Deja Vous All Over Again?
I just won €1 million for betting I'd be the lone goalscorer in Champions League!!!
Heading into the second legs of the Champions League semifinals next week it appears there could be a rematch of the 2008 final. John Terry is not happy about this.
Chelsea kicked things off on Tuesday by shutting out Barcelona, a feat no team has done since the American masses thought Sarah Palin was a legit politician. It wasn’t from a lack of trying for Barça as they out shot the Blues 19-3, and it seemed that Peter Cech would wind up conceding one at some point. The surprise of the night was how well Jose Bosingwa, playing on the left instead of his normal right, was able to contain Lionel Messi. Sure the Argentine drew some dangerous fouls, but in the end was shutout, much to the chagrin of my CL fantasy team. Going forward Chelsea looked like a Jose Mourinho team again, content to head home to Stamford Bridge and win 1-0 there to head to Rome.
Wednesday Manchester United did their part to set up the rematch with their 1-0 win over Arsenal. It seemed appropriate that Irish national teamer John O’Shea scored in the 17th minute. The shot I’ll remember, though, was Cristiano Ronaldo banging -- and I mean banging -- a shot off the crossbar from about 30 yards out. I think the posts are still vibrating. It will be interesting how defensive Sir Alex sends his boys out next Tuesday at the Emirates knowing they should be leading by more than one. Conversely, as long as Emmanuel Adebayor gets some support in the attack instead of being on an island by himself, this one has a good shot at going to extra time.
Some other thoughts left over from two days of action: Is it just me, or does Manuel Almunia look like Ryan from The Office? Speaking of Almunia, how quickly is Fabio Capello working on getting Almunia naturalized so he can play in England’s nets? With Rafa Marquez set to be out of action for up to ten weeks, new Mexico boss Javier Aguirre’s job just got a lot tougher, but four points from a trip to El Salvador and hosting T&T -- assuming they have crowds in Mexico City at that point -- will put them back on the right track. As much as it’s enjoyable watching CRon cracking shots from 30 yards, his petulant behavior on the pitch nearly negates all the positives in his game and makes me think if he played basketball he’d surely play for Duke.
Other thoughts:
- Jair Marrufo, what the hell are you doing? If you haven’t heard, one of the full time referees in MLS, and a FIFA official who worked the Olympics and is set to head to the 2010 World Cup, was seen accepting a jersey from Cuauhtémoc Blanco after the Fire’s 2-2 draw in Columbus. That game changed when Maruffo sent off Gino Padula when the defender massaged Blanco’s groin with his studs. This has done nothing but add more fuel to the fire of problems with refereeing in MLS. In my mind it was a matter of bad timing and getting caught and I would find it hard to believe it influenced his decisions in the game, but it looks horrible to the outside world.
Of course a lot of this controversy could have been avoided if Columbus played all 90 minutes and not 85. Maybe Juan Carlos Osorio will be replacing Robert Warzycha when they’re both out of a job by the All Star Break?
- After the swine flu has dominated the news recently and forced Mexican league matches to be played in empty stadiums and the U-17 World Cup qualification was cancelled, a conspiracy thought popped into my head. South Africa still has plenty of hurdles to clear before their ready for the World Cup in roughly 400 days. I’ve long thought things would fall through and the tournament would come to the United States. FIFA, especially Sepp Blatter who has wanted Africa to host a World Cup, can’t afford that much egg on their face if they are forced to move for either security or infrastructure reasons. So, supposing a new disease is found somewhere in the country this fall, much like SARS in China prior to the ’03 Women’s World Cup which was, coincidentally, moved here to the States. Would that be the way for FIFA to buy more time -- at least eight years as Brazil is set to host the Cup in 2014 -- for South Africa to be more prepared? Again, this has a much of a chance of me getting hit by lightning while I win the lottery, but remember this if things go badly during the Confederations Cup in June.
Plus, that would negate any media ethics questions going around. Which is much different than business ethics.
- With Scott set to preview the Caps and Team Iron City Light tomorrow, here are the weekend MLS predictions a day early.
Toronto v. Columbus: Top of the table Toronto, with a new interim coach, look to keep down the Crew. Padula’s suspended and if Hejduk can’t go it’ll be another long week in Columbus. Toronto 2-1
D.C. United v. FC Dallas: The first game of the season I’ll see in person likely means United will find a way to lose. But Dallas is bad. Really bad. United 2-0
Chicago v. Seattle: Game of the week. Seattle takes on the second best attack in MLS as Chicago tries to be the first to score on Kasey Keller. They will, but won’t get the win. 1-1 tie
Colorado v. RSL: The Rocky Mountain derby shouldn’t be as one sided as expected at the start of the year. To be a legit team Real need to start winning away from home and they don’t start this week. 1-1 tie
San Jose v. Chivas: Another quality game as it’s in San Jose and the best chance at a scoreless draw. However, Preki -- who I want to start calling GOB for all of his illusions -- finds a way to another three points. Chivas 1-0
Los Angeles v. New York: Probably the most entertaining game of the week as neither team has a defense. Unfortunately neither has a midfield to get the ball to their attackers. And it pains me to say this, but Jorge Rojas is the key to this game. 3-3 tie
New England v. Houston: MLS Cup rivals meet in the regular season where the Revs own the Dynamo. After a 6-0 thrashing Steve Nicol will have his guys ready. New England 2-0
- Pat Walsh
Chelsea kicked things off on Tuesday by shutting out Barcelona, a feat no team has done since the American masses thought Sarah Palin was a legit politician. It wasn’t from a lack of trying for Barça as they out shot the Blues 19-3, and it seemed that Peter Cech would wind up conceding one at some point. The surprise of the night was how well Jose Bosingwa, playing on the left instead of his normal right, was able to contain Lionel Messi. Sure the Argentine drew some dangerous fouls, but in the end was shutout, much to the chagrin of my CL fantasy team. Going forward Chelsea looked like a Jose Mourinho team again, content to head home to Stamford Bridge and win 1-0 there to head to Rome.
Wednesday Manchester United did their part to set up the rematch with their 1-0 win over Arsenal. It seemed appropriate that Irish national teamer John O’Shea scored in the 17th minute. The shot I’ll remember, though, was Cristiano Ronaldo banging -- and I mean banging -- a shot off the crossbar from about 30 yards out. I think the posts are still vibrating. It will be interesting how defensive Sir Alex sends his boys out next Tuesday at the Emirates knowing they should be leading by more than one. Conversely, as long as Emmanuel Adebayor gets some support in the attack instead of being on an island by himself, this one has a good shot at going to extra time.
Some other thoughts left over from two days of action: Is it just me, or does Manuel Almunia look like Ryan from The Office? Speaking of Almunia, how quickly is Fabio Capello working on getting Almunia naturalized so he can play in England’s nets? With Rafa Marquez set to be out of action for up to ten weeks, new Mexico boss Javier Aguirre’s job just got a lot tougher, but four points from a trip to El Salvador and hosting T&T -- assuming they have crowds in Mexico City at that point -- will put them back on the right track. As much as it’s enjoyable watching CRon cracking shots from 30 yards, his petulant behavior on the pitch nearly negates all the positives in his game and makes me think if he played basketball he’d surely play for Duke.
Other thoughts:
- Jair Marrufo, what the hell are you doing? If you haven’t heard, one of the full time referees in MLS, and a FIFA official who worked the Olympics and is set to head to the 2010 World Cup, was seen accepting a jersey from Cuauhtémoc Blanco after the Fire’s 2-2 draw in Columbus. That game changed when Maruffo sent off Gino Padula when the defender massaged Blanco’s groin with his studs. This has done nothing but add more fuel to the fire of problems with refereeing in MLS. In my mind it was a matter of bad timing and getting caught and I would find it hard to believe it influenced his decisions in the game, but it looks horrible to the outside world.
Of course a lot of this controversy could have been avoided if Columbus played all 90 minutes and not 85. Maybe Juan Carlos Osorio will be replacing Robert Warzycha when they’re both out of a job by the All Star Break?
- After the swine flu has dominated the news recently and forced Mexican league matches to be played in empty stadiums and the U-17 World Cup qualification was cancelled, a conspiracy thought popped into my head. South Africa still has plenty of hurdles to clear before their ready for the World Cup in roughly 400 days. I’ve long thought things would fall through and the tournament would come to the United States. FIFA, especially Sepp Blatter who has wanted Africa to host a World Cup, can’t afford that much egg on their face if they are forced to move for either security or infrastructure reasons. So, supposing a new disease is found somewhere in the country this fall, much like SARS in China prior to the ’03 Women’s World Cup which was, coincidentally, moved here to the States. Would that be the way for FIFA to buy more time -- at least eight years as Brazil is set to host the Cup in 2014 -- for South Africa to be more prepared? Again, this has a much of a chance of me getting hit by lightning while I win the lottery, but remember this if things go badly during the Confederations Cup in June.
Plus, that would negate any media ethics questions going around. Which is much different than business ethics.
- With Scott set to preview the Caps and Team Iron City Light tomorrow, here are the weekend MLS predictions a day early.
Toronto v. Columbus: Top of the table Toronto, with a new interim coach, look to keep down the Crew. Padula’s suspended and if Hejduk can’t go it’ll be another long week in Columbus. Toronto 2-1
D.C. United v. FC Dallas: The first game of the season I’ll see in person likely means United will find a way to lose. But Dallas is bad. Really bad. United 2-0
Chicago v. Seattle: Game of the week. Seattle takes on the second best attack in MLS as Chicago tries to be the first to score on Kasey Keller. They will, but won’t get the win. 1-1 tie
Colorado v. RSL: The Rocky Mountain derby shouldn’t be as one sided as expected at the start of the year. To be a legit team Real need to start winning away from home and they don’t start this week. 1-1 tie
San Jose v. Chivas: Another quality game as it’s in San Jose and the best chance at a scoreless draw. However, Preki -- who I want to start calling GOB for all of his illusions -- finds a way to another three points. Chivas 1-0
Los Angeles v. New York: Probably the most entertaining game of the week as neither team has a defense. Unfortunately neither has a midfield to get the ball to their attackers. And it pains me to say this, but Jorge Rojas is the key to this game. 3-3 tie
New England v. Houston: MLS Cup rivals meet in the regular season where the Revs own the Dynamo. After a 6-0 thrashing Steve Nicol will have his guys ready. New England 2-0
- Pat Walsh
Labels: Walsh
posted by Bushman @ 9:19 AM
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