A match to remember

No matter what happens in the rest of this seasons' Champions League we will remember last night's match between Manchester City and Monaco. 5-3 and a festival of goals and drama, the only bad thing that can be said is that at times defenses looked very shaky. But that has to be seen against the background of strikers who all seemed to have a good day: Radamel Falcao looked as a young man from his pre-Manchester United days (despite him missing a penalty against Willy Caballero, who may be better than hapless Claudio Bravo, but still had a difficult match alongside his defense) and Sergio Aguero had one of those rare days when he was world class in an important match.  But most impressive was the young Leroy Sane, who is really proving to be the best transfer this season.
Monaco impressed because of their attacking prowess and positive attitude, and Radamel Falcao's penalty miss when they were up 0-2 may have cost them the match, despite them eventually going up 1-3 before Manchester City's memorable comeback. Manchester City showed an amazing character which should give them confidence for better results.
The return match in Monaco will be a must-see for every football fans: Monaco must attack, which they have shown they can, against a City side that has shown they cannot defend, so must attack. Do not miss it!

The Colombian-Brazilian drama

Colombia-Brazil in the Copa America was bound to be a drama: the two sides hate one another after the 2014 World Cup Quarterfinal when Neymar was injured and Brazil won 2-1. Colombia got some revenge now, winning 1-0 and exposing that Brazil are a team of mediocre players with one superstar, Neymar. While Colombia are still not looking convincing after their opening loss to Venezuela, Brazil could lose to a Venezuelan side that were much better than both Colombia and Brazil in their opening match.
And note: it will be a Brazil without Neymar after his red card for kicking the ball...
Neymar is a great player, but he is not world class. He still dives too much and tends more to complain when things are against him. Things were surely against him last night: a terrible referee, Colombian provocations, missed chances and a bunch of teammates who are hardly at his level. And that frustration eventually exploded and may ultimately end up hurting Brazil...
Another player with a red card was Colombian Carlos Bacca, who viciously attacked Neymar after the Brazilian's headbutt. He will miss Colombia's last match against Peru. No mayor loss, although Colombia continues to believe in a Radamel Falcao who has absolutely contributed nothing to Colombia.
Brazil and Colombia now have a victory and defeat each before continuing to the last match of the group. However, after seeing them in their first two matches, it is all but impossible to sympathise with either side of violent rich prima donnas.

The injury domino

Many of the world's top players have had a very long season. And after a long season, now comes the world's foremost tournament. Many are still trying to get past injuries. Some are already ruled out due to injuries, while other have suffered the horrible fate of getting injured during the warm up to the tournament. Here is some of the domino of world Cup injuries:

• Germany: Marco Reus was injured in last week's friendly against Armenia. A loss for Reus, and a huge loss Germany.
• France has lost their best player, Frank Ribery. Although France has been good lately, this would seem to hamper their possibilities. That said, many teams have before done well without their super-star...
• Colombia will miss their star striker, Radamel Falcao. However, I do not believe this will matter that much, as Colombia already has good striking power. Colombia's weakness will be elsewhere.
• Netherlands: they have more men down, with Rafael Van der Vaart, Gregory van der Wiel and Kevin Strootman all out. Still a strong side, but not as complete as they could be.
• Portugal has brought Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe to Brazil, but both remain doubtful. I would be surprised if they do not force them on the pitch anyway. Portugal's success depends on Ronaldo.
• Uruguay: Luis Suarez has been doubtful, and recently underwent an operation, and he is apparently ready.
• Belgium: Cristian Benteke was injured before the tournament, and Belgium will have to rely mainly on Lukaku and Hazard.
• Spain: Diego Costa has been doubtful, but seems to be ready. Thiago Alcantara is their main loss, but are otherwise at full strength.
• Italy's Ricardo Montolivo fractured his leg in a friendly against Ireland. The curse of the friendlies, where players are dead scared to get injured...
• Russia's Roman Shirokov is out, and this will surely weaken the Russian midfield.
• Mexico's Luis Montes was one of the new players brought in by Luis Herrera when the North Americans almost missed qualification for the World Cup. A broken leg in a friendly against Ecuador has also left him out of the tournament.
• England's big loss is Theo Walcott

Epic Colombian qualification

A tie at home against Chile was enough for Colombia to qualify for their first World Cup since 1998. So there was a festive mood in Barranquilla, where Colombia has been awesome during this qualification campaign, and perhaps it was some of the reason that the Colombian team seemed to forget that they had to play the match before celebrating. Withing 30 minutes they were 0-3 down against an efficient Chilean side that seems likely to make it to Brazil.
Barranquilla was quiet, but Pekerman, the Argentinean coach of Colombia, must have spoken harsh to his players at half-time, as they came out with renewed attitude and attacking prowess. It took a harsh red card to Chile's Carlos Carmona, a strike by Teofilo Gutierrez and two penalty goals by Radamel Falcao to seal an epic comeback and a deserved spot in Brazil 2014.
That said, Colombia will suffer from the enormous pressure by the hugely expectant and critical Colombian fans, who can be as passionately unforgiven and cruel to their players as they can support them with emotion when they win. Few teams in the world face the kind of pressure Colombian players face, and this will probably be their downfall in Brazil next year, in spite of me hoping the opposite.
At least this time they will be able to blame it all on an Argentinean coach.

In spite of it all, Colombia's star players and excellent style of play are one of the teams that simply belong in Brazil next year, as the World Cup would not be the same without Colombia.

The lack of ambition

When James Rodriguez from FC Porto, one of the most interesting players in the world right now, last week announced that he was changing to AS Monaco I thought: "What a waste of a good player! He could have gone to any top side in Europe!"
But Monaco, with a billionaire Russian behind it, Dmitri Rybolovlev, has money, lots of money, for players who have no ambition.
One of these players is Radamel Falcao.
In the last few years Falcao has been a scoring machine for FC Porto and Atletico Madrid respectively, winning two Europa League titles (and the first player to score in two Europa League finals in a row), and is largely considered one of the best center-forwards in the world at the time. He could surely have chosen to play for almost any big club in Europe; clubs that would be fighting in the Champions League. But not so with AS Monaco: the side has just been promoted to Ligue 1, and Mr. Rybolovlev has invested heavily to bring in new players (other signing have been Joao Moutinho and Ricardo Carvalho), without doubt with a hope to be fighting for the French title next season against sides such as Paris St. Germain, Olympique Marseille and Lyon.
What a waste of great talent for the sake of money.

Best players of 2012

This is my personal list of favourite players of 2012:

• 10) Cristiano Ronaldo: Ronaldo is one of the most gifted players of our time, but that is also what makes him so frustrating. He had a marvelous season for Real Madrid when they took the Spanish title, but it seems he only glows when things go well for the team. Perhaps it is a personality or attitude problem, but he will not become one of the best in the world even though he could.
• 9) Miroslav Klose: At a time where you see more assholes than gentlemen in international football, Klose is a marvelous rarity. The veteran has done very well in Lazio, which is in second place in Serie A, but I mostly include him for a goal he scored against Napoli, where he got the referee to disallow it by pointing out to him that he had scored by hand! A true sportsman!
• 8) Robbie van Persie: One of the most noted transfers was when Arsenal captain van Persie changed to Manchester United this summer. Both in Arsenal and in Manchester the Dutchman has been a goal machine, and he has been a huge contribution to Manchester United's first spot in the Premier League in the fall.
• 7) Didier Drogba: One of the reasons that Chelsea has not been as good in the fall is the absence of Didier Drogba who retired to play in China after bringing glory to Chelsea by scoring both in the FA Cup final and in the Champions League final. He is not only missed by Chelsea fans but by any football fan who loved to see this absolutely brilliant striker!
• 6) Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Ibrahimovic is a unique player. Which other player has given birth to a verb, "Zlatanera"?  He was scoring a lot of goals for AC Milan before his change to Paris St. Germain, where he is currently the top scoring player in the French League as Paris takes first spot. Also, he scored what is probably the most memorable goal of the year in a friendly match against England in November.
• 5) Xavi: Xavi continues to be the mid-field general of both FC Barcelona and Spain, two of the best teams in the world, not least for his impressive vision.
• 4) Radamel Falcao: The Colombian striker is perhaps the best striker in the world at the moment. In a revived Atletico Madrid side he has been a goal machine, leading them both to the Europa League title, the UEFA Supercup and a second place in the Spanish league, where his scoring record this season is only second to the mighty Messi.
• 3) Andrea Pirlo: When the Italian veteran changed from AC Milan to Juventus in 2011 it seemed as if he were reborn. He was the outstanding midfield general on a side that in 2012 went on to win their first Serie A title since 2003, and in the Euro 2012 he was simply superb in leading an Italian side that played a more offensive football than other Italian sides was playing. He would have been the best player of the tournament had he not been dwarfed by the mighty Spanish in the final.
• 2) Andres Iniesta: It is a pity that the brilliant and elegant Andres Iniesta still has often suffered from injuries during the year, as this prevents fans from admiring one of the greatest players of time. In FC Barcelona he still is outstanding and it was fully deserved when he was awarded the prize of best player of the tournament, as well as his award as UEFA best player of the year, ahead of his team-mate Lionel Messi!
• 1) Lionel Messi: There is no way around it. This has probably been the best year for Lionel Messi ever (in spite of an absence of titles, with only the Copa del Rey). He was simply unstoppable in scoring goals, making it to 91 goals in the year, breaking legendary Gerd Muller's record. These goals have not only come for Barcelona, but also for the Argentine national team, where he seems to have finally become good after many years of disappointing.

Uruguayan debacle and Colombian delight

Uruguay had a horrible Olympic tournament, where they had expected much more. And also, in the South American world cup qualifiers they have looked shaky in their last games.
Colombia on the other hand, have been full of expectations with Pekerman, and although winning, the magic formula have eluded them. In their home match against Uruguay, in Barranquilla, today, this changed. Colombia played with good possession and patience as they wore down Uruguay, and were extremely dangerous when they got near the Uruguayan goal. The currently strong Radamel Falcao scored the opener, while the popular (and quite controversial) player from Barranquilla's own Atletico Junior, scored two great goals. Napoli's Juan Camilo Zuniga closed the humilliation of Uruguay. While this is Uruguay's first defeat in the qualifiers the worries must be clear, as Uruguay still has some very difficult away games ahead of them. Today's defeat is a sign that Uruguay may. Be entering a period of decline after the enormous success of the last few years. Old stars like Diego Lugano and Diego Forlan have lost their shine, while stars like Edison Cavani or Luis Suarez are simply not working on the national team.
It is great for Clombia, who cansurely shine in the World Cup, but the warning signs are up for Uruguay.coc

Falcao's Super Cup

In 2007 Atletico Madrid sold Fernando Torres to Liverpool, who had a great season there. In 2011 Torres signed for Chelsea, where he mostly has been complaining.
Today Torres was facing his old club in the final of the UEFA Super Cup. As winners of the Champions League Chelsea were probably slight favourites, and Fernando Torres is set to take over the role of goalscorer from Didier Drogba.
But perhaps Chelsea should look to Atletico Madrid for a quality striker.
Radamel Falcao has been a scoring machine in every club he has played. First in River Plate, and then moving to FC Porto in 2009, where he scored an unprecedented 72 goals in 85 matches, among them the winning goal in the 2011 Europa League final. For the 2011-2012 season he moved to Atletico Madrid where, in the shadow of the great Spanish teams, he has continued pouring goals in, among them two goals in the 2012 Europa League final.
Today Falcao again sealed himself as perhaps the best striker in the world at the moment (and one must consider that he is not playing in one of the best teams!), when he scored three goals against Chelsea, who were humiliated by the Europa League winners 4-1. Torres completely disappeared in an extremely poor Chelsea side, but the true star was Radamel Falcao.

Glory for Atletico Madrid

I was on my way back to Caracas from Maturin, perfectly planning to arrive to watch the Europa League final in Bucharest between Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. But due to a delay in my flight with Aserca, the match started while I was in the air, and only managed to watch the second half in my local bar "Machangos", where Atletico Madrid was already ahead 2-0 on two great goals by the Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who also scored the winner in last years' final, but playing for FC Porto. A great achievement by the striker.  With a goal by the outstanding midfield general Diego, the Madrid side sealed a 3-0 victory against a Bilbao side that had entered the final as favourites, but proved weak and ineffective when it counted. Surely a disappointment for coach Marcelo Bielsa, who has nevertheless lifted the Bilbao side since his arrival, and will still have one more final to fight for when they face FC Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final.
Atletico Madrid did not start the season well, but have also grown under coach Diego Simeone, who must take a lot of credit for the victory.

Spanish might

The Spanish League is a boring affair. Real Madrid and Barcelona are the ones always fighting for the title, glory and money, while the rest of the teams are left with the spoils. And one of those spoils is the UEFA Europa League, as the two giants are left to fight for the Champions League title.
The UEFA Europa league is indeed a B-league, where one sees the teams that are simply not strong enough to make it in the Champions League. That said, the Europa League is not devoid of quality or entertainment, and one can look forward to semifinals where three Spanish teams will be fighting for the spoils:

• Valencia-Atletico Madrid
• Sporting Lisbon-Athletic Bilbao 

Valencia is still third in the Spanish league, but has looked unstable of late, something that Atletico Madrid has not; under coach Diego Simeone and a splendid striker in Radamel Falcao (who won the UEFA Europa League last season with FC Porto), Atletico Madrid are looking like a slight favourite.
Another succesful coach (and also from Argentina) is Marcelo Bielsa, who is doing wonders with the talented Basque side of Athletic Bilbao. They are in the Spanish Cup final and after eliminating both Manchester United and Schalke 04 (two teams who were coming from the Champions League) from the tournament, should be counted as favourites against Sporting Lisbon.
I would put money on a purely Spanish final.

The good, the bad and the surprise

Jose Pekerman had his debut as Colombian coach with a good 0-2 away victory against Mexico in a friendly match yesterday. Colombia seemed to play with more discipline and were cool-headed in the most difficult situations, taking advantage of their stars, who played with heart, perhaps wanting to prove to the new coach what they were worth. They also took advantage of their strong striking power with goals by Atletico Madrid's Radamel Falcao and Lecce's Juan Guillermo Cuadrado.
Undoubtedly this victory will give Colombia an important boost of confidence as they begin a new interesting era under Pekerman.
Colombia were good last night!

Venezuela has over the last year had one of its best footballing periods ever, and in my view, it started with a match last June against Spain in Puerto la Cruz. In spite of the 0-3 defeat, Venezuela played a good match against the defending world champions, and when they corrected the silly mistakes that gave Spain the victory, Venezuela went on to surprise everyone at the Copa America, making it to their first semifinal ever. Since, they have also started the South American world cup qualifiers, giving the few Venezuelans justified hope that they can make it to Brazil in 2014.
They will not make it, nor will they be missed, if they play like they did last night against Spain. Spain won 5-0, without a sweat, with three goals by Roberto Soldado, who even missed a penalty! Venezuela was bad, in particular in defense, where they made basic mistakes and were continually outrun made to look by clowns on the flanks. If a match against the world champions cannot motivate a team, then nothing can, and I doubt after last night that Venezuela has the edge that will be necessary to take them to Brazil.
Venezuela were bad last night.

Jurgen Klinsmann is one of the most exciting, yet debatable, coaches in international football, and after he was made coach of the USA, with full control of all teams, many have wondered whether he was the right man to take the USA, with its enormous potential, to the next level of international football. Klinsmann did not start well, but the team has been getting steadily better as Klinsmann finds the right players. In January, I watched USA versus Venezuela, and found the way Klinsmann was trying to play quite intelligent and refreshing. Last night, Klinsmann played a friendly match against the four-times World Champions from Italy in Genoa, and Klinsmann got his first big scalp as USA coach; USA defeated Italy, 0-1 on a goal by Fulham's Clint Dempsey. Although one may say that Italy's coach, Cesare Prandelli, made a lot of experiments, one should not take away this historical result, the first time ever the USA has defeated Italy!
It will continue to be very exciting to follow Klinsmann in the USA.
USA's victory was the surprise.

Colombian crash against Perú

Colombia has a thing for disappointing when you are expecting something from them. In this tournament they had been great, winning their group ahead of Argentina, and seemingly with some of their players, such as Freddy Guarín and Radamel Falcao, in great shape. On the other hand, Perú had only ended third in its group, working hard, but without impressing. Colombia were huge favourites. But in football in general, and in this tournament in particular, being the favourite has meant little.
Colombia was a shadow of itself. They seemed to play without spirit, and in spite of having some chances, they were too forgiving. Radamel Falcao even missed a penalty, and as the rest of his team, Peruvian goalkeeper Raúl Fernández was concentrated and worked hard. The match ended 0-0 in ordinary time, and in extra time, Colombia continued to play without imagination or clout, even after Perú went ahead 1-0 on a goal by Carlos Lobatón, who took advantage of a misunderstanding between the Colombian goalkeeper Luis Enrique Martinez and his defense. Perú continued solid and concentrated, and in the second half of the extra time went ahead 2-0, when Hamburger SV striker Paolo Guerrero, who played a great match, picked up a ball from the Colombian goalkeeper, ran into the area, and passed the ball to Perú captain, Juan Manuel Vargas, who scored a second for Perú.
Colombia showed nothing.
Now, one has to pay its respect to Perú's players and its coach, Sergio "El Mago" Markarián, who showed that hard work and tactical discipline are still very important if you want to win in football!
Personally, I am hugely disappointed about the Colombian side, but congratulations to the Peruvians!

Unstoppable Colombia

Colombia could, with a victory against Bolivia today, make sure that they would be winners of group A, in front of either Argentina or Costa Rica (who are playing tomorrow). Colombia had no problems winning 2-0 on two goals by the FC Porto striker Radamel Falcao. With Falcao scoring goals, a solid defense (they have conceded no goals) and an excellent midfield, Colombia has looked as the best team so far, but it is now, with the knock-out matches, that true champions will come out. No matter what, it is great to see Colombia and its fans doing so well!

Porto champions

The 2011 UEFA Europa league final probably did not raise much interest outside Ireland (where it took place) and Portugal, from where the two finalists, FC Porto and Braga, came from.
I must admit that the match was also a big disappointment. Porto's 1-0 victory was fully deserved. Although Braga was organised, when Porto went ahead on a goal by the Colombian goal machine Falcao, Braga had nothing to offer in terms of threatening their fellow Portuguese.
FC Porto has been awesome in this Europa League, and adds this title to their dominion in the Portuguese league. This next Sunday they will have the opportunity to take a "small triple", if they win the Portuguese Cup, something they are undoubfully favourites for, if they are not too hungover from this victory!