Saturday, May 24, 2008

The Wait for the Euros

I can see no one else has bothered to write up anything on the Champions League final. I will take this as evidence that no one was too impressed. I definitely wasn't.

I was really indifferent to both teams, but by the end of the game I did want Chelsea to win. Mostly for historical purposes. It's nice to have a new team lift the trophy and show that it is possible for new teams to enter the competition an win. Albeit, with billions and billions of dollars of investment. It would have also saved Avram Grant's career. Grant was fired earlier today having failed to win anything this year after taking over from Jose Murinho. This is harsh in my opinion as he did take the Premiership race right to the very end and made it to the champions league final for the first time in the club's history. And in all honestly, Chelsea were playing quality football.

I really dislike Cristiano Ronaldo; but I can't deny his ability. I am enjoying the public bid for C. Ronaldo by Real Madrid for a ridiculous 100 million pounds. United fans thought he was so loyal. Funny how things change when a vast sum of money is thrown at you. United fans shouldn't be upset, it should have been expected. They are a victim of their own success with regards to finding talent and helping them develop. In the end, Ferguson completed the 'double' and all is well in England. Except of course of having to miss out on Euro 2008.

The countdown is on for the kickoff in Austria-Switzerland. Looking at some of the favorites I still say Italy has a lot of potential to make a serious dent in the tournament. If of course they make it out of the 'Group of Death'. I am confident they will. I do not feel France will. The loss of Zidane is was huge for soccer as a whole. But for France, let's just say, it's crippling. I am expecting for Portugal to flop out due to not having England to beat up on this time around. Spain could win it all, or they could under-perform (as per usual). Germany looks solid again following suit for the World Cup.

As for underdogs, I won't say. I'm never good at those. I do hope there are some surprises this year. Maybe Romania will do some shocking. Either way, I will be watching a lot of soccer this coming June and that makes me smile.

Here's a video to remember to Euro 2004.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Inter Shame

It has been a thrill to watch Inter's disastrous fall from grace this season. The team I had originally touted as the strongest in Europe with Champions League title well within their grasps, they have spectacularly self-combusted after the January break.

Failure against Liverpool, Roberto Mancini's mind games with the club, fans, and players, injury after injury, and above all else, an obvious drop in form and determination from it's players. This was all highlighted last week when Inter were awarded a penalty within the late stages of the match. Cruz was the designated kick taker, but Marco Materazzi emerged from the back and hell followed with him. He wanted the spot kick. He wanted to score the goal that would hand Inter the title. (What is really important to note, is that Materazzi also scored a penalty in the same fixture last season to award Inter the title; he had ALREADY received the glory!) But that wasn't enough to 'The Matrix'. He wanted to do it...twice. This could be a testament to how little the players actually thought of winning the scudetto with a point docked Milan and a Juve-less Serie A. Moreover, how arrogant that gesture was and how perfectly it fit in with Inter's collapse.

Of course, Materazzi's penalty was saved. With teammates furious, the coach furious, and the owner furious, how many friends does Materazzi have left? If Inter lose the scudetto on the final day of the campaign I feel Materazzi will have to move on. He will probably have to leave the country to avoid the harsh ridicule and criticism which will likely follow him to his grave. That is only supposing Inter fail to clinch the championship. If they do win this Sunday, most Inter fans (like usual) will try and block out the bad moments of the season and relish the fact that they are champions.

Yet, I will always look back on the the second meeting between Roma and Inter when Roma were up by a goal, only to see Mexes controversially sent off and Inter to equalize through Captain Amazing, Javier Zanetti. With Inter only ahead by one point, those moments become season deciding moments.

My biggest dilemma is deciding which game to watch on Sunday...

Thursday, May 1, 2008

What soccer players should do after they take a hard tackle

Get the fuck up.

Why I don't watch the Premiership

The short answer: I’m Italian.

The long(er) answer: Here in Canada, basic cable subscribers like me get two Premiership games a week. The first is shown on Saturday morning on Rogers Sportsnet. The second game is shown Sunday morning on The Score.

Us basic cable types rarely get a chance to see any of the big teams. Last week, for example, neither network aired the Manchester United vs. Chelsea showdown. And I really am not interested in watching Fulham every week. Who gives a shit about Fulham? Fulham fans, probably, which only hammers my point home further. (Not that I have any idea what Fulham fans are all about, mind you. I already told you: I DON'T WATCH THE PREMIERSHIP.)

On the other hand, I get three quality Serie A matches a week from TLN, a shoestring Toronto-based network that, based on the commercials aired at half-time, shows nothing but soccer, The Sopranos and The Godfather Parts I, II & III. (Did you know the third one sucks? It really, really does. The part when Sophia Coppola dies is hilarious.) All three TLN games are shown Sunday. Only one of them is live (usually the 2:30 p.m. “prime time” match). The first match, typically aired at 9 a.m., is usually a replay of a Saturday game and the 11 a.m. match is usually a replay of something that was played at 9. Confused yet? If you are, you're stupid.

On TLN, I get to see the big clubs—Juve, Inter, Roma, Milan—week in and week out. (Some fans of lesser sides might complain that the Regginas and Livornos don’t get enough air time, but really, who the fuck likes Reggina or Livorno anyway? They're like the Fulhams of Italian soccer, but with more attractive female supporters.)

I wonder how long this whole TLN thing will last. It seems only a matter of time before some specialty channel buys all the rights to Serie A games and guys like me are left in the dark. I guess I’ll just have to shill out more cash if I want to keep following this game. And I suppose that if I do end up paying for the specialty channels, I may give English soccer a try. But, as a matter of principal, I won't enjoy it.

This year's Champions League semi-final five-point plan for success, UAE edition

This nearly worked to perfection.

1) Get out of work at decent time
2) Shovel chicken biryani down throat
3) Wrap scarf round neck. Move possessions from hotel to apartment in half an hour
4) Get taxi astonishingly easy
5) See Liverpool advance to the finals for a second time.

... Should be an entertaining, stress-free final at least.