Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham. Since 2008 AC Milan is facing an English team in the
second round of Uefa Champions League, but in all of these cases they have never managed to pass to
the quarter finals of the most important European torunament for clubs.
Even this year beat Arsen Wenger's team won't be easy as Gunners are not the team they used to
be at the beginning of the season, when, for example, they lost 8-2 at Old Trafford against
Manchester United, in one of the most embarassing matches of the Wenger's era.
Bookies are slashing odds on the Anfield Cat to become the next England boss. After his fearless
display on Monday night, the Cat has been attracting attention from all over the globe. The 4
legged cutie showed more bottle in one night than in 5 years under the atrocious Sven McClaren.
'With England's woeful displays in recent tournaments, a change of direction is exactly what the
team need', said the Cat's owner.
With both Euro 2012 and the Olympics getting underway this summer, it is perhaps no surprise
that speculation has been rife over who will make it into Fabio Capello's final squad for Poland
and Ukraine, and who is in line for a call up for Stuart Pearce's Olympic Team GB squad and the
Euro 2012 betting odds for one youngster in particular have just dramatically
shortened.
Written By James Prentice
Follow Me|@MrPrent
Fan's of Arsenal and Chelsea will be hoping for a Michael Cainesque Italian Job if they
are to enter the heady heights of a Champions League quarter-final.
Arsenal, who topped their group, were drawn against 7-time European Champions AC Milan, in a
repeat fixture to that of the 2008 CL round of 16, where, after a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium
in the first leg, Arsenal travelled to the San Siro to silence the home crowd with a little help
from a 30-yard effort from Cesc Fabregas.
Wayne Rooney scored his first league goal since September as Manchester United crushed Wolves
4-1 on Saturday. But with all the analysis and comments that followed an eventful week for Rooney,
one quote stood out.
As well as stating that ‘Wayne was brilliant', United defender Phil Jones went on to say,
‘but he still has an influence on the team even when he is not scoring.
Tomorrow we will know the future of Chelsea FC in the UEFA Champions League and , probably,
the future of Portuguese manager Andres Villas Boas in the bench of the sout-west London club. The
"Blues" has the chance to qualify to the knock out of the most important tournament for European
clubs, as they will play at Stamford Bridge in front of their supporters, but an easy qualification
is not to be taken for granted.
The draw for the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine was made yesterday with some
very interesting match-ups. This A-Z guide should enlighten, confuse, bore or maybe even fascinate
some of you football fans.
A is for Absence - The group games are being played at 5pm and 7.
The groups are as follows:Group A:PolandGreeceCzech RepublicRussiaNot the most scary group for the
Polish hosts, but one should also look out for the Russians.Group
B:GermanyNetherlandsDenmarkPortugalSurely the group of death! Germany and Netherlands nevertheless
remain favorites to win the group and the tournament, while Denmark and Portugal will be looking to
make a surprise.
In the last year he was one of the best player for Juventus, but the advent of Antonio Conte's
era at Juventus seems to have stopped the rising of Milos Krasic in the club.
When he arrived in Italy in the last year he was received by Juventus fans as the "New Nedved",
both for his role in the field (left wing) and for his moves which are very similar to those of
former Juventus and Lazio player.
Spain's 2-2 draw with Costa Rica last night, and their 1-0 loss to England on the weekend,
suggest that the European and World champions have become too predictable. Only a David Villa goal
three minutes into injury time in San Jose prevented them from being embarrassed twice in four
days.
Bad news for Italy's coach Cesare Prandelli, as one of his most talented forward could miss Euro
2012, on the next June. Antonio Cassano has suffered a small ischaemia after the winning of AC
Milan against Roma last saturday. When it happened the player was with his teamates on the
airplane, coming bacfrom Rome to Milan.
Bad news for Italy's coach Cesare Prandelli, as one of his most talented forward could miss Euro
2012, on the next June. Antonio Cassano has suffered a small ischaemia after the winning of AC
Milan against Roma last saturday. When it happened the player was with his teamates on the
airplane, coming bacfrom Rome to Milan.
The Italian Serie A since yesterday has an unexpected leader: Udinese Calcio. After the amazing
4th place of the last year Francesco Guidolin's team is now at the top of the league despite the
selling of many foundamental players during the last summer market.
Players like Gokhan Inler, Alexis Sanchez and Cristian Zapata have been sold for more than £ 60
millions and replaced with less expensive players such as Gabriel Torje ( £ 5 millions from Dinamo
Bucaresti) and Danilo Larangeira (form Palmeiras).
With their last minute winner against Marseille in the Champions League, the Arsenal manager
said that his team had "taken a little step forward". Wenger also commented that "we're a team that
has to continue to grow and have lost only once in six matches. We are slowly getting there." Come
on Wenger; enough of the excuses.
Reports on Tuesday suggested the deal struck between the club and the Olympic Park Legacy
Company (OPLC) has come to a halt after complaints from the Premier League outfit, with the OPLC,
the Mayor of London and the government agreeing instead to keep the stadium in public
ownership.
Claudio Ranieri is the 4th Inter Milan's manager since the leaving of Josè Mourinho, just 16
months ago. The Portouguese manager left Inter Milan after the winning of Uefa Champions League on
May 2010. From that moment the dressing room of the Italian club has welcome Rafa Benitez, Leonardo
De Araujo and Gian Piero Gasperini.
Big day of celebrations for SPANISH SPORTS after Spain managed two out of three Moto GP bike wins,
a birth in the upcoming Davis Cup Tennis Final & tonight the EUROPEAN BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS Title.
SPAIN defeated FRANCE 98 - 85 to proclaim themselves Euro Champs repeating the Basketball
achievement to retain the title.
Manchester City is one of the best club in the World. In the last years they have bought amazing
players, such as David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure and Edin Dzeko, plus they have
a great manager like Roberto Mancini. However the winning in the match of tomorrow agaist Naples is
not to be taken for granted.
Germany, Italy, Spain and Netherlands (plus hosts Poland and Ukraine) are the first nations to
be qualified to Euro 2012 with still two more rounds of matches to play in October.
In this moment Germany and Spain seemed the best European national teams. Last saturday
Joachim Loew's team has won 4-0 for the 4th time in the season and they're ready to improve the
second place in Euro 2008 and the semifinal of the last Wolrd Cup.
There comes a point in every player's career when they must be sacrificed in favour of a younger
man. The natural order of football means there will always be a younger model, keen to take your
place in the side. This is even more pertinent in international football, with players increasingly
wanting to extend their club careers.
For those of you who missed it, FIFA announced its revised edition of its World Rankings
yesterday and I'm sure that many of you will be as surprised as I was when you see the top ten
looking like this:
- Netherlands
- Spain
- Germany
- England
- Uruguay
- Brazil
- Italy
- Portugal
- Argentina
- Croatia
Before I start my argument, perhaps we should look briefly at how this is worked out:
There are three main categories to decide where points are awarded; firstly, you have to win or
draw, no points will be awarded for a loss.
A quick look ahead to tonight's Arsenal match against Italian side Udinese. The teams have been
released and here they are;
Udinese: Handanovic, Ekstrand, Benatia, Danilo, Neuton, Isla, Agyemang-Badu,
Asamoah, Armero, Pinzi, Di Natale. Subs: Belardi, Basta, Denis, Abdi, Pasquale, Doubai,
Fabbrini.
Well hello all, I am absolutely thrilled to be writing this blog after being head hunted by the
legend that is Dexy Longshot! Think it's absolutely brilliant, and I believe that I am the only
girl on this site now? (Maybe one of you can confirm that for me?)
Anyway just a brief little introduction from me here, and I'll give you more information and a
look forward to Arsenal's crucial Champions League qualifier against Udinese tomorrow!
Fresh from their triumph in the underwhelming Nations Cup, Ireland face a crucial test away to
Macdedonia in Skopje on Saturday evening. Going into the match Ireland are level with Russia and
Slovakia on ten points so with half of the matches remaining to be played, all three sides stand an
excellent chance of qualifying for next year's finals in Poland and Ukraine.
UEFA today announced the ticket prices for the Final Tournament of the UEFA European Football
Championship, to be held in Poland and Ukraine from 08 June to 01 July 2012.
