Manchester United Champions of the World

Champions of England
Champions of Europe
And Now,
Champions of the World


This is the latest title added to the impressive cabinet room of Manchester United, making the English club the only one in the country to have this prestigious title.

Man United were directly qualified for the semi final of this tournament, hosted in Japan against Gamba Osaka, which they duly won 5-3. The scorers that day were Vidic, Ronaldo, Rooney twice and Fletcher.

The final itself was another story though against Quito, an Ecuadorean team, the current holders of Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the European Champions League.

The first half was dominated by United, with several chances to score, but either due to lack of precision on the part of the Mancunians or due to the exploits of Quito keeper, the British side could not break the deadlock.

The second half started rather badly for Man United as Vidic was correctly sent off for pushing his elbow onto the face of a Quito player. United was reduced to 10 man for nearly the whole of the second half. The South American outfit took an ascendancy in the game, and looked threatening sporadically. Their danger man was Manso who two two well taken shots superbly saved by Van Der Sar.

The game looked to be looming to penalties until around 15 minutes from the end, Ronaldo and Rooney combined to create and opportunity for the latter to scored with a placed shot. United held on, but Quito did not look menacing apart from when the ball was at the feet of Manso
.

Manso won bronze ball for this tournament, with Ronaldo getting silver ball, and Rooney getting the Most Valuable Player award. The scouser also won the Man of the Match award, with a brand new Toyota as prize.

Congrats to Manchester United...
Champions of England
Champions of Europe
Champions of the World

Football Manager 2009

The game that every soccer fan was waiting for has already arrived.
Football Manager 2009 is out since mid November, and I got the game at the start of December.



Football Manager 2009 is more or less similar to Football Manager 2008, but with features that might or might not please the fans of the FM series
The game has now a 3D match engine, but personally I do not use it. There are also other new features like Press Conference, the possibility to request a player to learn new moves or to control himself, like suggesting to Wayne Rooney to stop arguing with officials.
The game has some bugs for which I am expecting a patch by January, but in overall, the fans will surely like it.

In my next posts, I will talk about my team, life in the game, and players I bought.

Stay connected!!!

Manchester United Champions of Europe 2008

It had to be 2008. 50 years after the Munich disaster, Manchester United have won their third European Cup. Who would have bet against them?


They retained their Premier League crown a week ago, and were fully focused on obtaining European Glory. The players were prepared for the battle, and a tough battle it was.

United took the lead in the 26th minute through, no need to introduce now, Cristiano Ronaldo. All looked to be going perfectly with United threatening to score more goals through Tevez and Carrick, but deep in injury time in the first half itself, Frank Lampard equalised amidst a series of confusions in the United defence.

In the second half, Chelsea had the upper hand, with some clear opportunities for them to score. Drogba hit the post with a great effort, and had that gone in, it would have been a goal worthy of a Final winner.

Before the end of the match, Lampard had a great chance to win it for the Blues but his shot cannoned back off the cross bar, much to the relief of the United fans. More drama was to ensure before the end of the extra time as Drogba was sent off for a slap on Vidic.

Penalties then followed. Ronaldo missed and most United fans, including myself began thinking that it was all over! When Nani was going to take his kick, I was on stand by to go under the covers on my bed, but he scored. Terry had the opportunity to become Chelsea's hero, but incredibly he missed. After Giggs had scored his penalty, Anelka needed to score to keep Chelsea in, but Van Der Saar saved his kick, and the rest is HISTORY...

Manchester United Champions of Europe 2008...

FM 2008 best keeper

Who is the best keeper in Football Manager 2008?
Well there are many answers to this question, and it is dependent on our interpretation of what a good goalkeeper is.

The best keepers in FM 2008 are the usual suspects given below:

Gianluigi Buffon, Petr Cech, Iker Casillas, Francesco Toldo, Sebastien Frey, Victor Valdes, Shay Given, Robert Green, Jose Manuel Reina, Edwin Van Der Sar, Andreas Isaksson, Flavio Roma, Marco Amelia

Well there is no need to introduce them, they are among the best in the real game and the simulation game as well.

There are also some surprise packages who will perform admirably well between the posts in FM 2008 and they are:

Craig Gordon, Oscar Ustari, Francisco Ochoa, Benoit Costil, Remy Riou, Andrea Cosigli, Chris Kirkland, Hugo Lloris, Igor Akinfeev, Steve Mandanda, Colin Doyle

These surprise packages are usually young meaning you can easily get 6-7 years out of them at the top level. However they are going to cost a lot, if their reputation start rising and it is a wiser option to buy them when they are still unknown.

My personal best keeper of FM 2008 is Igor Akinfeev. This guy is the equivalent of the Great Peter Schmeichel in this game. He can make saves as well as making assists! Just set his personal instruction to quick throws and see how your team can change defense into attack in a few seconds. He does not come cheap though. I paid £ 20 million to get him, and I feel his is worth that amount considering he is still very young.

Who has performed admirably well for you or other teams as a goalkeeper?
Please share your knowledge about the greats in this game!

Making of Ronaldo Clip

You might be wondering how Cristiano Ronaldo managed to play against a bull as you might have seen in the clip in my previous post. Do you think Alex Ferguson let him play against a bull? Did the Manchester United player risk his personal safety by appearing in this ad. Well below is the MAKING OF. See it for yourself.

Seems that Ronaldo can give a try at acting!
And maybe next time, he can make an ad involving a dinosaur instead of a bull. It will be more cool!
What do you think?
What clip can be made next time?

Ronaldo against Bull

Here is an interesting clip featuring Cristiano Ronaldo in an ad against a bull. Seems that his skills are too much for humans to cope, so he has stepped up a level by playing against a bull!

The first part of the clip seems real enough but the last part of the clip where the bull heads the ball suggests that this clip has been constructed using super-computers, and graphics softwares.

What do you think of this clip?
Is it real/stupid/funny/bizarre?
Do footballers make themselves look foolish by featuring in such ads?
Please leave your comments.

Next time I will show you the MAKING OF of this ad.

Here is the MAKING OF C.Ronaldo v/s Bull

Football Jokes (Part 2)

Here is another funny article from SOCCERNET:

100 greatest ever footballers

Yet another list of the 100 greatest players of all time has hit the headlines but on this occasion it is not based on mere opinion but fact, at least that is what the creators claim.

The Association of Football Statisticians' (AFS) compendium of 'Greatest Ever Footballers', due to hit the shelves in time for Christmas, used a points based 'all time player ranking system' to reveal that Pele is in fact, and you won't believe this, the best football player the world has ever seen.

Soccernet will let the shock of that revelation settle in before informing you that the Brazilian's normal opponent for that title Diego Maradona is actually only the sixth best player in the history of the game.

Manchester United legend George Best, the man Pele once described as 'the best player ever' does not even make it into the controversial list, whilst United defender Gary Neville is ranked 86th. And not the 86th best defender but the 86th best player of all time, in the entire universe...ever! Now we're not saying the Red Devils' skipper is not a decent player, but come on!

Some other baffling rankings has Johan Cruyff - three times European Footballer of the Year and key exponent of Rinus Michels' Total Football - listed 21st, just five places above little-known Iranian striker Ali Daei.

Daei ranks 26th due to his 109 goals in 149 international matches for Iran.... against the mighty teams of Asia. Socceroos' striker Archie Thompson's has already been on the phone to ask why he isn't on the list after his 13 goal haul against American Samoa (Population 57,291) in a World Cup qualifier.

Former France striker Sylvain Wiltord waltzes in at 58 and even overlooking the fact that he should not be in the list in the first place, it is difficult to comprehend why he is allegedly better than AC Milan legend Franco Baresi, Roberto Baggio, Bryan Robson and Edgar Davids.

The AFS' system of awarding points for goals scored by forwards, clean sheets from defenders and honours won - including cups and caps - seems like a reasonable idea at first glance; but there are so many variables in football that their method appears more flawed than FIFA's notoriously dubious co-efficient World Rankings for national teams.

A spokesman for the book's publishers defended the rankings by insisting it was a 'comprehensive list of who really were, statistically, the best players of all time'.

That much used saying regarding lies, damn lies and statistics has never seemed more appropriate.

The best team in the world according to the Association of Football Statisticians*

• GK - Peter Schmeichel

• LB - Roberto Carlos
• CB - Lothar Matthaus
• CB - Franz Beckenbauer
• RB - Cafu

• LM - Johan Cruyff
• CM - Zinedine Zidane
• CM - Michel Platini
• RM - Luis Figo

• ST - Ronaldo
• ST - Pele

*Compiled by taking the highest ranked player relevant to the available positions in standard 4-4-2.

The top 100 players according to the statistics is as follows:

GREATEST EVER PLAYERS
1.Pele (Brazil)
2.Ronaldo (Brazil)
3.Romario (Brazil)
4.Luis Figo (Portugal)
5.Zinedine Zidane (France)
6.Diego Maradona (Argentina)
7.Lothar Matthaus (Germany)
8.Gerd Muller (Germany)
9.Franz Beckenbauer (Germany)
10.Cafu (Brazil)
11.Roberto Carlos (Brazil)
12.Marco van Basten (Holland)
13.Michel Platini (France)
14.Rivaldo (Brazil)
15.Paolo Maldini (Italy)
16.Zico (Brazil)
17.Raul (Spain)
18.Ruud Gullit (Holland)
19.Eusebio (Portugal)
20.Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
21.Johan Cruyff (Holland)
22.Alfredo di Stefano(Argentina)
23.Bobby Charlton (England)
24.Jurgen Klinsmann (Ger)
25.Kenny Dalglish (Scotland)
26.Ali Daei (Iran)
27.Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Ger)
28.Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina)
29.Michael Laudrup (Denmark)
30.Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
31.Dennis Bergkamp (Holland)
32.Frank Rijkaard (Holland)
33.Thierry Henry (France)
34.Pavel Nedved (Czech Rep)
35.Gheorghe Hagi (Romania)
36.Peter Schmeichel(Denmark)
37.Andrei Shevchenko (Ukraine)
38.Sepp Maier (Germany)
39.Didier Deschamps (France)
40.Lilian Thuram (France)
41.Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay)
42.Hakan Sukur (Turkey)
43.Paolo Rossi (Italy)
44.David Beckham (England)
45.Jean-Pierre Papin (France)
46.Kevin Keegan (England)
47.Marcel Desailly (France)
48.Oliver Kahn (Germany)
49.Alessandro Costacurta (Ita)
50.Clarence Seedorf (Holland)
51.Dino Zoff (Italy)
52.Patrick Kluivert (Holland)
53.Jari Litmanen (Finland)
54.Daniel Passarella (Arg)
55.Bixente Lizarazu (France)
56.Gary Lineker (England)
57.Ronaldhino (Brazil)
58.Sylvain Wiltord (France)
59.Bebeto (Brazil)
60.Alessandro Del Piero (Italy)
61.Davor Suker (Croatia)
62.Ryan Giggs (Wales)
63.David Trezeguet (France)
64.Demetrio Albertini (Italy)
65.Patrick Vieira (France)
66.Jurgen Kohler (Germany)
67.Laurent Blanc (France)
68.Michael Owen (England)
69.Youri Djorkaeff (France)
70.Frank De Boer (Holland)
71.Emilio Butragueno (Spain)
72.Hugo Sanchez (Mexico)
73.Rudi Voller (Germany)
74.Djalma Santos (Brazil)
75.Giacinto Facchetti (Italy)
76.Kanu (Nigeria)
77.Franco Baresi (Italy)
78.Gianni Rivera (Italy)
79.Roberto Baggio (Italy)
80.Oscar Ruggeri (Argentina)
81.Gheorghe Popescu(Romania)
82.Jon D. Tomasson (Denmark)
83.Raymond Kopa (France)
84.Carlos Valderrama (Colombia)
85.Rui Costa (Portugal)
86.Gary Neville (England)
87.Edgar Davids (Holland)
88.Claudio Taffarel (Brazil)
89.Paul Scholes (England)
90.Diego Simeone (Argentina)
91.Bryan Robson (England)
92.Roy Keane (Rep of Ireland)
93.Brian Laudrup (Denmark)
94.Henrik Larsson (Sweden)
95.Fabien Barthez (France)
96.Michael Ballack (Germany)
97.Jan Koller (Czech Republic)
98.Edwin van der Sar (Holland)
99.Robert Pires (France)
100.Johan Neeskens (Holland)

Do leave your comments/reactions/opinions...

Click HERE to read Part 1

Football Jokes (Part 1)

This is the first list of FOOTBALL jokes which I have read on other sites, and which I want to share with you. The sources of these materials come from FOOTBALL365, SOCCERNET and TRIBALFOOTBALL.
Happy Reading, and share your comments!

Taken from Football365 :

WEST HAM IN FOR MARCELO
Bad news for Panathinaikos' midfielder Marcelo: He'll be injured soon as West Ham are reportedly trying to sign him.

The Sun says that Alan Curbishley will make a £5million bid in January and 'is understood to be ready to sell Hayden Mullins to fund the deal'.

Based on the record of Curbishley's previous signings over the past 12 months, Marcelo will suffer a muscle strain by January 12.

JUSSI TO THE GOONERS?
Having realised that one of his keepers is a sulky, arrogant, creaking old sour Kraut and the other shames the good name of 'dodgy', Arsene Wenger might be after a half-way decent goalie.

The Daily Mirror reports that the man in question is Jussi Jaaskelainen, whose Bolton contract runs out next summer and would thus satisfy Arsene's criteria for a custodian - namely that they must be cheap.

After those last two, this whisper should be listed in the dictionary under the entry 'credible'.

Taken from TRIBALFOOTBALL:

Blackburn's Bentley suffers name cock-up

Blackburn Rovers didn't get off on the right foot against Manchester United yesterday.

David Bentley's shirt for the 2-0 defeat at United had the Blackburn winger's name spelt as 'Betnley" - is it any wonder why Zura Khizanishvili cannot get in the side!

Someone posted a hilarious comment for this article on TRIBALFOOTBALL :

Thats why Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink went to Celtic instead of us. He refused to wear two shirts

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do leave your comments/reactions/opinions...

Read Part 2 Here

Forza Milan

In simple words, yesterday match between Milan and Manchester United.
Milan's performance : Awesome
United's performance : Awful

The Best team won, and deservedly are in the final.
Congratulations and good luck to them.

Job well done

Congratulations to Liverpool for having brillantly booked their place for the Champions League final in Athens after their penalty shoot-out victory against Chelsea yesterday. Being 1-0 down from the first leg, Rafa Benitez knew his team had to attack since the beginning, and this is what his team did. Agger scored the only goal of the match after a delightful play by Gerrard, and no more goals were scored.

It is a great achievement for Liverpool, highlighting the fact that they are amongst the greats in Europe, while Chelsea maybe should perhaps start thinking that money cannot buy success.

Whatever team qualifies in the other match, it will be a highly entertaining final. A Liverpool - AC Milan match would make football fans all around the world hope for another repeat of the 2005 Final. A Liverpool - Manchester United match would be a fitting final, for all the rivalry between these two clubs, and for their respective supporters to obtain bragging rights about the best team in the land.

What do you think about Liverpool's chances for winning another European Cup?
How do you rate Liverpool and Chelsea for yesterday's match?
Which team do you want Liverpool to play against in the Final?
Please let us know.

If you do not have a Blogger account, select Other, and put your name there, or you can post as Anonymous.

Match Preview : AC Milan v/s Manchester United

Tonight A.C Milan and Manchester United will be competing against each other for a place in the final of the Champions League against Liverpool. The last match was a classic, and this match also is expected to be an absolute cracker. The first leg of this tie was an absolute classic, characterised by attacking football from both teams. That matched finished 3-2 in favour of Manchester United but the score could have been more.

Kaka was imperious in the last match, and he is expected to continue producing more beautiful football tonight. Dida should keep his place in goal, while Bonera will be favourite to partner Nesta in central defence, Maldini being injured. Gattuso should be fit to play after succumbing to injury in the last match. He is the key man in this match, as he will be doing all the dirty job in the midfield, allowing Kaka, Seedorf, and Pirlo to dictate Milan's play. Inzaghi should be preferred to the awful Gilardino, while the rest of the team should be the same. Milan is expected to play with their 4-3-2-1 formation.

Possible Milan line up :


Manchester United are going to Milan on the back of their astonishing victory against Everton, making an incredible comeback after being led by 2-0. They scored 4 goals in 30 mins, and who would bet against them from scoring again tonight. However, as proved in the last match, without Rio Ferdinand, and Vidic, United's defence is rather comic. For this match, I expect Ferguson to take a major gamble by playing Vidic from the start, and putting Ferdinand on the bench. The rest of the team will maybe remain the same, with the United manager using a 4-3-3 formation.

Possible United line up:


I expect United to attack from the start, and trying to find that crucial away goal, while Milan also will be trying to do find an early lead, then shut-off the defence. It will be a pulsating match, where goals mouth actions are expected to be frequent occurences. Both teams are vying to play against Liverpool in the final, but which team will go through?

Which team will win the match?
What will be the score?
Who between Ronaldo and Kaka is the best player?
If United win, will Scholes, Heinze or Ronaldo be booked and suspended for the final?
Please let us know.

If you do not have a Blogger account, select Other, and put your name there, or you can post as Anonymous.

Match Preview : Liverpool v/s Chelsea

Liverpool and Chelsea will both be going head to head for the return leg of the Champion's League semi final (1 May 2007) to book their place in the final. For Liverpool, qualification would mean the chance to win a sixth European title, while for Chelsea, it would their first taste of a Champion's League final.

For the first leg, Liverpool passed the ball well without really ever threatening Petr Cech, with only Steven Gerrard nearly scoring had it not been for the monkey-like agility of Chelsea's keeper. Meanwhile Chelsea played efficiently without really playing beautiful football.

The first match was a purely tactical one, where Mourinho did not want to concede a crucial away goal, while Benitez was trying to get a fair result, either a draw, or an away goal. Credit should be given to the Chelsea manager for the ruthless football played by his team. They were not eye-catching, but effective in their play. It was straight-forward football. Bang-Bang-Bang(Carvalho-Drogba-Cole) for the only goal of that game.

For this match, Chelsea know that a draw is enough to take them through, while need to win this match at any cost. I expect Liverpool to field their strongest team as this is their only chance for silverware this season, with maybe Finnan restored to right back instead of the dodgy Arbeola, and Mark Gonzalez on the left wing. Concerning Steven Gerrard, I expect Rafa Benitez to play him as a centre forward, just behind Kuyt or Crouch, and Jermaine Pennant getting his place on the right side of midfield.

A possible lineup for Liverpool might be:


As for Chelsea, having nearly conceded the Permiership title, they will be trying to cement their place in perhaps a potential encounter with Manchester United in the Champions League final, depending on the result of the other match. Mourinho's men should continue where they had left. They are expected to soak up Liverpool's constant bombardment's and break quickly on the counter attack. Drogba is expected to lead the charge with long balls being pelted towards him to hold on until other players get forward.

A possible lineup for Chelsea might be:



According to me, the match will be ending in a draw, with Chelsea progressing to the final. The whole Chelsea team has a determination and desire to win, which only Steven Gerrard has in the Liverpool team. Chelsea has already won 1 cup, and are still going for the quadruple, while Liverpool will most certainly try to show that their triumph 2 years ago was not just due to sheer luck.

Hope the best team win.

Who do you think will reach the final?
What will be the score?
What do you think of both teams?
Who will be the hero and zero?
Please leave your comments.

If you do not have a Blogger account, select Other, and put your name there, or you can post as Anonymous.

Torres to Liverpool?

Liverpool fans, start dreaming.

Torres might be coming to Liverpool at the end of the 2006/2007 season.
This is what The Sun newspaper claims, and their journalists have made their claims based on some pictures taken during Atletico Madrid's match against Real Zaragoza.


Does this picture really means to say that Torres like Liverpool, or does it have other meanings?
Please let us know your opinions and views about this picture.

Amazing

The new Villareal playmaker can even rival Ronaldinho for his skills, vision and the quality of football he produces. Matias Fernandez is the latest talent to emerge from South America, even though he is not as recognised as the likes of Carlos Higuain, Carlos Tevez or Fernando Gago.
Considering his huge potential, and his never say die attitude with the ball at his feet, he is sure to make it big in European football, and the youngsters of tomorrow will soon have a new idol to look at.

Watch out this clip for a comparison between him and the Maestro, Ronaldinho Gaucho



Isn't he amazing?
How do you rate him?
Make sure to leave your comments...

Das Wonderkid

Forget Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, or Ronaldinho.
A new star is set to rise on European football.
Matias Fernandez is the name of this gem unearthed in Chili, and he was voted best player in South America for 2006 as he helped Colo Colo win the South American equivalent of the UEFA cup.

He has now joined Spanish side Villareal during the January (2007) transfer window, and if he lives up to the expectations, it would not be a surprise if he commands a move to a big European club very soon.

Keep watching for him!!!



Fact File – MATÍAS FERNÁNDEZ

Full Name: Matías Ariel Fernández Fernández
Nicknames: Mati, Pelusa (Hairy), Matigol
DOB: 15/05/1986
POB: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality: Chilean
Previous Club: Colo Colo (Debut 2004)
Current Club: Villareal (Since January 2007)
Position: Midfielder
Height: 1.75m