Fernando Torres, Andriy Shevchenko, Shaun Wright-Phillips – anyone else see a pattern here?
I feel vindicated thus far in the first paragraph of this post.
I have a lot of respect for Leonardo, but Inter Milan’s coach’s tactical acumen seems lacking. Cambiasso riding the bench in the second leg? I believe Ralf Rangnick, Schalke’s coach outfoxed Leonardo.
In case you were wondering, in Brazil they call a miss like the one Gomes, the goalkeeper for Spurs, made against Real Madrid a frango. The fact that he gave it up on a shot by Cristiano Ronaldo only makes it worse.
Lúcio seemed a bit testy, didn’t he?
As for Saturday’s games, obviously most of the attention will be on El Clásico, the La Liga match in Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium between second place Real Madrid (WWWLW) and FC Barcelona (WDWWW). It will be on both Gol TV and ESPN Deportes at 4 p.m. EDT.
This is a contest steeped in history; not only the history of the sport, but the history of Spain from the Spanish Civil War forward. FC Barcelona’s motto is “Més que un club,” more than a club in Catalan and the symbol that the team represents to Catalonia cannot be understated. Betrayal – perceived or actual – is bitterly resented. When Luis Figo transferred from Barcelona to Real Madrid he was called all manner of names and two years later at Barcelona’s Nou Camp Stadium, Figo, who normally took corner kicks had coins, cell phones, the head of a rooster and the head of a pig tossed at him by Barcelona’s notorious ultras, the Boixois Nois. It was a disgraceful moment in a game that mercifully ended in a 0-0 tie.
That being said, if you’re a fan of the sport or have the slightest interest in it, the game is not to be missed.
Another important game is Manchester United against Manchester City in the semifinal of the FA Cup on Fox Soccer Channel at 12 noon EDT.
Here’s the rest of what’s on tomorrow. As always, live games only are listed, home teams are listed first and all times are EDT.
English Premier League:
West Bromwich Albion (DWDWW) v Chelsea (WWWDW) at The Hawthorns at 10 a.m on Fox Soccer Channel.
West Ham United (WWDLL) v Aston Villa (WLLDW) at Upton Park at 10 a.m. on Fox Soccer Plus.
Italian Serie A:
Roma (WWDLW) v Palermo (LLWLD) at 12 noon on Fox Soccer Plus.
AC Milan (WDLWW) v Sampdoria (LLLDL) at 2:30 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.
Steeplejack
You’ve got two matches on at 10:00 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel. I presume one of them is on the Plus channel?
Randinho
@Steeplejack: Fixed. Thanks!
MikeJ
There’s an upcoming referendum on the alternative vote (commonly called the AV) coming up on May 5 in the UK. Last week on the Now Show they joked about how there were people all over the midlands confused about the sudden interest people had in the Villa.
JCJ
Yeah, anytime Cristiano Ronaldo scores a goal I imagine somewhere someone kicks a puppy.
BGinCHI
All hail Liverpool’s complete, Gerrard-free ass-whupping of Man City last week.
Wow. Something to build on.
Punchy
But on whom do I wager, if betting were legal? Chelsea misses about 97.4% of their gimmie shots, so why would I trust their ass?
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
I’m not all too up on the Bundesliga, so could someone please give me the skinny on Schalke? I know they’ve got Raul, and I know their in the middle of the table in the Bundesliga, but have I, as a Man Utd fan got anything to worry about short of a complete meltdown by the Red Devils?
Paula
Good lord, I really don’t care about either of the Manchester teams. And yet they’ve done nothing particularly hateable to anyone that I like.
SRW1
Too much money, too little footballing brain power. Not by the three players, but the guy who bought them because he’s desperate to win the CL?
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again):
I think the skinny on Schalke is that they have a team of good quality and experience players (Raul, Metzelder, Jurado, Farfan, Neuer, Huntelaar, Uchida), who play or have played for their country), some up and coming stars (Howedes, Matip, Papadopoulos, Draxler), some decent work horses, who at the moment perform beyond their past levels (Sarpei, Edu, Baumjohann, Kluge), and some has been howlers (Charisteas, Karimi), who’s signing probably contributed to the dismisal of Schalke’s previous coach Magath.
The team didn’t perform during large parts of the season, because Schalke’s former coach, the idiosyncratic Magath, essentially replaced last seasons team, that had managed to come in second in the Bundesliga, by what seemed a fairly eclectic mix of new players who took a long time to come together as a team. They appear to have done so now, suggesting Magath was right in seeing things others (like yours truly) didn’t see. That and the enthusiasm after the recent successes over Valencia and Inter makes Schalke dangerous. They also have a passionate fan base that will make playing in Gelsenkirchen not an easy exercise for ManU.
I suspect that Schalke does have the quality to eliminate the ManU of two months ago, but as Fergie’s boys appear to have hit their stride again, my money is on ManU to make it to the final.
Ralph
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again):
Don’t underestimate Schalke. Their current ranking in the Bundesliga certainly doesn’t reflect their quality accurately. Keep in mind, they frequently finished among the top teams in the Bundesliga in the last years.
This year, they had a very chaotic season, to put it mildly. Their former coach Felix Magath really shook up the team before the season, which led to Schalke not being very consistent in the league. But they still managed to be in the cup final and make it to the champions league half finals.
As for the top players, they don’t only have Raul. They also have Neuer as a goal keeper, who’s also the keeper in Germany’s national team. They have someone like Metzelder in defence, who also played international for Germany. And they have Farfan, who might not be widely known, but who certainly is world class on a good day.
I still think that ManU will probably make it, but it certainly won’t be a walk in the park.
Ian Preston
@MikeJ: Then they must be even more confused by top Villa celebrity fan David Cameron announcing today that “AV supporters are just wrong“
Lab Partner
Christiano Ronaldo put plenty of power and a little curve on that kick, but Gomes… what the hell? And that mad scramble for the ball on all fours certainly didn’t add any dignity to the moment.
SteveinSC
Calendar all clear for Madrid-Barcelona, telephone disconnected, no sound announcements on e-mail. Dogs tranquilized, wife out of town, door locked and “No One at Home” sign on front door. And I don’t care if the gal is wearing nothing but SaranWrap and holding a martini in her hands. No “entry” until after the game.
"Serious" Superluminar
No mention of the Arsenal takeover though? A sad, if inevitable day for English football. Still, North London derby on Wednesday, should be a classic.
Randinho
@SteveinSC: FTW!
Brandon
@”serious”
I don’t share your concern. At this stage in world affairs it matters not the nationality of the galtian overlord holding the shares. And, if you want to discuss sad, the death of Danny Fiszman that precipitated Stan Kroenke’s takeover is far, far worse. It was Fiszman’s initial investment (a purchase of part of David Dein’s shareholding) that in part bankrolled the record signing of Bergkamp that sent us on our trajectory and it was his business acumen that brought us to our new stadium.
In fact, I think the takeover helps to bring clarity to Arsenal’s financial situation. The era of austerity is officially over, no matter if Kroenke planned it to be or not. Because you cannot buyout a team for over $1 billion and then plead poverty when it comes to investment. Particularly when every financial analyst says the same thing, “Arsenal is a cash cow”. If Kroenke doesn’t make important signings and show his willingness to go toe-to-toe with the rest of Europe’s elite, he could be facing a Glazeresque revolt. And since Arsenal fans are a bit more fickle, it will definitely translate to lower attendance and match day revenue. Particularly in light of the coming 6.5% increase in ticket prices that are already the most expensive in all of Europe, no less England.
But yes, this North London derby could be special because it could be one of the last. As Spurs pathetically appeal the decision to award Olympic Stadium in East London to West Ham. Levy just admitted to all Spurs fans that their proposed redevelopment of White Heart Lane was a pipe dream and that they cannot financially manage moving to a new stadium without a substantial subsidy.
No matter how hard they try, they always seem to be poor imitators of Arsenal. And after a century of accusing Arsenal of being carpet baggers from South London, they have decided to vacate North London entirely.
toondeef
And a frango in Portuguese is also a young chicken. Explains the chicken noises on the soundtrack.
Randinho
@toondeef: Actually, frango is any chicken other than a rooster, which is called galo. Frango is also what chicken is called on a menu.
A very young chicken, i.e., a chick, is called a pinto, which is also slang for penis as is peru, which is the word for turkey. In addition, a slang expression for to have sex is “afogar o gansu,” which means to “drown the goose.”
Stop me. Please.
Brandon
Come to think of it, I am surprised that Randinho hasn’t commented on the mess that is the Premier League. The champions will almost certainly have the lowest point total ever and with 6 games to play, a full 10 teams are relegation threatened.
*Spoiler Alert*
In today’s big “six-pointers” as they say, West Ham leads Villa 1-0 and Blackpool are imploding, losing 0-1 at home to Wigan. The league needs more managers like Holloway, so let’s hope they stay up. You could actually say the same about Martinez, but that team truly is an embarrassment to the league. From the fact that they can barely scare up enough fans to fill one stand to their pocky pitch as a result of the dual use of the stadium for rugby. It’s a rugby town in any event, so it’s better for everyone if the teams are in places where people actually care.
ppcli
“Because you cannot buyout a team for over $1 billion and then plead poverty when it comes to investment.”
For example, what’s the going rate for a top goalkeeper? Look at the other top clubs: van der Sar, Cech, Joe Hart (really coming into his own this year), Julio César, Casillas,… Even VV at Barcelona, who can give up the odd soft goal at his near post from time to time but makes up for his weaknesses in other ways, like spectacular distribution. If Arsenal had any of these guys, they’d be comfortably in first place right now.
Randinho
@Brandon: So many issues, so little time . . .
ppcli
@Brandon: Mess? I love a wild relegation battle. If only we could have something like this every year.
Brandon
Oh my, Martinez may pull off the great escape again. Wigan are set to get out of the bottom 3. Blackpool are set to join it and West Ham go nowhere after allowing a Villa equalizer. Birmingham pick up 3 big points and Blackburn have now lost, putting them at serious risk. I bet those guys at Venky’s are maybe feeling like they committed a frango buying that club and installing a Kean as manager (see the pun there?). He’s maybe even worse than Iain Dowie in both football acumen and charisma, if that was even possible.
Brandon
Oops. I should have known better to wait for the final whistle where West Ham are concerned. My word they are awful. But what can you expect when you are managed by an undertaker and owned by two gits.
Brandon
With kickoff approaching for the FA Cup semi-final, am I the only one who thinks Mike Dean will be Utd’s 12th man? He’s certainly been no stranger to that role in the past. Although at least he is not as bad in that regard as Howard Webb.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@SRW1: @Ralph:
Thank you!
Bill Murray
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): I think you need to worry about your soul. Red Devil fan, feh
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Bill Murray:
What can I say? Cantona hooked me in and I stuck around.
mofo
BLUE MOON!
With Chelsea faded, aging & stuck w/ Torres, all I’ve got left is the joy of seeing ManU eliminated from championships! One down, two to go. ABU!
Randinho
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): Okay, that I can understand. I became an Arsenal fan because of Nick Hornby.
toondeef
@Randinho:
And isn’t a chicken cut up into random chunks and served as a stew called something like “frango passarinho?” It was the worst two meals I ever had in my life, once on a fazenda outside Itapipoca in Céara in 1969 and once by mistake in Copacabana. I’d rather trade cachaça names. For example, “Que Matou a Guarda” if that’s the right grammar.
Randinho
@toondeef: Frango a passarinho is more like chicken tenders here: small pieces breaded and fried.
There’s another dish called frango a molho pardo: a stew with a sauce made from the chicken’s blood. Not a fan.
That might be “Quém Matou a Guarda.” Don’t know that one.
We might be able to kill two birds with one stone here. The Portuguese slang for cachaça, is of course, pinga, from the verb to drip, pingar after distillation. of course in some Spanish speaking countries it’s a slang name for penis.
A friend of mine once visited Brazil and when she returned, she was chatting with a Cuban-American friend about the trip. She said she loved it, especially the pinga. She said that she tried several different varieties and that her husband tried it too, although he doesn’t usually go for it.
Needless to say, the friend was horrified.