English clubs are flying in the champions league. They are registering big wins in Europe. Liverpool started with a bang. They started with two facile wins against Marseille and PSV Eindhoven. They are lying second in the group D behind Atletico Madrid due to goal difference. Gerrard scored two magnificent goals in two matches. He has scored 100th goal for Liverpool.
Arsenal is playing entertaining football this season. I am not sure whether they can win any trophies or not but they very pleasant to watch. They destroyed FC Proto 4-0 on Tuesday with brilliant skill football. They have to be more consistent. Manchester United and Chelsea continued their run. Chelsea though was surprisingly held to a 0-0 draw against little known CFR Cluj-Napoca. CFR Cluj-Napoca from Romania is the surprise of all. They defeated Roma in Italy and now at home they held Chelsea. This is the team to watch who played third division six tears back. They are lying second in group A behind Chelsea due to goal difference.
Another surprising club is Anorthosis Famagusta from Cyprus. They are top of Group B along with Inter Milan. They crushed Panathinaikos 3-1 and drew with Werder Bremen 0-0. Like CFR Cluj-Napoca watch this team also.
Spanish giants are also having 100% record. Barcelona defeated Sporting Lisbon 3-1 and Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1. Real Madrid defeated BATE Borisov 2-0 and Zenit St Petersburg 2-1. Another team performing beyond expectation is BATE Borisov of Belarus. They almost snatched victory against Juventus.
I am disappointed with Zenit St Petersburg. They lost both their matches. I expected them to do much better. Still four rounds left and lot of things can happen. Let’s wait and see
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
European Leagues
European leagues are in full swing. There are few surprises but mostly the leagues are going as predicted. In English Premier League, Chelsea is at the top along with Liverpool. Aston Villa is just one point behind the leaders. Arsenal is playing the most dazzling soccer on this season. But the most surprise package is Hull. They upset the free flowing Arsenal in Arsenal’s den. Hull also played a 2-2 draw with Everton after faltering against Wigan 0-5. This is most surprise result so far in EPL. Manchester City’s 6-0 win over Portsmouth is another surprising result.
Liverpool started the season with a bang. Their 2-1 win over Manchester United is the high point of the season till now. But they could not beat lowly Stroke at home. The match ended 0-0. Chelsea has usual start. They mean business and they are playing professionally. Of the top four, Manchester United has a slow start. But I believe they will bounce back. They are one of the best club team in the world.
Surprisingly, Newcastle and Tottenham are lying in the bottom of the table. Newcastle is looking vey awful in the start of the season. I am not sure what the future is for this club.
Referring is really very bad in some of the matches. Yesterday it was for Manchester United and today it was Wigan who benefited by the bad decisions.
Liverpool started the season with a bang. Their 2-1 win over Manchester United is the high point of the season till now. But they could not beat lowly Stroke at home. The match ended 0-0. Chelsea has usual start. They mean business and they are playing professionally. Of the top four, Manchester United has a slow start. But I believe they will bounce back. They are one of the best club team in the world.
Surprisingly, Newcastle and Tottenham are lying in the bottom of the table. Newcastle is looking vey awful in the start of the season. I am not sure what the future is for this club.
Referring is really very bad in some of the matches. Yesterday it was for Manchester United and today it was Wigan who benefited by the bad decisions.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
World Cup 2010:Excitement Started
In the two rounds of World Cup 2010 qualifying match most of the big guns struggle. In South American group Paraguay is marching ahead of others. They drew with Argentina 1-1 and defeated Venezuela 2-0 to lead the group with 17 points. Surprisingly, Argentina is struggling in the group. They started well with three consecutive win but now they failed to win in five consecutive matches. Brazil continued their struggling when they failed to defeat 10 men Bolivia at home. Brazil though moved into second position in the group with 3-0 win over Chile. The picture will be clearer with 2 rounds of matches in November. Chile bounced back with 4-0 win over lackluster Columbia.
England surprised everybody including themselves when they defeated Croatia 4-1 in an away match. Earlier they were very lethargic in 2-0 win over Albania. France was crushed by Austria 3-1 though they bounced back to defeat Serbia 2-1. For me Lithuania was the most surprise package this week. They won both their matches. They defeated Austria 2-0 and Romania 3-0. They are at top of their group which includes France. Italy and Spain won both their matches. Italy won 2-0 against Georgia and 2-1 against Cyprus. Spain won 4-0 against Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0. Germany drew 3-3 with Finland. Portugal surprisingly lost 2-3 to Denmark in their second match. But the most surprising result in the European leg is Switzerland’s defeat at the hand of Luxembourg at home (1-2).
New Zealand qualified for the next stage when they defeated New Caledonia twice (3-1, 3-0). They will play play-off with the fifth-placed Asian side in 2009 for a berth in World Cup.
Nigeria continued their 100% record. They defeated South Africa 1-0. They have already qualified for the final round of qualifying. Cameroon and Benin also joined Nigeria in the next round. Cameroon defeated Cape Verde Islands 2-1. Benin qualified by defeating Angola 3-2.
In Asia two Koreans played 0-0 draw. Uzbekistan and UAE both lost two consecutive matches. It is long way to go. But with start of the European leg the excitement is fully on.
England surprised everybody including themselves when they defeated Croatia 4-1 in an away match. Earlier they were very lethargic in 2-0 win over Albania. France was crushed by Austria 3-1 though they bounced back to defeat Serbia 2-1. For me Lithuania was the most surprise package this week. They won both their matches. They defeated Austria 2-0 and Romania 3-0. They are at top of their group which includes France. Italy and Spain won both their matches. Italy won 2-0 against Georgia and 2-1 against Cyprus. Spain won 4-0 against Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0. Germany drew 3-3 with Finland. Portugal surprisingly lost 2-3 to Denmark in their second match. But the most surprising result in the European leg is Switzerland’s defeat at the hand of Luxembourg at home (1-2).
New Zealand qualified for the next stage when they defeated New Caledonia twice (3-1, 3-0). They will play play-off with the fifth-placed Asian side in 2009 for a berth in World Cup.
Nigeria continued their 100% record. They defeated South Africa 1-0. They have already qualified for the final round of qualifying. Cameroon and Benin also joined Nigeria in the next round. Cameroon defeated Cape Verde Islands 2-1. Benin qualified by defeating Angola 3-2.
In Asia two Koreans played 0-0 draw. Uzbekistan and UAE both lost two consecutive matches. It is long way to go. But with start of the European leg the excitement is fully on.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Argentina deserved winners
Messi guides Argentina to Olympic title. Argentina defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the final. Angel Di Maria scored the winner in the 58th minute. Nigeria should be happy with the silver medal. They played gloriously to loose in the final. In my blog dated July 12, 2008, “Olympic Football 2008: Argentina and Nigeria are favorites”, I mentioned that these two teams are favorites. I am happy that it matched.
Argentina is the deserved winners. They played beautifully in the whole tournament. Nigeria started slowly but in the knockout stage they were superb. Argentina mesmerizes Brazil in the semifinal and Nigeria did the same thing with Belgium. Brazil played very poorly in the semifinal.
Brazil though defeated Belgium 3-0 to finish third they do not deserved a place in the final. I think we had a final between the best two teams. This is Argentina’s second Olympic title. They won these consecutive in 2004 and 2008. Great Britain (1908 and 1912) and Hungary (1964 and 1968) achieve the same feat. Yugoslovia is the only team who played 4 consecutive finals from 1948 to 1960. But they won only in 1960. Hungary played three consecutive finals from 1964 to 1972.
Argentina is the deserved winners. They played beautifully in the whole tournament. Nigeria started slowly but in the knockout stage they were superb. Argentina mesmerizes Brazil in the semifinal and Nigeria did the same thing with Belgium. Brazil played very poorly in the semifinal.
Brazil though defeated Belgium 3-0 to finish third they do not deserved a place in the final. I think we had a final between the best two teams. This is Argentina’s second Olympic title. They won these consecutive in 2004 and 2008. Great Britain (1908 and 1912) and Hungary (1964 and 1968) achieve the same feat. Yugoslovia is the only team who played 4 consecutive finals from 1948 to 1960. But they won only in 1960. Hungary played three consecutive finals from 1964 to 1972.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Match of the titans
What a mouth watering semifinal we are going to have in the semifinal. Argentina vs Brazil or Ronaldinho vs Messi. Whatever you say football will be the winner. Both the teams required extra time to defeat their opponents. Defending champion Argentina rode on Messi to defeat Netherland 2-1. Brazil defeated former champion Cameroon 2-0. They avenged their defeat at the hands of Cameroon at Sydney Olympics in 2000. Messi was brilliant in the other game. Netherland fought their heart out but still could not save the game.
Italy the most impressive team in the group stages were stunned by Belgium. They played with 10 men for most of the game but still managed to win the thriller 3-2. They came from behind twice. They will meet 1996 champion Nigeria. Nigeria easily defeated Côte d'Ivoire 2-0. Both the semifinals will be thrilling to watch.
Italy the most impressive team in the group stages were stunned by Belgium. They played with 10 men for most of the game but still managed to win the thriller 3-2. They came from behind twice. They will meet 1996 champion Nigeria. Nigeria easily defeated Côte d'Ivoire 2-0. Both the semifinals will be thrilling to watch.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Big Guns Firing
Ronaldinho started his comeback. He enthralled the Chinese crowd with two goals. Brazil defeated New Zealand 5-0 to enter the quarterfinals. This is Brazil’s second consecutive win. Pato, Anderson and Sobis are the other scorer. Belgium defeated China 2-0 to keep their hopes alive.
Argentina and Italy also enter the quarterfinal. Argentina defeated Australia 1-0 to register their second win in as many matches. In another group A match Côte d'Ivoire defeated Serbia 4-2 in a thrilling match.
Italy registered another fluent victory. They crushed Korea 3-0. This is their second 3-0 victory in group D match. Cameroon scrapes past Honduras 1-0 in another group D match.
Nigeria defeated Japan 2-1 in a group B match. Netherlands scored in a last minute to hold USA 2-2. USA and Nigeria are leading the group with 4 points. Netherland with 2 points is also in the fray for a quarterfinal berth.
Argentina and Italy also enter the quarterfinal. Argentina defeated Australia 1-0 to register their second win in as many matches. In another group A match Côte d'Ivoire defeated Serbia 4-2 in a thrilling match.
Italy registered another fluent victory. They crushed Korea 3-0. This is their second 3-0 victory in group D match. Cameroon scrapes past Honduras 1-0 in another group D match.
Nigeria defeated Japan 2-1 in a group B match. Netherlands scored in a last minute to hold USA 2-2. USA and Nigeria are leading the group with 4 points. Netherland with 2 points is also in the fray for a quarterfinal berth.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Brazil, Italy and Argentina started with a Win
Brazil struggled to beat 9 men Belgium in their opening match in group C. Hernanes scored a magnificent goal in the 79th minute for Brazil. Brazil struggled for most of the part of the match. In another match of group C host China drew 1-1 with New Zealand.
Messi was the star for Argentina. He helped Argentina to register 2-1 win over brilliant Ivory Coast in group A. Messi scored a goal and also assist the second. Australia drew with Serbia 1-1.
USA defeated Japan 1-0 in their opening match. Italy registered a easy 3-0 win over Honduras. Cameroon drew 1-1 with Korea and Nigeria drew 0-0 with Netherlands.
CAS Ruling
I am very disappointed with CAS ruling. According to me a player should give more priority for his country than club. I do not understand why one should not be playing as he likes.
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