Kick back & watch some footy this week We've been pretty regular about putting up a "what to watch this weekend" post Friday of every week. Given all the good midweek fixtures (especially with the Champions League knockout matches starting in about a month), we're going to add a similar weekly feature that will go up Monday or Tuesday. So here's your viewing guide for this week, today thru Thursday. A handful of good matchups--two FA Cup replays involving two Premier League heavyweights hosting Championship League sides fighting above their weight; two Copa del Rey matches, one involving our new must-see Spanish team, the other a Derbi Madrileño; and a Coppa Italia match, also a capital city derby--known, in fact, as Derby della Capitale. As usual, all times ET: Tuesday, Jan 18 2:45pm Man City v Leicester England FA Cup Fox Deportes, FSC 4:00pm Sevilla v
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: That goal is presumably the one mentioned in Ibrahimović's Wikipedia bio thusly: "he scored a breathtaking goal against NAC on 22 August 2004, a goal that was eventually voted the 'Goal of the Year' by Eurosport viewers." A interesting little historical note occurs just after that: "On 18 August 2004, Ibrahimović injured fellow Ajax teammate Rafael van der Vaart during an international match against the Netherlands, which led to accusations from van der Vaart that Ibrahimović had hurt him intentionally. This led to Ibrahimović's sudden sale to Juventus on 31 August." This is particularly interesting and timely as Ibrahimović's AC Milan will be facing van der
Watch Cani score Villareal's 2nd goal vs Osasuna today..we told you Villareal is worth watching: Find more videos like this on Jogabonito Cani: "Note that I hit that one-time!"
Merseyside Derby Lambananas 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
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): It shows the clear geographical slant of football fandom in the British capital: the centres of gravity for each ‘fanland’ tend to be around the home grounds of each team. As with other fan loyalty maps, this one has a decidedly feudal feel to it. None of the clear, straight delineations of modern borders, but lots of fuzzy boundaries, transitional zones, and enclaves in ‘enemy’ territory. Some teams command great swathes of territory, for example West Ham United FC. This Premier League club dominates the east of London, in particular
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.
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
