They think it's all over.......it is now!......that sinking feeling hits home!

A lovely moment showing United fans prematurely celebrating the PL title before all of the results are truly final. Well done City! Oops.......

John Spencer's new fallback job......

Spain 0 U.S.A. 2: "Oh, this'll end well!"

Such was my Facebook posting just minutes prior to the start of the Confederations Cup semi-final between Spain and the United States, but it was more than compulsion that had me tuning into the match. After all, what could most reasonable spectators expect with the Spaniards, ranked number one in the world in the FIFA rankings, shooting for their 36th straight unbeaten match in international competitions versus a scrappy American team that barely managed to make it this far?


What resulted, of course, is the stuff of legends, a true high point in the development of U.S. soccer on the national stage. Surely, the 3-0 win over Egypt to advance from the group stage was a bit of a nice salve after the disappointing results against Italy and Brazil, but they were now facing Spain.


The first half was certainly an energetic affair with good movement from both teams, but it was the U.S who struck first when Jozy Altidore blithely tossed aside a Spanish defender to score the first goal of the game, a strong shot that deflected off of the hands of Spanish goalie Iker Casillas midway through the half.



Clint Dempsey was able to deliver the knockout goal late in the second half, off of a Landon Donovan shot/cross that took a fortunate bounce off of a Spanish defender. Dempsey was quickly able to thread the ball between another reacting defender and Casillas for the goal, the finishing touch on the goal was something that Spain lacked throughout the match. Spain certainly had their prime chances that came along with the lion's share of possession, but the stout U.S. defense and goalie Tim Howard were able to respond without a lot of fuss and bother.



Admittedly, the first 20 minutes of the second half were the most nerve-wracking for me, with Spain putting on a determined effort to break down the defense, but it was certainly a joy to watch every ball coming forward being knocked back to frustrate the Spanish side, and when Dempsey scored the second goal in the 73rd minute, the feeling that there was no way Spain could score two goals in the remaining time was quite palpable.




We'll see Sunday how the U.S. team responds when they face Brazil again for the championship, hopefully the thrills from Wednesday won't overshadow the obstacle that faces them.




SOCCERNET REPORT ,
LIVE BBC COMMENTARY AS IT HAPPENED.

Chelsea 2 Everton 1: Dream Start, NIghtmare Ending For The Toffees

A rousing start for Everton ended in frustration in today's FA Cup final as Chelsea overcame allowing a quick goal (from Louis Saha in the 26th second) to claim the title in convincing fashion.


Didier Drogba got Chelsea back on level terms in the 21st minute with a well-placed header from a Florent Malouda cross that caught the Everton defense flat-footed. Frank Lampard won the game for Chelsea late in the second half with a stunning left-footed volleyy as once again the Everton defense failed to react quickly enough in front of their own goal.


Malouda should have been awarded a goal later, but the referee had ruled that the ball had crossed the plane of the goal, even though replays had shown that it clearly had. Still, by that time, the Chelsea defense had been so firm for the majority of the game that it was unlikely that Everton would ever mount a serious challenge to score again.



SOCCERNET REPORT

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 3: The Reds Are Roadkill For The Blues At Home

Who saw this one coming? In a general u-turn from recent Champions League match-ups between the two teams, Chelsea overcame an early 1-0 deficit to hammer Liverpool at Anfield 3-1. Branislav Ivanovic headed home a couple of headers on either side of the halftime break to stun the home crowd, and Didier Drogba knocked one in at the 67th minute to cement the unlikely win, unlikely in the aspect that Liverpool had been playing football in exceptional form of late and that they might have been concentrating more on the European end in their chase for silverware this season.


Fernando Torres finished off some great play early on for the Liverpool goal in just the sixth minute, but the Liverpool defense did not hold up under the Chelsea attack that developed soon after, even as Liverpool goalie Pepe Reina did his best to deflect that pressure.


An entertaining match to watch, but it's hard to imagine how Liverpool can respond from such a devastating defeat to the upcoming rematch at Stamford Bridge. Stranger things have happened though, just AC Milan what happened in Turkey back in 2005. As some other people have reported, that's why they play these things to the end.





GUARDIAN REPORT

Fulham 2 Man United 0: Hands Up If You Hate The Reds

Very pleasing day all around for the rest of the Premiereship as a nine-man United stagger at Craven Cottage. Of course, coming on the heels of a 1-4 hiding from Liverpool makes this one even better, and the petulant antics of both Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are just the cherry on top of the cake. Best quote of their antics came from the Telegraph report:


Indeed, United could probably count themselves lucky that they aren't losing Cristiano Ronaldo for a couple of games because, on a day when he too lost the plot with his posturing and moaning, he could easily have been sent off himself just before the end.

It was bizarre; amid laughs and chants of outrage, Ronaldo kept showing off the top of his thigh to Dowd to suggest that he had been assaulted by Fulham's defenders. If it had been one of his female admirers, it might have been different; the official was so unimpressed he gave Ronaldo, who had already been booked, a final warning.



Paul Scholes, pictured above, had been sent off early in the match for the handball on the backline. Danny Murphy then converted on the subsequent penalty kick, and Zoltan Gera settled the matter in the dying minutes with an acrobatic kick that had the home crowd roaring with delight.




For Spurs fans, hearing the news that a totally ineffective Dimitar Berbatov was taken off at half time will was just an added bonus on a lovely day of football, the London derby of Spurs/Chelsea to be addressed on another post.






TELEGRAPH REPORT , SOCCERNET

Taylor Vs. Ronaldo: He Said, She Said Drama Apparently False

Reports are out now that the half-time tunnel tussle between Man United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Newcastle's Steven Taylor that consisted mostly of"You're rubbish!" "Yeah, well you're ugly!" didn't actually happen, according to Taylor. I'd sure hate to think that's what passes for trash talk these days, but with all of the girls falling for Ronaldo, I seriously doubt he's troubled in the least what the Newcastle United defender has to say about anything.

That Voodoo That You Do (Probably Won't Work So Well Wednesday)

Yes, the national teams for the U.S. and Mexico face off in a World Cup qualifying match in Columbus, OH on Wednesday, and there's been some talk about the efforts of a Mexican newspaper to put a voodoo hex on the U.S. team so that El Tri might secure their first win on U.S. soil in 10 years.


While it would take a major catastrophe for either side fail to qualify for the World Cup from CONCACAF every four years, the failure of the Mexican side to win here remains somewhat of a consternation with their fans that I know, and luckily they, and I, can see that this whole thing is just a light-hearted promotional stunt. They agree that a Mexico win won't stop the U.S. from qualifying for South Africa 2010, they'd just like to have the bragging rights that go along with such a win.



Glad to see that they've adopted this tactic now, the last time that both of the teams met when it really, really mattered was the 2002 World Cup in Japan/South Korea, with the U.S. recording a decisive 2-0 win to knock them out of the World Cup and allowing the U.S. to reach the quarter-finals against eventual runner-ups Germany. I'd kind of forgotten how desperate Mexico was in the second half, with the cynical red card that Rafael Márquez drew for his hit on Cobi Jones coming back to me from watching the YouTube video highlights below. What a wanker.





A-P STORY

WBA 2 Spurs 0 & Clint Dempsey's Bookend Goals Deny Chelski Three Points

A miserable day in the West Midlands for Spurs, falling to bottom dwellers West Bromwich Albion on two late goals in the last ten minutes. Spurs played most of the match with 10 men, after Benoit Assou-Ekotto was sent off in the 35th minute for a rash challenge. This match was on FSC on replay, but after following it via gametracker, there was really no reason to watch it at all.



Much better was the result Fulham got from playing Chelsea at Craven Cottage, two goals from Clint Dempsey were on either side of two goals from Frank Lampard as the Cottagers proved their resilience at home yet again this season, where they've lost just one match so far.



Dempsey's first goal came in the tenth minute off of a free kick, a ball that he chested neatly and delivered into the back of the net with his right foot at point blank range in front of the goal. He celebrated that goal by ENJOYING A COLD ONE FOR HIS WORK right in front of the Chelsea fans, and there were a number of them who were less than pleased with this action. His second goal came off of a corner kick in the dying moments of regulation, a perfect header toward the undefended left corner post that momentarily paralyzed the Chelsea defenders in the net.








DEMPSEY'S FIRST GOAL



DEMPSEY'S SECOND GOAL


FULHAM/CHELSEA MATCH REPORT



FULHAM/CHELSEA VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS


BAGGIES/SPURS MATCH REPORT

Will The Beavers Beat Arizona?

Being a little bleary from an all-day viewing extravaganza (some excellent EPL action in which Chelsea/Newcastle and Aston Villa/Man United both drew 0-0, as did Liverpool/Fulham, while Arsenal got thrashed 3-0 to Man City.......ha ha ha....along with some college gridiron action as the Buckeyes got on track to steamroll Michigan with a strong second half, Notre Dame loses to Syracuse on a late touchdown and the Cougars beat Washington in 2OT 16-13 as the Dawgs coug-it to let a late lead slip away to finish the season winless at 0-12), it is time to take a break and save a little time to concentrate on the Texas Tech at Oklahoma game starting in a little over an hour. The question remains is whether or not the Rodents will beat the Arizona Wildcats down in Tucson in a game that starts in a few minutes. We've taken the liberty to ask the always reliable Magic 8-Ball "will the Beavers win?" The highly scientific results speak for themselves, and for added support, BEAR DOWN ARIZONA.......BEAR DOWN RED AND BLUE!



7 p.m. edit: Congrats to the Beavs on a thrilling come from behind victory, my Beaver brother in Los Angeles is very very happy, but he knows next week will be a challenge indeed. In other related news, the aforementioned magic eight ball has been "decommissioned" in replace of a newer one that will give a more accurate forecast. :P

The Joys Of Fandom: The Arse Vs. Spurs

Got to love the enthusiasm that these two chaps exhibit as the commentators for Fanzone for their respective teams in Wednesday's north London derby between the gooners and Spurs. Here are the video highlights of the two watching the action. Yelps of joy, screams of gibberish, badge kissing.....and topless nudity...it's all there. Well done Spurs man, way to actually get on those arse girls! :laugh:





YOU BEAUTY!

Portsmouth 2 Spurs 0: Another Mishap From The Mish-Mash Team

You Don't Know What You're Doing!. That's what Spurs coach Juande Ramos heard today as Spurs put on another lackluster performance. Since having won the Carling Cup last year, Spurs have compiled a record of 3 wins, 9 losses, and 7 ties, with a current winless streak of 7 games dating back to the last match of last season.



Jermaine Defoe scored on a penalty in the first half, and Peter Crouch quickly knocked back a missed shot that rebounded into the area in front of the goal before any Spur could react. Give Defoe credit, he said he didn't celebrate his goal because he still appreciated the Spurs fans whilst he toiled at White Hart Lane.



Next up is the away leg of the UEFA Cup, Thursday at Wisla Krakow, Spurs having won the first match 2-1 earlier this month. After that, on Sunday, Hull will pay visit to White Hart Lane, fresh off of their shock dispatch of Arsenal, 1-2 at the Emirates. Pass the bottle quickly please if Spurs lose these two critical games.




BBC


SOCCERNET

Newcastle 1 Hull 2

Watched this bizarro match in the first of a long line of sporting events Saturday (it's nice once in a while to stay home and do absolutely nothing). With the protestations from the home-side Toon Army about the actions of OWNER MIKE ASHLEY before the game, those actions seemed to have affected what happened on the pitch, as newly promoted Hull definitely earned the victory in front of the stunned home crowd.


Hull got two goals from Marlon King ten minutes apart from the half time break, the first a penalty shot as the Magpies basically fluttered about with no real direction or drive for the game, and it was only when newcomer Xisco knocked back a missed shot with 10 minutes left that Newcastle (both the team and its fans) showed any real life as the possibility of salvaging a point seemed like a realistic one. The Hull defense became disorganized and was battered around for a few more minutes at that point, but rallied sufficiently to quell the meager attack of the home side.


Still trying to work out if the Newcastle fans were more disappointed post match with this one or from the FA Cup match with Stoke earlier this year.




BBC REPORT



ASHLEY'S SUNDAY STATEMENT ABOUT SELLING THE CLUB

Spurs 1 Sunderland 2: A Black Day With The Black Cats

Not a good day by any means today for Spurs fans. Straight off the top, we're greeted by the news that coach Juande Ramos had left the disgruntled striker Dimitar Berbatov off of the team roster today "BECAUSE HE WILL NOT BE GOOD FOR THE DRESSING ROOM".



Follow up that bit of distressing news (inevitable though it may be to some) with the performance today in the season opener at White Hart Lane. The first half wasn't actually too bad, but there was precious little in the way of organized offensive efforts, especially with the home side playing just one striker (Darren Bent) up front; Spurs may have had a number of corner kicks in the half, but there was never a feeling that any connection with a team member was going to happen, the ball was always either going to get knocked away harmlessly or sail over everybody's head.



Sunderland were a bit unlucky not to have taken a first half lead at about the 30 minute mark, when ex-Spur Steed Malbranque took a low-flying shot from about 25 yards; luckily for the slowly reacting Heurelho Gomes, the shot hit the goal post and Spurs were able to defend against any possible rebounds in the action afterward.



Spurs defender Gareth Bale nearly headed a corner in just after the start of the second half, but it was Sunderland's Kieran Richardson who got the first goal of the game in the 55th minute. The White Hart Lane crowd certainly became palpably nervous at that point, given the meager offensive spark shown by Spurs in the new regular season, and seeing that the goal they were credited with was actually an own goal from Boro, the sense that Spurs were ever going to mount a comeback was a very fleeting one at best.


Just after the goal, substitutes Tom Huddlestone and Giovanni Dos Santos did their best to liven up the Spurs attack once they were adjusted to the game, and the team work was rewarded with a Jermaine Jenas goal in the 73rd minute off of some nice footwork after a blocked shot. However, Djibril Cisse created some space in the Spurs back line to knock home the game winner late, creating more frustration for the home team and their fans, who took the chance at the final whistle to voice their displeasure very loudly.



Even a rare Fulham victory versus ARSENAL gave little consolation, and as if things couldn't get any worse, next up is a match at bitter rivals Chelsea next Saturday, to be compounded by the ongoing Berbatov drama. Oh joy......I can hardly wait......unless a lot of soul searching is done in the next week (combined with any form of sorcery you might wish to name).......my birthday next Saturday is bound to get off to a very lousy start.




SPURS REPORT

No Love Lost Between The Reds

Sign spotted today in the Liverpool section at Ibrox today, where the visitors thrashed the home side 0-4. The bad news, I suppose, is that Robbie Keane teamed up with Fernando Torres well.









REPORT FROM SCOTLAND

Why Mince Words? A 'Soccer' Poll That Gets Straight To The Heart Of The Matter

In the wake of the West Ham fans who vainly sought to find the "tea and crumpet" vendors in the middle of a section of Columbus Crew fans Sunday night, the Columbus Dispatch now has a poll on its web site that is seemingly directed to the mass of Americans not yet persuaded by the nuances of the beautiful game. The poll simply asks: Does hooliganism make soccer more interesting to you?. Looks like it's one of those polls where one can only vote once, but thankfully the "no" voters have made themselves known at this time (57% at this time).







DISPATCH STORY WITH POLL QUESTION





ESPN STORY

Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Lied To?: Robbie Keane To Liverpool

The dizzying number of reports in the British papers regard the transfer requests from Spurs strikers Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov (to Liverpool and Man United, respectively) have undoubtedly been the culprit in raising the blood pressure of Spurs fans around the world lately.



The news of Berbatov leaving has certainly been expected by Spurs faithful over the last few months, but even a Carling Cup victory last February wasn't enough to persuade the Bulgarian to give new coach Juande Ramos another season to achieve the status of playing in the Champions League: Berbatov wants to play there now, the erratic play of Spurs on the pitch apparently a significant role in his moodiness throughout the year.


Keane, however, is an entirely different study: in the years that he's been at White Hart Lane, he has been a truly exemplary leader both on and off the pitch, a hard worker who appreciates the recognition from the Tottenham faithful. Many times over Keane has expressed how content he is at the Lane, and even as last year's roller coaster of a season was finishing up, he expressed a desire to finish his career at Tottenham.



Now that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has come out with a stunning statement earlier this week, that reads in part.... I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either. However, when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence. This is the situation we now have on our hands, with both Dimitar and Robbie having made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester Utd and Liverpool respectively., the question that is burning on the minds of all Spurs fans is: Robbie, how could you and what exactly has changed in the last year to have changed your mind?


Going to Liverpool won't be nearly as unforgivable as when Sol Campbell signed with Arsenal earlier this decade, but it has still been received as a major body shock by Spurs fans. Yes, we know the true nature of professional sports is that it's a business, but when a trusted and admired player such as Keane disavows what he's said before (on many occasions), then the last shreds of imagined integrity and devotion to the team have sadly been cruelly ripped away.



ROBBIE'S LIES, LIES, LIES





LEVY'S STATEMENT






A pox upon both Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez for their actions in these matters.

Off With Their Heads!

Still shaking my head at the reports of a Polish paper running a crudely edited pic of Leo Beenhakker, head coach of the Polish national football team, holding the severed heads of German player Micheal Ballack and German coach Joachim Loew in each hand on the eve of the Euro 2008 match between the two countries on Sunday. Like that'll redress the injustices of history and politics, a story with a pic of the paper is HERE.

Thank You Brian McBride!

The news today that Brian is leaving Fulham TO RETURN TO THE U.S TO PLAY may have been expected for awhile, but it was still a shock to hear it actually confirmed.


His return from an ugly kneecap injury earlier in the season to help guide the Cottagers to retain their status in the Premiership, at a time when that prospect seemed unlikely, is stirring stuff for those who believe that hard work and dedication are still important today. The one game in my mind is the mid-March HOME WIN against an Everton team fighting for a Champions League spot, with McBride hitting home a crucial second half goal for a deserved victory. Everton coach David Moyes gave McBride a compliment that was seemingly par for the course for McBride's career.

'I don't like anybody scoring against but Brian is a great player, great professional and he deserves everything he gets.'

.


There's a very nice thread on the Fulham message board full of support and appreciation for what McBride has done in terms of being a leader for his team and for being a good role model for younger kids to emulate. Good luck to you Brian and continued success for the next stage of your career in the MLS.


FULHAM APPRECIATION THREAD



FULHAM VS. EVERTON

Avram Grant's Monosyllabic Obfuscation

Can't let slip by a transcript of the great "interview" Chelsea coach Avram Grant had with the press after last Thursday's win at Everton. The dour man is certainly in the unenviable position of having to had replace the loquacious Jose Mourinho as the man who took charge of a club in fight for both a Premiereship and Champions League title midway through a season. Seeing as though both the majority of fans (and the press as well) have not embraced him as a competent manager of a top club, it was probably inevitable that this outburst was bound to happen. The interview lasted a bit more than five minutes, and here's a sample question and answer.







You seem lost for words by the performance. Are you more satisfied with the performance or the victory?

Both.



More of the cat and mouse game, from the Independent, is HERE