De Futebol

The more things change the more they stay the same. Thank you Toby Keith for those wonderful words. Chelsea had chance to separate them from the rest of the pack but no, the Blues eked out a one all tie with bottom feeder West Ham.

Dogs rule again on this fine Sunday.

What did I tell ya?

Trust me on this stuff. God gave me a gift to see this junk very clearly.

Instead of breathing fire, the Blues played like a team on mission to tie or lose. I don’t get this. When you have a chance to stomp on a bottom feeder do it. On paper, Chelsea should won by a gazillion goals. The Blues peppered the net with twenty-four shots. Abet only four those bad boys were on goal.

Still with Drogba, Joe Cole, Kalou, and Malouda in the line up the Blues should have scored more than one goal viva the PK route. But hey maybe Chelsea is following in Man U’s footsteps.

Both the Blues and Red Devils should become masons. Both sides are good at making bricks.

Alessandro Diamanti’s PK winner in the 45^th minute gave the Hammers the early 1-nil lead.

Yes, it was the correct call.

The Trumpets blared. The call to arms. The Calvary charge and Frank Lampard to the rescue. This cat has ice water in his veins. Lampard answered in the 61^st. The crowd is in full throat. The shower of boos and you are a bum are shouted at him. The ball is placed on the spot. The run up. The kick. Goal. This sucker is tied at one all.

This was an iffy call by the ref.

The Hammers Mathew Upson clearly got the ball but the ref said no way baby.

Now the race for the title is tighter than a pair of 1955 Elvis Pressley jeans.

What gives here?

Chelsea, Man U, and Arsenal cannot win on the road.

The road is exactly where the 2009-10 EPL will be won.

Chelsea, Man U, and Arsenal have a combined 14 wins, 10 losses, and 3 draws.

This stinks.

Chelsea is the top dog with 41 points. Man U is in second place with 37 points. Arsenal is third with 36 points. Villa is in fourth place 36 points but Chelsea has a better goal difference. The Gunners are a plus 13 while Aston Villa is a plus 8.

Talk about dogfight?

This took place in the 2009 FIFA World Club Championship 

Argentinean side Estudiantes had super power Barcelona on the ropes but Catalans came up with a brilliant goal by Pedro in the 88^th minute to level this sucker up at one all to send this baby in extra time.

Midnight struck twelve for Cinderella Estudiantes when Lionel Messi’s strike ripped the back of net in 110^th minute to send Barca to the Promised Land.

Barcelona came from behind to beat Estudiantes 2-1.

Estudiantes struck first. Mauro Boselli ripped the twines in the 37^th minute for a 1-0 lead.

Estudiantes should have won.

Instead of taking it to Barca, the Los Pincharratas sat back and let the Catalans control the ball in the second half.

The prevent “D” kept Estudiantes from winning.

I don’t get this. If you have a lead on a great team, you can’t let them have possession of the ball 90% of the time.

All it takes is one mistake. Bam. Kiss this baby bye-bye. And this is exactly what happened

Barca has Messi, Danny Alves, Xavi, and Pedro and these players can find a way to score.

Pedro did.

Messi did.

Game, set, and match to Barca.

Estudiantes gave Barcelona all they could handle and then some.

A great come from behind win for the Catalans.

Now Barca can put to rest they can’t win the big one.

Barca did.

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De Futebol

Now it’s back to the fun in sun for the EPL resumes play on Saturday and Sunday. There is a ton of pressure on the big boys to come up with the “W” not a tie or a loss. The matches that I am focusing on are Manchester United-Fulham, Arsenal-Hull City, Spurs-Rovers, and West Ham- Chelsea. Sure, City has big one against Sunderland but for you City guys you will have to wait.

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The Red Devils have a leaky “D” as well as missing the back of net. If mighty boys from Old Trafford want a historic four peat, Rooney, Berbatov, Anderson, and the rest need to find the back of the net more often than not. Maybe Rooney and his mates might try their hand at being masons. They are good at firing bricks.

MIA is Ferdinand, O’Shea, Neville, and Brown. That’s the entire back line of defense. No wonder the Red Devil’s “D” is like a sieve.  Even the super defender Russian Vidic is hurt. Can it get any worse? Yes, A loss will kill the boys from Old Trafford.

Arsenal needs to shake off the miserable one all tie with Burnley and take it to Hull City. This is a must for win Arshavin, and rest of the Gunners.

My advice is to take it to em. Pedal to the medal. Attack, attack, and whatever you do, don’t, and I mean don’t give up a cheap goal.

Short balls. Work the ball into the offensive zone and punish the net. Please no long balls this time guys.  

Fabregas is out with a hammy injury. This will hurt. Still I expect Arsenal to win.

Drogba, Cole, and Carvalho are to play for Chelsea. This should kick it up a notch for the Blues.

If the Blues play like they did mid-week and last Saturday, it could be a long day.

West Ham stinks but this is the year of the dogs. Anything can happen just ask City, Arsenal, and Man U.

Spurs- Rovers will be a good one. Tottenham needs to get the “W”. This is not the time to let down after kicking City’s butt up and down the pitch mid-week. Come out breathing fire and score baby score. It is that simple.

All and all this season in the EPL is really wild. Who would have thought that Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United would struggle on the road?  Road warriors they are not. All of em has three losses. This is not good. Championships are won on the road. 

The team with the best road record will win the title.

Last year EPL champ Manchester United had three road losses all season. That’s it baby. The Red Devils had a total four loses for the entire campaign. Guess what? The mighty boys from Old Trafford already have four of those bad boys.

 Last year Arsenal and Chelsea had a total of three road losses each. Now hear this both Chelsea and the Gunners have already equaled last season’s total road losses. Both Chelsea and Arsenal have three of those big boys and we are not even at midterm break.

This is not good.

Need I go on?

In the NFL, we have a saying. “ On any given Sunday any team can win.” This saying is now true in the EPL. Former Commish, Pete Rozelle was seeking parity. In the NFL, parity is now a way of life.

I am not saying parity is on the fast track in the EPL but the dogs are making life hard for the big boys.

You gotta love it.

Oh, yeah, one last parting shot.

Barcelona and Estudiantes battle for the 2009 World Club Title. Will Estudiantes be Barca’s Waterloo?

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De Futebol

This is one of those lag kinda days. Not much happening. Once Saturday arrives, all kinds of great futebol will be played. The FIFA World Club Cup finals and the EPL is back in action as well.

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Messi and the boys will take on Argentinos side Estudiantes in the World Club Cup Finals. On paper, Barca has all the talent. The Catalans have the Golden Ball winner Messi, Brasilian Danny Alves, Pedro Rodriguez, Xavi, and Thierry Henry. This is enough to put the fear of God into any side.

This is the team that kicked Man U’s butts in the 2009 Champions League Final. Barca made the fake Ronaldo look silly.

I am sorry but the pundits and the useful media idiots think Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player since sliced bread. Not.

For surely when it is nut-cutting time, the fake Ronaldo does a Houdini. He quits. The fake Ronaldo is a good regular season player but when the match is on the line, he plays like a girl.

Enough said.

I think it was a shock that Estudiantes won the Copa Title. Estudiantes beat the Brasilian side Cruzeiro 2-1 on aggregate. Both sides played to a nil-nil draw at Estudiantes house Cidade de La Plata. The Argentine side shocked the Brasilians winning in Cruzeiro’s house in Belo Horizonte 2-1.

I was shocked too. I thought that Cruzeiro was going to win but hey crazy things happen in the  futebol world.

The Los Pincharratas (The Rat Stabbers) have Leandro Benitez, Juan Veron, Maximiliano Perez, and Mauro Boselli that can cause fits for Barca.

The key match up will be midfielder Juan Veron verses Lionel Messi. If Veron can at least somewhat control Messi, Estudiantes will have a chance to beat Barcelona.

For all you history buffs, the Catalans have been to this dance twice and each time Barcelona has lost. 

Will the Catalans make it an O for three?

I won’t bet on it.

But remember this, Barcelona is a tired squad. They have played a boatload of matches. The Catalans are discovering what Man U discovered last year. It is really hard to play in the FIFA World Club Cup Championship, Champions League, and fight to win a domestic title all in the same year.

Then add on top of that defend your Champions League crown when every side in Europe wants to kick your butt and send you home packing.

They want to embarrass you.

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De Futebol

Barcelona came out looking for total domination over the Mexican side Atlante. Not so, fast bucko. Atlante sent a shock wave through the mighty Barca squad. Atlante struck first. Guillermo Rojas ripped the twines in the 4^th minute to give Atlante the early 1-0 lead.

A misplayed long ball by the Barca “D” allowed Rojas to slip into the goal area. Bam. Bingo. Goal.

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Barca said this is not going to happen on our watch. We’re not going to allow Atlante to upset us big time.

Barcelona began to apply lots of pressure. The siege began on the Atlante goal. Sergi Busquets rammed home the winner in the 35^th minute to tie this sucker up at one all.

A well-placed corner kick set up this baby. The ball was fired into the box. Pass. One timer. Goal.

Enter the best player in the world Lionel Messi in the 53^rd minute. Instant presto. Goal. Messi takes charge. Mate Ibrahimovic slipped a great pass to Messi.  Messi breaks free in the box. Whoop. Messi makes the keeper looked silly.  Shot. Goal. Messi’s walk in goal in the 54^th minute gave Barca a 2-1 lead.

Pedro flat out beat the keeper in the box in the 66^th minute to give Barcelona a 3-1 lead.

Turn out the lights the party’s over.

Stick a fork in Atlante for they are surely done.

A gallant effort by Atlante but this was close but no cigar.

Barcelona proved they were the better side on this day.

Was there any doubt?

Barcelona comes from behind to beat Atlante 3-1.

It is onto the finals for Barcelona where they will face Estudiantes.

This should be a good one.

Now lets go to the fun in the sun EPL

Chelsea almost pulled a draw out of their hat but thank God, for Frank Lampard’s PK winner in the 79^th minute that gave Chelsea a 2-1 win over lowly Portsmouth.

This baby could have wound up in one all draw.

Nicolas Anelka fired a rocket from inside the box to give the Blues the early 1-nil in the 23^rd minute.

Portsmouth discovered the equalizer in the 51^st minute. Once again, the Blues can’t defend a set piece. Fredrick Piquionne rifled home the winner from dead center of the box to tie this baby up at one all.

Enter a dumb foul in the PK area by Portsmouth’s Marc Wilson. Super man to rescue Frank Lampard and thus Chelsea is rewarded a win instead of a tie.

Do you want to talk about crazy? Try this one on for size. The Gunners had a chance to really keep their “MO” alive. But no Arsenal gives up a dumb penalty and winds up snatching a draw from the jaws of victory. It is one all draw between Arsenal and Burnley. Fabregas scored first on a dead on strike that gave the Gunners a 1-0 lead in the 7^th minute.

Then a boneheaded penalty by Thomas Vermaelen gave Burnley the equalizer in the 28^th minute. The run up. The Kick. Crunch time baby. Goal by Graham Alexander to level this sucker at one all.

Instead of three points, Arsenal has to settle for one point.

There goes the Gunners Mojo right out the window.

Now do want to talk about Mojo taking a hike. Let us look at City and the abomination of a performance against Spurs. Spurs kicked City’s butt. This was one of those old fashion take me to the woodshed whooping. 

Spurs win in a cakewalk 3-0.

Way to go garoto.

I just love it.

Tottenham took it Manchester City from the opening whistle. Sure, Tevez missed a gimmie in the opening moments but that was about it for City. City played with a whimper from that point on.

Niko Kranjcar fired the opening salvo in the 37^th minute.  It was follow the bouncing ball as Kranjcar poked home the winner that gave Spurs a 1-0 lead. Lennon fired the cross into the box. Header by Peter Crouch. The ball bounces off of City’s Ireland. Kranjcar deposits the gift into the bank.

Defoe adds another goal in the 54^th minute to make 2-0 Spurs.

Then City just quit. They sorta attacked but not really. Spurs played pitch and catch the rest of the match.

The icing on the cake came in the final moments of the match. Kranjcar attacked the City goal. It was one on three. Whoop. Kranjcar flied past three City defenders. Adebayor was the last line of defense. Here’s your jock mister defender. Shot. It was right through the keeper’s wickets.

Kiss this baby bye-bye for City.

This was a total domination of City by Spurs.

Sure, City was missing some key players but Manchester City quit.

Liverpool picked up a much needed win. The Reds defeated Wigan 2-1. Ngog and Torres scored for Liverpool.

This win keeps the Reds in the hunt for a Champions League spot.

Chelsea is in the drivers seat with 40 points. Manchester United is in second place with 37 points. The Gunners are third on goal difference with 32 points. Arsenal has as game in hand. Villa is in fourth spot with 32 points.  Spurs are in fifth place with 30 points.

Liverpool is now in sixth place with 27 points. City drops to eighth place with 26 points.

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De Futebol

The EPL and FIFA World Club Cup are on tap for today. This is a good mixture of futebol for us on this fine day. Sports Memorabilia and Luci Now Com-e Cigarettes bring my blog to you.

Estudiantes was locked in deadly nil-nil draw with the Pohang Steelers in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Club Cup.

The Pohang Steelers were hanging in there with the superior Argentinean side then a dumb challenge by Pohang’s Jung Kim in the 45^th minute created the opportunity Estudiantes needed to take a choke hold on this match.

Whamo. Bam. Match changer time. Free kick. The ball was lifted high into the air. Bing. Header.  Nothing but the back of the net. 1-0 Estudiantes. Leandro Benitez’s head ticks the winner to send this match spinning out of control.

This goal took all the steam out of the Pohang Steelers sails.

Estudiantes put the match out of reach when Leandro Benitez hit the daily double in the 53^rd minute. This made 2-0 Estudiantes.

Estudiantes Enzo Perez lobbed the ball over the keeper. Benitez was left free near the left post. Pohang defender Kim Jae-sung lost Benitez. Benitez ripped the ball that went boom off the left post and went flying into the back of the net.

Pohang made it very interesting in the 70^th minute. Denilson Martins Nascimiento ripped home the close range winner to make it 2-1 Estudiantes.

Three Pohang Steelers got the heave-hoe.

Pohang’s headman Brasileiro Sergio Farias alluded to the fact that the fix may have been in.

From what I saw, no way Jose was the fix in. The Pohang Steelers played dirty futebol.

Estudiantes has their spot booked in the 2009 FIFA World Club Cup final.

We will know on Wednesday who their dance partner will be. It will be either Barcelona or Atlante.

If I were a betting man, the other finalist would be… I will give you three guess and the first two don’t count.

Aston Villa took care of business in Sunderland’s house the Stadium of Light. Villa breezed to a 2-0 win over Sunderland.  Heskey found the back of the net in the 24^th minute to give Villa a 1-0 lead.

James Milner sealed the deal in the 61^st minute. Milner ripped the shot past the keeper Fulop that put Villa up 2-0. This was all she wrote.

Game, set, and match to Villa.

Villa looks like they are making at run at a league leaders Manchester United and Chelsea.

Villa moves into third place with 32 points.

United righted their wobbly ship by thrashing lowly Wolves 3-0. Rooney started off the goal parade for Manchester United.

Ronald Zubar gave the Red Devils a gift goal. There was no pressure what so ever on Zubar. He made a bone headed play. All he had to do was head the ball out of danger. But no dumbo punched the ball out. Maybe he thought he was playing volleyball. This was a no-no. It was PK time. Up stepped Rooney. Bam. The back of the net was ripped. It is 1-0 Manchester United after thirty minutes.

Man U applied more pressure on Wolverhampton. In the 43^rd minute Darron Gibson fired a corner kick right on the button. Vidic ripped the header from dead center of the box to make it 2-0 Red Devils.

You can now stick a fork in Wolves for they are surely done.

Valencia nailed the right-footed winner in the 66^th minute to give Man U a huge 3-0 win over Wolverhampton.

The win moves Manchester United into a first place tie with Chelsea in the EPL.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea will play on Wednesday night.

Both of these squads know what result is needed. A loss by either side would be disastrous.

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De Futebol

There is lots of fun stuff to talk about today. Where to begin is the hard part. Arsenal and Liverpool had little incentive to play today. The Gunners played their junior team while Liverpool just played out the string. Arsenal is moving on in Champions League play while Liverpool is going home for good.

The youngsters of Arsenal lost to Olympiacos 1-0. Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott proved they have lots of promise.  Ramsey almost found the equalizer in the dying moments of the match but a great sweep save by the Greek keeper Nikopolidis kept the 18-year-old Ramsey off the scoreboard.

Theo Walcott is totally back from his hamstring injury. Walcott took it to the rack. He just missed on a high-powered riser shot that was tipped over the cross bar by the keeper Nikopolidis.

Vela and Wilshere each had some great shots on goal but they couldn’t quite find the back of the net.

Olympiacos started their first team against the young studs. Arsenal’s young studs took it to the more experienced Greek side. The Gunners almost pulled off the win. This is a very good sign for Arsenal.

Olympiacos moves on to the knockout stage.

Liverpool on the other hand sleepwalked their way through their final Champions League match at Anfield.

The Reds gave up two late goals and lost to Fiorentina 2-1.

Liverpool found the back of the net first. Yossi Benayoun header tickled the twines in the 43^rd minute to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead.

The Italian side was playing for the top spot in Group E. Fiorentina attacked and attacked until they cracked the Reds “D” in the 63^rd minute. Martin Jorgensen zinged the winner past Reds keeper Diego to tie this baby up at one all.

Fiorentina scored the match winner in the 90^th minute. Alberto Gilardino struck twelve to lift the Italian side to a 2-1 win.

There is a ray of hope in the clouds of doom that hovered over Anfield. Reds super star Fernando Torres played the final quarter of the match.  It looks like he’ll be ready to play in the Reds Gunners clash this Sunday December 13^th at Anfield.

In Group D, Internazionale, Barcelona, and Rubin Kazan were duking it out for the final two-playoff spots.

Inter defeated Rubin Kazan 2-0.

Barcelona fell behind early to Dynamo Kiev before rallying for a 2-1 victory. Kiev scored first. Artem Milevskiy ripped the twines in the 9^th minute to give the Russian side the 1-0 lead.

Barcelona began to squeeze the Russian side back into Kiev side of the pitch. Xavi knocked home a close range marker in the 33^rd minute to tie this baby up at one all.   

Messi scored the match winner in the 86^th minute. His free kick ripped the twines to seal the deal for the defending Champs Barcelona.

Both Inter and Barca are on to the next round.

Next up for Barca is the FIFA World Club Cup Championship.

In play in game for the FIFA World Club Cup New Zealand’s Auckland City took it to the hosts Al Ahli 2-0.

The Kiwis recorded the opening salvo. Adam Dickinson ripped a winner in the 44^th minute to give Auckland City a 1-0 lead.

Chad Coombes put the final nail in the hosts Al Ahli coffin in the 66^th minute. Coombes smashed the twines to give Auckland City the 2-0 win.

Next up for the Kiwis is the Mexican side Atlante.

The 2009 addition of the FIFA World Cup should be a wild and crazy affair. If it all goes according to plan Barca and Argentina side Estudiantes should meet in the finals in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday December 19^th.

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