Nine years ago Swansea were bottom of the table of league football. Rock soild bottom. Next stop
non-league oblivion. Yesterday they were flying high and should be rightly proud of themselves for
turning the Arsenal over in royal fashion. They displayed hunger, desire, fight and unity in
abundance and deserved the victory.
By Chris Wright
"You got once chance, mon frere!"
It was a bit of a strange, suffocating old game but, thanks principally to Kenny Dalglish
switching to a flat-back nine for the majority of the second-half, Liverpool came away from the
Etihad with the slimmest of advantages (City's first back-to-back home defeat since February 2008)
to take back to Anfield for the second leg.
In the realm of sport, there is a constant observance of the two games, football and soccer.
Seemingly, these two games repeatedly are seen as total opposites of each other. One played with
feet, one with hands. One demands constant replays and call reviews, while one cherishes the
controversial decisions in the heat of the [.
By Joel Greenwaldt
In a match up that was billed by many as the must see game of the season, the Baltimore Blast and
Milwaukee Wave battled fiercely for 60 minutes in a game that lived up to it's billing. Baltimore
was able to secure a hard fought 9-4 victory over Milwaukee, and at the same validated their belief
that they are the best team in the MISL.
A revenge goal, beautiful build-ups and top individual play. It's safe to say that Wednesday's
UEFA Champions League's marquee matchup lived up to its billing.
Barcelona captured Group G and forced Milan into the runner-up pot for the knockout stage draw
after an entertaining, 3-2 victory at the San Siro.
By Chris Wright
Just stumbled across this ethereal snapshot this very morn and felt it was worth passing on, in
which we see Chelsea full-back Albert Ferrer meeting Milan's Andriy Shevchenko in a clearing as the
San Siro is slowly engulfed by ghostly fog and flare smoke during a Champions League group tie in
1999.
LA and Salt Lake should be a fun battle to watch. (Getty Images)
So I went three for four in the semifinals with my picks. Real Salt Lake knocked out Seattle in
what was a very entertaining series. The other three were good as well, but the conference finals
should be very good to watch.
We're down to three more games this season the Conference finals on Sunday and the MLS Cup on
November 20.
Well, more 'fan attacks', really. Steaua Bucharest defender George Galamaz, busy doing the
outrageous thing of living. And then came the fan and chaos soon ensued. A flare not the guy
committing assault on another human being permanently ended the match later on.
And don't forget the bonus of Gigi Becali yelling in a language you probably don't
understand.
Steaua Bucharest's game against Petrolul Ploiesti was abandoned after Steaua defender George
Galamaz was punched in the head by a fan, who consequently got a well deserved kicking by Galamaz's
team-mates in the centre circle, two of which were sent off for their actions. The game restarted
with Steaua leading 2-0 before their keeper was hit with a flare prompting a 20 minute delay before
the referee saw common sense and abandoned the tie.
By Chris Wright
Sounds like Steaua Bucharest's game against Petrolul Ploiesti in the Romanian top flight on
Saturday evening was a bit of a feisty affair to say the least, with the game eventually being
suspended by the referee after a chain reaction of mindless violence.
It's Friday! Grab a drink! While you're downing a beer or two you can also sip on a few of the
week's best stories we've stumbled upon.
* The Shin Guardian - A Treatise: The State of U.S. Soccer"It is no secret that the US youth system has struggled to produce genuine global
superstars in the sport and a team that can truly compete for the World Cup.
The US Youth Program....at a crossroads...
About our next author:
In a painstakingly researched piece, USC master's candidate Ryan McCormack authors
this treatise on the current moment in time for US Youth Soccer. Ryan grew up playing soccer in
California's Coast Premier League and served as a youth coach for three seasons and is presently
with the Arizona Hammers in a leadership capacity.
What has happened to football today? Where is the passion? Where is the drive? Having endured a
torturous 90 minutes of the Man United vs Tottenham match – all be it I write this from the
perspective of a Spurs fan – I can't help but feel infuriated and sickened by footballers
today.
I cannot deny that when I heard the reasoning behind Luka Modric not starting, I did expect
it.
The boys done good, as the adage goes. It might have been a distinctly unexotic first
step into Europe's junior competition yesterday evening, but they were steps plenty big enough for
Jim Jefferies and his half-baked Jam Tarts. In fact, you might even say: we proved to be
rather...sticky customers?
It was a trio of MLS players that took the spotlight away from Jurgen Klinsmann in his debut as
the USMNT coach. The entrance of Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo and Robbie Rogers provided an offensive
flare that was missing from the US attack for most of the game.
Things did started out promising for the Americans.
It was a trio of MLS players that took the spotlight away from Jurgen Klinsmann in his debut as
the UMNT coach. The entrance of Brek Shea, Juan Agudelo and Robbie Rogers provided an offensive
flare that was missing from the US attack for most of the game.
Things did started out promising for the Americans.
Finally. After pursuing Jurgen Klinsmann for 5 years, the USSF has hired Jurgen Klinsmann to
be the next National Team coach, replacing Bob Bradley. Most fans wanted Klinsmann to lead the
National Team back in 2006, but US Soccer would not pay him the money or give him the control he
wanted to implement his agenda.
Sporting KC has had a flare for the dramatic during their 13-game MLS unbeaten streak. Things
were no different Saturday.
Struggling forward Teal Bunbury came off the bench on his bobblehead give-away night, but with
KC down 1-0 to the New England Revolution in the 89th minute, Bunbury buried a shot in the back of
the net to save a point for Sporting, set the club record for consecutive games without a loss and
keep his team unbeaten at home.
By Chris Wright
Flares? Shamless play-acting? Neo-Nazism? It truly was a European night at the Britannia
yesterday evening, with Stoke securing themselves a narrow first-leg lead in their Europa League
third-round qualifying tie with Hajduk Split courtesy of a Jonathan Walters header.
By Chris Wright
Flares? Shamless play-acting? Neo-Nazism? It truly was a European night at the Britannia
yesterday evening, with Stoke securing themselves a narrow first-leg lead in their Europa League
third-round qualifying tie with Hajduk Split courtesy of a Jonathan Walters header.
By Chris Wright
Give this guy a peanut, for he has succesfully come up with a way to make women take their
clothes off in public without any of the tedious legal wrangling that tends to flare up...
The name 'Oqvist' ringing any bells? The Swedish hottie came in at number three in our
unashamedly sexist rundown of the ten hottest fillies at the Women's World Cup.
By Chris Wright
After a dour, goalless first leg in Uruguay, a goal apiece from Neymar and Danilo was enough to
bag Santos their first Copa Libertadores title since Pele was in the side last night with an
own-goal providing Penarol with an 80th-minute consolation.
Tiki-taka vs ???
There are factors beyond the individuality of players that shouldn't go unrecognized. And this
Champion's League final offers a good backdrop for illustrating the point.
Barca has the support of an entire philosophy behind them. A very clear and precise way of
playing that has been engrained and rehearsed over years into oblivion.
You know being the referee and linesman is always the unappreciative job in football, as through
the snaps of below, we came to realize it's a tough assignment indeed.
LEADING THE PLAYERS OUT...
The day in office begins when the men in the middle lead his fellow officials and the teams out
from the tunnel to the field.
Steau Bucharest won their 21st Romanian Cup last night beating neighbours Dinamo 2-1, however
the tie was marred by a stupid Dinamo fan who nearly struck his own player Elis
Bakaj with a lit flare when in on goal.
One of the things that sets soccer apart from the standard sports in America is the crowd
atmosphere, often created by the supporter groups of the clubs. Want to experiment this summer? Go
to an MLS match one night and an MLB game another night and compare how the fans at an MLS match
create the atmosphere while the scoreboard at an MLB game tells fans when to clap and cheer.
Game called off after 30 minutes A match between Sweden's Helsingborgs and Malmo had to be
abandoned after goalkeeper Par Hansson was hit firstly by a flare and then by a fan. The
Helsingborgs goalkeeper was struck by a flare thrown by a Malmo supporter. While he was receiving
treatment, another Malmo fan invaded the [.
FC Dallas was able to extend their shutout streak to 399 minutes. (Getty Images)
The end of the world didn't come this weekend which was nice but at the same time it also
brought us some very tight games in week 10. In all, week 10 in Major League Soccer went nearly as
I thought it would on Friday.
It's playoff time down in Mexico, so it's not surprising that passions are strong and tempers can
flare, but that doesn't excuse the latest football incident of a player taking his anger out on an
opposing coach. On Sunday May 15, 2011, Morelia beat Cruz Azul 3-0, giving them a 3-2 aggregate in
the Clausura semifinals.
By Chris Wright
Safe to say that the billows of flare smoke that engulfed the pitch for five minutes during the
second-half of Liverpool's Europa League goalless stalemate with Sparta Prague was one of the
highlights of the evening especially seeing as though nothing.
By Chris Wright
Safe to say that the billows of flare smoke that engulfed the pitch for five minutes during the
second-half of Liverpool's Europa League goalless stalemate with Sparta Prague was one of the
highlights of the evening especially seeing as though nothing.
I've always found birthday parties for football clubs have always seemed a bit much. The
festivities are overdone, the cake typically too small and I never seem to receive any gifts.
Hajduk Split should throw a birthday party once a week. They celebrated their centenary over the
weekend and it wasn't just overdone but.
So, the Inter-webs is rife with conversation about what went down in Copenhagen last night.
England won, sure, though it wasn't a particularly impressive performance. Rather, the talk at the
moment seems to center on what went on during the second half of the match, in particular, the
curious game of passing along the Captain's armband to anyone not named John Terry.
Some bizarre weather descended on the South East last Tuesday with heavy fog affecting
some football matches in the area. Aldershot Town had a match abandoned part way through, but it
was at Selhurst Park where the best fog related incident happened...
Click here to view the embedded video.
Despite the Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger announcing that he will not be bringing any strikers to the
Emirates this month, the Mail reports this morning that Arsenal and Liverpool are both chasing the
Hungarian winger Balazs Dzsudzsak who is currently playing for PSV Eindhoven in Holland.
Kenny Dalglish will definitely be reinforcing the Liverpool squad this month and there is every
possibility that Dzsudzsak could arrive at Anfield to add some much-needed width to the Reds
attack.
Hi again!
And again sorry for the lack of posts, I sadly haven't been able to write this blog for the last
few months, but hopefully I'm back for good this time.
But as the title says, it's time to take a look at the first half of the ongoing fantasy premier
league season. Who have been player with most flare and who do you want to have on your team as the
second half of the season unravels.
