World Cup and European leagues

[sac]

Just now got to see the goals from the Liverpool game.  Torres was brilliant; he set up the Babel goal as well as scoring two of his own.  Gerrard was directly involved in a couple of the goals, too, even if he didn't score.  The goal conceded toward the end looked to be due to horrible defense, which has been the Achilles heel all year.  Injuries haven't helped--it's been a different lineup almost every match.

I haven't seen the Gerrard incident.  I know that the frustration level is rising amongst the players--Torres has publicly called on the club to bring in more top players with noises about moving on if that doesn't happen.  That sort of thing doesn't usually sit well with me, but I can understand his frustration.  I think he--and Gerrard, and Reina, and Mascherano--have been quiet longer than most would have been.  And of course the lack of money, thanks to the wretched owners and their debts, is responsible.

None of that excuses violence on the pitch, if that's what happened, of course.

Gerrard looked like he threw a forearm/elbow at the back of the neck of a Portsmouth player on a break.........pretty silly since it was 4-0 at the time and about the 80th minute.   The official was behind the play and couldn't really see it and the side referee's  provided no help.

That same P'smouth  player had bear hugged/tackled Gerrard to the ground in the first half.  But it was no reason to try and get back at someone.

[sac]

Fantastic quotes like this one are why the English media cannot be ignored.

"Messi was like a clockwork mouse darting between the legs of narcoleptic cats"

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Incredibly Fulham beat Juventus 4-1 today to advance to the quarterfinals of the Euro League on 5-4 aggregate.

[Hoosier Titan]

Incredibly Fulham beat Juventus 4-1 today to advance to the quarterfinals of the Euro League on 5-4 aggregate.

And Liverpool just beat Lille 3-0 to go through 3-1 with 2 goals from Torres and 1 (pen) from Gerrard.

[Mr. Ypsi]

This isn't quite the right forum, but this board has more attention than all other soccer boards combined.

The USA U17 women's team outscored opponents 38-0 in CONCACEF play - and didn't even make the finals!  After a scoreless semi, Canada beat them in PKs.

THAT is tough luck!

[ECSUalum]

From  RTE Sports:

Rooney out 2-4 weeks???!!!!!

Manchester United have confirmed Wayne Rooney suffered only 'minor' ankle ligament damage in the Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

Rooney had a scan yesterday afternoon, immediately after returning to England.

There is no break, which means Rooney's presence at this summer's World Cup should not be threatened.

Confirmation of ligament damage does however indicate the United striker will be out of action for an extended period, starting with Saturday's Premier League clash with Chelsea, although the Old Trafford outfit have not said how long Rooney is expected to take to recover.

'We are pleased to report that Wayne has not suffered a fracture,' a United spokesperson told the club's official website.

'The scan revealed only minor ligament damage.'

Alex Ferguson will presumably offer a more extensive medical bulletin tomorrow ahead of the Chelsea encounter, although a recovery period of between two and four weeks has been mooted.

If the former proves correct, Rooney could be back in action for the Champions League semi-final, providing United overhaul Bayern's first-leg advantage.

A four-week spell on the sidelines would have him back in action in time to face Sunderland on 1 May.

Either way, Rooney will definitely miss Saturday's game, a match which will shape United's Premier League season.

The 24-year-old will have told Fabio Capello the news when the Italian rang for an update, although that is the least of Ferguson's worries.

With his 34-goal forward sidelined, he must navigate a path through the next few games to ensure United are still contending for honours when Rooney does return.

Coincidentally, Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho will miss this weekend's Old Trafford encounter after also suffering ankle ligament damage in the recent win at Portsmouth.

The most obvious solution for Ferguson will be to place his trust in Dimitar Berbatov, given Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck are already out for the season.

Ryan Giggs has played up front before, whilst Nani, Antonio Valencia and Park Ji-sung can all provide attacking support, with Berbatov expected to be the lone front-man against both Chelsea and Bayern.

'We showed this season we play as a team,' Nemanja Vidic said. 'It is not just about one man.

'Definitely Wayne Rooney has had a great season. He is unbelievable, one of the best in the world.

'But sometimes big players are missing and others need to be ready.'

Bought from Tottenham in 2008, Berbatov has struggled to win over his critics, largely due to his relaxed style of play.

Yet United do have a pretty good record when Berbatov has started games for them and the Bulgarian produced the kind of gritty performance Rooney has perfected in that lone striking role at Wolves and Bolton recently.

'Dimitar had a great game against Bolton on Saturday. He is a great footballer,' said Vidic.

'He scored twice himself and can set up goals for other players as well. We have a good squad. We just need to believe in ourselves and believe in each other.'

[ECSUalum]

ARSENAL'S FABREGAS OUT FOR REST OF SEASON!!!!!!

BROKEN FIBULA DURING CHAMPIONS LEAGUE VS BARCELONA.  GALLAS ALSO OUT FOR SEASON

[sac]

ESPN or ESPN2, 7:30 am Saturday.........Manchester United v Chelsea

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Messi 4 Arsenal 1

[Stinger]

Red Devils crash out hard. They were up 4-2 on aggregate at 41 minutes.

Messi is unbelievable. Can't wait for El Clasico this weekend.

[Hoosier Titan]

It was a wonder strike from Arjen Robben that brought the score to 3-2 for the night and tied the aggregate score at 4-4.  Bayern then went through on away goals. 

[Hoosier Titan]

I'm just back from a short trip to Liverpool (still living in York, England until June).  My stepdaughter gave us a Christmas gift of a day-long visit to Anfield.  Here's a quick report:

We arrived at 9:30 for coffee and cookies.  We had the opportunity to take a quiz about the history of the club (We didn't bother as we only knew the answer to about three questions:  1)  In what year was Liverpool Football Club founded?  (1892); 2)  Who scored goals in the Champions League Final in Istanbul in 2005?  (Gerrard, Smicer, and Alonso); and 3)  Who was in goal for the FA Cup Final in 2006 (Reina).  Everyone else at our table seemed to do much better but the winner came from another table--he got a bottle of LFC wine.

We were then divided into two groups; one group went on a tour of the grounds first while we went first to the club museum and, of course, the shop.  Everyone had a chance to have a professional photo taken with the five European championship cups or to take their own with a replica of one.  I'd visited before, but I always see something new.  This time I noticed a little display about Albert Stubbins.  Who is he, you ask?  Well, he was a striker for Liverpool from 1946-53, scoring 83 goals in 178 appearances.  But he first came to my attention while looking at a list of people on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper album.  Seems that John Lennon insisted on including Stubbins--the only footballer on that cover.  He's identified on this blog page (dedicated to Fernando Torres, and in Spanish):

Albert Stubbins

After spending too much money in the shop (two T-shirts each, a key ring, and a replacement winter scarf), we went for our tour.  We began in the press room, which has a kitchenette in the back.  It was originally Bill Shankley's "boot room", where the coaches would go to have a cup of tea and strategize at halftime.  Eventually it was decided that a press room was a necessity, so it's now fitted out with cameras and monitors, but the teakettle is still there!  A few of our group were chosen for a brief interview which was to be shown on LFC TV last night.  One guy said he hoped his boss wasn't watching because he was supposed to be sick!

We visited the home dressing room first.  This is very small and spartan--only enough room for the players to sit, basically.  There's a drinks cooler and that's it.  It does have air conditioning and is soundproofed; the visitors' dressing room is neither of those.  That was the choice of Bill Shankly, who wanted to give the Reds every possible edge.  The famous "This is Anfield" sign is part of that too.  Both dressing rooms open onto the narrow corridor that leads under that sign and onto the field--must be a really tense place to be before a match.

We then went into the main stand and sat in the Directors' Box at midfield.  The TV cameras are right above this, so the view is much like what's seen on televised matches.  I'm always amazed at how close together the two managers and reserve seats are--it's a wonder there aren't more altercations than there are!  The tour ended with stories about the good old days in the Kop, when they used to get 28,000 people onto the terraces at one end of the stadium!  With the requirement of one fan = one seat, the Kop now seats 12,000.  It's planned that the Kop in the replacement for Anfield will seat 18,000.

Lunch, which we'd pre-ordered in the morning, was served in Executive boxes.  For somewhere between 50 and 60 K pounds per year (the pound is worth about $1.60 right now), you can sit in a glassed in box and be served food (which costs extra).  You can turn up the volume from outside, or you can turn around and watch the game on TV, or you can watch soaps.  It was kind of interesting to see what they're like, but we couldn't imagine actually spending money for it.  We heard that they are mostly investments; ours, we heard, is owned by a dentist and used by prospective clients.  Guess I went into the wrong line of work!  Lunch was very good and we were shown highlight films that we'd never seen before.  We were also offered LFC wine (who knew?) at 18.95 a bottle and I found myself thinking dark thoughts about parasitic owners trying to milk us dry.  Since we were the only Yanks in the room, I said nothing.

People had the opportunity to have pictures taken with two "Liverpool Legends."  In our case they were David Fairclough ("supersub" striker with 153 appearances from 1974-1983; 34 goals), and Tommy Smith (defender with 638 appearances from 1962-1978; 48 goals).  Probably the best part of the day was the question-and-answer with them.  They freely admitted that the game has changed almost beyond recognition since they started.  Someone asked if there were too many foreign players now, and the quick answer was "yes."  But this was qualified: no one denies that people want to see good footballers.  Since it was a Liverpool crowd, the names were Liverpool ones.  Everyone agrees that Torres and Reina, for example, are terrific talents and everyone is happy to have them.  The concern, though, is that English players who might be as good as some of the others, are not being developed and encouraged from within.  Certainly the Legends were not spouting any party line; they were free to speak their minds.

All in all, it was a very good day, but I left concerned about the state LFC is in.  The present owners borrowed money to buy the club and now are so busy servicing their debt that there is no money left over to buy players.  (Other EPL sides have worse debt, but somehow have managed to field more uniformly strong sides).  The current players have been loyal, but there are limits to everyone's patience.  LFC will be back; I just hope the rise begins soon while there is still talent within the current roster.

We are planning to go back for the Liverpool-West Ham match on April 19. 

[ScotsFan]

Well, I can't believe how badly things have turned for ManU over the span of 2 weeks or so.  First they give up a late goal at Bayern Munich ruining what would have been a great away draw result in the Champs league.  Then, they go down to defeat at home to rival Chelsea giving the Blues a crucial 3 points late in the race for the EPL Title.  And if things weren't already bad, the Red Devils blow a 3-0 advantage over Bayern Munich in their home leg of their tie and get knocked out of the Champs league after allowing 2 unanswered goals by the German squad?!  Now, things have gone from bad to worse as ManU couldn't crack the score sheet over the weekend at Blackburn dropping a precious 2 points and now trail the Blues by a point in the standings with Chelsea having a game in hand. 

This is looking like Chelsea's year unfortunately... 

[Hoosier Titan]

Did anyone watch the Pompey-Spurs FA cup semi yesterday?  Great win for Pompey--now there is talk they will be allowed to apply late to play in UEFA next season (they couldn't apply before because of being in administration, apparently). 

[ScotsFan]

Did anyone watch the Pompey-Spurs FA cup semi yesterday?  Great win for Pompey--now there is talk they will be allowed to apply late to play in UEFA next season (they couldn't apply before because of being in administration, apparently). 

Didn't watch the match but saw the highlights.  What a great win for Pompey and their fans!  This is truly why the FA Cup is so freaking great!  The finals pit EPL giant and first place Chelsea against last place and soon to be relegated Pompey!  No question of who I'm rooting for in the finals!