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International Friendly Matches

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:19:20 -0500

Today is a day that all the soccer fans wait for, the biggest international teams around the world will play today to show the power of its nation.
Since I’m brazilian I will focus on the Brazil vs Portugal game today.
The players that will be together on the pitch is something that no fan wants to miss. It will be a game full of rivalry and at the same time we will see a lot of great plays and straight up talent.

I will then throw a little excitement in my blog.

Brasil will beat Portugal 3 x 1

Please readers leave your comments with your opinion of what the score will be and we will see who won the contest.

Barcelona, Not Good Enough. Manchester, Almost Perfect.

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:10:12 -0400

On the second semifinal of the Champion League, Barcelona hosted Manchester United at the Camp Nou in Spain. They let down almost 100 thousand people that went to the stadium to see the ball get in the net. The game finished in a 0 - 0 draw which for Manchester is not bad since the second game at the Old Trafford in England, they will only need a tie to get their spot at the final. On the other side, Barcelona will need to score at least once to guarantee their place in the final.

Today, Barcelona played a very good game keeping the possession of the ball the whole game, they had some nice plays, some shots on goal, but the most important thing, which is score,
and they could not do it.

Manchester United could have finish with the perfect game, if Cristiano Ronaldo did not miss a penalty kick with only 3 minutes into the game.

However even with the missed penalty they have the advantage for the next leg and we all have to give credit to this team that held the Barcelona offense with everything they could.

Chelsea Can Still Dream of Champions League Final.

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:27:50 -0400

Chelsea and Liverpool played the first leg of the Champions League semifinal on April 22, 2008 at the Anfield stadium, which is Liverpool’s home field. They dominated the game and gave Chelsea no chance of scoring. Dirk Kuyt scored at the 43rd minute of the first half for Liverpool and if it was not for Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech they would have scored two or three more goals.
Luckily for Chelsea, the night was not the best one for Riise, who was a substitute for Fabio Aurelio, which got injured in the second
half of the game.

It was a desperate play for Chelsea at the 90th minute of the game and when Riise tried to clear the ball out of the box, he ended up putting in his own net tying the game for Chelsea with an own goal.
I bet his night will not be as good as for the Chelsea players that now more then never are dreaming about a spot in the final.

Outsourcing Coaching Jobs

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:24:28 -0400

David Moose an International soccer researcher for ESPN, wrote on his blog about the Outsourcing of Coaching Jobs. Which for him it does not make sense, since a country should be represented by it’s own citizens. He also believes that if a National team has a it’s own citizen coach, it will also block naturalized players from playing in the National Team, which will open more spaces for the players that were born on the country. Like it happened with the
German coach Jurgen Klinsmann, that turned away Brazilian Lincoln prior to the 2006 World Cup.

My point of view on his article is that deep inside there is a little racism with David, I’m Brazilian and I’m a United States citizen, if I have the chance to play at the United States National Team, why would I not play, normally you don’t go to a country just to become a citizen and play soccer for them, if you are a naturalized citizen at a country it means you pay your taxes you do your deeds just as any other citizens, if not better. Also, If there is no other better player in the country for that position why not call the naturalized player to help the National team win the dreamed World Cup title.

The same thing happens with the coaches, David also mentions that the US National Team had a International coach for the 1990 and 1994 World Cup, which by the way the 1994 World Cup was one of the best performance the US had in years, where they reached the semifinals, loosing to Brazil only by one goal to nothing.

Another fact about International coach being successful was when coach Rene Simoes, helped Jamaica make history, when they qualified for the 1998 World Cup. “The Reggae Boyz as they are fondly known to the world, was the first English speaking Caribbean nation to qualify for the World Cup soccer finals.”

That just proves my point that if there is not a good enough born citizen for the job, why not hire an international coach, or call and naturalized player to help the National Team win that big title and make all the country citizens proud. What matters at the end of the day, is if your National Team wins the world cup, and if they do win, no one will remember if the coach was not from the country or if the player that scored the winning goal is a naturalized player or not.

English Teams Are Dominant on Champions League

Wed, 9 Apr 2008 11:16:30 -0400

For soccer fans all over the world, yesterday was a day to be remembered . Two games took place for the Champions League quarter finals, Chelsea against Fenerbahce and Arsenal against Liverpool. I was luck enough to watch the English rival game, which will be a game to save on the records as one of the best games in a few years.
After and amazing win from Liverpool against Arsenal 4 - 2, and Chelsea over playing Fenerbahce 2 - 0. The first game of the Champions League semifinal is set and it is Chelsea and Liverpool, which means that for the fourth consecutive year we will have an English team in the final. England, the country that invented futbol, are dominating the League, they don’t always win though. Out of all the four years, only one time Liverpool celebrated as the champions.
They are getting better and better each year, however this year it definetly look like one of the English teams will take home the trophy. Manchester United is having a wonderful year and Chelsea and Liverpool are in the same boat. It’s up to Barcelona/Schalke and Roma to not let that happen.
Barcelona is my team, however I don’t know if they will be compatible to the English teams this year.