World Cup and European leagues

[WLCALUM83]

Chelsea is still alive with two second half goals at St. James' Park for the win.  Manchester United travels to Wigan, while Chelsea hosts Bolton.  Bolton is virtually guaranteed to avoid the drop, so they won't be as desparate as I had hoped.  Wigan had a nice 2-0 win away from home, so they'll be pumped up to prevent the Red Devils from taking the title. 

Manchester United 84 pts
Chelsea 84 pts
Arsenal 80 pts
Liverpool 73 pts

It's been a battle the whole year with Arsenal once leading the league and Liverpool not far behind.  Here's a look at some other leagues to see how close those title chasers were.

Inter Milan 81
Roma 78
Juventus 70
AC Milan 61

Bayern Munich 67
Werder Bremen 57
Schalke 04 55
Hamburg 51
Stuttgart 51

Real Madrid 78
Villarreal 68
Barcelona 64
Athletico Madrid 58

Inter Milan takes the Serie A title after nearly having Roma come from 11 points back to overtake them.

[Greek Tragedy]

1-1 in the 60th minute.

[sac]

All England final............the rain seemed fitting

Droghba........hahahahaha
Ronaldo.........hahahahaha
Terry......wow.....and cruel
Vander Sar....never looked capable of saving a penalty untill the last one.


........at least I didn't have to watch David Beckham stub one over the bar.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

I can't believe I didn't get to watch it.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Did anyone else find the officiating for such an important match to be downright shameful?  ONE of the most egregious: in the 90th minute, defender jumps over the striker, but clobbers him in the head with his leg (in the box, no less) - no call.  I also counted at least 5 times I'm sure they gave the throw-in to the wrong team, and at least 5 goal kicks that should have been corners (or vice versa).  And the lack of foul calls earlier certainly helped lead to the near-riot in the 2nd OT (not that ManU and Chelsea need much prodding to launch a near-riot!).

Shoot-outs are a horrible way to end a match (not that I have a better suggestion, except, perhaps, perpetual golden-goal OTs), but at least this one went just to my liking: Ronaldo whiffed, but ManU prevailed despite the 'smirking flopper'(TM ).  But why switch from football to some 'sport' which is 98% lucky guesswork by the keepers?

[ScotsFan]

But why switch from football to some 'sport' which is 98% lucky guesswork by the keepers?

I agree about the PK shootout being a horrible way to end the match.  It just seems like such a horrible way to go down to defeat after putting in so much effort for over 120 minutes.  And defeat always seems to end up laying on one player as it was with John Terry yesterday.  Terry really shouldn't be so hard on himself.  After all, if it wasn't for him, ManU would have won in the 2nd OT as his head was the only thing that kept Giggs' shot towards a wide open net from not going in.

As far as the guesswork by the keeper goes, did anyone notice van der Sar pointing to his left when Anelka stepped up for his attempt?  It really looked like van der Sar was baiting Anelka and Anelka took the bait.

[Stinger]

All England final............the rain seemed fitting

Droghba........hahahahaha
Ronaldo.........hahahahaha
Terry......wow.....and cruel
Vander Sar....never looked capable of saving a penalty untill the last one.


........at least I didn't have to watch David Beckham stub one over the bar.

And Giggs.... How can one not love and respect this guy? He's a class act and great professional. 

Here's wishing that C. Ronaldo stays with the Red Devils and I don't have to root for him in a Real shirt next season.   

[Stinger]

ESPN kindly reminded me that Euro '08 is right around the corner, starting Jun 7th. Every game televised. ESPN has really come along way with its coverage.  My Tivo is going to get a work out.   


US v. England,  Spain, and Argentina in the coming 2 weeks. Solid stuff!

[Mr. Ypsi]

But why switch from football to some 'sport' which is 98% lucky guesswork by the keepers?

I agree about the PK shootout being a horrible way to end the match.  It just seems like such a horrible way to go down to defeat after putting in so much effort for over 120 minutes.  And defeat always seems to end up laying on one player as it was with John Terry yesterday.  Terry really shouldn't be so hard on himself.  After all, if it wasn't for him, ManU would have won in the 2nd OT as his head was the only thing that kept Giggs' shot towards a wide open net from not going in.

As far as the guesswork by the keeper goes, did anyone notice van der Sar pointing to his left when Anelka stepped up for his attempt?  It really looked like van der Sar was baiting Anelka and Anelka took the bait.

Agree on all points.  I didn't notice the van der Sar/Anelka pointing, but my son (the current soccer coach, rather than an over-the-hill guy like me!) commented on that even before the kick - a masterful 'psych' job!  Maybe it is only 95% guesswork!

[ScotsFan]

Here's wishing that C. Ronaldo stays with the Red Devils and I don't have to root for him in a Real shirt next season.   

Say what you will about C. Ronaldo, but the fact is, he is one of the world's best talents right now.  To say that you don't want him on Real is not real smart.  Ronaldo might be a 'smirking flopper' as Mr. Ypsi pretty aptly named him and he does tend to rub a lot of opposing players and fans the wrong way, but I still would take him on my team in a heartbeat.  All he does is score goals which is proven by 42 goals in 48 appearances!  At least he isn't a 'flopping head case' like Drogba... 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Drogba slapping an opponent directly in front of the ref had to be the dumbest big-game move since the 'head-butt seen round the world'!   How an experienced pro can let an opponent get into his head that much is beyond me.

[sac]

ESPN kindly reminded me that Euro '08 is right around the corner, starting Jun 7th. Every game televised. ESPN has really come along way with its coverage.

I was pretty blown away that they showed the final twice, basically back-to-back with sportscenter in between.  Wish I'd known that before makeing such a big effort to watch it all live.

Did anyone else find the officiating for such an important match to be downright shameful? 

Your not alone, but the players jabbering with the ref (and each other) all day didn't make it any better, or very pleasant to watch.

[Stinger]

Here's wishing that C. Ronaldo stays with the Red Devils and I don't have to root for him in a Real shirt next season.   

Say what you will about C. Ronaldo, but the fact is, he is one of the world's best talents right now.  To say that you don't want him on Real is not real smart.  Ronaldo might be a 'smirking flopper' as Mr. Ypsi pretty aptly named him and he does tend to rub a lot of opposing players and fans the wrong way, but I still would take him on my team in a heartbeat.  All he does is score goals which is proven by 42 goals in 48 appearances!  At least he isn't a 'flopping head case' like Drogba... 

Sorry, but Madrid has now won 2 Ligas in a row with a stready squad put together quite carefully.    The last thing they need on their squad is a prima like C. Ronaldo.   Real already went the route of the Galacticos, I hope they learned their lesson aready. Much like Barca went through this year.   C. Ronaldo is not worth the $100M price tag he's going to come with.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Did anyone else find the officiating for such an important match to be downright shameful? 

You're not alone, but the players jabbering with the ref (and each other) all day didn't make it any better, or very pleasant to watch.

Though not unexpected.  I get the feeling that ManU/Chelsea is currently (Hope/Calvin + Wabash/DePauw) X 2!   Those guys do NOT like each other (and without the mitigating d3 respect for opponents).

[ScotsFan]

Sorry, but Madrid has now won 2 Ligas in a row with a stready squad put together quite carefully.    The last thing they need on their squad is a prima like C. Ronaldo.   Real already went the route of the Galacticos, I hope they learned their lesson aready. Much like Barca went through this year.   C. Ronaldo is not worth the $100M price tag he's going to come with.

And ManU has won back to back Premier League Titles as well as pulling off the Double this year by winning the Champs League with the prima that is C. Ronaldo.  I'd say that the Red Devils might disagree with you about C. Ronaldo's worth.

Personally, I think you may have a point about C. Ronaldo not fitting in with another club because of his prima donna attitude.  That's why much of the credit for the Red Devil's success falls squarely on Sir Alex.  Look at all the egos on Man United's squad.  Yet, Sir Alex gets them to buy into putting their egos aside for the betterment of the team.  I don't know of too many managers that would be capable of pulling off what Sir Alex does at Man United.