West Ham take down Manchester United in the English Cup. 11/30/2010.

Defeated 4-0 at a snowed down Upton Park, United will not win the Cup for a third time in a row this season. U.S. international Johnathan Spector struck a double before half-time to start United's fall. They were the first goals in his six seasons playing in the English League. England striker Carlton Cole put in another duo in the midst of the second half to qualify the Hammers for the next round. The fact that this poor result came after their 7-1 demolition of Blackburn shows that United aren't interested in the Cup this year, as they fielded a largely youth side with only Anderson from the thrashing side remaining. Avram Grant was especially happy with the result as his position had been in doubt before his side beat both Wigan in the league and this Cup win. Arsenal are still in though, hoping to improve on a drought of titles since 2005, thanks to a 2-0 result against Wigan. An own-goal from Antolin Alcaraz and a sweet strike by Nicklas Bendtner put the game to bed. Wigan have also lost Victor Moses due to a wrist injury which doesn't bode well for the side.

Women's World Cup Draw.

As hosts of the tournament next summer, Germany are favorites more than usual no matter who they draw. The draw is out! Group A will consist of Germany (hosts), Canada, Nigeria, and France. Group B meanwhile is made up of seeded side Japan, and three other sides: New Zealand, Mexico, and England. Group C holds the United States as the seeded team despite their qualification troubles this year, and opposition sides including the Korea DPR, Colombia, and Sweden. None of those teams are push overs. Finally, Group D: Brazil, Australia, Norway, and Equitorial Guinea make up this group of apparent misfits. The games should be anything but! Winners and runners-up in the group stages will then do battle in the quarter finals round. Germany have won two consecutive titles and will surely be looking for three titles in the past three tournaments especially since they are current European Champions. France are at the opposite point of the spectrum, back in the tournament for the first time since 2003. The U.S. women aren't quite the powerhouses of old but they are nonetheless very resilient and should be favorites for reclaiming the title for the first time since 1999. Norway is the only other team to have won the Women's World Cup, in 1995 when the games were hosted in neighbors Sweden. Finally, England were runners-up in the 2009 European competition so they shouldn't be overlooked as a powerful side. Some key players for a couple of teams include: Gillian Coultard and Karen Walker for England, Sandrine Soubeyrand and Marinette Pichon for France,  Bente Nordby and Solveig Gulbrandsen for Norway, and goal poachers Birgit Prinz and Inka Grings of Germany.

FC Barcelona v.s. Real Madrid.

Barcelona have started this match off very well as there were some chances including an almost goal for Messi before Xavi slots the first goal in the 10th minute. Iniesta's pass was beautiful if I may say so. Angel Di Maria gets a shot, nicely blocked by Valdes. Then, Villa has some space and launches the ball into the area, Pedro is there as Casillas is beaten to score. 2-0 Barcelona! The fans are having a blast thus far in the first half as Barca continue dominating the game. In the 32nd minute Cristiano Ronaldo gets booked for pushing Barca's coach, Valdes is also booked for getting involved. The Catalans are very protective of their coach! David Villa is also booked in the 34th due to a late challenge on Sami Khedira. And Pepe is also booked after putting too much pressure on Little Leo (Messi.) Real are starting to regain their form as the second half goes on, Barca are still ripping the Madrid team apart though. Messi and Villa both have attempts but Casillas is doing better now. Madrid have subbed Mesut Ozil out after a disappointing half for the Turkish German. Xabio Alonso is booked for a foul on Sergio Busquets in the 51st. Messi tries to work Xavi in for another goal but Khedira gets a foot on it, putting the ball off course. Xavi shoots wide. And Barcelona score a third in the 55th minute! Villa is the man responsible for Madrid's torture this time as Messi slices him in. David Villa simply knocks it home. Casillas gets carded in the 55th as well. And Villa scores again in the 58th! Messi is playing perfect as he passes from midfield, cutting the Real defence open and putting Villa in to nutmeg Iker Casillas to make things 4-0 here. Barcelona are showing off now and Real Madrid are falling apart. Tricks and flicks are on display now, Ricardo Carvalho has also been carded, in the 71st after hand-balling a scoring oppurtunity for Barca. Sergio Ramos gets a booking as well in the 73rd minute after taking down Xavi. Sami Khedira is also carded, in the 75th minute for a late challenge on Andres Iniesta. He got to the ball as fast as possible though, the German is just tired after having to chase Iniesta back and forth at the Camp Nou. It probably isn't his idea of a fun game! And Villa is now subbed off, Bojan Krkic comes on and almost immediately has a chance at goal where he has some trouble, gets the shot off, but he could have done better, Casillas blocks the ball away. And Puyol goes into the book too, in the 80th minute! His late sliding challenge on Karim Benzema gets him into the book. Another player who performed well today, Xavi, is subbed off in the 87th minute. Seydou Keita comes in probably hoping to put in another goal for the Catalan side. Pedro also comes off in the 87th as Jeffren comes on for him. And Jeffren puts a fifth in for Barca in the first minute of stoppage time in the second half. Bojan does very nicely, running down the right flank and lobs over a low cross that Andres Iniesta misses but then Jeffren converts! 5-0 Barcelona! Xavi recieves a yellow card and Sergios Ramos is sent off in the 3rd minute of stoppage time after going after Messi in an evil light, Ramos then pushes Carles Puyol! Real got slaughtered here. Barcelona were nearly perfect. Lots of cards tonight, lots of goals. Cheers!

My Teams update.

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC: 3 wins, 3 draws, and 9 losses have put Wolves at second from bottom in the English Premier League. Their home performances are enormously more impressive than anything else. All of their victories have come from these home ground matches but all in all Wolves just aren’t having a good season this year.

FC Barcelona: With 10 wins, a draw and a loss, Barcelona is second place in the Spanish Liga. They have a perfect record away from home actually, but they have drawn and even lost at home.

SSC Napoli: have won 7 matches, drawing 3, and losing 4. Napoli are 4^th in the Italian league thus far having slipped, allowing Juventus to overtake them.

1. FC Kaiserslautern: in Germany FCK has been improving leading up to their 5-0 result over struggling Schalke 04. FCK have won 5 matches, tied 2, and lost 7. Despite this, they have been moving up the table and now occupy 12^th place sitting just below Werder Bremen. The Red Devil’s have won both home and away but their home form is certainly better than their away form.

FC Sochaux-Montbeliard: of France are in the top ten of the league have won 6, tied 3, and lost 6 to sit at 21 points in 9^th place. Their home performances are definitely better however they aren’t invincible. Sochaux sit just above FC Lorient and Toulouse FC on goal-difference.

Universitatea Craiova: Also sit at 9^th place with 20 points in Romania. They have won 5 matches, tied 5, and lost 6. Both their home and away results have been awfully mixed. All in all, I was hoping for a better season.

S.L. Benfica: Have won 8 while losing 4 in Portugal to place themselves semi-firmly in 2^nd place. They have only lost once at home while winning 8 matches! They are dead even in their away match results.

AFC Ajax: Having won 9 matches, drawn 4, and lost 3, Ajax have 31 points in the Dutch league with 5 matches at home, a draw, and 2 losses. They’ve also won a majority of their away games too! They have retaken 3^rd place following their last game.

Celtic FC: In Scotland, 11 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses have sustained Celtic’s position in 2^nd place of the league, under arch-rivals Rangers. Celtic have won 5, drawn 2, and lost 1 at home while 6 wins and a loss are the away results for the Bhoy’s.

Aris Thessaloniki FC: 5 wins, a draw and 6 losses have put Aris in 6^th position with 16 points, a point behind PAOK FC. Their results haven’t really been sparkling unfortunately.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv: having won 6 matches, drawn a game, and have sustained 4 losses. Home form has been quite nice while away form haven’t been nearly so good.  

The New Saints FC: holding 2^nd place in the Welsh league with 8 wins, 3 draws, and 2 losses, The Saints have a perfect home record. The Saints are actually 2 points above their 3^rd place competition while Bangor City FC are destroying their opposition with 39 points while holding first place.

UEFA Futsal Cup.

Holders of the Futsal Cup SL Benfica beat major group rivals KMF Ekonomac Kragujevac 5-2 as Sporting Clube de Portugal defeated  ElPozo Murcia FS 5-3 to top their elite round groups and complete the finals lineup thus enabling Lisbon to have 2 teams serving as representatives. Benfica's victory in Serbia was a pleasant surprise for the Portuguese side. Kairat Almaty and ASD Città di Montesilvano C/5 are the other teams in the knockout finals with one of the four hosting the apex game on the 28th or 29th of April. Sporting started poorly, going down one thanks to Saúl's effort for Murcia. Then, Déo came in for the Portuguese and scored twice as the second half ended. With the score 2-1, Murcia equalized after halftime only to go down again thanks to Vinicius's own goal, and then Alex scored Sportings 4th. Mauricio then came on as a free moving goal-keeper as the Spaniards fought to remain in contention but to no avail: Alex scored once more with about 40 seconds left to put the game beyond Murcia's reach. Murcia's fall means Spain will actually be without a representative  for the first time since the 06/07 edition. Benfica trailed their hosts Ekonomac on goal difference but that was an issue quickly rectified as the Portuguese were up 2-0 in 14 minutes thanks to the efforts of  Diece and Arnaldo. The Portuguese side continued in this vein of form to finish the match 5-2. Ekonomac's coach Ivan Božović lamented his side's poor early form after the match. Benfica is the only team that has had a perfect record thus far despite being tied second bottom in goal difference.

Sunday, 11/28/2010 Update.

First off, in Germany, Werder Bremen defeated St. Pauli thanks largely to the efforts of Hugo Almeida. Almeida scored twice in the first half, in the 1st and 20th minute, and another goal in the second half, in the 64th minute, to win the match 3-0. Koln meanwhile drew with Wolfsburg 1-1 as Milivoje Novakovic scored in the 51st minute. However, for Wolfsburg, Cicero scored in the 81st minute to salvage a  point from the game. Over in the Netherlands in the meantime, Ajax went to Venlo and got the three points due to strikes from Mido and Miralem Sulejmani in the 62nd and 70th minutes respectively. The home side were soundly dealt with, even though Ajax also received three yellow cards. Heracles edged Utrecht in their match, thanks in part to an own goal by Alje Schut in the 55th minute. Tim Cornelisse scored for the away side, Utrecht, in the 73rd minute, drawing the two sides level. But Heracles were saved in the 84th minute when Willy Overtoom scored a penalty, ending the game 2-1. At the same time, Feyenoord edged Den Haag in their match. Den Haag took a relatively early lead as the first half ended through Dmitri Bulykin's goal. Aleksander Radosavljevic ruined this lead in the 46th minute as he scored an own goal which drew Feyenoord even with their opposition. Luc Castaignos put the game in Feyenoord's favor though, scoring in the 59th minute. With no answer, Den Haag received no points. France in the meantime was shown a pretty good game as Caen welcomed Sochaux. Sochaux performed almost as well as Kaiserslautern did yesterday in Germany as they (Sochaux) took over, winning 0-3 due to the talents of Damien Perquis, Brown Ideye, and Nicolas Maurice-Belay. Auxerre though weren't able to get anything more than a goal against Toulouse. Daniel Braaten in the 8th minute and Federico Santander in the 35th minute won the game for Toulouse despite Alain Traore's goal in the 56th minute. The 2-1 victory was a positive for the Toulouse side. Across the Channel in England, Tottenham Hotspur were able to fend off Liverpool's challenge in the dying minutes to get the three points. Martin Skrtel scored in the 42nd minute of the first half, giving the Red's a positive air before they were deflated following an own goal by Skrtel in the 65th minute. To add insult to injury, Aaron Lennon scored in the 2nd minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half to put the game to bed in Spurs' favor. In Newcastle though, Chelsea were actually held to a 1-1 draw! Andy Carroll put Newcastle ahead in the 6th minute and the home side held on to that lead until the 45th minute, when Salomon Kalou put a strike in to tie the game up. The second half may have had chances, but no goals, continuing Chelsea's dreary performances. In Italy, Napoli fell to Udinese 3-1 only because of a free scoring Antonio De Natale who scored three goals in the first and second half before Marek Hamsik put one in for Napoli. Lazio meanwhile, drew with Catania thanks to two goals in about 5 minutes from both sides. Matias Silvestre put Catania up first in the 44th minute before Hernanes drew Lazio on par in the 2nd minute of stoppage time in the first half. Inter were very successful to dish Parma a 5-2 defeat thanks in large part to Dejan Stankovic who scored three goals throughout the game. Hernan Crespo actually started things off in the game, having scored in the 4th minute. Parma relied heavily on Crespo, as he scored their only two goals in this disappointing game for the away side. Finally, a report on the Portuguese clash between Beira-Mar and SL Benfica where the Eagles lead 1-0 at the end of the first half thanks to Oscar Cardozo's 1st minute of stoppage time goal.

Alright, I lied.. Sorry. But the U.S. Women's team are going to the World Cup!

Amy Rodriguez is a very popular player at the moment, due to her beautiful first-half goal. The U.S. side beat the Italians 2-0 aggregate to earn the final spot in the World Cup which involves 16 nations that goes on between the 26th of June to the 17th of July in Germany. Veteran of the side Abby Wambach especially knew the difficulty of this year's qualification journey compared to previous years however she applauded, as does any observer of the team, the spirit of the team. Following a shattering upset to Mexico in the regional semi-finals which was just their second loss since the 2007 edition  of the World Cup. Another veteran, this time retired, Julie Foudy had some words for the home crowd who still think the U.S. women are unbeatable: The rest of the world is getting better. (Foudy was a member of the brilliant squad(s) that won the 1991 and 1999 World Cups.) Having to beat not just Costa Rica in the regional third-place match but also a second play-off match against Italy, the U.S. have really had to work to keep up their reputation of world dominators, as well as their hopes of going to the World Cup. Having won in Italy last weekend 1-0, the U.S. were favorites to win at home. Patrizio Panico of Italy almost disrupted this confidence however, as she was found with the ball at the edge of the six-yard box. But Nicole Barnhart saved the U.S.'s skins and, following that experience, the U.S. went on a rabid assault against the Italians, who were only saved by their keeper Anna Maria Picarelli. Amy Rodriguez and Megan Rapinoe both had several open chances, but finally worked things out in the 40th minute when Rapinoe glided about two defenders before shooting at an angle with her left. Anna Maria Picarelli was able to paw the shot, but couldn't account for Rodriguez who the ball fell to. Rodriguez gladly put it into the net  from within ten yards. Lauren Cheney could have increased the lead in the 60th but was defied by the crossbar. It should be remembered that Italy were missing possibly their most important striker, Melania Gabbiadini, due to a terrible twisted ankle. Congrats U.S. Women's Team!

This is the final blog-post for Saturday 11/27/2010. I promise.

First off, in the Netherlands, FC Twente defeated NEC 4-2 despite allowing the first goal of the match, a fine shot by Bas Sibum in the 9th minute. Twente then came back with a vengeance, putting in three, two from Bryan Ruiz, and a contribution from Marc Janko to make it 3-1. But NEC fought back, scoring another goal in the 74th minute (scored by Bjorn Vleminckx) to bring the game to an interesting one goal margin. It didn't stay that way for long as Twente returned fire to restore a two goal thanks to Janko once more. Willem II and Excelsior meanwhile ended as they began: tied. However, Excelsior actually led for much of the game after Kaj Ramsteijn scored in the 51st minute, but the home side rallied in the dying moments of the match to get Evgeniy Levchenko the goal to salvage a point. Also, in Spain today, after taking the lead in their game today, Sevilla actually ended up losing the match quite badly to Getafe following a penalty goal by Manu in the 57th minute, and two more goals, by Miku and Pedro Rios in the 59th and 77th minute respectively. Atletico Madrid's match today, against Espanyol, started bad and has followed the same path for most of the match. Luis Garcia converted a 22nd minute penalty to give the visitors an early lead before Tiago drew the hosts level at the very end of the first half. But Verdu got the second half started very much as the first one began, scoring in the 53rd minute to once more give Espanyol a lead over their hosts. However, in the 66th minute, Sergio Aguero puts in a great goal to draw the two sides back onto level pegging! Despite this, Pablo Osvaldo won the game for Espanyol in the 78th minute, due to a nice goal which put the visitors above, a margin of 2-3 was the final score, giving Espanyol the three points. In the meantime over in Portugal, Sporting Lisbon take on FC Porto. And the Lions of Lisbon lead, at home, thanks to Jaime Valdes' 38th minute effort. Falcao brings the visitors level in the 58th minute which definitely gets things going. Then, in the 69th minute, Maicon gets a straight red card which gives Sporting Lisbon two advantages: first of all, Sporting are playing at home, and then now they are only playing against ten men. It'll be interesting to see whether the Lions can do anything with such things in their favor. But no, in fact, Sporting only manages to get a couple of cards. That isn't to say Porto were angels, they too didn't go for anything even with 11 players and they too received a ton of cards. No matter, the match ended as a draw. Fun fact: Porto received 5 yellow cards and a red card while Sporting amassed 4 yellow cards. Yep, that's 10 cards, more impressive than the amount of goals. In Italy, Juventus managed a draw against Fiorentina, stemming from an own goal in the 4th minute by Marco Motta that gave Fiorentina an early lead. Pepe came through for the Turin club however, scoring in the 82nd minute to take a point from a disappointing game.

Domestic Leaguue- 11/27/2010 continued.

The other game in Germany, Dortmund v.s. Monchengladbach is a 1-1 match. Reus scored in the 33rd minute for 'gladbach but Neven Subotic scored in stoppage time of the first half to bring the two teams level. But Dortmund have now pulled ahead with Kagawa's strike in the 52nd minute! And now Dortmund have pulled up once more with a strike from Kevin Grosskreutz in the 76th minute. With Lucas Barrios's goal in the 88th minute, Dortmund's success in the match is within all reason assured as they are now 4-1 ahead as the final whistle will shortly blow. The Italian clash between Sampdoria and Milan is still tied, 1-1, thanks to Robinho for Milan and Pazzini for Sampdoria. In the Netherlands meanwhile, AZ lead Heerenveen 1-0 thanks to the talents of Pontus Wernbloom. However, Heerenveen have pulled a goal back as well, thanks to the efforts of Vayrynen in the 53rd minute. In the 81st minute, Darryl Janmaat has now put Heerenveen, the guests, ahead. The guests aren't being very polite either, as they now lead 2-1. But bizarrely, Sigthorsson brings the hosts back to level heading! With the score 2-2 so close to the end of the game, this game may end in a tie. The other two Dutch games going on, between Roda and Groningen as well as Willem II v.s. Excelsior, are 0-0 draws at the moment. However, in the 40th minute, Roda has now taken the lead thanks to Arnaud Sutchuin. Pacos de Ferreira edged Olhanense in Portugal by the margin previously mentioned: 1-0. Meanwhile, Maritimo have pulled further ahead against Vitoria SC, through the efforts of Kleber and Baba in the 12th and 33rd minutes respectively. Indeed, Vitoria have ended the game 2-0 down. A fairly good game for Maritimo. Across the border in Spain, Zaragoza are falling hard against Villarreal, 0-3, thanks to converted efforts by Marcos Senna, Santiago Cazorla, and Nilmar. Sevilla meanwhile have also pulled ahead against their opponents, Getafe, 1-0 through the resourcefulness of Frederic Kanoute.

Saturday 11/27/2010 Action.

German Bundesliga:
The home team for the most part seem to be doing very well today as Bayern are rather comfortable in their game against Eintracht Frankfurt. The score is 4-1 in the second half with strikes for Tymoshchuk, Muller, and Mario Gomez for Bayern and the Greek Gekas notching one for Frankfurt. Hamburg are also flying in their match against Stuttgart, leading by a margin of 4-2 thanks to the usual suspects: Trochowski, Petric, van Nistelrooy, and Pitroipa. Stuttgart have only been kept in through the efforts of Marica and Gentner, both scoring in the early moments of each half. Hannover are also winning, 3-0 over Freiburg, to keep the goal tally in the league today at three goals per game or more. Hoffenheim meanwhile are the only home team not winning today as Bayer Leverkusen are proving too much for them to handle. Leverkusen only scored in the first ten minutes of the game thus far, including a penalty kick which made it a 2-0 game before Ibisevic and then Sigurdsson pulled one back each for the home side to steal a point from their opponents, with the score 2-2 as the final whistle blows. Finally, Kaiserslautern are obliterating FC Schalke 04 5-0 thanks in large part to some relatively unknowns compared to Schalke's squad: Lakic, Amedick, Ilicevic, and Moravek have each scored; Lakic twice, as the Red Devils romp over their opponents.
Scottisch Premier League:
Celtic lead Inverness 2-0 at Celtic Park thanks to the efforts of Ki-Sung-Yong a little before half time and McCourt in the 65th minute. And then, Inverness showed up, as Foran in the 70th and Munro in the 83rd tied the game 2-2. A rather disappointing result for the Bhoys. Kilmarnock v.s. Aberdeen was the only other game with goals as the home team once more lead, this time 2-0 thanks to Sammon and Hamill in the 18th and 51st minutes respectively. Kilmarnock were actually able to run the game down, ending the game in the lead. Hamilton v.s. St. Mirren and Hib's v.s. St. Johnstone were both 0-0 matches.
English Premier League:
Aston Villa v.s. Arsenal went 0-2 for Arsenal, to 1-2, to 1-3, to 2-3, to 2-4 with Arsenal in the lead as the final whistle blows. Arshavin and Nasri scored in the first half before Clark put one in in the 52nd minute. Chamakh put one more in for Arsenal, in the 56th, to make it 1-3. Clark had a really good game as he scored another goal to bring the home side back up, but Wilshere put the game to bed in the 3rd minute of stoppage time with a final goal to send Arsenal to the league apex; for a time. Bolton v.s Blackpool is a really close game, 1-2 for the away side. Martin Petrov has sort of rekindled Bolton's energy with the team's first goal in the 76th minute, but Blackpool still lead thanks to Evatt and Varney. But that lead has been shattered as Mark Davies puts in a goal in the 89th minute to make the match 2-2! In another part of England, Everton is losing at home, 1-4, to West Brom. Tim Cahill's one strike minutes before half time hasn't been enough for the home side as West Brom have scored two goals in both periods of the game to put themselves in quite a commanding position. Fulham v.s. Birmingham meanwhile is a game that seems like it will go right down to the death. The two sides are tied 1-1 in the dying minutes thanks to Clint Dempsey in the 53rd and Sebastian Larsson in the 20th for the respective sides. Manchester United on the other hand are a force of mass destruction, seeing Blackburn off 7-1 with 5 goals from Dimitar Berbatov alone! Park Ji-Sung and Nani are the other United players to score, overshadowing Samba's 83rd minute goal. In the meantime, Stoke at home held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw as both teams scored really late goals to end the match in deadlock. Richards scored in the 81st minute for City but Etherington's 2nd minute of stoppage time goal busted the Manchester bubble, salvaging a point for the gritty Stoke side. West Ham v.s. Wigan on the other hand had a clearer winner, as Valon Behrami, Victor Obinna, and Scott Parker put three in for West Ham before Tom Cleverley managed one in the 86th minute. Finally, from going 1-0 up, to 1-2 down, Wolves finished the match 3-2, defeating Sunderland in the last 10 minutes thanks to the efforts of Kevin Foley, Stephen Hunt, and Sylvain Ebanks-Blake. Sunderland managed two goals though, through Darren  Bent and Danny Welbeck. As I post this, Sampdoria and Milan are tied 0-0 in Italy while Zaragoza and Villarreal are also even, 0-0, in Spain. Pacos de Ferreira lead Olhanense 1-0 in Portugal as Maritimo are tied 0-0 with Vitoria SC.

Some undefeated titles up for grabs and a surprise.

• We all know about Manchester United from England. Well, the Red Devil's performances haven't been the stuff of legend this year, but their is something to be said: they haven't lost a single game thus far. Yeah, they've drawn quite a few matches they should have won, but the even tone with which they have faced all-comers seems to be paying off because they have flown up the table to be tied at the top with Chelsea. United will be taking Blackburn Rovers on this weekend in a game which should keep their no-defeats record in tact. In Slovenia there is another team which has an unbeaten record as well: NK Maribor. The club, led by Darko Milanič have had a record breaking start to this season, going 18 matches without a loss. Maribor have recently drawn their last two matches but for the most part their performances have been rather convincing, only in the last weeks has the team's dedication slipped, in the last moments in some cases. The team actually sit six points clear of the second-place side and have their hopes realistically set on becoming champions for a ninth time. Maribor's next game, against 8th place ND Triglav should be a chance to further their lead. In another Eastern European nation, Romania, FC Timişoara amassed a record similar to that of Manchester United: having tied half of their matches and won the other half, they have clawed their way to just shy of the league apex. Their next match however could feasibly be their undoing: they face fierce competition in FC Dinamo Bucureşti and, while the team have alot of hunger for a first time trophy, Dinamo may have too much for Timişoara to handle. In the part of Iberia known as Portugal meanwhile, FC Porto reign undefeated. They haven't lost in 20 games and four competitions. Yes history would be with their next opponents, Sporting Lisbon, but recent history definitely favors Porto. They have already defeated last year's champions SL Benfica so Sporting shouldn't be too much of a problem. But who knows, at home to the Lisboa club, anything may happen. Across the border in Spain there are other undefeated parties: Real Madrid have only tied two of  their first 12 matches, the other results are all wins. Can they continue this run against their most feared rivals FC Barcelona? That depends not only on the respective performances of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo but also on the team strength. Denmark and Bulgaria are two other nations that have undefeated title clashes: in Bulgaria PSFC Chernomorets Burgas will be taking on fellow undefeated side PFC Litex Lovech who may actually provide a bit of history: never before have two teams (excluding teams from Sofia) both been undefeated past the break. This clash may be the end of the history as Litex  top the standings with ten wins and four draws from 14 matches. Chernomorets have had a Manchester United-like season thus far, drawing and winning an even amount of games. The Danes have their own fun:  FC København have won 14 of their 17 matches thus far  this season. FCK is also 16 points ahead of second-place side Odense BK. København's next match, against Randers FC may be harder than expected. The last time the two sides met, FCK could only edge their opponents. It'll be interesting to see how the two fare this weekend. Finally, with the league already done,  Norwegian champions Rosenborg BK should definitely also be mentioned: they won without losing a single match!
• The other story that this post will deal with is Independiente and Goias will combat one another in the Copa Sudamericana final. Independiente, of Argentina, defeated the holders from Ecuador Liga de Quito after a very fierce game. Goias, a team from Brazil, knocked out powerhouse Palmeiras to reach the final. It's set to be a very interesting two-legged match which will decide the club champions of South America.

UEFA Champions League Group Stage Games- 11/24/2010

Well first off, SL Benfica have been eliminated from the Champions League. They lost 3-0 in their match against Hapoel Tel Aviv. While Benfica pressured, the Tel Aviv side scored a goal in the first half, and two goals in the second including the third goal in stoppage time. Hapoel's victory gives an Israeli club the first Champions League group stage win since 2004. History may continue to be made if Hapoel defeat French side Lyon while depending on Schalke 04 to drop Benfica one more time. An awful fact for the Portuguese: they had  21 corners throughout the game. Hapoel Tel Aviv only had 2 and actually converted. In the other Group B match today, Schalke 04 performed admirably well at home to trounce French giants Lyon 3-0. The Germans scored 2 goals in the first half, through Farfán and Huntelaar, and then a third in the 89th minute by Huntelaar again to seal the deal. The result puts Schalke 04 into the knock out round while the French need to win their next match, against the Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv. The performance also gives Schalke a 100% home record throughout the group stage. As predicted, the Group C match-up between Rangers and Manchester United was very close: it was only decided by a Wayne Rooney penalty in the 89th minute! While United started strong, the home crowd was an obvious boost for the Scots as they provided several goal-scoring opportunities, but no goals. That was the story on both sides until the penalty which closed the game, putting United into the last 16. Valencia meanwhile also qualified from Group C after absolutely destroying their Turkish opposition Bursaspor: the Spanish were up 4-0 by the end of the first half and, other than a Batalla goal close to the 70th minute for Bursaspor, controlled the second half as well, scoring another pair of goals to end the game 6-1. Mata, Soldado, Aduriz, Joaquín, and Domínguez were the sources for Valencia's goals. Rubin Kazan on the other hand, in Group D, actually won against FC København. The victory came from a penalty goal by Christian Noboa in stoppage time of the first half. The win Rubin's first, actually gives them the possibility of qualifying for the next round! If Barcelona take it easy on the Russians, they may be able to get through, so long as the right result comes from København's game with Panathinaikos FC. Barca and Pana's game in the meantime was quite something else. Two goals from Pedro Rodríguez, one in the first and one in the second half, as well as a Lionel Messi goal in the second half as well puts Barcelona through to the next round. Panathinaikos have now been eliminated but could hope for some saving of face in their next match against FC København. England's Tottenham Hotspur were another force of wreckage, as they obliterated injury-filled German side Werder Bremen 3-0 today. Two goals in the first half, by Kaboul and Modric, and a third in the second half by Peter Crouch decided Group A and was certainly enough to pass Tottenham into the knock-out stages in the first time trying with a game to spare. Inter Milan v.s. FC Twente in Group A was the other big match that saw the holders only able to edge the Dutch masters out ten minutes into the second half by way of a strike from Esteban Cambiasso. While there were other chances, the game was really a dead-ringer. So congrats to all the teams that will be in the knock out round (Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan, Schalke 04, Manchester United, Valencia CF, FC Barcelona, FC Bayern München, Chelsea, Real Madrid, and AC Milan), and good luck to those still vying for a position!

Quick predict..

Russian side Rubin Kazan will at best get a point against FC København in their game today. I would be more comfortable saying that the Danes will get the three points though. Inter Milan will most likely win at home in Italy against their Dutch challengers FC Twente. Despite injuries, the Italians will most likely win. I would rather see the Dutch take advantage of Inter's slipping form, but the chances of that happening aren't too high. In Germany, when Schalke 04 take on French side and leaders of Group B Lyon, it may all come down to how well Raúl González performs. Schalke's good home performances thus far in the competition may illuminate the way this match will turn out, but Lyon did edge the Germans out the last time they met. Valencia v.s. Bursaspor meanwhile offers another good game in which I would say that the Spaniards will get the three points. The home field advantage should be a boost as should Bursaspor's dismal performances thus far: no goals, no points. Hapoel Tel Aviv's match against Portuguese giants SL Benfica should be a better match though, as Benfica need to win in Israel if they want to have a chance of qualifying. I think that Benfica will step up to the match and take the three points they need. Panathinaikos's game against Barcelona is only a formality in my opinion as the Greeks have no real chance given Messi and company's recent form, even though they have home field advantage. If Tottenham can continue their sparkling run against injury plagued Werder Bremen, they should be well on their way to the next round. Finally, Rangers v.s. Manchester United may be a harder game to call than it would seem as the Scots are extremely well formed, and have the home field advantage. Rangers may just play for a draw, or they could surprise United, I wouldn't put it past them.

Champions League 11/23/2010 continued.

Chelsea v.s. Žilina: Žilina took an early lead in England thanks to Babatounde Bello's superb strike and kept the lead the whole first half before Chelsea scored two goals in the second half to take the three points. Malouda's 86th minute goal was the decider. The Chelsea victory gives them a top of Group F finish.  MŠK Žilina meanwhile has yet to find any points this campaign, meaning they will most likely be out of the competition. They salvaged some pride this game, almost matching or even beating Chelsea at home; it wasn't to be though.
Roma v.s. Bayern: Gomez scored twice in the first half for the Bavarian giants in this game. In most cases, that would have been enough. But Roma went one better thanks to a Francesco Totti penalty in the 84th minute. Having developed a two goal lead in the first half, Bayern had a good future ahead of themselves, but lost it all in the second half when Borriello and De Rossi scored a goal each before Totti's free ball. The victory puts Roma within touching distance of a birth in the next round while Bayern are now showing issues they normally only have on the domestic front. The German side received two yellow cards, one for their goalie Kraft, while the Italians amassed four.
Ajax v.s. Real Madrid: Cristiano is coming. That should have been the warning to the Dutch side Ajax: Ronaldo scored a double in the second half as Real Madrid destroyed their opponents 4-0. But Real were stupid in the end: both Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso received sendings-off after each amassing two yellow cards. Ronaldo also collected a booking but should be available for the next games. Benzema opened the scoring for the Spanish club in the 36th minute before Arbeola added a second just at the end of the first half to make it 2-0 to the visitors.
Braga v.s. Arsenal: The Portuguese side scored the same amount of goals as Cristiano Ronaldo did for Real Madrid on their way to claiming victory over Arsenal. Two late goals by Matheus secured victory for Braga as they continue to impress on their first run into the Champions League. Arsenal now need a win in their next game if they are to qualify for the next round. The game was definately a drastic turn-around from when they played in London, where they lost 6-0, and leaves them requiring a victory at FC Shakhtar Donetsk.

Basel v.s. CFR Cluj: Basel only needed a goal to close the book on the tale of CFR Cluj this season and they succeeded in getting it, about midway in the first half. Almerares was the man who did it, and gives the Swiss side a faint hope that maybe, some way, they can still qualify. The chances are highly unlikely, but possible: They would have to defeat Bayern in Germany while hoping that Cluj could defeat Roma. There was a little contention in the dieing moments but overall, the teams were nervous and supplied fair amount of action.

Partizan v.s. Shakhtar Donetsk: Donetsk went to Belgrade looking for three points that would cement them at the top of the Group H table and they found them thanks to a three goal effort. A rather boring first half which was only made interesting by three yellow cards was followed by a goal-filled second half. If all things go well, they will be going to the next round for the first time in the club's history! Donetsk now sit three points above Arsenal and Braga.

Finally, Auxerre v.s. AC Milan: Zlatan Ibrahimović and Ronaldinho were the leaders of the pack as AC Milan swept away their French opposition to win 2-0 and qualify for the next round of Champions League play. The second half was more exciting as the first half only had one card, to Ambrosini of AC Milan. The two goals of the second half were both very nice to watch , coming in the 64th and 91st minute.

Champions League matches today: 11/23/2010

Spartak Moskva v.s. Marseille: Spartak Moskva were hoping for some fortune at home against French side Olympique Marseille however they got only pain today as Valbuena opened the scoring for the French side a little before the 20th minute. There was a yellow card for both sides in the first half and some other chances, no other breakthroughs though. The second half seemed to be going the same way but Remy scored another goal for Marseille around the 55th minute to make the game 2-0. Spartak Moskva were not helped by the loss of a player, Welliton, in the 64th minute after he received a red card for a poor challenge followed by another yellow card; If Moskva were to score as many goals as they got cards, this would be a far more interesting game. And Brandão scores a third goal for the French side, just before the 70th minute. With this performance it looks like Marseille are going on to the next round. Moskva's chances look quite less rosy as they have lost Welliton and seemingly the three points, always crucial this late in the group stages. Spartak Moskva aren't giving up though, as they create a few more chances as the game winds down. It'll be a pleasant surprise if they can put something away. Unfortunately, the game ends with only some token attempts and a few more challenges. 4 minutes of extra time is only prolonging what has been known for some time now. Information on the other games of the day will be available later.

The Gulf Cup of Nations.

Yemen will be kicking-off the 20th Edition of the Gulf Cup of Nations, a prestigious event in itself, as well as offering the participating teams a chance at pulling everything together before the AFC Asian Cup in 2011. The holders Oman will certainly hope to retain the title while hosts Yemen would like to win the title on home soil. Having won the title at home the last time the Gulf Cup came around, Oman will hope to continue their good recent record in the tournament, having been runners-up in 2004 and 2007, losing to Qatar and the UAE respectively. Led by Claude Le Roy of France, the Omanis will only have the Gulf Cup to look forward to as they were not successful in qualifying for the Asian Cup. Despite having to face sides such as Iraq, the UAE, and Bahrain in their group, Le Roy seems confident his side will at least make it to the semi-finals. Yemen meanwhile will hope that this year proves more successful than previous years as they have been eliminated the past 5 times in the group stages. Led by Croatian Srecko Juricic, a former coach of the UAE and Bahrain, Yemen were looking good in the build-up to the tournament having beaten Liberia 2-0 and Senegal 4-1. Saudi Arabia are favorites on the other hand even though Portuguese coach Jose Peseiro dropped 11 members of his squad for vague reasons. Nonetheless, the Saudi team still has prolific midfielder Mohammed Al Shalhoub for inspiration in the search for another title. Al Shalhoub definitely has the Gulf Cup on his mind, having said: “The Gulf Cup is the region’s favourite tournament... the Gulf people view the games as being just as important as any international matches. Winning the trophy is the aspiration of everyone playing in it.” Having won the Cup 3 other times, the Saudis look quite fierce, having beaten both Uzbekistan and Gabon and drawing with African giants Ghana in the build-up to the finals. The UAE will also be looking forward to this installment, hoping for a possible 2 titles in three years after success in 2007. Slovenian Srecko Katanec coaches the team and can call up quite a few veterans from that victorious side, including outstanding striker Ismail Matar. They destroyed India 5-0 in the build-up to this year's final and will hope for anything better than last time's 1st round exit. Another good team, Iraq will seek a 4th Gulf Cup title since the ten year period under legendary coach Emmanuel Baba in which they won 3. German Wolfgang Sidka may be just the man to restore the team's winning ways following 2-1 and 2-0 victories over Qatar and India respectively. Kuwait also has cause to be positive, despite the tough group they are in, as they won last month's West Asain Championship. The small Gulf nation will hope for inspiration from the previous 9 Gulf titles they have lifted as well as their 9-1 hammering of India. Qatar would obviously like to extend their trophy count to a third of Kuwait's amount this year, potentially adding a third to their 1992 and 2004 titles. However Qatar's friendlies leading up to the Yemen hosted Gulf Cup haven't been too bright and the side will hope to increase performance before their turn as host, of the Asian Cup in January, comes. Winning in Yemen would certainly be a step in the right direction. Finally, Bahrain will remain somewhat hopeful that this could be their break-out year in the Gulf Cup following 4 times of losing to various opponents in the final games they have been to. The Groups of the Gulf Cup are as follows: Yemen, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar in Group A while Group B consists of Oman, Iraq, the UAE, and Bahrain.

News from around the world of football.

FC Barcelona were untouchable as they went to UD Almería and won by a record-equalling 8-0 margin. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as the Catalan side dominated to take another 3 points, keeping pace with arch rivals Real Madrid. Real Madrid however still hold the La Liga apex as they defeated their opponents, Athletic Club, 5-1. Real lead Barca by only a point, but they shouldn't be too confident as the El Classico nears: Barca, and Lionel Messi, want the Spanish League back. In England meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur FC came back from 2 goals down to defeat Arsenal FC 3-2 in the derby between the two sides, halting the Gunner's dreams of taking the league momentarily. Chelsea were also dealt a loss, losing to the not so ferocious Birmingham City FC. That's the first time Chelsea have lost consecutively in 4 years. All this allowed Manchester United to creep back into the top of the table, even on points with Chelsea. Wolves lost to Blackpool FC in a second half resurgence that they couldn't handle; they were beaten 2-1. At the same time, Italy is still led by the resurgent AC Milan following a 1-0 victory over the capable Fiorentina. Lazio still hold second position with a game to spare while Roma found the net twice against Udinese to take third place, that is, if Napoli loses their next match, against Bologna. Finally, in Germany, the East-West match occurred today, and the East Germans were victorious, beating their old West German equivalents by a 2-1 scoreline. Perry Bräutigam, goalie of the East, had a very good game, denying the likes of West German captain Lothar Matthäus and Jürgen Klinsmann! The Westerners found the net in the first half while the Easterners first scored in the second half through a penalty, scoring once more to put the game to bed. In other German news, Kaiserslautern defeated Nurnberg 3-1 in Nurnberg, a real confidence booster. Mainz meanwhile were able to defeat Monchengladbach 3-2, salvaging 3 points to stay in the chase for Dortmund, who won their match against Freiburg 2-1. Hoffenheim also had a good game, winning 4-0 over the floundering team from Frankfurt. Schalke won by the same margin, handily defeating Werder Bremen. Bayern are still in the doldrums, having only drawn with Bayer Leverkusen. Dortmund control the league by 7 points, second place is still held by Mainz. Hoffenheim, Kaiserslautern, and Schalke all have risen in the German table; holding 5th, 13th, and 14th respectively.

Finance and politics.

The search for a new owner by the Blackburn Rovers is over. After 2 years, a family from India, the Rao family, bought the club for about 43 million British Pounds. The Blackburn shares themselves weren't valued at 43 million, the new owners also took on around 20 million Pounds worth of debt. The team will continue policies begun by the late Jack Walker in an effort to "ensure that Blackburn Rovers remains one of the best-run clubs within the Premier League." However, Blackburn may not be in the Premier League for that much longer though, as they sit only 2 points above the relegation zone in 14th place having won only 4 of their first 13 games. Sepp Blatter meanwhile holds to his ground that corruption investigations led by The Times into the world football governing body was "not fair" and shouldn't happen again. This despite the uncovering of six corrupt members? I think Mr. Blatter may be in some kind of denial. Celebrate the ugly side of football!

Women's Champions League draw and other news.

The results are in and the Quarter-final draw for the Women's UEFA Champions League is as follows: Russian side Zvezda-2005 will face-off with Olympique Lyonnais of France while Arsenal LFC from England are up against newcomers Linköpings FC from the Norse powerhouse of Sweden. English club side Everton against the Germans of FCR 2001 Duisburg should be a good set of games to watch while French side FCF Juvisy Essonne will have to battle it out with the German holders 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam. Potsdam shouldn't find FCF Juvisy too hard to defeat as the German's recent performances have been quite impressive. Duisburg will be hoping that Inka Grings is in form in their encounter with the English side Everton because if not they may find the going rougher. Arsenal may not know what to think of the Swedish side Linköpings FC as they haven't been to this stage yet. However, the Swedes should not be underestimated as they have performed well against the opposition they have faced. Arsenal are still the favorites at home however when they have to go away is when the Swedes may take the advantage. Finally, Lyon of France have performed better than their Russian opposition Zvezda-2005 however the Russians have two prolific strikers with 9 goals thus far in the tournament while the French "only" have the Swedish super-striker Lotta Schelin; providing for what looks like an enjoyable contest. In another demographic category, of the older generation, two old German sides will be celebrating reunification with a soccer match between the 1990 FIFA World Cup winning Germany XI and a specially selected number of East German legends. The match will take place in Leipzig and it will serve to illustrate that while West Germany won the World Cup, the Eastern Germans won Olympic gold, an experience that is not so widely remembered. In other news, the U.S.'s MLS league will have another new champion this year, as FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids are the surprise finalists. It should be a great game though, as Dallas made their way thanks to an extremely attacking mentality which put the likes of the Los Angeles Galaxy to shame. Dallas's key players include the likes of play maker David Ferreira and veteran goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. The Rapids meanwhile are led by an English-man and so have a more traditional 4-4-2. That isn't to say that they are boring though, they have one speedy striker in Omar Cummings and a tank of goal-scorer in Conor Casey. Dallas may be able to overwhelm the Colorado team though, as they have done to their other opposition. Finally a look at the FIFA Women's world rankings, as the U.S. is having a bit of work to qualify for the World Cup in Germany 2011. They do still sit on top though, even leading the World Champions of Germany. Canada hold 4th place in the world , England have declined to 10th place, Denmark sit at 14th having failed to qualify for the World Cup. Equatorial Guinea have improved though, jumping to 62nd place, still quite low, but it shows their improvement. The Korea Republic (18), Colombia (32), Costa Rica (41), Chile (46), and Wales (47) are all at peek positions in their nation's histories of women's soccer. The top 5 include the U.S., Germany, Brazil, Sweden, and Japan. North Korea looks as if it could be making the jump soon as they hold 6th place, Italy hold 11th and China holds 13th.

Women. Their soccer that is.

So this year the Women's version of the UEFA Champions League looks pretty good. The holders 1.FFC Turbine Potsdam of Germany destroyed their opposition last year netting 31 goals and allowing 0, they look like they could repeat that form this year. Also, history is on their side as they have reached 3 finals the 4 times they have tried, winning 2 of them. Their superior striker Anja Mittag looks great this season and she has a capable strike partner in Fatmire Bajramaj. Arsenal LFC are another good team, having reached the Quarter-finals in all of their 8 attempts. They have reigned in England for the past 7 seasons and while some of their talent (Kelly Smith, Karen Carney) have come to the United States, they have signed new players to make up the difference. Players worth watching are striker Kim Little and Midfielder Katie Chapman. Arsenal will hope to triumph once more as they did in 2007, and who is to say they won't? Another team from England, Everton, will  be taking part in the Quarter-finals for the first time. They did so this year with a spectacular victory in Denmark against the women's team of Brøndby IF, 4-1, 5-2 on aggregate. They also beat Arsenal LFC 3-2 in the FA Women's Cup final, illustrating their pedigree. The Everton side have a nice mix of rising talent and veteran internationals including midfielders Fara Williams and Jill Scott. From across the Channel in France meanwhile, FCF Juvisy-Essonne will act as representatives to the Quarter-finals for the first time in their history. They were runner's-up in France last season and beat Italy's Torres to make it this far. They have a defender, Sandrine Soubeyrand, who is the player who has played the most games for France for either gender. Also, Juvisy did well to beat PSG FC in the Feminine Division 1 last season so their prospects aren't dismal. Forward Laëtitia Tonazzi is another player who serves the side well. FCR 2001 Duisburg, another team from Germany, lost their 2009 title last year to Potsdam in the Semi-finals. Thus far they have won all 7 of their matches this year however they lost the German title to Potsdam so I could see some retribution coming into play should the teams meet again. Duisburg's go-to player, Inka Grings, is leading scorer of the competition and the team performed very well against Fortuna Hjørring, winning 7-2 despite key German international absences. Simone Laudehr, a midfielder, is another important player to the Duisburg team. The one Swedish representative, Linköpings FC, are acting as representatives to the Quarter-finals for the first time as well. Sweden's 2-time European champions  Umeå Ik have already been ousted so the Linköpings newcomers are the only representatives from the Norse powerhouse. Forward Kosovare Asllani is possibly the greatest asset to the team, as is their goalkeeper Sofia Lundgren. The team as a whole isn't quite as star-studded as the competition's but they may go some way on grit alone. The last team from France, who lost on penalties to Potsdam last year, is Olympique Lyonnais. Lyon have reached the Semi-finals the past 2 times of trying and are now well established in European competition. Lyon have improved due to an infusion of both domestic and international talent, such as a contingent from Northern Europe. Lyon are looking quite powerful though, as they defeated good sides AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands and FC Rossiyanka from Russia 10-1 and 11-1 respectively. Swedish forward Lotta Schelin and midfielder Louisa Nécib of France provide alot of the creative energy of the side. Finally, the single team from Russia, Zvezda-2005, may not have as much confidence as they did when they were runner's-up in 2009, having finished well behind FC Rossiyanka in the Russian league. Nonetheless, results have been going their way recently and with midfielders Daryna Apanaschenko and Vira Dyatel providing energy and chances, anything could happen.

More International News!

So yeah, Spain are Champions of the world, and they beat Portugal in the World Cup to get there. So how is it that the Portuguese absolutely destroyed the Spaniards in their rivalry match today? Well, credit where credit is due: Cristiano Ronaldo was nothing short of inspirational. Playing in the stadium of Portuguese giants Benfica, they got a 1-0 lead at the end of the first half from Carlos Martins while in the second half 3 more goals were provided: Hélder Postiga striking twice and Hugo Almeida adding a fourth near the end. Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo were both sources of energy while the Spanish had their chances, they just couldn't convert them. A goal ruled off-sides wasn't enough to hinder the Portuguese on their way to victory. Germany v.s. Sweden was nothing special as the match ended a goalless draw. Italy's patchwork team played out a 1-1 draw with an exciting Romania, while the Netherlands scored a single goal, by Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, to claim victory over Turkey. At the same time, Alexander Frei and Switzerland were good enough to tie the Ukraine 2-2 in their match; both Swiss goals came from Frei. Belgium have a beautiful oppurtunity it would seem in the young Romelu Lukaku after he scored the nation's 2 goals in their blow-out of Russia. China defeated Latvia 1-0 in their match which shows some good signs for the immense Asian nation. Egypt registered a comfortable win against Australia in their match, winning 3-0. At the same time, the U.S. edged South Africa in their match, winning 1-0 as Greece beat Austria 2-1.

UEFA 2012 Qualifying and Internationals.

In the last games in 2010 of the Euro Cup qualifying session, Croatia seized the apex of Group F with their comprehensive 3-0 win over Malta. Scoring 2 in the first half and another in the last of the second half propelled the Croatians to victory as Malta could not respond and only had one attempt on target. Finland meanwhile found form to deal San Marino an 8-0 defeat. The first goal only came in the last minutes of the first half, but the second half was without a doubt Finnish: scoring 3 goals in 10 minutes and another 3 in 8 minutes. One penalty also gave the Finns a goal. The victory gave the Finns their best competitive international result in the nation's history as well as the teams first 3 points in Group E. The Argentina v.s. Brazil match meanwhile ended in tears as the Argentine Lionel Messi scored a late goal in injury time to defeat Brazil 1-0. He weaved through several defenders before placing it sweetly into the bottom corner. Ronaldinho also played, in his first game since early 2009, with some success, but couldn't do what the brilliant Messi did. The grudge match between England and France on the other hand was a nice French performance, but the English were short of brilliant. By quite a bit. It ended 2-1 in the favor of France. Also, Norway beat the Republic of Ireland by the same margin in a decent game.

Just a bit of news.

So this is what has happened thus far, I'll be posting about the friendlys of today later:

• Egypt are back in the top 10 of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking at the expense of the Russians.
• The 2010 World Cup host South Africa has moved into the top 50 of the Rankings for the first time in almost 5 years.
• Caribbean sides also posted large gains, jumping as many as 34 positions (Grenada, who now sit at 91st) in the World Rankings table.
• Chelsea's run of over 900 minutes without allowing any goals at home is over. But it wasn't ended by the usual suspects. No, Sunderland was the team that made the Blue's blue, riding over them in a 3-0 route! Manchester United in 2002 was the last team to post such a scoreline.
• Carles Puyol has now appeared 500 times for Barcelona, making him only the 3rd player to reach the milestone, behind Migueli (who played 549 matches) and Xavi (who has played 541 and is still running.)
• In other Barca news, Lionel Messi has thus far scored 48 goals in 45 matches for the Catalan side. He only needs another goal in La Liga to reach 96 club goals, which would put him even with Mariano Martin in 4th position for Bareconla's history of goal scorers.
• In Russia meanwhile, the people of Moscow must wait their turn once more for a league title as Zenit St. Petersburg won their second title in four years, to the undoubted consternation of many in the nation's capital. Rrubin Kazan won consecutive 2008 and 2009 titles while Zenit were last victorious in 2007. The traditional Moscow triad of powerhouses had previously won the last 14 of 15 league titles.
• France also has an interesting league this year, as 4 points is all that separates the top 12 sides in Ligue 1. On a similar note, only 8 points are between the top of the table side Brest and 2nd to bottom Lens, who at one point this season had actually been league front-runners!
• Finally, Italy's Inter Milan is no longer safe at home. After more than 2 years dominating the San Siro undefeated, they lost a close match to bitterest rivals AC Milan. This was also the 1st time in around 5 years that AC Milan were victorious in a derby between the two sides since a 1-0 result in February 2005.

Some News..

The straggling Italian side Cagliari Calcio have hired the ex-Italian coach Roberto Donadoni to lead their team, hoping to reverse the poor form they have had thus far this season. Meanwhile, in Under-21 Competition, Germany conquered England once more by a margin of 2-0; nonetheless, since the Germans failed to qualify, England need not fear them any longer.  Finally, Argentina and Brazil will be playing an International Friendly  this week in a match which should be quite an exciting contest to watch!

Italian update- 11/14/2010

AC Milan won their derby against Inter Milan today, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the early penalty which sealed the game for the stalwart red and blacks. This was actually Inter's first home loss since March of 2008 so I'm sure AC Milan are extremely happy. Also, another source of happiness is the fact that the win over their rivals puts AC Milan at the top of the table, 1 point clear of the second place side and 6 points clear of Inter. Oh happy days for the club of Pato, Pirlo, and many others!

Ah, Sunday football, 11/14/2010.

Starting in a more northern area, namely Scotland, Celtic triumphed over St. Mirren 1-0 to keep the league title on a 1 point margin. In Germany meanwhile, Bayern Munchen obliterated all resistance from Nurnberg in a 3-0 trouncing while Hoffenheim lost in the 90+ minute to Freiburg 1-0. Across the border though, in the Netherlands, Ajax lost 2-0 away to AZ from goals in the 70 minute mark. Feyenoord however could only tie 2-2 with Heerenveen, scoring first and last. Heracles however had no trouble with Groningen though, wiping them out 3-0. NEC tied 1-1 with Den Haag while the largest scoreline was Vitesse destroying Venlo 5-1 in a shower of goals starting in the 11th minute and concluding with 3 more between the 85th and the 89th minutes. Moving to Iberia now, in Portugal, Benfica also had a feast of goals, winning 4-0 against Naval Maio. Other notable results were Leiria's upset of Vitoria 1-0 and Porto's current scoreline of 1-0 against Portimonense. Spain though saw Real Madrid almost tie with Sporting Gijon before Higuain scored in the 82nd minute to finish the game 1-0. Sevilla beat Zaragoza by a goal as well, winning 2-1 thanks to a 90th minute goal by Negredo. Valencia lead Getafe 1-0. Finally in England, Chelsea lost very badly, and very surprisingly, to Sunderland by a margin of 3-0 while Arsenal edged out Everton 2-1 thanks to 2 earlier goals by Sagna and Fabregas.

Some results.

In Germany, Bremen tied with Frankfurt 0-0, as Kaiserslautern matched Stuttgart 3-3. The biggest result of the day was Koln's 4-0 loss to Monchengladbach at home. Hannover beat the previously high-flying Mainz 1-0 while Leverkusen beat St. Pauli by the same margin. Schalke and Wolfsburg tied 2-2. In the Netherlands meanwhile, PSV fended off the assault from Excelsior with a 4-2 margin of victory. NAC actually beat Twente 2-1 thanks to 2 late goals, in the 81st and 90th minute respectively. In the meantime, Portugal found Sporting winning 2-1 against Academica while Braga lost to Vitoria by the same margin. Across the border in Spain however, Athletic beat Almeria 1-0 while Atletico beat Osasuna 3-0. Barcelona beat Villarreal 3-1 through 2 Messi goals to go to the top of the table, until Real Madrid play their next match that is. In France, Sochaux tied 1-1 with Brest while Bordeaux beat Nancy 2-1. Lille turned things around in the meantime, winning 5-2 against Caen thanks to 3 goals from Sow. Across the Channel in England however, Manchester United came back from 2-down to tie the game in the 2nd half (and at the final whistle) 2-2. Manchester City could only get a point as well, as they tied Birmingham 0-0. Stoke meanwhile took Liverpool out, winning 2-0 in a poor result for Torres and company. Tottenham had something to be happy about though, they defeated Blackburn 4-2. Wolves lost 3-2 to Bolton. To the North of England, in Scotland, Hearts beat St. Johnstone 2-0 while Rangers conquered Aberdeen by the same margin. Finally, in Italy, Roma and Juventus could only tie 1-1 as Totti and Iaquinta scored for their respective sides.

AFC Champions League.

South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma are champions of Asia. The club side overcame the Iranian side Zob Ahan in a 3-1 victory which was led for the most part by the first two goals of the game, by two defenders. The Iranians showed some bite as they scored in the 67th minute but Seongnam got back the two goal margin with an 83rd minute goal. With the victory, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma have cemented their position as arguably the Korean Republic's greatest team. The Iranian side wasn't disgraced however, Zob Ahan had knocked out some of Asia's best clubs during their run to the Asian final game. The casualties included the holders Pohang Steelers (another side from South Korea), the Uzbek champions Bunyodkor, as well as two-time winners Al Ittihad and Saudi giants Al Hilal in the semi-final. Nonetheless, the victory today was a third AFC Champions League title for the Korea Republic, following triumphs by other club sides such as Jeonbuk Motors in 2006 and Pohang Steelers in 2009. This trend illustrates the growth of the world's game in a nation that is also improving its national team performance.

So what's been up in the world of football?

CSKA Moskva kept the Russian title race open as they handed Zenit St. Petersburg their first home defeat since August 2009 with a 3-1 margin. Zenit just needed a point to seize the deal however they were held at bay. The next games will prove vital as Zenit take on FC Rostov while CSKA will want 3 points from Spartak Nalchik. If both sides take victories, Zenit will look for some "simple" points against FC Rubin Kazan and PFC Krylya Sovetov Samara. Fernando Torres meanwhile has been wowing of late, giving Liverpool a 2-0 win over Chelsea alongside a 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic. As fantastic as it is, he must be wondering when his team mates will start performing as solo efforts alone almost never buoy a team to greatness. In Scotland though, the Bhoy's set a record against Aberdeen, scoring 9 times without reply to hand the Dons their worst result in club history. Celtic do not lead the league yet. In Italy though, Inter Milan will be taking on AC Milan this Sunday in a game that may significantly decide the league title race as not only will the victors take 3 points, but they'll also be given a huge boost that will definately increase confidence. Inter sit 3 points behind their rivals. Spain at the same time will be looking on as 2nd place Barca take on 3rd place Villarreal in a game where the Yellow Submarines will hope Nilmar's eye for goal will continue. The two teams are only seperated by 2 points. Finally, Turkey will be witness to the titanic battle between the unbeaten Bursaspor, who have drawn 4/5 games that they have played. Trabzonspor have taken the league apex because of this, having won their last 5 games including a 2-0 clash with Galatasaray.

It's been quite a stretch of time.

Sorry, I just have been busy and wanted to kill myself as Hearts beat Celtic 2-0... Anyway! How about in the Italian Serie A where the veteran AC Milan took the top of while Napoli went to 3rd place? They've both done rather well for themselves as Lazio hold 2nd place. Inter Milan meanwhile hold 4th place as Juventus and Roma make up 5th and 6th respectively. AC Milan have 23 points while the 6th place Roma have 18 points. That small of a points gap should signify how close Serie A is at the moment. In England meanwhile Chelsea still hold top spot, 4 points ahead of Manchester United. The explosive performances Liverpool meanwhile have boosted things, but they still are out of the top 5. Arsenal hold 3rd place with 23 points while Manchester City and Newcastle round out the top 5. Newcastle only lead their closest competition, Bolton and Tottenham, by 1 point. Spain though has Real Madrid still leading with 26 points while Barcelona holds second with 25 points. Villarreal could still cause some trouble as they are only two points behind Barca. How about in Germany though? Dortmund hold a four point gap over second place Mainz while Hoffenheim hold 5th place. Bayern? They hold 9th. Schalke 04 meanwhile sit just under Kaiserslautern, in 16th place. France on the otherhand are still led by smaller sides, namely Stade Brestois and Stade Rennais in first and second respectively. PSG are a point behind in third while Olympique Marseille sit one point behind them with 18 in fourth. In Portugal, Porto are 10 points clear at the top while Benfica sit even on points with Vitoria at 18 points.

USA, MLS.

So if you thought the regualr season of the MLS was fun, the path to the title race is fantastic. LA Galaxy with the big names of Landon Donovan and David Beckham could only edge out the Seattle Sounders 1-0 in their match while the New York Red Bulls scraped through by the same margin against San Jose without Thierry Henry. Real Salt Lake meanwhile? Well, the holders weren't so marvelous as they lost to FC Dallas 2-1. While this was actually the most entertaining game with a 3 goal scoreline, it's still not the way to kick things off for the defending champs. Finally, the Colorado Rapids beat the Columbus Crew by the popular 1-0 margin to kick things off in the right way for their title hunt. Hopefully the race fires-up as it progresses!

Your Football Forecast

Tomorrow, Tottenham Hotspur will be taking on the formidable Inter Milan in Group A while Werder Bremen will take on the Dutch side Twente finishing out the group. Group B action will consist of Hapoel Tel-Aviv taking on the underperforming German club Schalke while Benfica of Portugal will want to fare well as Lyon leave home to come to the Estadio da Luz.Valencia against Rangers and Bursaspor's match against Manchester United will be the matches from Group C.Finally, in Group D Rubin Kazan will be facing off against the Greeks of Panathinaikos while Copenhagen will try to get something from the Spanish juggernauts Barcelona. On Wednesday 11/3 meanwhile, Group E action will consist of Basel v.s. Roma and Cluj taking on the hot and cold Bayern Munich. Russian owned Chelsea will be taking on the Russian side Spartak Moscow in Group F while  Zilina v.s. Marseille fill out the group. Group G sees Auxerre take on Ajax while possibly the biggest named match AC Milan-Real Madrid will provide essentially the winner of the group. Last but not least, Partizan Belgrade will want to defeat Braga of Portugal as Shakhtar Donetsk will be lucky to get a point from the free-firing, in form Arsenal.