Year in Review 2011 (Part 2): Royal Weddings, Scandal & The Worlds Most Wanted Man

Posted by Jeff in Opinion

Year in review 2011 (part 2): More incredible stories from the second quarter of 2011 emerge.

Year in Review 2011: April

April was all about a Royal Wedding between Prince William and commoner Kate Middleton. She apparently had posters of Prince William on her wall when she was younger, we don’t know if that is true or not but it goes nicely with the dream Princess story. Although some may say she was upstaged by her sister, Pippa Middleton, who had a facebook page dedicated to her derrière.

Sony faced one of the biggest problems in its history when the playstation network was hacked and millions of users details stolen.

Barcelona and Real Madrid seemed to be playing each other every week at this point in the year with Mourninho turning up the heat.

We lost the controversial Indian spiritual leader Sai Baba in this month and also on the controversial front, did we finally see proof of Aliens at Roswell crash? I’ll leave you to decide.

We also took a look at some cool iPhone apps and at a show jumping cow…. yes we did.

Year in Review 2011: May

This month Microsoft took the plunge and bought Skype for $8.5 billion and Google launched the Chromebook, while over on Twitter Lady Gaga made history by reaching 10 million followers.

Both Barcelona and Sebastian Vettel carried on winning everything while Sepp Blatter started to feel the heat over some dubious goings on over at FIFA.

We looked at whether cell phones were dangerous and we were promised that the world would end on the 21st May. That didn’t happen, unless I am now living in a parallel universe (well you never know), my guess is we might see a few more of those predictions in 2012.

We saw Ratko Mladic finally arrested in Serbia after years in hiding and the then IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrested over sexual assault, charges that were later dropped.

Charlie Sheen went a bit, shall we say ‘off kilter’, and was replaced on ‘two and a half men‘ by Ashton Kutcher.

Golfing legend Seve Ballesteros passed away and President Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden was killed when US forces stormed his hiding place right under the noses of the Pakistan police.

Barcelona took the Spanish La Liga trophy and the Champions League while Manchester United sealed the English Premiership title. Chelsea sack their manager (again) and Azerbaijan won the Eurovision Song Contest.

It was a very busy month of May.

Year in Review 2011: June

While Apple unveiled their iCloud service, Nintendo announced the Wii U in Los Angeles. MySpace was off loaded by News Corp for a fraction of what they paid for it.

Rafael Nadal was winning the French Tennis Open and Li Na made history as the first Chinese winner of a Grand Slam. Later in the month Wimbledon got underway and Germany prepared for the Womens World Cup. Chelsea also got their new manager, Andre Villas-Boas.

There were all sorts of goings on at the X Factor USA as Cheryl Cole was effectively sacked as a judge and replaced by Nicole Scherzinger. Beyonce closed Glastonbury in style but not before U2 and Coldplay had rocked the stage.

The Lunar eclipse seemed to foretell the up and down lunacy of the markets as Greece came close to defaulting on its debts while child vaccination got a massive boost in the arm by GAVI and the Gay Marriage Rights Bill was passed in New York.

There was Weinergate and JK Rowling teased us with the pottermore website. A Picasso painting fetched $20 million, Marilyn Monroe’s white dress sold for $4.6 million and a rare Billy the Kid portrait reached $2.3 million.

Read more in Year in Review 2011 (Part 3) here.

Champions League Final Buildup – Man. Utd Vs Barca.

Posted by Jeff in Football, Sports

The Champions League final, one of the biggest games in world football, takes place tonight and excitement is building. Could this be one of the greatest Champions League games we have seen?

On paper it certainly seems so. Two teams bristling with talent, two teams whose philosophy is attack but who do defending equally as well. It’s a mouth watering prospect.

What do you think?

Gary Lineker (famous goal poacher, world cup golden boot winner and ex Barcelona player) said in an article on the BBC’s website that Manchester United could only win if Barcelona don’t play well. In other words, Barcelona are too good. You can read the article here.

In his argument Lineker uses logic to come to his conclusions. Yes Barcelona are a great team, possibly one of the best ever assembled. Yes they have the best player in the world, Lionel Messi. Yes Iniesta and Xavi can dominate games from midfield. Yes they are favourites on paper.

But sport isn’t about logic, especially in such an important game. If it was, we would successfully be able to predict every game and football would be a very dull. No, there is something else going on which dictates games apart from raw talent.

Many teams have dominated games and not won, many underdogs have toppled giants and often the favourites have failed to win the big competitions. It’s what makes sport exciting and unpredictable.

So Manchester United needn’t be intimidated and have a good a chance as Barcelona in lifting the trophy. They have supreme talent of their own, players with something to prove. It’s not often that they are labelled the underdogs and will be keen to prove otherwise.

One cannot overlook the possibility that playing the game at Wembley, which can almost be considered a home game for United, will also have a significant influence.

I am going to go for an upset and just to stake a claim against logic, how about a defender who rarely gets over the half way line, Rio Ferdinand to score?

Whoever wins and whatever happens I think we are in for a great game and a great occasion. The Wembley football pitch has finally come good after the original gardening team were replaced and is looking amazing. Perfect for the passing game that both teams play.

Chelsea Sack Manager Carlo Ancelotti

Posted by James in Football, Sports

Another bare cupboard in the Chelsea trophy room this season means manager Carlo Ancelotti pays the price and is dismissed by the owner, Roman Abramovich.

Another season without a trophy; especially the one Roman Abramovich really wants, the Champions League, means that the 51 year old manager loses his job with a year still left on his contract.

Coming 2nd in the premier league is just not good enough return on an investment of £100′s of millions that the Chelsea owner has made. This includes the high profile signing mid-season of Fernando Torres from Liverpool for £50 million. It is unclear whether Ancelotti ever had any say in that decision.

Ancelotti was brought to Chelsea after 8 years in charge of AC Milan which included winning the coveted Champions League title twice.

In his first season at Chelsea he guided the club to the Premier League title and won the FA Cup.

Chelsea were top of the league this season until a bad run of footballing form followed the exit of assistant manager Ray Wilkins. The departure seemed to temporarily destabilise the club.

Now speculation is mounting that a former Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, will return but he still has time left to run on his contract at Real Madrid.

A close associate of Abramovich is Guus Hiddink who has worked with the Russian before, managing the Russian team and also serving as a temporary manager of Chelsea in 2009. Abramovich failed to convince Hiddink to stay on at the time, perhaps he will have better luck in 2011.

Photo: sekimura

Barcelona Seal Spanish La Liga Title

Posted by Jeff in Football, Sports

Barcelona have captured their 3rd Spanish La Liga title in succession after a 1-1 draw at Laventa.

Barcelona have secured the La Liga title with 2 games to spare, moving 6 points clear from 2nd place Real Madrid.

Their greater head to head results against Real Madrid mean that they cannot be overtaken, Barcelona beat Real Madrid 5-0 at home earlier in the season.

Xavi was once again instrumental in their goal, crossing for Keita to head his first half goal. A rare mistake by Pique let in Laventa for the equaliser but it didn’t matter to the Barcelona faithful. The result led to celebrations in the streets of the Catalan capital.

Sealing the win with 2 games to go means that Pep Guardiola to rest his key players ahead of the Champions League Final clash with Manchester United on May 28th at Wembley.

It is an important point for Barcelona, their players were looking tired and in need of some rest. Manchester United can also be in a similar position if they win or draw their next game away at Blackburn and seal the English Premier League title.

Photo: www.fcbarcelona.cat

Manchester United Vs Barcelona in the Champions League Final, Saturday 28th May At Wembley

Posted by Clive in Football, Sports

Manchester United beat Schalke comfortably to setup an encounter with Barcelona in the Champions League Final to be played at Wembley on the 28th May 2011.

Man Utd strolled to another Champions League final after beating Schalke at Old Trafford 6-1 on aggregate fielding a largely reserve side.

With an English premier league title decider at the weekend against Chelsea, he wanted to make sure his first team players were all fit, healthy and up for the match so left many of his stars on the bench.

He said he had had a sleepless night over the decision to rest so many, european nights can be difficult at the best of times, but he needn’t have worried. It is difficult to recall an easier semi-final over 2 legs than this one.

His second string side easily beat the German team even though they played a better game than in their home leg when they were beaten 2-0 by United despite what Sir Alex Ferguson called, the best goalkeeping display he had ever witnessed.

Barcelona had more problems containing their rivals Real Madrid, off the pitch as well as on. In the end they emerged scarred but victorious 3-1 on aggregate.

Two of the best teams in Europe have made it through to the final and perhaps with a slight home advantage (it will be played in London) and the fact that it is not played over 2 legs, Manchester United have a good chance of lifting the trophy once again.

Barcelona will be favourites, consistently called the best club side in history these days and it is true that their all round game is immense.

Their attacking flair is obvious, Leoni Messi leading the line magnificently (how do you keep him quiet for an entire game?), but what is easy to overlook is their equally brilliant defensive qualities. They don’t give the opposition any time on the ball, they hustle and harry as an entire team.

It is this quality that their attacking success is built on, it means that they get the ball back quickly after losing it, it means that the opposition don’t have a chance to settle and get comfortable in order to build any consistent attacks.

It is also very important that these defensive manoeuvres are carried out as a team, one person crowding a player is no good, they simply pass their way out of it. The whole team has to move as a defensive unit and Barcelona are the best at it, underlying that while they may have Messi, Iniesta and Xavi, they are a team that work hard for each other and as a unit.

Mourinho Takes a Swipe at Guardiola Ahead of the Champions League Semi-Final

Posted by Jeff in Football, Sports

Real Madrid’s manager Jose Mourinho, has taken a Swipe at his Barcelona counterpart, Pep Guardiola, ahead of the Champions League Semi-Final today.

Jose Mourinho seems to have taken the fine art of getting under the opposition’s skin to a high level of skill.

He often uses the tactic before a game with the idea of rattling the opposition, this time his target is the Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola ahead of their Champions League clash tonight.

Comments in the press conference below about Guardiola criticising correct decisions by referees elicited some expletive’s from the normally laid back Spaniard.

Mourinho was referring to a goal for Barcelona that was disallowed for offside in the Copa Del Rey, Guardiola was said to have criticised the decision, but in replay’s it was proved to be the correct one.

Guardiola responded by saying that he did not complain about the decision, he had just pointed out that the result can come down to small things.

It seems that Barcelona are increasingly feeling the heat following their loss to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey. Real Madrid are also breathing down their necks in the Spanish League.

Real Madrid have had the momentum between the two teams going into this match, but Barcelona are probably the best side in the world, it is a finely balanced contest that will be intriguing to watch.

Barcelona and Real Madrid to Star in Champions League Semi-Final

Posted by James in Football, Sports

Barcelona and Real Madrid will face each other in the Champions League Semi-Finals in a mouth watering encounter after beating Shakhtar Donetsk and Tottenham respectively.

Barcelona and Real Madrid will now have to play each other 4 times in 18 days as they take each other on in 3 different competitions; the Champions League (2 legs), the Spanish La Liga and the Spanish Cup final, Copa del Ray.

El Classico, as the games between the two teams in Spain are known, are huge games in every sense as the two teams have dominated Spanish football for decades and are followed all around the world. 10′s of million of viewers are expected to tune in to each game.

In the Champions League both teams cruised past their opponents in the 2nd leg of their quarter-finals. Real Madrid once again took on Tottenham, this time at White Heart Lane, coming away 1-0 winners on the night and 5-0 winners on aggregate. Tottenham had no answer for the problems that they created in Madrid.

Barcelona also had few problems as they took on Shakhtar Donetsk beating them 1-0 in the 2nd leg with a goal from Messi, this follows a 5-1 trouncing in the first leg.

That goal brought Lionel Messi’s goal tally this season to an astonishing 48, a feat never before achieved in Spanish top flight football. When you consider the teams that he has scored against it is an astonishing total from the man most would consider the best footballer in the world.

The last time that the two teams met was back in November when Barcelona dismantled Real Madrid 5-0. Will Mourinho be able to turn it around? Don’t count against it.

Photo: Jan S0l0

Manchester United Crush Chelsea’s European Dream

Posted by James in Football, Sports

Javier Hernandez and Park Ji-sung sealed Manchester Uniteds place in the Champions League semi-finals with a convincing win over English rivals Chelsea.

Having secured a 1-0 away win in the first leg, Manchester Utd were always going to be favourites at home. So it proved as they took the lead just before half-time, Hernandez blasting the football into the roof of the net from a few yards out after a great cross from the ever youthful Ryan Giggs.

Hernandez seems to have sealed his starting place in the Utd. side thanks to his ability to be in the right place at the right time and his growing relationship with Rooney.

For now, the imperious Berbatov has to be content with a seat on the bench even though he is vying for the Premier Leagues top scorer award.

The Chelsea manager, Ancelotti, decided that a change was needed at half-time and brought on Didier Drogba for the ineffectual Fernando Torres.

Drogba instantly upped the standard of Chelsea’s performance with several efforts that forced drastic action from the impressive Van der Sar. How Utd will miss him when he retires at the end of the season.

It looked like the night would be over for Chelsea when Ramires brought down Nani from behind as he was on a run, inevitably the referee had to show a yellow card, his second, and Ramires had to go leaving Chelsea with 10 men.

But Drogba wasn’t giving up and he gave Chelsea a lifeline on 77 minutes as he controlled the ball on his chest and struck it with force under Van der Sar’s body to go 1-1.

It was not to be however, less than a minute later the ball was in the back of Chelsea’s net. Again Giggs was the provider as he found Park with space on the edge of the box, he hit a low shot comfortably beating Petr Cech and sent Old Trafford into wild celebrations as they once again march to the semi-finals.

Photo: Gordonflood.com