7 posts tagged “futbol”
"The fact that a segment of the world worships an inferior product in the Premiership is their business..."
"In England, our league is considered second class, but I honestly believe if you took a helicopter and grabbed a bunch of MLS players and took them to the perceived best league in the world they wouldn't miss a beat and the fans wouldn't notice any drop in quality."
- Alexis Lalas - GM of Los Angeles Galaxy and former US National defender
I should find the quotes from a recent Clint Dempsey interview discussing the raising of the bar in what he had to achieve on his move to the English Premier League. Oh Alexi, you used to be so wild and fun crazy. Now you are straight up crazy.
Last Wednesday, the wife sent me an email title "cheeky" with the following link: Barcelona again reaches final 16 in Champions League. One thing that the last World Cup taught me was that if something beautiful (or ugly) happens in a soccer game, its bound to appear on YouTube in a couple of days. So I queried and waited for footage of the free kick performed by Ronaldinho that goes under "the wall" and into the net. This weekend they finally appeared up on YouTube.
Here you go, in English and in Spanish. Personally, I like the Spanish version because you get to see how ripped the keeper was after getting tooled.
The wife and I held our third MLS cup party this afternoon. The party consisted of the in-laws coming over and watching the game via the TiVo and chowing down on chinese food. The game was uneventful for the first two halves. I felt that the New England Revolution played a defensive game always on the back of their heels. The wife saw it another way, but that is how I saw it. I felt queasy towards the end of the second half because I have been here two times before. The Revs go to overtime and the Revs lose in overtime. The first half of overtime was scoreless. In the middle of the second half of overtime, Kano Smith made a brilliant run through the exhausted Houston defense, passed it to Taylor Twellman and Twellman put an end to the 360+ minute scoring drought that the Revs have had in the MLS Cup. It was amazing, the cup was in sight. The wife, the wee one, and I were jumping up and down and hugging each other. I was ready to hit the fast forward on the TiVo because I couldn't handle it anymore. 40 seconds later, Houston scored. Looks like the Revs were not ready to start playing the game.
So the overtime ends and the score is at 1-1 and it was time for penalty kicks. I won't go into specifics, but Noonan put a little too much "umph" to a well placed shot that had it sail just over the upper 9, and Jay Heaps decided to pass it to the Pat Onstad to seal the deal for Houston. If a majority of New England cared about soccer, I think they would be wanting Jay Heaps' head. He was the one covering Brian Ching as he headed the equalizing Houston goal. He was also the one that struck one of the weakest penalty shots I have seen in a while. So looks like the Revolution are finding their place in New England sports: always good about getting to the final but never sealing the deal.
Luckily I had my brother-in-law around to console me with some co-op Hero and co-op Gears of War.
On a further note, I hope to never see Bruce Arena doing color commentary for a soccer game.
Sundays are full of planned activity already, so fitting in a live afternoon soccer viewing is pretty tough. So with the TiVo set with an extra hour (we almost got burned last weekend), we decided to watch it after the wife's soccer game. The wife informed me of an impromptu soccer party with the in-laws coming over. That's not a problem since I married a soccer family, but watching Super Bowls, MLS Cups, World Cup matches, are a bit difficult with three wee ones running all over the place.
We arrived home after the wife's soccer game and I immediately checked to make sure the TiVo was recording the right channel. Yes, I take one for the team by seeing spoilers just to make sure team gets to see the game. So 20 seconds into the the first half injury time, I see that we are recording the game and its the Revs up 1-0. Woohoo! But I have to keep my cool and put on my poker face so know one can read what the score I saw was. So the in-laws flood in and we beginning to feast on subs and pizza. We start watching the game and D.C. almost strikes early. Heh, I know it's not going in. Then in the 4th minute, Taylor Twellman pulls off this ridiculous shot with a ball that was behind him that finds the back of the net. It was glorious. Revs up 1-0. Ugh, that's the score for the next 41 minutes and 20 seconds. So for the next 41 minutes and 20 seconds, I witness an onslaught of United offense, peppering the Revs defense, always on the doorstep of scoring. Luckily for the Revs, Matt Reis (Revolution goalie) had United's number making incredible saves.
So the 45 minute and 20 seconds mark passes and now I am nervous. I am now in the area where I have no clue what the score is gonna be. The Revs get out of the first half unscathed. We fast forward past the half time show and hit the second half running.
I hate half time in sporting events. This gives teams a chance to learn from what they saw in the first half and change their game plan against opposing team. With the Revs playing a very defensive half, I would have expected United to hit the second half with a plan to dissect the Rev's defense. The Revs really needed another goal, some insurance that would allow United to score at least one and relieve some pressure from the defense and fans like myself. Well the Rev's offense decided not to show up for the second half, nor did they decided to hold any type of possession during the second half. So again, the half consisted of D.C. trying its hardest to get the ball in the back of the New England net. Luckily, Matt Reis was on his game, with only one scary moment that had him in "no man's land". United luckily didn't capitalize on that mistake and never put it in the net.
Shutting out D.C. United in the Eastern Conference Final at RFK is a awesome thing. However, I couldn't handle 86+ minutes of defensive soccer against United. Luckily, there were three kids running around the entire night to keep diverting my focus from the game.
I haven't lately let my soccer zaniness run wild on Vox lately and after watching tonight's game I just have to.
Today was the second game of the MLS Eastern Conference semifinals between the Chicago Fire and the New England Revolution. The semifinals consists of two games being played, one played at each participating teams home field, with the final scores tallied up. Last weekend, the Revs lost 1-0 at Chicago, so this weekend, the Revolution had to win this game and win by at least 2 goals. To most non-soccer fans (or fans of soccer that watch it every 4 years), winning by 2 goals is no easy task, especially in the playoffs. The wife and I were primed and ready to watch this game this morning until the wife informs me that two major player in the Revolution lineup, Clint Dempsey and Shalrie Joseph would not be playing this evening. Some of you may remember Dempsey as the only member of the US National team to score in the World Cup. He is an amazing player (should have seen more time in the World Cup) and was out due to an ankle injury. Joseph was out because of a suspension based on a ludicrous decision made by the league . So with this unfortunate news, we were ready to see the season end of our boys in blue.
With the wee one sleeping, we started up the TiVo with about a 15 minute buffer of game play ahead of what we were watching. Within the first minute, the Revs were shooting on goal. The wife and I were shocked and excited. The boys had come to play. The Revolution played incredible offense soccer, getting chance after chance on goal but never getting the one in. Around the 18th minute, Chicago scores a scrappy goal so now the score is 2-0 (remember, score from previous game carries over). The wife looks at me in disgust and hits the advance to real time button on the TiVo remote. The scoreboard magically changes to 1-1. OMG. We rewind and watch the play before the goal. First half ends, and it's 2-1 (aggregate).
Second half starts and immediately a substitution is made. Coach Nicols puts in Pat Noonan, an excellent midfielder who has sat out a majority of the season due to injury. An amazing and intriguing substitution. The substitution pays off because 13 minutes later, Noonan scores a goal to even the aggregate score. What ensues for the rest of the second half is one sided soccer totally controlled by the Revolution. You could tell they were hungry for the win and felt they were the better team. They looked like the better team but unfortunately no more balls went into the net.
Now, we move into overtime, where two 15 minute halves are played. If no goal is scored, then penalty kicks ensue. To keep this short, no goals were scored in the overtime. The momentum of the game actually shifted in the second extra time half since it looked like the Revolutions' gas tanks were on empty. They held their ground and took it to penalty kicks.
I hate penalty kicks. It is the one thing I hate about soccer. Too much tension and too much pressure on both the keeper and the kicker. Matt Reis, the Revolution keeper, eased my pain by saving the first shot. Jose Cancela, then score one for the Revolution. That was a good sign. At this point I am pacing from the couch to the kitchen whispering under my breath how Matt Reis is the man. All the sudden, an angry wife looks my way and heads into the wee one's room. ARGH! I woke her up. This is one of the problems of being a parent in the playoffs. You can't yell and get a full on cheer when something good happens in the game. You make the motions, arms flaying, clenched fists shaking, mouth wide open, head shaking, but no sound emits from your mouth. Now the shootout is on pause delaying the result of the game. Luckily, the wee one went back down fast and the wife and I watched Revs get the job done. The Chicago Fire have yet to win a playoff game in our house. Way to hold the fort lads.
The MLS soccer insanity gets to ensue a bit longer in the house. After the MLS ends, the wife and I shift our focus across the pond to the English Premier League. At least we don't have one team we cheer for in the Premiership, so it is a much more relaxing and peaceful experience.
This is soccer's (football) version of the coast to coast slam dunk. I saw this game on television Monday night (Tivo time delayed) and was just glad to see the English Premier League (EPL) back in action.
