Archive for April 16th, 2009

I was very surprised when Manchester United beat FC Porto 1-0 in Portugal. I didn’t think it was going to happen. I let the main stream sports media influence my thinking process. All those so-called pundits kept repeating the same mantra. “ FC Porto is unbeatable at home. They haven’t lost to an English squad at home in eleven matches in Champions League play.”

Guess what Man U had an answer. It was Rio Ferdinand. And his glorious return to his familiar center defense right position.

Ferdinand is the quarterback of the defense. He is in charge of calling all the  defensive formations when the opposing team is attacking. Rio Ferdinand has the uncanny ability and unquestionable defensive instincts to place his players in the right aliment and stop teams from scoring.

This was Manchester United’s first clean sheet since Mid-February.

If you remember, Manchester United went on a defensive rampage from Mid-November to Mid-February without giving up a goal. This goal less streak totaled fourteen straight games.

The key to that run was Rio Ferdinand.

When he went down with an injury Manchester United’s defense looked like the Keystone cops on LSD and they couldn’t stop my grandmother from scoring. She assumed room temperature thirty years ago.

In Man U’s last six matches without Ferdinand in the lineup The Red Devils gave up ten goals. And that doesn’t include Champions League goals only EPL goals.

That is bad folks. That stinks.

With Rio Ferdinand back in the lineup that will free up Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, and Dimitar Berbatov do what they do best. That’s score goals.

Manchester United will now have a real good shot at winning a Quadruple.

Manchester United has already been crowned Carling Cup Champs and now they have a great chance to win The Champions League, The EPL, and The FA Cup.

It could turn into being a great year for The Red Devils now that Rio Ferdinand is back calling the signals for the defense.

We can all take a big deep breath and breathe a little bit easier now that The Champions League has completed play until the semifinals begin in about a week or so. Not!

The Copa Libertadores is heating up in South America.

My wife and I were watching the crazy match between Palmeiras and Sport-Recife last night on Fox Soccer Espanol.

These two Brasilian futebol clubs are bitter rivals. They don’t like each other and that’s a huge understatement. Sport-Recife is known for its wild and crazy fans. The fans from Sport-Recife throw things on the pitch and yell obscenities at opposing players. Fights break out all the time between the fans of Sport-Recife and those of opposing teams. You get the picture.

Last night’s match was played in Sao Paulo, the home of Palmeiras. 

The match ended in a 1-1 draw. That’s the result but that’s not what I want to talk about. After Sport’s Wilson scored the equalizer on a beautifully placed shot he ran along the end line to celebrate the match tying goal. Wilson lifted his jersey over his head in celebration and the ref red carded him.

This is NUTS. No way, this should have been a red card. I have seen worse like the time when Corinthians Cristian scored the match winner and he flipped off the Sao Paulo fans and players. Or how about when a Brasilian Club coach Pedro Santilli threw a haymaker at one of the refs during a match.

 The other Brasilian squad Gremio defeated Universidad de Chile 2-0.

We watched that match too on Fox Soccer Espanol. With the victory, Gremio moves on to the next round of play.

Gremio kept the pressure up the entire match on Universidad de Chile.

The Chilean squad never had a chance.

Gremio’s Maximiliano Lopez scored both goals for Gremio.

 My wife’s team Sao Paulo of Brasil lost to Independiente Medellin of Columbia 2-1 in Columbia. Sao Paulo was without their top keeper Rogerio Ceni who broke his ankle on Tuesday in practice.

Even with the loss, Sao Paulo advances to the next round.

So there, you have it the wild and wacky world of futebol from The Copa Libertadores.