Fernando Torres endured a frustrating evening as he failed to make an impact in Chelsea's
shocking 4-1 defeat to his former club Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup on Friday but the
striker is determined to guide the Blues to a magical 2012-13 campaign.
Torres endured a difficult start to life at Stamford Bridge but despite being unable to
replicate the individual brilliance that he demonstrated during his Liverpool days, he won the FA
Cup and UEFA Champions League double last season.
Santi Cazorla's brilliance for Arsenal may have finally caught up with the
Premier League Pack during their 2-0 victory over Liverpool yesterday, but the Spaniard was already
a 'crack' at Villarreal, where he fed Giuseppe Rossi
with many of the best assists in La Liga.
To the uninitiated, Johnny Heitinga's 87th minute substitute appearance against Aston Villa
appeared to serve the dual purpose of wasting a few seconds as the Toffees wound down time towards
a 3-1 victory while also bolstering the defensive ranks. Despite David Moyes' side having done most
of their good work prior to the last three [.
I've had a seriously topical and brilliant idea, and it concerns the transfer window.
While there has been talk about it being open too long, there are also specific concerns over
certain aspects of the system, chief among these is the influence of Agents.
I've had a seriously topical and brilliant idea, and it concerns the transfer window.
While there has been talk about it being open too long, there are also specific concerns over
certain aspects of the system, chief among these is the influence of Agents.
Hello there. Start of another week. A start that has been made better/worse for you depending on
where you stand after our first game of the season. I have no authority for speak for you but
personally, I'm can't be in better mood. Arsenal is back, win or lose is part of the game, what is
there not to enjoy?
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that the fitness concerns that bothered winger Ryo
Miyaichi during the club's pre-season tour of Asia will keep the youngster away from full fitness
for at least a few more weeks.
The 19-year old Miyaichi, who is a Japan international was unable to prove himself ready for the
Gunners' 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in Beijing and despite returning for yesterday's 2-2 draw to
Kitchee, he looked a bit rusty.
Frank Lampard believes that Chelsea's summer signing Eden Hazard can go down as one of the top
players in the history of the club when all is said and done in the young Belgian's career.
Lampard, 34, has only trained for a few days with the 21-year old Hazard but has seen enough
glimpses of brilliance to feel that the starlet has very bright prospects ahead.
Where would Liverpool target Clint Dempsey fit into the Reds' setup? - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has admitted that his first signings as Reds boss are not too far
away, with the team's attack in need of a revamp. With Andy Carroll looking surplus to requirements
in the Northern Irishman's thoughts, sprightly Roma striker Fabio Borini has been identified as a
more agile replacement.
A determined counter-attacking Arsenal side produced occasional flashes of brilliance to steal
three points at Anfield and extend their run of not having conceded a goal this season to three
games.
DC United has drifted into a deep malaise over the past two months. Only sporadically does the
team seem to be in sync. Play is unfocused and only moments of individual brilliance have allowed
the team to salvage as many points as they have.
Frustration is the spirit of the day and Sunday's game saw it come out.
In this episode Pedro and Luke discuss the weekend's best talking points. The San Jose Earthquakes
are still league leaders, but with SKC, NYRB and RSL at their heels, can they hold on? Dramatic
referee decisions in New York, woe for Portland, a solid match between Houston and Columbus, plus
is Montreal a playoff contender?
Highlights of todays match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa at St James' Park. A fairly
uninspiring early performance from the Magpies was punished by a goal from Villa's Andreas Weimann
in the 22nd minute. However once again we were saved by a piece of individual brilliance from one
of the usual suspects, Hatem Ben [.
Demba Ba was back to his scoring ways again on Saturday, when he put Newcastle ahead in the
53rd minute with a tremendous goal, and although Spurs equalized through Defoe on 76 minutes,Â
Ben Arfa produced some of his brilliance four minutes later, to earn a penalty which he
converted, and that helped Newcastle win that first tough league game 2-1, after the Magpies had
been second best to Spurs in the first [.
By "The Other 87 Minutes" / Senior Unemployed English Major
Correspondents
Today we celebrate the return of the school year by thinking of the children. Not just any
children, but badass ones – the kids we all wanted to be when we grew up. Some of them might have
aged and become either a best-selling author/religious cult leader or a 41-year-old pinch runner or
Batman (briefly) or Robin Williams, but each of them did their best work in their childhood or
early teenage years.
For centuries, humans have struggled to prove the existence of ghosts. Every one of us has felt
a shiver late at night, heard an odd voice in a poorly lit room, and sensed in our bones a foreign
presence. TV shows proliferate in which individuals use the latest technology to try and monitor
paranormal activity.
In a move that could be described as "huh? really? that's happening?" and properly reacted to as
"yeah, it happened", Eric Hassili, formerly of the Vancouver Whitecaps, has been traded for Toronto
for the first round pick of the 2014 SuperDraft.
The Up Side : The man is a game changer who can materialize brilliance out of nothing, as
seen here in Exhibit A and Exhibit B.
Stephen McCarthy (concussive-like symptoms) was upgraded to probable in Friday's injury
report.
The New England Revolution will be facing a team that is eerily similar to them when they play
Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night. Both teams have veteran goalkeepers, capable defenses, and
a variety of players that handle the scoring burden.
Saturday night's Eastern Conference clash between the New England Revolution and Columbus Crew
is a critical game for both teams, as just two points — currently the difference between making
the playoffs and missing out on the postseason — separates them in the standings.
That the Revolution (5-7-1, 16 points) and Crew (5-4-3, 18 points) are so close in the standings
and both mid-table in the East one third of the way through the season shows how inconsistent both
teams have been.
The New York Red Bulls managed to take all three points on offer from this mid-week battle of
Eastern Conference Titans (full highlights here). All it took was an unbelievable Thierry Henry
golazo (and a Brandon Barklage goal-line cleareance) and, boom, the Red Bulls are within one point
of Conference leaders Sporting KC.
Man it feels good to be back and posting a 3 questions article again. It seems like it has been
months since the Fire last played an MLS match. This losing streak has left a bad taste in my mouth
for the last month and it's long past time to wash it away. The task will be tall given the fact
that New York has won 4 of their last 5 and are scoring in droves.
A deep lying midfielder and a goalkeeper coming off the end of a successful Serie A season where
they could not be beaten in any league game. Both and a few more of their team mates are on the
verge of adding the European Championship to their honours list. A mad man (as many would like to
call him) and the cause of consternation amongst fans, dividing opinions between that and that of a
genius.
There has been plenty of quality on display throughout Euro 2012 but there also haven't been
many surprises, leaving four of the continent's biggest sides still fighting for the chance to be
crowned champions.
Germany, Italy, Portugal and reigning champs Spain are the remaining teams who will look to
advance to the tournament finale in Kiev on June 1, a chance to be etched into European soccer
history looming for all.
With England leading the penalty shootout 2-1 in their Euro 2012 quarterfinal against Italy, it
seemed as if an unlikely upset was about to be pulled off. Italy had all but dominated the previous
(and tedious) 120 minutes of play with 68 percent of possession and 36 shots on goal (eight on
target) to England's nine (one on target).
On a day when Germany captain Philipp Lahm matched Thomas Hassler and Jurgen Klinsmann's record
of 13 European Championship appearances, he also scored a fantastic opening goal to give his side a
deserved 1-0 lead at half-time.
The Germans dominated the proceedings throughout a highly one-sided opening period but were
somewhat wasteful in their failure to open the scoring until the 38th minute.
England winger Theo Walcott has defended skipper Steven Gerrard for an incident that took away
what was poised to be Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's first goal for the Three Lions.
Walcott came off the bench during Friday's 3-2 win over Sweden and in his impressive substitute
appearance, he was able to score the equalizer and assist Danny Welbeck's match-winner to help
England come from 2-1 behind to claim all three points.
England had never won their opener at the European Championships, and France came into the match
defending a 21-game unbeaten streak. Ninety largely predictable minutes later, a one-one draw
ensured both sides would extend their records by at least one more match, though with Roy Hodgson
making time wasting substitutions in the final moments and goalkeeper Joe Hart coming close to
seeing yellow for time wasting it was clear which side was happier with the result.
Iniesta aparece en The Guardian dentro de los 10 momentos en imagenes de la
fase de grupos de esta Eurocopa. La reseña al pie de foto menciona:
Andres Iniesta's tiki-taka brilliance The midfielder, who scored the winning goal in the 2010
World Cup final, has been brilliant in Spain's three group games, providing much of the team's
cutting thrust
¿Podrá el centrocampista de la selección española continuar con su entrada en el olimpo de
los 4 grandes para pasar a ser 5 o la sombra de Messi seguirá siendo demasiado alargada?
There was a point yesterday when it seemed as if history was deemed to repeat itself yet again.
As Olof Mellbergs second goal-ward shot on goal made Joe Harts net swell for the second time in ten
minutes, the feeling that England were deflating to expectation was inescapable. We had been here
before, of course.
There is a school of thought which suggests that part of the reason behind the global success of
football lays in its occasionally ruthless depiction of the fallibility of humanity. We watch this
game above all others for the brilliance and the horrendous, and all stops in between. The first
match of the 2012 European Championships demonstrated this in spades.
For all the accolades, accomplishments and unconditional love Lionel Messi has enjoyed while
playing for Barcelona, it's been a bit different for him in his international career with
Argentina. Since he has struggled to replicate his club success with his country, he hasn't gotten
quite the same reverence that he enjoys in Europe.
It's fitting that an excellent, narrow match was decided by a singular late moment of brilliance.
Despite Portugal going two up with ten minutes left in the first half, Denmark diligently fought
back, only to go down to Varela's 87th minute strike, just two minutes after he entered the fray.
TweetArgentina edged Brazil 4-3 in a thrilling friendly match with Lionel Messi grabbing the games
seventh and decisive goal. The only problem here was that the whole of Europe was watching the
Germany vs Portugal game, so sadly Messi's brilliance escaped our radars. It's a God damn shame!
But as ever we at In The [.
Pia Sundhage promised gold for the USWNT in this summer's Olympic games and who can blame her?
She has a squad that has won gold before and like the taste. Yesterday's first match could have
been a complete disaster, with France taking an early 2-0 lead. One could say that it was almost a
given that the US Women would stage a comeback, but for a few moments during the game, the USWNT
looked frazzled.
Well, the John Terry Anton Ferdinand class can hang on just a little bit longer through the
brilliance of YouTube and this musical, surely to hit the most prestigious theatre districts the
world over soon.
And song proclaiming "Ashley Cole is an asshole." can only be sheer genius just surprising it
didn't come from Girls Aloud first.
Wondo, your MVP frontrunner at the turn. Game of the Week San Jose 4, LA Galaxy 3 There have been
moments in the brief flash of light that has been MLS' existence that the league makes you stop for
a moment and marvel. Goals, transfers and individual bits of skill often fill this void, though
these moments of tempestuous brilliance are often kept at a reasonably low rate of return so as
Saturday night the Sounders embarrassed themselves. Forget the referee, the crowd, the Montreal
Impact. Intensity and focus matter in professional sports and the Sounders did not take the field
in Montreal ready to play. There were moments of precision and brilliance from the Sounders. Eddie
Johnson's goal was the result of beautiful interplay.
