Soccer History Now Image of the Week

The hero for Inter Milan and the king of the 2009/2010 UEFA Champions League.

FC Inter Milan, 2009/2010 UEFA Champions League champions.

Soccer History Now: Image of the Week - 2010 Europa League Champions

Antonio Lopez lifts the trophy for Athletico Madrid, the 2010 Europa League Champions.

2010 UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals Matches

I know it does not happen often, but I made a mistake.  I think the last mistake I made was in 1987.  (Just kidding)

Soccer is a very unpredictable sport.  Despite all of the preparation, all of the training, all of the studying, many things cannot be predicted–there is no crystal ball.

I can confirm this because I suggested in an earlier post that Cesc Fabregas, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic would contribute a monumental role to the 2010 UEFA Champions League quarter final match between Arsenal FC and Barcelona FC.  Unfortunately, Cesc obtained a yellow card in the first leg and was unable to play in the second leg.  Ibrahimovic scored two goals in the first leg only to obtain an injury during domestic play between the first and second leg of the Arsenal tie.  He did not feature in the second leg.  Thierry Henry, despite the fantasy story line of being the highest scoring player in Arsenal’s history and now playing for Barcelona, only played 15 minutes in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium.

Well, I am going to try my luck again.  Below you will find my view on the upcoming semi-finals matches in the 2010 UEFA Champions League–FC Internazionale Milano versus FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich versus Olympique Lyonnais.  (This should be a wonderful tie despite no English Premier League teams)

Enjoy the video and please share your thoughts in the comments.

2010 Champions League Final Four - Part Two

Arjen Robben’s 74th minute goal put Bayern Munich into the semi-finals of the Champions League with an away goals victory over Manchester United. United had been three goals up on the night but the sending off of Rafael was crucial and Robben bagged the decisive goal.

Marouane Chamakh’s first half goal was not enough to edge Bordeaux into the last four with a 1-0 win on the night meaning French rivals Lyon went through 3-2 on aggregate.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Manchester United v Bayern Munich: I do not regret joining Chelsea, says Arjen Robben (telegraph.co.uk)

Famous Soccer Players from Arsenal

The recent 2010 Champions League quarter finals match featured three of the top players in the game today: Cesc Fabregas, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The drama behind the three players, all with ties to Arsenal football, is intriguing and set the stage for a monumental Champions League quarter final.  Hopefully, both teams can live up to the pressure.

Check out the connections below.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Arsenal v Barcelona: Cesc Fabregas decision will be left until after pre-match warm-up (telegraph.co.uk)
• Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas out for ‘at least six weeks’ but has World Cup chance (telegraph.co.uk)
• Barcelona v Arsenal: Zlatan Ibrahimovic ruled out of Nou Camp return (telegraph.co.uk)

2010 Champions League Final Four - Part One

Serie A champions Inter Milan reached the last four of the Champions League for the first time since 2003 as they eased to a 2-0 aggregate victory over CSKA Moscow.

Barcelona genius Lionel Messi scored four times to put Arsenal to the sword and end their Champions League dreams at the quarter-final stage. An under-strength Gunners were briefly in front through Nicklas Bendtner before Messi seized the occasion and a 4-1 thumping.

Let Park play!

Park Ji-Sung, midfielder for the phenomenal Manchester United squad and South Korean international, has the capability of setting another record.  Ji-Sung could be the first Asian soccer player to participate in the European final.  Let him play Sir Alex, let him play!

8th UEFA European Under U-19 Soccer Championship Elite Round

With the qualifying rounds already played from 2 October 2008 to 27 November 2008, the stage is set for the Elite Round to start from Sunday, 1 March 2009 and last till Sunday 31 May 2009. The teams from the qualifying rounds have been divided into 7 groups of 4 teams each, making 28 fierce contestants fighting for the final title.

Matches for group 1 will be held in Serbia on 12, 14 and 17 May 2009. The 4 teams playing in this group include Serbia, who will play as the host soccer team against Hungary, Finland and Austria. Serbia showed a consistent performance in the qualifying rounds scoring 3, 5 and 4 in the 3 matches it played. Hungary only performed well in 1 match against San Marino and scored 6 points, and scoring 1 and 0 in the other 2. Both Finland and Austria stand at almost equal standing with Finland scoring 2, 0 and 3 in the last 3 matches, and Austria scoring 2, 3 and 1 soccer goals. There is a highly likely chance that the host team will be the highest scorer in this group and will qualify to the Final tournament - Group stage.

Group 2 matches will be held in Slovenia, which will also be the host team of this group and play against Russia, Netherlands and Belarus. The matches will be held on 4, 6 and 9 June 2009. So far, the toughest contenders in this group are Netherlands, followed by Slovenia and then Russia. Belarus is the lowest scoring team in this group.
Portugal will be the host for Group 3, and will play against Turkey, Greece and Denmark on 23, 25 and 28 May 2009. Turkey is in the lead among all the 4 soccer clubs in this group, followed by Portugal and then with Greece and Denmark.

Switzerland, Republic of Ireland and Sweden are going to play in Group 4 on 5, 7 and 10 June 2009 along with the host team Belgium. Sweden and Belgium are the stronger teams of this group, with Ireland having the least scores. The game between the host team and Sweden will definitely be an exciting one.

France is the host soccer team for Group 5 matches which will play on 18, 20 and 23 May 2009 against Romania, Norway and Latvia. France is the highest scorer for this group, with a total of 9 scores from the qualifying rounds. Romania follows the lead in the group, with Norway and Latvia with the lowest scores.

Group 6 matches will be hosted by England on 27 and 29 May and 1 June 2009. The other three teams participating in the group include Scotland, Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Although Scotland leads this group with the highest scores, England has shown a stable performance in the qualifying rounds. Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina have fewer score compared to the host team and Scotland, so chances are that they might not be playing in the next round.
The Soccer Championship final group will play their matches in Estonia on the 21, 23 and 26 of May 2009. The other participating teams for these matches include Germany, Spain and Czech Republic.

The Elite round will decide the winning teams to play in the Final tournament - Group stage to be held from 21 July to 27 July 2009. The semi-finals for this annual event will take place on 30 July 2009 with the final match taking place on Sunday 2 August 2009.