Domestic conclusions and otherwise. 5/11/2011.

Well today in Scotland Celtic's coach was attacked by a fan bu that didn't stop the B'hoys from destroying Hearts 0-3. Gary Hooper struck twice and Kris Commons scored the third before being sent off. The result forces Celtic and Rangers to play for it all in the last games of the season for the respective sides. Inverness defeated Hibernian 2-0 thanks to Richie Foran and Nick Ross' goals in the 42nd and 51st minutes. Motherwell and Kilmarnock finished 1-1 with Steve Jones opening the scoring in the 8th minute for the home side and Willy Aubameyang equalizing for the away side in the 49th to lock the sides level when the final whistle blew. Down in Spain, Barcelona have officially done what has been on everyone's minds: they have won their third consecutive La Liga title! A draw with Levante was all they needed and that's what they got (1-1 away to Levante) to put Real Madrid and their other opponents to bed until next season!

U-17 Championships in Serbia and Mexico!

It's been going on for a while now but things are really starting to heat up in the U-17 European Championship as England defeated the hosts Serbia 3-0 today. Bradley Smith scored the first goal, in the 7th minute, before Hallam Hope struck a double between the 9th and 18th minutes to make it 3-0 before the half. The second half brought no more goals as England held on for a good win and a place in the semi-finals. However, the top of Group A is occupied by Denmark who finish the stage undefeated having beaten France 1-0 earlier today. Christian Norgaard was the man who eliminated France with his 65th minute strike and kept the Dane's perfect record in tact. In Group B, the Netherlands sit on top with 2 wins and a draw having drawn 0-0 with the Czech Republic while Germany have managed to occupy second place in the group when it matters, beating Romania 0-1 to just barely make it into the semi-finals. The German's record has been anything less than impressive though, having won once, drawn once, and opening the tournament with a 0-2 loss to the Netherlands. Denmark should have no problem when they face Germany and the Netherlands v.s. England will probably end with Denmark and the Netherlands in the Final. Onwards and upwards and best of luck to all of the teams! In other news, the 2011 U-17 World Cup in Mexico is also set to kick off with the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, and the Netherlands all qualifying thanks to their European performances. Other teams competing in Mexico 2011 are: Australia, Japan, Uzbekistan, and North Korea from the AFC; Burkina Faso, Congo, the Ivory Coast, and Rwanda from CAF; the U.S.A., Canada, Jamaica, and Panama represent CONCACAF; New Zealand is the sole representative of the OFC organization; CONMEBOL has Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Uruguay; while the hosts Mexico round out the competition. To be sure it should be a great set of games over the summer and I wish the best of luck to all of the teams!

Domestic action all over Europe! 5/8/2011.

Let's start in the Nordic nation of Sweden where the only victory of the day was by Trelleborg who beat Mjallby 1-0 thanks to Johan Nilsson Guiomar's 57th minute goal. On the other hand, Syrianska v.s. Malmo ended 0-0. In Spain, Barcelona beat Espanyol 2-0 due to strikes from Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique in the 29th and 47th minutes respectively. Mallorca and Villarreal ended 0-0 while Osasuna defeated Zaragoza 1-3. This was accomplished despite falling behind in the 16th minute after Lafita had put Zaragoza in the lead. Javier Camunas and Sergio Fernandez scored within eight minutes of each other (62nd and 70th respectively) while Kike Sola slotted home the death blow in the 80th minute. Over the border in Portugal, Academica and Braga played out a 0-0 game while Porto and Pacos de Ferreira also ended level, but 3-3 rather than 0-0. Falcao put Porto into the lead in the 8th with a fine strike. Hulk then tacked on a second in the 42nd, just before stoppage time. Pizzi struck three in for Pacos de Ferreira in the second half to level the sides after Falcao had slotted home in the 53rd. Rio Ave on the other hand were edged out by Benfica 1-2 with the Eagles going 2-0 up through Oscar Cardozo before Braga struck in the 88th minute to make it a 2-1 game and a photo-finish. Finally, Sporting were edged by Vitoria FC 0-1 after Jailson struck in the 55th minute for the away side. In England, Manchester United solidified their position at the top of the English table with their 2-1 win over Chelsea in Manchester. Javier Hernandez struck in the 1st minute of the match while Nemanja Vidic struck in the 23rd to put the ball in Chelsea's court. Frank Lampard dutifully slotted home once, but it wasn't enough as the Blues were beaten. Stoke were also tremendously successful today, winning 3-1 over Arsenal as Kenwyne Jones and Jermaine Pennant struck once each before Arsenal's Robin van Persie slotted home to make it a 2-1 game in the 81st. Jonathan Walters struck for Stoke in the next minute to make it 3-1 when the final whistle blew. Last but not least, Wolves beat West Brom 3-1 going 3-0 up before Peter Odemwingie finally gave West Brom their first goal. Wolves were helped along by two goals from Steven Fletcher on either side of Adlene Guedioura's 28th minute goal. Up north in Scotland, Celtic beat Kilmarnock 0-2 with goals from Scott Brown and Kris Commons. It begs the question of why couldn't the B'hoys do that in their last game?! Anyway, in Italy, Udinese defeated Lazio 2-1 as Antonio di Natale striking twice before Libor Kozak scored one for the away side. Lecce were successful at home too, defeating Napoli 2-1 with Daniele Corvia opening the scoring in the 49th from the spot before being sent off in the 54th. Giuseppe Mascara then brought the away side level in the 67th before Edinson Cavani was given a red in the 74th to put the two sides on equal numbers manpower-wise. Javier Chevanton then scored in the 88th to make it 2-1 when the game ended. Inter defeated Fiorentina 3-1 putting the Milanese club firmly in second place with a 4 point lead over third place Napoli.

Europa League 5/6/2011.

Well it was almost bound to be an all Portuguese affair as three of the four semi-finalists were from Portugal. However, the teams were a little surprising: Braga actually managed to edge by Benfica after a 2-1 first leg. The second leg ended in Braga's favor though, Custodio's 19th minute header enough to push the smaller side into their first Final on goal difference.The rest of the game was less beautiful though, with 7 yellows handed out throughout the game. In the other Semi, Villarreal won the battle but lost the war as they fell 4-7 on aggregate after winning 3-2 hosting Porto. Cani struck in 17th to make it 1-0 early on for the home side before Porto's Hulk slotted home in the 39th to draw the sides level for half time. In the second half, Falcao struck in the 48th to further put down the Spanish club's chances of winning. However, the Yellow Submarines fought on, scoring through Joan Capdevilla and Giuseppe Rossi within 5 minutes to put them in the lead for this match; but they were forced to realize the inevitable: SC Braga and FC Porto will play each other in Dublin for the Europa League trophy!

Manchester United v.s. Schalke 5/4/2011.

Well Manchester United had a 2-0 lead not too long after the 30th minute thanks to Antonio Valencia and Darron Gibson's respective strikes. This made it even more of a losing battle for the small German side Schalke who then scored their first and last goal of the tie through José Manuel Jurado to make it 2-1. United then received a trio of yellow cards before the half to force them into a more ginger style of play. Nonetheless, Anderson struck a pair in the second half to make the aggregate scoreline 6-1 when the final whistle blew as Manchester United solidified what we already really knew from the first leg: Manchester United will join Barcelona in the Champions League Final later this month in what is sure to be an extremely exciting match!

Champions League Semi-final 5/3/2011.

Well in the second leg of the Champions League Semi-final between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Barcelona won the day despite drawing 1-1 with their rivals. With a final score of 3-1 on aggregate, the Catalans can be proud of kicking out the Madrid side and getting to the Finals once more! There they will probably be facing Manchester United, unless Schalke somehow pull off an incredible comeback against the English side in England. In the match today Barcelona scored first, through Pedro Rodriguez, in the 54th minute to the praise of the stadium. However, 10 minutes later Real were drawn level thanks to a good effort from Marcelo which was the last goal of a close game.

Futsal upset and domestic activity 5/1/2011.

In the Futsal European Final, Sporting Lisbon of Portugal were showed up quite handily by tournament debutantes Montesilvano by a scoreline of 2-5. They slotted home four times in the first half without response. In the second half, Montesilvano scored their fifth goal, a penalty in the 29th. Then and only then were Sporting able to score, twice within seven minutes to make the game seem somewhat competitive when it really wasn't. Montesilvano's victory was well deserved for the hard-fighting Italian side. Meanwhile, on the pitch in Sweden, Helsingborg and Hacken tied 1-1 with all of the goals coming within 5 minutes. Mathias Ranegie put Hacken in the lead in the 61st. However, Alexander Gerndt struck for Helsingborg three minutes later to tie the game with a deadlock that wasn't broken. Kalmar defeated Syrianska 2-0 thanks to two late goals from Daniel Mendes and Ricardo Santos. Trelleborg were able to edge Djurgarden 3-2 with Fredrik Jensen striking Trelleborg's first two goals while Philip Hellqvist struck Djurgarden's two only goals. Down in Portugal, Vitoria are losing at home against Porto 0-2 after first scoring an own goal and then Nicolas Otamendi struck the first legitimate goal. Olhanense on the hand scored a last minute goal to take a point away from their encounter with Benfica as the game ended 1-1. Franco Jara had put Benfica ahead emphatically in the 4th minute. The Eagles held that lead for the whole game until Djalmir equalized in the 90th minute to the delight of the home fans.Up in Scotland, Celtic destroyed Dundee United 4-1 in their match today. Once more, there were goals at the death but this time they were pointless as Celtic ran away with the three points. Down in England, Arsenal edged Manchester United 1-0 thanks to a goal from Aaron Ramsey in the 56th minute. Liverpool crushed Newcastle 3-0 with goals from Maxi Rodriguez, Dirk Kuyt, and Luis Suarez. Manchester City edged West Ham 2-1 while Birmingham and Wolves tied 1-1. Finally, in Italy, Milan beat Bologna 1-0 thanks to Mathieu Flamini's 8th minute goal. Fiorentina and Udinese had a ton of goals in their game but the home side won definitively: 5-2! Bari and Roma were tied 2-2 as I posted this.