The Champions League Final is Europe’s biggest football match. The teams fighting for the ultimate price this year could not have a more different culture. On one side Bayern with a rejuvenated side against Chelsea’s old guard led by John Terry, who will miss the final due to suspension for a red card in the semi-final against Barcelona. Read more →
Changing of the Guards?
Yesterday’s German Cup Final saw Borussia Dortmund beat Bayern Munich 5-2 thus marking the highest cup defeat for Bayern and securing the first League and Cup for J
Europa League Final 2012: Athletic Bilbao – Atletico Madrid
As was often the case in the past, finals are occasions that are hyped up by the media and never hold up to their initial promise. This game started brightly with Falcao scoring just after 7 minutes after which the game became a dull event. The highlights of the game were the goals by Falcao and Diego as well as the pressure Bilbao built up during periods of the game. It was not to be as Madrid secured their second UEFA Europa League trophy in three years. Read more →
Spanish Dominance
Last year’s Europa League Final in Dublin was dubbed the Portuguese Championship. This year’s edition will feature two teams from Spain but it is by no means a championship decider like 2011’s final. Atletico Madrid and Athletic Club Bilbao both deserve their place in Bukarest tomorrow night as they have been the most constant and without a doubt best teams in the competition this season. Yet, by no means will this be a title decider as Real Madrid have secured the title last weekend, thus ending Barcelona’s dominance in the Spanish Primera Division. Read more →
The Life Span Of A Team
After Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Chelsea, which surprisingly was won by Chelsea after a spirited display at Stamford Bridge in the first leg and a bloody minded performance at the Camp Nou in the return leg, questions have been raised as the life-span of a football team. Particularly after Barcelona’s performance. Read more →
Money Matters
Prince once sang otherwise but certainly he has no clue about football, modern football especially where money is the only way to become successful and remain among the top clubs in Europe. This is what Germany’s clubs have in mind after seeing the new deal for the television rights being signed for
Capital Football: Berliner AK 07 – Hertha BSC II 1:1
Berlin, Poststadion. Not far away from Berlin’s shiny new main station, located in Moabit does the Poststadion offer a look back into the old Berlin. A modern athletic track is surrounded by terraces and a stand that have seen better days; worse was the immediate surrounding just behind the ground where there were nothing but overgrown and unused land. It certainly did not look like the centre of Berlin. The home club also enjoy a guaranteed crowd at every home game as a prison has windows towards the pitch and surely some inmates are watching. Read more →
The first Goal
Monday last week Germany grieved for Timo Konietzka, who died aged 73 of cancer. Friedhelm as was his real name was the first ever goalscorer of the newly established Bundesliga in 1963 when his team Borussia Dortmund lost away at SV Werder Bremen 2:3. He opened the scoring after just 58 seconds. He finished the season on 20 goals, second behind Uwe Seeler who scored 30. Read more →
Two Horse Race
There are few words in English that are better suited to describe a title race with only two serious contenders. Two horse race describes the situation in many European top footballing divisions at this stage of the season. For obvious reasons, Scotland and Spain will be excluded in this little summary of Europe’s best football leagues as these two constitute nothing but a duopoly for at least the last ten years, if not more. Read more →
The Stolen Game
FIFA have stolen the game from England! So said Sir Dave Richards at conference today. What a pleasure to read Sir Dave Richards comments on the origins of the game! If there was need to prove that the governing body of English football, The FA along with the Premier League, of which Richards is the chairman, have lost the plot, he has delivered it today. Speaking at a sports security conference held in Qatar, who host the FIFA 2018 World Cup, he accused them of putting their heads in the sand when the ban of alcohol is confirmed. He did not stop there. He went on to describe FIFA and UEFA as thieves who took the game away from its craddle after modern football was established in England, notably Richards home town Sheffield.
Rant against FIFA and UEFA
Reading the quotes in the guardian newspaper one cannot help but think if Richards was drunk when he went on his rant against UEFA and FIFA and also Qatar, the hosts of the conference and a World Cup. These comments come at a time when it appears that the relationship between FIFA and English football appear to be improving after the fall out of the disaster of late 2010, when England crashed out of the voting for the World Cup with just two votes in the first round. It underlines that some just have not learned from past mistakes and proves English insularity is alive and kicking.