As you may have noticed, many if not all of my posts have been about Chelsea FC. That is because I am a fan of Chelsea; but, I would like to apologize to those of you who are not explicitly interested in Chelsea. I am now becoming a fan of a different team; Swansea City. Several things attracted me to the Swans. 1.) Swansea plays some of the best attacking football in England. They pass like Barcelona, using triangle passes to silence opponents. 2.) Swansea is the first Welsh team to play in the Barclays Premier League ever. 3.) I like how Swansea seems to be filled with young players. Those teams, like the Tampa Bay Rays in Major League Baseball and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the National Basketball League, attract me. And finally, and this reason is truthfully the biggest, 4.) The Swans have probably the my favorite jersies in the whole league. The white and gold looks great.
ESPN Soccernet has a blogger who follows Swansea and Swansea alone; I think he is quite good, and found something especially cool. He analyzed the whole of Swansea's year, and did a good job of it. Here is the link, http://blogs.espncricinfo.com/swansea/, so you can enjoy that. I'll be back with more next time.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Spain wins... again.
Spain thrashed Italy 4-0 to win their 2nd consecutive Euro championship, and their 3rd straight major championship victory, a record. The arguments have begun to say that Spain is the greatest international side ever to play.
The final score line was deceiving; the game, to me, will always be 2-0. The final Torres and Mata goals were a little jaded, since the Italians were playing with ten men, most of whom were demoralized and out of energy. Spain really showed why they haven't lost in 40 some matches; it's so hard to beat them. They pass so well, even if they don't score after 30, 40, even 60 minutes, they will eventually score, because Xavi and Iniesta and Xabi Alonso and others dissect the defense. The only way to stop them is to put all your men behind the ball and play for penalties/draw. This isn't a secret; Chelsea showed the whole world this in beating Barca in that infamous two leg UCL semifinal. It's just impossibly hard to execute this plan that many teams can't win. Spain dominated the whole game, obviously, but they astounded the audience with beautiful play. The first goal showcased a beautiful through ball from Iniesta to Cesc Fabergas, who crossed the ball from the touch line to a flying David Silva. Silva headed the ball past Gianluigi Buffon. Jordi Alba, Spain's left back, made it two when he made a run past Xavi, recieved the ball then hit past Buffon. Italy still pushed to make a comeback, and looked like it until Thaigo Motta, who had been brought on as the Azzuri's last sub, was taken off with an injury. This brought Italy to ten men, and ended the game. Fernando Torres scored, and then fed Juan Mata, his Chelsea teammate, with an assist, which clinched him, not Mario Gomez, not Mario Balotelli, the Golden Boot for the tournament. That seems a little wrong doesn't it?
So then, here is the question; is this Spain team, the one that has made the run, the greatest ever? My answer is, yes. This is a record for a reason. No other team has done this. Not 1970 Brazil or early 70's West Germany. Spain plays the best football, despite being called boring, I have ever seen. They are without flaw in my mind. I can't wait to see them with a healthy, albeit older, David Villa at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Watching this Spain team is watching history.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Euro 2012 Final Preview
Italy and Spain, two world class powerhouses, will square off in Euro 2012's final, after Italy upset favorites Germany 2-1, with "Super Mario", Mario Balotelli, scoring twice for the Azzuri. Spain knocked Portugal out on penalties, winning 4-2.
Spain played messy soccer for 120 minutes. The chances were pretty even for both sides. Portugal had the upper hand for most of the first half, with Spain only one really good chance the whole half, when Negredo put the ball back into the box, but Arbeloa blasted the ball of the bar. The second half produced some dull play, with only a few real chances. Spain dominated extra time, but Riu Patricio had other ideas; Spain couldn't put the ball past him. Now we hit the penalties. Xabi Alonso and Joao Moutinho each had their penalties saved, and then Iniesta, Pepe, Pique, Nani and Sergio Ramos all put their shot past the keepers. Now Bruno Alves, who was forced to wait to kick after Nani replaced him in the walk up, drove his shot straight into the bar, leaving Cesc Fabergas the chance, which he took, to put La Rojas through.
Germany had been dominating the first twenty minutes when suddenly the Italians put a couple shots in on goal, finally resulting in Antonio Cassano turning past Mats Hummels and crossing the shot to Super Mario, Mario Balotelli, who took advantage Holger Badstubber's bad defense to head the ball past Manuel Neuer and score for the Azzuri. 16 minutes later he had doubled his delight, scoring off a counter attack that left the ragged Germans with only Phillip Lahm in a defensive position. Balotelli finished off the play with a strike that brought Neuer to his knees. Balotelli ripped his shirt off, so as to say "I know what I'm doing, and a yellow card doesn't hurt me." Mario was yellow carded for it, which led to him eventually being substituted off. In the second half, the Germans dominated again for the first twenty minutes, before the Italians again put some shots on goal, including several that nearly got past Manuel Neuer. Finally, in the 92nd minute, an Italian handball gave Mesut Ozil the chance, which he took, to put the ball past Gianluigi Buffon from the penalty spot. A frenzied two minutes then concluded the game.
A question must now be asked, and that is, can the Italians actually beat Spain? There is a possibility. Both are group C teams, and played each other in their first games. Though much has changed since that 1-1 draw, the outcome could be the same. Don't be surprised if penalties come into the mix.
My prediction: Spain wins 4-3 on penalties, drawing 1-1 in regular time.
Spain played messy soccer for 120 minutes. The chances were pretty even for both sides. Portugal had the upper hand for most of the first half, with Spain only one really good chance the whole half, when Negredo put the ball back into the box, but Arbeloa blasted the ball of the bar. The second half produced some dull play, with only a few real chances. Spain dominated extra time, but Riu Patricio had other ideas; Spain couldn't put the ball past him. Now we hit the penalties. Xabi Alonso and Joao Moutinho each had their penalties saved, and then Iniesta, Pepe, Pique, Nani and Sergio Ramos all put their shot past the keepers. Now Bruno Alves, who was forced to wait to kick after Nani replaced him in the walk up, drove his shot straight into the bar, leaving Cesc Fabergas the chance, which he took, to put La Rojas through.
Germany had been dominating the first twenty minutes when suddenly the Italians put a couple shots in on goal, finally resulting in Antonio Cassano turning past Mats Hummels and crossing the shot to Super Mario, Mario Balotelli, who took advantage Holger Badstubber's bad defense to head the ball past Manuel Neuer and score for the Azzuri. 16 minutes later he had doubled his delight, scoring off a counter attack that left the ragged Germans with only Phillip Lahm in a defensive position. Balotelli finished off the play with a strike that brought Neuer to his knees. Balotelli ripped his shirt off, so as to say "I know what I'm doing, and a yellow card doesn't hurt me." Mario was yellow carded for it, which led to him eventually being substituted off. In the second half, the Germans dominated again for the first twenty minutes, before the Italians again put some shots on goal, including several that nearly got past Manuel Neuer. Finally, in the 92nd minute, an Italian handball gave Mesut Ozil the chance, which he took, to put the ball past Gianluigi Buffon from the penalty spot. A frenzied two minutes then concluded the game.
A question must now be asked, and that is, can the Italians actually beat Spain? There is a possibility. Both are group C teams, and played each other in their first games. Though much has changed since that 1-1 draw, the outcome could be the same. Don't be surprised if penalties come into the mix.
My prediction: Spain wins 4-3 on penalties, drawing 1-1 in regular time.
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