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Champions League Preview Schedule

Barcelona & Bayern Advance, Six More Semifinalists To Go

April 4, 2012 — by Suman — 2

Barcelona beat Milan 3-1 in yet another controversial Camp Nou Champions League result, while Bayern finished off Olympique Marseille with another 2-0 victory, for an aggregate score of 4-0.

Wednesday, April 4 (both kickoffs at 2:45pmET):

Chelsea vs Benfica: The match to watch on Wednesday. Chelsea pulled out a 1-0 victory at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon last week–continuing a remarkable turnaround from when they were down 3-1 after the first leg in Napoli in the Round of 16. We’ll be rooting for the Portuguese.

Well, turns out there aren’ aren’t many actual Portuguese in Benfica’s squad. For instance, Ben Shave‘s list of 5 Benfica players to watch, published prior to the 1st leg, consisted of a Brazilian (goalkeeper Artur), a Uruguayan (defender Maxi Pereira), a Spaniard (holding midfielder Javi Garcia), an Argentine (aging semi-legendary playmaker Pablo Aimar), and a Paraguayan (striker Oscar Cardozo). You can add to that list two more young Benfica players we’ve been hearing a lot about: Argentine Nicolás Gaitán and afro’ed Belgian Axel Witsel (attacking midfielders both).

And on the other side of the ball, Chelsea’s Brazilian duo of David Luiz and Ramires both started their European club careers with Benfica (whereas Chelsea’s Portuguese players–Raul Meireles, Jose Boswinga, Paulo Ferreira–broke thru domestically with Porto. Not a coincidence, as all three played under Jose Mourinho at Benfica’s northern archrival before eventually following him to Stamford Bridge.)

Listen to CNN’s Pedro Pinto sitting in on this week’s Guardian Football Weekly podcast for more on this depressing aspect of Portuguese football. In fact, listen to the whole thing–includes a preview of this match, and then at the end Sid Lowe and the rest of the pod also previewing Barcelona-Milan.

Real Madrid vs APOEL: If Bayern-OM is medium-well, this one is completely well-done. Madrid won 3-0 in Cyprus. Only reason to watch this one is to see some of the talent that’s been wasting away on Mourinho’s bench all season–players like last year’s Bundesliga player of the season Nuri Şahin, who finally got a start in the 1st leg.

(It’s a shame Sahin didn’t stay with Borussia Dortmund. We’ve been seeing reports that Madrid (Morinho?) don’t think he’s made the transition–maybe we can hope for a loan back to Dortmund next season? Dortmund’s chief has called the transfer a mistake (on Sahin’s part?), but seems to be ruling out a return.)

Preview Schedule

This Week in Europe – From Elite Eights to Final Fours

April 3, 2012 — by Suman

We did tune in over the past few weeks for bits of March Madness–culminating in Calipari’s Kentucky completing the professionalization of the college game last night–but we found it mostly uninteresting. And although we haven’t found the Champions League completely compelling this year either, we’ll certainly be watching these quarterfinal 2nd leg matches over the next couple days to see which clubs advance to the Final 4–at which stage it should get very interesting. And it’s not only the Champions League winnowing down from 8 to 4 this week. The Europa League too–that largely overshadowed European stepchild to the Champions–also has its quarterfinal 2nd legs this week. True to our name, we actually find Europa League worth following–and this season especially so, given Athletic Bilbao’s scintillating run which has them on track for the semifinals.

Here are the fixtures and some match notes:

Tuesday, April 3 (both matches kickoff at 2:45pmET):

Barcelona vs Milan: The match of the week, and of the competition so far. After a taut scoreless draw last Wednesday at the San Siro, Milan have a realistic chance of eliminating the defending champions. It’ll be the 4th Champions League meeting between these two this season, since they were drawn into the same group. The first match last September was similar to last week’s: despite dominating possession, Barcelona could do no better than emerge with a draw. At least there were goals in that one though–Pato’s stunning 1st minute goal and Thiago Silva’s extra time equalizer sandwiched around Barcelona goals by Pedro and Villa. The return at the Camp Nou in November was an exciting affair with even more goals: Xavi’s 2nd half score eclipsed goals by Zlatan and that memorable finish by Kevin-Prince Boateng.

We expect that Barcelona will emerge victorious again today (at least this half of the CultFootball board does–like El Classico, this is a fixture that divides us)–when was the last time Barcelona lost a European fixture at the Camp Nou? Well, UEFA’s match preview conveniently provides the answer: “Barcelona are unbeaten in 14 home fixtures dating back to October 2009, with 12 wins and two draws at the Camp Nou since then, including the 7-1 defeat of Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the round of 16.” That’s preceded by these fascinating historical tidbits:

• Milan earned a 0-0 draw at Barcelona in their 2005/06 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg but lost the tie because of the preceding 1-0 home reverse.

• The lineups for that second leg on 26 April 2006 were:
Barcelona: Valdés, Belletti, Márquez, Puyol, Van Bronckhorst, Edmílson, Deco, Iniesta, Giuly (Larsson 69), Eto’o (Van Bommel 89), Ronaldinho.
Milan: Dida, Kaladze, Costacurta (Cafu 64), Stam, Serginho, Gattuso (Rui Costa 68), Seedorf, Pirlo, Kaká, Shevchenko, Inzaghi (Gilardino 79).

• Milan’s last victory against Barcelona came on 20 October 2004 in the UEFA Champions League group stage, Andriy Shevchenko scoring the only goal. Alessandro Nesta, Clarence Seedorf and substitute Massimo Ambrosini played for the Rossoneri with Xavi, Carles Puyol, Víctor Valdés and substitute Andrés Iniesta lining up for Barcelona. Ambrosini is the sole survivor of Milan’s only previous victory at the Camp Nou, 2-0 on 26 September 2000.

• The clubs’ most high-profile encounter was the 1994 UEFA Champions League final in Athens, which Milan won 4-0. Milan also prevailed when the pair met in the 1989 UEFA Super Cup, winning 1-0 at home after a 1-1 away draw.

In fact, Sid Lowe produced a column on that 1994 Champions League final last week, calling it “the night the Dream died”–i.e., the symbolic end of Cryuff’s Dream Team era, which featured among others a young Catalan holding midfielder named Pep Guardiola.

Bayern München vs Olympique Marseille: This one is pretty much done. Bayern won 2-0 in Marseille last week, and have been on a hot streak lately. It’s highly unlikely OM will win by 3 in Munich, and so the Bavarians are on track to continue their quest to play in the final in their home stadium on May 19.

Wednesday, April 4 & Thursday April 5:

We’ve split off our previews of the other two Champions League matches & Thursday’s four Europa League matches into a separate post.

Champions League Preview Schedule

Champions League Today: We Choose APOEL over Barcelona

March 7, 2012 — by Suman — 1

Yes, there are two more 2nd leg Round of 16 matches today, but unlike yesterday’s Super Tuesday matches, we probably won’t tune in for either of today’s two matches. But if you must, check here & here for your local listings for today’s fixtures:

More »
Barcelona	20:45	Leverkusen
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR) – Stadium: Camp Nou, Barcelona (ESP)
More »
APOEL	20:45	Lyon
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP) – Stadium: GSP Stadium, Nicosia (CYP)

Why not? Well, we do have other (not necessarily better; just other) things to do beside watch football on a weekday afternoon. Moreover, the Barcelona-Bayer Leverkeusen matchup is pretty much in the bag for Barça. They won 3-1 at the BayArena in North Rhine-Westphalia, meaning that the Werkself (“Factory squad”) will have to win by 3 goals (or win by 2 while scoring more than 3) at the Camp Nou. Unlikely.

It will be interesting to see if APOEL can continue their Cinderella run by overcoming a 1-0 deficit from the 1st leg in Lyon–so we’ll be tracking the score, and perhaps will tune in if it’s close in the 2nd half. And so, in that sense, we choose APOEL over Barcelona.

For background on the Cypriot club and their Serbian manager Ivan Jovanović, read this column which ran just before their first leg match: “Apoel Nicosia’s Champions League run is not all down to Michel Platini: The Cypriot champions are now so strong they might have qualified to face Lyon without the Uefa president’s rule changes.”

An extended excerpt:

These days Apoel, an acronym for Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia, are so strong they would probably have qualified anyway but Platini’s spot of social engineering almost certainly ensured their continued involvement two seasons ago. Significantly, the cash accrued during a run which saw them finish bottom of their group – despite draws at Chelsea and Atlético Madrid – enabled Jovanovic to conduct some subtle squad strengthening.

Lyon would certainly be unwise to underestimate a team which emerged from a group also containing Porto, Zenit St Petersburg and Shakhtar Donetsk and in so doing left Jovanovic proclaiming himself: “The happiest man in the world.”

No one could accuse the 49-year-old Serb of buying success. Although once financially challenged, Apoel are estimated to have already made around £10m from their latest European adventure. Jovanovic’s total annual budget, covering transfer fees and wages, is about £7m. Several leading European clubs barely blink before paying that sort of sum to a key player in a single year.

Aílton, Apoel’s record signing and key striker, was lured from Copenhagen by Jovanovic for around £800,000 and is now one of six Brazilians in a squad domiciled in the world’s only divided capital. While Nicosia’s Green Line separates the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyrpus from the rest of the island, international barriers do not exist at a club exuding a decidedly cosmopolitan ambience. Jovanovic’s Brazilians are among 10 nationalities contained in a dressing room also including four Portuguese players, a Paraguayan, an Argentinian, a Tunisian, a Macedonian, a Bosnian, a Spaniard, a Greek and 10 Cypriots.

“Everyone on our team is living a dream,” said Aílton, who usually operates at the apex of Jovanovic’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation which features fast-breaking converted wingers at full-back. “Everyone believes very much in what we are doing and in ourselves. We really believe we can keep winning. We respect our opponents but this team plays without fear.”

If the £350,000 a year Jovanovic’s top earners command – and most Apoel players earn considerably less – may seem, in Champions League circles at least, peanuts, a combination of ultra-mean defending and rapid counterattacking dictate that an ensemble built around the midfield partnership of the one-time Chelsea midfielder Nuno Morais and ex-Benfica trainee Hélio Pinto rarely appear country cousins.

The club founded in a baklava-filled confectionery shop inside Nicosia’s ancient Venetian walled heart in 1926 seems to be showing that, even in the absence of vast wads of cash, spirit, skill and soul can sometimes still prevail. It appears Apoel’s nickname Thrylos, or legend, was not bestowed lightly. “Apoel has proved success can be achieved on a modest budget,” said Costas Koutsokoumnis, the president of the Cyprus FA. “If you said what they’ve done was possible three years ago everyone would have said you were crazy but it’s not always a matter of how much money you spend.”

Jovanovic, an ex-professional footballer in the former Yugoslavia and Greece, has been at Apoel for four years now benefiting from an unusually – in Cypriot football circles at least – hands-off president in Fivos Erotokritou who professes to understand next to nothing about the game’s tactical nuances and allows his manager full control of transfer policy.

On-field boldness is mirrored by off-pitch innovation. Erotokritou’s vision has prompted the opening of an online Apoel shop which is seeing merchandise orders stream in from countries as far afield as Brazil and, perhaps more surprisingly, Ghana and Canada.

If you’d like to buy some Apoel gear, go ahead to that online shop–“The Orange Shop.”

Champions League Preview Schedule

Champions League Today: Arsenal-Milan or Benfica-Zenit?

March 6, 2012 — by Suman — 1

Another Champions League matchday is upon us: 2 matches today and 2 more tomorrow, 2nd legs of Round of 16 matchups, which means that by the end of Wednesday 4 of the 8 quarterfinalists will have been set. Here’s the fixture list for today–both matches kick off, as usual, at 20:45CET (= 2:45pmET/11:45amPT for those of us in the US):

Lineups »		TV info
Arsenal	20:45	Milan
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN) – Stadium: Arsenal Stadium, London (ENG)

Lineups »		TV info
Benfica	20:45	Zenit
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG) – Stadium: Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Lisbon (POR)

Even though Arsenal-Milan is the marquee matchup in terms of some of us here at CultFootball HQ are leaning towards watching Benfica-Zenit instead. After watching O Classico (i.e., Benfica-Porto) last Friday, we’ve decided Benfica is the Portuguese team we’ll support (though unfortunately when we went to Lisbon a few years ago we randomly ended up at the Sporting Lisbon stadium/club shop, and picked up a Sporting jersey.)

Really Benfica-Zenit is the only of these 4 matches this week that’s in play, since the first leg was 3-2 victory for Zenit in St Petersburg. As for the other three ties, it’s unlikely that the trailing team will be able to turn it around.

Despite the euphoria of the past two Premier League wins for Arsenal, can they really beat Milan 4-0? As pointed out on yesterday’s Guardian Football Weekly pod, how likely is it that Arsenal’s defense hold Ibrahimovic, Robinho, etc. scoreless, esp since the Gunners will have be going forward to score? If Milan gets just one goal, Arsenal will need to win 6-1 in order to advance.

There is historical precedent for a team coming back from a big 1st leg deficit against Milan to win a Champions League tie with a big 2nd leg win at home. In 2004, Deportivo La Coruña lost the 1st leg at the San Siro 4-0 to the defending champions–coached by Carlo Ancelotti and featuring such names in their squad as Kaka, Maldini, Cafu, Shevchenko, Pirlo, Nesta, Seedorf, and Inzaghi. But they went back to Galicia on April 7 for the return leg–and shocked the world by winning 4-0. It appears in this list of course in this list of Top 10 Champions League comebacks, as well as in this list of Top 25 matches of the decade. See the video on our tumblr here.

England Italy Preview Schedule Spain

What To Watch Today (Besides Spurs-ManUtd): It’s Quite a Derby Day

March 4, 2012 — by Suman

Most attention and eyes will turn to Spurs-ManUtd today, but it’s also quite a derby day. A triple-header of hotly contested derbies with long histories, and turns out all of them are consquential to the standings in their respective leagues:

Tyne-Wear Derby: Newcastle vs. Sunderland (7amET, FSP): #6 in the Premier League hosts #8. Newcastle had been as high as 3rd as late as December, playing an attractive brand of football built around a contingent of Frenchmen, which gave rise to talk of a “French Revolution” on Tyne, led by deep-lying playmaker Yohan Cabaye. Sunderland meanwhile sank to close to the relegation zone, before sacking Steve Bruce and replacing him with Martin O’Neill. They’ve since remarkably resurrected themselves, to the point that they would close the gap with their rivals to only 3 points with an away victory today.

Derby della Capitale: Roma vs. Lazio (9amET, FSC & ESPN3.com): The two Roman sides are both battling for a Champions League spot. Roma sits in 6th place, 7 points behind 4th place Lazio. Out of solidarity with our friend Simeone, we’re supporters of La Magica Roma, and especially this season as we’re interested in seeing Roma’s Luis Enrique experiment succeed. For background, read SerieAWeekly’s match preivew, on how “Giallorossi’s Future Entwined To That of Enrique’s.” Slightly more dated, read Zonal Marking’s 10-point analysis of “How effectively is Luis Enrique implementing the Barcelona methods at Roma” (who in turn links to this James Horncastle piece from last August, when the surprise hire was announced.

Euskal Derbia: Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad (10amET, ESPN Deportes & ESPN3.com): Of these three, this is the one we’d like to have experienced in person today. The last Basque derby in that cathedral of Basque football, San Mames. Here’s SpanishFootball.info on the derby, from a list of 5 “alternative derbies” for those of us suffering frm Clasico overload:

The Basque derby returned last season but it’s still a game worth looking out for. Possibly the friendliest rivalry in the league, whether in San Sebástian or Bilbao the game is guaranteed to sell out with one of the biggest visiting supports in Spain. Expect to see couples, friends and families with different loyalties sitting together. Both stadiums will be a mesh of the red and white of Athletic and the blue and white of the Txuri-urdin, as well as the green, white and red of the Ikurrina (the flag of the Basque Country). All of that being said, the result most certainly matters. The teams may not hate each other but local pride is at stake as Bizkaia takes on Gipuzkoa and both sides want to win it. Next season’s fixture in San Mamés will definitely be worth catching as it will be the last ever Basque derby in Athletic’s historic stadium.

That Sid Lowe SI column, about Athletic’s Copa del Rey match against Mirandes from a few weeks ago, is so good that we can’t resist quoting from it at length:

The symbolism was intense, as it always is at San Mamés. From the approach to the ground along Calle Pozas, narrow and straight, bars all along the way, red and white flags from every balcony — a tunnel toward the ground with Athletic’s badge painted big and bold in on the side, pulling you in; to the hundreds of photographs in black and white, sepia and colour and the stuffed lion that prowls the directors’ box, brought back from Tanzania (Athletic are nicknamed the lions). From the men on the gate in their traditional Basque berets to the careful attention to detail in the club’s museum, nowhere exudes history — or pride, or identity — like Athletic’s stadium.

They call San Mamés ‘The Cathedral,’ in almost reverential respect. Its stands are uneven, crumbling in places, and old-fashioned. They are steep, but close to the pitch. It is a proper soccer ground, like something from a different era; it is also part of the action. It is often said that soccer is like a religion: in many ways it is, and that is not always a good thing. Other times, the phrase is an empty cliché. At Athletic, it feels more just somehow. “Sometimes,” noted Robert Basic in the Basque newspaper El Correo, “you can touch the sentiment.”

The liturgy of San Mamés is unmatched by any arena in the world. There is a hint of it at Anfield, with the sign in the tunnel, the Kop and its hymn, You’ll Never Walk Alone. But even that is not quite the same. This is a community of the faithful, and the communion between players and fans is palpable. Yes, it is easy to get emotional and misty eyed, to exaggerate or see meaning where there is none; but it is hard to visit San Mamés and not feel it. On nights like the Copa del Rey semifinal, it is impossible.

“I had been told about it,” said Marcelo Bielsa, the coach, “but it is one thing to be told, another to experience it. It was wonderful. I had never seen a stadium so involved, so influential, so joyous. It is a lovely sensation when football produces such emotion.”

Read the whole damn thing: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/sid_lowe/02/08/San-Mames-sendoff/index.html#ixzz1oA1QbQAJ

Europe Preview Schedule

If You’re Going To Watch One Primeira Liga Match All Season…

March 2, 2012 — by Suman — 1

…make it O Clássico, “arguably the most important match in Portuguese football,” kicking off later today at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica (aka the Estádio da Luz):

SL Benfica vs. FC Porto, 3:15pmET (available via ESPN3.com in the US; see here for other TV listings)

Not only is it a classic and heated Portugese rivalry, the two clubs are currently battling it out at the top of the Primeira Liga table–even on points with identical records, with Porto ahead on goal differential.

Here’s what the top of the table looks like:

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	FC Porto	20	15	4	1	47	13	34	49
2	Benfica	20	15	4	1	47	16	31	49
3	SC Braga	20	14	4	2	42	16	26	46
4	Sporting CP	20	11	5	4	31	16	15	38
5	Marítimo	20	11	5	4	30	22	8	38

We have to admit, we’re not close observers of Portuguese domestic football, and hence the only times we’ve seen either of these clubs play has been when Porto has played in the Europa league, last season en route to their title in that competition, and over the past few weeks when they were eliminated by Manchester City.

Actually, here is what we wrote last spring, ahead of Porto’s victory of Sporting Braga in the Europa League final:

They’ve had a remarkable season: they won the Liga Sagres going away, going undefeated in the process (27 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses). They were also undefeated in their Europa League group, and marched through the knockout phase, beating a couple Spanish and a couple Moscow clubs along the way: Sevilla, CSKA Moscow, Spartak Moscow, Villareal. (Braga dropped down from the Champions League after finishing third in their group behind Shakhtar Donetsk and Arsenal, although they did defeat Arsenal 2-1 at home in November. In the Europa knockout phase, they beat Polish Lech Poznan, before upsetting Liverpool, then Dynamo Kyiv and finally another Portuguese power, Benfica, in the semis.)

For today’s match, keep your eye on the handful of rising stars on their squad, quite a few of whom are South American: the Brazilians Fernando and Hulk (yes, the Hulk); Colombians Falcao and James Rodríguez; Argentine midfielders Fernando Belluschi and Nicolás Otamendi; Uruguayan defenders Fucile and Álvaro Pereira. They also have a few Portuguese internationals (midfielder João Moutinho, winger Silvestre Varela, the Cape Verdean-born defender Rolando).

All of those players are still with the squad, with one big exception–striker Falcao was sold over the summer to Atletico Madrid.

For reference, here’s Porto’s current squad:

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Helton
2	DF	Danilo
4	DF	Maicon
5	DF	Álvaro Pereira
6	MF	Fredy Guarín
7	MF	Fernando Belluschi
8	MF	João Moutinho
10	MF	Cristian Rodríguez
11	FW	Kléber
12	FW	Hulk (captain)
13	DF	Jorge Fucile
14	DF	Rolando
15	DF	Emídio Rafael
17	FW	Silvestre Varela

No.	Position	Player
18	FW	Walter
19	FW	James Rodríguez
20	FW	Djalma
21	DF	Cristian Săpunaru
22	DF	Eliaquim Mangala
23	MF	Souza
25	MF	Fernando
26	DF	Alex Sandro
27	FW	Juan Manuel Iturbe
30	DF	Nicolás Otamendi
31	GK	Rafael Bracalli
35	MF	Steven Defour

And Benfica’s:

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Artur
3	DF	Emerson
4	DF	Luisão (captain)
6	MF	Javi García
7	FW	Óscar Cardozo
8	FW	Bruno César
9	FW	Nolito
10	MF	Pablo Aimar (vice-captain)
12	FW	Yannick Djaló
14	DF	Maxi Pereira
16	FW	Nélson Oliveira
19	FW	Rodrigo
20	MF	Nicolás Gaitán

No.	Position	Player
21	MF	Nemanja Matić
24	DF	Ezequiel Garay
27	DF	Miguel Vítor
28	MF	Axel Witsel
30	FW	Javier Saviola
33	DF	Jardel
34	DF	André Almeida
36	DF	Luís Martins
37	MF	Rúben Pinto
38	DF	Joan Capdevila
39	GK	Mika
47	GK	Eduardo (on loan from Genoa)

Europe Germany Preview Schedule Spain

What To Watch Among All These International Friendlies Today

February 29, 2012 — by Suman

It’s yet another FIFA day of international friendlies today. The ones involving European teams are getting more interesting, as we’re just a handful of months away from Euro2012 kicking off in Poland/Ukraine, and hence managers are starting to sort out their squads.

Given that, here are a handful of matches that might actually be worth watching (all times ET, with US TV/streaming info via WaPo’s SoccerInsider):

Switzerland vs. Argentina: 2:30pmET, GolTV

Italy vs. USA: 2:30pmET, ESPN2, Galavision, ESPN3.com

Germany vs. France: 2:45pmET, ESPN3.com (tape at 6 p.m. on ESPN Deportes)

England vs. Netherlands: 3pmET, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Deportes

Spain vs. Venezuela 3:30pmET, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com

Here are some reasons why these matches:

Switzerland vs. Argentina: We got interested in the Swiss squad last week–in particular that they’ve got a contingent of ethnic Albanian kids born in Kosovo around the time Yugoslavia was slipping into civil war. We came across this from watching first Napoli–who have not only Swiss captain Gökhan İnler (born in Switzerland to Turkish immigrants) but also Blerim Džemaili (born in Macedonia to Albanian parents)–and then Basel (Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri) in the Champs League last week.

Plus it’s Argentina. Not only Messi, but also Mascherano (also Barcelona), Gago and Lamela (both Roma), Kun Aguero (Man City), and Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid). Though apparently Angel di Maria (also Real Madrid), Javier Pastore (PSG), and Ever Banega (Valencia) are not in the squad this time–the latter because he broke his ankle last week in an “automobile mishap“–he forgot to set the handbrake on his car while filling up with gas.

England-Netherlands: Can’t way we’re all that interested in the England squad (as usual, the English press is hyperventilating about things like who caretaker manager Stuart Pearce has named captain). We’re more interested to see who Holland plays, as a guide to who Bert Marwijk will take to Poland/Ukraine this summer (where his side should be 3rd favorites, behind Germany and of course defending world and Euro champions Spain). In the midfield, will Marwijk stick with the experience and pragmatism of de Jong, van Bommel and Sneijder (although the latter has been struggling with Inter, to the extent that Mr Zonal Marking recently wrote a column for ESPN titled “What’s wrong with Wesley Sneijder?“). Or will he give younger, more dynamic midfielders like Kevin Strootman, Georgino Wijnaldum (both PSV) and Urby Emanuelson (who’s impressed lately playing for Milan) a chance? He has plenty of big-name experienced options up front: Dirk Kuyt, Klaus Huntelaar, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie. From a column about the Oranje in today’s Guardian:

Van Marwijk’s successful route to Poland and Ukraine was founded on the firepower of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (12 in eight games), Van Persie (six in six), Dirk Kuyt (six in nine), Ibrahim Afellay (three in six) and Sneijder (three in eight).

It’s a real shame Affelay tore his ACL back in September, getting ready for his first full campaign with Barcelona (after joining them from PSV last January.) The good news is that he recently resumed training, with the possibility that he may yet appear for Barcelona this spring, and hence receive consideration for the trip to Poland/Ukraine.

The more experienced strikers above are joined on this squad by three younger attacking guys that still play in Eredivisie: Luuk de Jong, Ola John (both Twente), and Luciano Narsingh (Heereveen).

Italy-USA: Balotelli not chosen for Italy–in his place a 20yo kid named Fabio Borini, who’s currently playing for Roma (on loan from Parma?). For the US, one headline we saw was that Klinsmann included yet another son of a US serviceman, who plays for Borussia Dortmund’s reserve squad. See TheShinGuardian comprehensive match preview here.

Germany vs. France: Germany are co-favorites to emerge triumphant in Poland/Ukraine this summer. In fact, some observers think that on recent form they’ve actually nudged ahead of Spain. The lineup is stacked with young dynamic talent. Of course there’s a large contingent of Bayern Munich players (Manuel Neuer, Jérôme Boateng, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos), even though usual captain Phillip Lahm is apparently sitting this one out. And there’s the two players that have moved to Madrid, Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira. In fact, those two and Miroslav Klose are the only three on today’s squad that play outside the Bundesliga. We’re interested in seeing some of those young players, who play outside of Munich: up and coming star Marco Reus (Borussia Mönchengladbach); Marcel Schmelzer and Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund); André Schürrle and Lars Bender (Bayer Leverkeusen). It’s a shame Borussia Dortmund’s Mario Götze is still out with a pelvic injury–hopefully we’ll see him in action this spring (as Dortmund looks to hold off Bayern to repeat as Bundesliga champions) and summer.

We threw in Spain-Venezuela only b/c we’re interested in seeing who Spain plays–beyond the usual suspects. Headlines in the English press last week were that Torres didn’t make the cut for this one (and hence looking unlikely for Euros this summer), but it’s interesting to see that it was not only Soldado that got picked up front, but also this kid Iker Munian (19yo) that plays for Athletic Bilbao. In fact, Athletic has as many players in the squad as Real Madrid (4 apiece)–and no Barcelona or Madrid players among the strikers chosen. The squad:

Victor Valdes (Barcelona), José Manuel Reina (Liverpool), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Carles Puyol(Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Andoni Iraola (Athletic Bilbao), Gerard Piqué (Barcelona), Jordi Alba (Valencia); Javi Martínez (Athletic Bilbao), Xavi (Barcelona), Andrés Iniesta(Barcelona), Cesc Fábregas (Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid),Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Santi Cazorla (Malaga), Thiago Alcântara (Barcelona), David Silva (Manchester City), Jesús Navas(Sevilla); Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Iker Muniain (Athletic Bilbao), Juan Mata (Chelsea), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla), Roberto Soldado (Valencia)

Breakdown by club:
Barcelona: 8
Real Madrid: 4
Athletic Bilbao: 4
Valencia: 2
Sevilla: 2
Malaga: 1
Liverpool: 1
Chelsea: 1
Man City: 1

On the other side of the ball, note that Venezuela also features an Athletic Bilbao player (defender Fernando Amorebieta, who was born in Venezuela to Basque parents. From A Football Report piece about Athletic Bilbao’s Basque-only policy:

Here’s the story with Amorebieta. He was born in Venezuela in 1985. His parents, however, were Basque, from a small town in Bizkaia called Iurreta. They were in the Americas on business, and while in Venezuela, Fernando was born. When he was two, the family moved back to Iurreta, and it would be another twenty years before Fernando returned to the country where he was born. What makes Amorebieta able to play for Athletic is the fact that, despite being born in Venezuela, he comes from Basque parents and a Basque family, and he essentially grew up in the Basque Country. Thus, Athletic had no issues with signing him in 1996 to play in the youth system despite not having been born in Spain.

England Italy Preview Schedule Spain

What To Watch This Weekend (Feb 25-26): Milan-Juve, North London Derby

February 25, 2012 — by Suman — 3

Saturday Feb 25

Italy, AC Milan vs. Juventus, 2:30pmET (FSC, ESPN3.com): Could be the match that decides the Scudetto. These two are the top of the Serie A table, separated by just a point (although Juve has a game in hand). Can La Vecchia Signora go into San Siro and beat the defending champions? A prominent subplot: this is aging midfielder Andrea Pirlo‘s return to Milan, to play against the club where he spent a decade as the premier deep-lying playmaker in Serie A (and perhaps in the world).

Spain, Espanyol vs. Levante 4pmET (ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com): Yet another match pivotal in the bunched-up race for 4th place in La Liga. Espanyol is tied for 4th with Athletic Bilbao (33 points), while Levante (and Atletico Madrid) are just a point behind them. We wrote last weekend about Espanyol’s youthful talent.

Sunday Feb 26

England, Arsenal vs. Spurs 8:30amET (FSC): The North London Derby–and for the first time in many years, Spurs are widely acknowledged to have the superior squad, and are favored to win on Arsenal’s home ground. But Spurs supporter PoliticalFootballs isn’t buying it. An excerpt from his match preview:

I am not so optimistic about Tottenham’s chances, neither for this weekend or the following week’s match against United. For too long, Spurs have looked good and then collapsed – it seems inevitable that it will happen again this year. With their 10 point advantage over Arsenal, they have a great opportunity to finish above them for the first time since the 1994/5 season, having never done so since Arsene Wenger became the Gunners’ manager. Tottenham have also not done the double (beat them home and away) over their neighbours since 1992/3 – and even then, the match at Highbury was against a makeshift team, as the home side were looking ahead to the FA Cup final the following week.

Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven vs. Feyenoord 8:30amET (ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com): #1 in the Eredivisie table vs #5, separated by only 4 points (with AZ Alkmaar, Heerenveen and Twente in between, and Ajax in 6th a point behind Feyenoord). Also a chance to see some young Dutch internationals that are still playing in the home country: from PSV defender Erik Pieters and midfielders Georginio Wijnaldum and Kevin Strootman are in the Dutch squad that will be playing England on Wednesday, as is Feyenoord central defender Ron Vlaar. The one to watch is deep-lying midfielder Strootman, who has been called the future of the Dutch midfield.

Germany, Bayern Munich vs. Schalke 9:30amET (ESPN3.com): #3 hosts #4 in the Bundesliga table. Bayern is in somewhat of a crisis, after slipping behind both Borussias in the table, and then losing at Basel in the Champions League last Wednesday. They’ll need to win at home to avoid falling further into crisis–and to avoid falling further behind the Borussias.

Spain, Rayo Vallecano vs. Real Madrid 10amET (ESPN3.com, tape at 5 p.m. on ESPN Deportes): A Madrid derby of sorts–Rayo Vallecano is located in the Vallecas neighborhood of Madrid, where they play at the 15,500-capacity Campo de Futbol de Vallecas. Rayo Vallecano just got back to the first division this season, after spending most of the past decade in Segunda Division and Segunda Division B. But they’re currently just two points off that all-important 4th place, and Sid Lowe cited them as a team that’s worth watching in a recent column:

Look at La Liga now and few teams are exciting; few look genuinely good; fewer still have achieved any sort of consistency. Rayo Vallecano are one (five wins in seven and great to watch), Athletic Bilbao another (they lost three of their first four but just three in 19 since), improving Atlético Madrid perhaps a third. A case can be made for Espanyol. And then?

England Carling Cup, Liverpool vs. Cardiff City 11amET (FSC): Liverpool’s first time back at Wembley since the 1996 FA Cup final (a match that’s remembered more for the Spice Boys’ pre-match white Armani suits than for the match itself).

Italy, Napoli vs. Inter Milan 2:30pmET FSC, ESPN3.com: Another chance to watch perhaps the most exciting and dynamic attack in Europe–Napoli’s front line of Cavani, Lavezzi and Hamsik, supported by Inler and Gargano in the center of the midfield, Zuniga and Maggio on the wings. (Note that Maggio is the only Italian among those, and note the strong South American contingent: Cavani and Gargano are Uruguayan, while Lavezzi is Argentine.)

Spain, Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona 3:30pmET (GolTV): Might Barca drop yet more points at the Estadio Vicente Calderón? Atletico certainly has more to play for, as they’ve climbed back into contention for that last Champions League spot, while Barcelona has practically given up any chance of catching Real Madrid for the La Liga title–due to struggles on the road–and has consequently shifted their focus and energies on the Champions League campaign. We looked at Atletico’s squad–and their recently installed manager, former Atletico player (and Argentine international) Diego Simeone–in this post a month ago.

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