Archive for April 13th, 2009

Now it’s time to get down to the brass tacks at hand. Manchester United is faced with a daunting task of defeating FC Porto at home in Portugal. FC Porto has not and I repeat has not lost to an English squad in European competition in many a year.

According to Fox Soccernet No! English side has won in Porto. Period! End of discussion.

Can Man U win? I think stranger things have happened. If Rio Ferdinand can return this will help Manchester United’s leaky defense stop from becoming a sieve like it has been the last few weeks.

If Man U can stop making stupid defensive mistakes and find a way to put the ball in the back of the net on a consistent basis they will have a good chance to move on to the semi-finals of The Champions League.

I am pulling for the boys but I am not holding my breath.

For history is against them. According to ESPN Soccernet the last time a team repeated as Champions League king was 1992.

Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo must have great matches. Carlos Tevez needs to be in top form as well.

Manchester United is hoping that striker Dimitar Berbatov will return as well too, and that’s according to Fox Soccernet.

FC Porto has those two all important away goals and this forces Man U to go for broke and win. Man U has to score at least two goals to move on.

It will be nut-cutting time for Man U on Wednesday April 15^th.

Chelsea is in the driver seat against Liverpool. The Blues have three away goals in hand. Liverpool played like crap at Anfield. The Associated Press states the Liverpool has beaten Chelsea twice and completed a double over a   London Club for the first time in nineteen years.

It is very hard side to defeat the same opponent three times in one year. It can be done.   

Chelsea will be seeking a huge amount of revenge. This year Liverpool stopped dead cold Chelsea’s 86 match unbeaten streak at home.

The Blues will come out firing and looking to stop The Reds dead in their tracks.

The only draw back for Chelsea’s John Terry has to sit out Tuesday match because of a red card last week at Anfield.

The pressure is on Liverpool. They need to score at least three goals to advance or as my father used to tell me, you’re outta here.

Will history repeat itself? Will Chelsea knock out Liverpool for the second straight year?

We will see.

 Oh yeah before I forget Barcelona takes on Bayern Munich Tuesday April 14^th.  Arsenal battles with Villarreal at home in Emirates Stadium on Wednesday April 15^th.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter. Christ has risen and this is good news to everyone who believes in Jesus. We now have eternal life. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins and then rose from the grave to prove the almighty power of a living and loving God.

In one the most classless and tasteless acts I have seen in sports in a long time happened yesterday in the semi-finals of the Paulista Futebol Championship. My wife and I were watching the match between Sao Paulo and Corinthians in GOL TV. Sao Paulo and Corinthians were engaged in a tough fought match. It was tied one all going into injury time. It was in the waning moments of injury time when Corinthians Cristian Elias fired a salvo from 60 meters. The ball just found its way between the post and Sao Paulo keeper Rogerio Ceni to cement the victory for Corinthians.

In his victory celebration, Cristian flipped off the Sao Paulo fans and players. If this had happened in The NHL, Cristian would have been leveled by one of the opposing players. It is one thing to dance, kiss the ground, or jump into the stands and celebrate with your fans but it is another to flip off the opposing fans.  

Cristian needs to be fined or suspended for his crass and tasteless actions.

Enough said in the subject.

My team Flamengo defeated Fluminense 1-0 to advance to the Carioca finals (Rio de Janeiro).  We were listening to the match on Radio Globo do Rio de Janeiro. Juan found the back of the net in 31^stminute of the first half to give Flamengo the win. Next up for Flamengo is Botafogo.

A big surprise happened in the Primera Division Futebol Argentina. Boca Juniors lost to Estudiantes 1-0. ESPN Soccernet reported that Gaston Fernandez scored the game winner in the 43^rdminute of the first half for bottom feeder Estudiantes. Estudiantes is 19^thplace in the Primera.

Boca Juniors is playing very well in the Copa Libertadores but they are struggling in the Primera League. Boca is 11^th place in a 20-team league.

Boca Juniors has 11 points in nine games. That is not good. But I think Boca is focusing on winning the Copa and they holding back their best players in Primera play. This is called the Clausura. This is the summer competition for the Primera teams in Argentina.

Velez Sarsfield is a top the Primera table with 19 points. Colon de Santa Fe is second place with 18 points.