledged his loyalty to Pompey but ‘loyalty’ is an out-dated concept with professional footballers and James’ arrival at Spurs would not be a shocker. James himself has held a past reputation as a ‘flapper’. His own back-catalogue of blunders led to the nickname ‘Calamity James’ and the moniker of ‘The Vampire’, for being scared of crosses. James has appeared to be solid in recent times however, maturing into a safe pair of hands for Portsmouth and England.
-Bigus
Written by Darkvader on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Bigus Dickus and Heurelho Gomes and Tottenham Hotspur and dodgy keeper.
Masih inget sama lagu-lagu jadul dari Orkes PSP (Pancaran Sinar Petromak)?
Written by Darkvader on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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oberto Mancini is currently clubless after leaving Inter Milan, but he has been linked with a number of teams around Europe - including Real Madrid.
Written by Darkvader on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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Roberto Mancini is currently clubless after leaving Inter Milan, but he has been linked with a number of teams around Europe - including Real Madrid.
The Spanish giants have been struggling recently and Iberian paper AS had reported that the Italian was the number one candidate for the job if Bernd Schuster was kicked out by unforgiving president Ramon Calderon.
However, Mancio’s representative Maurizio De Giorgis has denied the reports - but revealed that Mancini wouldn’t mind the Real post should it become available.
“We are pleased with this news regarding the reported interest from Real, it’s news for us too but there is nothing official,” De Giorgis told Goal.com.
“They are just unfounded rumours as Real Madrid have not been in touch with us regarding Mancini.
“There is nothing official.
“I hope it’s not all unfounded news though, but like I said, the Spanish club have not made contact.
“QPR? Absolutely not. We have maximum respect for QPR but I don’t think Mancini would go there. If you compare Real Madrid with QPR…
“QPR have not been in touch, neither has Flavio Briatore.
“That is another rumour from the press who have nothing else to write about.
“The Golden Bench award? We are delighted. He deserves the award. He is a great coach and he has won many things and he deserves it.”
Mancini will be hoping Real come knocking on the door sooner rather than later.
The former Sampdoria man is looking for a way back into football and there will be no better way than to do it with one of the world’s biggest clubs.
via: goal.com
Written by Darkvader on November 17th, 2008 with no comments.
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