Wednesday 19 May 2010

Injury headaches for many coaches


Injuries to a rash of footballers across the board are causing many a headache to coaches all around just before the football world cup 2010. After the news of injury to German captain Michael Ballack made the news yesterday, it seems that Swiss defender Christoph Spycher has also been ruled out due to injury. French coach Raymond Domenech has stated that he was concerned about the fitness of centre-back William Gallas, who is nursing a calf injury. Not to mention that Man U coach Sir Alex Fergusson has been insisting that star striker Wayne Rooney and England captain Rio Ferdinand will be fit for England's world cup campaign. Both the players missed the last part of the English season nursing injuries. The FIFA World Cup Football is due to start on June 11, 2010.


This just brings a sense of déjà vu. Be it football or now IPL Cricket, players are increasingly putting club (and money) above country. And as far as IPL Cricket is concerned, it looks to be headed the football way, where players retire from International Football to prolong their club careers!

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Barca, Champions of La Liga.

Barcelona have won their second successive Spanish La Liga title and as many as four of the last 6 titles. They beat Valladolid on Sunday and finished three points clear of arch rivals Real Madrid. Lionel Messi was the hero once again with 2 goals in the 4 – 0 victory, scoring in the 33rd and 34th minutes. He finishes as the league’s highest scorer this season. Barcelona finish with 99 points, the highest number f points ever in Spanish league history, compared to Real’s 96 points.
The striking difference this time around between star studded Real Madrid and Barcelona have been the number of home grown players that Barca have. Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo with 26 and striker Higuain with 27 goals have been the major disappointments this year. They have failed to score in the crunch games against Barca.  Barca’s roll call includes players like Messi, who has come up through their youth set-up, and Spanish players Xavi, the mid-fielder and Victor Valdes their goal keeper. Real Madrid, known for their big spending ways, have in their ranks star studded players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema amongst others. Just goes to prove once again money can’t buy titles!

Thursday 6 May 2010

Tottenham Hotspur qualify for UEFA Champions League


Latest football news is that Tottenham Hotspur have qualified for next seasons UEFA Champions League by beating their rivals for the spot Manchester City 1-0. The winning goal was scored by Peter Crouch in only the 82nd minute. Playing away at Eastlands, Tottenham were given a tough time to start with but they started coming into their own as the match progressed. It was all over by the 82nd minute, when Crouch headed a deflection off Tom Huddlestone's cross. Manchester city will now have to start their European Football campaign in the Europa League. Tottenham still have a chance to finish third ahead of Arsenal if the results of match round 38 go in their favour.

Wednesday 5 May 2010

English Premiership – the battle for the 4th place


Apart from the interesting tussle for the Barclays Premier League title between Chelsea and Manchester United, another interesting battle in the world of English Football is taking place for the fourth spot, i.e. for qualification to the UEFA Champions League. While voters on the official EPL site, www.premierleague.com are convinced that Chelsea will be crowned winners (watch this space for more on the Chelsea v/s Man U for the title) another pertinent question is, which other teams will qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season. Arsenal, currently on 72 points from 37 games currently on the 3rd spot have already qualified for the Champions League. Liverpool's loss this Sunday to Chelsea at Ainfield means that they are out of contention. Aston Villa on 64 points in 37 games might have had an outside chance, but the Goal Difference is not in their favour.

So it all boils down to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. Tottenham have 67 points from 36 games and play their contenders for fourth place, Manchester City on Wednesday (i.e. today) at Eastlands. A win for Tottenham will give them an unassailable four point lead over Manchester City and entry into the elite UEFA Champions League Football tournament. Manager Redknapp of Tottenham wants his team to put the "big-three", Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal, on notice with this season's performances. In fact if they win their last 2 games, and Arsenal lose their last, then Tottenham have a chance to finish this season on third place! Players to watch out for the Hotspurs will be Luka Modric, Tom Huddlestone, while Johnson, Tevez Bellamy and Adebayor will have to play a prominent role if Manchester City were to win tonight. Promises to be a humdinger this!

Tuesday 4 May 2010

EPL interestingly poised!!


Sunday's results of the Barclays English Premier League Football 2010 keep the Premiership alive till the last games of the season. The EPL football 2010 is very interestingly poised. Chelsea have 83 points from 37 games, while Manchester United have 82 points. Both the sides have one game in hand each. To earn a record breaking 19th Premiership title Man U have to ensure that they win their next encounter and Chelsea do not win theirs.

The football action will take place May 9, when Chelsea take on Wigan Athletic at home at Stamford Bridge, while Man U play their rivals Stoke City, also at home, at Old Trafford. Will Man U make it four in a row at the EPL along with a record 19th Premiership win, only time will tell!

Monday 3 May 2010

Football 2010 FIFA WC

The worlds biggest sporting carnival after the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup Football 2010, is about to begin in South Africa on the 11th of June 2010 and will go on for a month till 11th of July 2010.
32 teams will vie for the honor of being the football champions of the world, a feat achieved by Brazil for a record 5 times and 4 times by defending champions Italy.
Other top contenders are 3 times winners Germany, twice champions Argentina and former champs England and France.
Keep your eyes on future posts on this blog to discuss the prospects of each team at the World Cup football 2010.