Monthly Archives: April 2010

Cambiasso praises Inter’s forward thrust

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Jose Mourinho
“Esteban Cambiasso praised the ‘extraordinary work of our three forwards’ after FC Internazionale Milano’s 3-1 win against FC Barcelona in the first leg of their semi-final tie at the San Siro, a sixth consecutive UEFA Champions League victory for José Mourinho’s side.” (UEFA)

Inter 3-1 Barcelona: Why did Pep Guardiola play Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
“It’s not often during his two seasons as Barcelona manager that you can conclusively say that Pep Guardiola got his tactics wrong – but tonight that was the case, as Inter take an important two-goal lead to the Nou Camp. Both sides essentially played their standard formations. Inter were 4-2-3-1 with Samuel Eto’o and Goran Pandev wide, and Javier Zanetti continuing at left-back. Barcelona played a similar team to the first leg at against Arsenal – Zlatan Ibrahimovic leading the line, Lionel Messi behind him, Pedro in a wide-right role and Seydou Keita playing from in to out on the left.” (Zonal Marking)

James Lawton: Mourinho calls the shots to make Italy think again about his style
“Even Jose Mourinho has rarely known a night like this, one in which not only a second Champions League title but perhaps even the keys of European football may have been at least halfway into his grasp. If Mourinho had some substantial gifts from his Portuguese compatriot referee, including a third goal that was plainly offside, there was no questioning that he had produced from his Internazionale a magnificent response to the challenge of facing the reigning champions of Europe, a team with the potential, some of us may still believe, to touch new levels of excellence.” (Independent)

Italian Football Faces Tough Times
“The most important league table in Italian football right now isn’t the Serie A standings, where AS Roma and Inter Milan are locked in a titanic tussle for the title, or even the Serie B championship, where Torino—one of the country’s most historic clubs—is hoping to secure a top-flight return. It’s actually an obscure ranking of European’s football nations known as the UEFA coefficient table, a mind-boggling complex formula that has produced one very simple conclusion: Italy’s days as a football superpower could soon be at an end.” (WSJ)

Champions League: Inter Milan 3, FC Barcelona 1
“Inter Milan meets Barcelona tonight in the first leg of a mouthwatering Champions League semifinal that many fans think should have been the final itself. With Lyon and Bayern Munich meeting in the other semifinal tomorrow, the glamor — and global attention — will all be at the San Siro in Milan this evening. The visitors are Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona: Spanish league leader, defending European champion and for many, currently the best team in world soccer. The side also, of course, fields the planet’s best player, by popular acclaim, in Argentinian forward Lionel Messi.” (WSJ)

‘It Will Not Be Inter-Barcelona, It Will Be Inter or Barcelona’
“Inter Milan counter attacked with great effect Tuesday against Barcelona, coming back from a goal down to win the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal, 3-1. Barca went up early, scoring a crucial away goal by way of Pedro Rodriguez. He tucked away an angled pass from Maxwell, whose run down the left flank past Cambiasso to the goal line was unchecked by Maicon and Lucio, who both stopped dead in their tracks. But Inter responded with determined counter-attacking play, as per Manager Jose Mourinho’s instructions.” (NYT)

Inter Milan vs. Barcelona
(footytube)

Inter Milan (Internazionale) 3-1 FC Barcelona – Recap and Video Highlights – Champions League – Tuesday, April 20, 2010
“The UEFA Champions League kicked off its semifinal round with a 1st leg match between Inter Milan (Internazionale) v FC Barcelona at the San Siro. Either team would be favored to win the competition if they were to make the final. Barcelona has been in very good form in the Champions League while Inter Milan has knocked out favorites like Chelsea.” (The 90th Minute)

Battle of Santiago

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“The Battle of Santiago is the name given to a particularly unsavoury and infamous football match during the 1962 World Cup Finals. It was a game played between hosts Chile and Italy on June 2, 1962 in Santiago. The referee was Ken Aston who later went on to invent yellow and red cards.” (Wikipedia), (YouTube)

Didier Drogba was a surprise choice as Africa’s number one

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“Didier Drogba was named the 2009 African footballer of the year. If the award – his second in four years – was a surprise, even more so was the margin of his triumph in the poll as he beat Samuel Eto’o by 23 points. The pair have been embroiled in some tight contests in the past and it was expected to be fairly close again this time, albeit with Eto’o the seemingly logical winner.” (World Soccer)

Olympique Lyonnais Go For Historic Double

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“There’s a pretty good chance that you know Olympique Lyonnais are playing today in the UEFA Champion’s League semi-final against Bayern Munich. You may not also know that Lyon’s women’s team are also playing in their UEFA Champion’s League semi-final this Saturday, against Swedish giants Umeå IK.” (Pitch Invasion)

Late-Game Heroes Have Lifted Bayern Munich and Lyon
“Arjen Robben’s contributions to Bayern Munich in the Champions League this season have been eerily consistent, and supremely valuable. In the 65th minute of the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 match on March 9, the Bayern Munich wing capped a stunning 11-minute spell with a sharply angled shot into the top corner of the Fiorentina goal. How fortunate. Though the German side lost the match, 3-2, it was Robben’s stunner that saw Bayern through to the quarterfinals by virtue of away goals, 4-4 on aggregate.” (NYT)

The Ball They Can’t Leave Alone

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“Pick up a basketball, football, baseball, tennis ball, golf ball or a hockey puck, and the objects feel and look much as they have for two generations. Yet, grab a soccer ball from 1960, or even one from 1980 or 1990, and the orb is virtually unrecognizable from the one that will be used for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in June and July. Leather has given way to synthetics. Some 32 individually sewn panels have become eight. Hand stitching has given way to thermal bonding.” (WSJ)

World Cup and Poverty: Make a Difference

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“This summer 32 nations will fight in South Africa to be named the world’s best footballing nation. This summer 63 international matches will take place in 10 top-of-the-line stadiums. This summer the entire country of South Africa will open its arms and embrace the world. This summer 6 billion people will come together and be united as one.” (Soccer Politics)

Neymar and Ganso the crown jewels of Santos’ new generation

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“On the same day the Titanic struck that fatal iceberg in 1912, a club was founded that would raise the profile of Brazilian soccer. All around the world Santos are almost certainly the team from Brazil that most people have heard of. This is a remarkable achievement for a club representing a relatively small city. Santos is a port with a population under 500,000, an hour’s drive away from sprawling Sao Paulo, South America’s biggest city. But the seaside club have often punched well above its weight, getting the best of metropolitan rivals Corinthians, Palmeiras and Sao Paulo, and often anyone else who stood in its path as well.” (SI – Tim Vickery)

Milan’s No. 10 on the Champions League Semis, Messi and Kaka

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“In his regular discussion with New York Times readers, Clarence Seedorf discusses the UEFA Champions League semifinals, some of the brightest stars of the international game, and whether or not he thinks doping is a major problem in international soccer. Read the AC Milan midfielder’s responses post your comments below.” (NYT)

Aesthetics and Justice

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“The crux of the problem is the Hand of God goal and whether, if you could, you would go back in time and stop the referee from awarding it. This is where you confess to the moon that you view the sport a certain way and that you think of it as a game or a story. I think of it as a story, which is why I wouldn’t change anything about the Hand of God goal even if I had control of all dimensions. But it’s easy to understand both viewpoints.” (Run of Play)

Benitez launches staunch defence of Ngog

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“Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has warned critics not to judge striker David Ngog by Fernando Torres’ standards and backed the youngster to continue improving. Ngog is likely to see plenty of action between now and the end of the season with Torres sidelined by a second knee operation in three months and he responded to his second successive start in the Spaniard’s absence by scoring a well-taken goal in last night’s comfortable 3-0 win over West Ham at Anfield.” (ESPN)

Liverpool 3 – 0 West Ham United
“Liverpool cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over West Ham at Anfield to keep their faint Champions League hopes alive and leave the Hammers with three games to secure their top-flight survival. Former West Ham midfielder Yossi Benayoun and David Ngog gave the hosts a 2-0 lead in a low-key first half and goalkeeper Robert Green’s unfortunate own goal finished off his side.” (ESPN)

Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United – Recap and Video Highlights – EPL – Monday, April 19, 2010
“Liverpool hosted West Ham United in a Monday night match in the English Premier League on Monday, April 19, 2010. West Ham remains in the relegation battle but would likely be safe with one more win. Liverpool is in contention for one of the Europa League spots but too far back to make it into the top four. The two teams played at Anfield in front of over 37,000.” (The 90th Minute)

Inter v Barcelona: tactical preview

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“Many have commented that, in an ideal world, this may have been the final of the competition. Barcelona and Inter are generally considered to be the strongest two sides left in the Champions League – and of course, they are also the only two actual champions left. For the tactical enthusiast, however, a two-legged tie between the two most interesting sides in the competition is a more exciting prospect than a one-off game.” (Zonal Marking)

Inter’s date with destiny
“Outside influences have had a habit, recently, of trying to penetrate Inter’s hardened outer shell ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. Most notably, there have been allegations about the Nerazzurri’s perceived role in the 2006 Calciopoli scandal which have been brought to light by the defence attorneys for disgraced former Juventus director Luciano Moggi.” (ESPN)

It Was a Weekend for Clearing the Air, Though Not in England
“In sports, the shortest journeys often turn out to be the most perilous — as derby matches affecting the leading clubs across Europe demonstrated throughout the weekend. This, however, is a uniquely challenging time for long-distance travelers across the Continent, and for once the great and the good of soccer are in the same boat, or grounded plane, as the rest of us.” (NYT)

Espanyol make their new home a fortress to derail Barcelona
“As the bus turned in, all you could see was the palms of their hands hammering against the window. Then as the light filtered through, Nico Pareja in the aisle, arms aloft and chanting. His Espanyol team-mates were bouncing and shouting and thumping on the glass. Outside, they were too. Along the narrow streets of Cornellà, balconies were draped in blue and white, music blaring. Bars were packed with Periquitos sinking minis – litres of beer in plastic glasses – and hollering war cries.” (Guardian)

Could personal technology stop a winning World Cup squad spirit?

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“I have been back in England for a quick visit and I was struck by an outburst that Hull boss Iain Dowie aimed at his squad. ‘Sometimes the players have to forget about the iPods,’ he said. ‘They need to think about what really matters.’ He went on to admit: ‘I’m not a big fan of these big earphones on the way to games,’ and that ‘my thing with the iPod generation is that when they leave the ground and go away to their closeted little lives they shouldn’t forget what’s got them where they are and what impact they can have.’ It is, of course, the complaint of a member of one generation about the desocialising effect of technology on the next.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

The Title That No-One Wants To Win?

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Adidas advertisement makes the link between soccer and religion
“English football season has had more than its fair share of madness this season, but the race for the title is starting to give off a hint of being the title race that no-one wins. Only one of the top three clubs in the Premier League have been able to manage all three points, and even that came at the end of a less than inspiring performance with yet another injury time winner. Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal were all long ago guaranteed their places in the Champions League, and perhaps it is this that is firing the most nervy end of season run-in for several seasons.” (twohundredpercent)

Americans Abroad Recap and Video Highlights – Sunday, April 18, 2010

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“It was a light day for Americas Abroad with not very many playing key roles in matches in the top European leagues. Brad Friedel got a win for Aston Villa in the English Premier League while there were a few playing in the Danish league (Benny Feilhaber and Michael Parkhurst). Eddie Johnson continues to get regular playing time in Greece while teammate Freddy Adu sat on the bench.” (The 90th Minute)

Champions at Home Too?

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“One of the curious aspects of this season’s UEFA Champions League is that three of the four semifinalists—who square off in their first-leg encounters on Tuesday and Wednesday—are all also embroiled in legitimate title races domestically. Inter Milan and Barcelona are neck-and-neck with Roma and Real Madrid in Serie A and La Liga, respectively, while Bayern Munich is nursing a slender two-point lead over Schalke in the German Bundesliga. The same held true for Olympique Lyonnais, the fourth semifinalist, at least on April 7—the day it actually reached European soccer’s final four—when it was two points off the top of the table. (It now sits third, nine points behind league-leading Marseille.)” (WSJ)

Espanyol share spoils with Barca

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“Espanyol put a dent in Barcelona’s hopes of securing consecutive Primera Division titles after holding their local rivals to a goalless draw. However, Pep Guardiola’s side may consider it a point gained rather than two lost after playing 28 minutes with 10 men.” (ESPN)

Barca held in derby, Sevilla thrash Sporting
“Espanyol put a dent in Barcelona’s hopes of securing consecutive Primera Division titles after holding their local rivals to a goalless draw. However, Pep Guardiola’s side may consider it a point gained rather than two lost after playing 28 minutes with ten men.” (ESPN)

Espanyol 0-0 FC Barcelona – Recap and Video Highlights – La Liga – Saturday, April 17, 2010
“FC Barcelona faced Espanyol in a derby match in the Spanish Primera Division on Saturday, April 17, 2010. Barcelona held a three point lead over rivals Real Madrid but would face a tough test in Espanyol. Barcelona could go six points clear with a win in the match as Real Madrid do not play until Sunday. Espanyol are not in any relegation danger but will have the motivation of a derby match.” (The 90th Minute)

Kevin James: I still think about cup final goal that never was

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“He’s had a career in Scottish football that has spanned over 15 years. In that time he has savoured the joy and ecstasy of scoring the equaliser in a Scottish cup semi final against Celtic, and the pain and frustration of being sidelined for 18 months through injury. Kevin James has gone through just about every emotion known to man in a playing career packed full of euphoric highs and devastating lows.” (The Away End)

England’s chances of World Cup glory

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Cesc Fàbregas, football icon
“When we began researching what would become our book Why England Lose & Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained, we decided not to believe a word that anyone said about the game. Instead we would test its shibboleths against data. It was about time, too. For decades, football had escaped the Enlightenment. Clubs are mostly run by people who ignore data and do what they do because they have always done it that way. These people used to ‘know’ that black players ‘lacked bottle’, and they would therefore overpay for mediocre white players. Today, they discriminate against black managers, buy the wrong players and then let those players take penalties the wrong way.” (FI – Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski)

Inter Milan (Internazionale) 2-0 Juventus – Recap and Video Highlights – Serie A – Friday, April 16, 2010

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“Inter Milan hosted Juventus in the Italian Serie A with a chance to go top of the table. Juventus are aiming to move into the top four and play in the UEFA Champions League next season. Inter needed a win as they trailed AS Roma by one point heading into the match while Juventus were in 6th place and three points behind 4th place.” (The 90th Minute)

Inter 2-0 Juventus: I Nerazzurri rely on a sending-off and a wonderstrike
“Inter emerge victorious, but it was far from easy. A surprising system from Alberto Zaccheroni flummoxed Inter, and it took a combination of Momo Sissoko’s madness and Maicon’s brilliance to give Inter the crucial three points. No surprises from Inter – they played what is now their usual 4-2-1-3 shape, with Samuel Eto’o and Goran Pandev switching wings.” (Zonal Marking)

Gillett & Hicks: Overpaid, Over-leveraged And… Over

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Jan Brueghel, Triumph des Todes
“At a time when stock market flotations were all the rage in top football circles, performance-related pay (PRP) was all the rage in public sector/civil service offices. Both ideas proved to be rubbish (see ‘bankers’ bonuses’ for details). But not before both wrought considerable damage. A key part of PRP where I once worked was the concept of ‘SMART’ objectives, which won the ‘misleading acronym of the year’ award so often in the early-90s it got to keep the trophy. SMART stood for ‘Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timeous.’ And while this contained an element of superficial common-sense, it failed utterly as a measure of determining pay, for reasons to numerous and dull to detail here.” (twohundredpercent)

World Cup scouting: Lucas Barrios (Paraguay)

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“A common complaint of international coaches in World Cup year is that they simply don’t have enough time to prepare their squads for the manifold rigours of such an unremittingly high-profile tournament. Teams go into the World Cup backed by supporters who believe their performance will wash away years of accumulated disappointment in one fell swoop, despite having spent only a matter of weeks together by way of preparation in the majority of cases.” (Football Further)

Stoichkov: Bulgaria’s blessing

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“There are some World Cup legends that made an impact in many different tournaments. Some only needed one to elevate themselves to a similar status and Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov is one of them. Stoichkov is now viewed in the same breath as Georgi Asparuhov in his homeland and few have come close to emulating his achievements since – with Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov the closest of the current breed so far.” (ESPN)

Meet the luckiest fan in the world

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“While scuffles broke out at South Africa’s ticketing centres and football fans (including myself) grew irritated at yesterday’s computer ticketing collapse, leaving many empty-handed, one man sat exceedingly pretty. He hadn’t needed to sleep overnight on the streets of Cape Town nor Johannesburg – where one devoted couple hired a hotel room near a Fifa centre so they could tag-team for a 20-hour marathon that eventually yielded two much-coveted tickets for the final.” (BBC)

World Cup Preview: Group A

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“The 19th FIFA World Cup kicks off in nine weeks today, and as such Dotmund continues his almost-in-depth look ahead to this summer’s festivities. Today is the beginning of his preview of each of the eight groups, having been sent foraging for facts on the internet with only his trusty huge mackerel baguette for company. Predictably enough, we start with Group A.” (twohundredpercent)

Technology and Justice

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“It happens every few months, like the change of seasons or the media’s en masse attempt to wring some fresh significance out of Sarah Palin: a referee misses an important call, a fan base is outraged, a UEFA executive looks on in silence, and lights flare to life over the metaphoric phone banks at the metaphoric talk-radio stations that, in the imaginations of writers, suggest a groundswell of popular interest. One minute Thierry Henry practices saxophone fingerings on the ball and stops Ireland from reaching the World Cup, the next Didier Drogba whaps like a volleyball player and helps secure the title for Chelsea (twice, actually, if you remember Man City 2006).” (Run of Play)

England’s World Cup hosts in a race to be ready in time

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“Just seven weeks remain until the England team move into their South Africa base for the World Cup finals, and yet their headquarters still look like a building site. You cannot miss the Bafokeng Sports Campus, on a right-hand turning off the road between Rustenburg and Sun City, because there is a small platoon of workers building the entry gates. Down the drive, the construction work is more extensive. One building, containing the medical centre, the thermal rehab room and the gymnasium, remains incomplete. Even farther behind in the race for completion is the shell of another building that will be the media centre.” (TimesOnline)

Undercurrents of Violence at the World Cup

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Emmanuel Adebayor
“How easy it is to forget that athletes at their peak are, by the very nature of their tasks, young but expected to be wise in their event, world-traveled but isolated and vulnerable. This week, Emmanuel Adebayor, the goal scorer for Manchester City, gave up the captaincy and, he said, the calling to ever play again for his country, Togo. He is 26 and a millionaire, and he said he just cannot get out of his head the day in January when Angolan separatists fired on the Togo team bus, killing three people in it.” (NYT)

Fabio Capello pinpoints failure to invest for English clubs’ Champions League exits

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“For the first time in seven years, England has no representatives in the semi-finals of the Champions League. ‘It is obvious that the financial crisis has affected the English clubs in Europe after years when they were among the top spenders,’ said Capello. ‘Besides Manchester City, the main exceptions were Real Madrid and Inter Milan. Florentino Perez had to bring Real back into the frame. Inter Milan bought six new players.'” (Telegraph – Henry Winter)

Europe’s former players gather in Liverpool

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“Sir Bobby Charlton kept a roomful of people spellbound yesterday with stories of his life in football. The pick of the bunch was about Bill Shankly and the first day of the 1967-68 season. It was seven in the morning and Liverpool’s squad had spent the night at a hotel in Lymm prior to visiting Manchester City. Alone in the lobby, Shankly was itching for conversation. On hearing from the porter that ‘Bobby Charlton lives round here’, he headed out.” (WSC)

Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal: Spurs defend deep, narrow – and brilliantly

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“Tottenham record their first league win over Arsenal for a decade, and simultaneously rule Arsenal out of the title race. Arsene Wenger’s side have been written off on at least two previous occasions, but this, surely, is the end of the road. No major surprises in the starting line-ups – with injuries throughout the side, Wenger merely chose what he had. As against Barcelona, the only choice was between Emmanuel Eboue and Theo Walcott, and the Ivorian got the nod. Denilson played in space behind Abou Diaby and Samir Nasri in a 4-1-4-1 shape.” (Zonal Marking)

What a Debut, What a Goal
“What a Premier League debut and what a golazo. Danny Rose, a 19-year-old wing for Tottenham Hotspur, will have a difficult time topping the first goal of his English Premier League career — a 30-yard blast 10 minutes into the north London derby against rival Arsenal on Wednesday. (NYT)

Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Arsenal – Recap and Video Highlights – English Premier League – Wednesday, April 14, 2010
“Two London based clubs met in a derby match in the English Premier League as Tottenham Hotspur hosted Arsenal on Wednesday, April 14, 2010. Arsenal needed a victory to keep their title hopes alive while Tottenham needed a victory to keep pace with 4th place Manchester City. A draw or loss would likely end both club’s chances of their goals.” (The 90th Minute)

The Game Is Afoot in Spain

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“Even a work stoppage can’t stop Lionel Messi. Strike action had threatened to halt the world’s top striker, but the Barcelona forward is now free to continue his tear through the record books this weekend after Spain’s football players’ union, the AFE, called off a walkout over unpaid wages that would have prevented matches in the country’s top four leagues.” (WSJ)

Burying War Through Football in Lebanon

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“A student posted a link on my ‘Global France’ blog about a fascinating football tournament organized in Lebanon recently as a way of commemorating, but also burying, the wars that tore about the country starting in the 1970s. You can read her post here, and the full story here. Interestingly, while the match was intended to create a context for peaceful encounters between political groups that were once at war, it was considered to delicate an event to allow for spectators, though the event was broadcast on TV.” (Soccer Politics), (Google – Lebanese mark war’s outbreak with political soccer)

Why Video Technology Is Not The Answer

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“Sports have kept in touch with technology as the information age has changed the face of modern games. Cricket, basketball, rugby, tennis, American football, and a plethora of other sports employ video technology in order to help referees make decisions and review calls. However, football, arguably the world’s most popular sport, has yet to integrate video technology into its rules. Although I disagree with the majority of FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s opinions, I am in concord with him distancing football from the use of video technology.” (Soccer Politics)

Al Jazeera Story about Iran’s women’s team & a follow up to last week’s post

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“Reaction to last week’s post about football and hijab has been caught up in the veil (represented by some commentators as the first step in a “slippery slope to fundamentalism”). Some readers seem to have lost sight of the story at hand: whether FIFA’s support of the ban against headscarves specifically, and hijab more broadly, makes sense.” (From A Left Wing)

Roma ready set to take advantage of Inter’s faltering form

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“All of a sudden, we have a contest. For much of this season Internazionale have been the strongest side in Italy with most observers agreeing that they are on course to win a fifth consecutive league title. By the end of January, Inter were cruising along on top of the table, nine points clear of Milan and 11 ahead of Roma. The scudetto looked a mere formality, an annoying but gratifying distraction from the club’s main seasonal objective, namely Champions League glory.” (World Soccer)

First XI: World Cup defenders

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“Following on from last week’s First XI goalkeepers, we have our selection of the top World Cup defenders. While Europeans – and particularly Italians – dominate the list, it’s worth remembering the contribution of South Americans to the art of defence, with the likes of Chile’s Elias Figueroa and Uruguayan Jose Santamaria missing out on the list but having made their mark on the world stage.” (ESPN)

A tactical guide to the Champions League semi-finalists

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The Oaths of the Horatii, Jacques Louis David
“When it comes to surviving in the latter stages of the Champions League, it seems versatility is the key to vitality. One of the most notable things about the four sides that have made it to this season’s semi-finals is that all four have, to a greater or lesser extent, deployed formations and tactical systems that they do not use in domestic competition in order to reach the last four.” (Football Further)

The Question: Why is the modern offside law a work of genius?

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“Nothing in football is so traduced as the offside law. Most seem to regard it as a piece of killjoy legislation, designed almost to prevent football producing too many goals and being too much fun, while for the punditocracy it has become the universal scapegoat, the thing that “nobody understands”. Just because Garth Crooks doesn’t get something, though, doesn’t make it a bad thing. The modern offside law may be the best thing that’s ever happened to football, and it is almost certainly the reason Barcelona have been so successful with a fleet of players whose obvious asset is their technique rather than their physique.” (Guardian)

Fiorentina 0-1 Inter – Eto’o wins the tie, then Inter go ultra-defensive

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“When two teams play each other twice in quick succession, the second game is often boring and predictable – so the fact that there were eleven changes between the sides from the weekend’s line-ups was a welcome surprise. That first game was a league game, where the sides drew 2-2. The first leg of this encounter was, ludicrously, as longago as 3rd February, where a Diego Milito goal gave Inter a 1-0 win. Away goals counted after 90 minutes, so a single Inter goal would leave Fiorentina needing three.” (Zonal Marking)

Politics and sport fight it out in Bill Shankly’s shadow

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“To the many and storied benefits of the Premier League revolution, chalk up the increasing requirement for committed fans to have a finance qualification. ‘Three years ago,” reflects Everton supporter Dave Kelly, “if you’d have said ‘enabling grant’ to a supporter on the Goodison Road, they’d have thought you were talking about Tony Grant’s brother.’ Tony Grant is a former Everton midfielder, should you be unfamiliar with his work, while his brother Enabling is viewed by some as the saviour of any number of successful football clubs who bafflingly find themselves financially embarrassed.” (Guardian)

Revealed: How Goldman Sachs drew up financial rescue for Liverpool
“One of the world’s greatest football clubs owned by a group of investors put together by the world’s most powerful investment bank. It sounds far fetched doesn’t it? Except, until six weeks ago, it was one of the options being looked at by Liverpool’s beleaguered owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.” (BBC)

“El Clasico” in Haiti

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“Laura Wagner, a UNC Anthropology graduate student who was in Haiti during the earthquake (and wrote a searing account of her experience at Salon.com), has recently returned to continue her research there. On Saturday, she took this photograph in Port-au-Prince, in the neighborhood of Delmas 32. The chalk board in front of this damaged building — you can see a broken gate inside the building, and the tarp is a necessary addition now that the rainy season has begun — invited fans to come watch the Real-Barca game, something that is of course not to be missed under any circumstances.” (Soccer Politics)

Maradona: Pancho Villa in Soccer Shorts

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“I was lucky enough this past Saturday night to see the 2008 film Maradona by Kusturica (it is currently unavailable in the United States). It was the same night that, 30 minutes into the El Clasico matchup with Real Madrid—what was essentially the La Liga championship match—Barcelona’s Argentine striker Lionel Messi catapulted his way into the penalty box, chested an incoming cross in such a way that turned his defender completely around, and then slap-kicked the ball so it bounded past the helpless goalkeeper.” (Vanity Fair) Must Read Soccer

Technology In Football

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“It rather seems as if every time there is a refereeing decision that costs a team a point or two, the usual suspects in the media start stating the case for all manner of whizzy gizmos to make sure that such a travesty of justice never occurs again. FIFA, however, are against the introduction of such technology and Rob Freeman has similar reservations.” (twohundredpercent)

Special

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“Took at this place. Do these look like the living quarters of a criminal mastermind? “A devious architect,” they allege, “who builds his creations for the sole purpose of destroying what is beautiful, what is cherished.” I understand the role I play—that is, the role they have me play. It’s a business, like anything else: of course I know this. It’s just not fair. It isn’t fair that I have to build my own life, my real life, to confirm my existence as I want it to be, not as it has been manufactured by those who disseminate information to the masses.” (Run of Play)

County Deepen Celtic’s Woes

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“When the draw for the Scottish Cup semi-finals was made all the talk was of Rangers and Celtic being kept apart for a potential Old Firm final. It hasn’t quite worked out that way. Rangers didn’t even reach the semis in the end, losing to a scruffy but deserved last minute goal in their quarter-final replay at Dundee United; but it’s Celtic’s semi-final humiliation at the hands of Ross County which is the real story.” (twohundredpercent)

Self-interested SPL clubs must push for change
“Motherwell travel to Celtic tonight for the second time this season, but it won’t be the last. Thanks to the Scottish Premier League’s remarkably pointless innovation of splitting the league in two with five games to go, Motherwell have been allocated a third visit to Parkhead on May Day. The SPL rules guarantee ‘so far as reasonably practicable’ that teams will play an equal number of home and away fixtures, but the Lanarkshire club will end up with 18 home games and 20 away, and has announced that it will exhaust ‘all avenues of protest’ to complain about the lopsided allocation. Expect to see manager Craig Brown chained to the gates of Hampden Park any day now.” (WSC)

Video Of The Week: Hooligan

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“This week’s ‘Video Of The Week’ is ‘Hooligan’, a 1985 documentary made by Thames Television about a problem which, at the time, seemed to more or less intractably woven into the very fabric of English football. The film focusses upon the ICF, the West Ham United hooligan firm, but also offers a brief history of the problem within the game as well as a look at how the problem affected the English national team (although the makers chose to use footage of the notorious match between England and Belgium in Turin at the 1980 European Championship finals, although there is no doubt that there would have been more recent footage that they could have used in 1985), the growth of the problem abroad and some analysis of the psyche of the football hooligan, including an interview with John Williams, latterly of the Department of Sociology at Leicester University.” (twohundredpercent)

Pulling Back the Curtain on the Wizard of Real Madrid

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“Every time I write on this subject, self-doubt creeps in. Barcelona’s possession game has seeped into the soccer inteligentista social network, forever altering its philosophical foundations and how we view the “beautiful” game. Every time a defender passes to a goalie, we don’t roar with cheers, but rather applaud quietly in a Starbucks while sipping on a latte and flipping through the Guardian. And if the goalie passes to a defender?” (Run of Play)

Never enough

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Michael Bradley
“It’s another heated U.S.-Mexico match — a World Cup qualifier in Columbus, in February 2009, before a typically crazed crowd — and as usual, there’s a flash point. U.S. keeper Tim Howard rises to grab a ball that floats in front of the six-yard box, and as he does he’s kicked in the leg by Mexico’s Rafael Marquez — a flagrant red card. In a flash, American midfielder Michael Bradley has sprinted to the fallen Marquez to loom over him. Just as suddenly, U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra arrives to give his younger teammate a quick, hard shove.” (ESPN)

The Case of the Soccer Con Artist

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“Last summer, CSKA Sofia, the winningest soccer club in the history of Bulgaria, invited an intriguing prospect to train with the team. The player, a Frenchman named Greg Akcelrod, had been climbing the ranks of European soccer, signing with a top-flight Paris club and training with a team in Argentina. He had an agent and a Web site that showed him scoring a goal for the English club Swindon Town. He’d even been chosen as an ambassador for Lance Armstrong’s charity.” (WSJ)

Book Review: Hunting Grounds

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“In Hunting Grounds, Scottish journalist Gary Sutherland undertakes a season long journey around the grounds of all 42 Scottish League clubs, offering a good introductory overview for those encountering the world of Scottish football beyond the Auld Firm, whilst also presenting the hardcore fan with some heart warming stories powered by Scotrail and Tennents.” (thetwounfortunates)

Uruguay rates as Group A favorite

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“The group that drew hosts South Africa, rather than one of the seven other seeded teams, was supposed to be among the easiest in the World Cup. Instead, Group A will be one of the toughest and certainly among the most competitive. Consider that this group could have consisted of South Africa, New Zealand, Slovakia and Paraguay. Instead, the hosts are paired with three teams that place in the Soccer Power Index’s top 17. And South Africa itself will be no pushover, as it’s playing better football of late and is poised to take advantage of its home status.” (ESPN)

Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona: Xavi runs the show yet again

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“The most eagerly-anticipated league match of the 2009/10 season, and a deserved win for Barcelona, who will now surely go on to win the title. Pep Guardiola sprung a surprise with his initial line-up, deploying Dani Alves as a right winger, with Carles Puyol at right-back, and Gabriel Milito coming into the centre of defence. Messi played centrally but drifted around, Pedro played from the left, and Keita was used more centrally than in previous matches.” (Zonal Marking)

Barcelona Win Deals Blow to Madrid
“Spain’s biggest selling daily – the sports newspaper Marca – billed it as the ‘Game of the Millenium.’ Most other media were somewhat more restrained, simply calling it the ‘final’ of La Liga. And while that may have been a bit premature – there are, after all, 7 games left in the Spanish league – there is little question that Barcelona’s 2-0 win at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium dealt a body blow to the ‘Galacticos, v. 2.0’ as some have called Real’s expensively assembled squad.” (WSJ)

El Clasico
“I spent twelve hours sorting through the clichés and evasions trying to get to the truth, only to realize that the truth was in the cliché. Early in the first half, maybe even before the game started, Phil Schoen said Pellegrini would be fired if Madrid lost, because ‘right or wrong, that’s just how Madrid do business’.” (Run of Play)

Strikers’ Goal: Get Paid on Time
“Another goal from Lionel Messi and another inspired display by Barcelona decided Saturday night’s El Clásico derby against Real Madrid. Football fans are advised to savor the performance: It will be the last we see of La Liga for some time. There will be no football matches in Spain next weekend after the Spanish players union, the AFE, called a strike Friday over unpaid wages, which will halt games in the country’s top four leagues between April 16-19.” (WSJ)

Barcelona Makes Real Look Second Best
“The hour is midnight, but Madrid is not about to sleep anytime soon. Its team, Real, has just been outplayed and outclassed by Barcelona in Madrid’s own cathedral to sport, the Bernabéu. The 2-0 score line does not settle the Spanish league title, because each team has seven games yet to play. But, with goals from Lionel Messi and Pedro Rodríguez on Saturday, each of them created by the master passer, Xavi Hernández, this was indeed a defining night, another one in Barcelona’s omnipotent season.” (NYT)

The best player in the world plays in Spain
“English football has always had an uneasy relationship with all things continental. The absence of any teams from ‘The Best League In The World’ in the semi-finals of the Champions League this season has been greeted as a national disaster but this would not have always been the case. When the tournament was first created in 1955, Chelsea were forbidden from entering it by the Football League chairman, Alan Hardaker, and even the England team did not play in a World Cup until 1950.” (WSC)

Fiorentina 2-2 Inter: The same goal three times, and a good result for neither

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“An exciting game that finished with a deserved point for either side, but it is a result that isn’t of much help to either at the moment – Fiorentina’s vague Champions League hopes are almost dead, whilst Inter are off the top of the table for the first time in months.” (Zonal Marking)