World Cup and European leagues

[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). 

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!

You and everyone who doesn't live in SW London, I think! 

The pitch at Wembley is an absolute disgrace--the commentators here said that someone from Chelsea had said "Welcome to Dancing on Ice" to Harry Redknapp.  It will evidently be relaid (for the umpteenth time) before the final.  If England are serious about hosting the World Cup in 2018 (and every supermarket has a stand and billboard asking us to "Support the Bid"), they need to get this sorted.

Apparently good news for Liverpool--the Daily News reported a couple of hours ago that the Spanish specialist whom Fernando Torres was sent to see says he should be okay after a "few days" rest.  He might be all right for the West Ham match on the 19th--which I am going to see!--and he should definitely be back for the Europa League visit to Atletico Madrid, his old side.  Whether we'll see him in action against the Hammers probably depends on how City and Spurs do in the EPL; if there's a chance that Liverpool are still in the hunt for fourth he might be on.  Sad that so much is resting on the shoulders of one striker, but that's the state of things right now.  Financially it looks at though Gillette and Hicks are finally out.  That has to be good news.

[Hoosier Titan]

Our tickets for the Liverpool v. West Ham match at Anfield on Monday night just arrived!  They are on the long side facing the TV cameras, just toward midfield from the penalty line away from the Kop, and in the SECOND ROW!!  I am totally psyched!

I'll be cheering for Arsenal and (gulp) Man U this weekend...go, big teams!  No ulterior motives, of course (except that the opponents are Spurs and Man City).    I know fourth place is a long shot but...

[Stinger]

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!

It will evidently be relaid (for the umpteenth time) before the final.  If England are serious about hosting the World Cup in 2018 (and every supermarket has a stand and billboard asking us to "Support the Bid"), they need to get this sorted.

Wembley hosts the 2011 Champions League final as well, no?

[sac]

This is one of the best goals you'll ever see...........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BIhkIyZtCo

especially given the game and the players debut.  Pretty incredible.  Tottenham won over Arsenal 2-1

[ScotsFan]

WOW!

I loved the commentary at the end of that clip! 

"I don't care if he plays another 20 years.  He'll never score a goal as good as this in his life.."

Arguably the goal of the year in the EPL?  And quite possibly the best goal for a debut player ever?  That was a thing of beauty!

[ScotsFan]

Well, as soon as I was ready to write off ManU for dead, they have been given new life!

Paul Scholes scored on a late header in stoppage time as the Red Devils won the Manchester Derby with City 1-0 at City!  Combine that with Spurs' win in their London Derby with Chelsea at Whiteheart Lane and the Blues lead atop the standings is again down to 1 point!

Looking ahead, ManU hosts Spurs who are red hot having beaten both Arsenal and Chelsea last week!  Chelsea hosts Stoke at the Bridge.

[ECSUalum]

This is one of the best goals you'll ever see...........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BIhkIyZtCo

especially given the game and the players debut.  Pretty incredible.  Tottenham won over Arsenal 2-1

+k for that one sac.  UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hoosier Titan]

Match Report:  York City 1 Grays Athletic 1 (Blue Square Premier League, Saturday 17 April)

We went out to see the Minstermen at their last home match on Saturday.  It was a beautiful spring day, and the pitch at Bootham Crescent (formerly the Kit Kat Crescent, but Nestle pulled the sponsorship.  Few were sorry) looked much better than Wembley's.  YC were fourth in the league; the first team is promoted automatically, while there is a playoff amongst the next four:  2 against 5 and 3 against 4.  Games are at the homes of 2 and 3, so York wanted to move up.  York have the player with the highest number of goals (33) in all English football, Richard Brodie (unless someone has passed him up in the last week or so).  They'd won about four in a row and scored 3 or 4 goals each game, so we were hoping for some excitement.  Grays are at the bottom of the League, in financial difficulties (sound familiar?), and were long since relegated.  They had 4 wins all season.  The attendance was about 2500, with 138 away supporters.  The Crescent has seating along the longsides, with terraces on the ends.  The York terrace has a hardcore group of about 30 fans who wave banners and sing, but it's very pale stuff.

The match started slowly, with both teams having opportunities, but York began to dominate play.  At about the 25 minute mark Brodie was left alone, onside, heading toward goal, and the keeper came out and obviously brought him down.  Penalty, red card, no complaint.  And...the reserve keeper blocked Brodie's PK, which came right at him with nothing on it.  The half ended scoreless. 

Second half, York came out like a house afire against Grays' 10 men.  It only took a few minutes for the goal to come--Brodie, off a rebound shot, from the right side into the far left corner of the goal.  Very pretty, and much harder than the PK he missed. 

And then...York went to sleep.  They went into keep-away mode for the rest of the half, and with the last 10 minutes Grays started to push a bit harder.  In the three minutes of stoppage time (after Brodie and a couple of other good players had gone off), Grays scored on some sloppy defending, and that was that.  It was similar to what we've all seen at too many schoolboy (and girl) games.

Now York is in 5th, rather than challenging for 3rd.  Interesting to watch, as someone with no vested interest.  I'd be gutted if I were a die-hard York supporter.

[ECSUalum]

The 10'52" highlight video of the Inter vs Juventus match on above You tube site is exciting, mainly due to play by play guy!!!!

He goes nuts on 2 Inter goals and misses  " Mama mia"

[Hoosier Titan]

Match Report:  Liverpool 3 - West Ham 0 at Anfield 19 April

If anyone watched this match (it was live on ESPN) and wondered about the empty seats at Anfield, no worries--many fans simply could not get there due to volcano-related travel problems.  Our hotel alone had 70 empty rooms due to a Norwegian tour group's not arriving. 

We were fortunate to get seats in the second row on the side facing the TV cameras, just to the midfield side of the penalty circle to the left as you see it on TV.  Great seats!  It's fun to watch pros up close, after seeing high school, college, and, last weekend, lower level sides play.  Not every ball is perfectly played, some kicks go astray and mistime jumps--and that's for the side that's winning.

Everyone was nervous about the absence of Fernando Torres, but I think the media have seriously overestimated any animosity or doubts Liverpool supporters are supposed to have concerning his decision to have surgery now.  I detected no such negativity last night.  More, people were nervous, given the 'Pool's difficulty in scoring without him lately.  Another 0-0 draw would have quenched any slight remaining hopes of Champions League play next season.

Anfield is on a hill (it's walking distance to Goodison Park), and a couple of miles from the City Centre.  We took the city bus service up early, arriving around 5:30.  The place was already jumping with lots of street vendors of all sorts of merchandise, food, programs and anti-programs.  The official store was jammed and of course we didn't escape without a few purchases.  The turnstiles were opened at 6:30 and we confirmed that the "row 2" on our tickets did indeed mean second row!  We had a good talk with the steward, Bob, who would be in front of us throughout the match.  He introduced us to the people next to use who were from Australia and New Zealand.

The match started slowly, but Liverpool soon began dominating possession and had several good chances.  David Ngog started up front in place of Torres and he's a lively player; not as strong, but very quick and perceptive.  The West Ham defense was poor all game; they hacked and fouled rather than making clean tackles.  One of these on 19 minutes led to a Steven Gerrard free kick right in front of us which Yossi Benayoun deftly chested into the goal.  He'd been booed whenever he touched the ball by the West Ham supporters, but he didn't celebrate much at all after the goal.  Benayoun set up the second goal with a nice pass to Maxi Rodriguez; Maxi then sent in a nice cross to David Ngog which was deftly sent into the goal. 

The night was clear and it got very cold when people dispersed at halftime.  We were happy to huddle back together for the second half.  One of the most interesting things to watch was the way the defense--primarily the goalkeeper, Pepe Reina, and the centre-backs (primarily Jamie Carragher)--were constantly talking to each other and then to the other players, moving people around.  Jamie's a big guy, but he has a high-pitched speaking voice, and when he's barking orders it almost sounds like a kid on a playground. 

The last goal was a bit fortuitous; it happened in front of the Kop end so we didn't get a good view.  Kyrgiatos, Liverpool's Greek centre-back, hit the right post.  The ball came out and bounced off the ankle of Robert Green (West Ham and current England keeper) and into the net.  Kyrgiatos had missed a good chance in the first half and to be fair, there wasn't a lot Green could do about that one.

I need to mention the "rogue bus."  There are two routes, run by two different companies, which serve Anfield, the #26/27 and the #17.  After the match we queued up and before long a 27 showed up.  No problem, people filed on and we got about halfway up the queue.  One more, we thought, or at max two, and we'll be back to the hotel.  Then a #17 arrived and we were left about three people from the front of the queue.  Then we waited, and waited, and it got colder and colder, and the street vendors all packed up and went home.  Suddenly an ancient-looking double-decker bus pulled up with "2A" on it--there is no route 2A.  The driver opened up and yelled "Liverpool Train Station!   City Centre!  No passes, two pounds each!"  Well, we thought, there's a whole lot of us here--he can't drive us all out and rob us.  So we paid up and got on to the most decrepit, rickety bus I have ever seen.  It smelled of mildew, the windows were held on with duct tape, and the upholstery was coming apart.  I'd been thinking of "Magical Mystery Tour", but this bus was older than that Beatles album--the Beatles probably rode this as teenagers!  We did arrive at the City Centre, and I imagine that guy made about 150 pounds per run.  Enterprising if not legal.

All in all, it was one of the easier games of the year for Liverpool.  They are still alive--barely--in the race for fourth.  Spurs' recent run of success over Chelsea and Arsenal have put them in the driver's seat; if they beat Man U on Saturday I'll say "well done" to them.  I think Liverpool do have a decent shot at fifth (they were down in seventh before this win) if they can keep up with their travel schedule.  They left Liverpool this morning on a train to London, where they boarded the Eurostar to Paris.  They're staying there tonight and tomorrow will get to Bordeaux by train or coach, from where they can fly to Madrid.  Fulham chose to drove to Hamburg but that's a much shorter trip. 

Us, Bob the Steward, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, the Irish couple we talked to in the bus queue--Liverpool supporters really are a worldwide bunch.  I've enjoyed baseball games at Crosley Field in Cincinnati (that takes me back a while!), Fenway Park, and Yankee Stadium and basketball at any number of places including the old Boston Garden, but nothing is better than a trip to Anfield.

[sac]

Another beauty.....for its oddity

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/sow_experts/post/The-two-man-bicycle-kick?urn=sow,236168


and an odd celebration

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/sow_experts/post/Footballer-celebrates-revenge-goal-with-pantomim?urn=sow,235818

[ScotsFan]

and an odd celebration

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/sow_experts/post/Footballer-celebrates-revenge-goal-with-pantomim?urn=sow,235818

I think Ocho Cinco would be jealous of that choreographed celebration... 

[ECSUalum]

Another beauty.....for its oddity

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/sow_experts/post/The-two-man-bicycle-kick?urn=sow,236168


and an odd celebration

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/sow_experts/post/Footballer-celebrates-revenge-goal-with-pantomim?urn=sow,235818

Sac,

Amazing the way you find these videos !!!  This thread is more entertaining because of them, keep them coming +k

[sac]

Nani had a nice little chip one Saturday morning vs Tottenham, +k to anyone who can find it.

The EPL became very interesting in the last 10 days.  Dare I say ManU fans will be big Liverpool fans next weekend?

[ECSUalum]

Nani had a nice little chip one Saturday morning vs Tottenham, +k to anyone who can find it.

The EPL became very interesting in the last 10 days.  Dare I say ManU fans will be big Liverpool fans next weekend?

What a beauty by Nani!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy5OcI_wVW4