Beach Soccer World Cup in Tahiti - 2013

Well some of you may not have heard about the championships taking place up until the 28th of September but the Beach Soccer World Cup was positively riveting. All the big names were there - Spain, Brazil, and Argentina for instance - but also hosts Tahiti and smaller soccer powers such as Japan, Iran, and El Salvador. To sum up: it made for a great contest with Russia making it through the Quarter- and Semi-Finals with a total of 11 goals, allowing 8, before they met Spain in the Final. Somewhat surprisingly, the Russians went on to dominate the Spaniards with a 2nd period performance that ended 1-3 after an opening period that saw several opportunities but no goals. The Russians proceeded to only cement their lead with 2 more goals in the 3rd period making it a 5-1 scoreline as the final whistle blew - horrible for a Spanish side that had edged the likes of El Salvador and Brazil on their way to the Final. Brazil's 4-3 encounter with Japan was also entertaining though I have to admit that I was cheering for the Japanese by the end of it! Tahiti's 6-1 destruction of Argentina in the Quarter-Finals was the largest blow-out in the finals competition with the South Americans completely falling apart in the 3rd period of the game - allowing 5 goals. The fact that they were only beaten by the eventual winners and lost to Brazil on penalties points to a great potential future for the tiny island nation. The 7-7 3rd-place match was, in my opinion, far more enthralling than the Final match itself but I still think the tournament as a whole was absolutely fantastic. Hope you all enjoyed it as well!

Champions League highlights.

Well we are up and running again with international club football as there were some huge surprises in the opening round of fixtures! Playing at home to Chelsea in England, one would be forgiven for assuming that the Blues would crush the Swiss competition put on by FC Basel. You'd be wrong of course as the minnows - though Europa League semi-finalists last year - stunned the home side with a 2-1 margin. The almost unknown talents of Mohamed Salah and Marco Streller put the Swiss side on the right road despite the fact that the London side had scored the only goal of the 1st half through Emboaba Oscar with a clean right-footed strike. Elsewhere, Swedish-born Johan Wiland arguably had the best game of his career as Danish side Kobenhavn managed to salvage a point from their match-up against Italian giants Juventus. Thanks to Nicolai Jorgensen's 14th minute goal the Danes got off to a fantastic start though they eventually succumbed to Fabio Quagliarella's deadly foot in the 54th minute. Over in Greece Olympiacos were thrashed badly by their French opponents PSG though they did not go quietly. While the phenomenal Edison Cavani got the scoring started in the 19th minute, Vladimir Weiss' equalizer for the Greeks in the 25th minute was a thing of pure beauty. Bypassing two defending players on his way to goal, his eventual strike was just about as sweet as the build-up to it. Nevertheless, PSG had shaken off their shock by the 2nd half as Thiago Motta struck twice - in the 68th and 73rd minutes - before Marquinhos tacked on a 4th in the 86th minute of play. While not a 4-1 victory, Manchester United's 4-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen was also entertaining besides the fact that it was the game where Wayne Rooney struck his 200th goal. It took 22 minutes for the goal tab to be broken but finally it was with Rooney volleying through off of a nice cross from Patrice Evra. Capitalizing on United's failure only moments before, Leverkusen managed to equalize in the 54th minute through Simon Rolfes after a sweet layoff from Son Heung-Min. 5 minutes later the red devils were again on a high though as Robin Van Persie sliced home from a golden opportunity courtesy of Antonio Valencia. By the 70th minute things were looking even rosier for United as Rooney struck once more following a long goal kick from De Gea and an interesting header from Emir Spahic. Only to rub salt in the wounds, Valencia proceeded to make it 4 for the good in the 79th minute after an amazing breakthrough with pace. For Leverkusen's pride, defender Omer Toprak did get them a 2nd in the 88th minute following lousy defending on United's part.

The end of the Transfer Window

Well, I am sure we have all heard the rumors; truth be told it was only a matter of time... At long last Florian Thauvin made his move from Lille to Marseille after a phenomenal U-20 World Cup performance as well as 10 goals for Bastia in the 2012-2013 campaign. My bet is that the attacking midfielder will continue to show his acumen as he moves up the ladder of world football. Alongside Thauvin, Mario Lemina also made a move to Marseille following some good football in Lorient and on the international stage. Then there was the Gareth Bale matter with the Welshman finally making his way over to Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur for who knows how much money. Also of interest to those keeping an eye on the Premier League? Perhaps you have heard of the likes of Mesut Ozil or Marouane Fellaini? The former has finally bid auf wiedersehen to Real Madrid as Ozil makes his way to Arsenal! As for the latter, Fellaini has decided to seek greener pastures in a move from Everton to Manchester United. Manchester City fans also have things to be happy about though as veteran defender Martin Demichelis has left Malaga for the English side. Over in Italy, Kaka will be hoping to reinvigorate his career at AC Milan under the command of Massimiliano Allegri after departing Real Madrid. Last but not least, Liverpool's horde of acquisitions include Frenchman Mamadou Sakho from PSG, a biblical touch from Victor Moses formerly of Chelsea, and Sporting Lisbon's Tiago Ilori. If you happen to be an Everton fan who is still hurting from Fellaini's departure you can take heart in the fact that Belgian teammate Romelu Lukaku has made his way to the club on loan from Chelsea as well as Gareth Barry who was loaned from Manchester City and James McCarthy who was nabbed from Wigan. Leaving Everton with Fellaini is Victor Anichebe who was sold to West Brom. Hope these last minute signings are getting you pumped for the upcoming season!