A Final to savour for the purists and the continuing Metatarsal jinx
When the Champions League semifinal second leg kicked off in spain last week, all the teams knew that they had a chance to progress. After all, the first leg was a very close call with one goal separating the teams.
Arsenal survived a severe onslaught by Villareal to hang on to their 1 goal lead. The match was a one-sided affair throughout. Villareal were guilty of not converting the chances to a goal. They could have easily grabbed 2 goals. Franco, unfortunately had most of the opportunities none of which he could take. Forlan got a sitter, which he could not slot into an empty net.
When the match was meandering towards a draw, the ref reminded he was very much there on the pitch by awarding an outrageous penalty on the 89th minute, which seemed to amuse the diver, Jose Mari. Some kind of justice was done for their turned down penalty appeal at Highbury. But another kind of justice was done when the Argentine midfield general, Riquelme came up with a mediocre penalty which was well saved by Lehmann. Arsenal held on to progress to their first Champions League final. Another interesting event in this match was that involving a Barca fan, who was trying to decorate Henry with a Barca jersey. The professional he is, Henry hardly let the incident affect him.
Milan came to Camp Nou with an almost impossible mission. They could have wiped off the arrear in the very first minute had Kaka's shot been on target. Barca attacked and defended well. Had Eto'o been a bit more unselfish, they could have scored a goal. Dida did well between the sticks for Milan.
The boisterous home crowd was stunned into silence when Shevchenko headed the ball past Valdes in the second half. But the ref did not let it count for Shevchenko seemed to be fouling Puyol. Replays showed that the decision was very much debatable. Whatever said, Barca played the best football over two legs and deserved to go to Paris.
So an Anglo-Spanish final awaits us on May 17th in Paris. This week, another Anglo-Spanish final in the form of UEFA cup is going to take place at the Philipps Stadion between Boro and Seville. Boro's march has been nothing short of a revelation. They have done the Houdini act, twice in both Quarters and Semis, to come this far. Their unlikely hero on both the occassions has been Massimo Maccarone.
The EPL also witnessed some significant moments this weekend. Chelsea won their successive title drubbing nearest rivals Manchester United 3-0. Alan Curbishley, the second longest serving manager among the current crop, decided to call time on his Charlton career. Harry does the "Houdini" as Portsmouth stay in the premiership for another season. Gerrard banged in two as Liverpool defeated Aston Villa 3-1. Spurs weathered a Bolton storm for much of the match and by the sheer brilliance of Carrick and Lennon scored a solitary goal which gave them 3 points and puts them in the driver's seat for the last Champions League berth.
The most significant moment though, has to be the fact that we were all getting to see Michael Owen play after a long time. The striker was coming out of a long lay-off caused due to a broken metatarsal. While Owen was not exactly match fit and was on a comeback, his mercurial striker partner Rooney suffered an injury, serious enough to put his World Cup hopes in jeopardy. And agonizingly,Rooney has a broken metatarsal. During last World cup, Beckham had suffered a similar injury, just weeks before the finals. Rooney himself was a victim at Euro 2004. This season, Owen, Ashley Cole and now Rooney have all fallen to this injury. The worst thing is this has happened just days before Sven announces the squad and has happened to main players. Rooney's individual brilliance cannot be emulated by anyone else in the country. I just hope, England get past the group stage without him and then unleash a fit Rooney on the opposition in the knockout stages. At present though, the situation looks grim for the "Three Lions".
When the Champions League semifinal second leg kicked off in spain last week, all the teams knew that they had a chance to progress. After all, the first leg was a very close call with one goal separating the teams.
Arsenal survived a severe onslaught by Villareal to hang on to their 1 goal lead. The match was a one-sided affair throughout. Villareal were guilty of not converting the chances to a goal. They could have easily grabbed 2 goals. Franco, unfortunately had most of the opportunities none of which he could take. Forlan got a sitter, which he could not slot into an empty net.
When the match was meandering towards a draw, the ref reminded he was very much there on the pitch by awarding an outrageous penalty on the 89th minute, which seemed to amuse the diver, Jose Mari. Some kind of justice was done for their turned down penalty appeal at Highbury. But another kind of justice was done when the Argentine midfield general, Riquelme came up with a mediocre penalty which was well saved by Lehmann. Arsenal held on to progress to their first Champions League final. Another interesting event in this match was that involving a Barca fan, who was trying to decorate Henry with a Barca jersey. The professional he is, Henry hardly let the incident affect him.
Milan came to Camp Nou with an almost impossible mission. They could have wiped off the arrear in the very first minute had Kaka's shot been on target. Barca attacked and defended well. Had Eto'o been a bit more unselfish, they could have scored a goal. Dida did well between the sticks for Milan.
The boisterous home crowd was stunned into silence when Shevchenko headed the ball past Valdes in the second half. But the ref did not let it count for Shevchenko seemed to be fouling Puyol. Replays showed that the decision was very much debatable. Whatever said, Barca played the best football over two legs and deserved to go to Paris.
So an Anglo-Spanish final awaits us on May 17th in Paris. This week, another Anglo-Spanish final in the form of UEFA cup is going to take place at the Philipps Stadion between Boro and Seville. Boro's march has been nothing short of a revelation. They have done the Houdini act, twice in both Quarters and Semis, to come this far. Their unlikely hero on both the occassions has been Massimo Maccarone.
The EPL also witnessed some significant moments this weekend. Chelsea won their successive title drubbing nearest rivals Manchester United 3-0. Alan Curbishley, the second longest serving manager among the current crop, decided to call time on his Charlton career. Harry does the "Houdini" as Portsmouth stay in the premiership for another season. Gerrard banged in two as Liverpool defeated Aston Villa 3-1. Spurs weathered a Bolton storm for much of the match and by the sheer brilliance of Carrick and Lennon scored a solitary goal which gave them 3 points and puts them in the driver's seat for the last Champions League berth.
The most significant moment though, has to be the fact that we were all getting to see Michael Owen play after a long time. The striker was coming out of a long lay-off caused due to a broken metatarsal. While Owen was not exactly match fit and was on a comeback, his mercurial striker partner Rooney suffered an injury, serious enough to put his World Cup hopes in jeopardy. And agonizingly,Rooney has a broken metatarsal. During last World cup, Beckham had suffered a similar injury, just weeks before the finals. Rooney himself was a victim at Euro 2004. This season, Owen, Ashley Cole and now Rooney have all fallen to this injury. The worst thing is this has happened just days before Sven announces the squad and has happened to main players. Rooney's individual brilliance cannot be emulated by anyone else in the country. I just hope, England get past the group stage without him and then unleash a fit Rooney on the opposition in the knockout stages. At present though, the situation looks grim for the "Three Lions".
posted by Marauder | 11:03 AM
1 Comments:
All England hopes at this WC are gone, unless Sven can somehow inspire the other players - Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham to put on the show of their life.
Arsenal-Barca...2 worthy teams...a dream final!
Sweet homecoming for Harry as Portsmouth stay up...it will be interesting to see who he brings this transfer window as the new Russian owner has promised lots of funds!
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