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.