Spain-England

On the football aspect, a very boring game last night between Spain and England, although a deserved victory for the Spanish team, with an excellent Xavi in control.
Now, the greatest shame about the game, were the pathetic Spanish fans. Their racist shouts have no place in football. But Spain has shown absolutely no willingness to fight racism in football, mostly shown by the national coach, Mr. Aragones', comments earlier this year about Thierry Henry. While a formal regret has been posted on the website of the Spanish football federation (http://www.rfef.es/artavan-bin/Rfef/init), it is still quite unapologetic. And of course, the racist Mr. Aragones did not even want to apologize (Who would have expected he would anyway? He was probably shouting as well...). If FIFA is any serious about anti-racism, Spain should be punished harshly.
Football is a microcosm of society around it. The great things about football, are great things about life: passion, team spirit, competition... Bad things about football, are the bad things about life: loss, violence, xenophobia.
When Spanish fans are demonstrating such behavior, and nobody in Spain seems to mind, there must be something terribly wrong in Spanish society.
Spanish fans are absolutely pathetic.

fire Ranieri

I am tired of Mr. Ranieri in Valencia. They were wonderful last season, tis season they are very bad. It is of course also because of the leadership, that could not keep Mr. Benitez as coach. But Mr. Ranieri, who had to leave Chelsea in disgrace, was then hired by the team of the year in Spain.
He must go.

The new Barcelona "Dream Team"

With last nights victory of 2-1 at home against Deportivo La Coruña, FC Barcelona has just equalled their best start of the Spanish season ever. This indeed symbolizes the gigantic potential of the current Barcelona team. In the early 1990's FC Barcelona had what is remembered as the "Dream Team" under the legendary Dutchman Johann Cruyff. It was a complete team, with great players like Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov, Amor, Andoni Zubizarreta, Josep Guardiola, Jose Mari Bakero and Txiki Beguiristain. Playing entertaining and attacking football, that team went on to win four consecutive Spanish championships, as well as FC Barcelona's only victory in the Champions League, in 1992 against Sampdoria. In that period, Barcelona was by far the best Spanish side, totally overshadowing the arch-rivals from Real Madrid.

The current Barcelona team, under another Dutchman, Frank Riijkaard, is already being compared to the "Dream Team" of those days. And for now, they are bound to break their first record. I doubt it will be the last. They are very entertaining to watch, and has an amazing attack with Eto'o and/or Henrik Larsson in front, and such marvelous players in the second line of attack as Ronaldinho, Deco and Giuly. Also, Xavi on midfield has been displaying qualities which in my view makes him the best Spanish player at the moment. His superb passes remind of Michael Laudrup, while his tenacity reminds of Jose Mari Bakero. Defense is also looking good, with a never-tiring Puyol doing great work.
But in the end, the best thing about this Barcelona team, is the harmony which seems to surround it. While great players have always passed through the team, there has always been great pressure from the demanding Catalonian fans. Of course, this can still change, bur for now, the team is displaying wonderful football. At a time when so many victories are going to teams that play tactically defensive games, it is refreshing to see a great team like Barcelona play entertaining and attacking football. I hope they get very far with it, and I also think they will.

I wish Nistelrooij was on my team

My team, Abruniohene, on the UEFA Fantasy football, is not doing well. Actually, after last round, only Eto'o scored some good points, with his goal against AC Milan. However, teams who had Manchester United's (other) super striker, Ruud Van Nistelrooij, really got some good points. With four goals, Mr. Van Nistelrooij sank Sparta Prague. With Mr. Rooney and Mr. Van Nistelrooij, Manchester United must have the best attack in European football these days, although competition is hard.
On another note, Real Madrid is really showing that the team is able to fight back in the CL. They did it against Roma, and now managed a hard-fought but well-deserved tie against Dynamo Kiev.
Juventus, after defeating Bayern Munich in Munich, is looking as a serious contender for the title, although four 1-0 victories does not aim at the most entertaining football.

Barcelona-AC Milan: This is football!!!

I have been down about Valencia for some time. In spite of my favourite team facing an early exit from the CL, I have had an injection of joy, from watching Barcelona-Milan. It was almost bound to be a great game: between them, both teams have 11 players nominated for FIFA player of the year. At the same time, both teams represent two different types of football. Some would critizise AC Milan for being boring and defensive; but as I have argued before, defense is also part of football, and what AC Milan displayed yesterday was masterfully skillful defense, a truly poisonous counter-attack, and a great goalkeeper in Dida (which should definetly undemrine the myth of Brazilians being bad goalkeepers).
On the other hand, we have a truly amazing Barcelona height, which has more potential than the Barcelona "Dream Team" of the early 1990's. They love to play, to pass and to entertain. A true joy to watch, and marvelous to see their ability against such a marvelous team as Milan.
In the end, the right team won though: Barcelona. The team that attacked, and which thereby constantly searched for victory. And in the end, this marvelous performance was crowned by Ronaldinho's superb skill.
Thank you Barcelona and Milan!!!