Can history repeat itself? England versus the USA 1950 remembered.

Soccer is a sport with a very rich history, and there will be those in the England camp will be seriously hoping that it doesn't repeat itself when the national team steps out in their famous red, white and blue soccer uniforms in the Rustenburg Stadium, South Africa against the United States national team. For in one of the greatest coincidences in the rich annals of soccer history, the two teams meet in their first competitive match since the USA defeated England almost 60 years ago to the day. The game was a wakeup call for the English team, which had the feeling that all they needed to do was to turn up and win the game, and eventually the World Cup would fall into their hands. After all facts and statistics were on their side as English, self crowned "Kings of Football",, had won 23 three of their last 30 matches, while the US had lost their last seven and against weak opposition, conceding no less than 45 goals in the process.

The England team on paper looked very strong and likely to sweep the USA aside by a record score. So complacent were they, that the rested their undoubted superstar, master dribbler Stanley Matthews on the bench, with no substitutes allowed in those days. Without Matthews, England's team were still no slouches, containing stars of the ears such as Billy Wright, Tom Finney, Stan Mortenson and a young full back called Alf Ramsey, who went on to manage the World Cup winning England team in 1966. On the other hand the USA was filled by a group of enthusiastic amateurs as interest in soccer in the US was very limited, and most of the team members were expatriates from Europe, with one or two of them still not holding full US Citizenship, ( or so it was claimed) . Before they took the field for this historic encounter the USA squad had managed to train together just once, so to say that they were unprepared to make soccer history would be a bit of an understatement.

So the biggest worry that must have been on England manager Walter Winterbottom's mind was who would be keep counting of the score as the history making encounter kicked off on the 29th June 1950 in the at Estádi Independência in the town of Belo Horizonte in a pleasant summer evening.
It certainly looked that way as England began to apply pressure on the US goal from the kick off, and the largely neutral crowd sat back awaiting the goal feast. The problem appeared that the England team also sat back as well, and any shots that didn't go high and wide r hit the posts, were handled by the US goalkeeper Frank Borghi, playing the game of his life.
As the game progressed, and England's efforts seemed to be getting more and more desperate, the US team began to grow in confidence, and even launched the occasional counter attack.

The crowd began to get behind the USA team who were putting up a very brave struggle, and went wild n the thirty-seventh minute, when the US's star player Walter Bahr tried a speculative long shot which the England keeper Bert Williams obviously taken by surprise, could only palm out to Joe Gaetjens who headed it straight back into the net. England were stunned as they went in for half time, and as they came out for the second half, expectations were that that they would push the USA team aside and gain the victory that was so rightly theirs against this team of upstarts. However they continued to fall over their own feet, and a clear lack of team play and understanding saw them continue to waste chances till time ran out for them not just for this game, but same say or English football, at least at national level.

Although interest in the soccer and the World Cup was nowhere near the level that it is today, the result sent shock waves around the globe, and England and the other top level international teams learned a valuable lesson that day, Never treat the opposition team lightly! Read More!

A week in the life of David Beckham

A glorious career spanning more than fifteen years at the top looks like it is being drawn to a close.Two tumultuous events coming within five days, almost symbolically signal the fact that we are unlikely ever to see superstar David Beckham feature again on the World soccer stage, at any kind of major level.
The standing ovation that Beckham accepted gracefully at Old Trafford on Tuesday as he and his teammates at AC Milan were humbled by the red soccer uniforms of Manchester United.

Milan were a team of aged superstars with many of them in the twilight of their careers and will like be moving on to soccer pasture when Milan's season draws to a close, more than likely without a single trophy to grace their cupboard. Among these tremendous players whose best years are far behind them are Dutchman Clarence Seedorf who holds the record of winning a Champions League trophy with three different clubs Ajax, Real Madrid and Inter. Milan. Now 34, Seedorf's career is very much on its last legs, and he looks unlikely to be included in the Dutch squad for this summer's World Cup.
Another player with a rich history who won't be going to South Africa with is Italian national squad is Milan legend Pipi Inzaghi. Inzaghi has been with Milan since 2001, joining them after a short and unsuccessful spell with Juventus. Fillipo (or Pippo as he became generally known) holds some very impressive records from his very successful records from his time at Milan, among them becoming the first player ever to score in all of the international club competitions. A possibly more impressive record that
Inzaghi holds, but this jointly with Raúl of Real Madrid is the 68 goals scored in European club competitions with all clubs. . An indication of the striker's significant contribution to Milan's titanic soccer struggles in Europe is that he remains the team's goal scorer in the club's history with 39 goals. At 37, Pippo's sporting legs, like Clarence Seedorf's, appear to have deserted him, and it looks like both of these tremendous player's will gradually wind down.

The likely end of David Beckham's career sadly looks like being a lot more dramatic and painful than his two colleagues. Playing at Milan to keep himself in contention to be included in Capello's World Cup squad, David suffered a rupture to his Achilles tendon in the last minute of their fairly uneventful single goal Serie A win over Chievo on Sunday.

Beckham was on his run up to take yet another trademark free kick, when he suddenly pulled up. The look on this much loved superstar's face told it all. The realisation that he wouldn’t be making it to his fourth World Cup finals and that’s his waning career had suffered a very severe blow.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid ace, who is also England's most-capped outfield player with 115 appearances, underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon the following day in far of Finland, With his foot liable to be in a cast for around six to eight weeks, the 35 years old's World Cup dream is over. Read More!

Liverpool and Fulham have rough nights in Europe, but what do you expect

Last night saw the first legs of the eight round of the Europa League, which some of the crueler soccer commentators compare to a poor man's Champions League. There are teams still competing who shouldn't be there and others that are just happy to be there. There are no truer examples than England's two remaining representatives, Liverpool and Fulham.
Liverpool, who is having a very disappointing season by their standards, lost narrowly 1-0 away to Lille, while Fulham were very lucky to escape with only a 3-1 defeat against Juventus.
Liverpool went into the tie last night with a history as rich as any English club in European competition. Their famous red soccer uniforms have graced the European soccer stage since in 1964, and they have won the European Cup or European Champions League no less than five times, as well as taking part in two losing finals, the most recent three years ago against Barcelona, and the other, the infamous final against Juventus in Brussels in 1985. The Reds have also won the UEFA cup and the UEFA Super cup three times, a record which puts them up there among the European greats.
So why is it that you feel almost uncomfortable seeing Liverpool play in the Europa League, while you seem almost surprised to see lowly Fulham still there and holding their own?
When comparing the clubs, you can't help comparing the record of their respective managers. Liverpool's Rafa Benítez came to Annfield as a relatively young man, yet with an already proven pedigree in Europe, having taken Valencia to the La Liga championship in 2002 and 2004 and the UEFA cup the same year.
His first season in Merseyside was one that legends were made of, and he led Liverpool to victory in that remarkable final of 2005, where they came back from 3-0 down to Milan, to win on penalties. It looked like the glory days of Shankly and Paisley were back from Liverpool and the championships would begin to roll in again. Yet since then, the Reds have failed to reach their potential and Benitez's ability to take them there has been increasingly under question. Speculation has it that Liverpool would like to try someone new in the manager's role but the club's hapless owners can't afford to pay Benitez the almost £20 million that they would have to if they let him go. These days Benitez looks increasingly more like a manager with a plan that he only understands.

On the other hand, Fulham manager 62-year old Roy Hodgson knows exactly where he came from and possibly where he is going too, Hodgson is a real journeyman manager, had managed teams all over Europe and the World, including Inter Milan and even the Swiss National Team. He was brought to Craven Cottage by Fulham's millionaire chairman, Mohamed Al-Fayed, when the club were struggling, probably as a stop gap. Since then Hodgson has turned the club's fortunes around considerably. Today they are a solid middle of the table team in the English Premier League and in the eighth round of Europa League. To some teams that a great position to be in, and to others it’s a disaster. It's all a case of what you expect and the difference is that football expects a lot from Liverpool and a lot less from Fulham. Read More!

A tale of two superstars as Real crash out of Europe.

In a scenario that was so dramatic that it was almost expected, Real Madrid once again failed to produce the goods in the European Champions League. After spending around a quarter of a billion dollars in the summer for the cream of Europe's players, Real in their traditional white soccer uniforms put up a limpid performance in front of 100,000 home fans to be held to a 1-1 draw, and go out 2-1 on aggregate. Irrespective of the hype surrounding the "new Galacticos", the cruel hard facts are that Real are out of the Champions League at the first knockout round for the sixth year in succession, and someone has a lot of explain to do why, when it came to the crunch, Real failed to produce the goods.

Yet it all looked so different in the sixth minute at the Bernabeu, when super expensive signing Christian Ronaldo put Real ahead on the night, and meaning that the tie was all over. In an ideal World, Real would then have gone on to add one or two more goals just to seal the victory, put on a show for the fans and confirm their role as the top team in Europe, and put these upstarts in Barcelona and Manchester in the their place.

And as the first half wore on, and Real Madrid, playing some lovely football, failed to find the net and that feeling of déjà vu began to creep in for the home fans. At half time in the dressing room, the team talks must have been interesting, and it appeared that real had come out for the second half with a siege mentality while Lyon's manager Claude Puel had managed to convince his players that this tie was theirs for the taking. And they went on to prove him right by equalizing through the Bosnian Miralem Pjanić who slammed a crisp shot home from 12 yards as the Madrid superstars looked on in wonder. The goal appeared to crush real's resolved altogether, and the tie petered out to a draw. As the Lyon players celebrated their victory, and superstar Christiano Ronaldo slipped quietly from the field you can't help wondering what his thought were, and especially what it might feel like to go back to Old Trafford.

David Beckham, also a modern hero who learned his trade under the watchful glare of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester, made an emotional return to the scene of most of his former glories last night. David, despite his superstar status has always retained his humility, was obviously moved by his welcome from the Old Trafford faithful when he came on as a substitute in the 73rd minute. He might not have been so welcome if Manchester were not ahead 3-0 at the time with the tie well and truly in the bag.
And once again it was Wayne Rooney who put them there. He put united ahead in the 15th minute with yet another fabulous headed goal, and added a second soon after the start from a fine pass by Nani. The hyper-active Ji-Sung Park drilled in the third on the hour to put Milan out of their misery, and after that it was a stroll for the Reds and an opportunity for Beckham to bid his fond farewell to the European soccer stage that he has graced so well for years. Darren Fletcher put even more icing on the cake with a late fourth. What stood out on the night was the total lack of contribution from Ronaldhino who not so long ago was also a World superstar but at only 28 looked very much like a spent force.
And the showdown between Rooney and Ronaldo won’t be happening this season, at least not at club level, and Real will be left to ponder what went wrong, especially when this year's Champion's League final is due to be played at the Bernabeu Stadium. Read More!

Bayern squeeze through while Bendtner forces Arsenal fans to eat their words.

The first bout of the deciding games in the eighth round of the Champions League kicked off last night with lots of goals and drama.

The first match in the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence saw
Bayern Munich makes it through to the quarter-finals, but only by virtue of the away goals ruling, as they lost 3-2 to Fiorentina. After their narrow
2-1 first-leg victory Bayern looked to be in for a tough test, and their fears were rapidly confirmed as Vargas put the home into the lead, which meant that the Germans were on their way out on the away goals rule. Things went from bad to worse for Bayern at the start of the second half as midfield star Stevan Jovetic put Fiorentina two goals ahead, with a crisp drive from 12 yards.

However the Germans never give up easily and when Mark van Bommel shot home for twenty yards in the sixtieth minute, then the tie was a complete draw and extra time seemed more than likely. However that particular possibility was nipped in the bud, as Jovetic popped up a few minutes later to put Fiorentina 3-1 ahead on the night and, on paper at least, through to the next round. No sooner had the celebrations died down, when Bayern again demonstrated why that have remained at the forefront of European soccer for so many years, with their highly experienced and super talented smashed in a long range shot to put Bayern through to the next round, despite some frantic efforts by the purple soccer uniforms of Fiorentina to decide the tie yet again with a late winner. What made the difference at the end of the day was
Bayern's impressive Champions League record of scoring in away ties, with no less than 18 of their last 19 goals coming away from home. .
Bayern's defeat was their first in 19 games in all competitions.


In the other tie in London Arsenal swept Porto aside with an impressive 5-0 win against former European Champions, Porto. Arsenal also had to overcome a 2-1 defeat on the first round, and home fans were skeptical of their chances, especially as midfield powerhouse and team Captain Cesc Fabregas was out with a hamstring injury and Swiss striker Nicklas Bendtner was playing. The reason for the fan's cynicisms was that Bendtner had had an absolute howler of a game on Saturday against lowly Burney in the Premier League. The word was Bendtner should have scored about five, but missed them all, eventually being substituted to cries of relief from the home fans. Something must have hit home because Bendtner was a different player last night at the Emirates, putting Arsenal ahead as early as the sixth minute, and through on the night. He went on to confirm the gunners ascendancy with another well-taken strike before the break, with Porto finding it difficult to keep track of Arsenal's typically slick passing play and looking already down and out.

The goal of the night was not from Bendtner but from Frenchman
Samir Nasri, playing in Cesc Fabregas' midfield role, who notched up a fine goal after a beautiful solo run, and substitute Emmanuel Eboue made it four just a few minutes later after a counter-attack with the ever impressive Arshavin providing the final pass. To put the icing on the cake for Arsenal and for Nikolas Bendtner in particular was converting a very late penalty and completing his hattrick. The crowd roared in appreciation as the man who looked like he couldn't hit a barn door from three yards just three days ago stepped up and slotted the ball home with complete professionalism. Read More!

Real go top in Spain as Barca falter under strange circumstances.

The race for the La Liga title is gaining pace with Real Madrid coming back from a two goal deficit to beat Sevilla in a thrilling game. The victory saw Real ease past Barcelona by virtue of an improved goal difference. Ex-Liverpool ace Xabi Alonso was kind enough to give the visitors an early lead, putting the ball into his own net. Bernabeu was stunned into silence when a rare mistake from keeper Iker Casillas saw Ivica Dragutinovic's free-kick float into the top left corner as the Real defence looked on in dismay.
It was a rare site to see the white soccer uniforms go down the tunnel two goals behind at half time.

As was the case in many of the weekend fixtures in Europe, the second half told an entirely different story. Cristiano Ronaldo slammed the first nail into Sevilla's coffin when he coolly side-footed the ball home after a neat inter-passing move. The whites were level just four minutes later, with midfielder Sergio Ramos heading home powerfully from a corner. The pressure on Sevilla's goal was unrelenting with both Gutti and Higuain hitting the woodwork, and Raul getting in the way of a goal bound Ronaldo shot. The was fire in the eyes of the Madrid player's eyes as the pushed for victory and it came from a very late goal from substitute Rafael van der Vaart.

Real went into the game knowing that a victory, and even a narrow one, would take them to the peak of the table. In the early game champions Barca struggled slightly, away to Almeria. It was a very unbalanced game, marked by some strange refereeing decisions more than good football. Barca came back twice to equalize with both goals coming from Lionel Messi.

However Messi's star was eclipsed but not by any of the players, instead by referee Carlos Clos Gomez. First he sent Barca coach Pep Guardiola to the stands in the first half, and Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimovic to an early bath with half an hour to go.

Gomez also succeeded in upsetting everyone in the ground by delaying the match's kick off for around fifteen minutes. He apparently took exception to the Almeria player' soccer uniforms, which offered support to the people of Chile after the recent earthquake.
When the game eventually got under way Domingo Cisma had put the Almerians ahead after just 12 minutes, and leaving Barcelona on the lookout for an equalizer. It finally came three minutes before half-time, and again referee Gomez was involved in another controversial decision. This time he awarded a free kick for the visitors, which looked dubious in the extreme. A grateful Messi stepped up to beat keeper Alves with an exquisite free-kick.
That's how the score remained at the break, but Barca went behind soon after the match resumed. . Captain Carles Puyol feeling as generous as his counterpart Alonzo at Real, gifted the home side a really soft own-goal.
However Messi came up with the goods scrambling a late equalizer, to keep the champions in close sight of Real.
With the title race in La Liga finely poised, El Clasico on 11 April looks like being a bit of a league decider.

In Italy at the weekend Serie A leaders Inter Milan were surprisingly held to a stuffy goalless draw by Genoa away. Inter, and especially Jiao Mourinho were disappointed to lose the chance to pull further away from AC Milan who were also held to a no-score draw by Roma on Saturday. Read More!

Villa win it in Second

The last two games of the FA Cup quarter finals were played on Sunday with the most exciting game of the two being at Reading. The home team, struggling in the Championship had been having a great run in the cup, and it looked like continuing as they went in at the interval 2-0 ahead, with both goals coming from promising young striker, Shane Long. Things looked down and out for Aston Villa at the break, but they came out for the second half with a whole load of fresh vitality. Vitality that saw them shatter Reading' s hopes for a place in the semis with three goals in the space of ten minutes early in the half that saw Reading's lead disappear as fast as it had come. England World Cup Squad hopeful Ashley Young notched up the first, and then Villa's giant Norwegian born striker made his indelible mark on the game by scoring a rapid brace to put the amber and claret soccer uniforms very much in the driving seat. Villa's amazing comeback was sealed in stoppage time as Carew completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after he had been fouled by Reading's Ingimarsson.

Villa are having a great season by their standards, in the Semi Finals as well as very much in the running for that highly important fourth place in this season's Premier League. March will be a very decisive month for them, and things are looking good for them. Yesterday's win was amazingly the first that the club had had in the month of March since Martin O'Neil became manager of the club in 2006.

The other semi saw John Terry and Chelsea taking on the less glamorous but hard working Stoke City side at Stamford Bridge. Terry has been very much in the headlines in the last few weeks and for all the wrong reasons. His performances on the field in the last few weeks have also been less than impressive, but yesterday he put in a solid performance and even scored the decisive second goal in Chelsea's relatively easy 2-0 win.

Frank Lampard, who is hitting some pretty good form as the season progresses, opened the scoring for Chelsea, hammering in a powerful drive form more than twenty yards. Chelsea created a number of chances, some of which they should have taken advantage of before Terry sealed the victory with a typical header from Lampard's corner. Stoke rarely threatened, with the only real chance coming from one of Rory Delap's famous long range throw ins. Ex-Chelsea player Robert Huth's headed it on, and Mamady Sidibe flicked his header in from close range when it looked easier to score. What was obvious to all in attendance is that Chelsea have a real problem with their replacement keeper Hilario, in for the injured Peter Cech. Better teams will give this Portuguese veteran a really difficult time, and one of them will surely be Aston Villa who will meet Chelsea at Wembley in the first semi-final. Portsmouth will play either Tottenham of Fulham in the other.

There was also some Premier league action yesterday with Everton pushing Hull below the red line with a crushing 5-1 home win. Spanish star Mikel Arteta marked his recent return from injury by scoring two goals for the Toffees. Other scorers for the Goodson Park Club were American Land on Donovan, and promising young player Jack Rodwell. Hull's Richard Garcia also chipped in with an own goal for the blues, while teenager Tom Cairney scored Hull's solitary effort at the right end of the park, equalizing with a superb volley Read More!