An update from around the world after a bit of time off.

Sorry this has been a while in coming, I've been registering for classes. Anyway, to the football! First off, Japan are Champions of the Asian World! They grabbed the title in an edgy match against Australia in the Final which was only decided by one goal. Tadanari Lee was the man who scored it, winning the match in the 109th minute to put yet another trophy in the hands of the capable Japanese. It was only Lee's second match of the competition. Australia had their own bite though, having several chances very early on to put some sweat on the brow of the Japanese and their goalie, Eiji Kawashima. Yasuhito Endo also had a good game and Alberto Zaccheroni is obviously very pleased with his side. Unfortunately for Holger Osieck, the Australian coach, nothing went in from Harry Kewell or anyone else to conclude a disappointing game. Meanwhile, the match for third place between South Korea and Uzbekistan was predictably more open with a fantastic number of goals scored, but victory was the South Koreans' in the end as their three goals beat the Uzbek's two. Koo Ja-Cheol opened the scoring in the 18th before Ji Dong-Won slotted two goals in two minutes to make it a 3-0 game. Alexander Geynrikh went on a crusade for his side though as the first half ended and the second began, converting a penalty in the 45th before striking a second in the 53rd to make it 3-2. The South Koreans then managed to silence him, winning third place in the tournament in the process. In the CAF Champions League, African giants Raja Casablanca, ASEC Abidijan, and Zamalek all got off to a wonderful start, scoring over 20 goals between the three of them while allowing only 1. Casablanca destroyed the minnows Tourbillon of Chad with a 10-1 victory while Abidijan finished 7-0 over ASC SNIM, a small side from Mauritania as Zamalek won 4-0 over Ulinzi of Kenya. In the Americas on the other hand, Flamengo defeated Vasco in Brazil 2-1 thanks to goals from Deivid and Thiago Neves while Fluminese, the current champions, beat Macae 4-2. Going up north to Mexico now, America recorded a 2-0 victory over Atlas while Cruz Azul destroyed Pachuca 4-0 despite the fact that they were playing away from home. Moving to Europe now, there has been a bit of transfer action, but I'll hit on the league outlooks for now: Up in the North of Scotland, Celtic lead Rangers by five points although Rangers have yet to play two games. Heart of Midlothian are in third, two points behind Rangers, but also having played two more games. South now to England, Manchester United lead the table still with 51 points, still undefeated too. Arsenal occupy second place with 46 points while Manchester City sit a point beneath them. Chelsea hold fourth, Tottenham have fifth, while Liverpool have risen some since the new coach, residing in seventh place. Wolves sit at 19th while West Ham hold last place. Over in Germany, Dortmund still lead the Bundesliga with 50 points while Leverkusen sit in second with 39. Bayern have found their form enough to grab third place, three points behind Leverkusen, Mainz also have 36 points, but sit behind Bayern on goal-difference. Spain meanwhile is under the spell of Barcelona who lead Real Madrid by seven points. Villarreal hold third place while Valencia are five points behind them in fourth. AC Milan top the table in Italy while Napoli hold second, three points above Lazio. Inter sit at fourth with 38 while Roma are in fifth. France is still pretty tight as Lille lead PSG by just four points while Lyon have taken a hold of third, leading Stade Rennais by goal-difference. Sochaux hold tenth with just 28 points. The Big Three of Portugal still hold sway, but Porto lead with 50 points while Benfica follow with 39, 8 points more than Sporting have to their name. Finally, in the Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven lead Twente by just a point with 47 and 46 being the respective tallies. Ajax hold third with a point more then Groningen. Feyenoord are in the dumps though, occupying 15th place!

Domestic action round-up 1/26/11. Cup news.

Starting in beautiful Portugal, Porto v.s. Nacional was the only game of the day with Porto wiping their visitors out with a 3-0 scoreline. Hulk struck in the 3rd and 33rd minutes to make it 2-0 before James Rodriguez made it 3-0 a minute before the half. The second half however, was much less inspiring as Rodriguez was given a yellow, Fernando Belluschi was also carded, and Juninho was carded for Nacional. Up north in Scotland, Celtic met Hearts in Glasgow and destroyed them, winning 4-0 as James Forrest, and Patrick McCourt struck while Anthony Stokes scored twice. Despite the immense scoreline, there were, however, a ton of cards as Celtic had four players booked while Hearts had three. In Ranger's match against Hibernian, they won, but not as convincingly, with a 2-0 scoreline. Both goals came in the first half as Madjid Bougherra and Nikica Jelavic both scored. Again, there were plenty of cards to go around with seven bookings the combined total. Inverness' match with Aberdeen was a bit better mannered with only a red card for Grant Munro (Inverness) and a yellow for Rory McArdle (Aberdeen). Otherwise, the match was all about the football as Ryan Jack scored just before half-time and Nick Blackman scored in the 49th to make it a 2-0 game for the visitors. Aberdeen were happy to collect the three points to be sure. St. Johnstone were lucky against Motherwell, winning thanks to a penalty conversion by Liam Craig in the 62nd. Beyond that, the game wasn't too spectacular with a combined five cards being shown to the teams and no goals from open play. St. Mirren and Dundee United played out a good game, despite the fact that it was a draw. Yes, yellows were shown a number of times, but that only shows the fighting between the two teams. Darren McGregor's 38th minute goal really put the pressure on the visitors as St. Mirren held the lead into the half. No matter, David Robertson then brought Dundee level with two minutes left in the game to give the teams a draw and end the game in dramatic fashion. Just south in England now, Liverpool played a very close game with Fulham that ended with the home side walking away with the three points. John Pantsil, however, was the man who did a lot through the game. Yes, he is a Fulham player, and yes, he gave Liverpool the winning goal in the 52nd minute with his own-goal. He also collected a yellow in the 69th to cap off a kind of bad day for everyone. Liverpool's performance was poor, Fulham couldn't equalise. In the Italian Cup, AC Milan have been driven into the semi's on Pato-power. Alexandre Pato was the young blood who struck twice when AC needed him most to claim a 2-1 victoryfor AC Milan over Sampdoria. AC Milan controlled the play for much of the game before Pato beat Samp keeper. Junior Costa with his first shot. Urby Emanuelson then gave Pato a delicious opportunity for his second which he had no qualms about taking. Flavio Roma served his side nobly though, as he kept several Sampdoria chances from getting into his net. Stefano Guberti was the man who finally beat Roma though, heading home a Massimo Maccarone cross. Antonio Cassano then almost scored against his old team as the game died but the score was left 2-1.  Meanwhile, in Spain, Real Madrid are looking comfortable following a 1-0 win over Sevilla curtesy of Karim Benzema. That was, however, the only real excitement of the game though, as chances came and went for both sides and even some post-game drama occured but the scoreline remained the same. In Germany, Bayern were successful in their destruction of Aachen, winning 4-0 in the DFB- Pokal and advancing onwards.

AFC Asian Cup final match-up and other news.

Well the fairy tale is over for Uzbekistan in Qatar. They met Australia on the field of battle and were eliminated. The final scoreline was 6-0 and the Uzbeks were down to ten men at the end. This puts the final of the Asian Cup between Australia and Japan, what is sure to be a fantastic match as well. Harry Kewell opened for the Australians very early in the match before Sasa Ognenovski made it 2-0 before the half.  David Carney then struck a third before the Uzbeks lost one of their strikers due to a red card: Ulugbek Bakaev was sent off and the Aussies were encouraged to push on. Brett Emerton got Australia's fourth before Carl Valeri struck the fifth. The sixth goal was only a matter of time and Robbie Kruse was the man to collect it as the Uzbeks were not only demoralised, but simply falling apart in every part of the field. It really wasn't a good showing for a side who had made a name for themselves up until this stage of the tournament. If the Uzbeks can win the third place match, according to pretty ingenious competition rules, they could automatically qualify for the next edition of the Asian Cup in 2015. In the other Semi-final match, Japan and South Korea could only be seperated by penalties, which the Japanese easily claimed victory by a 3-0 margin. Yasuyuki Konno struck the winning penalty. Koo Ja-Cheol, Lee Yong-Rae and Hong Jeong-Ho had all taken, and missed, their oppurtunities for South Korea. In regulation time, the game ended 2-2 but Hwang Jae-Won served as hero for the Koreans, equalising as the second period of extra-time died. Kawashima had a good time in goal for the Japanese during the penalty shoot-out as he saved two and didn't have to bother with South Korea's third. In other news, Honduras are the Champions of Central America having won the 2011 Copa Centroamericana in Panama over the weekend. They defeated Costa Rica in the Final match to officially get the title which they had already held as the sole Central American side to play in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where they played a good game but weren't able to advance very far.

Domestic action from Sunday, Futsal on Monday.

Beginning in England, Blackburn beat West Brom  2-0 thanks to an own-goal from Gabriel Tamas and a strike from David Hoilett six minutes later. Over on the continent, Germany saw Hoffenheim tie with St. Pauli 2-2 as the home side scored the first and last goals thanks to Marvin Compper and David Alaba. St. Pauli struck back though, equalising and even taking the lead for a bit through Max Kruse and Gerald Asamoah. Leverkusen were more successful when they visited Monchengladbach and claimed victory with a 3-1 result. Michal Kadlec and Gonzalo Castro both scored goals before 'Gladbach could even score one of their own. Martin Stranzl was Monchengladbach's man as he scored their only goal. Leverkusen then retook the initiative when Gonzalo Castro scored once more to finish the game 3-1. Michael Ballack made an appearance for Leverkusen as well, coming in for the second half. In Spain, Almeria were able to put one too many past Osasuna as they were victorious with a 3-2 score line. Carlos Garcia opened the scoring for Almeria as Ulloa added a second within three minutes to make it 2-0 for the home side. Aranda then brought Osasuna one back before Ulloa struck again to make it 3-1 for Almeria. Dejan Lekic then worked for Osasuna's second, scoring in the second minute of stoppage time in the second half to make it 3-2. Getafe were unsuccessful hosts however, as they welcomed Espanyol and lost 3-1. Getafe did score first, through Miku in the 14th minute to get off to a good start. They held the lead until half time but in the second half they let Luis Garcia, Jose Callejon, and Sergio Garcia all score within 11 minutes to lose the game. Real Madrid only scored one goal against mid-table Mallorca but it was enough for the win as Karim Benzema slotted home to make it 1-0. There were a lot more yellow cards though, as Emilio Nsue, Sergio Ramos, Tejera, Esteban Granero, Ivan Ramis, Lassana Diarra and Nunes were all booked. Sporting Gijon and and Atletico were also only separated by one goal as David Barral scored in the 51st for Gijon for the win. There were also cards in this game, as five were given before the 90 minutes were out. Villarreal and Real Sociedad also had a close game as Villarreal won at home, 2-1. Mikel Aranburu opened the scoring for Sociedad before Giuseppe Rossi struck twice in 6 minutes to give Villarreal the lead and eventually the win. Five cards were also shown in this game with four yellows going to Sociedad and one to Villarreal. Zaragoza and Deportivo were also divided by only a goal as Said  Boutahar struck in the first half to make it 1-0. That was the only goal of the game but three cards were handed out after the 89th minute. In the Netherlands, Groningen lost to Twente thanks to two goals from Marc Janko in the 40th and 81st minutes after Tim Matavz had scored in the 33rd to give Groningen an early lead. Roda took Excelsior apart, putting two away in the first half before slotting in a third to finish the game 3-0. Jimmy Hempte opened the account in the 14th before Pa-Modou Kah struck in the second. The loss of Kaj Ramsteijn in the 64th by Excelsior was never going to be good, but Roda only scored another, through Morten Skoubo in the 84th, to finalize what was apparent from the first half: Roda were just better. Utrecht v.s. Ajax offered a surprise though, as Edouard Duplan struck twice within two minutes to put the home side ahead 2-0 quite early. Ismo Vostermans then put in a third in the 83rd to clarify the result. Venlo v.s. PSV was the final game on Sunday in Holland, and Eindhoven won it comfortably as well. Wilfred Bouma, Jeremain Lens, and Atiba Hutchinson all put a goal away to make it 3-0 when the referee ended the match. Ending the domestic action on Sunday in Italy, Napoli beat Bari 2-0 thanks to goals from Ezequiel Lavezzi and Edinson Cavani. Alessandro Parisi was lost to Bari, as he received a yellow-red which reduced the home side (Bari) to ten men. Bologna's defeat to Lazio was also a bit of a one sided match as Sergio Floccari opened the game for Lazio, but that was their only goal as Gaston Ramirez and Marco Di Vaio scored a goal each within three minutes to give Bologna a 2-1 lead. Both sides then lost a man before Di Vaio slotted in a second, a third for his side, to win the game for Bologna. Chievo and Genoa tied 0-0 in their match while Fiorentina and Lecce tied 1-1 thanks to goals from David Di Michele for Lecce while Alberto Gilardino brought Fiorentina back on level terms which is how the game ended. Sampdoria and Juventus also tied, 0-0, at the same time as AC Milan beat Cesena thanks to an own-goal from Maximiliano Pellegrino and Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck in the third minute of stoppage time in the second half to finish it 2-0. Finally, Udinese cracked Inter's facade as Dejan Stankovic struck Inter's only goal in the 16th minute before Christian Zapata, Antonio Di Natale, and Maurizio Domizzi each scored one for the home side as they totally surprised the past-Italian champions in a 3-1 upset. Futsal you ask? Well, the Preliminary Round ended today with Lithuania defeating Malta with a 5-1 scoreline with all five Lithuanian goals coming from Tomas Nemanis. Dean Gera then brought Malta one back in the 31st minute. Greece and Iceland also played a spectacular game ending with a 4-5 scoreline. Ilias Bousbouras scored first for Greece while Spyridon Gritzalis struck three more. That wasn't enough though as Iceland struck back through their captain Tryggvi Gudmundsson, Thorsteinn Már Ragnarsson, Thórarinn Ingi Valdimarsson scored twice, and Magnús Thorsteinsson scored one as well as Iceland won. Turkey and Moldova meanwhile also had an exciting game as the Turks eventually won through Cihan Özcan's two goals, Aziz Sağlam's goal, and Burak Yıldırım own as well. Özcan was later sent off but he had done his work. Oleg Hilotii and Denis Coicev were the only two players to have scored for Moldova, once each which was not enough as they lost 2-4. France were able to defeat Bulgaria 2-1 thanks to Kamel Hamdoud and David Le Boette. Viktor Viktorov was the only player to have scored for Bulgaria. England also edged out Estonia. Luke Ballinger scored twice despite missing three penalties but Robert Ursell helped him and England out with his goal. Mark Švets and Ilja Antonov were the two who scored for Estonia. Latvia edged out Armenia thanks to Sergejs Nagibins and Dmitrijs Jakovļevs' goals while Vladimir Mkhitaryan had brought Armenia one back. Finally, Switzerland lost to Montenegro in a good game. Montenegro owned the first half with goals from Nikola Perović, Nemanja Vukašinović, Bojan Bajović, and Ilija Mugoša. Fabio Santona and David Meyer were the two Swiss players to score in the second half while Perović scored a second to make it 2-5; a fine result for Montenegro.

Dutch league, Spanish league, Italian league, and the Portuguese league. Domestic action part II. 1/22/2011.

In the Netherlands, Feyenoord lost 1-0 to De Graafschap despite being at home. Leon Broekhof was the man who put the away side ahead late in the game, in the 88th minute. Heracles and AZ battled out to a goalless draw in their match no matter that both sides had good opportunities through the match. NEC v.s. NAC also ended in a draw, but both sides scored two as Bjorn Vleminckx opened the scoring in the 39th. Nemanja Gudelj could only draw NAC level in the 77th, followed two minutes later by another goal for NEC from John Goossens to make it 2-1 for the home side. NAC wouldn't have that though, as Marvin van del Pluijm equalised once more, in the second minute minute of stoppage time of the second half, to make it 2-2 when the final whistle blew. The final game in Holland, between Willem II and Vitesse ended 1-0 with the home side finishing in the lead by one thanks to Rangelo Janga in the 26th minute. Down in Spain meanwhile, Barcelona continue to fly high in the league, winning 3-0 over Racing in a fantastic match which saw Pedro Rodriguez open the scoring in the 2nd minute followed by Lionel Messi's converted penalty in the 33rd. Andres Iniesta then tacked on a third in the 56th to make it 3-0 at full-time. Sevilla's dismantlement of Levante was another match to admire, as Luis Fabiano scored a hat-trick, including a penalty, Xisco Munoz fired in Levante's only goal, and Julien Escude was Sevilla's other scorer. Valencia and Malaga was a lot closer and a lot fiercer though, as two Malaga players: Helder Rosario and Martin Demichelis, were red-carded, and yet still Malaga managed to score three goals. Valencia, however, were able to one up them as Juan Manuel Mata, Roberto Soldado, Ever Benega, and Artiz Aduriz each slotted one in to just edge out the two goals from Jose Rondon and goal from Julio Baptista. Over in Italy, Roma dealt with Cagliari, winning 3-0 with goals from Francesco Totti, Simone Perrota, and Jeremy Menez. Parma beat Catania by a goal less, winning 2-0 with goals from Antonio Candreva and youth talent Sebastian Giovinco. Last but not least, Palermo were able to edge Brescia for the three points, and it's all thanks to Cesare Bovo who slotted home in the 86th. Finally, in Portugal, league leaders Porto could only manage a goal, a penalty actually, from Hulk to just barely triumph over mid-table Beira-Mar, who did well to keep the game that close, but couldn't convert for themselves. Benfica beat Nacional 4-2 with goals from Nicolas Gaitan, Sidnei, Oscar Cardozo, and Franco Jara. Rene Mihelic and Luis Alberto were the two who converted for Nacional with good efforts, but not enough to beat the Eagles. Braga and Vitoria FC tied 2-2 with goals from Mamadou Djikine and Claudio Pitbull for Vitoria before Helder Barbosa and Guilherme brought Braga back onto level terms. Naval 1 Maio tied with Portimonense in a 1-1 game that could have gone either way. Ivanildo put Portimonense ahead very early, scoring in the fourth minute, before Robert Previtali equalised in the second minute of stoppage time in the second half. Olhanense edged out Academica despite Adrien Silva putting the away side ahead first. Nuno Piloto equalised in the 21st before Rui Duarte put Olhanense ahead through a penalty in the 70th to make it 2-1. A lead they never lost. Pacos de Ferreira and Leiria played out a 1-1 draw as well, Pizzi and Paulo Vinicius scoring for the respective sides. And the last game, between Rio Ave and Vitoria SC can be argued to have been the most spectacular. Edgar gave Vitoria an early lead from the penalty spot, before five yellow cards and a red were handed out. A yellow was also shown leading to the penalty. Joao Tomas then scored the first of his two goals, this one from the penalty spot in the 49th to make it 1-1. Yet another red was shown, putting Rio Ave down two men now, before Douglas put Vitoria in the lead again in the 68th.  Joao Tomas then equalised again, from the field as well, making it 2-2. Rio Ave then received a third send-off, leading to Edgar's second penalty, second goal, and the third for Vitoria who then held on to their lead to win the match 3-2.

The last Semi-final spot goes to South Korea in the Asian Cup while domestic action was heavy today.

South Korea were able to edge out Iran 1-0 in their Quarter-finals match of the Asian Cup in Qatar to book their place in the Semi-finals against Japan, I believe.  Yoon Bit-Garam  was the South Korean side's hero as he scored in extra time to stop the game from going to penalties. The South Koreans were able to keep a very good pace to the game, something which off-set their Iranian opponents. Many of the South Korean players had chances including Park Ji-Sung, Ki Sung-Yueng, and Cha Du-Ri but when it counted, Yoon Bit-Garam converted his. Iran's big chance was actually when Mohammad Reza Khalatbari's free-kick was almost headed into South Korea's net by Ji Dong-Won. Luckily for the Koreans, keeper Jung Sung-Ryong got it away. Into the domestic action now where, in Scotland, the scorelines were very close all around. Celtic defeated Aberdeen 1-0 thanks to a strike from Anthony Stokes in the 27th while Rangers lost at Hearts by the same scoreline compliments of Ryan Stevenson in the 77th minute. Moving away from the Old Firm in Scotland, Inverness could only draw at home against Hamilton as Dani Sanchez opened the scoring for Inverness in the 18th while Mickael Antoine-Curier equalised in the first minute of stoppage time in the first half to make it 1-1. The game ended that way; just as St. Johnstone and St. Mirren finished 0-0. Finally, Motherwell scored twice as they beat Hibernian 2-0 with Jamie Murphy and Steve Saunders scoring the two goals within five minutes. South of the border in England now, where Arsenal took Wigan apart 3-0 with a hat-trick from Robin van Persie scoring the Gunners' only goals. No matter, a win is a win! The same can be said of Aston Villa who edged Manchester City 1-0 thanks to a strike from Darren Bent quite early in the match. Sunderland went to Blackpool and won 2-1 thanks to two goals from Kieran Richardson in the first half before Charlie Adam brought Blackpool back one from the penalty spot. Everton and West Ham ended up tying 2-2 as Jonathan Spector scored the only goal of the first half, for West Ham, before Diniyar Bilyaletdinov equalised for Everton. West Ham were then put back into the lead thanks to an effort by Frederic Piquionne who was then sent off in the next minute. Marouane Fellani then tied the game up again after he struck in the first minute of stoppage time in the second half to finish the match 2-2. Fulham defeated Stoke 2-0 thanks to two strikes from Clint Dempsey in either half including one from the penalty spot. Manchester United then faced Birmingham, and dominated. A hat-trick from Berbatov was just the beginning as Nani and Giggs also scored as United trounced the lower table side. Liverpool did some of their own beating up, giving it to Wolves 3-0. Fernando Torres and Raul Meireles were the scorers and Kenny Dalglish finally gets things somewhat underway. Last but not least, Newcastle drew with Tottenham, even scoring first! Fabricio Coloccini was the man for Newcastle while Aaron Lennon equalised at the death to make it 1-1. Crossing the Channel into France, Lens defeated Caen today, 2-0, thanks to Adil Hermach and Toifilou Maoulida. Over in Germany, Kaiserslautern were spanked by Bayern 5-1 as Mario Gomez scored three, Arjen Robben opened the scoring, and Thomas Muller closed it. Jan Moravek gave the Red Devils a little credibility when he scored but Kaiserslautern were never going to win in Bavaria. Dortmund were actually held to a draw against Stuttgart as Pavel Pogrebnyak equalised Mario Gotze's goal with only a few more minutes left. Freiburg and Nurnberg drew 1-1 when Johannes Flum and Julian Schieber scored for their respective sides. Raul was Schalke's man as he beat Hannover for them. His goal was the only one that separated the two sides when the final whistle blew. Koln defeated Bremen 3-0 with two goals coming from Lukas Podolski and another from Adam Matuschyk. Finally, Wolfsburg beat Mainz 1-0 as Simon Kjaer scored the game's only goal. I'll complete this update later.

Asian Cup update 1/22/2011. Domestic update to follow.

Australia and Iraq faced off today in Qatar for a show of brilliant football that only ended when Harry Kewell finally broke the deadlock in extra-time to make it 1-0. His header was just what the Aussies needed, and what the Iraqis dreaded, to settle who was going to the Semis. Matt McKay set-up the situation beautifully as he crossed the ball right into Kewell's path. Kewell gladly converted. The Iraqis actually played a very good game, had it not been for the experience of the Australians the game very well may have gone down to penalties. Even Mohammed Kassid, the Iraqi goalie, had a good game, denying several chances until the fortunate, or unfortunate, game winning header. Nevertheless, the Australians will face Uzbekistan next while the Iraqis have nothing to be embarassed about as they go out.

Finally, the futsal review that has been promised.

Beginning the review, Moldova faced Switzerland today in Turkey in a fiercely contested match. Moldova scored the only points in the first half, goals from Alexei Munteanu and captain Oleg Hilotii making it 2-0 in a matter of moments. Sergiu Tacot and Andrei Vicolaş then added two more for Moldova before the Swiss could even notch one in. When Yannick Raboud finally did score for the Swiss, the scoreline was already 4-1, a dismal predicament in any circumstance. Daniel Mohorovic then notched in a second with three minutes to go. David Meyer made it 4-3 with a minute left, a circumstance found in part due to the fact that Raboud missed a penalty in the 38th which would have been enough to equalise the two sides. No matter, Moldova ended up edging their opponents in a fascinating game. Also in Turkey, the Turks themselves played against the team from Montenegro in a match which ended badly, but resolutely. Turkey scored the only goal of the first half, a strike from Yasin Erdal making it 1-0 at the break. No matter, Montenegro equalised shortly into the second half thanks to Ilija Mugosa. Turkey then slotted in a flurry of goals in succession, a tally which could have been more had Erdal converted his penalty around the 35th minute. Burak Yıldırım began the onslaught in the 31st while Yasin Erdal and the captain Cihan Özcan made it a 5-1 route. The game, however, ended badly. Miloš Bošković of Montenegro and Mustafa Kurtay of Turkey both received red cards as the game ended. Meanwhile, in Greece's match with Armenia, neither side could actually get the advantage in either half or the game itself. Armenia's Armen Danielyan opened the scoring only to have Ioannis Delaportas equalise a minute later. The second half happened in the opposite manner, with Greece's captain Sokratis Mourdoukoutas scoring while Armenia's Khoren Zargaryan equalised to finish the game 2-2. The other Group B match, a blistering battle between Iceland and Latvia, finished with the Latvians barely in the lead. The first half would have shown otherwise, as despite opening the scoring thanks to Andrejs Sustrovs, Latvia then fell behind to be 2-1 down at the half with goals from Magnús Thorsteinsson and Thórarinn Ingi Valdimarsson putting Iceland ahead. No matter, Maksims Sens equalised for the Latvians before Gudmundur Steinarsson put Iceland in the lead once more: 3-2. Aleksejs Baranovs brought the Latvians level again before Igors Dacko put them into the lead for the first time in the game. Valdimarsson then equalised for Iceland to make it 4-4 until, with six minutes left, Latvia's Dmitrijs Jakovlevs put them ahead 5-4; a lead which they did not lose. Georgia v.s. Estonia meanwhile was a much more one-sided affair, with the Georgians actually showing the Estonians who is boss quite emphatically. Georgia's captain David Bobokhidze actually opened the scoring in the first minute with a fine effort that only helped the Georgians grow in confidence, leading to their second goal from Archil Sebiskveradze literally just seconds later. Sebiskveradze then notched on a third three minutes later to make it 3-0 with a lot of the first half still to go. Shota Chanukvadze then added his name to the scoring list, slotting home in the 11th to make it 4-0. Bobokhidze then closed the half with a fifth goal. He quickly completed his hat-trick in the beginning of the second half with a goal two minutes in. Sebiskveradze then completed his own hat-trick a couple minutes later to make it 7-0. Dimitri Makishvili closed the account with a 34th minute strike that put an end to Estonia's keeper, Mark Boskin, and his terrible night. England also had a bad day as they lost to Macedonia 3-1. The Macedonians began gingerly, scoring the only goal of the first half in the 8th minute. Darko Rangotov was the real power behind their attack as he scored two of the game's goals. Zoran Leveski slotted home to open the second half before Neil Morgan brought England one back. Macedonia had the last laugh though, as Thomas Obasi was ejected from England and Rangotov took advantage of this with only a minute or so to go to make it 3-1. Lithuania's match against Bulgaria was also dominated by one of the sides, despite Lithuania sinking the first two goals of the game within the first three minutes thanks to Virmantas Lemežis and Tomas Nemanis respectively. Bulgaria then fought back, equalising through Boris Trendafilov and Angel Ivanov Todorov before Justas Gulbinas and Boycho Marev scored for the respective sides to make it 3-3 at the half. This, however, is nowhere how the second half ended as Trendafilov scored another while Boycho Marev scored a pair more to complete his hat-trick to give Bulgaria an absolute advantage. Malta's showdown with France was another thing entirely as the French opened through Jonathan Chaulet and didn't look back. Alexandre Texeira, David Le Boette, and Kamel Hamdoud each put in valuable efforts while Glenn Bonello seemed to be Malta's only hope today, scoring the team's only goal as they were cast aside 1-6. Andorra's match with Israel was another good game; the Israelis actually scored the first half's only goal, thanks to Dimitri Shulkin. But Diogenes Lino Baptista, David Ferriz Gracia, Jonathan Perez Nuñez, and Oriol Anglora Pirot were the four players to each score a goal as Andorra ended up claiming victory over the Israelis after a brilliant second half performance. Finally, Norway's dismantling of the Republic of Ireland was also breathtaking as Thomas Klaussen and Stian Dagfinn Johnsen scored the first half's only goals which put Norway 2-0 up at the half. Stian Sortevik scored in the second as did Morten Ravlo and Erik Lundanes Jonvik to finish the game a resounding 5-0. Had Ireland been able to win by the number of cautions though, they would have run away as winners.

Another AFC Asian Cup update for 1/21/11. Once more, futsal will be highlighted later.

The Uzbeks have been stunning thus far in the Asian Cup and they have rightly progressed to the Semi-final following their 2-1 win over Jordan. Uzbekistan will face even fiercer competition in the next round as they will either face Australia or Iraq on the road to the Final. Jordan actually came out better than Uzbekistan did, but once the Uzbeks had gotten their footing, they weren't going to be beaten. Ulugbek Bakaev was Uzbekistan's star, and the bane of the Jordanians, as he slotted two goals in three minutes to create a 2-0 lead for his side. Jordan's keeper Amer Shafia couldn't do much about either of the goals while Bashar Bani Yaseen fought on for Jordan, bringing them back one. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't catch Uzbekistan who finished the game with a one goal cushion.

AFC Asian Cup update 1/21/11. Futsal will come later.

Well Qatar has been successful in its presentation of the 2011 Asian Cup but, their team has now been eliminated. They faced Japan earlier today and were just barely edged out as Masahiko Inoha, a defender, struck late to give ten-man Japan a 3-2 victory. Sebastian Suria had given the hosts an early lead but Shinji Kagawa had other plans, drawing the Japanese level. Fabio Cesar scored a beautiful free-kick for the Qataris, just skimming into Eiji Kawashima's goal. Defender Maya Yoshida was dismissed leading to Cesar's free-kick which brought Japan down to ten men. Keisuke Honda, Shinji Okazaki, and Kagawa all came together for Japan's equaliser in a beautiful play. Both teams had lots of oppurtunitys leading up to Cesar's free-kick, but following the goal which put Qatar ahead, Kagawa equalised once more to make it 2-2. The match ended very actively with only Inoha finding a tie-breaker in the 90th minute despite many chances. Japan will face the winner of Iran v.s. South Korea.

The last Futsal match of the day and some Cup action around Europe.

Ireland hosted Andorra in Dublin in a match I honestly thought the Irish would win. Whether or not comfortably was another matter but my belief, however, was misplaced. Yes, the Irish were the first to score, thanks to a goal from Anthony Kane, but that would end up being their one and only while allowing Andorra to strike twice, in the first and second half through Diogenes Lino Baptista and Óscar Blacells respectively, to finish the game with a 2-1 victory for the visitors. Meanwhile, in the football on the grass, the Spanish and Italian Cups have come that much closer to a conclusion as Real Madrid finished Atlético Madrid in Spain with a 4-1 aggregate scoreline. The second leg was wrapped up with a 1-0 victory following Real's 3-1 victory in the previous leg. Real Madrid will face Sevilla in the next round while Barcelona take on Almeria despite losing their run of undefeated games in the previous Cup round. In Italy, AC Milan beat Bari 3-0, also exhibiting their newest signing: Antonio Cassano, to make the Quarter-finals which already host match-ups between Napoli v.s. Inter Milan, Parma v.s. Palermo, and Roma's match against Juventus; all games that should be very exciting. AC Milan were actually helped by their tried and true players: Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho. The surprise though, wasn't Cassano, but rather young German midfielder Alexander Merkel. Indeed, Cassano eventually had to make way for Andrea Pirlo who finally returned to Serie A action.

European Futsal Competition qualifying for Croatia 2012

Cyprus played San Marino in futsal today while Finland took on the Albanians and Israel tried to deal with the Norwegians. Cyprus were well able to deal with the San Marino side, winning 5-2 with goals from Kostas Polyviou and Lambros Vassiliou in the first half to make it 3-1 after San Marino actually opened the scoring through Gabriele Capicchioni in the 4th minute. Manolis Manoli then scored a fourth for the Cypriots before Alex Santi scored an own goal which put Cyprus up 5-1. Luca Della Balda then scored one for San Marino with roughly a minute to go to make the final score 5-2. Israel's game against Norway was also pretty one-sided, with Norway ending the game four goals up with a 7-3 scoreline. Abdurahim Lajaab opened the scoring for the Norwegians in the 5th minute but Oz Sabag equalised for the Israelis in the 9th to make it one all. Norway then had a period of domination where Erik Lundanes Jonvik, Thomas Klaussen and Lajaab each scored one to make it a 4-1 game. Sabag then brought Israel one back with a strike in the 19th to make it 4-2 at the half. Lundanes Jonvik then got the second half started with another goal, this time from a penalty, to make it 5-2. Stian Dagfinn Johnsen then slotted one in for himself to give Norway an even further lead, 6-2. Abdurahim Lajaab then finished his hat-trick, around the 35th, just as Dimitri Shulkin scored one for the Israelis to make the final score 7-3. These two games fail to match the domination which was shown by Finland though, as they demolished Albania 9-0. A hat-trick from Panu Autio contributed to the route but Risto Salmi, Joonas Laurikainen, Jarkko Reinikka, Antti Teittinen, and Mikko Kytölä all made contributions as well, with five goals coming in the first half and another four slotted in during the second half. The Republic of Ireland and Andorra play later today, with Ireland looking the favorites to win. Tomorrow, qualifying for Croatia 2012 continues as Moldova take on the Swiss, Georgia face Estonia, Lithuania welcome Bulgaria, and the Turks will look for a win over Montenegro.

Domestic action 1/19/2011.

The Netherlands had the most games today as Ajax welcomed Feyenoord and beat them comfortably, 2-0. A goal from Toby Alderweireld and a converted penalty by Miralem Sulejmani were enough to get the three points which put Ajax in third in the league, two behind FC Twente and three behind PSV. Speaking of Twente, they demolished Heracles 5-0 in their match today with Marc Janko scoring four and Luuk de Jong notching in a fifth. AZ played NEC and were forced to split the points as Bjorn Vleminckx scored both of NEC's goals while AZ were helped to a draw by Stijn Schaars in the 30th and Erik Falkenburg five minutes later. In the last Dutch match, Utrecht went to Venlo and got business done with a 2-1 scoreline seperating the two teams at the end. Frank Demouge opened the scoring, for Utrecht, in the 37th, before Ken Leemans equalised in the next minute to make it one all. Then, Venlo had a man sent off when Niels Fleuren recieved a red card in the 39th. And yet, Utrecht could only equalise in the 90th minute, a fact which doesn't say much about the 8th placed side. Venlo now occupy second from bottom in the table. Turning to France now, Lille defeated Nancy 3-0 with Gervinho scoring the first and last goals of the game while Eden Hazard scored one in the 49th. To add insult to injury, Andre Luiz was sent-off in the 74th to bring Nancy down to ten players. Lille weren't able to capatilise on that though. Finally, in Italy, Inter Milan were hard-pressed to defeat Cesena despite playing in Milan. Samuel Eto'o opened the scoring in the 14th with Diego Milito scoring a minute later to make it 2-0 for the home side. But Cesena didn't go down without a fight, Erjon Bogdani bringing them one back in the 23rd before Emanuele Giaccherini equalised in the 29th minute. That wasn't enough though, as Cristian Chivu broke the deadlock in the first minute of stoppage time for the first half to make it 3-2. And so arguably the most entertaining half of football closed followed by the complete opposite: Neither team scored another goal in the second half. In fact, the only thing of real note that took place was Emanuele Giaccherini being sent-off in the 74th to bring Cesena down to ten men. No matter, the game ended 3-2 in Inter Milan's favor.

Asian Cup with news about Japan and Jordan and a domestic match from Spain.

Japan qualified for the Quarter-finals after they eliminated Saudi Arabia in their match today with a 5-0 scoreline with a hat-trick from Shinji Okazaki and another two goals from Ryoichi Maeda. The match continued and ended the Saudi's miserable showing this year during which they only scored a single goal. In the other match today, Jordan edged Syria 2-1 thanks to an own-goal by the unlucky Ali Dyab actually equalised the two sides in the 30th after his teammate Mohamad Al Zino had opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Odai Al Saify then put Jordan ahead with a smooth strike nine minutes short of the hour mark. Finally, in Spain, Athletico Madrid were two up against Mallorca at the half before winning the match 3-0 thanks to the talents of Juan Valera, Diego Forlan, and Jose Antonio Reyes. Mallorca were unlucky to not convert their penalty, but it would have only been a consolation goal most likely as Athletico ran away with the game despite falling a player short first. Mallorca also lost a player later in the game though as the sides finished 10 on 10 yet with very different results.

Domestic action 1/16/11.

Well, first off, in Italy, Lazio edged out Sampdoria thanks to an 84th minute goal from Libor Kozak. Juventus were likewise able to edge out their opponents, winning 2-1 over Bari. Juventus' Alessandro Del Piero opened the scoring two minutes before the break while Gergely Rudolf brought Bari level in the 57th minute. Alberto Aquilani was the man who got Juventus the three points with his strike in the 79th minute. Cagliari and Brescia were other successful hosts as they beat Palermo and Parma respectively 3-1 and 2-0. Francesco Bega and Alessandro Diamanti were on the scoring sheet for Brescia in their victory while Alessandro Matri and Davide Biondini scored for Cagliari as Antonio Nocerino of Palermo scored an own-goal. Javier Pastore was the only Palermo player to score in the correct goal. Catania and Chievo tied 1-1 with a Maxi Lopez penalty kick conversion opening the scoring account. Sergio Pellissier was the man who replied for Chievo, in the 65th minute. Finally, for visiting teams who found success: Udinese defeated Genoa at Genoa 4-2 in a very exciting match which was kick started by Pablo Armero's 27th minute goal which put the away side ahead. Omar Milanetto equalised in the first minute of stoppage time of the first half for Genoa to put the sides level for the break. Antonio Di Natale put Udinese back in the lead with a 56th minute strike, but another equalising goal, by Mattia Destro, came in the next minute. This, however, was the last for Genoa as Alexis Sanchez and German Denis each scored one for Udinese to make it 4-2 at the end of the match. Roma were also successful away from home, albeit very luckily, winning 1-0 against Cesena thanks to an own goal from Maximiliano Pellegrino in the 89th minute. As I write this, Lecce are tied with AC Milan, 1-1, thanks to a strike from Zlatan Ibrahimovic which put AC Milan ahead before Ruben Olivera equalised in the 82nd. North in Germany, Eintracht Frankfurt lost quite handily to Hannover thanks to two first half goals, from Mohammed Abdellaoue in the 15th and Christian Schulz in the 21st, and a second half goal by Didier Ya Konan in the 89th. The other German game, between Kaiserslautern and Koln, finished 1-1. Both sides were playing well, but Lukas Podolski couldn't be stopped in the 29th minute when he opened the scoring emphatically. The Red Devils then lost Srdjan Lakic in the 39th to a red card, narrowing down their offensive capabilities. Nonetheless, Jan Moravek stepped up to the plate and slotted home in the 51st to level the two sides and salvage something from the game. In England, level scorelines were the name of the game as Tottenham played out a goalless draw with Manchester United, who still remain undefeated, while Birmingham tied with Aston Villa 1-1 with goals from Roger Johnson and James Collin for the respective sides. Sunderland and Newcastle tied as well, with Kevin Nolan scoring for the visitors in the 52nd before Sunderland's Asamoah Gyan equalised in the fourth minute of stoppage time in the second half. Finally, the big match between Liverpool and Everton also ended in a tie as Raul Meireles and Dirk Kuyt scored for Liverpool while Sylvain Distin and Jermaine Beckford scored for Everton. Back to mainland Europe, Spain saw both of its big two play today. It truly was a big day though as Almeria somehow managed to draw with Real Madrid, even going so far as to open the scoring in the 60th minute thanks to the efforts of Ulloa. Real eventually equalised, but that isn't the kind of result they want when they are already playing catch-up with Barcelona, who currently lead Malaga 4-1. Andres Iniesta scored very early, in the 8th minute, before David Villa added another ten minutes later. Pedro Rodriguez then added a third in the 36th to make things 3-0. But Duda brought Malaga one back with a strike in the 68th. David Villa made light work of that though, scoring a second with just about 15 minutes to go. Finally, Valencia defeated Deportivo 2-0 today, with goals from Jeremy Mathieu and Pablo Hernandez. Quickly, in the Portuguese League, Maritimo beat Vitoria 4-2; Porto maintained dominance as they defeated Naval 1 Maio 3-1; Nacional edged out Rio Ave 1-0; Beira-Mar thrashed Leiria 3-0, while Benfica currently lead Academica 1-0 in their game.

AFC Asian Cup update.

Qatar defeated Kuwait quite handily in their match yesterday, putting in three goals without reply to rout the Gulf Champions and qualify for the next round. The Uzbeks drew 2-2 with the Chinese which allowed Qatar to finish second in Group A, behind Uzbekistan who obviously also qualify. Saudi Arabia are faced with the fact that they have been ousted from the competition, but should still give Japan a run for their money. Iraq's photo-finish victory over the UAE was something for any team to be proud of, despite the fact that it came from an own-goal. Iran on the other hand have already made the Quarter-finals, winning 1-0 over North Korea to qualify. Korea DPR are also facing elimination from the tournament.

Domestic Results and New College. Part II.

Finishing up yesterday's games, the Italian Serie A saw Inter Milan sink Bologna 4-1 thanks to another great performance by Samuel Eto'o who helped his teammates while also bagging two goals for himself. Dejan Stankovic's 20th minute goal opened the floodgates as Diego Milito scored 10 minutes later to make it 2-0 at the half. Eo'o then came out for the second half goal-hungry: he scored his brace in the 63rd and 72nd minutes respectively to make it 4-0 before Bologna pulled back one, thanks to an effort by Henry Gimenez, to make it 4-1. Napoli v.s. Fiorentina was a bit disappointing as it was a goalless draw in Naples with only a yellow card handed out. In Spain, Athletic managed to edge out Racing 2-1 thanks to two early goals from Javier Martinez and Iker Muniain in the 7th and 10th minutes respectively. Ivan Bolado drew Racing one back in the 74th but to no avail. The game ended with a flurry of cards in stoppage time including Pedro Munitis getting sent off. Real Sociedad were much more comfortable as they went to Getafe and crushed them. Xabi Prieto opened the scoring in the 10th minute from the penalty spot before Antoine Griezmann struck in the 32nd to make it 2-0 before the half. Mikel Aranburu then grabbed a pair in the 87th and 90th minutes to seal the deal. Sevilla v.s. Espanyol was another close game though, with Espanyol relying on Jose Callejon in the 41st and 78th minutes to put them far enough ahead. Alvaro Negredo drew Sevilla one back in the second minute of stoppage time in the second half but that was just a consolation prize. Sporting Gijon managed better at home, beating Hercules 2-0 with goals in the 1st and 30th minutes from David Barral and Nacho Cases respectively enough to win them the match. Villarreal's match against Osasuna was enjoyable, with six goals scored and a 4-2 scoreline, the home side should be happy. Marco Ruben opened the account with his strike in the 22nd minute, the only goal of the first half. Krisztian Vadocz drew Osasuna level two minutes into the second half before Villarreal regained the lead three minutes later after Cani scored. Joan Capdevila made it 3-1 when he scored in the 65th but Javier Calleja came on for Osasuna in the 66th and scored five minutes later to make it a one goal game once more. Villarreal had the last laugh though as Gonzalo scored in the 84th to make it 4-2. The last Spanish match was between Zaragoza and Levante, a hard-fought match that was only decided by a goal from the midfielder Gabi in the 45th minute which gave Zaragoza the victory. Over in Portugal, Sporting Lisbon actually lost at home, to Pacos de Ferreira, who hold 12th place in the league. Samuel scored for Pacos in the 28th to give them an early lead but Sporting dre one back after Liedson scored three minutes from the half. Pacos were lucky though, they got a penalty just before the half which Manuel Jose easily converted to make it a 2-1 game. Sporting took some time to draw level, only scoring through Diogo Salomao in the 62nd. Pizzi then struck one in the 82nd for Pacos to give them an extraordinary victory. The other Portuguese match between Vitoria and Olhanense finished 1-0 thanks to Jorge Ribeiro's 50th minute strike gave the home side the lead. Finally, New College lost badly to Ringling in their game yesterday, conceding two easy goals without reply in the first half. Ringling then scored a third in the second half before New College drew one back. That wasn't enough though as Ringling converted a fourth to make it a 4-1 game.

Domestic Results and New College v.s. Ringling. Part I.

In Scotland, Rangers went to town on Hamilton, winning 4-0 thanks to two goals from Vladimir Weiss on either side of Steven Wittaker's penalty in the 28th to make it 3-0 at half time. Maurice Edu then scored in the 82nd minute to make it 4-0 before the final whistle blew. Motherwell and Inverness played out a goalless draw while Kilmarnock and St. Johnstone tied 1-1 with goals from Conor Sammon and Cleveland Taylor respectively. Concluding the matches in Scotland, Aberdeen finished St. Mirren with a 2-0 scoreline thanks to Scott Vernon's two second half goals. South in England, Chelsea slotted two past Blackburn without reply to win their match 2-0. Branislav Ivanovic and Nicolas Anelka were the two scorers for the Blues. Meanwhile, in Manchester, City were able to outscore Wolves 4-3 thanks to two goals from Carlos Tevez, and strikes from Kolo and Yaya Toure. Wolverhampton actually opened the scoring, through Nenad Milijas in the 12th, before City struck their four goals which made it 4-1. Kevin Doyle converted a penalty in the 68th minute to break City's strike record with Ronald Zubar scoring in the 86th minute to end the game 4-3. Stoke struck two past Bolton's Jussi Jaaskelainen in their match, thanks to Danny Higginbotham in the 37th and a penalty in the 63rd by Matthew Etherington. West Brom were also able to edge out their competition, beating Blackpool 3-2. Blackpool did open the scoring through David Vaughan before Peter Odemwingie and James Morrison scored their two goals. Gary Taylor-Fletcher leveled things in the 80th before Peter Odemwingie struck his second. Arsenal trounced West Ham in their game, winning 3-0 after Robin van Persie struck twice including from the penalty spot and Theo Walcott added one of his own. Wigan and Fulham finished level 1-1 thanks to strikes by Hugo Rodallega and Andrew Johnson. Crossing the Channel into Germany, Wolfsburg were actually able to tie with a struggling Bayern despite Thomas Muller converting the game's first goal in the 7th minute. Sascha Riether equalised on the totally opposite point of the game, scoring in the 86th minute. Stuttgart on the other hand was able to edge out the competition from their visitors, Mainz, winning 1-0 thanks to a Martin Harnik goal in the 79th minute. St. Pauli and Freiburg tied 2-2 in their match with Papiss Demba Cisse scoring both of the Freiburg goals while Marius Ebbers and Gerald Asamoah scored for St. Pauli. Schalke just barely lost to Hamburg at home, due only to a Ruud van Nistelrooy strike just into the second half which was not expanded upon or replied to. Bremen got the three points against Hoffenheim, winning 2-1 thanks to two veterans: Claudio Pizarro scored in the 36th minute while Torsten Frings scored in the second minute of stoppage time in the second half for the win. Boris Vucevic had equalised in the 87th minute. Nurnberg v.s. Monchengladbach turned out positively for the visitors as they edged out the home side 1-0. Roman Neustadter made the difference, scoring in the 8th minute. I'll post Part II later, enjoy.

Oh, and the domestic action happening today! 1/15/11

First off, in Scotland, Celtic were able to deal Hibernian a 3-0 defeat despite that it was an away game for the b'hoys. Gary Hooper opened the scoring a minute from the break before Anthony Stokes struck twice, once from the penalty spot in the 50th and another from open play five minutes past the hour. Rangers face Hamilton, Motherwell welcome Inverness, Kilmarnock will be expecting victory over St. Johnstone, while Aberdeen v.s. St. Mirren is the last of the matches since Dundee United v.s. Hearts was postponed. Moving South, England has a handful of games going on with Chelsea taking on Blackburn, Manchester City welcoming Wolves, Stoke sizing up against Bolton, West Brom v.s. Blackpool, West Ham fight Arsenal, while Wigan host Fulham. The German league is also busy today, with Bremen and Hoffenheim level 0-0 as I write this. Nurnberg are losing to Monchengladbach 1-0, St. Pauli lead Freibrug by the same scoreline, Stuttgart are tied with Mainz 0-0, and Wolfsburg are losing to Bayern 1-0. Schalke and Hamburg will also be playing today. Neither Barca nor Real play today in Spain, but there will still be action, as Athletic face Racing, Getafe play host to Real Sociedad, Sevilla play Espanyol, Sporting Gijon take on Hercules, while Villarreal will expect three points from Osasuna and Zaragoza will remain hopeful against Levante. Over the border in Portugal, Sporting will want the three from Pacos de Ferreira while Vitoria will expect the same from Olhanense. Finally, in Italy, Inter Milan will welcome Bologna to the San Siro with hopes of demolishing them as Napoli welcome Fiorentina to Naples hoping for a win as well.

New College of Florida v.s. Ringling Intermural Soccer Teams.

Local rivals New College and Ringling will be facing-off against one another once more in a highly anticipated match. The first meeting of the two sides this school year went in New College's clear favor with a 3-1 victory on home soil. Ringling will be returning tomorrow, the 15th of January 2011, to try and reconcile themselves from that loss. I'll post a match report following the match.

AFC Asian Cup and Domestic Leagues again.

In the Asian Cup, Australia only managed a tie with South Korea, drawing 1-1 in their match today while in the other Group C match, Bahrain slammed India with a 5-2 loss. Australia face Bahrain next while the Koreans will meet the eliminated Indian team. South Korea opened the scoring in their match with an easily placed goal from Koo Ja-Cheol in the 24th following a nice play from Ji Dong-Won. Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill both had chances while the Koreans were spurred by Park Ji-Sung to almost score a second, but Mile Jedinak put away a header to equalise in the 62nd minute. A goal which came without reply. Bahrain v.s. India was another match altogether though. Faouzi Aaish put the Bahrainis ahead early, scoring in the 7th minute before Gouramangi Singa equalised two minutes later. Ismaeel Abdullatif was the difference though, the 24 year old scored four goals against India which included the use of a defensive error to restore the lead, finishing a cross from Jaycee John three minutes later, and settling a ball from Faouzi Aaish before striking it home in the 35th. Sunil Chhetri made the score 4-2 early in the second half when he converted for the Indians but Abdullatif then went solo in the 77th, scoring his fourth goal to crush the Indian's spirit. Meanwhile, domestic action followed a pattern as in Portugal, Portmonense welcomed Braga to their home and forgot how to play football. Yes, Braga were held for scoring until into the second half but they couldn't manage anything of their own: Helder Barbosa opened the scoring in the 51st minute before Lima converted two minutes later to make it 2-0. But the Braga players weren't done there. Alan then put away a third in the 70th to make it 3-0. Another day at the office for 5th placed Braga. Things were only a little different in Germany with 3rd place Leverkusen welcoming league leaders Dortmund unsuccessfully. Yes, Dortmund weren't allowed to score until the second half either, but again, when they started they couldn't be stopped. Kevin Grosskreutz opened the scoring in the 49th minute before converting a second four minutes later. In between these two goals he was also carded. Mario Gotze scored two minutes after Grosskreutz's last goal to make it 3-0 with a good portion of the second half to go. But Dortmund didn't score again. Instead, Leverkusen struck one back in the 80th minute thanks to Stefan Kiessling to finish the game 3-1.

AFC Asian Cup again, domestic Cup games, and domestic results.

In the Asian Cup, hosts Qatar ran over a stumbling China 2-0 in the teams' meeting, a good pick-up from their opening loss to the Uzbeks. Striker Yusef Ahmed was the name on everyone's lips as he scored both goals for the hosts in their triumph. Uzbekistan meanwhile were very successful once more, beating Kuwait 2-1 in a lucky match. Maksim Shatskikh and Server Djeparov showed for Uzbekistan while Bader Al Mutwa's penalty was all that was smiling in Kuwait's favor who now may face elimination. Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi were the stars of their respective teams as Eto'o scored two goals in Inter Milan's match with Genoa to put his side up 3-2 in the final score. Messi completed a hat-trick though, scoring three as Barcelona thrashed Real Betis Balompié 5-0 in their match. In Italian Cup action, Eto'o put Inter ahead at home with his goals before half time. Houssine Kharja brought the away side one back just before the 55th minute, giving Genoa some hope before MacDonald Mariga headed in a corner to put Inter up 3-1. Giuseppe Sculli brought Genoa back one once more with his stoppage time strike as the game ended, making it a 3-2 finish. In other news, Palermo were able to edge AS Chievo Verona in their Italian Cup match thanks to a penalty strike from Fabrizio Miccoli which was the only goal of the game. In the Spanish Cup matches today, Barcelona and  Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi were in fantastic form with other Ballon d'Or contestants also illustrating why Barcelona is arguably the best team in the world at the moment. Pedro Rodríguez and Seydou Keita were the other players to contribute to the Barcelona cause, striking in numbers four and five respectively. Messi's goals came with one just before half time, and another two in the second half, in the 62nd and 73rd minutes. In the other Copa del Rey match, Sevilla FC came from 3-1 down, something Genoa couldn't do, to even things out while at Villarreal CF. The home side went up by two goals within half an hour thanks to Cani and a deflected Giuseppe Rossi shot before Álvaro Negredo got some balance making it 2-1. Marco Ruben then put away a header to put his side 3-1 up. Negredo then scored a second in the 60th minute to make it 3-2 before the defender Alexis scored two minutes before the end of regulation to finish things 3-3. Finally, in the domestic matches that happened today, Scotland saw two matches as Celtic disappointed, only managing a 1-1 tie with Hamilton, and that from the penalty spot in the second minute of stoppage time in the second half. Simon Mensing put the home side ahead in the 28th minute while Anthony Stokes was the Celtic hero in the 92nd. Celtic also had James Forrest sent off while Hamilton lost Jim McAlister and Simon Mensing later. Dundee United on the otherhand were able to defeat Motherwell handily, beating them 2-0 thanks to goals from Johnny Russell in the 53rd minute and David Goodwillie in the 90th. In England Liverpool continue to struggle, losing to Blackpool despite a new coach and Fernando Torres opening the scoring in the 3rd minute. Gary Taylor-Fletcher equalised in the 12th before DJ Campbell put the home side ahead and gave them the three points in the 69th minute.

AFC Asian Cup; some domestic action to look forward to; Beckham back in England, with Tottenham Hotspur.

Well the Asian Cup in Qatar is definitely maintaining its surprise quotient, with holders Iraq losing to Iran in a close match which ended 2-1. North Korea were also surprised, or rather the 'experts' were, as they managed only a 0-0 result against the United Arab Emirates. Iraq actually took the lead early in their match, scoring in the 13th minute thanks to Younis Mahmoud's effort. The Iraqis then almost held the lead into half time but were foiled by Gholam Reza Rezaei's effort in the 42nd minute which drew Iran level. Iraq were then undone in the second half by another late goal, with Eman Mobali scoring in the 84th minute to just edge the holders of the Cup in a game which the Iranians in the end deserved to win. Meanwhile, North Korea's result with the UAE surprised some, but any experience they gained from the World Cup in South Africa wasn't very good as the UAE were very unlucky not to win the match. The missing of the penalty which came off the wood-work just past five minutes into the game by the Korean Hong Yong-Jo was evidence of the work this team still needs. Nonetheless, the UAE side missed plenty of chances too so no harm no foul? In older news, Japan were able to grab a late equaliser against Jordan in the 2nd minute of stoppage time in the second half to tie the two teams 1-1, not the result Japan expected but a result that's always better than a loss. Japan's Maya Yoshida was the hero while Jordan's Hasan Abdalfatah had put the Middle Eastern country ahead as the first half died. Also, Syria managed to edge out the giants of Saudi Arabia, with Abdelrazaq Al Hussain the hero of the feather-weights as he scored both of his team's goals while Taisir Al-Jassim was the Saudi Arabian player who equalised in the 60th minute before Al Hussain's goal three minutes later. On the domestic front, Celtic play away to Hamilton on the 12th of January in Scotland as Dundee United and Motherwell face-off as well. Meanwhile, just south of the border in England, Blackpool welcome Liverpool under their new manager Kenny Dalglish in what should be an interesting game if only to see how Dalglish will fare. Finally, David Beckham has been spotted in England wearing the light blue training kit with the Rooster of Spurs. Following a session of physical examinations, Beckham proceeded to practice with the side. Harry Redknapp was certainly happy with the way things turned out, but Beckham you ask? He's back in a side with the likes of Jonathan Woodgate and Robbie Keane for the first time since his Real Madrid days (remember them?) And appeared in good spirits. His stint at Spurs is to last until before the Galaxy's match on the 15th of March when they play the Seattle Sounders, the side they defeated before being ousted of the MLS play-offs in the following round. We'll see what drama unfolds!

Messi is a winner and other things we already knew.

Well, Messi was as gracious as ever in recieving the Ballon d'Or award, thanking his teammates, including  Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández who he actually beat to the award, at the awards ceremony in Zurich. In other awards, Barcelona's rivals Real Madrid coach José Mourinho recieved the World Coach of the Year award for his work with Inter Milan last year. Meanwhile, the Women's World Player of the Year award was won by Brazil's Marta for the fifth time in successsion, despite the likes of German greats Inka Grings and Birgit Prinz also being in the running. Also, the Puskás Award for 2010's best goal was taken by Hamit Altıntop of Turkey for his strike against Kazakhstan in a EURO 2012 qualifying round victory in September. Obviously, other people will have their own opinions but that's the decision! Finally, the World XI team's full lineup is as follows: Iker Casillas of Real Madrid in goal; Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué of Barcelona in defense with Lucio and Maicon of Inter Milan also in defense; Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández of Barcelona in midfield alongside Wesley Sneijder of Inter Milan and  Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid; Lionel Messi and David Villa both of Barcelona were the final members of the squad as well. On the domestic front really quickly, in Italy, Napoli put three in against Juventus without reply thanks to the talents of Edinson Cavani, AC Milan and Udinese tied 4-4 with Alexis Sánchez, Antonio Di Natale (who scored two goals,) and German Denis all racking up at least one apiece for the away side. AC Milan on the other hand had Alexander Pato score two goals, Medhi Benatia scored an own goal, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring a fourth. In Spain, Real Madrid showed Villarreal who was boss, putting in four goals against their two to give the Madrid side a vital three points to stay close to Barcelona. Cristiano scored a hat-trick with two goals in the first half and another in the second while Kaka scored one of his own. Villarreal were helped with goals from Cani and Marco Ruben in the first half but to no avail.  

News update on the 8th of January 2010, haha, I mean 2011!

The Spanish Liga had a trio of interesting games today as Barcelona traveled to Deportivo with hopes of keeping up their fantastic record. They succeeded in doing so thanks to all of the superb talents of the Catalan side. David Villa opened the scoring for the visitors in the 26th minute before three goals in the second half sealed the win. Lionel Messi's 51st minute goal was nice and Andres Iniesta tacked on a goal of his own in the 80th. A minute later Pedro Rodriguez notched the fourth goal for Barca, finishing a crushing defeat for the Deportivo side who were helpless in the face of the Barcelona assaults. Malaga and Athletic's game was also interesting, despite the 1-1 scoreline. This was because both goals came very late in the game. Martin Demichelis put the home sidde ahead in the 81st minute before Javier Martinez scored in the third minute of stoppage time to bring Athletic level, ending the game with the teams splitting the points. The last game in Spain was Sevilla's exciting clash at Real Sociedad. Sociedad drew first blood, with Diego Rivas scoring in the 23rd minute to put the home side ahead. But Frederic Kanoute equalised for the away side two minutes later to keep things interesting. Joseba Llorente then gave the hosts the lead once more, two minutes before half time. The second half was largely Sevilla's though, as Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute scored a goal each within three minutes to rip the game from Real Sociedad's grasp. Kanoute's second goal, the last of the game, was scored in the 65th minute which left the defenses of both sides having to claw for parity or maintaining the lead respectively. Final score: Real Sociedad 2 : Sevilla 3. In Portugal, Porto defeated Maritimo quite handily thanks to a goal from Freddy Guarin in the 38th, a Hulk goal in the 60th, Maritimo's Baba scoring his teams only goal in the 71st minute of the game, and Freddy Guarin and James Rodriguez putting in another goal a piece for a comprehensive victory for the Portuguese leaders. Sporting Lisbon also won their match, against Braga, thanks to two early goals from Diogo Salomao and Jaime Valdes in the 12th and 13th minutes respectively before Paulo Cesar scored one for the visitors in the 18th to leave the margin at 2-1. If Braga had scored as many goals as they got cards, they would have done much better. Meanwhile, in England, Newcastle were defeated in a classic David and Goliath scenario as they were beaten 3-1 by League Two team Stevenage in the meeting of the two teams in the English Cup. Stacy Long and Michael Bostwick were only a couple of the heroes for Stevenage while Joey Barton gave Newcastle some hope in the dying minutes of the game. Either way, this is, according to some, the largest upset for Newcastle United since Hereford defeated them 2-1 in 1972! In other news, Liverpool and Roy Hodgson have departed ways, leaving the way open for Kenny Dalglish top take over the club's coaching operations. Other David and Goliath-esque inccidents occured in France's Cup as AS Monaco and Auxerre were defeated by fifth tier sides Chambery and Wasquehal, joining the likes of Toulouse who lost to third tier side Paris FC 2-1. Wrapping up, in Asia, the AFC Asian Cup is off to a flying start as results are pouring in: China defeated Kuwait 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from Zhang Linpeng and Deng Zhuoxiang as well as good defensive efforts by the back players. With the victory, China now lead Group A, continuing upsets following the Uzbek's surprise victory over the hosts Qatar by two goals to nil as well. Finally, in the world rankings, Germany have retaken the third position in the world as Brazil dropped to fourth. Egypt have also moved up, bumping Croatia down to 10th as they took 9th position in the world. Otherwise, there haven't been any changes in the top 10. Chile, Ghana, the United States, France, Mexico, Japan, Sweden, and Israel have all risen in the table: Chile now occupies 15th position, right after 2006 World Champions Italy; Ghana hold 16th; the U.S. and France are tied in 18th; Mexico holds 27th; Japan resides two positions below in 29th in the world; while Sweden are 33rd. Finally, Israel have broken into the top 50. And for those readers whom it may concern: Singapore have sadly fallen to 140th in the world; England reside in 6th position; the Republic of Ireland hold 33rd position having risen by a good number of places; Russia hold 25th position in the world; Malaysia have unfortunately dropped to 144th in the world; Slovenia have held onto 19th position and, finally, Canada have jumped to 88th in the world.

Italian action on January 6th, 2011.

Most of the scorelines from Italy today were pretty close with only a couple matches having a clear winner. Bologna and Fiorentina could only manage a 1-1 draw as Mario Santana equalised in the 67th minute, taking his time to equalise following a goal which put the home side ahead from Marco Di Vaio in the fifth minute. Brescia almost managed a draw against Cesenea, but couldn't come back from a two goal deficit. Luis Jimenez scored first for Cesenea, in the 33rd minute, before Luca Ceccarelli put them two in front in the last minutes of regulation in the first half. Eder drew the home side one back with a goal in the 50th minute but Brescia couldn't make anything else work. The game ended with a flurry of cards and substitutions for both sides with the goal tally 2-1 in favor of the away side. On to other matches, Cagliari were edged by AC Milan 1-0 thanks to an 85th minute goal from, not Ambrosini, Pato, Seedorf, or Robinho, but rather Rodney Strasser. Genoa and Lazio's match finished 0-0 with lots of subs, a yellow card, but no goals. Lecce and Bari were able to find a winner though, with Stefano Okaka Chuka putting in a strike in the 78th minute for Bari which won the club three points. Finally, on to the bigger score line games where Parma whipped Juventus 4-1 in Turin thanks to two goals from the Italian youth star Sebastian Giovinco on either side of half time for Parma in his return to his old club, Juve, before Nicola Legrottaglie put one away for the home side to give them some hope in the 60th minute. Hernan Crespo converted a penalty in the 62nd to stop any late resurgence by Juventus before Raffaele Palladino struck the fourth in the third minute of stoppage time in the second half ending the game very well for one side and quite badly for the other. Palermo thrashed Sampdoria 3-0 as three M's struck within the 90 minutes: Fabrizio Miccoli opened the scoring in the 37th before Giulio Migliaccio tacked on a second in the 50th before Massimo Maccarone wrapped things up in the 79th. Finally, Roma beat Catania by a two goal margin, winning 4-2. Marco Borriello put the home side ahead first, in the fifth minute, before Matias Silvestre equalised in the 29th for Catania. Catania then pulled ahead in the 38th minute through Maxi Lopez. Marco Borriello then equalised for Roma in the 47th. Roma then rallied, with Mirko Vucinic tallying two goals after the 85th minute: one in the 86th and the second in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Thus, the heroes of the Roma side were Borriello and Vucinic today. Inter faced, and beat, Napoli in Milan with a margin of victory of 3-1 later in the day in a game which was in Inter's favor from the off. In the third minute, Thiago Motta put the Champions of the World in the lead before several cards were given. Then Michele Pazienza drew Napoli level in the 25th minute before Esteban Cambiasso put Inter in the lead once more, in the 37th minute. Finally, in the second half, Thiago Motta scored once more, in the 55th minute, sealing the day for the home side and the three points. In other news, around 400 clubs will be getting payments from FIFA as benefits for large numbers of their players taking part in the World Cup. According to FIFA, Barcelona will be receiving $866,267 while Bayern München will be earning $778,667. Chelsea will then be given the next most amount, $762,667, as Liverpool earn $695,600 and Real Madrid earn $678,133.

Some news from the first week of 2011!

Well, in England, Manchester City and Arsenal met in a clash that could have put either side right with Manchester United in the title hunt. Instead, the two sides couldn't manage a goal between them, finishing 0-0 with 10 men each as the final whistle blew. With the result, United have gone four ahead of Arsenal and put two points between themselves and rivals City despite the fact that Arsenal often looked the better team:  Robin van Persie and Cesc Fàbregas both had excellent chances but Joe Hart had a good game between the sticks. Meanwhile, Chelsea, the holders, were undone by bottom of the table Wolves at Wolverhampton in a 1-0 defeat! Tottenham aren't bright and shiny either though, following a 2-1 loss to Everton which puts them fourth and four points behind Arsenal. Leon Best showed fantastically for Newcastle, scoring a hat-trick as they trounced West Ham 5-0. Wigan and Bolton tied 1-1 in their game as Aston Villa fell to third from the bottom following a loss to Sunderland, a goal being the decider in a 1-0 scoreline. Liverpool also lost, despite drawing first blood against Blackburn, in a 3-1 loss. With a more somber note, the death of Coen Moulijn of the Netherlands has also been announced. Moulijn died at the age of 73 following a stroke. A Feyenoord strong man and often refered to as Feyenoord's all-time greatest player, Moulijn was present in the side that ran to European Champion Club's Cup victory in 1970 with a 2-1 win against Celtic FC. A large part of the Feyenoord workings in the 60's and 70's, Moulijn was a gifted winger who was most comfortable at the left.  XerxesDZB was his first club before a transfer to Feyenoord in 1955 paved the way for future successes. Striker Ove Kindvall and the winger Moulijn often worked a powerful crossing routine which was affective against even the best teams. Moulijn played just shy of 40 times for the Dutch national team while also winning a handful of Dutch championships and Cup titles in his years at Feyenoord. He retired in June of the year 1972 and was then erected in statue form in 2009 in front of the team's grounds, affectionately known as De Kuip. Hup Holland and Hup Moulijn! Finally, some of the awards from the Club World Cup held in the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2010: The winner was Inter Milan with the runners-up being TP Mazembe Englebert. Third place went to SC Internacional while fourth place went to Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma F.C. The Golden Ball award went to Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon who played for Inter Milan while Dioko Kaluyituka from the DR Congo came in second as he played for TP Mazembe. Finally, the Fair Play Award went to Inter Milan.

Welcome Back!

2010 is over and 2011 is in with a bang! First off, a recap: Inter Milan captured the World Club Cup title thanks to a convincing performance against the African Champions in the Final. Domestically, as 2011 kicks off, lots of postponed games have been played and two clubs from Manchester lead the English league: United are at the top with 41 points having played just 19 games while City have played 21 and only have 41 as well. Arsenal hold third position with 39 points from 20 matches as Tottenham and Chelsea round out the top five places with 36 and 35 points from 20 games respectively. In the Spanish La Liga meanwhile, Barcelona lead with a two point margin over Real Madrid with 46 and 44 points tallied from 17 games each. Villarreal CF have strengthened their hold on third place, leading fourth place Valencia CF by five points. Finally, fifth place RCD Espanyol are two points beneath Valencia with 28 points from 17 games. In the Italian Serie A, AC Milan control the table with a three point lead over the hungry Napoli side who have so far amassed 33 points from 17 games. Lazio also have 33 points, leaving Juventus and Roma to pick up fourth and fifth place with 31 and 29 points respectively. Inter Milan you say? Champions of the World? Well, having fired Benetiz they sit in seventh place with 23 points. Not terrible, but not what they want at all. The Bundesliga of Germany meanwhile has different news headline as well, with Borussia Dortmund currently in the lead with 43 points, ten points above second place 1. FSV Mainz 05. Bayer Leverkusen hold third with 33 points as well while Hannover 96 have 31 as a resurgent, fifth place, Bayern München have 29 points from 17 matches. France still has a tight league with Lille holding the apex with a game in hand at 32 points while PSG are a point behind. Stade Rennais, and Lyon are as well. Last but not least, Marseille finish out the top five with 29 points, tied with St. Etienne. In Portugal, the New Year feels like most years recently with Porto leading as Benfica hold second. There is an eight point gap between the top two while Sporting is "only" five points off of their rivals. UD Leiria hold fourth place with 24 points, a point behind Sporting. Fifth place is weakly occupied by Vitoria SC who have 22 points from 14 games. Finally, Scotland is colored green and white at the moment as Celtic lead Rangers by four points following a fantastic derby victory. Rangers do have two games in hand however, which means they could quickly retake their rivals who have 45 points from 19 games. Cheers! More 2011 news in the next post possibly including some news about January 10, when the Ballon d’Or is to be awarded! Some other big dates: the final of the UEFA Champions League will take place on the 28th of May in Wembley Stadium while the Women’s World Cup will be taking place in Germany from the 26th of June to the 17th of July, the  U-17 World Cup will go down in Mexico from June 18th to July 10th before the U-20 World Cup in Colombia takes place from the 29th of July to the 20th of August. Finally, a couple of continental titles will be in contention in the U.S. and Argentina in the form of the CONCACAF Gold Cup from the 5th of June to the 25th of  June and the Copa America between the 1st of July and the 24th.