Chelsea is crowned, Ballack is injured, and Torres a potential signing

If you didn't already guess, this post is clearly strongly emphasizing what is happening in the Blues' world. Yes, they are the EPL champs and yes, Ballack has been injured. I also just wanted to point out to you ostentatious Chelsea fans that Sunderland even has more EPL titles than the Blues and to be brutally honest, they are awful.

What's more interesting about the injury is that it happened in none other than the infamous FA Cup. Boateng of Portsmouth made an awful and unnecessary tackle on Ballack which resulted in Ballack's severe injury which will now keep him out of the World Cup. The best part? Boateng is on Ghana which is in the same group as Germany!

And my third point on Chelsea: Torres of Liverpool/ Spain is said to be in the "strong talks" of signing with the Blues for a 70 million Euro transfer. That's nuts! Anyhow, hopefully Torres doesn't make this stupid signing because if he does, I guarantee you he won't be as prestigious in the views of Spanish fans or anywhere else for much longer.

My last topic of interest is Barcelona. Congrats to them as they won the La Liga title this past weekend. Were records broken? Absolutely. They now hold the record for the most goals scored in a single season (98) and the most points earned (99). Which club previously held this record? None other than Barcelona themselves.

Here is a video of Barcelona's final La Liga game from this weekend (the quality isn't great, but at least it's a good highlight reel of the game):


Jersey of the post: adidas South Africa Home Jersey 09/11

A Week in European Soccer (4/9/10 - 4/15/10)

EPL

- Over the weekend there weren't too many exciting results or much movement in the table. Manchester United wasn't able to get a much-needed win over Blackburn and Man City got a huge 5-1 win over Birmingham. United and City will be facing each other on Saturday. Will Rooney be fit?  Mancini hopes so.

- On Tuesday, Chelsea was fortunate to just barely defeat Bolton 1-0 and go 4 points clear ahead of United. However, on Wednesday, Arsenal suffered a huge 2-1 defeat against Tottenham officially knocking them out of the title race. Wenger certainly wasn't happy about that. Personally, I'd like to give my young, but what I think to be my mature opinion on this: WENGER NEEDS TO BE SACKED! The man isn't bringing the kind of talent into his lineups which can be seen as Arsenal simply haven't been able to produce the much needed results over the past few weeks (as was the case in their loss, essentially, to Messi). However, it seems the  Arsenal doesn't feel this way.

Spanish Premier League
- After Real Madrid suffered their huge 2-0 loss at home to Barcelona, they bounced back with great discipline and athleticism by winning earlier today 2-1 over Almeria. With the win, they are now only 3 points behind league leaders Barcelona. For Real, they are going to have to hope Barcelona slip up over their next six games otherwise Barca will be saying "hello" to another league title.

Photo Credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Cleat of the post: Nike5 Zoom T-5 FS...awesome color way!

Messi continues to lead La Liga

In Messi's 122nd game in La Liga this past weekend, he scored three goals to add to his already amazing 23 goal season. This is simply the exact kind of momentum Messi needs heading into the World Cup. Barcelona is benefitting from his perfection and he himself as preparing himself for what, I would say, is to be his greatest World Cup, EVER. There is simply no doubt that Messi will be the number one player to watch this summer; his tantalizing moves and composure have only been seen in players who have always been amazing such as Maradona and Pelé. As Maradona even says it himself, he will welcome Messi as Messi surpasses him. I know I will be looking forward to watching the World Cup this year. Photo credit: prettyfriendship

Cleat of the post: Umbro Stealth Pro HG

Manchester City upset Chelsea...Barcelona to Face Málaga

Today, Manchester City came through with a huge upset over number 1 Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. In a game that looked as if Chelsea could easily get the win at home, Tevez and his teammates clearly showed a different side of their team; they cause Chelsea to get two red cards and were able to win by 4-2. So, what does this mean for Chelsea and more importantly for Manchester City? First off, Chelsea is now certainly going to have a tougher week a practice however, it will be interesting to see how they respond in their next game against Stoke City in the FA Cup since they clearly don't have much momentum. Terry and Cole will have to be strong in carrying their squad. For Manchester City though, this couldn't have been a better time to get a huge win. With their next game against Sunderland (due to their game against Tottenham being postponed), 2 wins in a row will certainly change the team morale and help them move up in the league to possibly 3rd if things to get well for Arsenal this week. Photo Credit: Alfonso Jiménez

In Spain, Barcelona will be facing 12th place Málaga in an important game. If Barcelona does anything less than a win, Real Madrid could move into first place if they get a win over 19th place Tenerife. To me, it seems quite clear that Barcelona will get the win however after watching what happened to Chelsea today, who knows. This will certainly be a game to watch. (Above is a video of Barcelona vs Málaga from earlier this season)

Cleat of The Post: Nike CTR360 Maestri FG

Barcelona still undefeated + Chelsea Return to The Top

Today Chelsea moved into first and two points ahead of Manchester United as the held Liverpool to zero goals while Malouda and Anelka put in 1 a piece, both in the second half.
However, more interestingly are the standings in Spain. Altough Real Madrid had acquired Ronaldo and Kaká over the summer, they are still unable to move ahead of always powerful FC Barcelona who just beat Almeria 1-0 yesterday. Real Madrdid on the other hand dropped three points to Sevilla FC today with only Pepe scoring for the away side. Perhaps this can be attested to the fact that Ronaldo has picked up an ankle injury keeping him from playing and perhaps deteriorating the confidence in his team. Hopefully he gets better, however Barcelona are in formidable form so it will be tough to catch them as Messi and Ibrahimovic (seen below) continue to score goals for Barcelona.

A Truly spectacular game... and other news

Amazing!!! First the US beats Spain and now they hold off Brazil for a good 46 minutes. Not only that, but in the first half, they were dominant with goals coming from both Dempsey (3 goals in the tournament) and Donovan. The US truly played some unreal soccer. For those Brazil fans, there was certainly much reason to be nervous yet anxious.
As we all know, Brazil simply never gives up. They play with style and flair and they make up some of the best talent in the world. After only 1 minute into the second half, Luis Fabiano scored to bring the lead down to one. And only 27 minutes later, the game was tied up with another goal by Fabiano (his fifth in the tournament). As time continued to shorten, the energy in the players and the stadium seemed to become more anxious and tense. The teams certainly did not want to be forced to play at least another 30 minutes with five games already under the belt. Fortunately for Brazil, captain Lucio came to the rescue. Although he had picked up a yellow card earlier, he did not allow that to affect his game; he scored an excellent goal off of a corner kick to give Brazil the winner.
However, important to note is that the US has come a long way. Just over a week ago, the US had lost 3-0 in group play to the Brazilians. Yet, the US didn't give up. As we all saw, they came back to defeat Spain and make it into the finals. Best of luck to the US in the World Cup!
Check out these highlights below. (ABD= US and BRE= Brazil)



In the consolation match, Spain barely managed to get the win over South Africa with a 3-2 win in extra-time.
Goals:
Spain - Daniel Güiza (87, 88), Xabi Alonso (106)
SA - Katlego Mphela (73, 90)

Other news in Europe:
Eto'o: Man City has made the biggest offer to buy Eto'o from Barca (to date). The 28-year-old scored 36 goals in all competitions - not bad to also add he scored in the Champions League final which helped lift his team over Man Utd. It will definitely be interesting to see where he heads next season.

Unstoppable Spain and Drogba's Ban

With Spain's 1-0 victory today over Iraq, they have now placed themselves in excellent position. They now qualify for the semi-final position in the Confederations Cup and they also extend a world record. This was their 14th consecutive International win which means they now share the world record with Brazil, France, and Australia. Furthermore, they are now 1 game away from tying the world record for longest undefeated streak of 35 games (which is currently held by Brazil).

With good news, it seems that there is always bad news. And such is the case with Didier Drogba. He is officially been given a four game European ban by UEFA for his verbal assault on the referee during the match between Chelsea and FC Barcelona. He also has a two-game ban that is now suspended for two years.

A Very Neccesary Post...

Sorry to all my followers and readers for not updating this blog in such a long time - I have become bogged down during the finals two months or school, but now I am done. So, here is an update of all the good stuff that has happened so far.

1. Manchester United lost to FC Barcelona in the final of the UEFA Championship. There is a simple reason for this; Man U dominated in the first ten minutes but could not stay consistent throughout the game. As soon as Eto'o was able to dribble through Man U's defense and score, things really looked gloomy and dull for Man U. Messi would go on to score a fantastic header that required true athleticism. (The link is attached below)
2. Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo has now left and joined the other top in La Liga, Real Madrid. Furthermore, Kaká has also joined Real Madrid, however, having a team full of superstars is not always the best. As we have seen with Chelsea, they may have a lot of extremely good players, but they it seems that they never are able to do enough to win it all.
3. USA soccer continues to lose to European countries as they just did yesterday by losing 3-1 to Italy.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOLCH11XGO8&feature=related

Espanyol Upsets Barcelona and more...

In the Barcelon, Espanyol derby match at Camp Nou, a major upset took place. First place Barcelona lost to 18th place Espanyol, 2-1. Iván De la Peña would score two for the visitors and Toure would respond to the two 50th minute goals with one for himself in the 60th. Although Barcelona may have lost to a much weaker team, they are still able to remain in first place, but they are now only 7 points ahead of Real Madrid. As for Espanyol, not much really changed for them besides their pride and happiness for being able to defeat an extremely talented team with superstars in just about every position.

Today, Man U further extended their lead with a win over the Rovers. At half-time, the score was level at 1, but at the 60th minute a penalty was given up by the Rovers and resulted in Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the pk. If Man U continues to just barely get wins, it is going to be disastrous fr them later on in the season and could possibly lead to Liverpool wining the league which I know, I don't want to happen.

Today, Hiddink had his first game as Chelsea manager which in fact proved to be nicely for him. Although the team may not have played the most beautiful soccer, they got what they really needed to keep themselves in the race for the title; a win. Not only did they get the win, but they also ended Aston Villa's 13 game undefeated streak. Anelka was the one to be congratulated for scoring about 20 minutes into the game. Hopefully, we will see a change in Chelsea's performances and possible success for them and new manager Hiddink. (Chelsea 1 - 0 Aston Villa)

Other scores in England - no matter what the result, everyone stayed in the same position in the table:
Bolton 2 - 1 West Ham
Middlesbrough 0 - 0 Wigan
Stoke 2 - 2 Portsmouth
Arsenal 0 - 0 Sunderland

Progress for the Red Devils

In the premier league contest today between Fulham and Man U, the Red Devils were able to take away three points from the game. It only took 12 minutes for Man U to open their scoring with a shot from veteran Paul Scholes; he only needs 2 more to eclipse the century mark for goals in the Premier League. 18 minutes later, striker Berbatov also capitalized on his opportunity to put Man U up by 2 before entering the half. Mid-way through the second half, Rooney would also get a goal to seal the win. For Man U it was an enjoyable result with hopefully more to come. As manager Ferguson said, it's all about the mental strength of the players. With the win, they now go 5 points clear ahead of Liverpool. With only 13 games to go and 39 points up for grabs, it does look very hopeful that Man U will once again win the title.

Scholes during the Man U vs. Barcelona Championship game last year.














Over the past few days, I have become aware of some extremely funny videos on youtube that some of you may find very appealing. Check them out. Here is the link to one of them:

Manchester City

To much surprise, Manchester City is a rising club. With already signed international Brazilian Robinho, City is looking to further add to their team. With the transfer season beginning next month, the team looks to spend up to 70 million euros for big names. City's top two choices right now are AC Milan's Kaka and Barcelona's Messi. Also on the list are Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto'o, Carlos Tevez, and Cristiano Ronaldo (surprise?!).
At this rate, City is definitely a club that will be staying in the top flight of England's leagues and they are definitely a threat to other clubs for acquiring top level players. Good luck to City in heir venture for building an all around solid team.

Interesting UEFA Results

After today's 4 games, there was only one game that turned out to be what was expected; Barcelona winning 3 to 2 over Celtic. On the other hand, Man U was only barely able to pull off a tie against Lyon (1-1) - many would expect Man U to win, but Tevez, as a sub, saved them with a late game goal to seal the time. Another game, included Arsenal pulling a tie off against AC Milan - many would expect Milan to win. the final game included FC Sevilla and Fenerbache. Unfortunately, Sevilla lost - once again, many would expect Sevilla to win, but another surprising result.
Hopefully in the second leg's of these matches things will turn out for the better especially for Man U. All the way with MAN U!!!

Young Messi = Hero!

This wasn't Messi's first time ever that he saved his team (Barcelona) from losing against Real Madrid although this time, he scored a hat-trick. His third and final goal was an equaluiser in injury as Barcelona only had ten men on the field. This game, was an amazing battle as the two Spainish teams battled another hard fought game from both sides. With Ruud van Nistelrooy opening up he scoring in the fifth minute, Meesi equalised in the eleventh minute. this occured three times throughout the game (twice before Olequer recieved his red in the 45th minute) and one last time in the second half in stoppage and injury time. The tie helped Barcelona stay in first place keeping equal points with FC Sevilla (both at 50 points). Let's hope that Barcelona can continue to play well for the remainder of the season and come out victorous at the end of their season. Go Barcelona!

Barcelona are headed to the Champions League Final

After Barcelona tied with AC Milan today. Surprisingly, Barcelona put away no goals even though Milan put very little pressure on their defense. Although the game was scoreless, two yellow cards were handed out. One to Milan's Costacurta and Barcelona's Edmi­lson.


Because Barcelona won the first leg 1-0, they were able to advance to the finals where they will be playing against Arsenal. Based on stats, It is almost clear who is going to win this competition... Barcelona. With Arsenal having ups and downs in their season, their chances of beating LaLa Liga'ss1stt place team are very slim. Although Barcelona may feel the have the advantage to win this game, they have to be careful to not get to cocky as well as play a very strong and defensive game. The two key players to look out for will be Ronaldinho and Henry.

Today - Around Europe + Other News

Barcelona + Other News:
- Their next game is against Getafe tomorrow.
- Although the league season is ending soon, Barcelona feel very comfortable at the top of the league, but they know they need to continue to keep working hard and never giving up. They also have to be agile in their decisions of the injuries on Marquez and Edmilson.

Manchester Utd + Other News:
- As of now, Saha, Rooney, and van Nistelrooy have just reached the 50 goal mark after Saha scored his 2nd goal against West Brom (who they beat 2-1 and remain in 2nd place in the Premiership.)
- Their next match is against Birmingham in 6 days.

Chelsea FC + Other News:
- Their next game is on Wednesday against Newcastle.

UEFA and Racism are not good partners

As for some racist fans, they could be helping in the process of losing their teams points for making racist comments. (Spanish side Real Zaragoza were last week fined the equivalent of £6,000 after Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o was abused by sections of their supporters, but far more stringent penalties could be introduced.) - from soccernet.com. My opinion is that the process UEFA chiefs are taking is stupid and pointless. Why punish a team for the misdoings and leaden brains off the fans? How about they just fine the fans in particular or, ban them (for life) from going to any other soccer games in the area. The point is that UEFA chiefs are acting overbored!

2 Fabulous UEFA Games

In the past 3 days, 4 teams have played 2 amazing games. In the first game, (Arsenal vs. Real Madrid) Henry scored a goal in the second half giving Arsenal an amzing win and making Real Madrid feel like nothing. Some may say that Arsenal are terrible but, if we really think about it, they are the best. They play true soccer, pass and move. They also ever give up, always playing 110% to the end. Thus, they beat Real Madrid!


As for Barcelona vs. Chelsea, there (surprisingly) 2 own goals. The first commited by Barcelona's Motta and Chelsea's Terry. Not only did Chelsea score a own goal, they also recieved a red card on behalf of Del Horno in the first half and,Eto'o helped Barcelona win the game 2-1 withan amzing header. Chelsea's manager Mourinho also blames their lose on the fact that the ref awarded the red card to Del Horno.

Henry to stay with Arsenal?

Henry still shows signs that he wants to continue to play for Arsenal. This gives Arsenal the advantage over him going to Barcelona's training camp (Nou Camp) and him switching over to Barcelona. What if he does go to Barcelona? Will Barcelona be the strongest team in the world? What happens to Arsenal? That all depends on Henry and Wenger. If wenger offers a good extension for HEnry then sure, he will continue with Arsenal. But, what if Barcelona give him a plus million over Arsenal. IS he going to stay or what. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ARSENAL AND HENRY?

from soccernet.com