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Matches to Watch This Weekend (Dec 18-20)

December 17, 2010 — by Suman

We command you!

For our US-based CultFootballers, see below for our televised/streaming picks for this weekend: 11 matches in Europe (4 in England, 4 in Italy, 2 in Spain, 1 in France); plus, live from Abu Dhabi, an intercontinental matchup in the FIFA 2010 Club World Cup final.

If these aren’t to your liking, see the SoccerInsider’s listings for many more televised matches.  As usual, all times ET:

SATURDAY, DEC 18

England, Sunderland-Bolton, 7:30am ESPN2 & ESPN3.com: It is the game on ESPN2, so there’s a matter of convenience–but it’s certainly not an uninteresting matchup. Bolton is 6th in the standings, Sunderland 7th.  American Stu Holden has been playing well for Bolton (as has his mate in the midfield, Fabrice Muamba).  For Sunderland there’s of course Bent and Welbeck and Gyan and maybe even Bolo Zenden..and hence the possibility of dancing.

Club World Cup final, Mazembe-Inter Milan, noon Fox Deportes (tape at 11pm on FSC): Can the Congolese club compete with the European champions?  Read our lengthy reblog of a Guardian Football piece on Tout Puissant Mazembe.

England, Liverpool-Fulham, 12:30pm FSC: American Clint Demsey is playing with a lot of confidence, which is not going unnoticed.  In fact, seems as if Liverpool is interesting in buying him–but Fulham maintains he’s not for sale.  Fulham needs to start winning to avoid falling into the relegation zone.

Spain, Espanyol-Barcelona, 2pm GolTV: El derbi Barceloní! Espanyol have quietly climbed up to 4th in the table–but Barcelona have outscored their last 6 opponents 26-0.

Italy, AC Milan-Roma 2:30pm FSC, FoxSoccer.tv & ESPN3.com: A resurgent Roma is still down in 6th place in Serie A, dieci punti behind league-leaders Milan, who have decided their best XI doesn’t include Ronaldinho, but does include Kevin Prince Boateng (another Ghanaian we love to watch)–and may soon include troubled striker Antonio Cassano.

SUNDAY, DEC 19

Commentary

The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup

December 16, 2010 — by Suman — 2

FIFA Club World Cup 2010Seven teams have been competing in Abu Dhabi over the past week in the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup: Inter Milan (Italy), Pachuca (Mexico), Internacionale (Brazil), TP Mazembe (Congo DR), Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (South Korea), Al-Wahda Sports Club (UAE), and Hekari United FC (Papua Ne Guinea). The final is set for Saturday: Inter Milan vs, surprisingly, TP Mazembe.

Hekkari are the first club outside of Australia or New Zealand to qualify; but they immediately fell to host side Al-Wahda in the qualifying round.  Al-Wahda went down to Asian champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the quarterfinals, and they in turn lost to Inter Milan in the semis.

The UEFA and CONMEBOL champions go straight into the semifinals–which no doubt has contributed to every previous final match being a UEFA vs CONMEBOL affair (see below).  But this year TP Mazembe made it to the finals by beating Pachuca and then Internacional.  See our lengthy post here on TP Mazembe and more on how they reached the final; see FIFA’s site for the full bracket of results leading up to the final.

Via Wikipedia, here are the details of how the seven clubs qualified–the six winners of the various Confederations’champions leagues plus Al-Wahda as winner of the host UAE’s league:

AfricaCommentaryNewsVideo

FIFA Club World Cup Finalist: TP Mazembe Out of Lubumbashi (DR Congo)

December 16, 2010 — by Suman — 2

Tout Puissant Mazembe - Founded in 1939

How did Tout Puissant Mazembe–based in Lubumbashi, the 2nd largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo–become the first club from outside of Europe and South America to reach the finals of a Club World Cup?

Most immediately, by upsetting the Brazilian side Internacionale 2-0 earlier this week in the semis.  (And thus preventing an Inter v Inter final. Inter Milan defeated South Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 3-0 in the other semifinal; Internazionale will play Mazembe in the finals this Saturday).

The highlights show a couple nice finishes by the Congolese (and some relatively lax defending by the Brazilians):

For a more detailed account of how TP Mazembe reached the final, see this Guardian blog entry: “TP Mazembe continue journey from karate kids to the top of the world“; the “karate kids” reference alludes to a shameful showing in a club tournament in Kigali in May, against Rwandan army club APR FC:

Opponents of APR complain that the army club benefits from generous refereeing when playing at home and Mazembe felt they were being kicked with impunity. When the referee denied the visitors a penalty, the perceived injustice got a bit too much for some Mazembe players. Their captain and prolific striker, Trésor Mputu, protested so furiously that he was sent off and he did not, alas, go quietly.

Instead he and several team-mates chased the referee around the pitch; the midfielder Guy Lusadisu was the first to catch up with the official … and laid him out with a flying karate kick. Oh dear. The match and then the whole tournament were abandoned and Fifa banned Mputu and Lusadisu for a year. Mazembe’s hopes of retaining the African Champions League seemed doomed. The loss of Mputu, who last year was voted the best player playing his club football in Africa, was considered especially debilitating.

Here is the video of the flying karate kick in Kigali:

HistoryVideo

Battles at Old Trafford: A Bit of Man U vs Arsenal History

December 13, 2010 — by Suman

Cole, Keown, van Nistelrooy - The Battle of Old Trafford, Sept 2003

A very highly anticipated Premier League matchup today, with Man U vs Arsenal kicking off in a matter of minutes at Old Trafford.  Certainly it’s a significant match for this edition of the Premier League race, with Arsenal one point ahead of Manchester United at the top of the table (Man U do have a game in hand, and in fact are undefeated so far in the Premier League–but they definitely haven’t looked invincible).  Beyond just the current standings, however, Man U and Arsenal have developed quite the heated rivalry over the past couple decades–not as historically/geographically rooted as some other English football rivalries perhaps, but given the clashing personalities of their famous managers and especially the strength of their sides, it’s become one of the mostly highly anticipated fixtures in the Premier League. Two clashes in particular stand out–as evidenced by the fact that they have their own Wikipedia entries: The Battle of Old Trafford (a 0-0 draw in Sept 2003) and The Battle of the Buffet (a 2-0 victory for Man U the following season, in Oct 2004).

The events of the Battle of Old Trafford feature heavily in the videos below: van Nistelrooy drawing a second yellow for Patrick Vieira, with Vieira subsequently going buckwild after the Dutchman; and then van Nistelrooy missing a PK in extra time to preserve the draw–with Arsenal defender then getting in van Nistelrooy’s face.  It was a miss that became especially significant in Premier League history, as that was the year of the Invincibles–the only side to go undefeated thru an entire season.

CommentaryVideo

Mourinho on the Truth About Cats and Dogs

December 12, 2010 — by Suman

Mourinho y su perro

Among the football headlines in Spain this weekend: “Con perro cazas; con gato cazas, pero menos“–aphoristic words of wisdom gleaned from the Jose Mourinho’s press conference yesterday, which translates roughly to “You hunt with a dog; with a cat you hunt, but less so.”  Remarkably, this isn’t the first time the Special One has made the news for canine-related matters.

The comments about hunting with cats vs dogs had something to do with the injury to Higuain (el perro, we presume), which has left Benzema as el gato–Mourinho’s only option at striker.

Real Madrid mouthpiece Marca transcribed some Mourinho’s monologue, which gives the context:

Soy entrenador y entreno a los jugadores que tengo a mi disposición. El tema del fichaje es un tema de la gente de arriba. Yo ya dije que era difícil afrontar la temporada sólo con Benzema e Higuaín, ahora sólo con Benzema será aún más difícil. Si vas a cazar y sólo tienes un gato, tendrás que salir con el gato porque solo no puedes ir. Si vas con un buen perro, cazas más. Si vas con un gato, cazas menos pero cazas.

Watch and listen to some bits of the press conference:

Commentary

What to Watch This Weekend (Dec 11-13)

December 10, 2010 — by Suman

A couple big matches in England this weekend, with 4 of the 5 consensus contenders in the Premier League race facing off against each other: Spurs-Chelsea on Sunday, and Arsenal-Man U on Monday.  Here are the details on those, plus a handful of additional matches to spend your weekend on.  As usual, all times ET (and as usual culled from the SoccerInsider’s weekly post)

SATURDAY

England, Aston Villa-West Brom 10 a.m. FSC: one of the two West Midlands derbies this weekend.

England, Newcastle-Liverpool 12:30 p.m. FSC: Newcastle unceremoniously dumped their manager Chris Hughton on Monday–the guy that had led them to promotion from the Championship last season, in a decision that was equally unpopular among Newcastle’s fans and current players (as well as the press, including one former England legend/Newcastle manager).  So it will be interesting to see how newly appointed Alan Pardew is received at St James’ Park and what sort of performance

Germany, Werder Bremen-Dortmund 6 p.m. ESPN Deportes (also ESPN3.com): A chance to see Borussia Dortmund, who is still atop the Bundesliga table, against a team that was one of Germany’s 3 entrants in the Champions League.

SUNDAY

England, Spurs-Chelsea 11 a.m. FSC: The way these two sides have been playing, Spurs are the clear favorite to win at home.  Spurs would climb to within a point of Chelsea with a win.

Italy, Juventus-Lazio 2:30 p.m. FSC (also ESPN3.com): As we noted earlier this week, Lazio is looking impressive–2nd in Serie A to AC Milan, while Juventus is only 3 points behind in 3rd place.

Spain, Barcelona-Sociedad 3 p.m. GolTV: Is anyone going to challenge the Big 2 is Spain?  Doubtful, but Real Sociedad will be the next to try.  Sociedad are one of the two Basque teams in La Liga, and although just repromoted to La Liga after a 3-year stint in Segunda Divsion, they have climbed up to 6th in the table.

NCAA men’s championship match 4 p.m. ESPN2 (also ESPN3.com): The winners of this evening’s North Carolina-Louisville and Akron-Michigan semis will face off.

MONDAY

England, Arsenal-Manchester United 3 p.m. ESPN2 (also ESPN3.com): Arsenal is atop the table, one point ahead of Man U (but Arsenal have game in hand, due to Man U’s match last weekend at Blackpool being called off due to frozen pitch).  Here is a guide to the rivalry.  Also, the Chilean miners will be in attendance.

Commentary

What to Watch This Weekend (Dec 4-6)

December 3, 2010 — by Suman

Some quality time in front of the telly

We’re back with some television (and online streaming) picks for the weekend, selected from the SoccerInsider’s weekly post:

SATURDAY

Three simultaneous games in England that will have an impact on the Premier League title race–take your pick:

England, Chelsea-Everton 10 a.m. ESPN2 (also ESPN3.com)
England, Arsenal-Fulham 10 a.m. FSC
England, Manchester City-Bolton 10 a.m. FSP (also foxsoccer.tv)

Spain, Real Madrid-Valencia 4 p.m. GolTV: How will Real Madrid bounce back from Monday’s drubbing in El Clasico?  Valencia has slipped down to the 5th in La Liga.

Germany, Schalke-Bayern Munich 4 p.m. ESPN Deportes (also ESPN3.com): Although Bayern Munich is only 5th in the Bundesliga, while Schalke is still mired in the bottom third of the table, these are two of the more talented sides in Germany–both will be advancing to the final 16 of the Champions League.  Note that Schalke pairs Raul and Dutchman Klaus-Jan Huntelaar up front.

SUNDAY

Spain, Espanyol-Gijon 11 a.m. GolTV: Mostly for the chance of catching a glimpse of Preciado’s moustache–although note that Espanayol has quietly climbed into 4th place in La Liga.

Spain, Villarreal-Sevilla 1 p.m. ESPN Deportes (also ESPN3.com): 3rd & 8th in the table, respectively.

MONDAY

Italy, Napoli-Palermo 2:30 p.m. FSP (also ESPN3.com): 4th and 6th in Serie A, respectively.

England, Liverpool-Aston Villa 3 p.m. ESPN2 (also ESPN3.com)

Commentary

FIFA World Cup Decision Day – As Covered By Twitter

December 2, 2010 — by Suman

Yes, we couldn’t resist tuning in this morning to fifa.com for their live stream of the honorable Sepp Blatter hosting Double Decision Day.  But we also tuned into our twitter stream.  Here’s a curation of what we read in those 30 minutes:

10:28amET:
“Whisper in the auditorium is England “punished” for nasty media. But it was never ours to lose (contrary to bookies’ odds)”
“Guess what, folks. More unconfirmed reports. Russia are believed to have won the vote for 2018. Putin’s plane on standby…”
“Rumores rusos. Rumores Rusos. En definitiva sólo rumores….. Confiemos, somos IBÉRICOS!!!!!”
“#usa2022 #goUSAbid Here we go!”

10:32am:
“Ugh Sepp Bladder loves the sound of his own voice.”

10:33am:
“12 years as #FIFA Prez and I think his English has gotten worse…”
“Hey Scotland got a mention!”
“is he getting paid by the word?”
“Sepp, I can’t handle the taste of bile anymore. Just announce it already.”
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