Sunday Previews
Match of the Day
Manchester United vs. Chelsea
With so much press surrounding the game we've all been waiting for, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson stated that there's too much pressure on United's young (and new) goalkeeper David de Gea. According to Fergie, there's too big of a spotlight on the 20-year-old Spanish goalkeeper; it's as though everyone is awaiting his downfall. "I don't know why such unnecessary pressure is being created. I assure you, de Gea will play, and play well. It's difficult for him to adapt, as he had to change countries, cultures, and his language at a young age ", stated Ferguson, according to the Mirror.
Kickoff is at 11AM ET.
Other games:
Tottenham v. Liverpool
Fulham v. Manchester City
La Liga Match of the Day: Levante v. Real Madrid, 2PM EDT
*Barclay's Premier League*
Blackburn Rovers vs. Arsenal: 4-3
HT: 1-2
Iwood Park
Arsenal had chances throughout the entire game, especially towards the end of the second half, when they gained control of the ball, but their attacks still fell short on precision. That is, until Van Persie assisted Chamakh, who was just subbed in and got the ball in the net on the 85th minute, aggravating Blackburn's head coach Steve Kean, who, up to that point, thought he was winning. Blackburn's strength is, undeniably, their defense. If anyone should be "man of the match", it's the Rover's goalkeeper Robinson. With 4 minutes of added time left, Blackburn's manager took to some artistic gum-chewing a la Sir Alex. Cameras decided to pan to some bald guy in shades with a team of bored bodyguards - probably some of Blackburn's head personnel. Baldy took to clapping on his team to victory. Arsenal's Chamakh had several unsuccessful goal attempts during extra time. Blackburn still won, making the team's owners quite happy (and calming their gum-chewing manager). Despite Arsenal's endless strife and the 16-5 shots on target, the team managed to score not one, but TWO own goals (Song, 50' and Koscielny, 68'). Had it not been for the OG's, the final score would have been very different.
La Liga
FC Barcelona vs. Osasuna: 8-0
Camp Nou
Goal-scoring Summary:
(5') Messi
(13') Fabregas, asst. Messi
(34') Villa, asst. Abidal
(39') Roversio - OG
(41') Messi, asst. Villa
(57') Xavi
(77') Villa
(79') Messi, asst. Fabregas
Highlights:
- Messi's hat-trick
- Villa's double
- Osasuna, believe it or not, had some great moments. On the 65th minute, for instance, Nino's attempt left the ball flying near (but past) the far post.
- On the 67th minute Valdes scored a disallowed goal from an offside position.
Chicago Fire v. Chivas USA: 3-2
Scoring Summary:
(2') Gibbs, asst. Grazzini - 1:0
(26') Juan Pablo Angel - OG - 2:0
(61') Juan Pablo Angel - 2:1
(63') LaBrocca - 2:2
(85') Oduro - 3:2
Highlights:
- Gibbs red-carded after committing dangerous foul on Lahoud.
- Spotted: Fire fan donning a firefighter's hat with beer (the fan, not the hat). Said fan producing smoke when the Fire scores.
- Juan Pablo Angel's awesome attempt at goal during the second half.
- Oduro's goal on the 85th minute showed a giant hole in Chivas' defense, with 3 helpless defenders who hadn't a clue as to where the ball was going.
Liga Mexicana
Pachuca v. Atlas: 4-2
Highlights:
- Penalty
- Man of the Match: Enrique Esqueda, #9 Pachuca
Atlante v. Tigres: 1-0
- Pablo Ramirez keeps mentioning Floyd Mayweather and making boxing references.
- After a warning to the DT, the referee made Atlante's assistant manager remove himself from the premises and spend the rest of the match in the stands.
- Spotted: Atlante's manager Miguel Herrera strolling way past the designated area for coaches.
- Also spotted: fans with miniature horns that resemble vuvuzelas.
- Rain starts towards the end of the second half.
- An unfair yellow card to Amione on the 90th minute leads to his expulsion.
- Pablo Ramirez also keeps mentioning The Hobbit.
- Fans unveil "Azul Grana" banner.
- Man of the Match is the red-carded player, #28, Geronimo A. Amione, who scored the only goal of the game on the 12th minute.
- Best moment in commentary: Pablo Ramirez's orange tie with bubbles.
Torneo Apertura
Today's game:
Club America v. Atlante: 0-1
Estadio Azteca
Commentators: Pablo Ramirez and Jesus Bracamontes
# of times Pablo shouted "Se La Perdio!" : 2
Atlante's numerous fouls, complete with an unfair set of yellow cards and consequent expulsion of one of CA's players gave Memo Ochoa's former team a pretty hard time. Nevertheless, Club America looked great throughout the game, both offensively as well as in defense. Goalkeeper Navarette was Man of the Match, as he had numerous saves, some of which were made even more striking by the great work of CA's defenders. The team was down to 10 men for the entirety of the second half, during which Atlante's Martinez scored his second goal of the season on the 49th minute as the ball soared from a distance to the upper right of the net, leaving Armando Navarette powerless. The match was "an important victory for Atlante", according to Pablo Ramirez, as 3 points acquired in an away game are always crucial.
Yesterday:
Torneo Apertura
Santos Laguna v. Chivas de Guadalajara: 1-1
Univision commentators: Jose Perez-Navarro & Diego Balado
It was a bit surprising to find that J. Bracamontes was not present, despite his team playing.
This was the first game of Santos Laguna's new manager, Benjamin Galindo. Rumors that former US coach Bob Bradley would take on the job at Santos were quelled by ESPN's LA blog. A recent article states that Egypt still want Bradley as their coach. But back to Mexico and Santos Laguna - the pregame. Cameras showed federal security and police officers on the ready, surrounding the stadium both on ground and by air. Safety precautions were taken after the shooting near stadium grounds that occurred several weeks ago. In a ceremony against violence and crime in the region, the entire team and staff of Santos Laguna set free an array of white and green balloons. Various amusing mascots were present during the photo shoot that followed, including a Corona bottle, the official sponsor of Santos Laguna. Santos have not lost to Chivas during their last 4 encounters. Needless to say, both teams had a slew of unused opportunities during the first half. Santos scored at the beginning of the second half (Figeroa). Luduena, who got yellow-carded on the 57th minute, and Darwin Quintero were both in the starting eleven. Chivas came back with a goal of their own that went into the upper right corner of the net from a free kick by Medina on the 73rd minute. Chivas kept attacking after that, all the way into extra time. The final score was a tie, but one that was played, in the words of Diego Balado, "with much intensity".
The MVP of the match was Alberto Medina (#10, Chivas), who tied the game.
Queretaro v. Pumas: 4-0
MLS
New England Revolution v. FC Dallas: 2-0
An intense game with both sides in need of 3 points (despite Dallas' 3rd spot in the Western standings). The Revs finally won, thanks to goals by Joseph and Lekic, as well as Matt Reis's usual goalkeeping tactics. The team kept on scoring but failing to hold on to the lead, giving in to pressure from teams like the Philadelphia Union, who tied the game 4-4 after the Revs' 3-1 lead. "A pivotal win", according to mlssoccer.com.
RBNY v. Vancouver: 1-1
Kansas City v. Houston: 3-0
Barclay's Premier League
Bolton v. Manchester United: 0-5
Wayne Rooney does it again with yet another hat-trick. Chicharito's double was close to becoming the second hat-trick of the match. United look amazing both at home and away games, and have one of their best seasons yet in store.
Tune in this Tuesday evening for CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:
Colorado Rapids v. Santos Laguna!!
Barclay's Premier League:
*Bolton v. Manchester United: (2nd half, 58th min. - 0:3)
(5', Chicharito, double by Rooney)
Prediction: 0:5
MLS
Sporting Kansas City v. Houston Dynamo
Prediction: 1-3
Seattle v. RSL
Prediction: 3-3
New England v. Dallas
Prediction: 2-2 or 2-1
New York Red Bulls v. Vancouver
Prediction: 5-2
Torneo Apertura
Santos v. Guadalajara
Prediction: 3-0
*ongoing
R&R: An In-Depth Analysis
As most fans already know, both Rooney and Ronaldo scored hat-tricks in their games for Manchester United and Real Madrid, respectively. This got me thinking about all the possible parallels between the two R's. Here goes!
Age -
Rooney: 25; Ronaldo: 26
Hometown -
Rooney: Liverpool, England
Ronaldo: Madeira, Portugal
Position -
Rooney: striker (plays as #10)
Ronaldo: winger/striker (plays as #7)
$$$$$$$$
Rooney: third highest-paid football player in the world
Ronaldo: second highest-paid football player in the world
Total Goals:
Rooney: 403 apps, 169 goals
Ronaldo: 415 apps, 213 goals
Rooney: briefly became United's youngest goal-scorer
Ronaldo: became highest goalscorer in a season in Real Madrid's history
Awards:
Rooney: won the goal of the season award three times
Ronaldo: first player to win all four main PFA/FWA awards
Interesting facts:
*Ronaldo played for Manchester United from 2003-2009. Among his honours is the 03-04 FA Cup. Rooney played for Everton until 2004. Both Ronaldo and Rooney were on the United squad from '04-'09.
*Both players are on the roster for their National Teams since 2003.
*Rooney and Ronaldo played for United when the team won the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. Both scored goals in the tournament (Rooney -3, Ronaldo -1).
*Both won Barclay's Player of the Season awards, among others.
*The most infamous international incident involving both Ronaldo and Rooney was during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Portugal was playing England in a quarter-final match, during which Rooney was red-carded on the 62nd minute for stamping on a Portugal defender. It was clear that Ronaldo was trying to influence the referee's decision, and was shoved by Rooney for attempting to get involved. Ronaldo was seen winking at his benched NT teammates after his Manchester United teammate was sent off. Rooney publicly stated that he holds no grudge against Cristiano Ronaldo, taking into account the fact that in this tournament, they weren't teammates. Despite rumors that Ronaldo was going to leave United after the incident, he signed a five-year contract until 2007.
Both players continue to rise to prominence and will undoubtedly come head-to-head again soon. Till then, let's enjoy the winning streaks of both Manchester United and Real Madrid!
