We’ll still go with Cani’s stunning goal for Villareal as the top goal of the weekend, but Ibrahimović’s strike for AC Millan vs Lecce yesterday was not bad either:
Update: Larry chimed in with this YouTube link, commenting “Nothing, i mean, nothing beats this”–we can’t really disagree:
Watch Cani score Villareal’s 2nd goal vs Osasuna today..we told you Villareal is worth watching:
Find more videos like this on Jogabonito
While most of America will no doubt be focused on the American version of football this weekend, there are plenty of futbol matches for you to watch instead. Here are a bunch of selections; one each from the German Bundesliga, the Italian Serie A, and the Spanish La Liga; a handful from the English Premier League; and an international Copa Centroamerica match, broadcast live from Panama City.
As usual, all times Eastern–you do the math for your time zone:
Friday, Jan 14
2:30pm, ESPN Deportes & ESPN3.com: Bayer Leverkusen v Dortmund #1 vs #3 in the Bundesliga table. See a detailed match preview here.
7:00pm, GolTV – Costa Rica v Honduras: We choose this Copa Centroamericana matchup since a few members of the CultFootball team will soon be travelling to Costa Rica, and hence should start getting familiar with Costa Rican football. Also a chance for all you fans of the USMNT to scout out their CONCACAF WC qualifying competition.
Saturday Jan 15
10:00am, FSC & Fox Deportes – Manchester City v Wolves: Man City’s latest (& last?) big money signing, Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko, is set to get his English debut after being brought in from German club Wolfsburg for a mere £27 million. Mancini’s Man City has been much-criticized this season for their “negative” tactics–will Dzeko somehow make them an attacking squad? Mancini said this past week he may on occasion use all five of his strikers at once (Tevez, Balotelli, Silva, Johnson, and now Dzeko; Adebayor is quite out of favor, and apparently on his way out of Manchester–maybe to Madrid!). Although Balotelli is hurt, this match against Wolves could be a chance to finally entertain the home crowd.
12:00pm, FSP, foxsoccer.tv & ESPN3.com – Napoli v Fiorentina: The Neapolitans are 2nd in Serie A, a mere four points behind AC Milan. Could this be the year of the club’s 3rd Scudetto–and the first outside of the near-mythical Maradona era? Napoli’s standout striker is Edinson Cavani. He was somewhat overshadowed in the World Cup by his teammates Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, but he’s come into his own this season in Italy–he’s tied for the Serie A scoring lead with 13 goals, including a hat-trick last weekend against Juventus–including un scorpione.
12:00pm, GolTV – Villarreal v Osasuna: Osasuna is mired down in 15th place in La Liga, but we choose this one to because Villareal is a team to watch. We linked to this Sid Lowe column a couple months ago, which hailed “Villareal’s miracle” and their “perfect football ecosystem.” Lowe’s column this past week was also about Villareal, following their unfortunate loss at to Real Madrid, in which they outplayed the home side during the first half: “Santi Cazorla, Bruno and Borja Valero controlled the midfield, moving the ball swiftly and with great variety, short and sharp then suddenly long, opening up the pitch. On either side of them, the full-backs Angel and Joan Capdevila gave width. [Jersey-born] Giuseppe Rossi – arguably the season’s best player outside the big two – was quick-footed and clever, always on the move. And Cani and Marco Rubén provided wonderful finishes.”
12:30pm, Fox Deportes & FSC – West Ham v Arsenal: Which Arsenal team will show up? The one that beat Chelsea 3-1 a few weeks ago–or the one that lost to Ipswich Town on Wednesday? You’ll find out only by tuning in.
Sunday Jan 16
9:00am, FSC – Liverpool v Everton: A Merseyside derby is a match to watch under any circumstances–but this weekend especially so. King Kenny back at Anfield, managing his club after two decades away, against their crosstown rivals–with whom their tied on points in the table, and whom they lost to 2-0 back in October. American John Henry will also be in attendance; although that’s not really a reason to watch, the camera will probably find him for reaction shots.
11:00am, FSC – Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United: The match of the weekend. Man U are still undefeated in the Premier League. We keep waiting for them to lose, and we think this is the weekend it will happen. The biggest match at White Hart Lane since Inter Milan came to town in November…and we all remember what happened in that one. In any case, another crucial match in the Premier League race–here’s the top of the table as it stands going into this weekend:
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 43 | 19 | 24 | 44 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 33 | 16 | 17 | 42 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 21 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 42 | 22 | 20 | 40 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 31 | 25 | 6 | 36 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 21 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 36 | 19 | 17 | 35 |
Who is Kenny Dalglish? Yes, he is Liverpool’s caretaker manager for the remainder of the season, following the dismissal of Roy Hodgson. But in Liverpool, he is much more than that–he is King Kenny, Liverpool’s greatest player ever, #1 on the list of 100 Players Who Shook the Kop:
We do love maps here at CultFootball. Via bigthink.com (which got it from qprdot.org), a great map of London:
For reference, here is a Google Map of London showing the grounds of the five London Premier League clubs:
View London Football Grounds in a larger map
Some commentary by the BigThink writer (Frank Jacobs, author of their Strange Maps sub-blog):
In what should come as no shock to any of us, Roy Hodgson took the axe today as Liverpool replaced him with fan-favorite Kenny Dalglish. We’ve had a soft spot for Hodgson, what with his classy subdued demeanor and his leading of Fulham into the top six plus Europa final over the last two season.
Sadly, he never got it going at Liverpool. The players didn’t seem to want to play for him, and when you’re working with a squad of also-rans, you need to encourage them to perform above their level. His side seemed more willing to coast on Liverpool’s storied history, hoping the very thought of the team would upset opponents and win them games. That’s not to say Roy didn’t have a hand in their failure, and once he lost the support of the fans there was really no way he could continue on in the post.
Stepping in is Liverpool favorite Kenny Daglish, an eight-time league winner with Liverpool in the 70s and 80s as a player, including three titles as a player-manager. He was also on the side for three European Cup triumphs. He’s been out of the game for a decade, and it’ll be interesting to see if his take on current tactics will be up to par (though we expect he’s mostly been installed to inject some passion into a side more than capable of reaching a top six position by end of season). As for now he’s considered an interim solution, but we’ll see if good results suggest a longer term.
The two historied English clubs played earlier today, in a 3rd Round FA Cup matchup at the Emirates. While today’s was an interesting match, their most famous FA Cup clash was on May 6, 1972 at Wembley–in the centenary FA Cup Final. Leeds won 1-0 to win their 1st and only FA Cup.
Unlike today, when it would have been a major upset for Leeds to hang on for a victory against Arsenal, in 1972 they were perhaps the two strongest sides in English football. Arsenal had pulled off the double the previous season, winning both the league and the FA Cup, with Leeds finishing 2nd in the 1970-71 First Division table–just a single point behind the Gunners.
It’s a game that’s well-documented online, by and for Leeds supporters; e.g., a Yorkshire Evening Post photo gallery which includes the front pages from the programmes of the match (left) and the May 8, 1972 special edition of the Evening Post (which includes pics of Leeds captain Billy Bremner receiving the Cup from Queen Elizabeth II and lifting the Cup above the squad):
[Editor’s note: Coach Larry takes over this week’s edition of our weekend viewing guide, with some color(ful) commentary on this weekend’s FA matches in England. As usual, TV listings pulled from WaPo SoccerInsider’s useful weekly post, and all times ET.]
Saturday, Jan 8
England FA Cup, Sheffield United-Aston Villa 10 a.m. FSC: Aston Villa play at Sheffield United. Can relegation candidates in one league overcome them in another? Can either use it as a springboard to survival or will advancement divide their attention? Will Guzan play? Who will Randy Lerner kiss if Villa do something good?
Sunday Jan 9
England FA Cup, Manchester United-Liverpool 8:30 a.m. FSC: The Biggie. Can Liverpool find success at their only chance to find it this season? Are they really lining up bids for Ashley Young, Luis Suarez, and Elia? Certainly they could use the speed on their flanks, but it will make them even more disjointed. Maybe NESV has been studying isolation plays in the NBA.
England FA Cup, Leicester-Manchester City 11 a.m. FSC: Man City travel to Championship mid-table Leceister. Can the giant bag of overpaid superstars possibly stand the trip? Will they introduce Dzeko? Will they play a nearly all out attack against one of the worst defensive in that league?
Italy, Napoli-Juventus 2:30 p.m. FSC & ESPN3.com: Oh, and in Serie A Napoli face off with Juventus, which is third versus fifth. Both are coming off losses, though Juve had much the worse showing last week:
