Lack of Writing

Sorry for my lack of writing. I haven't had that push to continue this blog which I should have. I'm going to keep this simple and short by summarizing what has happened so far this season.

In La Liga FC Barcelona have dominated and are the winter champions winning 49 out of the 51 possible points. They are currently number one with a 9 point cushion between second place holders Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid are in THIRD place and lost their recent match against Malaga 3-2 and Iker Casillas was benched for that game. The Premier League is as unpredictable as ever, but Manchester United are on top with a four point lead between second place Manchester City. Chelsea are in third place and won their most recent game 8-0 against Aston Villa. Torres has been more consistent with his goal scoring and it SEEMS he's getting back to form. To soon to say though. Currently in the Bundesliga Bayern Munich sit on top with 9 points too and Juventus sit atop in the Serie A.

To the Champions League! The finally 16 have been drawn and the current match ups are:

Valencia vs. Paris Saint-Germain
Celtic vs. Juventus
Real Madrid vs. Manchester United
Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Borussia Dortmund
Arsenal vs. Bayern Munchen
FC Porto vs. Malaga
AC Milan vs. FC Barcelona
Galatasaray vs. FC Schalke 04

All of these matches are going to good ones to watch and we're going to have to see who can advance to the quarter-finals!

There you go. A summary of the most recent happenings. I mean there is obviously more. I HAVE definitely been keeping up with everything. Don't get me wrong on that. It's just that I haven't been putting it down in blog form.

International Break is Over

The international break or 2014 World Cup Qualifiers are over (for now). Most players are returning back to their club teams getting ready for the league games and even more importantly the Champions League opening matches.

Sometimes I wish they didn't have the international break in between. A lot of players get injured and become fatigued which affects the players (obviously) and their clubs. For example, Iniesta and Alexis are both injured coming back from playing with their national teams.

I really don't have much to say. I just haven't posted in awhile. Once the season goes along and Champions League begins that's when I'll be posting more. The one game I'm looking forward to is Manchester City vs. Real Madrid. That game....that game is going to be a good one!

Updates on Spain

As we all know (and if you didn't know) Real Madrid have won the Supercopa title with a 2-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu. The aggregate was 4-4, but because the goal difference win of Real Madrid was smaller than Barcelona's they able to claim their first title and win of the season. I couldn't watch the game, but from my twitter updates, Real Madrid were really putting on the pressure and Barcelona were really off their game. Even though Valdes probably caused Barcelona the title due to the last game mistake, he made a lot of saves and good ones too to keep Barcelona in the running. All goals from Higuain, CR7, and Messi.

In other news, lots of stuff happened in Monaco today. First the Champions League groups have finally been draw! CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IS GOING TO START SOON! Below is a picture of the groups that will be played. Group D is considered the the death group or the group to watch. You have Real Madrid, Ajax, Manchester City, and Dortmund all of whom are the current winners of their own league. This is going to be the group to watch.

The other really important news that happened in Monaco today is the UEFA Best Player in Europe award was announced today. The top contestants were Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Andres Iniesta. And guess who won? No, not Messi or Ronaldo, but INIESTA! I'm sooooo happy that he won the award. If I were to choose the second person to get it, it would be Messi, but finally Iniesta won the award! He's being recognized for his AMAZING talent, and it's about time. Now we just have to wait and see who will win the Ballon d'Or this coming January. But then again that's a different story.

Week 2 of 2012/2013 Season

Lovely weekend of football. Lots of rain in England, but still lovely weekend of football.

Let's start with Saturday. Two biggest games going on were Chelsea vs. Newcastle and Manchester United vs. Fulham. For the Chelsea vs. Newcastle game, Chelsea have won their first three games in a row. A 2-0 win against Wigan, a 4-2 win against Reading, and now a 2-0 in against Newcastle. The first goal was a penalty caused by a foul against Torres. Eden Hazard was the one who converted it, making it 1-0. At the end of the first half during stoppage time Torres scored the second goal which was assisted with a toe poke, heel poke, or whatever by Eden Hazard. Eden Hazard has so far had a really good start to the Premier League. I think he's has been involved with almost all 8 of the goals Chelsea has scored so far. To be more exact (not really) I think it's about 6-7 goals he's been involved with. Torres has been showing his old self. He's looking more confident in front of goal which means he's scoring more goals.  He doesn't have the lingering shadow of Drogba on his back this season, so this is a great time for his shine you know after a good ending of last season (winning the FA Cup, Champions League, and Euro 2012).

The second big game on Saturday was Manchester United vs. Fulham. The first to score the goal was Fulham, but at the 10th minute Robin van Persie scored his first goal for the Red Devils. Kagawa scored the second, and Rafael scored the third putting the Reds 3-1 in front. Unfortunately Vidic put in an own goal making it 3-2, but that's how the game ended. Manchester United won their second game of the Premier League. The biggest news out of that game is definitely Wayne Rooney's gash on his thigh. If you haven't seen it's a really big nasty one. It's so bad that it has caused him to be sidelined for about four weeks. I think someone stepped on him on accident and woosh, huge gash. If you are easily disturbed by blood and any type pictures like that, I suggest you NOT go and look it up.


So today, Sunday, there were a lot of big matches played too. Let's begin with the Premier League. games played by Arsenal vs. Stoke and Manchester City vs. Liverpool. The Arsenal game turned out to be another 0-0 draw for the Gunners. I watched a bit of that game, and a lot of them seem to be scared to shoot or something. Arsenal dominated that game, yet they were very hesitant to shoot. Arsenal are playing well, it's just their finishing needs a little work. I guess you could say they are feeling the effects of no Robin van Persie (who scored 40% of their goals). The Manchester City vs. Liverpool game was played at Anfield and that game also game to a 2-2 draw. Goals came from Skrtel, Yaya Toure, Suarez, and then Tevez in that order. There have been lots of surprises this season, and I pretty sure there are more to come.

Moving on to La Liga. Barcelona played an away game at Pamplona again Osasuna. Barcelona was behind 1-0 a majority of the game until Magical Messi came up and got 2 goals in the second half giving the Blaugrana the win for that night. On the other hand of things, Real Madrid LOST their match against Getafe. Like I was really surprised to hear that. Real Madrid were the first to score with a goal from Higuain, but two goals from Getafe put them in front and gave them the win. I'm not really sure why Khedira hasn't been playing which may be a reason why they lost. Another reason could be that Madrid are feeling the effects of not having Pepe as one of their central defenders. When he comes back to play maybe a lot of things will change.

A lot went on this weekend, and a lot of is going to go on next weekend. Stay tune to keep up what's happening in the footballing world!

Nike Chance

Have you ever heard of the Nike Chance? Well if you haven't, this program allows young aspiring footballers to show their skills and have the chance to get noticed which gives them a better chance of signing a professional contract in the future. What happens is on the Nike Chance page on Facebook, and you create a team page. The more noise (or recognition, popular) your team page becomes the larger the chance you have for someone to come and scout you. Once that team has enough noise, someone like Rio Ferdinand or Pep Guardiola come out and watch you play a game. The person that stands out the most in the game gets some type of pamphlet which is their ticket to the Chance Finals in their country.


At the country level there are footballers from all over your area that have been chosen and given the chance to compete for a spot in the final 100. There are 55 countries that participated this year and only 3-4 players are able to represent their country. Those 3-4 players are then sent to the finals location which this year was none other than Barcelona, Spain. From then on you're competing with the best from all over the world. You have 100 players, which is then reduced to 52, 26, and then the final 16. The final 16 are the winners and get an all expense paid tour to play with some of the best teams at some of the best venues in in footballing history. This tour begins in January of 2013 and comes to an end in February of 2013.


The Chance Finals have been played and the final 16 have been chosen! If you want to check out the final match played and you want to see who moved on, you can click on the links below. The one person that I was rooting for and hoping to go on was the American Brian Iloski. He isn't that big (he's actually quite short) but after watching the final match, the boy has skills, I mean true potential. From what I saw he has the stuff to become the next big American soccer player. I think is an attacking midfielder/wing. He created a lot of scoring chances and he scored two goals in the semi-final match. I'm really proud of him because there aren't a lot of American soccer players that get recognized. I think this will give him the chance to represent American soccer (like Clint Dempsey who plays for Fulham and I think making a move to Liverpool or Michael Bradley who plays for AS Roma).

CLICK HERE TO SEE FINAL MATCH 

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHO IS THE FINAL 16

Reflection of Super Copa Leg 1

The first El Clasico of the season hit off with a bang at the Camp Nou. Both Spanish Giants went out onto the field and played a typical and not so typical Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona game. The went onto a 3-2 in favor of Barcelona with goals from Pedro, Messi, and Xavi and from Ronaldo and Di Maria. Pepe wasn't able to play game due to an injury during the previous they played against Valencia. And we all know he always adds some type of impact to the game. The game did produce a lot of yellow cards, but luckily there were no red cards. In games like these there is usually a lot of tension first because this is probably the greatest rivalry in football and second a lot of the players on each team play together internationally (Higuain, Messi, Di Maria, and Mascherano for Argentina) and then you basically have more than half of the Spanish National Team who either player for Madrid or Barcelona.

One thing I want to point out is that Valdes made a big mistake in that game. A simple pass back from Mascherano was sent to Valdes, but the keeper over thought it to much. Di Maria was coming in on the attack, but he wasn't exactly putting much pressure on Valdes. It's understandable that Valdes is trying to play the Barcelona way, but because he was trying to set himself up (and with a bad touch) Di Maria took the mistake as a opportunity and a opportunity won. Valdes should have cleared the ball because Di Maria was right in front of him, and he should of known any small mistake LIKE a bad touch could be devastating which is what happened

The Super Copa winner is still in limbo. With a score of 3-2 anything can happen during the second leg which will be played at the Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid will have the advantage of the second-leg being a home game and all BUT still nothing is decided yet until next Thursday!

The Season has Begun!

Both seasons that I love to keep up with (EPL and La Liga) have begun finally. Most of the games have been played on Saturday (yesterday) and today some will be played on tomorrow (Monday). Here are the games that I've been able to keep up with so far are first the Arsenal vs. Sunderland game. This was a way for the new transfers, Podolski, Santi Carzola, and Giroud to show what they had. Unfortunately they weren't able to penetrate Sunderland's defense enough and the first game for the Gunners ended in a 0-0 tie. At least they got one point, but it isn't the three that they wanted. 

Chelsea vs. Wigan is another game that was played today. They were able to take the 3 points away with two goals, one from Ivanovic and the other from Lampard in the first half of the game. This was first Premier game for Hazard and he showed great skill that he has because he had a pretty good game. Oscar another young transfer was also able to make his debut and showed a pretty good performance. 

On the other side of things in England, the defending champions of the Premier League had a struggle during their first game. The newly promoted Southampton showed they weren't going to take the game lightly. They were the first to score which means Manchester City had some catching up to do. In the end City were able to take away a win by 3-2 with goals from Tevez, Dzeko, and Nasri. Hopefully this doesn't happen again in the near future for the them because that was one heck of a scary start for City. 

Manchester United will be playing Everton tomorrow. 

In Spanish news, both the Spanish giants, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid had their opening season games today. Real Madrid played Valencia FC and left the game with a 1-1 draw with Higuain scoring their only goal. Not something they wanted of course. On the other side of things FC Barcelona played Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou and beat them 5-1. The first goal came from the club captain Puyol during a corner kick from Xavi and then Sociedad drew the game 1-1 a few minutes later. The Catalan giants were going to take that and two goals from Messi and a goal from Pedro put the Blaugrana up 4-1 by half-time. The greatest thing is at the second half David Villa came onto the field after being sidelined from an injury since the Club World Cup in December 2011. What's even better is that he scored a goal and ended the game 5-1. This gives Tito Vilanova his first win of a La Liga season as the head coach. 

The first game is only the beginning and anything can happen during the season. But it's always good to start off the season with a win. It's a good moral booster and it helps set the tempo for what the season has in store. 

RVP to Man U

At the beginning of the summer transfer the Dutch striker Robin Van Persie made it clear that he wanted out of Arsenal. Many clubs around Europe went after him but it seemed that his price tag was a little bit to high. Recently, the Manchester giants made the swoop for the Dutchman and the transfer has been made official, Mr. Robin van Persie is moving to Manchester United for 22 million pounds.

The man is a goal machine, scoring 30 something goals in the last Premier League season, but was RVP's transfer really necessary for the Red Devils? Robin van Persie isn't 24 or 25, he's 29 and no one is able to age backwards. He's at his prime and he's about to reach the peak of it. Also, even though he is lethal in front of goal, he is injury prone. Last year Manchester United had major injury problems all last season which may have caused them the Premier League title. I'm not saying that is RVP get's injured is going to be a HUGE loss for the Reds, for they have excellent strikers such as Rooney, Chicharito, and Welbeck, but injury is something no team needs or wants.

I understand why his price tag was high, but to me it was a little bit to high. I would say around 17million pounds should have been good, business is business. Like stated before, he's not young and I honestly think based on his past injury history he'll have 2-3 years left on him maybe four.

BUT I can see why Van Persie wanted to leave the Gunners. Ever since he arrived in 2004 from Feyenoord, van Persie has only won the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, and FA Community Shield out of the 8 years he has been at Arsenal. Since he's not getting younger, he probably wants to achieve bigger success such as the Premier League or even the Champions League. Arsenal have always been so close to success, but it was never enough. Manchester United is the club that holds the most Premier League wins and maybe this season will be RVP's season.

I'm still skeptical about the transfer, but it definitely an interesting one and one that you will want to keep up with. This will also give the new transfers such as Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud more of the lime light. If you continue to read the blog I'll try to keep up with the Dutch striker. All the leagues in Europe are going to start soon. We're just going to have to wait and see how Robin van Persie fits into the Manchester side.

Olympics are over and the Season is Beginning

 

Today is the last day of the Olympics, and I write right now, the closing ceremonies are currently going on. I follow a lot of the Olympic athletes on Twitter and many of them are heading home, have finally landed, or have decided to stay for the ceremonies. The 30th Olympiad was great! Hosted by a great country and all the events were super exciting. Some were unexpected and some were so expected and mind blowing. I watched many different events such as field hockey, volleyball, handball, swimming, gymnastics, and the most important football (soccer for the Americans). Sadly I wasn't able to watch the finals for any both the men or women's finals because I had school the day of the women's finals and I had a scrimmage I had to go to for the men's finals! OF course when I came home I found out the results right away. I was soooo happy for the USWNT! They were able to retain their gold medal by beating Japan 2-1. Carli Loyd scored both goals and Hope Solo (from the highlights, replays, and everything I read on Twitter) played a really great game making multiple important saves. For the men's finals it was Mexico vs. Brazil and the score was also 2-1 with the Mexican side taking the gold medal. Brazil was the favorite because of all the big names like Oscar, Neymar, etc. But Mexico brought the gold home and this is their first time winning a medal in Olympic soccer. Not bad, not bad at all.

The medal race between China and the USA were really close. Each day or two the country in the lead would change. But near the end of the competition the USA took over. I mean took over. You can see the picture for yourself. The USA dominated the Olympics. America may be known for it's fast food restaurants and obese issue, but when we play sports, we take them seriously.

Sad that the Olympics are over, BUT football season is about to begin really soon. Most club's pre-seasons are over by now and everyone is getting ready for their first league games. The most recent major pre-season game was the FA Community Shield where Manchester City (current Premier League winners) took on Chelsea (current FA Cup winners). Chelsea were the first to draw blood as Torres opened the scoring (A new season and a fresh start from the success of Euro 2012, hope all goes well for him). But Yaya Toure equalized very soon after. Ivanovic got a red card for a reckless tackle sending him off and leaving Chelsea to 10 men. During the second half Tevez and Nasri were able to put City up 3-1. Chelsea fought back with a deflection from Pantilomon which gave Bertrand a goal to put the score to 3-2. That wasn't enough though as the whistle blew and Manchester City were able to grab the Community Shield. This is only the beginning and I can't wait till the EPL and La Liga start! EXCITED.

Off to the Finals!

It is set in stone and the two teams onto the Olympic Women's Soccer Finals are Japan and the USA! It was a very intense day of soccer which began with Japan playing France. Japan, who are currently the reigning world champions beat France 2-1. Japan got both of their goals from set pieces and France was able to get a goal in the last 15-20mins of the game. It wasn't enough though, as the final whistle blew, sending Japan off to the Olympic gold match.  

Now the USA vs. Canada game was a really different story. Nothing like the Japan vs. France game. IT WAS A NAIL BITING ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT GAME! INTENSE! USA were the favorites to go onto the final, but Christine Sinclair, the Canadian captain scored the opening goal at the 22' mark. Time kept ticking, but the USA brought it back with a Megan Rapinoe corner, which went into the goal directly. May not have been a pretty goal, but it's a goal none the less. The game is now tied, but Canada comes back with another goal from Sinclair which gives Canada the lead again. BUT the USA, a team that doesn't give up, came back again with a goal bouncing off the pole from Rapinoe. It's tied 2-2. No the game isn't over yet. Canada responded AGAIN with ANOTHER GOAL (a header) from SINCLAIR who was assisted by a corner kick, giving her a hat-trick and putting Canada in the lead AGAIN. As time was going, the Canadian goal keeper got called out on time wasting, which is a very rare call. This gave the USA an indirect free kick which then lead to a penalty kick because of a hand ball in the box. Wambach slotted the goal to the left side of the goal tying up the game 3-3. Overtime it went. 

Another 30mins of intense soccer continued on and it looked as if it were going to go into PKs. BUT OUT OF NO WHERE, during three minutes of stoppage time, a beautiful cross from O'Rielly met with Alex Morgan's head and went straight into the Canadian's goal. Morgan has been criticized for not scoring many goals during the Olympics, but I'm pretty sure that shut the critics up. She came up and probably scored the most important goal of her career so far and the Olympic games. And that ended it. The USA won 4-3 after 120mins of soccer. The Canadians played well, but they didn't get the result that they wanted (of course). So it's Japan vs. USA for the gold medal match and France vs. Canada for the bronze medal match. It's like a redo of the World Cup for the USA (almost). For the Canada vs. France match, whoever loses that game, it's going to be real tough because it's literally all that hard work for no medal. 

AGAIN GO USA, USA, USA. That game will be played on Thursday, August 8th at 7:45pm London Time. Sadly I will be back in school for that match, so I'm going to have to wait to get home to see who won that game. But still USA, USA, USA. 

Olympic Women's Soccer Semi-Finals

 

The Olympics have been very exciting this year. Original records being broken and world records being remade; it really has been a sight to see. As an American, I've obviously been rooting for America, GO USA and boy have the United States been showing their stuff. As of the current medal count, the USA has the most medals with 43 in total with China in second with 42 total medals. The USA also leads in gold medals with 21 and China with 20. I do get emotional when I watch the Olympics. I don't go all out crying, but I do get teary eyed. It's been good so far for the United States, with Missy Franklin, Ryan Lochte, The Fab 5, Gabby Douglas, and many others winning gold medals, especially Michael Phelps who was now broken the record for most Olympic medals won. He started out a little slow in the beginning of the competition, but as the races progressed, he showed that he is indeed the best in the world. 



But there is still a ways to go in the Olympics. Games and races are still being fought for and that brings us to the Women's Olympics Soccer semi-finals stage. The quarter-finals were played today: USA vs. New Zealand, Canada vs. Great Britain, Japan vs. Brazil, and France vs. Sweden. I was able to watch the second half of the US vs. New Zealand game, and I watched a bit of the Japan vs. Brazil game. The quarter-finals ended with USA winning 2-0, France coming back 2-1, Canada sending the host country off 2-0, and Japan stopping the Brazilians 2-0. So the semi-finals line up is USA vs. Canada and France vs. Japan.



I have to say that Japan is a very good side. I know they won the Women's World Cup, but I've never really watched Japan play until today. I was able to see their style and I gotta say that they have really good ball control and passing. They are also pretty good at defending. They have proven that even if your team is relatively small in size, that does not mean you can't play good soccer. I am still rooting for team USA as they are the favorites to retain their title from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and win the gold. This can get pretty interesting because for all we know the final can end up as a USA vs. Japan again and the Japanese are good contenders for the gold. We'll just have to wait and see. 

Happy Olympics everyone. Hope everyone is enjoying the games as much as I am. Love watching the Olympics! and.....GO TEAM USA!

USA Olympic Soccer

Soccer is not as popular a sport in the United States as compared to the world. The only time people really care about soccer in America is when there is the World Cup and maybe the Olympics. Well right now the London 2012 Olympics is currently happening and what better to talk about is the soccer playing that is being played. I'm rooting team USA, well because I'm from the United States and you gotta support your country. I haven't been watching or keeping up with the other sports as much. Maybe some swimming updates, but that's about it. I'll just sit there and watch the other competitions casually because I have no idea what is going on. But with soccer that is a different story.



Sadly the United States Men's soccer team did not make it to the Olympics this year. So the only soccer team that is representing the US is the women's team. It seems that women's soccer has a bigger impact in the United States somehow because they have been more successful then the men's team. In a way the US men's soccer team have it harder (of course) because they are playing teams like Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Germany, etc. etc. who have soccer histories that just scream success. The US women's team seem to be on the right track. They won the Beijing Olympics gold medal in 2008 and they were runner-ups for the most recent Women's World Cup. (Hopefully they will win the next World Cup). Currently they are on a role in the Olympics. They had a crazy 4-2 comeback against France and today they beat Columbia 3-0. This automatically qualifies them for the quarterfinals (I have no idea who they play). But they will have to finish their group stages off and they are to play against North Korea. No offense, but that kind of scares me because you know how the North Korean and US political ties are, no pleasant. Anyways, not bringing politics into this. North Korea played Columbia first and beat them 2-0. Now let's just see how well the US women can handle the North Korean side.

Chelsea vs. MLS Allstars

After the past two years playing and being thrashed by Manchester United (2010 score 5-2, 2011 score 4-0), the MLS All-stars reign again beating the Europeans champions Chelsea 3-2. I watched the game and I'll have to say that the MLS All-stars played a better game. Their passing was more complete and they were more efficient with their finishing than Chelsea. At half time Chelsea had 9 shots on goal only 2 on target, while the MLS had only 4 shots, but 3 were on target. That's what I call making your chances count.


First goal was was at the 21st minute from Chris Wondoloski. A great cross from Thiery Henry and unsuccessful clearance by John Terry gave Wondoloski the chance to open the scoring for the game and the All-stars. Chelsea had to try and catch up and they did with a wonderful header from John Terry because of a corner-kick from Lampard. The game's score stayed 1-1 at half-time. After half-time at the 58th minute, Frank Lampard himself scored a goal. After a cross from him, the All-stars were not able to clear the ball. The ball was crossed right back into the box and Lampard was there to finish it. For a midfielder he has sure scored a lot of goals. I remember the announcer saying how if you didn't know Lampard was a midfielder, you'd think he would be a center forward. Chelsea were now up, but the MLS came back. A wonderful pass from David Beckham to De Ro. De Ro waits while Chris Pontius comes running into the box and is able to finish it off. It's 2-2 now. The game was coming down to it's final minutes when Eddie Johnson took the final shot which was partially deflected by a Chelsea player and ended the game then and there. The MLS All-stars beat Chelsea 3-2. They have (I guess) redeemed themselves from the last two years playing against Manchester United. The last time Chelsea played the MLS All-Stars they also lost 1-0.


So after a wonderful 4-2 win in Seattle and a 1-1 with PSG in New York, Chelsea have to leave Philadelphia on a 3-2 lose. Their next stop is to Miami where they are to AC Milan. I wonder how that game will be because Milan has lost two of their most vital players, Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva. Also I was looking at the results from all the MLS All-star games, and they have never played a Spanish team, like Barcelona or Real Madrid. I personally would love to see the MLS All-stars play either of the two Spanish Giants.

Hazard(ous) Brothers

Thorgan Hazard 

If it wasn't enough already to have one of the Hazards, Chelsea had to go out and purchase the other Hazard. In recent news, not only has Eden Hazard signed for the English giants, but also his little brother, Thorgan Harzard, has jumped on board. The 19 year old is transferring from the French based club Lens. He only made 14 appearances for the Ligue 2 team. Like his brother, Thorgan is also an attacking midfielder/winger. It seems that he hasn't a lot of playing time, but because he is Eden Hazard's brother and he comes from a very dominant footballing family it seems that he must be able to succeed.

Eden Hazard

Thorgan Hazard IS only 19, so he still has a lot of time to develop. It looks as if the Chelsea first team is full at the moment, so when the transfer has officially been completed, the only reasonable thing Chelsea could do is loan him out. It sounds bad, but he needs the experience. I really do wonder why Chelsea made the move on Thorgan? Maybe, once Thorgan has gotten the experience he needs Chelsea will proudly be able have the cool name "Hazard Brothers" or "The Hazardous Brothers" being echoed through Stamford Bridge Stadium. The only other brother pairs that play for the same team are Kolo and Yaya Toure who play for Manchester City and the the twins Rafael and Fabio who play for Manchester United (but Fabio just recently got loaned out to QPR).

But anyways, for whatever reason Chelsea has for bring Thorgan Hazard to the club, for skills or for just because, once he is able to make it into the first team I'm going to be really excited to watch the two brothers play side by side!

Andres Iniesta

 

Brought up from the ranks of La Maisa like many Barcelona players, Andres Iniesta has shown the world that he is in fact a world class player. Impressing FC Barcelona scouts at the age of 12, Iniesta moved from Albacete to begin his footballing dream. And ever since then, Iniesta has been with the Catalans. He's won many trophies with FC Barcelona and has also won many individual trophies as well.

I always enjoy watching him play. To me he is a combination of Xavi and Messi. Meaning he has a great eye for passing and he is an exceptional dribbler. If you've you seen him dribble, he's amazing when he's in cramped places. The only way to get the ball away from him is either to foul him or hope that he makes a mistake. He doesn't score many goals, but he is a vital part of the team. He helps to set up the attack. He may not directly assist the the goal scorer but he sets up the assistant. It's hard to explain. Like many would say, he's a very versatile player....a complete player you could say.


Oh and how can you forget, he has scored important goals in his career. Like stated before he isn't a prolific goal scorer, but when a goal needs to be scored, it just so happens to be Iniesta to the rescue! For example in the 2008/2009 season for Barcelona, Iniesta scored the goal against Chelsea that sent them to the Champions League final (even though that was a controversial game, the past is the past, ok?). And how could your forget the goal he scored during the World Cup, specifically the World Cup final. Time was a ticking and again Iniesta to the rescue! I would have to say the goal he scored for the World Cup was probably the most important goal of his career. The game ended 1-0 and Spain were able to obtain their first ever World Cup title.

I don't have much to say about this guy. He's 28-years-old and has a bit of time on him left. I would say he's in his prime right now. If you watched the Euro 2012, you saw how important of a player Iniesta was. He even won the Euro Player of the Tournament. Just goes to show how amazing and complete player he is. He is prone to injury, but when he's in good shape, Iniesta will shine and show the world he knows how to play football.

(He just got married recently so congrats to him and his newly wedded wife!)

Iker Casillas

What? I'm writing a blog about a Real Madrid player? How could I? Well here is the fact, Iker Casillas is my favorite goal keeper like ever! Coming up from the Real Madrid youth system and staying with them ever since (which is very rare for Real Madrid players), Iker Casillas is probably considered the best goal keeper in the world right now. He's won numerous trophies with Real Madrid and some of the most important with his country Spain. Just recently he won the Euro 2012. He also won Euro 2008 and the World Cup 2010 and he was the captain in all three tournaments.


One reason I like him is because he's a really good captain. He has class and knows how to keep his head. After the 4-0 win over Italy for the Euro 2012 final a video of Casillas trying to convince the ref to not have injury time by saying "Respect for Italy" shows his class. Italy were already down to 10 men and they weren't gonna make 4 goals in probably two or three minutes. Let's be honest the game was going nowhere for the Italians so it was best to end it. If you want to see the video for yourself click on the link below.

CLICK HERE TO SEE CASILLAS WITH CLASS 

Not only is Casillas a great example for a captain, he's of course a very talented goalkeeper. By watching him play, his positioning and how fast he reacts shows he's world class. Just watching him during the final of Euro 2012 and watching him make incredible saves during the World Cup 2010 makes me think "Wow he's BA". I know there is no comparison, but as a Barcelona fan I'm sorry to say but I would choose Casillas over Valdes any day and I think that Del Bosque has shown that and shown why. You know as wine ages, the better it gets. Apparently that's what happens with goalkeepers. The older they get the better they are and Casillas has proven that. He's 31 and he's still beasting. 

I absolutely love this picture. Even if they are rivals,
They can still be friends. 

A while back I wrote a blog about Xavi Hernandez, the midfield maestro who plays for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid's rival. If you want to check it out here's the link (LINK TO XAVI BLOG POST). ANYWHO, even though they both for play teams that have the tensest rivalry in football, they are actually very good friends. They have been very  friends ever since they were teenagers and their friendship has lasted for 15 years even if Barcelona and Real Madrid are the definition of rivalries. I think that this is respectable from both sides. This shows that just because you come from places where you're told to hate the other side, doesn't mean you have to. Casillas and Xavi have shown that their friendship is important even with the outside tension of their club rivalries. If you didn't hear, during the most recent season, Casillas and Mourinho had a little spat and apparently the reason was because of Casillas's and Xavi's friendship. Casillas's was defending his friendship while Mourinho didn't approve. I remember that little incident between the two and I'm not sure if I should believe that is the reason for the incident, but if it is I'm proud of Casillas. Also during this interview (INTERVIEW WITH XAVI) it's in Spanish sorry, he said:

"We talk, we talk a lot, Iker and I. We do. And now now because of the Barca-Madrid fight. no, no. We have talked all our lives, our friendship is at least 15 years strong, since we met at the Sub-17. We put our friendship before everything else." 

I respect these two individuals, especially Casillas, even though he plays for the rival team, I still consider him amazing and love watching him play! 

English Premier League vs. La Liga

 

These two leagues are probably the two most popular and competitive leagues there are. But which one is the best  league of the two? Each league is unique and play different styles of football. Here is what I think:

I think the English League is definitely more competitive than La Liga. If you think a little harder, there are multiple top clubs competing for the title such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, and honestly it seems that most of the clubs have somewhat a fighting chance unlike La Liga. In La Liga it's literally two clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, fighting for first place, and everyone else trying to win third place. That's 2 large Spanish Clubs verses 5 large English Clubs. I'm not trying to say that the other Spanish Clubs can't compete, because they can, but until the La Liga tables fluctuate as much as the EPL table, then EPL wins for the most competitive league out there.

BUT who has the best teams in the world? This might a bit biased, but I believe that La Liga holds the two best teams in the world. To play in the two Spanish Giants it's almost a dream come true to many footballers. Some of the best players to ever play the sport had their best moments while they played in La Liga, like Zidane, Ronaldinho, Figo, etc. And currently the two best players right now (Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) play in La Liga. So yes, I believe that La Liga has the best teams. Both clubs are very competitive in their league and in the Champions League (yes I know Chelsea AN ENGLISH CLUB won the most recent one, but BOTH Spanish giants were able to make it to the semi-finals, ok?)


I just want to mention though, that I don't think that English Clubs can't compete with the two Spanish Giants JUST because I say that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the best two teams. I'm just saying that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the best two teams. I believe that big English clubs can compete with the two teams and I have always believed that. AGAIN Chelsea has proven it this past May.


There is one more comparison that I would like to mention: the type of players each league produces. Right now, I think that Spain wins. They have produced and produce some of the best midfielders lately. And come to think of it, I really can't think of any English players that play in the Spanish League. But I know some Spanish players who played or play in the EPL. EXAMPLES WOULD BE:


David Silva (Manchester City)
Pepe Reina (Liverpool)
Fernando Torres (Chelsea)
Juan Mata (Chelsea)
Xabi Alonso (ex-Liverpool)
Cesc Fabregas (ex-Arsenal)
Alvaro Arbeloa (ex-Liverpool)
Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)
David de Gea (Manchester United)

This is only a small list of some current and recent Spanish players. The most recent English Players in La Liga were Jonathan Woodgate (Real Madrid) who only had 9 appearances for the club. He was then loaned off and then went back to the EPL. Then of course the very famous David Beckham (Real Madrid). Other than that, I don't know any English players. I think this goes to show that Spanish players are vital for teams. I think it's because of their midfield mastery and magic (cheesy I know) they bring to a game. Another reason there may not be many English players in La Liga could be because Spain and England have very different styles of play. England concentrates more on strength and La Liga is more finesse....patience.


So which league do I prefer the most.....I would actually have to say the EPL. Even though Barcelona is my favorite club team and I root for Spain, I chose the EPL because there is more competition between clubs. None the less though, I still love La Liga! I watch it just as often and always checking on updates about that league....but everyone likes more competition.

Truths and Rumors

TRUTHS: Chelsea have purchased the young and  upcoming Belgium Eden Hazard who seems to have a bright future in the football industry. He has definitely impressed many of the big clubs that were after him while he was Lille; now will he impress while he's in a big English football club?


Another truth, after the many issues with Eric Abidal, Barcelona have finally made a purchase for a left back. His name is Jordi Alba. If you watched the Euro 2012, you saw that the 23 year old impressed. He may be small but he is FAST. He has the energy and speed to run the pitch. And like I said before he even got a goal in the Euro 2012 final! Like many of the Barcelona players, he is a product from La Maisa so he has the Barca DNA in him. He really began his professional career when he played for Valencia FC and that's where he turned into the talented left full back he is today. Now he's back at his boyhood club and I'm pretty sure he's ready to impress.


Also other truths, Arsenal have made two big purchases, Lukas Podolski a forward who also plays on the wings and a straight up striker Olivier Giroud. Currently the contract issues with Arsenal's star Robin van Persie are unstable.


RUMORS: So the rumors can come true or never happen, but here is what's currently on the market. Chelsea are about to make another big move about 25million pounds for a Brazilian attacking midfield named Oscar. He is supposedly another up and rising star (only 20 years old), and if Chelsea can sign him he can show the footballing world what he has. (Chelsea, because of Roman Abramovich, have a lot of spending power on them).

Another rumor, and it seems like it's going to go through is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago from AC Milan are going to be moving to Paris-Saint Germain (PSG). The French club currently have the money and with money comes power. They are spending big this summer as we can see with the targets such as Ibra and Thiago.

Oh, Real Madrid hasn't made any purchases yet, but it seems that their target Luka Modric from Tottenham will be making the moved to the Spanish giants. This move seems inevitable, but nothing has been put and set in stone so until the papers say "REAL MADRID SIGN LUKA MODRIC" this is going to be a rumor. This also makes me think, what is going to happen to Kaka?

AND Newcastle seem to want Andy Carrol back, but Liverpool want a good 20 some million pounds for the guy.

NOW to the coaches. There have been lots of new changes for the next season and they are all truths.


Tito Vilanova has finally begun his run as the first-team head coach for FC Barcelona after Pep Guardiola resigned from his four year reign in La Liga. They are currently training and awaiting for their pre-season to begin. Liverpool has sacked Kenny Dalglish and has been replaced by Brendan Rodgers who was the former Swansea City coach. And in Tottenham news, Harry Redknapp has been sacked and  replaced by (surprisingly) Andres Villas-Boas. Yeah, you didn't think that he'd show up this fast after his minimal time at Chelsea. Speaking of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich made the right move and hired Roberto Di Matteo as the full time head coach.

There is definitely more to come! I wish I had blogged more this summer. But this is actually the third time I've actually turned on my computer this summer. Or is it the second?

Summer full of Soccer...I mean Football

What a summer that has been filled with football. Usually the summer is when the clubs and players are able to rest, but no this year was the Euro 2012! And what do you know, SPAIN WON IT! WOOOHOOOO!!!! Yes I was rooting for Spain the WHOLE TIME. I had the fear that Germany were going to win the title, but Spain has proven they are the powerhouse of football winning the Euro 2008, World Cup 2012, and Euro 2012 back to back to back.

The Euro Cup surprised me and scared me. What surprised me first was that the Netherlands got kicked out at the group stages. It's kind of shocking to expect that from a team who had gone all the way to the World Cup 2010 finals. Second what surprised me was that Italy beat Germany 2-1 so they could move on to the finals. I expected a Spain vs. Germany final, but the Cup may pull of a few tricks.

The things that scared me the most was the penalty shoot-out with Spain vs. Portugal. I couldn't watch it, but in the end Cesc Fabregas sealed the deal and Spain were able to go off to the finals. I was also scared that Spain had to play Italy. The two teams had to play each other during the group stages and they tied 1-1. I did not want the final to end like that (you know go into overtime then PKs). BUT it didn't. It was quite the opposite actually! Spain thrashed Italy 4-0. Goals from Silva, Alba, Torres, and Mata. So far it's been a good summer. Now it's time for pre-season games and then the actual season to begin!

Euro 2012 Predictions

Who do you think will win Euro 2012? I've rooting for Spain, but for some reason in the back of my head, I feel that Germany is going to take the tournament this year. There is just something about that screams they're going to win. I'm not putting my doubts on Spain though. They are also very likely to take Euro again and that would be awesome, but all the countries know they are the team to beat being they are the recent World Cup and current Euro Cup (2008) champions.

Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands are the supposedly the three hot houses, but just as I type this, the Dutch just lost their opening math to Denmark (1-0), and to lose your opening match can really hurt you. That doesn't mean they can't reach the quarter-finals or even win the tournament (in 1958 the Dutch lost their opening match and went on to win the tournament), now it's just much more difficult for them. Germany are suppose to play Portugal today, and Portugal has had a tough run so far and Germany is currently on fire. We'll just have to wait and see how that match turns out.

There are more games to be played before anything is decided. This is going to be a very interesting Euro 2012.

Copa Del Rey Champions!

After what seemed to be a pretty mediocre season for FC Barcelona, they were able to end it with the Copa Del Rey trophy and send Josep Guardiola off on a happy note. A double from Pedro and another goal from Messi were made in the first half and clenched the final for FC Barcelona against Atletic Bilbao.

You have got to admit, this season has not been easy for Barcelona. They were kicked out of the Champions League semi-finals by Chelsea and they lost the league to their greatest rival Real Madrid. BUT on a happier note, they were able to end the season with 4 trophies, The European Super Cup, Supercopa de Espana, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the Copa Del Rey. Of course Barcelona wanted La Liga and the Champions League and you people out there, don't forget that Barcelona is bringing it back next season. You just wait and see.

Congrats Barcelona! Thank you Guardiola for your hard work and good luck Vilnova for next season! I can't wait to see all the transfers this summer!

Xavi Hernandez

If you don't know who Xavi is, you've obviously been living under a football rock for years. He's considered one of the best midfielders to have ever played the game and I can't agree less. I'm not sure how to explain it, but he's what keeps the team, FC Barcelona, ticking. His vision, excellent passing, and unbelievable control makes him an outstanding playmaker. He is so vital to both FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team. He's had a pretty amazing career winning every prestigious competition including the World Cup. At the age of 32, I would say he's had a very, very successful career.


Why am I even posting about this guy? Well first off he's probably one of my favorite players ever. I think I might like him better than Messi and that says a lot. If I could play like any footballer in the world, I would like to play like Xavi. His style of play is.....simply sophisticated. All he does it look for space. He uses that space to exploit his opponent and once he finds it, it can really hurt the other side.That's why one of his nicknames it The Puppet Master. The second reason I'm writing about him is because of his age. Like I said before he's at the age of 32 which is the wrong side of 30 in the footballing community. He still may have 2-4 years if he's able to stay in good shape. Other than that, he may have to retire soon and that will be a sad, sad day for many FC Barcelona fans.

So what does his age have to do with this post? Well as he ages, he'll eventually have to retire and then what? What is he going to do with his life? This is what I'm hoping will happen (a dream that will hopefully come true). He takes 2-3 years of sabbatical from football. Stay and hang with family and not have to worry about the complications of football. BUT I do want him to come back to the footballing world, especially FC Barcelona. I really want him to get a job there, if anything become a coach. He can begin working with the younger kids, you know the youth system, and eventually work his way up to be manager of the first team. That's what I really want, him to become manager of the first team. He has such incredible outlook on the game, I just want to see how he would use it to conduct the team plus he already has the Barca DNA embedded into him, so he knows how Barca plays. That's my hope, my dream for him one day. I would love, love, love to see him become manager of the first team. But there is still a lot of time and it could never happen. I mean I don't know why it wouldn't. He seems like the manager type, he just does. What would be even more awesome would be when Iniesta retires he could work with Xavi, you know become his right hand man. It would be like Xavi is Guardiola and Iniesta is Vilanova. Do know how awesome that would be? Then again guys, this is just a wish that is waiting to happen.

Chelsea are Champions League Winners!

It's quite unbelievable actually. Chelsea are the UEFA Champions League Winners and this is their first. (I bet you no one expected this at all this season). After a really tough season, Chelsea were able to tough it out and win both the FA Cup and Champions League. That means they qualify for next years Champions League and Tottenham, who are in fourth place in the Premier League, are kicked out.

The game was a brutal game. Bayern were at home and hoping everything would just go their way. It was at first when Mueller put a goal in, but at the 88' Drogba equalized and the game had to go into overtime and eventually penalty kicks. In the end, Drogba put the last penalty kick in and finalized the win for Chelsea. This was definitely a blow to the German side and I am really, really sad because I was rooting for them, but it sometimes luck really is the deciding factor on who wins or lose. In a way I really don't think Chelsea should have won. I just don't. It could be because I was rooting for Bayern Munich or Bayern Munich did a better job. Chelsea has luck. That have an ass load of it. 

Well we're going to have to wait till next year to see what happens. Anything can change. The status of whether Di Matteo will finally become Chelsea's head coach has still been undecided. Roman make a smart choice for once and appoint him as head coach. He brought this Chelsea team, who was falling apart, to be winners of the FA Cup and champions of Europe. What more could you possibly want? 

I couldn't watch the whole game through. I get really, really anxious and it can get really ugly at times. I could only watch parts of it. But I did see the end, and well that's it. Chelsea are winners. Congratulations Chelsea for becoming champions of Europe, sorry for the loss Bayern Munich, but good job! 

They Called it Survival Sunday

This Sunday couldn't have been a more exciting day of football. So many teams fighting for top spots and trying to resist relegation. The most exciting battle though was the one between Manchester City vs. Manchester United. Today was the day that decided who would win the Premier League Title. Guess what? Manchester City won! The season has been a crazy, crazy, season and the match between Man. City and QPR was a great one to end it off. Manchester United won their game with a goal from Rooney, but that wasn't enough and The Reds end their season trophy-less.

Now the game, The Citizens vs. QPR was ridiculous! A goal from Pablo Zabaleta put City up 1-0 making the game look like it was going City's way (the whole game City has 80% of possession). But at the 48', QPR equalized with a goal from Cisse and a bad clearance from Lescott.  Man. City's title hopes looked a bit out of reach. At the 55', QPR's captain Joey Barton elbowed Tevez in the face and was sent off with a red card. Through all the hustle and bustle he also kneed or kicked Kun Aguero which also made his look like he had no class, but that didn't stop QPR. By the 66', QPR scored again and were in front 2-1 with a header from Jamie Mackie. The Citizens needed 2 goals to win and that seemed almost impossible. I'm guessing that Man. City really, really wanted it because a brilliant corner was taken by David Silva and the ball was headed in by Edin Dzeko at the 90+2' (there were 5mins of stoppage time and City needed one more goal to win it). And here it came, Kun Aguero takes the final shot at 90+4', putting his team up 3-2 and sealed the title win for Manchester City after 44 years! Luckily for QPR (who were fighting relegation), were able to stay in the Premier league due to the Bolton Wanderers tie verses Stoke City.

Here are the updates for the other teams. Arsenal needed a win to secure a third place spot in which they did. Tottenham also won, but the only way they could reach the third place spot was if Arsenal had lost. So the Spurs' final spot is fourth. Newcastle lost to Everton, so Newcastle is in 5th place. Chelsea won their game against Blackburn who were already set for relegation, so Chelsea are 6th place which qualifies them for the Europa league, unless they win the Champions League and qualify for that competition.

So here is are the top ten of the Premier league and the Bottom three (you can click on the picture to see the whole table). I cannot say how happy I am for Manchester City. I was sitting in a restaurant which was playing ESPN soccer and that's when I heard the news. I got a little carried away, but who cares!