Shevchenko can be the best ever, says Mourinho

Hi all,

This post is for all those who believe that Shevechenko is 30 million pound waste. Shevi is slowly coming out of his shell and proving to the world that he is a match winner. Read on guys...

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes Andriy Shevchenko can establish himself as the most prolific striker in the history of European football.

Shevchenko scored his first European goal for Chelsea as his side clinched top spot in Champions League Group A with a 2-0 win against Levski Sofia at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian forward has endured a miserable time since his club record 30 million pounds move from AC Milan in pre-season, but his clinical finish against the Bulgarians was just reward for the kind of dynamic display that he has lacked for much of the campaign.

Shevchenko has now scored 57 goals in European football and Mourinho is convinced he can get to the top of the list before he retires.

"I am happy with Sheva. I think he has gone ahead of Eusebio in the top scorers in the history of European football and he is just behind Gerd Muller," Mourinho said.

For full story click here...

njoi,
Kurt

P.S. : This has been Cross-Posted @ Whatever!!!

Barca avoid Champions League knockout...

Hi all,

Yesterday was a crucial day for all the Barca fans, it was a do/die situation for their team. They(the fans) can now sit back and relax coz their team has been successful in qualifying for the KnockOut Stage. For more details read below:

Barcelona and AS Roma made their own entries into the history books of the Champions League on Tuesday, although it was the defending champions who penned the most interesting reading.

Frank Rijkaard's Spanish giants calmed the nerves of their anxious fans with a 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen at the Nou Camp which secured entry to the last 16 after a second place finish in Group A behind winners Chelsea.

Roma, missing talismanic skipper Francesco Totti, beat Group D winners Valencia 1-0 at home to finish second in their group and enter the knockout phase for the first time in its current format.

However Barcelona's win, for Champions League posterity, had a little more significance: it meant they avoided becoming the first defending champions to exit the competition at the group stages.

For a complete report: Click Here

njoi,
Kurt

P.S.: This post has been Cross-Posted @ Whatever!!!

Barca rulezzzz.... Once again!!!

To be very frank just before the start of last nights match between Barcelona and Werder Bremen when my roommate asked me for a prediction, I was pretty quick in predicting "I think like all good things, Barca's good run is near to over". I am not the one to comment so easily on such things but after watching them play in the last few matches or almost of the matches I felt something was a miss. It wasn't the same Braca of last two years, The La liga and the European champs suddenly started looking beatable and after their last match against Levante, I was pretty sure that they are on their way out to play the UEFA cup.

I was proved wrong and I am so happy to be proved wrong, The first 45 minutes of the game was stunningly amazing. I could feel the punch, the energy in the game that Barca had been missing this year. The cheeky goal by the magician Ronaldinho was a proof that he is the best brain in football at the moment, coz it was less of an art and more of being smart considering the way he slid the ball below the wall as soon as they jumped. There was more to come, the second goal was more about speed from Giuly and lack of good defending from Bremen. For a moment it looked there would be many more but Barca missed some very good chances to score, anyways this was less about match analysis and more to express my happiness wih Barca qualifying to last 16.

Cannavaro wins European Footballer of the Year Award (Ballon d'Or)

Hi all,
Finally Ronaldinho has been stripped off his title, which he held for 2 yrs consecutively. The guy who has done that truly deserves it.

Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro won recognition for his stunning World Cup performance as Italy skipper by winning the prestigious European Footballer of the Year Award (Ballon d'Or) on Monday. The 33-year-old Neapolitan succeeds Barcelona star Ronaldinho, winner of last year's award, but who placed fourth this time largely as a result of his World Cup performance as Brazil crashed in the quarter-finals to France.

Cannavaro with 173 points took the honour ahead of Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (124) of Italy and Arsenal's French striker Thierry Henry (121).

France's Zinedine Zidane, who retired after reaching the World Cup finals, placed fifth with 71 points.

To read the complete story click here

This post has been Cross-Posted @ Whatever!!!

njoi,
Kurt

Clash of Titans...

Hi all,

It was indeed Clash of Titans. Yesterday (i.e. 26th November), i along wid the millions of others worldwide saw two Premiership Gaints ManU & Chelsea, clash against eachother @ Old Trafford. Now ManU was in a bad mood after their loss against Celtic in UEFA Championship Group matches. Fergurson was quoted saying, "We'll avenge our Championship loss by defeating Chelsea @ home...". I know tht's a brave statement to make, but Alex is known to make such statements.

Abt the match:
It was a very well contested match, both the teams played some good football. ManU with backing of their home crowd started off with a bang & took Chelsea completely off gaurd. Ronaldo spear-headed ManU's attack, with his sheer speed he made A Cole life a living Hell. Chelsea managed to break most their attack even though they had some goof-ups in their defense. In the process they also took some shots @ ManU's goal. It was ManU who drew the first blood & it was none other than Luis Saha who found the back of the net. Just as he scored the entire stadium burst into a roar, all the ManU fans were shouting, jumping & cheering for their team. Soon it was half time & it looked as if ManU would run away with an easy win.

Second half was a complete different story.They had an early change, Robben was introduced into the attack. Chelsea had fire in their eyes which was missing in the first half (i wonder wht did Jose do in the changing room??). Suddenly one could see ManU on the backfoot, they had majority of their ppl in the defense. Chelsea kept the pressure on ManU and finally they succeded in scoring. It was a corner kick & the scorer this time was Caralvanho (the Portugal Defender). After the goal the stadium went dead silent, only the away fans were cheering this time around. ManU did try to come back but their attack was killed in the bud itself. Soon its was fulltime & the scoreline was ManU 1 - Chelsea 1.

After the match Jose Mourinho was quoted saying, "It's a fair result, ManU were best in the first half & Chelsea were best in the second half."

In all the match was a true entertainer. I felt the refree was a jackass coz he gave away a lot of unwanted fouls against Chelsea. It was indeed a high voltage game. Looking forward to see many more games like this...

This post has been Cross-Posted @ Whatever!!!

njoi,
Kurt

P.S.: This version is Chelsea friendly, if you want a ManU friendly version. Please go somewhere else.

Magnusson takes over West Ham

So finally, West Ham is being taken over. Speculation was pretty much going on since the start of the season that West Ham might be taken over. It was just a matter of when and by whom.

And when the Argentine duo of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano were signed by West Ham, various conspiracy theories were being espoused. The most interesting among them was that this move was just a trick to bring them into EPL and finally the duo or at least Tavez would be bought by Chelsea. It was also suggested that Roman Abramovich might eventually also buy West Ham.(Not sure, if the rules allow that). But, as of now those speculations can be put to rest. :-)

But, what will be the fate of Tavez and Javier? According to the article,

The futures of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano look less secure.

The Argentina internationals were brought to West Ham by Iranian-born Kia Joorabchian, who then led a takeover attempt that failed to lead to any offer for the club.

Tevez and Mascherano have played sporadically and their arrival has coincided with West Ham's recent slump.

Frankly, I haven't see either of them play really well or for that matter, even play for West Ham this season :-) I do like Tavez, so I hope he stays fit and plays for West Ham. But, with the new owners, probably they would be sold to bring in the cash and some footballers who will actually stay fit and play.

Also, West Ham has been one of the teams that I rooted for last season and it’s pretty disappointing to see them play this season. But, in the last match against Chelsea, they fought bravely and that augurs well for the rest of the season.

Although, earlier I had hoped that the speculations surrounding West Ham can be put to rest now but just one doubt in my mind. Is Roman Abramovich driving this deal??

Whatever, the scene is heating up! Watch Out!

Cheers,
HP

Explosion of the Arsenal!!!

The biggest disappointment of this EPL season has been Liverpool, with a lineup of Gerrard, Alonso, Crouch, Bellamy, Kyut to name a few they were expected to fire and give a shot at the title. But that was not to be, their play not only lacks fire but quality too. It seems they just can't keep up the pace with anyone, finding difficult to hold on even to the second level teams. The irony is that they seem to have the problem only in the EPL, as they have played pretty well in the Champions league, with 10 points from 4 mathces they are sitting comfortably on top of their group. With talk of trouble between Gerrard and Rafa Benitez subsiding it was expected that better days might be here soon, But the talk of the club changing hands seems to bring in more uncertainity and it seems the troubled days are here to stay.

The other disappointment had been Arsenal, though their situation has not been as pitiful as Liverpool. They have had some great quality games as expected from a team of highest quality but their biggest trouble in the last couple of months has been their ability to score goals. They would play a beautiful game with perfect passing but would fail when it matters the most that is in scoring goals. So much was I frustrated with lack of Arsenal goals that I switched off midway in their last few games as I did last night. Thankfully that wait seems to be over, with hat-tricks in the matches against Liverpool and Hamburg they seem to be getting back their killer instincts. Though the gap at the top of the EPL is becoming pretty wide for them to be considered for the title, but they are still not out of contention and can surely turn the tables around.

Some Football Action

Its been a long time since I posted anything about football. And, with the EPL season well on its way, expect more football related posts from now on..Now, stop groaning...please...

Already, I am disappointed to read that Chelsea lost to Spurs in the league. This year, Chelsea have not had the dream run like last year and they have also been losing matches after taking a lead which is quite annoying, to say the least. Also, the fact that the big signings have not fired has not helped matters at all. And, I also think letting Gallas go was not the wisest thing that we did this season. I know Kurt does not agree with me but Gallas was a real good player for Chelsea. But, all said and done, Jose needs to get the players performing once again in the league. And, the fact that Man Utd have been playing like a dream in the league make matters worse for us. Here's hoping that we soon overcome whatever problems we have and strike fear in the rest of the EPL teams.

And hope, just hope that Frank fires...Chelsea's winning/losing a match mutch depends upon Terry and Lampard performing. So there....

Cheers,
HP

Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal

aah...What a goal!!! What a goal!!

ok..U wanna wash away all your sins!! Just watch this video hundred, no make it a thousand times and your sins will be washed away :-) Really, I am not kidding!!!!!

For all u IE fans, the link is here.


And for Mozilla rockers, just watch the video below.



Just hope now that my team wins the World Cup and I get to wear the tee proudly :-)

God Bless Argentina!!!

Cheers,
HP

Predictions for the World Cup (contd.....)

Hi all,

This is officially my first post @ Football Fever. (i somehow didnt like this name) :))))
Neways lets continue with the post/get.

World Cup/ Cup of Life/ La Copa de la Vida is just 2 days away and football enthusiasts(or shld i say the working football enthusiasts like me n my frenz) have already started making the plans for their weekends. Most of us are completely geared up & are ready for the action to begin. Ppl are buying new T.Vs, their fav teams jersey, booking their tickets @ local pubs to catch the action LIVE on the big screen,etc.....
Even women are into the action this time around, even they are cheering for their fav teams
in their Bustiers..... (read an article abt it recently)
Dont get excited boyz, those females are not in India.

Admist all this chaos there are 32 teams out there, who are under so much pressure to perform their Best @ the Biggest Platform. They all know that hopes of many ppl from all over the world is resting on their shoulders.My hope rests on the following teams.

The teams below stand the chance of creating history & making their country & countrymen proud.

1) Argentina
2) Italy
3) Portugal (I personally feel they shld win)
4) England (have an outside chance)

Lets see who wins in the end.
Am supporting all the other teams except for BRAZIL, coz i know there are hundreds/ thousands millions supporting them.

njoi,
Kurt

Foot Ball Fever.

Indians cannot boast to be a football crazy country or of a great football past, we have nothing to boast of except that around half a century ago the Indian Football Team qualified for the World Cup finale's. They couldn't attend it though for one of the wierdest reasons, yeah they didn't have money to buy shoes and they were used to playing bare foot!!!. Isn't that amazing, just imagine if they could have afforded to buy shoes or someone would have sponsored that, we might have had a different foot ball history and culture.

Anyways, there's still a big bunch of enthusiasts who are crazily waiting for the World Cup to start. I don't qualify to be one of them, as it has been a very long time I left watching TV though I keep tabs on my favorite players and teams in some way or other. But when even a not so crazy football enthusiast agrees to buy in a new TV set with his room mate and best of all to buy a dozen football jerseys so that we can wear them throughout the World Cup!!!. Yes guys we decided that we would be buying enough jerseys so that we can wear them through the World Cup. The fever is certainly taking us over.

Apart from that, we have a shoot at sight order in place for all GLTian's during the world where we are supposed to shoot at everything that is round, made of leather and is of number 5, something like that and all. Add to this a host of other competitions and prizes, I hope they put put live matches on Friday evening on big screen instead of the usual movie.

The party pooper to all this is that the cable wallah's are threatening not to air ESPN/Star. Sure would kill a few if they do it, keeping my fingers crossed.

So guys what so crazy that you are planning to do this World Cup.

---Asif

Predictions for the World Cup

Since, the world cup is just days away, it makes sense to pay favourite-favourite :-)

Yep, its that time of the year when you can make predictions and all. Also, you can lay bets on ur fav team. So, here I go.

For me, the below three teams have a wonderful chance of laying their hands on the trophy.

1) Brazil (Expected)
2) England (Best Team Till Date)
3) Argentina

More elaboration as to why I consider them the favourites to win will follow. Till then, keep kicking :-)

Cheers,
HP

Football and more of it.

The League titles have been decided, Football fanatics have had their moments of elation, excitement, despair and doom as the fortunes of their favorite teams and players swayed across ends. While fans of Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool had a great time with their teams winning their country leagues or other glories, The fans of Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid etc were not so lucky.

The three teams boast together some of the best players in the game, with half the Real's line up being star studded, but when it came to team play they didn't quite match up. United was almost thrashed by Chelsea, though it still has more starry line-up than its rival, Arsenal the loosers, though played well in the league final against Barca, never really looked like the champs that they were a couple a years ago, finishing fourth!!! in the league. The biggest disappointment was handed over to its fans was by Real, with players like Zidane, Raul, Ronaldo, Carlos, Robinho, Guti one could not expect anything less than titles, but none were to come.

The team that changed the rules of the games has been Chelsea, when they won the title last year, not many were still sure of their quality and persistence. But they have proved well enough that they are the kings and their last win wasn't a flash in the pan, the likes of Lampard, Drogba, Arjen may not yet be the stars of the likes of Ronaldo and Zidane but surely make up a team that has an incisive attack and rock solid defense. One more thing that they prove is that money does matter but, well used it can do wonders, So 90 million euros ($113.9 million) spent by Real madrid last year could get them only a second place in Spanish La Liga and Roman Abramovich's millions assured successive titles for Chelsea.

The football fanatics are eagerly waiting for the World Cup which promises to be the biggest sporting extravaganza on the face of the earth, mean while the player market is hotting up with deals falling in place one after other, one can only wait to see the composition of next year club lineups.

Barca Rulezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So, the expected happened. Barca became the UEFA Champions. As the season progressed this time, it was becoming more and more apparent that Barca were the team to beat this year. And coming into the finals, Barcelona were poised to lift the Champions Trophy. But, one team Arsenal was determined to make history and promised an entertaining match to the fans.

I spent the better part of the night waiting for the match to start. Dad started getting a bit restless seeing me awake beyond midnight. And the old taunt of never staying late to study surfaced. But, yesterday everything was taken into the stride. Even gave a brief introduction of the Champions League to him. Finally, he slept murmurring something about 22 players fighting for a ball and all. But, I digress..

Anyways, coming to the match, Arsenal were aggressive right from the beginning which was not quite surprising actually. In the pre-match analysis, the pundits were discussing about the fact that Barca might just be wary of the Arsenal strikers. And in the first few minutes, Arsenal showed us just exactly why. Lehmann was looking quite confident while thwarting the stray strikes by the Barca strikers on the goal. But, then Lehmann tripped Eto just outside the box. (Hope Lehmann doesn't show such stupidity during the World Cup now that he is the first-choice goalkeeper for Germany). The tripping saw Lehmann being sent off and Pires being replaced by Manuel Almuni which in a way was very sad. The sight of Lehmann being sent off and Pires being replaced secretly made an Arsenal-baiter like me also pray for an Arsenal victory.

A free kick which should not have been given gave Arsenal a opening in the game. Campbell's header put Arsenal in the lead and Arsenal went into the break with their heads high after being 1 up with a 10 man team.
A lot is being made of the refreeing and I don't think Arsenal fans should be complaining much. IMHO, the free kick was just not on. But, the simulation worked and Arsenal striked. All this talk of biasedness should be taken with a bag of salt.

After the break also, the ball possession was more with Barcelona. But, their normal incisiveness was missing primarily because Ronaldinho was playing far below at its best, to put it mildly. Ronaldinho missed around 3 free-kicks which is very much unlike him. Things were just drifting with Arsenal content to defend and players diving left and right. Even Henry wasn't entirely free of guilt as he also got involved in delaying of the game with the constant scuffles and dives.

But, then Larsson was introduced in the game and that just changed the entire match. A first feed to Eto, which seemed like marginally off-side equalized the scores and there and then, Arsenal left the game. Within some minutes, Larsson provided Beletti a scoring oppurtunity and that sealed the match. The remaining minutes were just a countdown to Barca lifting the trophy.
Overall, the match was good. Definitely tense but yes, if Arsenal had 11 players on the ground, I suspect Arsenal would have been crowned the champions. Simplay, the way they started was heartening. But, anyways looking at the whole tournament, Barca were the deserved winners.

Hopefully, Chelsea bring the Champions Trophy back to England. Here's Cheers to that!!!

Cheers,
HP

First Post

Just created this blog for all the madness related to the most beautiful game on this planet 'FOOTBALL'.
I would like a variety of people to contribute to this blog and hence, as a first step would invite some of my blog friends to contribute on this blog.

So, I would not like to take much of blogger space and ask anyone free to contribute to this blog.

So, Let the ball roll!!

Cheers,
HP