Thursday, October 27, 2005
Deportivo's un-surprising victory
Monday, October 24, 2005
Excellent football weekend
In the English Premier League Chelsea finally lost a point, to league-trailers Everton. However, Chelsea's lead is so large with 28 points (Charlton on second has 19), that it is difficult to see how they would not win the Premier League.
In Italy's Serie A, Juventus is five points ahead of AC Milan on top after a strong 0-3 away victory to Lecce.
In Denmark, FC Copenhagen continued on top after a narorw 1-0 home victory against little Horsens. On the other hand, defending champions Brøndby kept a strong pressure on Copenhagen after an impressive 5-0 win against FC Midtjylland.
In Spain's Primera División, the most talked about was of course Valencia´s victory against Real Madrid. Valencia was far superior against a Real Madrid side that got two Red Cards: Gravesen after only six minutes on the pitch for his violent attack on Vicente, and David Beckham, for complaining. Seems Mr. Beckham is becoming good at the last, as he has also gotten red cards lately on the English national team. On top of this, Pablo García made a record appearance, becoming the fastest man to be awarded a yellow card in Spanish football. Another record in the match was better: Amadeo Carboni from Valencia became the oldest player ever to play in a Spanish League match. He is 40.
All in all, a great weekend!
Sunday, October 23, 2005
The worst that can happen a football fanatic
So I decided to go to my usual Sports Bar in Accra, Champs. I was more than delighted; the game was excellent. Valencia went ahead on a splendid free-kick by Baraja, after Zidane pathetically missed a non-existing penalty kick. Then Raul equalized on a lucky strike, and Valencia scored again on a non-existing penalty. The game had it all...
A Sports Bar that does that is a joke of a Sports bar. One thing is that they would not show the match, another to announce it, and then turn it off in the middle of it. I am hereby starting my personal boycott against Champs in Accra. I had always gone there to watch football, and was very fond of the place. But to do this to a football fan is worse than pissing on him. Never go to Champs Sports Bar in Accra.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Champions League Matchday 3
- Bayern Munich-Juventus 2-1
Goals: Deisler, Demichelis; Ibrahimovic
Great game by the Germans, although the victory seemed narrow in the end. However, it is never easy to defeat Juve. Demichelis has become an excellent goal scorer in the CL!
- Rapid Vienna-Club Brugge 0-1
Goals: Balaban
The Belgians got three points away, and are still alive in the tournament.
- Ajax Amsterdam-Thun 2-0
Goals: Anastasiou (2)
Important home victory for Ajax, while Thun will be fighting hard to hang on.
- Sparta Prague-Arsenal 0-2
Goals: Henry (2)
Thierry Henry is back! His first goal was amazing, and Arsenal is well on the way to win Group B with 9 points for 3 matches.
- Panathinaikos-Barcelona 0-0
Many are talking about a crisis in Barcelona. While things are not going their way in the league, a 0-0 away in Greece is not a bad result, as they are still winning the group.
- Udinese-Werder Bremen 1-1
Goals: Di Natale; Da Silva Felipe (OG)
The group is very close, although this was Bremen's first point. All teams have a good option at following Barcelona into the next round.
- Manchester United-Lille 0-0
Manchester United was a great disappointment at home to Lille. Scholes' red card was plainly stupid, and it is becoming obvious that the team's crisis must also have something to do with the player's attitude on the pitch.
- Villarreal-Benfica 1-1
Goals: Riquelme; Fernandes
Third tie for Villarreal, but at least now they have scored. Still, all teams in this group (the others are Manchester United and Lille) still have options for the next round.
- FC Porto-Inter 2-0
Goals: Materazzi (OG), McCarthy
After losing at home to Artmedia, FC Porto was being discounted in the tournament. However, they have showed that they are very much alive with this great victory against the strong Italians.
- Glasgow Rangers-Artmedia Bratislava 0-0
A good away point for Artmedia, who is trailing Inter by 2 points for first spot. There could be another sensation on the way from the Slovakians!
- Anderlecht-Liverpool 0-1
Goals: Cisse
A very important away victory for Liverpool, with a good goal by Cisse. The Reds are continuing the fight to defend their title.
- Chelsea-Betis 4-0
Goals: Drogba, Carvalho, J. Cole, Crespo
Betis did not start bad, but made some stupid mistakes in defence, which a team like Chelsea never forgives. Chelsea is looking more and more scary, and is a serious contender for the title.
- Real Madrid-Rosenborg 4-1
Goals: Woodgate, Raul, Helguera, Beckham; Strand
A weak Madrid was losing 1-0 at half time, but came backa gainst a technically inferior Norwegian side. They showed that they do not need Ronaldo to score goals. However, their vulnerability in defence is still obvious.
- Lyon-Olympiakos 2-1
Goals: Juninho, Govou; Kafes
Lyon is winning the group with 9 points for three games. Although Real Madrid is getting stronger, the French side has been by far the best-playing in the group so far. They can get very far in the tournament,
- AC Milan-PSV Eindhoven 0-0
Good away result for PSV. Milan is still winning the group with 5 points, being trailed by both Fenerbahce and PSV with 4.
- Fenerbahce-Schalke 04 3-3
Goals: Luciano, Nobre, Appiah; Lincoln (2), Kuranyi
This was a very exciting match, with an impressive scoreline. An important late equalizer for Fenerbahce by Stephen Appiah kept Fenerbahce on second spot. However, Schalke is trailing with 2 points.
We are now halfway through the first round. It is getting more clear who might be in the next round for some groups, and in others, the drama is growing.
Finally, in the UEFA Fantasy Football, my team Football-fanatics has been doing terrible. However, prior to this round I changed 5 players. It seems to have improved the team marginally, so I am still hoping!
Friday, October 14, 2005
European World Cup Qualifiers Play-off draws
- Spain-Slovakia
- Norway-Czech Republic
- Turkey-Switzerland
It will surely be nerve-wrecking games, in particularly for the fans!