Some good things; some bad things...

The United States went south to Panama Wednesday night and came away with a win against a CONCACAF up-and-comer and little else.

The small margin of victory came early in the contest as Zach Loyd lofted a ball into the box. Chris Wondolowski challenged his defender for it as it skipped (or grazed) past their heads.

We all have our ghosts. For Steve Zakuani, that ghost is memories of his former self.

As the Seattle Sounders midfielder continues his recovery from a horrific leg injury that cost him the final six months of the 2011 season, the progress he has made is obvious. On Friday, Zakuani was able to participate in full training for the first time since that April 22 tackle broke his right leg.

Brrr, seems like yesterday wasn't just a one off. Cold again this morning as we head into the Interlull. My weather widget is not exactly a welcome sight, I have to say. Still, not much we can do about it. Other than move house and Mrs Blogs is not keen on the equator. Oh well.

So now we face a two week gap with no real football, which is pretty frustrating.

Despite the String of Missed Chances especially in the first half, I would say that we generally played well last night.
Last season, when asked about who I'd like us to face in the Champions League on our way to the final, I asked for the following teams: Olympique Lyonnais, AS Roma, Bayern Munich and Arsenal – I would have asked for Liverpool or Juventus too if possible.

Forget TV rights and stadium deals: this is no time to betray the Hillsborough 96

The ghosts in the public gallery of the House of Commons will listen intently tomorrow. Their stories will be told in a scandalously overdue ­parliamentary debate on the Hillsborough disaster.

Old Trafford has a swaggering confidence about it this evening. A new sponsorship deal with a package delivery company will be bringing an eyebrow-raising amount of money into the club and, perhaps more importantly as far as the supporters are concerned, less than convincing starts to the season for Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool will have only served to heighten the expectation that league title number twenty will be on its way to the club by the end of next spring.

Whatever way you look at it, the world of Arsenal is a surreal place at the moment.

Yesterday we saw the manager sit in his pre-game press conference and tell the members of the media and press that he expected nobody to leave the club. Within a couple of hours, Barcelona's defensive cavemen Puyol and Pique were on Twitter gloating in a not very subtle way that the Cesc deal was done.

Arsenal.com had an interesting article today with some quotes from Thomas Vermaelen. In essence, the Belgian said that the Gunners have to leave the past behind and make a fresh start from scratch.

Everybody starts from zero and everybody has to start again.

You get a new chance and that's always a good feeling when people give you another chance to win something.

Sh!t. Yes. Anthony Gonzalez is back with more of the maudlin electro-pop that made Saturdays = Youth so cotdamn unimpeachable but with a pinch of the great, grating texture of Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts. This is what I will be listening to for the rest of the day. Or at least until The Wizard OX drops another prog-house remix featuring Ray Hudson.

Robbie Keane fulfilled Niall Quinn's prediction when he completed a half-century of international goals in Macedonia yesterday.
The 30-year-old Ireland skipper struck for the 50th time for his country after just eight minutes and then added a second with 37 minutes played at the Philip II Stadium in Skopje to ease his side to a vital Euro 2012 victory and exorcise the ghosts of their previous two visits.

The league doesn't lie; it merely reveals an incontestable truth that Udinese (and heavens forbid Lazio), deserve a tilt at Champions League football certainly more so than the Giallorossi. Now, and with one game remaining, the question for Roma is whether or not the prospect of Europa Cup football is a blessing or a curse.

Andrew Benbow remembers when the FA Cup was really important. And asks what we can do to turn the clock back...

'What would you prefer to win the Cup or the League?'

Hard to see that being a debate in the playgrounds of today as it was when I was young. And it was a genuine debate.

by Dru Boyer Brad Friedel made a save in a 1-1 draw with Wigan at Villa Park. MB0 was active, but did not appear...kinda like the ghosts on Ghost Hunters, or am I the only one that watches that show? Mystery remains open as to where the Favre of Villa Park will land next season. [...]

Sometimes, you just know.

In yesterday's match preview, I tried to convey that feeling as well as possible without explicitly saying it, so as not to seem overconfident or as if I was underestimating the opposition, or in other words, put the 'jinx' on.

But just like I had the unrelenting feeling that the goal would eventually come against Everton (and on a related note, that the lovely blonde-haired, blue-eyed lady I was watching with is 'The Special One'), I just knew that last night was going to be a special one for United.

Fernando Torres went some way to laying his many ghosts to rest yesterday as he scored his first Chelsea goal in a 3-0 win over West Ham.It took seven hundred and thirty minutes of club football but, eventually, it came. He was mocked, criticised, pitied, victimised and, in some sections, hated, but yesterday Fernando Torres went some way to putting all of that to rest.

Manchester United vs. Chelsea (agg. 1 - 0)
U.S. TV: Fox Soccer Channel at 2:45pm EDT
Preview I
Preview II
Preview III
Preview IV
Alan Smith: How Chelsea can win
Henry Winter: Ghosts of European past keep Sir Alex's spirit alive
Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona (agg.

Carlo Ancelotti is featured on this article on Skysports and it got me thinking. The reason it had me thinking was because, and I had forgotton about this, Carlo compared Chelsea meeting United a few years after that horrible night in Moscow to his Milan side that lost dramatically against Liverpool in the final but put the ghosts to bed by overcoming them two years later.

Directly from the Desk of the President of Italy WorldCupBlog.

Good afternoon all. We've just finished a wonderful two weeks of Azzurri action. Albeit, we did have to watch Gilardino and Mauri struggle to meet our fanatic expectations; Prandelli for the most part did a great job. I'd say, he banished the ghosts of Lippi#2 and Donadoni for the time being and all seems to be back on track in Azzurri land.

The ghosts within the FIFA 11 video game have predicted the score of another match, in this case Arsenal versus Barcelona. But this is no ordinary pick. Consider the fact that the FIFA 11 Simulation machine correctly predicted that Manchester United would beat Man City 2-1 at the weekend.

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First things first.. Here's wishing a super happy new year to Gooners world over! 2010 was an exciting year to be a Gooner..

For me the year can be summed up under the following 5 pointers -

• Horrific injury to Ramsey (proving the -'ve football teams play against us)
• Comeback against Barca (proving our resolute)
• Wenger staying defiant despite getting jeered by the Old Trafford faithful (proving his faith in the ‘Arsenal Way')
• Standing ovation for Dudu at the Emirates (proving our class)
• Win against Chelsea (proving our belief)

That apart, there have been several moment which made us gasp in despair, jump in joy & go beserk in ecstasy.

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First things first.. Here's wishing a super happy new year to Gooners world over! 2010 was an exciting year to be a Gooner..

For me the year can be summed up under the following 5 pointers -

• Horrific injury to Ramsey (proving the -'ve football teams play against us)
• Comeback against Barca (proving our resolute)
• Wenger staying defiant despite getting jeered by the Old Trafford faithful (proving his faith in the ‘Arsenal Way')
• Standing ovation for Dudu at the Emirates (proving our class)
• Win against Chelsea (proving our belief)

That apart, there have been several moment which made us gasp in despair, jump in joy & go beserk in ecstasy.