May 2012
16 posts
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Another Cinderella-esque Story
2011 – 2012 was spectacular when it came to football all across Europe. We saw Manchester City clinch the league title after 44 years, Real Madrid seal their 32nd La Liga title and finally, Montpellier HSC, introduced as the new and the first time champions of France’s Ligue 1.
The surprise keeps on coming though. [[MORE]]
This time it is the first time winners of Israel’s top-flight football -...
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A 5 year old scores in a pro am match
The notion of testimonial matches always suggests that the spotlight be put on that one specific individual in whose name the game is being played.
That was not the case in a recent match held at the Lokomotiv Stadium (Home of FC Lokomotiv Moscow) to honor former Russian international Vadim Valentinovich Evseev who retired from Belarusian club - Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino.[[MORE]]
His playing career...
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The cycle of a confused leadership
With Pep Guardiola and Roberto Martinez in the frame for the coaching role at Liverpool, a fan can only sit back and watch as it unfolds.
At first it was George Gillet and Tom Hicks. Now John Henry is failing us, or at least that’s the dominant chronicle of a Liverpool fan. Confidence in the clubs American owners is at a record low, and it seems like owner John Henry has been struggling with...
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A Great First Impression
Last night, I attended my first New York Red Bull game; in fact, it was my first ever Major League Soccer (MLS) game. I guess you could say it was a monumental step taken towards American football/soccer for this footy addict. My wonderful wife, centered on my happiness, managed to get tickets to the NYRB versus Chivas USA game at the Red Bull Arena.
According to the hype created by MLS and...
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How to waste time - 101
There was always something about Middle Eastern football and wasting time that used to fascinate me. It was the way in which a goalkeeper would make a big deal out of an ordinary dead ball situation. He would make sure that he holds on to the ball and then immediately dive to the ground, making it seem like he had done the spectacular.
So did it seem, as we witnessed that action in one form or the...
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A long time coming
“Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it.”
- Jules Renard, a notable French author of the late eighteenth, early nineteenth century.
This is the quote of the year that has made sense for majority of the French people this year.
It was just a week ago that a Socialist – Francois Hollande was inaugurated as...
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To err is the Referee.
We will never know what the outcomes would have been if the decisions made were correct. But there is no denying things could have been totally different. If small changes ripple into massive consequences in our chaotic world, then the standing of football, as we know it today would be different.
Referees of the modern game have to go through a lot. From pressurizing press statements from cunning...
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Compassion of a Child
We had seen time and time again how footballers display their joy when scoring a goal or celebrating winning titles. As we often revel in a winning atmosphere, we tend to forget the dejection that footballers go through as they find themselves at the other end of any league table.
An occasion of such sprung up this past weekend as Dutch Eredivisie side De Graafschap was relegated after losing its...
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Remember the Citizens.
Congratulations, Manchester City!! You have managed to prove the world and the multitude of critics wrong by winning the Barclays English Premier League title in a year that you weren’t, well you were expected to win at least some sort of a title.
However, we did not expect the to see the below.[[MORE]]
You had brought superstar Mario Balotelli to a verge of burning down his own house, you...
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The Last Straw
It all comes down to this.
As the current English Premier League season is awaiting it’s final fixture to be played out this weekend, there will be a total of seventy-seven players representing seven clubs that will compete as if their lives are at stake.[[MORE]]
Firstly and most importantly, the two clubs from Manchester – City and United. City currently leading the table hoping to win...
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This is how Dagestan does.
Dagestan is the home to Russia’s richest club - Anzhi Makhachkala.
I am not Russian and I am not exactly or remotely close to figuring out what this guy called Timaro is rapping about.
But if you ever thought Russian football is not interesting or exciting enough, you are WRONG. Well, at least off the pitch. When would ever see the likes of Samuel Eto’o, Christopher Samba, Yuri Zhirkov,...
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The La Vecchia Signora (The Old Lady) is singing...
Moments before the Bianconeri faithful poured on to the pitch in Stadio Nereo Rocco and prior to manager Antonio Conte and assistant coach Angelo Alessio embracing each other on the sideline after the final whistle, the title-hungry visitors were treated with the news that 420 kms away, Maicon had completed a 4 – 2 rout against city rivals AC Milan, with his 87th minute goal.
There was a humble...
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The End of a Beautiful Relationship
The dust has begun to settle at Nou Camp as Guardiola stepped off the pitch for one last time as the famed manager of Barcelona.
It was a sight to take in last night as his most popular attraction – the Argentinian playmaker – Lionel Messi managed to score four goals against city rivals Espanyol. A feat that saw him reach 50 goals in domestic football and 72 in all competitions, eventually...
April 2012
7 posts
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Another black eye for Israeli football
Occasional violence in any sport is a common spectacle to us – the observer.
Taking our beautiful sport into account, we have come across game day hooliganism, free-for-all pitch brawls and have heard of the lives of numerous innocent victims being taken away.
The most recent being the unfortunate disaster that took place in Port Said, during an Egyptian league game between Al Ahly and Al Masry....
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Newcastle United: Focus, people
The English Premier League is off to a promising finish.
We are in the process of moving away from the insignificant.
The players and the media have been providing us with few-off-the-field moments, which excited us for a while, all throughout the season.[[MORE]]
For instance, Carlos Tevez’s three-month long absence, Balotelli and his consistent meltdowns and the London clubs (Chelsea and...
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An exciting prelude to the weekend
Weekdays, grinding, whining ahead, with nothing much better to do. No reason for excitement unless of course you are a football fan. It’s like a night out on your own roller coaster running around, up, down, up, down.
After the Premier League was all but buried, Man City wins & Man Utd loses to bring down the points gap to 5. It’s still safe with Man Utd, but then who would have...
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The Spanish Armada Is Rumbling On.
There are a lot of arguments among football associations to lay claim upon the title of the most exciting league. While people have their own preferences, there are many components that make an exciting league. The level of competition is one of the most important ingredients, and hence the English Premier League & even the Bundesliga can squabble over it, but there is no doubt which league...
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Stéphane Sessègnon – Achieving greatness in EPL.
Date: 27th June 1984, Venue: Parc-des-Princes, Paris:
Michel Platini and Bruno Bellone score a goal apiece to give Les Blues their first major title with a win over their neighbors - the mighty La Furia Roja.
Little did Parisians know that, in the same month, approximately 2,900 miles away, in a small city of Benin, a footballer would be born who would eventually adorn the imposing number 10 worn...
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Ali El-Khatib – Palestine or Israel? Pick one.
What is the one thing that unites Israel and Palestine? No, it’s not football. It is the fact that these two countries have a knack on stirring up a bout between each other on extraneous matters, while being oblivious to resolving the actual situation on hand. From who came up with Hummus (a Middle Eastern dish made up of Chick-peas) to who created the Keffiyeh (A traditional scarf that is a...
March 2012
10 posts
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With Fernando Torres, Anzhi could be sizing up...
Numerous and contradictory reports have developed as to whether cash-rich Russian side, Anzhi Makhachkala will strike a trade with Chelsea for the redundant Spanish striker – Fernando Torres.
Let the drum rolls begin. And let John Mayer’s “Sucker” play. This is the dedication to Torres and Anzhi.[[MORE]]
The trades that brought in David Luis, Ramires and Juan Mata, showed that Chelsea know how to...
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A look back at the high-spirited attitude of the...
Lebanon – the country, which at times is referred to as the “Switzerland of Middle East”, is famous for its beautiful landscapes, delicious cuisine, openness to Western culture and lastly, the toughness of its population. It is quite obvious, as the country had managed to reestablish itself after the French occupation, a civil feud and two treacherous wars with neighboring Israel. The ancestral...
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No.9 is the Target Man. Or is he?
If one has to understand the importance given to “squad numbers” by our beloved historians of this sport, it would primarily have been to differentiate the footballers on the pitch. These numbers indicated position, with the first eleven being given numbers between 1 &11.
All of the 1 – 11 stand out and their individual contribution to a game cannot be undermined. But, lets focus on the No. 9...
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The Greatest Player Ever Debate
The perennial argument of our times. Just who is the best player that ever played football? Pele? Maradona? Messi? Cristiano Ronaldo?
The emergence of Messi has certainly stoked the argument about and between Pele and Maradona too. The criterion to decide the best player seems to vary from pundit to pundit, from wizard to wizard. Goals scored? Number of trophies won? World Cup won? The checkboxes...
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The coming of age for Everton and David Moyes
When then Preston boss; David Moyes was offered the Everton job ten years ago, a lot of people warned him to stay away, calling it a dead end due to the club’s eventual relegation.
Moyes saw a sleeping giant and disregarded the advice.
Two days later, he grabbed his first win for the Toffees and in due time, they managed to rally around and stay in the Premiership. That was 2002.[[MORE]]
Now...
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Roberto Di Matteo signals Chelsea’s resurgence.
Chelsea and Roberto Di Matteo has been on a tear lately and look completely different since, the sacking of AVB’ earlier this month. With four wins in the first four games in charge, Di Matteo and Chelsea are looming as serious challengers to the third spot of the Barclay’s Premier League.
Prior to this positive momentum, Stamford Bridge at one point had become an almost forgotten, characterless...
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A Shift in Focus, From Europe to Domestic
The sun goes down, the stars come out And all that counts, is here and now My universe will never be the same I’m glad you lost, I’m glad you lost.
The above lyrics to a song, coincidentally from the recently famous English group: The Wanted, was what my mind was teasing me with as I watched both the Manchester clubs crash out of the Europa league.[[MORE]]
All of a sudden, it is all...
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Feeling the blues at the Etihad stadium
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake that measured a 9.0 on the Richter scale and an ensuing tsunami struck Japan, resulting in nearly 20,000 lives being lost. The same also caused severe damage to the Fukushima nuclear power plant, one of the world’s worst nuclear accidents since the Chernobyl incident in 1986, causing a lot of people living nearby to fear about their immediate futures.
A year later...
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Winning ways of Liverpool revived again through a...
Last season a mate of mine, a day before the league cup final, posted how Arsenal & Monsieur Wenger were still in line for a quadruple. And then the inevitable happened. Even Wes Craven couldn’t imagine the horror that was to follow, and it’s taken a good whole year for them to reach some sort of joy after that display with Tottenham.
Hence I had to refrain myself from posting...
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El Clasico? Watch out.... O Classico is back again
The race for the top honors of the Portuguese league is heating up, as Sporting Braga intends to crash the FC Porto/Benfica party. But last night was focused primarily on the latter two teams.
The fixture which is popularly known as the “O Classico”; yes a reference based on a similar fixture between the top two teams that exists in the neighboring country. Going into the match, both clubs were...
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England on the verge of taking Euro 2012 by storm...
Dead rubber? Did not realize such a thing existed until I made a lame effort at watching last night’s match up between England and Netherlands.
This was by no means the best performance by the England national team. One would only hope that the talent in view could have produced a fascinating contest.
Well, that was not the case.
Given the fact that, caretaker manager Stuart Pearce has had a good...
February 2012
5 posts
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Is Arsenal gaining its impregnable aura?
The faithful descended on the Emirates Stadium earlier this week, their hopes and expectations stalled as they walked towards their seats.
They came for another football extravaganza, a matchup that featured two teams combating for that glorified top four positions, one that has slowly crept to the third position in the table and the other hoping to reach there.
Keeping in mind that both these...
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Taming the beast called Hulk.
The year was 2012, the month – February and the day – 22nd. Voices muted in a kind of uneasiness, the supporters of Porto gathered in a dingy corner of the South Stand at the Etihad stadium.
On the pitch, the two teams assembled to offer 90 minutes of sacrifices to the approximately 47,000 watching the 22 + 1 (Balotelli).
One stood out. His name - Givanildo Vieira de Souza; also known as the...
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What would the aliens make of Chelsea's...
While watching the game late afternoon yesterday, I found myself wondering what if someone is watching us?
Weird thought but what I mean is that, for years now, we have been examining through with the help of powerful telescopes and satellites in space, in an effort to find out if another planet exists out there which simulates the one we live in.
It was only a few weeks ago that scientists were...
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The Egyptian Tragedy
2006 was a great year for biology. The last sequence of the Human Genome was also published.
But that was the year, my friend, Tamer, referred to as Timo, pulled me to watch the African Nations Cup in a sheesha place filled with expectant Egyptians. The tournament was taking place in Egypt and the home crowd was buzzing. You could hear it from the television.
The Egyptians won. I was part of a...
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Who really cares about the Africa Cup of Nations...
Now that the first round of games are almost over with one group remaining, let’s talk about the Africa cup of nations 2012. It’s a bit late for a footynions perspective on the tournament, but we preferred waiting for the right moment.
Most of you must know by now that our other past time away from football revolves around the assorted flavors that can be legally smoked through a pipe. Emphasis...
January 2012
10 posts
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Half Time 2011-2012
Ok we are at the half way point. Plus added time.
Man City is on top of the Premier League. Man United lay second. Tottenham after that loss to Man City needs something special and a whole lot of luck and other teams playing incredibly well with the Manchester sides to win the league from here on. It is effectively a two horse race. The fourth position fight seems much more interesting. Chelsea,...
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Dear former darlings, Now is your chance
El Nino.
There used to be this huge banner with Torres’ picture across at the Kop. He was the one. It should have been a marriage that would have been folklore. But it wasn’t.
The marriage broke down. After all there was the bigger house, and famous riches that were waiting elsewhere. The promise of a greater land and a bigger polished wood trophy cabinet.
So where did it all go wrong....
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Not Saudi Arabia, not UAE, not Qatar - It was...
Year and year again, we see the Gulf region draw blanks in terms of its ability to offload that one player.That one rep that would symbolize the region in the highly esteemed leagues in Europe. On the other hand, their compatriots in the East of the Arabian Gulf have been shipping out stars, on somewhat a weekly basis; athletes that would eventually represent the entire continent of Asia as a...
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Lost but never forgotten – Remembering Gabriel...
Jan 16th, 2007: 24-yr-old Gabriel (Gabe) and his mother Mrs. Vollmer, make a trip down south from Madison, Wisconsin to the Mexican embassy in Chicago. Little did they know, that they would be taking their last breath in this forsaken world. Tragic incident. Lives of two blessed individuals lost. January 16th, 2007. Few days later, I find myself at a funeral that I couldn’t get a grasp of. It...
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A reason to dare and Audere est Facere
I have a big circle of friends, and most of them are self-proclaimed football fanatics.
Ask them, which club they, support, and the answer is usually a predictable one.
“I support Barcelona because they are the best and they have Messi and have won so many Champions Leagues” says one with his tongue sticking out.
“Real Madrid..Zidane, Figo, Raul…why would you support any other club?” says another...
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And the winner of round two is Liverpool
These are my exact thoughts on the game, put onto paper, or in this case a webpage.
The Carling cup - the least important of all the trophies that the league has to offer.
Two teams 14 points away from each other in terms of their league positions with Liverpool coming at this with a vengeance of the 3 – 0 defeat handed to them by Manchester City, a few weeks ago.
City, on the other hand, with...
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The Second Coming of Monsieur Henry
You could have been Casanova’s football re-incarnate. Making unemotional love to a thousand clubs. But even Casanova probably had one true love. The one whose passion took him to dizzying heights. But meet Thierry Henry. Meet the love of Arsenal F.C.
Like the script of Love in the Time of Cholera, Henry had to come back. To the club that really makes his heart beat. You could see that in...
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Looking at how football in UAE fared in the first...
Midway through the UAE pro league with twelve rounds of games left, set up is an entertaining fight to the finish between three teams. And unfortunately, Al Wasl, on which the hype was rested prior to the start with the recruitment of the great El Diego as the head coach, is not one of them.
The few that seem to be competing at all in this season are Al Ain, Al Jazira and Al Shabab....
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The Closed Case Of Luis Suarez
There is the old adage, two sides to every story. But what there is not is that only one will be taken as the absolute truth, because the other one was “probably” not true.
The whole Suarez issue reached a climax in the past few days. The official report came out, and I was appalled at the negativity that Suarez was getting because his statement that he had pinched Evra to diffuse...
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10 years from 2012 – the desert lies in wait
Every four years we eagerly wait for an event, which can only be categorized as the grandest of all sporting spectacles out there. For a period of four weeks in that year we see thirty-two nations, and their 352 representatives battle it out for the most coveted medal/cup that can ever be placed in their trophy rooms. We see fans and the average sporting enthusiasts, from all over the world,...
December 2011
11 posts
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The January buzz
In exactly less than twenty-four hours the sporting pages will go on frenzy. English yellow sensationalizing journalism goes on overdrive, trying to figure out which athlete is going where. Sensationalism sells, and it pays to have people posted in airports and outside clubs to know who is spotted where and who is seen driving through which gates.
Fans feed the frenzy. We have live updates....
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A club paving the way towards co-existence.
16th January 1991: The day as I remember whereon students were told to come to school a little earlier than the usual timings. Mainly so that our head master could make an announcement: an announcement stating that school will be off for a few days due to the unforeseen events in the region. I am pretty sure, as kids we were overjoyed at the thought of few extra days being off. But little did we...