Highlights from the U.S national team's campaign at the World Cup in South Africa 2010. Tonight, the U.S matches up against Leo Messi and the rest of the stellar Argentinian squad.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
England over Wales
England coast for an easygoing victory over Wales.
Wales was at home in their Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales earlier today. They would face an England squad who saw some controversy arise earlier this past week.
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| Welsh international Gareth Bale at training camp prior to their matchup against England |
Wales would be without star Gareth Bale, who is currently sidelined nursing an old injury. The injury isn’t reported as being a serious one, but rather one due to fatigue. He may only need about ten days of rest and should be back in the lineup for Tottenham.
Gary Speed, Wales’s head coach, insists he didn’t pick the injury up while training with national team. "He did the warm up on Tuesday, we took him off and he went for a scan on Wednesday and he had an injury there." – Speed added about Bales’ injury
The Three Lions had absolutely no trouble with the Welsh, despite being away from home.
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| Frank Lampard hits home England's first goal from the penalty spot |
England saw two goals come from Aston Villa’s Darren Bent, and Chelsea’s Frank Lampard. Lampard notched a penalty kick home in the seventh minute of the game. Darren Bent doubled England’s tally as he slotted home the game’s final goal in the fourteenth minute.
If there were one undesirable thing England received from the game, it would be Wayne Rooney’s yellow card. The yellow card ensures England’s bully will miss the next Euro 2012 qualifying match in Switzerland.
With the win England take top position in their Euro 2012 qualifying group, moving ahead of Montenegro.
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| Welsh captain Aaron Ramsey and English captain John Terry shake hands prior to the match |
John Terry saw his return as captain go remarkably smooth. It was his first game as captain of the England national squad in seventeen months.
The Welsh capped one of their youngest captains in their history. Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey captained the squad as he returned from a broken leg injury.
The Welsh fans were urged to support their team and young captain as they filled the stadium Saturday.
"I hope the fans stick with the side,'' he said. "We didn't give them too much to shout about today. The way things went in the first five minutes, it was very difficult against a top-quality team. But we are not always going to play England. Hopefully the fans can see that and when they come back next time they can shout us on again.'' – Welsh Manager Gary Speed
English manager, Fabio Cappelo has been under extreme pressure from English fans since their poor showing in South Africa. Cappelo defended his choices with an extremely well showing today.
Many were surprised by his changes in the line-up and slight changes in formation. England lined up in a 4-3-3, which came as a shock to some English fans. Although, Cappelo claims he has always lined up in a 4-3-3 and will almost always start in that formation.
England will now look forward to their match in Switzerland as they hope to follow up with another great performance and really take charge of their qualifying group.
Also don't forget USA takes on Argentina tonight at 6pm on ESPN 2!
England had little to worry about with Bale on the sideline. Check out his highlight tape from a UEFA Champions League Matchup:
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
England national team controversy
England National squad divided?
John Terry, who plays his club soccer for Chelsea FC, has been reestablished as the Captain for the England national team.
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| England Captain John Terry and manager Fabio Capello |
Fabio Capello replaced former Captain and Manchester United star, Rio Ferdinand with Terry. "I'm not going to be everybody's cup of tea, but it is the decision the manager has taken.” – John Terry
This has created some serious controversy because some don’t believe Terry is a suitable captain for the national team.
Just over a year ago, Terry was removed as captain of the national squad. This happened amid allegations he cheated on his wife with a girlfriend of one of his former teammates, Wayne Bridge.
Terry insists the guys on the team shouldn’t look at him for anything that happens off field, but rather for what he does on the field.
"It's important that you guys look at me on the pitch and see what kind of passion I play with, I think that can come across to you guys and players at grass roots." – England Captain, John Terry
Capello announced Terry’s reinstatement at a recent training session.
This is not the first off field controversy Terry has been involved in.
There was allegation he organized a secret tour of Chelsea’s training ground in exchange for £10,000.
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| John Terry speaks at a press conference held to announce his captaincy following a national team training session |
"I know what is asked of me on and off the pitch. Maybe the manager has looked into that as well. I have kept my head down on and off the pith and concentrated on playing well for club and country and have done that for the last year.” – John Terry
Terry held a press conference to address the media and some unlikely visitors.
Three school children had a chance to sit front row and ask the newly appointed captain any question they like.
"You are an inspiration as a player. But what kind of role model do think you are for boys of my age?" – The school reporters asked John Terry
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| New captain John Terry and former captain Rio Ferdinand training for the English national team |
Former captain Rio Ferdinand called Terry to “wish him well.”
Terry said they spoke for about ten minutes on the phone and Ferdinand reminded him that the most important thing was winning.
England has a game coming up on Saturday in Cardiff against Wales. The game is an important Euro 2012 qualifying game.
Monday, March 21, 2011
American Injured!
Stuart Holden, an American playing for Bolton Wanderers in England, was injured in a nasty tackle over the weekend.
Manchester United downed Bolton 1-0 when Dimitar Berbatov notched the games only goal, late, in the 88th minute.
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| Red Devils defender, Jonny Evans, makes a nasty tackle on Bolton's, Stuart Holden |
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| Holden being carried by stretcher following the challenge |
Nigel de Jong, Dutch National team player, led the challenge responsible for Holden’s broken leg last season.
If you happen to remember Nigel de Jong’s martial arts style kick on Xabi Alonso from the World Cup then you’re all too familiar with the nasty challenges that occur throughout the game.
Soccer has no place for brutal tackles like those done by Jonny Evans and Nigel de Jong.
Arsene Wenger, Arsenal FC, head coach agrees there needs to be harsher punishments for nasty tackles.
The FA needs to investigate more into tackles that cause injury to other players. There is definitely reason to call for a further game suspension for Jonny Evans.
The injury will cost Holden two U.S national team matches, and the rest of the premier league season. The U.S national team hosts Argentina in New Jersey on Saturday, and Paraguay on Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn.
U.S. national team head coach, Bob Bradley, was forced to make some changes to the roster for the two upcoming games. There were two others dropped from the roster along with Holden, Steve Cherundolo, and Zak Whitbread. Leeds United defender Erik Lichaj was one of the last additions to replace the injured players.
Holden must be reevaluated again on Sunday to hopefully determine the extent of the injury he received.
Here is a video of the tackle made by Jonny Evans on Stuart Holden:
Here is a video of the tackle made by Jonny Evans on Stuart Holden:
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Barcelona vs Arsenal 2010 UCL Highlights
Posted this video because of the monumental UEFA Champions League (UCL) match between Arsenal FC (London, England) and Barcelona FC (Barcelona, Spain). The second game of the two game series is taking place today at Estadio Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. Arsenal currently holds the lead 2-1 on aggregate after their home win at the Emirates Stadium. The video above is match highlights from last year’s second game of their UCL two game matchup. Barcelona won last year's matchup.
Enjoy! Check out team and stadium links!
Stadium of Light and Sunderland, hardly keeping books or hard to keep books?
Stadium of Light and Sunderland, hardly keeping books or hard to keep books?
With the passing of the January transfer window, The Black Cats have had to make a more conservative approach for the use of their available funds.
We’ve already seen big names like Darren Bent and Lorik Cana sold over the past year.
There has been speculation that Sunderland would have to sell all its big name players in order to keep their financial books balanced. (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11695_6802146,00.html)
Last year’s financial statements for Sunderland, show losses that increased by 1.4 million pounds from the previous year. Sunderland incurred gross transfer fees of 28 million pounds. (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11095_6754565,00%20en-USS_01DBC.html)
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| Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England Home of the Blackcats |
Sunderland hopes to overcome extensive fees and losses with gains in revenue from the sales of star players. These players include Kenwyne Jones, Marton Fulop or Martyn Waghorn. They are also set to receive a hefty fee for their former star striker Darren Bent.
Sunderland received 24 million pounds for the rights to Darren Bent.
Bent knows his role with his new club and understands he is expected to provide goals and wins as Villa pursue one of the top four spots in the Premier League.
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| Darren Bent of Aston Villa |
"Someone like Torres is proven in the top-flight and in my opinion is the best striker in the country, and if he goes for £50million you kind of think fair enough,” – Darren Bent added this of new Chelsea Signee Torres.
Bent, Carroll, and Torres must all be feeling the pressure for the record amounts of money spent on bringing them to top of English football.
"It definitely does add pressure.” Obviously for me it is pressure I have dealt with before because I went to Spurs for big money.” – Darren Bent on his new signing with Aston Villa FC.
Bent has made a little to no impact since signing with Aston Villa FC, and has yet to impress.
Bent has made a little to no impact since signing with Aston Villa FC, and has yet to impress.
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| Fernando Torres arrived at Stamford Bridge for a fee of £50 Million |
Fernando Torres has been an absolute disappointment so far. He has created very few chances for struggling Chelsea and has yet to convert any of those chances into goals.
Who will be the best signee from the January transfer window? There are still a handful of games left in the Premier League and still time for these big money men to impress.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Chelsea Extend Title Hopes
Chelsea Extend Title Hopes!
After an explosive start to the Premier League season, Chelsea has found themselves in somewhat of a slump. There is no doubt that key injuries throughout the season have contributed to the plunge. The Blues were desperately in need of a huge win.
With a 2-1 win over Manchester United, Chelsea maintained a chance in the race for the Premier League title.
"We've done that, and though Man United are deservedly top of the league at the moment, we've still got some fight in us as we showed tonight." – Frank Lampard said about the win.
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| Florent Malouda of Chelsea miss times a tackle against Manchester United's Michael Carrick |
Chelsea was powered by the penalty kick of Frank Lampard in the 79th. Chris Smalling, Manchester United Defender, tackled Yuri Zhirkov in the box.
Zhirkov came on as a second half substitute, and made his presence felt almost immediately. He sent a full volley screamer off of Nemanja Vidic for a Chelsea corner.
Nemanja Vidic played an extremely sound game in the back for the Red Devils, but was eventually sent off in extra time for taking down Ramires; resulting in his second yellow card offense.
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| David Luiz of Chelsea makes a challenge against Wayne Rooney of Manchester United |
Rooney and Chelsea Center Back David Luiz had an ongoing skirmish on the field. Luiz made several nasty challenges on Rooney, one of which could’ve seen him sent off.
David Luiz has been playing absolutely amazing in his few games. He scored a smashing half-volley that put the Blues back in the game and knotted it at 1-1.
"We defended badly for the first goal; that was a bad one to lose. We played very well. I thought it was great performance and we didn't deserve that. I'm proud of my payers, they did their best, created chances and played football." – Manager Sir Alex Ferguson added after the defeat.
United looked solid the whole game, just as they have the whole Premier League season.
“Man United are fantastic, they played really well, but we managed to keep going even at 1-0 down." – Chelsea Manager Carlo Ancelloti.
Sir Alex made a change of his own in the second half, and sent on Ryan Giggs.
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| Ryan Giggs of Manchester United |
Giggs, who has already enjoyed many Premier League honors, went onto the pitch for his 606th Premier League appearance for Manchester United. Giggs long, decorated career began back in March 1991 when he made his first appearance for United.
"Giggs is a phenomenal man," – Sir Alex had this to say about Giggs.
Chelsea will train through the rest of the week, (Pray Ashley Cole doesn’t Shoot anybody) as they prepare for their match against Blackpool on Monday March 7th.
Manchester United look to avenge their second loss of the season; they match up against Liverpool on Sunday March 6th.
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