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Shock And Awe In German Cup
2008-01-29 22:26:00
German Bundesliga teams were back in action for the first time in more than a month today, with a quartet of games in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 on the docket. Half were upsets, with a third turning on three goals scored in the waning minutes. Table toppers Bayern Munich were the only favorites spared the ignominy of defeat. The Bavarian side saw off third-division minnows Wuppertaler SV Borussia, though not without a challenge; at halftime the teams were tied 2-2 before Bayern won 5-2 on three second half goalsThe biggest game of the day was undoubtedly the Borussia Dortmund versus Werder Bremen match-up, which die Borussia took by a 2-1 score. Dortmund is traditionally very strong at home, but have had a rough season and currently sit 10th, so the result was still surprising. Werder are second in the Bundesliga and that only on goal difference. Of course I now feel perfectly vindicated dropping them from the Top 25 this week!The largest upset was probably second division club 1899 Hof ...
German 

D.C. United Poised To Take On The Continent
2008-01-29 15:14:00
There is still a good month left before the MLS season kicks off, but D.C. United are fast emerging as the big winner in the winter transfer market. MLS' best regular season team the past two years has upgraded several key positions, while adding international experience and Latin flair--the key ingredients, perhaps, to challenging for the newly-hatched CONCACAF Champions League.It's true that D.C. has also lost some players (and is due to lose one more, Christian Gomez, before the season kicks off) but these departures are nowhere near as significant as losses suffered by the defending champion Houston Dynamo or runners-up New England Revolution, to name two of D.C.'s chief competitors for the Supporters Shield this year. And let's look at who the black-and-red have brought on in their place:Argentine midfielder Marcelo Gallardo, who joins from Paris Saint Germain, has one of the most impressive resumes of any player ever signed by the team: 44 caps (and two world cups) for the albice ...

The World's Top 25 Soccer Clubs, Jan. 28, 2008
2008-01-28 07:24:00
Things just got very interesting in the Top 25, with many top-ranked teams playing down to their competition or worse. Would it be enough to affect major changes? Let's take a look:1. (2) Manchester United. It has come to this. Sir Alex' men become the fifth #1 team of record (the others were, in chronological order Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal and Inter) thanks to a win over a pesky Spurs side yesterday. This development should be no big surprise, as Red Devils have been very impressive lately, winning their last five games by a combined score of 14-1 and have a perfect record on the 2008 calendar. Will this be United's year? I wouldn't bet against it. Up next: Pompey visit Old Trafford Wednesday, followed by a return trip to White Hart Lane (in Premiership play this time) Saturday.2. (1) Inter Milan. It was quite a run for Zlatan and the gang, who had held the top slot since Nov. 7. The nerazurri drop from their perch due to two ties in crucial games (at home to Juventus in the C ...
Clubs  Soccer 

Saturday Summary, Jan. 26, 2008: Bradley Brace Buoys Heerenveen
2008-01-26 23:37:00
Michael Bradley scored two of Heerenveen's three goals in its shutout victory at DeGraafshap Doetinchem to push the Pride of Friesland into second place in the Dutch Eredevisie. Heerenveen's stint in second could be short-lived, however, as it has played two games more than the third- and fourth-placed clubs (that would be Ajax Amsterdam and Feyernoord Rotterdam), but so what? The team is playing great thanks in large part to the son of the U.S. Men's National Team coach: three straight victories by a combined tally of 12 goals to one. Bradley has scored in each of the team's last five games and has netted eight goals in its last nine. No wonder this guy is being viewed as a possible replacement for Rafael van der Vaart at Hamburg SV! The argument could in fact be made that Bradley is the best U.S. soccer player on the planet right now. And the kid is not even old enough to drink legally in his home country (he turns 21 in July) so we have every reason to believe he's just getting warm ...
Bradley 

Friday Footie Link List, Jan. 25, 2008
2008-01-25 12:33:00
One massive tournament I have not paid any attention to so far is the African Cup of Nations (I wish I could, but professional commitments and rooting interests in others leagues and sports have left me with very little room to maneuver). Luckily for me (and you), there is excellent coverage out there. Soccerblog.com has a moving piece on the role of the sport in Ghana, the country that is hosting the tournament. Titled Ghana: The crucible of African soccer, the piece traces the history of soccer in that country to its postwar roots, providing the names and stories of some of its biggest protagonists.WorldCupBlog also has excellent coverage of the ACN, including photos, highlights and live blogs. TimesOnline has this inspirational piece on the state of the game in Africa. But best of all may just be Who Ate All The Pies' Top 10 Reasons Why the African Cup of Nations is better than the World Cup (No. 1: Germany can't win it).Back in the U.S., ussoccerplayers.com has a full-on Q&A wi ...
Link 

London Derby League: Gooners Still In Driver Seat
2008-01-24 12:22:00
The "London derby league" was all but decided in Arsenal's favor after Gunners' 3-0 win over Fulham last weekend. Arse's embarrassing loss to Spurs in the League Cup didn't really change much. As you can see, their lead is still very substantial (the "league" is a calculation of the Premiership London clubs' records against each other in all competitions): GP W L T GF GA Pts Arsenal 8 7 1 1 16 9 22 Chelsea 5 3 1 1 5 2 10 Tottenham 8 2 3 3 17 14 9 West Ham 5 1 3 1 3 6 4 Fulham 7 0 5 2 7 17 2 Despite being 12 points down with only three games in hand, Chelsea still has a slight chance to dislodge Gunners. For that to happen the two teams would need to play more games than they are currently scheduled to--which can only happen if they are drawn together in Champions League or FA Cup play. Right now the remaining schedule is this:Arsenal: at Chelsea (March 22)Chelsea: at Spur ...
Driver  League  London  Seat 

All Publicity Is Good Publicity...Right?
2008-01-23 21:18:00
When Saturday Comes, which modestly bills itself as "the half decent football magazine" (that would obviously never fly in the U.S. and not just because of the term "football") did a small piece on Soccer Source in its January issue. Very small. We're talking three lines. The blurb was nothing but a perfectly justified ridicule of one of my "fearless forecasts," but for a fledgling blog like this one, any publicity is good publicity. After all WSC is very well-respected, so if Soccer Source is on their radar--even as an object of ridicule--it must mean I'm doing something right, right? Right?Uh, yeah. Well anyway, what was all the fuss about in the first place? You'll remember a Soccer Source poll that asked who should be the starting England goalkeeper. The winner was Aston Villa's Scott Carson (by a pretty healthy margin, too). This led me to rejoice when Steve McClaren choose Carson as his starter for that fateful Croatia match back in November. I had a whole post on the topic, titl ...
Publicity 

The World's Top 25 Soccer Clubs, Jan. 21, 2008
2008-01-21 04:53:00
Welcome to the 20th edition of the Top 25. Lots of action this week so let's get to it:1. (1) Inter Milan. Dismantled Reggina at midweek, then struggled to beat Parma yesterday, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic converting a penalty in the 88th minute to level matters before following up with the winner in the 92nd. I didn't see the game (was watching American football. Go Giants!) but ESPN Soccernet reports the penalty was controversial. Wouldn't be the first time in Italian soccer. Still, a win is a win is a win (is a win) and I'm not going to dethrone Inter for that (least of all without having seen the game). Travel to Juventus for midweek cup tie next, followed by trip to Udinese Sunday.2. (2) Manchester United. Didn't play well against Reading but still won, 2-0, to maintain their Premiership lead (on goal difference). Play at White Hart Lane Sunday. Spurs have been playing better but I wouldn't expect United to lose that one.3. (4) Arsenal. Beat up on the Fulhamericans (I've been calling ...
Clubs  Soccer 

Blogger Q n' A: Hasta El Gol Siempre
2008-01-20 03:38:00
With the Argentine Clausura league championship and the Copa Libertadores getting ready to kick off, I sought out the preeminent expert on Argentina to share his thoughts. Both tournaments represent what is in my opinion the best club soccer outside of Europe's big three leagues, but most people outside Latin America (myself included) are pretty ignorant on both topics. Sam's task then, was to educate and enlighten us. I can happily say he met both objectives--and then some. After reading this, be sure to check out Sam's website, Hasta El Gol Siempre, where you can follow the Clausura and Copa Lib in great detail.Soccer Source: First of all, does Lanus have any chance at defending their Apertura title?Sam: It'll be difficult, but they've got as good a chance as any. It's normal for Argentine sides to suffer a dip in form after winning the title - especially sides other than River Plate and Boca Juniors, because it's that much harder for the 'smaller' clubs to hang onto their key player ...
Blogger 

Red Bulls Draft Defense-ively
2008-01-18 21:13:00
The New York Red Bulls selected two Ohio-born defenders with their first two picks in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. Dublin, Ohio native Eric Brunner was taken with the second pick in the second round (16th overall) and Huber Heights, Ohio-native Luke Sassano was drafted out of the University of California with the fourth pick of the third round (32nd overall).Brunner is a central defender who is listed at 6'4. He played four years in college, the first at the University of Maryland. The soon-to-be 22-year old was OSU's captain this year and even scored six goals in 26 starts. He's apparently pretty dangerous on set pieces; Mike Lewis just informed me he scored four times off corners last season. This implies he is good in the air, which is an area where this team has been particularly deficient, especially defensively (as for offensively, think about this kid and Jozy together on corners). Jeff Agoos said he had Brunner "rated right up there" with the best defenders in the draft and that he ...
Defense  Draft 

2008 MLS SuperDraft (Live!)
2008-01-18 18:36:00
Welcome to the Baltimore Convention Center, site of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. I am on the scene and will be updating the site with each pick so be sure to check back often. If you're here please drop me a line. Some gossip for Red Bulls fans to mull over: I heard the new coach, Juan Carlos Osorio (whom I ran into before. No, he didn't know who I was but he was perfectly cordial) is looking to move up to take a left back.Here is what happened in the first round:1. Kansas City Wizards (acquired from San Jose Earthquakes): Chance Myers, age 20, defense, UCLA. Hometown: Thousand Oaks, Calif. U.S. Under-23 National Team. Generation Adidas player (GA).2. FC Dallas (from Toronto FC): Brek Shea, 18, midfield/defense. Texans FC. Hometown: College Station, Tex. (GA).3. Real Salt Lake: Tony Beltran, 20, midfield/defense, Arsenal FC of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Hometown: Claremont, Calif. (GA)4. L.A. Galaxy: Sean Franklin, 22, midfield/defense, AV Heat. College: Cal. State Northridge. Hometown: Pal ...

The London Derby League: An Idea Whose Time Has Come (Again)
2008-01-17 17:01:00
As far as I can tell, nobody has done this in some time. I don't know why, considering how many Premiership teams there are in Britain's capital city and how often they play each other each season. The premise is simple: a single table that calculates these teams' record against each other in all competitions (this would obviously lead to an unequal amount of games' played as some of these teams face each other outside of the league. But we can worry about that later). As might be expected, the London table mimics (but does not carbon copy) the teams' standings in the EPL: GP W L T GF GA Pts Arsenal 7 6 0 1 12 4 19 Chelsea 5 3 1 1 5 2 10 Tottenham 7 1 3 3 12 13 6 West Ham 5 1 3 1 3 6 4 Fulham 6 0 4 2 7 14 2 As you can see, Arse has not lost any of the London derbies they have played this year. In fact, until the Jan. 9 League Cup match against Spurs, Arsenal ha ...
League  London  Time 

The World's Top 25 Soccer Clubs, Jan. 14, 2008
2008-01-14 16:20:00
Italy's Serie A returned to action last week, meaning that the Bundesliga is the only major European league (at least the ones that I follow) still on its winter break. The Germans will be back in action soon enough. In the meantime, there was plenty of other stuff that went down. Here's how it affected the rankings:1. (1) Inter Milan. Won at 18th-placed Siena to maintain their unbeaten Serie A record. Up next: a cup tie versus Reggina Thursday followed by Parma at San Siro Sunday. Expect Inter at the same spot next week.2. (4) Manchester United. Thoroughly dismantled Newcastle to take back first place in the Premiership Saturday. Figure their strong form to continue when they visit Reading Saturday.3. (2) Real Madrid. Lost at Mallorca in first leg of Copa del Rey at midweek (but it was only by a 2-1 score that they will be able to make up in the return leg at Bernabeu Wednesday. Still, the margin for error at these very top spots is extremely slim, so they dropped down a spot). Yester ...
Clubs  Soccer 

Saturday Soccer Summary, Jan. 12, 2008: Gunners Give Ground
2008-01-12 22:35:00
The biggest shock of the EPL day took place at Emirates Stadium, where little Birmingham City managed to upstage mighty Arsenal and leave town with a well-deserved point. Arsene Wenger's men weren't the only top team to drop points, although I'm not really sure if Liverpool--who struggled to a 1-1 tie at Middlesbrough--are anything better than a mid-table squad right now. Don't believe me? The record speaks for itself: Reds have four ties out of their last four games, nearly all of which were against lousy teams: Borough today, Luton Town (!) last week, Wigan and Manchester City before that. Their last win, at Derby on Boxing Day, was about as lucky as they come (and also over a crap team). The noose is no doubt tightening around Rafa Benitez' throat.Speaking of nooses being tightened, is there any hope for Fulham? Clint Dempsey and Co. are in big trouble after losing at Villa Park today: 19th place and five points adrift of next year's Premiership spots. Roy Hodgson better start worki ...
Soccer 

Here They Are! Your 2008 Generation Adidas Playaz
2008-01-10 20:56:00
I gotta be honest, I am not familiar with any of these names. Maybe that's because none of them are East Coast. Or maybe I'm just clueless. A potentially positive sign is that there are many midfielders among the group (midfield being one of U.S. teams' traditional weak points). Also only one goalkeeper, which is a position we don't actually need any help with.Eric Avila, midfield, age 20. Hometown: San Diego. Current teams: UC Santa Barbara, U.S. Under-23 National Team.Tony Beltran, defense, age 20. Hometown: Claremont, Calif. Current teams: UCLA, U.S. U-20.Josh Lambo, goalkeeper, age 17. Hometown: Middleton, Wisc. Current teams: Chicago Magic FC, U.S. U-17.Chance Myers, defense, age 20. Hometown: Thousand Oaks, Calif. Current teams: UCLA , U.S. U-23.Alex Nimo, forward, age 17. Hometown: Portland, Ore. Current teams: FC Portland, U.S. U-18.Patrick Nyarko, forward, age 22. Home town: Kumasi, Ghana. Current team: Virginia Tech.Ciaran O’Brien, midfield, age 20. Hometown: Tacoma, Wash. ...
Adidas  Generation 

The World's Top 25 Soccer Clubs, Jan. 7, 2008
2008-01-07 06:45:00
Some more diversity of games than the steady stream of English/Scottish stuff we've had in the past two weeks: Spanish, Portuguese and Greek leagues returned to action with Turkish and French cups getting underway. Mexican teams were even back at it in the Interliga competition. Very few surprises, however, so the impact on the Top 25 was insignificant. But read on anyway.1. (1) Inter Milan. Idle. Back in action Sunday with a trip to 18th-placed Siena. A nice way to work off the Christmas bacon.2. (2) Real Madrid. Beat Alicante in a Copa del Rey match Wednesday and Real Zaragosa in the Primera Division yesterday. Bernd Schuster's team maintain their seven point lead over Barca. Next up: Mallorca Wednesday in another cup tie followed by Levante Sunday.3. (3) Arsenal. Beat West Ham at midweek and Burnley in FA Cup yesterday. Next up: Tottenham in the League Cup and Birmingham City in Saturday Premiership action. Both games are at Emirates. Will Spurs manage to vanquish the Baby Gunners? ...
Clubs  Soccer 

Saturday Soccer Summary, Jan. 5, 2008
2008-01-06 02:39:00
The F.A. Cup bores me. Let's talk about Spain, which returned to league action today. In the matchday's marquee match-up, third-placed Espanyol Barcelona trounced fourth-placed Villareal, 3-0. All goals were scored in the first half, with Espanyol captain Raul Tamudo notching a brace Second-placed Barcelona saw off Mallorca on second half goals by Rafa Marquez and Samuel Eto'o. With the victory, Barca move four points behind leaders Real Madrid, who host Zaragoza tomorrow night. Espanyol put some distance between themselves and Villareal. Atletico Madrid can overtake Villareal if they win at Deportivo tomorrow.In Portugal's bwinLIGA, fifth-placed Vitoria Setubal held second-placed Benfica to a 1-1 tie but the bigger surprise came in today's other game, between third-placed Sporting Lisbon and 10th placed Boavista Porto. Sporting went down, 2-0, and can now probably forget about whatever slim title hopes they were holding on to as they are nine points in arrears of FC Porto, who play t ...
Soccer 

Friday Footie Link List, Jan. 4, 2008
2008-01-04 19:07:00
Is this really my first post of the year? Indeed it is, but there is good reason for this, which fortunately has nothing to do with the evil day job--at least not this time. I have been busy with no fewer than three (3) separate soccer-related projects (in addition to this one of course). In no particular order, these are AmericanSoccerNews.net, Sportingo and Caught Offside. More on that at a later time (maybe). Here is what has caught my interest out in the blogosphere:Say goodbye to John Harkes, Red Bulls fans. An assistant coach under Bruce Arena, the Kearny, N.J. native was let go by Juan Carlos Osorio, according to DuNord and others. Osorio is keeping Richie Williams, though. I don't know much about Harkes as a coach but Williams could be (and indeed has been, albeit I think only on an interim basis) a head coach in MLS.3rd Degree is a great blog. How great? They don't even consider themselves a blog but an "independent FC Dallas news source." Rightly so! The latest example of the ...
Link 

Fantasy Soccer Is Good Fun, But Can Be Made Better: Here's How
2007-12-31 15:53:00
As much as I enjoy fantasy soccer, it feels incomplete somehow. The addictive rush that other fantasy sports (American football and baseball, notably) supply just isn't there. Don't get me wrong, it's good fun and all. But something is missing.Part of this is, of course, the very nature of the game itself. Soccer does simply not lend itself to statistical analysis the way many other sports do. Moreover, the statistics we do have (goals, assists and clean sheets, essentially) provide a very incomplete picture, both of an individual player's skill and his contribution to the team.For example, a goalkeeper could have a great match and his team could win 2-1, but he would not get credit for having a clean sheet. Or a striker could get a tap-in goal, or capitalize on a goalkeeper's error or blown defensive assignment and his team could lose, but fantasy owners would still benefit. Or a defender could score a goal, assist another, but blow off marking assignments and cost his team two goals ...
Fun  Soccer 

The World's Top 25 Soccer Clubs, Dec. 31, 2007
2007-12-31 06:01:00
This is it! The final list of the year! Obviously not that much changed since last week, with English and Scottish Premiership squads and the odd Greek team the only ones playing competitive games this week. There was drama galore in the EPL of course. How did that affect the rankings? Uh, not all that much. But here is your updated version anyway:1. (1) Inter Milan. Idle until Jan. 13, when they play Siena. I reckon they'll be number one until then.2. (2) Real Madrid. Idle last week. Next up: Alicante in a Copa del Rey match Wednesday and Real Zaragosa Sunday.3. (3) Arsenal. After a disappointing scoreless draw at Pompey on Boxing Day, Gunners had an impressive win at Goodison Park Saturday to retake their lead in the Premiership. Next up: Man U. vanquishers West Ham visit Emirates tomorrow and an F.A. Cup tie at Burnley Sunday.4. (4) Manchester United. Beat the crap out of Sunderland on Boxing Day before losing at Upton Park Saturday. Birmingham City visits Old Trafford tomorrow fol ...
Clubs  Soccer 

Saturday Soccer Summary, Dec. 29, 2007
2007-12-29 20:34:00
Just when you thought you were ready to anoint Manchester United as repeat champs, Sir Alex' men went down to a team that was supposed to be a candidate for relegation. Meanwhile, a squad many had written off (Chelsea) pulled a victory out of their arse and one I thought to be a sure bet for a place in Europe (Portsmouth) lost at home to one of the weaker sides in the Premiership. What gives here? Does my original thesis still hold or does everything get thrown out the window?It still holds, baby. Today was just a temporary blip, not a correction or even trend reversal (to borrow some financial lingo. Quite appropriate given the amount of cash sloshing around the EPL these days). Pompey is still Euro-worthy, they just need to find a way to score goals at home. That and David James needs to forget about this bogus campaign for England and concentrate on the games he is paid to play now. Also in Portsmouth's favor is suspect competition for European spots: Everton did not impress me toda ...
Soccer 

Final Friday Footie Link List Of 2007
2007-12-27 21:44:00
This is it: the final link list of the year! Feeling nostalgic? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, let's get this party started, right: The Offside (not to be confused with CaughtOffside.com or The Offside Rules) has a hilarious quiz that attempts to root out soccer addiction. Eighteen questions in all. I got as far as "you've skipped a date to watch soccer" and realized this was something for mere novices. I mean, what true soccer fan needs to skip a date to watch soccer? You should know the schedule well enough to not set dates when there is a big game on! Everybody knows this!Here's another pet peeve of mine: Bloggers who haven't posted in forever returning to post an apology for (and/or explanation of) why they haven't posted. Often this is accompanied with a solemn promise to post something at the end of the day/week/month/year/century. Many, many folks have been doing this over the holidays. You know who you are. No need to call out individual names, even the one that put me over the edge ...
Link 

Conclusions From Boxing Day, 2007
2007-12-26 21:59:00
So what did we learn from today's full slate of games in the English Premiership? Quite a bit, as a matter of fact:1. Liverpool have no chance at the EPL crown. From what I'm reading, Liverpool's lucky win at Derby today kept Reds in the title hunt. Rubbish. This team has not played like title contenders in some time. Even last week's victory over Pompey, impressive as it was on the scoreboard, did not dazzle. Today, Rafa Benitez' men were outplayed for large stretches by a team that is effectively a mid-table Championship side. Had Reds lost or tied the game--as they should have if there were any justice in this world--Scousers everywhere would be calling for Benitez' head. As such, I expect Man. City to reclaim fourth place tomorrow and solidify that lead after Liverpool's visit this weekend.2. Chelsea, as presently constituted, are not title contenders either. Michael Ballack and Andrey Shevchenko put on a solid show today, but they cannot replace Didier Drogba. Defensively, Blues d ...
Boxing 

Yank Abroad David Yelldell Is Germany's Cal Ripken
2007-12-26 18:10:00
Twenty-six year old David Yelldell, who currently plies his trade as the starting goalkeeper of German Regionalliga side Stuttgarter Kickers, has played a Cal Ripken-esque 68 straight games for a total of 6120 straight minutes. So says Germany's kicker magazine (no affiliation with the team) in a story it published on its Web site today.How does kicker get to 6120 minutes? The article doesn't say, but Yelldell has played every one of his team's 19 Regionnalliga Süd (German third division) games this season for 1710 minutes, according to transfermarkt.de. Add to that last season's tally of 3180 minutes (2970 from 33 league games and 210 minutes--I'm assuming that includes overtime--from two cup ties) and you get 4890 minutes. That leaves 1230 minutes. Yelldell played 1844 total in 2005-06 and was sent off once, according to transfermarkt.de. I'm assuming the streak started after he earned that red card. No word on what the record is for consecutive minutes (or games) played in Germany. ...
Germany 

Soccer Quote of the Day, Dec. 25, 2007
2007-12-25 08:38:00
One of the Cheshires, Ernie Williams, recounted the Christmas truce story in a TV interview in the 60s “The ball appeared from somewhere, I don’t know where, but it came from their side – it wasn’t our side that the ball came. They made up some goals and one fellow went in goal and then it was just a general kickabout. I should think there were a couple of hundred taking part. I had a go at the ball. I was pretty good then at nineteen. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was no sort of ill will between us. There was no referee, and no score, no tally at all. It was simply a melee.” ...
Soccer 

The World's Top 25 Soccer Clubs, Dec. 24, 2007
2007-12-24 06:53:00
Happy holidays and welcome to the year's penultimate Top 25 List. All is quiet in Latin America, but it was quite a weekend in Europe, with the Real-Barca and Inter-Milan games both taking place today. How did that affect things? Let's see to find out:1. (1) Inter Milan. Beat Reggina in a cup tie and overcame AC Milan in the derby match yesterday. Yes, they were a bit lucky to win that game (hopefully they have time to send Dida a Christmas card?), but these guys are for real. Next up: Siena, Jan. 13 and the return match at Reggina five days after that.2. (2) Real Madrid. Tied Alicante in a cup match at midweek before shocking Barca at Camp Nou. Now seven points clear in La Liga and looking dominant. Next up: The return leg at Alicante (Jan. 2) and Real Zaragosa (Jan. 6).3. (3) Arsenal. Beat Blackburn Rovers in extra time in the League Cup, then overcame Spurs in the North London derby Saturday despite being outplayed. The result of latter match forces a certain individual who predicte ...
Clubs  Soccer 

Brilliant Baptista Blast Beats Barca
2007-12-23 21:16:00
Real Madrid pulled out a 1-0 stunner over arch rivals F.C. Barcelona on a brilliant 36th minute half-volley by Julio Baptista. Minutes earlier, Real backstop Ilker Casillas turned in a pair of acrobatic saves to keep the Spanish champs level. It was Los Blancos' first win at Camp Nou since December 2003 and gives Bernd Schuster's side a seven point lead in the Primera Barca pushed hard in the second half but Real's defense held firm. Lionel Messi was clearly missed by the Catalan side, but Bojan Krkic's impact as a late-game substitute will have Barca fans wondering why Frank Rijkaard waited until the 82nd minute to bring the 17-year old Serbo-Catalan into the match. The victory gives Real 67 wins versus their arch-rivals' 58 in the teams' historical head-to-head tally.Espanyol won the day's "other" Madrid-Barcelona match-up, topping Atletico Madrid 2-1 on an 86th minute goal by Luis Garcia. The win moves Espanyol into third place in La Liga, one point ahead of Villareal who tied Recre ...
Brilliant 

Saturday Soccer Summary, Dec. 22, 2007
2007-12-23 01:15:00
The top game on the continent was probably the Olympique Lyonnais vs. AS Nancy cracker in France's Ligue 1. The perennial French champs (what is it, five in a row now? Six?) are in their familiar first-place perch in their domestic league but have been somewhat inconsistent so far this year. They struggled to advance out of their Champions League group, needing a victory at Ibrox Park on the final match day, and have showed signs of vulnerability in France as well. Nancy, by contrast, have come out of nowhere. Three seasons ago the Lorainois were languishing in France's second division, which is so bad it probably looks Major League Soccer look downright mediocre. Nancy's top scorer is a guy called Kim who is not Korean but Brazilian (his real name is Carlos something). So what happened in the game? The first goal wasn't scored until the 80th minute, when Czech international Milan Baros (a name Liverpool and Aston Villa fans are no doubt familiar with) struck for Lyon. But Chris Malon ...
Soccer 

Fearless Forecast: UEFA Champions League Round Of 16
2007-12-22 17:01:00
It's time for the first-ever Soccer Source Fearless Forecast, as we zero in on the just-drawn UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match-ups. Our main guide will be the Top 25 ranking of soccer clubs, a season-long work-in-progress that attempts to gauge the standings of the best club teams in the world. The assumption here is that the Top 25 ranking--due to its superior use of data-mining and keen insight--is roughly accurate and as such a reliable prognosticator. A flawed assumption? You bet, but so too are all forecasts as well as all assumptions (remember that when you ASSume you make an ass out of you and me). Onward:Schalke (ranked 23 at time of this writing) vs. Porto (6)The German side just made their debut on the list, and to much contention at that. Readers made some excellent points as to why the Gelsenkircheners don't belong. Their issues will be addressed in Monday's Top 25 but for now the point is that Schalke look far inferior to their Portuguese opponents. Forecast: Porto ...
Champions  Champions League  League  Uefa  Uefa Champions League 

Weekend Premiership Preview (From An Actual Brit)
2007-12-22 04:52:00
The Carling Cup saw us hurtle depressingly toward another Chelsea vs Arsenal B-team final. Chelsea saw off a Liverpool team that was neither second string nor entirely first team. As a result the Scousers lost easily and also had Peter Crouch sent off, which means he’s suspended for three Prem games, a potentially big loss for a struggling team.Arsenal B edged Blackburn Rovers in a 3-2 thriller. Credit to the kids, but all that result does is support last week’s column about the chasm between the top four and the rest. Imagine if the Patriots’ or Colts’ second string beat the Jacksonville Jaguars starters and you get the idea of what’s going on in England. If Blackburn, as one of the best-of-the-rest teams, can’t beat a collection of Arsenal squad players, what hope is there? Now the baton passes to Tottenham Hotspur after their impressive win away against Manchester City. Then again, maybe another tightly fought, lairy contest is preferable to the inevitable curb-stomping ...
Premiership  Preview  Weekend