They're Back! Ronaldinho 2, Rooney 3

Ronaldinho scored 2 goals against Recreativo Huelva (Xavi scored the third), helping Barcelona keep their lead in La Liga. Rooney scored a hat trick against Bolton (and Ronaldo the fourth).

Hopefully this will shut people up. I hate it when the media and "fans" pick on players when they have a bad run. Being a fan means supporting your team, and your guy, even when they're not doing so well. I don't like Rooney, but come on, leave the kid alone. And reading players say stuff like this makes me sad, especially because Ronaldinho is not just a good player, but also a good guy.

I Hate It When I Agree with Sepp

In an interview with SBS Television (Sydney), Sepp Blatter was quoted as saying that Australia should have played in the quarter-finals instead of eventual champions Italy. You will remember the Totti dive.

In the interview Sunday, Blatter said referees at this year's cup finals "were not at their best." The antics of players was the real problem for the game, he said: "I think there was too much cheating on the players' side. I agree with them and I would like to apologise (to) our fans in Australia...The Socceroos should have gone into the quarter-finals in place of Italy... you go into extra time and you are 11 against 10. But that is presumptuous."

If only they had.

Queen Elizabeth, Arsenal Fan

Queen Elizabeth, who had been due to officially open the Gunners' new stadium today, has cancelled the visit due to a strained muscle in her back, her office said. A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said doctors had advised the queen, who sustained the back injury two weeks ago at Balmoral, to reduce her workload. She was supposed to have met Arsenal staff, fans and players, including Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry, on a tour of the new multi-million pound facility. I'm sure Henry is devestated.

The decision not to attend Thursday was taken "reluctantly," the spokeswoman said; Prince Philip, who was to accompany her, will attend in her place. I hear he's an ass, so I'm sure that will be fun for the boys. Anyway, if royalty was called for, they should've sent William or Harry, and not two 80-somethings who (I'm sure) have no idea about anything to do with soccer.

Note the Boots, and Other Random News

Terry's Boots -- In the funniest story of the week (so far), Reuters reports that two men have been arrested on suspicion of trying to steal the boots of England soccer captain John Terry last week. The men are accused of entering Chelsea's changing rooms after their 1-0 home victory over Barcelona in the Champions league on Wednesday. The men were arrested in a 'non-public' area of Chelsea's ground in southwest London and taken to a nearby police station. They have since been released on police bail. "We can confirm we are investigating an allegation of burglary at Stamford Bridge," a London police spokeswoman said. But (and thank god!) apparently the boots have been recovered and reunited with their owner.

This is How Rumors Get Started -- Newcastle coach Glenn Roeder says that if David Beckham decides to return to the Premiership clubs would be falling all over themselves to have him. A kind of pointless thing to say, and not sure why it's news (so why am I writing about it, you ask?), because Beckham has said 1) that he is not interested in leaving Real Madrid despite being frustrated about the fact that he never starts; and 2) he could never play against Manchester United in the Premiership. Plus I can't imagine he'll want to ever, ever go to Newcastle. But Roeder can dream, I suppose.

Faking It at the World Cup -- FIFA demonstrated its ability to state the obvious by announcing that players cheated in the World Cup by faking injuries (Portugal, anyone?). FIFA's chief medical officer, Professor Jiri Dvorak, presented findings to the referees committee today that "showed a cheating culture at the highest level of the game." According to Dvorak, there were too many players feigning injury in Germany, with tactical reasons presented as the most likely cause of their action. Ya think?

And finally...Toure to Stay with Arsenal -- Arsenal defender Kolo Toure has signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal. The 25-year-old Ivory Coast international, who joined the Gunners in February 2002, said, "I can see myself staying here for the rest of my career...Why would I want to leave. I love my football here, my family is settled here and the club is ambitious. It is fantastic.'' Excellent.

And this is why they call it beautiful...

Reading 0-4 Arsenal

One of the most elegant games I've seen. Amazing stuff -- and SO not English. Reminded me of Argentina's passing game during the World Cup. In my completely biased and somewhat uninformed view, if they keep playing like this, Arsenal are going to win not only the EPL, but maybe...maybe the Champions League (assuming Barca continue their disappointing run). But if it can't be them, please god, don't let it be Man Utd. Or Chelsea. Or AC Milan.

Chelsea Officially Worse than Yankees

Chelsea is set to throw some more money around and buy even more top-grade talent -- rumors are that the team is about to make a bid for Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon. Buffon's agent, Paolo Fabbri, told The Sun: "We are aware that [Chelsea owner] Roman Abramovich can offer fortunes. What he needs is to convince the player it's the right move for him...This is not a financial issue, it's about a chance in life." Not a financial issue -- RIGHT.

Buffon has stuck with Juve (so far) despite the team being demoted to Serie B for their role in a match-fixing scandal. Fabbri added: "I don't think he wants to leave Italy but things can change very quickly in football."

This is all very interesting, since very recently Jose Mourinho said about Fabien Barthez: "What we have to try to get is a third goalkeeper and Fabien is not a preferred third goalkeeper. He is a high-profile goalkeeper." I don't blame him -- we all know how I feel about Barthez -- but ha ha, like Buffon is in any way low-profile. I like him though. I just wish he wasn't going to Chelsea.

Sigh

Blackburn came from a goal down to beat Wisla Krakow 2-1 in their UEFA Cup Group E match -- but the win was overshadowed by allegations of racial abuse suffered by Rovers' striker Benni McCarthy. The 28-year-old South African was so incensed by what he considered intolerable abuse that he squared up to Serbian defender Nikola Mijailovic after the game. I hope he kicked his ass.

Manager Mark Hughes said: "Benni was upset because a number of comments were made to him during the game...of a racist nature. It's unfortunate something like this will tend to overshadow a great performance."

Everyone always talks about eliminating racism from the game, but I'm not sure how you go about doing that. If its tolerated and/or encouraged in society, it will be on the pitch. If its tolerated and/or encouraged by football leadership (a-hem, Aragones) it will be on the pitch. Perhaps if there were more brown/black/Muslim/Jewish/whatever else coaches, managers and owners...

Someone Please Explain This to Me

New FIFA rankings are out (previous month's ranking in brackets, points total):

1. (1) Brazil 1,560
2. (5) Italy 1,540
3. (2) France 1,483
4. (3) Argentina 1,446
5. (4) England 1,370
6. (8) Germany 1,339
7. (6) Netherlands 1,313
8. (7) Czech Republic 1,253
9. (9) Portugal 1,224
10. (10) Spain 1,198
11. (11) Nigeria 1,139
12. (12) Cameroon 1,110
13. (13) Ukraine 1,054
14. (22) Greece 979
15. (14) Switzerland 978
16. (18) Sweden 975
17. (15) Uruguay 903
18. (19) Ivory Coast 893
19= (17) Mexico 882
19= (24) Croatia 882

I SO don't understand this points thing -- how France can be ahead of them in Euro 2008 Group B but behind them in FIFA rankings? It's a mystery. And how is England ahead of Germany?? Still, it's nice to see so many non-European (esp African) countries here.

Random News

...ah, it's good to be back. Wisconsin was cold, cold, cold. So here we go:

CSKA Moskva v. Arsenal -- Halftime, Moskva 1-0 Arsenal. Yikes.

Petr Cech -- So I'm not a big fan of Chelsea, but holy cow. I didn't see it, but Cech apparently has a fractured skull from the weekend's game against Reading (Chelsea won, 1-0). Stephen Hunt's knee hit Cech's head in a collision minutes into the game. Drogba was quoted as saying, "Don't tell me tall stories, this was not an accident...He (Hunt) saw that he was going to collide with Petr and he didn't try to avoid it. The worst came after that. When Petr was carried out of the ground, he (Hunt) was laughing..." Can't say whether or not it was an accident, since I didn't see it, but if Hunt was laughing, that's pretty inexcusable, accident or no.

To add to the drama, it apparently took the ambulance 30 minutes to reach Cech. Jose Mourinho is rightly furious, and has demanded to know why. Reports are that Cech has regained consciousness, but his dad says he won't play football for a year. Reading has released a statement supporting Hunt.

Get better Petr.

Ballon d'Or Nominations -- Some good names here (but we all know who I'm rooting for). My picks for the short list highlighted. Who do I think will acutally win? Hmm. Probably Cannavaro. Maybe Ribery, for his come-from-nowhere World Cup performance. Maybe Henry, because it's just his turn.

Michael Ballack (Chelsea), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Tim Cahill (Everton), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Cristiano Cris (Lyon), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Deco (Barcelona), Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Michael Essien (Chelsea), Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), William Gallas (Arsenal), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Ludovic Giuly (Barcelona), Fabio Grosso (Inter Milan), Thierry Henry (Arsenal), Juninho (Lyon), Kaka (AC Milan), Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayer Munich), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Jens Lehmann (Arsenal), Claude Makelele (Chelsea), Florent Malouda (Lyon), Edison Mendez (PSV Eindhoven), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Franck Ribery (Marseille), Ronaldinho (Barcelona), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal), Arjen Robben (Chelsea), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Willy Sagnol (Bayern Munich), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Lilian Thuram (Barcelona), Tiago (Lyon), Luca Toni (Fiorentina), Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid), Patrick Vieira (Inter Milan), David Villa (Valencia), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona), Zinedine Zidane (Retired).

Aragones Stays -- Under-fire Spain coach Luis Aragones got a vote of confidence from the national football federation despite his team having lost two of their opening three Group F Euro qualifiers. Why, why, why?? Federation president Angel Maria Villar said Aragones "would see his contract through to the end." A 2-1 win over Argentina in a friendly gave Aragones, who has been in charge of Spain since 2004, some breathing space. Villar denied that he had been in contact with coach Miguel Angel Lotina as a possible replacement for Aragones.

Summary of Wednesday's Euro 2008 Matches

Wednesday was again another Euro 2008 Qualifying day. There were some interesting results. England falling apart and losing 0-2 to Croatia. Portugal drops one to Poland. Not too much excitement. Here are the results:

Group A
Belgium 3-0 Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan 0-2 Finland
Serbia 3-0 Armenia
Poland 2-1 Portugal

Group B
Ukraine 2-0 Scotland
Georgia 1-3 Italy
France 5-0 Faroe Islands

Group C
Bosnia-Herz. 0-4 Greece
Malta 2-1 Hungary
Turkey 5-0 Moldova

Group D
Ireland 1-1 Czech Rep.
Slovakia 0-4 Germany
Wales 3-1 Cyprus

Group E
Croatia 2-0 England
Russia 2-0 Estonia
Andorra 0-3 Macedonia

Group F
Iceland 1-2 Sweden
Liech'stein 0-4 Denmark
N. Ireland 1-0 Latvia

Group G
Belarus 4-2 Slovenia
Luxembourg 0-1 Bulgaria
Holland 2-1 Albania

Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall

Sigh.

Allez!

Scotland doesn't stand a chance.

Fabien Barthez Retires From Soccer

Fabien Barthez has decided to retire from soccer. "I am starting a new life," Barthez said. "I will continue to enjoy myself ... but without soccer."

Barthez helped France win the 1998 World Cup and only three months ago helped them make it to the 2006 Finals. He had a successful club career playing for both Manchester United and Marseille.

Barthez quit Man United in January 2004 after 139 appearances in the English Premier League and rejoined Marseille. He played 180 league games for Marseille and in 1993 helped it become the only French team to win the European Cup.

Barthez said he is considering an offer to be a television commentator at next year's rugby union World Cup. "Why not? That would be interesting," Barthez said on French television. "I grew up surrounded by rugby."

He's has had his ups and downs. but has always been on winning teams.

Good Luck!

Euro Qualifiers Are On Their Way But We Had Some EPL Action Last Week

Due to circumstances beyond my control I was unable to write a blog for the past week. But now I'm back and we are about to come up on an International weekend. See Shona's previews for upcoming matches.

For last weekend there were a couple of interesting matches. Bolton played the game of their lives and put Liverpool in their place beating them 2-0. I didn't see the match myself, but sounds like Liverpool just couldn't get it togther.

The other big suprise of the weekend was Chelsea drawing Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. Martin O'Neil has taken this mediocre team of last year into a top club early. Villa have not lost a match yet this season, who would have thought. It's always great to see Chelsea drop points and show that they are truly going to be the next Real Madrid. Spend loads of money, have a team of superstars and do nothing. I hope that;s what they do. Did I mention Ashley Cole is a twat.

Arsenal took a road win off Charlton beating them 2-1 at The Valley. Robin van Persie scored two beautiful goals for Arsenal. It was a pretty tough match overall, but Arsenal looked to be the better team and put this one away.

The Argentinian coach is now urging his two players Mascherano and Tevez to leave West Ham at the January break. Since the two arrived, West Ham has yet to win a match. So many thought that this was going to put West Ham on top of the league, but that certainly hasn't happened. If I were them, I would leave.

Here are the rest of the scores for the weekend:

Sat., Sep. 30
Bolton 2-0 Liverpool
Charlton 1-2 Arsenal
Chelsea 1-1 Aston Villa
Everton 1-1 Man City
Sheffield Utd 2-1 Boro
Sun., Oct. 1
Blackburn 2-1 Wigan
Man Utd 2-0 Newcastle
Spurs 2-1 Portsmouth
West Ham 0-1 Reading
Mon., Oct. 2
Watford 3-3 Fulham

What a Dick

So Materazzi is apparently "getting tired" of trying to make up with Zidane after the World Cup, and concerned that 50 years from now people will not remember his goal in the final.

"I've always said that I am ready to make up and I've even told FIFA, verbally and in writing," he said. "I've tried everything to make up with him and I'm tired of it...I also received a letter from the United Nations asking me to be a spokesperson for them. They're hoping to set up a meeting and Zidane should be there too. If he's there, good. Otherwise I won't try to make peace anymore. I'm getting tired of it."

GRRR. First of all, we know you didn't make some innocuous comment about his sister. We know you said something pretty terrible, and probably racist. Understandable if Zidane never wants to see you again. God knows I don't. And second, dude move ON. You got your Nike ad out of this, so don't pretend it's some great burden you're carrying around.

And just so you know, 50 years from now, Zidane will be remembered as the greatest player of his generation. And you will be a footnote.

P.S. WHAT is the UN thinking, making this guy a spokesman??

(In other, related news, Mehana Mouhou, a French lawyer, is going to contest Zidane's World Cup final red card in the French civil courts. He wants the red card overturned on a technicality because he claims the fourth official watched video evidence of the head-butt before bringing it to the referee's attention. Mouhou will have his day in court on December 7; however, chances of success are reported to be slim, as the court is apparently is "ill-desposed" to judge on sporting matters. M. Mouhou, we appreciate the sentiment, but again, MOVE ON.)

Henry Voted Best Ever EPL Foreigner

In a poll of more than 1.5 people, Thierry Henry was voted the greatest foreigner to ever play in the EPL. Eric Cantona (another Frenchman) was #2.

Very nice (Henry is my favorite still playing), but pretty funny: only England would have a "best foreigner" poll -- can you imagine if we did that in the States? It would be all over CNN, the immigration folks would be up in arms and I'm sure Congress would find a way to get involved. But nice to know that England loves him as much as I do.

Euro 2008 Qualifiers: Injury Row

France v. Scotland : France strikers Louis Saha and Sidney Govou are doubtful for Saturday's Euro 2008 Group B qualifier against Scotland because of injuries: Saha sustained a groin strain in Manchester United's 1-0 Champions League victory at Benfica, and Govou hurt his left ankle in Olympique Lyon's 1-0 Ligue 1 win at Sochaux on Saturday. This should be fine for us -- not that we won't miss them, but a) all our regular guys are playing; b) our bench is pretty deep; and c) 3-4 Scotland players will be out on injury as well (see below).

Spain v. Sweden: Jose Antonio Reyes, who we don't like, has dropped out of the Spain squad with an injury (a "minor muscle tear") and will miss his side's Euro 2008 Group F qualifier away to Sweden on Saturday. Spain coach Luis Aragones could call up a replacement with Celta Vigo's Borja Oubina, Villarreal's Cani or Valencia's Jaime Gavilan among those pressing for a place. Spain are joint second in Group F with three points from two games, three behind first-place Sweden.

Italy v. Ukraine: Italy defender Fabio Grosso has been ruled out of Saturday's European Championship qualifier against Ukraine due to a thigh strain. He will also miss the Group B game in Georgia on Wednesday.

Germany v. Slovakia: Germany defender Marcell Jansen was ruled out of the team's next two games with a knee injury. This is in addition to Per Mertesacker and Christoph Metzelder, as well as reserves Jens Nowotny and Robert Huth. Germany host Georgia in a friendly on Saturday in Rostock before playing their third Euro 2008 qualifier away to Slovakia in Bratislavia on October 11.

Bulgaria and Poland were also hit with injuries. Not sure any of these will make much difference in the end, we'll see.

Coupet (Also) Still Bitter About World Cup

France goalkeeper Gregory Coupet (who I like a lot) has said he is still bitter about being a reserve at the World Cup. As we know Domenech preferred Fabien Barthez (who I could take or leave).

"All I can say is that last year I was the number one," said Coupet. "...there was a terrible disappointment. It was like being kicked in the face."

Not the best or more graceful way to say it, but he's right. Barthez was not the right pick -- World Cup winner or no, he gave us all heart attacks with his, uh, unorthodox style. And after watching Coupet's amazing performance against Italy last month, I wonder what if...

Once More, With Feeling

Claude Makelele, the best defensive midfielder in the world (my humble opinion), has announced his plans to retire after France's Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

We all remember that Makelele has retired before -- twice. He was brought back by Zizou once, and now Domenech. For once I agree with Mourinho -- it hurts, but it's time to let him go. Nice guy that he is, Makelele has agreed to continue playing for his country but insists he will not be part of the team if France makes it to Euro 2008 (which of course they will).

"For me, it is clear," the 33-year-old said in L'Equipe. "I will not be going to the Euros...I believe by participating in the qualification campaign I am fulfilling a reasonable objective. What I want is for France to qualify so that I can stop playing in peace."

Merci bien, Claude, pour tout. We'll miss you.

Scotland Injuries

I know very little about the Scotland team other than that they are tied with/slightly ahead of France in Group B of the Euro 2008 qualifying round (the two teams play each other on October 7 in Scotland). But World Soccer News reports that Reading defender Graeme Murty has withdrawn from the squad with a hamstring injury and there are doubts over defenders Russell Anderson and Kevin McNaughton and West Brom midfielder Nigel Quashie.

Clearly not good for Scotland. But maybe this means that Domenech can rest Makelele a bit (and Thuram). Allez!

Donadoni Names New Squad

World Cuppers Luca Toni, Alessandro Del Piero and barf, Marco Matterazzi are back for the October Euro 2008 qualifiers: October 7 vs. Ukraine in Rome's Olympic Stadium and October 11 vs. Georgia in Tbilisi. I suppose they will win both, but wouldn't it be so great if they didn't? Fucking Materazzi. I hope he scores an own-goal. Or two.