Milan beat Inter 2-1* and, well, just watch the rest of it yourself. Great stuff. Thank you to Tiziano Crudeli… Milan 2-1 Inter commentaire Italienby t_m Hat-tip: Andrew and Rizzo Sports. *An important result, in fairness, since it puts the Rossoneri in line for a Champions’ League place next season. Tough week for Fiorentina…
John J Miller at The Corner: I’ve always had some fondness for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens because their team name is a literary reference. Last weekend, while visiting the in-laws in South Carolina, I went to an NCAA baseball game featuring the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Literary references in team names don’t get much better than that. Up to a point Lord Copper. Turns out the Chanticleers have only been so-nicknamed since the 1960s when the University tired of being just one more bunch of Trojans. Still, not bad but not nearly as good, obviously, as Heart of Midlothian FC, Edinburgh’s finest. Now if only the club favoured a more literate,
Which footballer offers his club the best value-for-money? Easy. It’s Lionel Messi. Why? According to this Portuguese calculation he’s not one of the 50 best-paid footballers in the world. Lucky Barcelona. Here’s the top five (the first figure is their monthly salary in euros, the second their annual remuneration). You’ll notice that two of these players are not like the other three. 1. Ricardo Kaka AC Milan 750.000 € 9.000.000 €2. Ronaldinho FC Barcelona 710.000 € 8.520.000 €3. Frank Lampard Chelsea FC 680.000 €
Ah Philadelphia, the city where they booed Santa Claus. And, if these lads are anything to go by, also the city where Major League Soccer should put its next team. In a word: quality: These are the Sons of Ben. They are the hardcore supporters of Philadelphia’s Major League Soccer team. Possibly their best chant is: “We’ve won as many cups as you, Metro, Metro. We’ve won as many cups as you, and we don’t have a team.” Philadelphia doesn’t have an MLS team yet. As the DC United fan website screaming-eagles.com puts it, the Sons of Ben have “banded together to twist the Field of Dreams mantra from ‘Build
The always excellent fitba blog More than Mind Games has a great story about football in the fog here, but it’s not as good as this one, that became the basis for a Radio Scotland play five or six years ago: IT IS not, on the face of it, a perfect scenario for radio. A football match so shrouded in fog that the commentator can’t see the game. Players who can’t see as far as their bootlaces. Conditions so bad that many are not aware that the action is over for 10 minutes after the final whistle. But throw in the Second World War, a need to keep the Nazis
Radley, Radley… Please. This isn’t the “British Olympic soccer team” giving the Nazi salute in 1938, it’s the English soccer team. You may think this a minor matter, but I assure you it makes all the difference in the world. But yes, it’s rotten that the British Olympic Association should be wanting to gag athletes who might – albeit improbably – feel like protesting China’s, er, mixed human rights record from doing so.
Not to intrude into private grief or anything, but how can you children not be amused by this? Croatia rose to the occasion in their crucial Euro 2008 defeat of England – after an apparent X-rated gaffe by an English opera singer at Wembley. Tony Henry belted out a version of the Croat anthem before the 80,000 crowd, but made a blunder at the end. He should have sung ‘Mila kuda si planina’ (which roughly means ‘You know my dear how we love your mountains’). But he instead sang ‘Mila kura si planina’ which can be interpreted as ‘My dear, my penis is a mountain.’ UPDATE: Commenter Damir suggests a
‘Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome tae your gory bed, Or tae Victorie! ‘Now’s the day, and now’s the hour: See the front o’ battle lour… Scotland vs Italy, Hampden Park, 1200 (EST), 17/11/07. Game on. UPDATE for DC readers: The Lucky Bar on Connecticut Avenue and N St NW is showing the game.
“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”
I hadn’t paid any attention to the women’s World Cup until the US manager Greg Ryan decided it was a sensible notion to switch goalkeepers before yesterday’s semi-final against Brazil, dropping first choice Hope Solo (great name!) and recalling the 36 year old Briana Scurry. Off-hand I can’t think of any comparable goalie switch. When Alex Ferguson famously dropped Jim Leighton and promoted Les Sealey for an FA Cup final replay his decision was at least based on what her perceived as Leighton’s loss of confidence. But Ryan had no such excuse since no-one, not even the manager, pretended that Solo had done anything wrong. Instead what seems to have
No words required, mes amis. Peter Martin’s commentary for Radio Clyde is almost as good as the goal itself.
Two questions: oh god, will it never end? And, how can winning be more fraught with terror than losing? I write, as you will have guessed, of Scottish football. Today’s remarkable, nay logic-defying, triumph in Paris – our first on French soil in, oh, 57 years – was unbearable stuff. I can cope with despair; it’s hope I can’t stand. Here’s the thing then. With three games left in our murderous Euro 2008 qualifying group, Scotland are – astonishingly – top of the table, ahead of France and Italy (last year’s World Cup finalists) and Ukraine (who reached the last eight in Germany). This is not the way the world
Martin Samuel is in good form today. He doesn’t much like MLS and, really, it’s not difficult to agree with him. The LA Galaxy’s recent 5-4 defeat at the New York Red Bulls was entertaining in the way that games featuring large quantities of comedy defending often are, but was notable not so much for the goals scored as for the real intensity and pace at which the game was played. Those vital qualities are normally lacking in MLS, giving most games (or at least those I’ve been to in DC) all the excitement of a pre-season training session. Anyway, though perhaps a little vainglorious, I did like this part
If you thought David Beckham would be a one day story and then quickly ignored in the US you might want to consider that notice of his first goal for the Los Angeles Galaxy was considered the most important “Breaking News” for a full hour on ESPN last night. Then again, it was a trademark piece of Beckhamite brilliance:
Meant to post this earlier. Right now, I doubt there’s a more exciting footballer in the world than Lionel Messi. His goal against Mexico in the semi-final of the Copa America is a thing of rare and exquisite beauty. Enjoy!