A look back in time

I felt that for this post it would be great to look back at why we even play this great sport. Perhaps Ronaldinho playing as a kid will remind you or even the Joga Bonito videos will serve us all well. However, most importantly, the game is played because of the love we have for this universal game, this universal language!

France and Ireland "hand of god"

Less than one week ago, France and Ireland finished with a 1-1 tie in a world cup qualifier which meant that France would advance and not Ireland. However, Ireland should have really walked away with the win because France's goal. all began with a Thierry Henry hand ball and then a pass for a tap in goal. So, why is there so much of an issue here as to why this game should be replayed or not. On one hand under FIFA rules, once a game has finished then it cannot be overturned which is the exact case here. And therefore the only fair way to give a fair result for this game is to replay it but FIFA doesn't want to do that. But even Henry thinks that this is a good idea. Furthermore, I personally feel that the game should absolutely be replayed because of the circumstances; this is a world cup qualifier. Let's say that France goes on to win then everyone, forever, will say, they should never had qualified it should have been. Ireland. Hence, it seems pretty clear that a replay is necessary but we will all have to wait a little longer to see what FIFA has decided.

Season Soon to Be Over/ Premiership Ideas

As we head into the final 12 to 13 games of this season things have finally begun to clear up. The race for the cup this year is truly between Man United and Arsenal. For Arsenal, the remainder of their season relies of three significant matches; Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United. If they do in fact hold out, they will win. Ironically, the year Henry leaves is the year that the Gunners actually look like they may win this title. Hopefully, that is not the case. For the better, Manchester United will win majority of there games (including beating the Gunners) and hopefully winning the cup for the second straight year.

On the other end of the table, it is looking very lugubrious for Reading, Fulham, and Derby. With no surprise, Derby and Fulham are in last place with a whopping 10 point difference. Yet, surprisingly, Reading is almost guaranteed relegation after finishing in 8th place last year. For now, we can only wait as time will tell the fate of the remainder of the season.

Also of major talk right now is the Premiership's idea to have games abroad in other foreign countries by 2010-11. Personal, this is a good idea if these teams come and play in the U.S. to promote soccer, but other than that this idea will take a toll on the players (obviously, i am in support of the U.S. since I am from there). Anyhow, please do respond giving your opinions on what you think.

Games coming up on Saturday:

Birmingham v Arsenal
Wigan v Derby
Liverpool v Middlesbrough
Portsmouth v Sunderland
Fulham v West Ham
Newcastle v Man Utd

predicted winners in black.

Henry gets Barclay Player of the Year Award

This year, the EPL chose Tierry Henry as the winner of the Player of the Year Award. Many reasons are for this, but the biggest is because of his league leading goals (24)! Although their were other choices for the PYA (Player of the Year Award), Tierry Henry was chosen because he had a consistency of working his but off and always putting away either a simple a clean finish or a fancy dancy finish. Because a forward got this award, the EPL voters should see that there are more positions than a forward. Every time a team wins its because who scored the goal, no because how many saves the goalie makes. If the goalie were to make 0 saves, how would a team survive? That, is what I personally feel. It's who worked their behinds off and this year it clearly was Tierry Henry. Next year, who knows? Maybe Van der Sar could get the award, who knows??

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.

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.

Arsenal Lose Once Again!

Yes, no surprise. Arsenal loose to Liverpool 1-0. Henry needs to move to a different team for a better future. He has already broken a goal scoring record on Arsenal. Maybe he should have gone to Barcelona earlier in the season. As for Arsenal as a whole, they have excellent players not playing to their potential. Even though Arsenal has many good individuals, it does not seem like they are working as a team. For example, Chelsea: they have good players and work well together => they win games= 1st place. Or maybe, Arsenal players just don't work well together. Well, it looks like Arsene Wenger has a lot of work to do!

Yes, it's also true that Gerrard missed a PK! How can he miss a shot like that!? Also, Garcia scored in the 87th minute.


If Arsenal could hold up for 86 minutes, you would think they would give 110% but, they didn't. They let up and this is exactly what happens when you let up.

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