Preview: Chelsea vs Liverpool

Chelsea and Liverpool both enter their match on Sunday reeling from stunning losses. For Liverpool it was a mid-week 2-0 loss to Fiorentina in the Champions League. For Chelsea it was a 3-1 self-destruction against Wigan last weekend. They failed to gain any momentum in their Champions League match, squeaking by Apoel Nicosia 1-0. Both teams need this game to right their season and prevent a potential early-season freefall.
The early upper hand goes to Liverpool who, despite their struggles have managed to produce some significant offense in the Premier League. Its also relatively injury-free. Chelsea will be hurting on the defensive end because of the absence of goalkeeper Petr Cech who was sent off during last weekend’s match against Wigan with a straight red card. Hilario will keep goal in Cech’s place, but his lack of game time experience will cause worries from Chelsea supporters.
My prediction: As much as I hate to say it, I think the odds are against the Blues for this one. Chelsea will be keen on breaking out of its mini-slump, but without several key players, it won’t be able to reach its true form. My only hope is that Joe Cole will come up with a big game. Otherwise I think Liverpool will manage to poke through a few goals for the win. 2-0.

This is why I hate Manchester United

Manchester United did not deserve to win today. They were severely outplayed by an inspired Sunderland squad for almost 90 solid minutes. But Patrice Evra’s shot, which deflected off Sunderland defender Anton Ferdinand for an own goal, proved why Manchester United is Manchester United. Sometimes they don’t deserve the win, but they win anyway.

Darren Bent put Sunderland ahead in the 7th minute with a low line drive that extended just past the fingertips of Man U’s Ben Foster. Sunderland played smart, possessive football throughout the first half while Man U squandered several chances and carelessly turned the ball over. Especially angered at trailing 1-0, Wayne Rooney was relatively un-effective for the duration of the match. Man U trailed at the start of the second half but began to generate better opportunities.

Then, in the 51st minute, Dimitar Berbatov sent a beautiful ball past Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon to open the scoring for Man U. Berbatov expertly bicycled John O’Shea’s cross with an acrobatic jump and twist.

Most thought that this would open up the floodgates for Manchester United’s goal scorers, but Sunderland swiftly recovered. It kept up its workhorse style of play with crisp, smart passes and well-placed balls. In the 58th minute, Andy Reid sent a nifty pass to Kenwyne Jones who collided mid-air with Foster, who got the worst of the collision. But Jones head reached the ball first and sent it bouncing into the goal, putting the Mackems up 2-1.

Sunderland played valiant defense for the last half hour as Manchester United began to increase their attack. It cleared out countless Man U crosses and prevented Man U from producing any legitimate chances. It appeared that the underdogs would escape the barrage unharmed until the 93rd minute when Patrice Evra sent a shot into the box. The shot ricocheted off Anton Ferdinand, brother of Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand who did not play today, and into the back of the net, salvaging a point for the Red Devils.

Although the score didn’t reflect it, Sunderland played winning football. Darren Bent and Lee Cattermole played the field superbly, creating several offensive opportunities while Sunderland’s defense as a whole stifled Manchester United.

Despite the hear-breaking loss, Sunderland has several opportunities to better their record in the coming weeks. They face a tough match against Liverpool on the 17th and then travel to Birmingham to face Birmingham City.

Manchester United hosts Bolton on the 17th. Despite a mid-week Champions League match against CSKA Moscow on the 21st and the continued absence of stars Edwin van der Sar and Rio Ferdinand, one can only assume that Manchester United will continue to play choppy, disorganized football and continue to win.

Rites of Autumn

There’s an irresistible excitement in the London air this September. Along with the bite of the wind and fresh smell of leaves, football is in the air. After a three-month long stint of beating hot sun, humidity cricket test matches and the Confederations Cup, proper football is back in England. Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carling Cup matches populate pub television screens and newspaper back pages. Each day provides a new opportunity to enjoy brilliance and beauty of football. From a bright Saturday afternoon at the stadium to a chilly Tuesday night in a warm pub with a pint of cider, watching Europe’s finest, football provides all of London with endless excitement.

And in the fall, the excitement is especially high, because of the unknown that lies ahead. Each team starts the season with an optimistic view, with a belief that they can improve upon the previous season. Fans and players alike share in the excitement of a new season, craving the exciting goals, comeback victories and moments of glory that lie ahead. Enjoy the autumn, football fans. Enjoy the sunny days at the pitch before the biting November cold sweeps in. Enjoy the optimism of a 3-1 record and the visions of FA Cup or European glory. Because this is football at its most pure

So Close, Yet So Far

In what would have been the most monumental upset since…well…yesterday, South Africa came within three minutes of pushing powerhouse Brazil to overtime in the second semifinal of the 2009 Confederation’s Cup. But the host’s date with destiny was not to be, as Dani Alves bent a wicked free kick into the net in the 87th minute to propel the Brazilians into the finals. They’ll face the United States who pulled off the unlikeliest of upsets yesterday against world number one, Spain.
Brazil did not live up to their title as the master’s of the beautiful game, never really finding their samba-rhythm. The short peppered passes and gliding footwork were missing from the performance, as they never quite pulled away from the South Africans. Salvation came in the 87th minute from Dani Alves who fiercely curled a free kick around the wall, off of the right post and into the goal.
Credit goes to the hosts, who fared well against the South Americans. However, if they had been just a little more adventurous, they may have been able to poke through a goal.
Brazil will face the United States on Sunday in the championship match. Team USA is coming off of a huge wave of momentum after defeating Spain 2-0 yesterday. In their previous matchup, during the group stage of the tournament, Brazil downed the U.S. 3-0, with goals from Felipe Melo, Robinho and Maicon.

Looking Back: Great Upsets in US Soccer History

Now that the greatest upset in U.S. soccer history is a few hours old, it seemed appropriate to reflect on some of the U.S.’ other big soccer upsets. Enjoy.


1950 World Cup
Known as the “Miracle on Grass” the United States stunned England and the rest of the world with their 1-0 victory over the “Kings of Football” at the Estadio Independcia in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In the 37th minute Walter Bahr crossed the ball in to Joe Gaetjens who grazed the ball just enough to put it past goalkeeper Bert Williams to put the Americans up 1-0 and make history. The United States would win the game 1-0. Neither team advanced through to the knockout stage.

1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The United States stunned Brazil in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, winning 1-0. Preki scored the game’s only goal, a powerful strike from outside the box that sailed over Tafarrel’s head. Kasey Keller was brilliant in goal, stifling the likes of Romario and Edmundo while preserving the shutout. Unfortunately, the Red, White and Blue lost to the Tricolores of Mexico in the championship match.

1994 World Cup
The U.S. took on Colombia in a group stage match of the 1994 World Cup in front of a staggering 93,000 fans at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. The United States did not disappoint the home crowd, upsetting Colombia 2-1. Thanks to an own goal from Andres Escobar, and a goal from Ernie Stewart put the Americans ahead and helped secure passage into the knockout round.

2002 World Cup
The United States sent the shot heard ‘round the world in the group stage of the 2002 World Cup, when they took down Portugal 3-2. John O’Brien and Brian McBride scored goals, while Jorge Costa put in an own goal for Portugal. The U.S. made it through to the knockout stage and advanced to the quarterfinals where they fell to Germany 1-0.

U.S. Stuns Spain

The United States soccer team has just pulled off an upset of epic proportions.

Forget 1950. The United States’ 2-0 stunning of Spain is undoubtedly their biggest upset of all time. Not only because they took down the world’s No. 1 team. A team that had not lost an international match in 35 tries. But because the United States shouldn’t have even made it this far in the first place. After falling to Italy and Brazil in group stage, the United States backed into the semi-finals thanks to a six goal swing with Egypt.

That didn’t matter Wednesday night at Free State, as the United States displayed the confidence of world-beaters as they bravely stood toe to toe with the world’s No. 1 team.
Starting a young squad that included Benny Feilhaber, Michael Bradley and Ricardo Clark, Bob Bradley’s side faced the likes of David Villa, Fernando Torres, Carlos Puyol, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, and the list goes on.

The match began quietly, with the United States doing well to prevent Spain from finding a rhythm to their game. Both sides put several shots wide or high of the target. The first jolt came in the 27th minute when U.S. striker Clint Dempsey fed the ball to Jozy Altidore who expertly shook off Xavi with a nifty spin and put a shot at Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Casillas was caught wrong-footed and only managed to palm the ball onto the post and into the back of the net. Altidore was handed a yellow card after the goal due to excessive celebration.

Despite the early wake-up call and thanks to a brilliant reflex save by Tim Howard, Spain could not answer with a goal of their own, and went into half-time trailing 1-0. Spain applied significant more pressure during the second half, but it was overshadowed by a gutsy display of defending from the United States. The Spaniards sent shot after shot at the U.S. goal, but were turned away time and again. Cesc Fabregas’ tricky passes and David Villa’s screaming long shots were no match for Oguchi Onyewu’s, Michael Bradley’s, and Jay Demerit’s shielding frames.
Despite Spain’s desperate and powerful attempts, the United States fortress would not give.

Clint Dempsey sealed the miracle in the 74th minute. Landon Donovan poked a cross into the box that Sergio Ramos collected, albeit with an extremely poor touch. Dempsey was there to slide it past an out of position Casillas to put the final touch on the unbelievable victory.
The last 25 minutes were merely a countdown to the final whistle, with Spain making a few desperate pushes, and the U.S. content to play kick ball. However Michael Bradley of the United States was shown a red card after a studs-up tackle, which means he will miss the final match.

Unless South Africa can pull off an even more miraculous upset, the United States appears headed for a championship match showdown with Brazil, who they lost 3-0 to during pool play.
However, if the United States plays with the confidence, heart, and intensity that they displayed today, there is no telling how the match will turn out.

Off-Season Report: Manchester United

When Manchester United does something, they do it big, and this year’s transfer season is no exception. They made headlines before the final game of the season with rumours that several big names, mainly Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez weren’t content at Old Trafford. Tevez’ situation has yet to be resolved, although he has ruled out a move to Liverpool, and Manchester City seems to be the likeliest candidate. Ronaldo’s record-breaking transfer to Real Madrid was splashed across headlines for days, drawing both awe and disgust from pundits and critics. The 80 million pound transfer is the richest in history, and takes away a key, albeit controversial player from Old Trafford.

Now that the two strikers are out gone, or nearly gone, United has been focused on finding a striker for Rooney to work with. United had its eye on Samuel Eto’o but he appears headed to Manchester City as well.

It’s name has also been in the mix for England and Portsmouth defender Glen Johnson and Wigan’s Antonio Valencia.

They’re also competing for Bayern Munich’s Frank Ribery and Karim Benzima of Lyon.