Archive for September, 2009

Both Arsenal and Liverpool came up big on Saturday. The Reds were locked in a fight for their very lives against West Ham. Fernando Torres header found pay dirt off a great cross by teammate Babel in the 75^th minute to propelled Liverpool past West Ham 3-2.

Torres led off the scoring parade. He struck for gold in the 20^th minute to give the Reds an early 1-0 lead.

The Hammers found the equalizer when the Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher was called for a foul in the box. West Ham’s Hines had a great drive into the box. Was this a foul? No, not really but the ref called it anyway and Alessandro Diamanti nailed the PK to level this baby up at one all after 29 minutes.

Liverpool claimed the Diamanti touched the ball twice and thus the Reds should have been awarded a goal kick. The ref put the kibosh to that idea.   

The Reds pulled ahead when Steven Gerrard’s corner kick was well placed deep into the Hammers box. Yossi Benayoun flicked a header towards the West Ham goal. It looked like it was going wide but teammate Dirk Kuyt’s left foot touched the ball. The ball was redirected just inside the right post for a 2-1 Liverpool lead after forty-one minutes.

West Ham equalized in the 45^th minute. Carlton Cole showed some hops. He out leaped two defenders and headed home winner to make two all at the break.
This goal was set up by a great corner kick by Mark Noble.

West Ham had some great scoring chances but the Hammers failed to find the back of the net. Torres header in the 75^th minute sealed the deal for Liverpool,

Arsenal blasted Wigan 4-0. The Gunners came out smoking at Emirates. Two goals by Thomas Vermaelen and one each by Eboue and Fabregas was all Arsenal needed on this Saturday afternoon.

What was I saying about the top clubs in the Campeonato Brasileiro losing. Well guess what?  Internacional lost to Vitoria 2-0. It was a scoreless draw at intermision but along came the second half and Internacional gave up two goals to lose 2-0.

Silva used his noodle to knock home the winner in the 55^th minute to give Vitoria a 1-0 lead. This was set up by a great corner kick into the box.

Vitoria’s second goal came off a questionable call in the box. Roger had a great run into the box but he clearly dove after just barely being touched by an Internacional defender. Roger nailed the PK in the 76^th minute to make 2-0 Vitoria.

Atletico-MG  tied with Nautico zero—zero. Atletico-PR defeated Sport 1-0.

Both Atletico-MG and Internacional had a chance to pick up ground on first place Palmeiras but Colorado and Galo blew it. Internacional had a chance to move into first place. NOT. Atletico-MG  could have pulled even with Palmeiras. Not on this day. Sao Paulo now has a chance to take the lead. Tricolor takes on Santo Andre. Is an upset looming on the horizon later today?

Flamengo now has a chance to make up some ground on the leaders. Mengao battles Coritiba. This is a huge match for Rubro-Negro.

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This is going to be a wild and wooly Saturday and Sunday. Lots of fun fixtures and a huge derby taking place Sunday at Old Trafford. The upstarts Manchester City verse the old guys on the block Manchester United.

City is coming off of a huge 4-2 win over Arsenal. City cleaned their clocks but good. Will history repeat itself or will lightning strike twice? Maybe but I don’t think so. City has a clean sheet. They are a perfect four and zero so far this season.

This match should be a classic barnburner. Both sides will be gunning for bear.  City wants to kick some Red Devil butt. City bought the farm to win them an EPL title. Will they? This is the next step in the process.

City spent millions of dollars. So far so good for City but if they win this baby, then City just might be a lock to win the EPL.

Sunday can’t come fast enough.

Manchester United is seeking for a four peat. This would be a first. The Red Devils are trying for their second four peat attempt in the last nine years. Will they be denied for a second time?

In my heart, I want Man U to win.

Other matches of importance are Liverpool takes on West Ham Arsenal battles Wigan. Chelsea takes on Tottenham. 

My team Flamengo takes on Coritiba. Rubro-Negro must win this match or they just might fall off the face of the earth. This is a little Melodramatic but true. Flamengo sits in eleventh place with 34 points. Coritiba is in 15^th place with 27 points. Mengao has no room for error. The point spread between eleventh place and re zone 17^th place is a mere ten points. This doesn’t give you a large margin for error.

The spread from first to eleventh place is ten points as well.    

Sao Paulo battles Santo Andrea. Atletico-MG squares off against Nautico. Internacional dukes it out with Vitoria.  By the time the Palmeiras Cruzeiro match rolls around on Wednesday September 23^rd Verdao Alviverde will know exactly where they stand and what result is needed. You can bet Palmeiras will be scoreboard watching all weekend long. Oh Glory days.

Palmeiras has a one-point lead over Internacional and Sao Paulo and four points over Atletico-MG.

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What in the heck is going on with two of Argentina’s most storied clubs Boca Juniors and River Plate? Both got their collective butts handed to them in the first round of the Copa Sudamericana.

I mean these two sides are going downhill very fast. They both stink to high heaven. Boca lost to rival Velez Sarsfield 1-0. Jonathan Cristaldos’ strike in the 61^stsealed the deal for Velez.  Now it’s on to the second the round where Velez Sarsfield will face Chile’s Union Espanola. 

River Plate lost to Lanus 1-0 in a driving rainstorm. Santiago Salcedo wicked strike in the 55^thminute was the final nail in River Plates coffin.  Lanus is on to the second round of the Copa Sudamericana.

Both River and Boca are struggling in the Apertura. Boca is currently in 12^th place. River Plate is in 14^th place. Both clubs have identical marks of one win, two draws, and one loss. Boca’s goal difference is minus one while River has a minus two.

Boca just doesn’t seem to have the fire they once had. Something is missing. Maybe their heart has taken a walk or maybe the club is under such a heavy financial burden that this burden has been transferred onto the field and thus Boca can’t perform at a top level. Boca plays with a heavy heart. They just aren’t into it. Boca is there but not there

River Plate on the other hand is just plain nuts. River started the 2009 Clausura near the bottom of the table. They slowly climbed the table until they were within striking distance of the title. The dumb bunnies went on losing streak near the end and wound up eighth. River and Flamengo must be brothers. They both have this Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde syndrome.  You never know which dude is going to show up.

Boca has won 24 domestic titles. River Plate has won 33 titles. But the way these two sides have played lately you would think they were perennial second-rate clubs.

The newspapers are reporting that Maradona relapsed. He is using drugs and this is why he gained weight. The Maradona camp denied this. His doctor Alfredo Cache said this trip was planned. Maradona is under a boatload of stress. He needs to get away lose weight and relax.
I have an idea. Quit coaching the national team. Both Maradona and the idiot who hired him Grondona both need to quit.

Maradona was a great player but as a coach, he sucks.

There I finally said it.

All Argentina has to do is win one of the last two World Cup qualifying matches and they will have a shot at playing in the 2010 World Cup.

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Arsenal got the scare of their life. The Gunners fell behind 2-0 before rallying to beat Standard Liege 3-2 in the group stage of the Champions League. Eliaquim Mangala perfectly placed low strike in the second minute gave Liege the early 1-0 lead.  The goal was the result of poorly defended corner by the Gunners.

Three minutes later Arsenals William Gallas was called for tripping Liege’s Milan Jovanovic. Jovanovic nailed the PK to make 2-0 after the fifth minute.

The Gunners finally found their form. Abou Diaby had a great run into the box. Diaby’s touch pass to Nicolas Bendtner forced the Liege “D” to react. Bendtner drilled the touch and shoot past the helpless Liege keeper Bolat to cut the lead in half just before the break to 2-1.

Instead of attacking Liege sat back and played the famous, prevent “D.”  The only thing the prevent “D” does is prevent a team from winning.

The Gunners had a hard time cracking the “D”. Finally, Thomas Vermaelen booted home the equalizer for Arsenal in the 77^th minute to make it two all. This goal was the result of a well-placed free kick deep into the box. This was a scramble ball that forced Liege into so much defensive confusion that it almost looked like a Chinese fire drill.

Eduardo kneed home the winner off a corner kick in the 81^st minute for a 3-2 Gunner lead.       

This was a badly needed win for the Gunners.

Liverpool just barely beat Debrecen 1-0.  Dirk Kuyt drilled home the lone score of the match in the 45^th minute.

Barcelona and Internazional tied at zero. Messi had numerous chances but he failed to covert a single one of them. His best opportunity came right after the opening bell. Messi slipped through Internazional “D” but his shot was swept aside by keeper Julio Cesar. The good old Argentina Brasil face off. Brasil one Argentina zero. Way to go garoto.

Messi had another shot at cracking the Internazional “D” however; Cesar snatched his header out the air again. Brasil two Argentina zero.

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The group stage of the Champions League kicked off on Tuesday. The matches went along pretty much to form. The favorites all won. Manchester United got a late goal from Paul Scholes. Scholes used his noodle to knock home the rebound off the missed missile by teammate Nani in the 77^th minute for the only score of the match to beat the home side Besiktas in Turkey 1-0. Manchester United had their chances. The Red Devils came oh so close to scoring but each time the shot was smidgen off.

Besiktas had two good chances as well. One shot bounded off a Manchester United defenders backside and flew safely over the cross bar.

Chelsea defeated FC Porto 1-0.  Nicolas Anelka strike in the 48^th minute was all the Blues needed for the win.  Stamford Bridge should have been turned into a duck pond. It was raining cats and dogs. Bring out the umbrellas or maybe the pitch should have been a mud bog. It was that bad but it was fun to watch.

Porto had some late scoring chances but they couldn’t convert.

Real Madrid beat inferior side FC Zurich 5-2. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice. One of those was a great free kick but I can’t get this out of my head. This dude is great during the regular season, the group stage, and all of that but when it comes to balls to the wall time or nut-cutting time Cristiano Ronaldo wusses out.

This clown is nowhere to be found. For all of Maradona’s faults at least he showed up when it counted. The best was Pele. This cat was 18 years old and he had a hat trick in the semi-finals of the 1958 World Cup. All Pele did was follow that up with two more goals in the World Cup Final.  When Cristiano Ronaldo does that, wake me up.

I mean even over the hill fat man THE REAL Ronaldo can still find the back of the net when it counts. THE REAL Ronaldo has two World Cup titles under his belt. The REAL Ronaldo is pure goal scoring machine on the world stage. The fake Ronaldo, NOT!

You can argue with me seventy five ways to Sunday however not until the fake Ronaldo performs at world class level on the world stage he will always be a pretender in my eyes.

Dude its time to step up to the plate.

Now on to the Adebayor flap that happened against Arsenal at Emirates last Saturday. Emmanuel scored a goal and he raced down the sideline of the pitch to celebrate the goal. Sure it was an in your face gesture against his old side Arsenal but give me a break. You cats gotta grow up. You cats would never make in the NFL. I mean watch the fur fly if someone ever pulled a Terrell Owens and pulled sharpie out their uniform and signed the ball after a score. Image after a score some did a Mark Gastneau sack dance.

Celebrations are part of the game. As long as it is not an obscene gesture, I love it. Let em celebrate. Get off the cats back. Grow up and get over it.

I can hear all the screams from Arsenal fans all the way here in LA. Too Bad.    

That’s my two cents worth on this subject.

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There is lots of great stuff to talk about today. The Eduardo ban isn’t happening. The appeal worked and he can now play in Arsenal’s Champions League match this Wednesday against Belgium side Standard De Ligue.

This is good. The ref was the one who blew this. The ref should be fired. He’s the idiot who made the dumb call. The ref needs to get the heave hoe.

Enough said on this BS story.

Manchester United travels to Turkey to take on Besiktas later today. This should be a good test for the Red Devils.  Rio Ferdinand is back to anchor the “D”. With Rooney and Berbatov up front Manchester United should win this baby hands down even though they lost some firepower in Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo.

I am really interested in seeing how Real Madrid performs with all this high priced talent. With addition of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, everyone expects Real Madrid to waltz through to the finals. Not so, fast bucko for we haven’t even played a match yet. Besides Cristiano Ronaldo has a habit of not showing up and playing worth a damn when all the marbles are on the line.   

I am still not convinced of Cristiano Ronaldo’s greatness. He can score goals by the boatload during the regular season but he didn’t score a goal into two straight Champions League Finals. I rest my case.

Real Madrid travels to Letzigrund, Switzerland to play FC Zurich later today.

Palmeiras had a chance to separate themselves from the rest of the pack but no Verdao had to loss to lowly Vitoria 3-2. I mean Palmeiras had this baby in the bag but no what did Verdao do give up two second half goals and lose. 

Three out of the top five teams lost on Sunday. Internacional, Palmeiras, and Goias all lost. This race is getting very tight at both ends of the table.

Palmeiras has 44 points. Sao Paulo and Internacional each have 43 points. Atletico-MG had 40 points and Goias has 39 points.

Flamengo is hanging tough with 34 points. Rubro-Negro Adriano is the leagues top scorer with twelve goals. Teammate Emerson has seven goals and Leo Moura has three strikes. With all this firepower, how come Flamengo has trouble scoring goals?

The race at the bottom of the table is heating up as well too. Fluminense is the bottom feeder with 18 points. Sport is in 19^th place with 20 points. Botafogo and Santo Andre each have 24 points but Santo Andre is in 17^th place due to a better goal difference.

Nautico is one step above in 16^th place with 25 points. ‘

At this juncture, only Fluminense is guaranteed to get the heave hoe, everyone else is in a crapshoot for the final three get outta here spots.  

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After playing crappy futebol last weekend, Flamengo finally scored. Adriano scored twice and Ze-Roberto once in Flamengo’s 3-0 rout of Sport. This is about time for Rubro-Negro. Adriano settled a great ball with his right foot. He faked right. Adriano tapped the ball to his left foot and fired the winner from just inside the top of the box to give Flamengo a 1-0 lead after the second minute.

Ze-Roberto received a great pass from Petkovic. Ze-Roberto dribble drove to the right of goal. Ze-Roberto did a little do wop move. He stopped and popped. Ze-Roberto’s chip shot was lofted over the keepers out stretched hands. The ball curled just inside the left post. This goal gave Mengao a 2-0 lead after thirty-one minutes.

Adriano scored his second goal of the match in the 89^th minute. Adriano used his noodle to knock home the winner. The goal was the result of a great corner kick. Flamengo led 3-0.

This is exactly what the doctor ordered. A plethora of goals and a bagel on the scoreboard for the opposition means Flamengo is moving in the right direction.

Mengao needs wins now not draws or losses.

This was a must win baby for the boo-birds.

Does this mean Flamengo is in contention for the Campeonato?  They are sorta but a lot of things must break right for Rubro-Negro. Palmeiras has to blow a gasket and lose five matches in a row. Sao Paulo needs to have a huge flat tire and drop four matches. Internacional needs to have a major train wreck and lose three matches.

Will any of these scenarios happen? I doubt it but anything is possible.

Most important Flamengo needs to go on a massive win streak.       

Internacional lost to Cruzeiro 3-2. Vitoria defeated Palmeiras 3-2. Santos shut out Santo Andrea 1-0. Atletico-MG defeated Atletico-PR 2-1.

Vitoria scored two-second half goals to steal a win from league leader Palmeiras. Both teams were tied one all at half.

Leandro Domingues made a great pass to teammate Roger. This pass set up Berola’s goal. The “D” reacted. Roger made a one touch pass to Berola. Berola fired a deadly strike put Vitoria up 2-1 at the 71^st minute.

A scramble ball in front of the Verdao net produced a crazy pinball goal for Derlei in the 84^th minute to make 3-1 Vitoria. Palmeiras’s Robert added a meaningless goal in the 88^th minute.

Internacional and Cruzeiro were tied two all with fifteen minutes left. T. Ribeiro ripped the twines off the missed shot to lift Cruzeiro to a sweet 3-2 come from behind win.

Goias lost to Barueri 3-1.

Palmeiras is in first place with 44 points. Internacional and Sao Paulo are for second with 43 points each but Internacional is ahead on goal difference. Atletico-MG is fourth with 40 points. Goias is fifth with 39.

Flamengo and Avai are tied with 34 points apiece. Avai is in eight place on a better goal difference. Mengao is in ninth place.

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This has been one wild and crazy Saturday in the EPL. Manchester City is for real folks. City cleaned Arsenal’s clock 4-2. This was a bad showing by the Gunners. It started off on an ominous note for Arsenal. Gunners keeper Almunia knocked the ball into his own net in the 20^th minute to make it 1-0 City. The shot went clang off the left post and then plunk off of Almunia’s hand into the net. Then the match went slowly downhill from there.

Van Persie got the equalizer in the 62^nd minute. Then all hell broke loose. City went on a scoring rampage with three straight goals to put out this baby out of reach. Craig Bellamy, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Shaun Wright Phillips scored in span of ten minutes to make 4-1. Tomas Rosicky cosmetic goal in the 88^th minute made it a little closer for Arsenal. The final tally was a 4-2 City win.

Liverpool killed Burnley 4-0. The Reds looked sharp. Yossi Benayoun started off the hit parade with a right-footed strike low left in the 27^th minute for a 1-0 Reds lead.

Burnley keeper Brian Jenson blocked Benayoun strike. The ball came bounding off the block and Dirk Kuyt knocked home the easy winner into the open net in the 41^st minute to make 2-0 Liverpool.

Benayoun added two more goals in the 61^st and 82^nd minute to give him a hat trick on the day.

Chelsea gave up an early goal to Stoke City but came roaring back to win 2-1.  Florent Malouda’s goal in the 90^th minute saved the Blues bacon. This was another one of those half assed performances by Chelsea. You can’t let a team hang around all match long and then expect to pull out the win in the final moments. This will come back and bite you in the butt. Do Barcelona and the Champions League semi-final at home at Stamford Bridge ring a bell.

Man U gave up quick goal to Tottenham but came roaring back to beat the Hotspurs 3-1.

Jermain Defoe athletic strike in the first minute set the tone for the rest of the day. Tottenham took a 1-0 lead and I thought here were go again. Upset city baby. The Red Devils didn’t panic. Man U kept up the offensive pressure. Tottenham and Manchester United played racehorse style futebol. Both sides raced up and down the pitch. This is what I call up tempo futebol.

Ryan Giggs nailed the equalizer in the 25^th minute. Giggs had a free kick from just outside the box. Giggs laser free kick top shelf right tied the match up at one all. Man U was in business.

Anderson power strike in the 41^st minute gave Manchester United  2-1 lead. 

Paul Scholes got the heave hoe in the 59^th minute. Man U was a man down. This didn’t stop the Red Devils. Wayne Rooney ripped a winner in the 78^th minute to seal the deal for Man U.

This was a huge win for the Red Devils.

Chelsea sits atop the table with 15 points. Manchester United is in second place with 12 points. Manchester City is in third place, on goal difference, with 12 points. City also has a game in hand. Tottenham is fourth, on goal difference, with 12 points. Liverpool is fifth with none points. Arsenal drops to eighth place with six points.

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Now it’s back to work for the EPL. There are some big matches to be played later today. I am looking forward to seeing Tottenham and Manchester United later today. This is a battle of the heavy weight taking on the party crasher. This should be a great match. The Hotspurs are a perfect four and zero. The Red Devils are three and one.

This is a huge match for the Manchester United. The Red Devils must get a win. A tie or a loss could drop Man U out of contention for the title. Yes, it is early to make this call but Man U is in a critical situation.

Dropped points at this junction will surely hurt Manchester United’s chances of a four peat.

Chelsea is on a roll. The Blues are looking really good. After an opening match scare against Hull City, the Blues have steam rolled everyone in sight. Chelsea takes on Stoke City.

Stoke City is in fifth place.

Liverpool battles Burnley. Liverpool is another side in a must win situation. Liverpool sits in seventh spot with six points. Another loss could put an end to the Reds dreams of winning the EPL.

The big match of the day is Arsenal taking on Manchester City. City is another one of those party crashers. City spent millions of dollars in the hopes of winning the EPL crown. Manchester City has beaten up on lesser opponents now they face their first real test of the season Arsenal.

Now we will find out if the millions of dollars City spent on their new talent are worth it. Later today against the Gunners, City will see if they are pretenders or if they are for real. This is what I call nut-cutting time. For Manchester City is either put up or shut up.  

I expect the Red Devils to beat Tottenham 2-1. Chelsea will beat Stoke City 2-0. Arsenal has a huge chip on their shoulder and the Gunners will beat City 2-1.

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The fall out from the 1-0 loss to Paraguay on Wednesday is still reverberating all around Argentina. The fans are calling for Maradona’s head. He is part of the problem. The problem lies with the clowns who chose him in the first place. Julio Grondona was the idiot who hired Maradona. Maradona is his baby. If you remember, Grondona is the clown who ran Argentina Futebol Association into the ground. He was the one responsible for the financial problems that caused the delay of the opening of the Apertura for two weeks.

This is guy who broke the contract with the TV folks. He said screw you, I am going to let the government take over the TV contract. Let  the government pay. Let’s use the people’s money. We will still spend money we don’t have. We will not pay the players. Screw the people. Let the people pay twice for the same service.

Julio Grondona is the genius that is the root cause of all of Argentina’s futebol problems.

This genius could have hired any number of coaches who are more qualified than Maradona. Jeez, my father could do a better job than Maradona and Grondona. My Dad’s been dead since 1984.

Guess what? Two Argentinean coaches coach Paraguay and Chile. Both nations are going to the World Cup. Gerardo Martino coaches Paraguay. Marcelo Bielsa coaches Chile.

Martino’s side shut out mighty Argentina 1-0 on Wednesday night. Take that you clowns.

The players are at fault too. Let’s not let Messi, Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Juan Sebastian Veron, and Javier Mascherano off the hook either. These idiots have to play. Have they been playing to the form they displayed at the 2008 China Olympics?

My friend Robert keeps telling me that Argentina has a huge ego problem. They think all they have to do is walk on the pitch and the other side will roll over and quit. NOT!  

Robert is my friend who works at Jons. He told me I am Salvadorian. Now I got it right. He loves America. He wants America to do well in the World Cup. His second favorite team is Brasil. Robert has been my friend for the past ten years.

Robert has it right.

The AFA needs to fire both Maradona and Grondona. Both are pure geniuses. They know how to produce winning futebol.

Can Argentina right the ship?

Yes, if the Argentinos are willing to take three bold steps. Fire Grondona. Fire Maradona. Get a coach like Dunga. Get rid of the fat over paid stars. Bring in players who are willing put their individual accomplishments aside. Argentina needs to find players who are willing to learn how to play as a team on both “O” and “D” side of the pitch. Just because you have a bunch of stars does not mean you will win the World Cup. All you have to do is ask the 2006 addition of the Brasil World Cup team.

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