Not hungover any longer

After a long hangover from a great World Cup 2010, football is slowly creeping back into my life.
Perhaps of less importance to many, the Venezuelan league started last weekend, with favourites Caracas FC starting out with a 1-0 victory over Monagas.
Much more important, the first leg of the 2010 final of the Copa Libertadores between S.C. Internacional and Guadalajara, resulted in a 1-2 away victory for the Brazilians, who have it all in their hands to take the top title next week at home in Porto Alegre!

In the meantime many European teams are starting the fight to qualify for this season's Champions League and Europa League. Some of the European leagues are slowly starting:
The Danish league started as usual, with FC Copenhagen leading, with Brøndby and FC Herning (øhhh... Midtjylland...?) following close behind... But for how long in a league that is set to become a one-team league...?
The English Premier League will be starting next weekend with all eyes on Manchester United and Chelsea, who played in the annual FA Community Shield match last week, with the Reds winning 3-1, on one of the goals by the new Mexican Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.

Hernandez in fact made more headlines when Mexico faced the world champions of Spain in the first friendly match since the World Cup, and scored for Mexico to almost give them the victory. But with the luck of a world champion, Spain equalized in the dying seconds of the match.
As Euro 2012 qualifiers start, many teams are looking at their post-world cup renewal, and this week's friendlies may have given some clues: a whole new French team under Laurent Blanc lost 2-1 to Norway, apparently continuing the slide down for French football. Stephen Gerrard saved England by scoring both goals in their 2-1 victory over Hungary, while Italy lost again, this time 1-0 to the Ivory Coast, further underlining the crisis for the Azurri.
In the meantime, both Argentina and Brazil started new eras with victories over Ireland and the USA respectively, while Uruguay continued where they left with a 2-0 victory over Angola.

Hangover is over; I am ready to eat football, drink football, sleep football....