my arsenal

i was lucky enough to get home to watch the last half hour of today's champion's league match between ac milan and arsenal. they tied 0-0 in their first match, and so today's match would decide who went on to the final 8. milan was last year's champ, and today's game was on their home field, where they'd never lost to an english side.

so, in the time that i was able to watch, arsenal definitely looked a little more organized, and a little stronger. and then with about 5 minutes left in regulation, fabregas hammered home a shot from about 35 yards out for arsenal.

then, they had to hold off the mad scramble of five regulation and four extra minutes. because arsenal's goal was a goal scored away, milan was going to need 2 to win in regulation, 1 to tie and force extra time.

but, arsenal would do more than just hold. adebayor would score his first ever champion's league goal, and the second on the day for arsenal. arsenal moves on, milan's champion's league season is done.

next up, i get to watch celtic play. too bad, art, i already know they lost.

brief thoughts on soccer

oh demarcus. i'm glad you're playing for the rangers. i'm sorry you had to face racist taunts. but i'm especially glad you're scoring goals. hopefully you'll keep it up, and bring that back next time you play for the national side. and keep up the good work with the gers. it makes me happy, in a minor, i follow your team from a long way away sense. good luck wednesday in belgrade.

on an interesting note, that game had 11k people listed as attendance for a tuesday uefa champions league match (last tuesday). the galaxy's match againt dc last thursday drew 45k. and they say there's no market for soccer in the us? it's not every game, but still. and sadly, as i click through other espn soccer scores, that stat is frequently left off. i'd like to see how mls compares on a regular basis.

finally, i find it strange to encounter so many soccer stories about race. this is no naivete on my part. i know that we have race problems in the u.s. and, the rest of the world is nothing different. i also know that fifa has worked hard to really eliminate racism, especially through punishing clubs for the misdeeds of their fans. but really, what are the large groups of fans doing, chanting the taunts? who thinks this is alright? cheer for your teams, cheer against the other club, whatever. but dropping racist blasts? stupid. especially considering that your team probably isn't all one race.

boo hoo man u

so, i was greatly disappointed today in manchester united. it's not that i'm a big fan of theirs, it just that i despise italian teams. so, when milan crushed them 3-0, i was upset. although, i must admit that the first two goals were amazing shots. so, kudos to liverpool and ac milan for making it to the champions league final.

coming up

tomorrow you can probably count on a blog about the second leg of the chelsea v liverpool game. if anyone wants to try and catch some with me, it's on @ 11:45.


you can also expect another few posts from me this evening, as i'm t.a.'ing for class and am doing a whole lot of nothing.

chelsea vs liverpool

second verse, same as the first: uefa champions league.

"didier drogba unsheathed the dagger and joe cole plunged it into the heart of liverpool"

29 minutes in, chelski 1, liverpool nil.

chelsea is owned by roman abramovich, mentioned in this link (see the story on rich russians)



the wisdom of a fortune cookie, from the lunch i ate while watching footy.

so, we're to half of a relatively mild game. been some flashes, like cole's goal, but otherwise not too much happening. although, to be truthful, i did miss the first 20 minutes of the game while i was getting a haircut.

in the meantime, i thought i'd show you that lady from yesterday's fresno famous link myspace page. yeah, i think she may have some issues. to illustrate my point, i want to show you pictures she uses to "prove" her case about buildings being moved, and some guy that is secretly behind so much of it



this one is my favorite. remember, this is supposed to show a real person who is behind it all.


i sort of feel bad about highlighting this stuff. but, the lady is all over the place. she posts this stuff on fresno famous, on the tower district myspace group, anywhere she can.

i was really excited to watch a good bit of this game and to catch the result later. i've been a long time bulls fan, this may be the first playoff series win since jordan left.

hey, not that we care, but rosie is leaving the view.


so, maybe you've figured out by all the other sideline comments that the game isn't very interesting. you'd be right. yesterday's match had much more drama (at least so far). neither side seems to be playing very inspired soccer.

another brit, banksy, is doing very well for himself right now.

inside the final minute, chelsea still leading...oh wait, two minutes stoppage time...during which nothing happened.

chelsea 1, liverpool 0.

ac milan vs manchester united

ah, time for another post that only dana, nick and my brother may care about. (but i'm sprinkling in other junk to make the rest of you read too!)today's semifinal match up in the champions league. i'm getting to watch ac milan vs manchester united. i may even be able to watch tomorrow's match of chelsea vs liverpool. sorta crazy that 3 of the four remaining teams are from the premiership. it can really stake the claim as the top notch league of the world.

4:52, man u just scored a ridiculous goal on a set piece. and i don't mean ridiculous in a good sense. well, the corner was good, and christiano ronaldo had a nice header into the keepers neck/shoulder. then it just sorta flew into the air and dida tipped it into the net. kinda ugly. of course, gabriel heinze was there as well and probably would've put it home had dida not.


(btw, i'm surfing the net while watching the game. from sports gal's review of bachelor last night, "What qualifies for a connection these days? Sharing a drink over 10 minutes of awkward conversation as 12 other girls lurk in the background? This show continues to make women proud." that's just awesome. and, "When they arrived in Tahoe, the women shrieked with excitement when they saw their suite at Harrah's. It's a bed covered with cigarette burns! Woo hoo!" hey, i made a joke about how these tramps are so excited to enter a room.)

"and with blinking of an eye, ac milan have that priceless away goal!" kaka just buried an absolutely sick goal, low to the back post. disgusting.

and @ the 36th minute kaka doubles up with another sweet goal. three manchester defenders in the area, two collide, the other one didn't really have much of a chance, and he sends it past van der saar.

so, over on fresno famous, there's this lady that always puts up crazy posts like this one. i am constantly restraining myself from responding.


59th minute, rooney scores his for the third game in a row. came off of some good team work, chopped it in.

69th minute, scoles fouled about 20 yards out. free kick. giggs bends a sick ball around the wall...just wide.

it's been a tail of two halves. milan definately looked better in the first, manchester in the second. even the fouls matched up that way. 1st, milan got all the calls. 2nd, manchester.

christiano ronaldo just had such a sick play that resulted in a corner. 83rd minute. i literally dropped my jaw open on that. he worked it around several players, ripped a fierce shot towards the near corner that was just touched by dida. it still ended up in the outside netting. wonderful stuff.

just inside stoppage...giggs long run...feeds rooney...who drives it home! his second of the night. what a strike.

and man u has won every single home game during this champions league season.

and you thought soccer was low scoring

so, i had a few minutes between one job and another today, and i flipped on the tv, knowing that there was some champions league soccer on. uhhh, what the heck happened to roma? they won 2-1 @ home last week against manchester united. i turn on the match and it's 4-0 manchester, a few minutes into the 2nd half. as i dilly dallied about the house, it quickly became 5-0. and then 6-0. it's freakin 6 to nil with 30 minutes remaining in the match! so, manchester is currently up 7-2 on aggregate scoring. i think they'll be advancing to the champions league semifinal.

uefa

so, i'm getting ready to watch the 2nd uefa match today, and it's real madrid vs bayern munich. i'm particularly stoked because i really like madrid, and this should be a great match. so, as the teams are coming out and standing there, this is what music is playing in the stadium. yep, germans.

wouldn't you know it, munich scores in like 16 seconds, the fastest ever in uefa champions league. damn. we're all equal on aggregate score (3-3), but munich has away goals tie breaker as of now.

champions league - match day 5

this morning, i scrolled through the guide to see who would be playing in uefa champions league. what did i see for the first match? my brother's fav team, celtic, would be taking on manchester united. each team is leading their respectives leagues, and manchester is leading the group in the champions league.

the air was electic in the east end of glasgow. celtic park was rocking. the red devils of manchester united were visiting, and both sides seemed ready for a great match.
-the first half was dominated by manchester. their passes were crisper, they seemed more organized on the offensive end, and their stars were shining. celtic, however, seemed a step slow in the back, confused on offense, and with the exception of lennon, their stars were invisible. yet, @ the midway point, it was tied @ nil.
-celtic seemed much more lively during the second half. manchester still looked sharp. both sides had moments of sloppiness, but they also had flashes of brilliance. guys like christiano ronaldo, who i dislike, looked great. giggs had a nice free kick @ one point. rooney, who was good in the first half, disappeared in the second.
-in the 80th minute, there was a terrible call against manchester. it set up a set piece about 25 yards out. nakamura buried it in the back of the net. upper corner. van der sar didn't have a chance.
-in the 83rd minute, it seemed that saha was offsides. he was alone in the box, and just stopped. the keeper came out and blocked a weak little attempt. saha though he was off, and didn't even try. play until the whistle moron. you would have equalized it.
-in the 86th minute, a pretty bad call went against celtic. not as bad as the one against united, but still a bad one. free kick about 20 yards out. deflected. with a hand, just inside the box. yellow card to celtic. penalty kick. saha shoots to lower corner. great save by celtic's keeper, boruc. really, he started going the wrong way (or maybe was faking the wrong way) and then dove back and knocked the shot away.
-a few minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle, and celtic park echoed with songs of their supporters. celtic moves ahead of manchester in their group. tied on points, but leading with the tie breaker. celtic may not end up winning the group, but they are through to the next stage.

next up on the tube, a chance to watch my favorite internation team, real madrid. real is taking lyonnaise tonight. real is playing in front of their home crowd, and i hope they don't disappoint.
-eleven minutes in, and lyon is up 1 to nil. i think last time i wastched these two sides play, lyon was victorious. crap. am i bad luck?
-eighteen minutes in, and real looks sloppy. their not stringing together any passes, the defense looks too relaxed, and they could be in for some problems tonight.
-thirty minutes in, and i'm distracted by reading blogs. lyon has a corner kick, real gives up too much space and the keeper doesn't make a great effort either. 2-0 lyon.
-38th minute, real is still giving a poor showing. they've got a corner, it swings out to van nistelrooy, who heads it back across, and diarra buries a header in the back of the net. 2-1. pretty nice goal, especially since diarra also took a high boot to the head on the play and still finished.
-the first ten minutes of the 2nd half have been pretty good. lots of action, both teams working hard. real madrid has come out fired up, trying to equalize. so, lyon is having to match intesity on the defensive end.
-60th minute, some great touches by van nistelrooy and raul, but robinho blows the shot.
-82nd minute, not much has been happening lately. cross into the lyon box, raul hits a great header that beats the keeper, but hits the post. the ricochet goes right to van nistelrooy, who puts it home. all even @ 2-2.
-87th minute. van nistelrooy fouled hard at the edge of the box. well, maybe it wasn't a foul. some contact. but, real madrid is awarded a penalty shot. ruud missed one from the spot on match day 4. and...this one is blocked. good save keeper. wow, back to back matches that i've watched had a keeper save on a pk, at the end of the game.
-91st minute, some pushing & shoving after a foul. yellows awarded to players on each team.
-and it finishes that way after 3 minutes of stoppage time. 2-2.
if able, i'll watch chelski play tomorrow.