Geez, is it September already? Summer’s 2010 shift is almost over and Autumn’s in the break room, sipping a hot cuppa, waiting to clock in. Time flies. At least for footy fans, the action heats up as the weather cools down.
This week, that means the first spate of qualifiers for Euro 2012, as well as plenty of fixtures in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and the US. If you didn’t catch our big Euro preview midweek, it’s right here. The upcoming matches aren’t all that has fans of the European game abuzz this week, though. The transfer market has closed, although not without a flurry of last minute business.
Now that Alex has this transfer thingy down, maybe he can find a decent barber.
If you see a smiling Harry Redknapp walking about London, during the break, don’t ask him for an autograph. His hands are still swollen from a last desperate grab, just as the transfer window slammed shut. His grin is genuine, though, because coming away with Real Madrid’s surplus midfield magician, Rafael van der Vaart, for Tottenham, was certainly worth the pain.
In Birmingham, Alex McLeish has no need of painkillers. His timing was much better than Redknapp’s, as he landed Barca benchwarmer, Alex Hleb, Chilean World Cup winger Jean Beausejour and the towering Spartak Moscow centre back, Martin Jiranek, all earlier on deadline day,. With the trio joining the likes of Matt Derbyshire and Ben Foster as newcomers to City, the Blues are looking good to improve on their ninth place finish, last term. Now chairman, Peter Pannu is on the hook to sign the Scot to a new deal, after having made some unflattering remarks regarding his ability.
Most players only do this after scoring a goal; For Robinho, this is his reaction to everything.
While McLeish and Redknapp were adding to David Cameron’s headaches over immigration, Man City provided some relief for the Tory PM, shipping the red tagged Brazilian, Robinho, to AC Milan, at well over a 50% discount on his £32M purchase price of two years ago. Although Silvio Berlusconi will need to find some spare change hidden under his mistress, sorry, mattress to exercise the option to purchase Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Barcelona, for €24M in one year’s time, the suddenly economically minded Italian president at least broke even on the Robinho deal, by sending Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to Schalke 04 for €13M. With the aging squad he has, if the lecherous Berlusconi can keep getting these kinds of players through the door without cracking open his wallet, maybe he does deserve to continue running the entire country for a while longer.
Back in England, all twenty Premier League clubs submitted their 2010 rosters on Wednesday. Despite all the kerfluffle, no one seemed to have much trouble complying with the Homegrown Rule. Many clubs simply named less than the maximum 25 non-homegrown players to their squad and supplemented those they did with a bevy of youngsters. In fact, Arsene Wenger, who is known the world over as a despiser of the rule, got in one last dig, by naming just a 20 man roster, accompanied by a whopping 56 under-21′s.
Oh, and we almost forgot. Mikel Arteta won’t be playing for England. The FIFA archivists, working long into the night in their Zurich vaults, uncovered an obscure rule which prevents the Everton midfielder from featuring for the Three Lions. Apparently, since he played for Spain as a wet-behind-the-ears teenager, without holding a UK passport at the time, it won’t matter if he obtains one now. That’ll teach us to write a feature article on the subject.
Not a person to be reasoned with.
The international matches, all scheduled on Friday, make for an early weekend in Europe, but Monday is the Labour Day holiday in North America. For MLS fans, that’s not a reason to celebrate. To them, the holiday is like some horribly mutated version of Groundhogs Day. The difference, in this case, is that instead of a cute little bucktoothed rodent popping out of a hole, hoping to avoid its own shadow, a pair of terrifyingly large and hideous monsters, known as the NFL and NCAA football emerge from their lairs and stomp on anyone not wearing a football jersey decorated with large numbers on both sides.
Outsized and outnumbered, MLS will soldier on with a full slate of fixtures this weekend. Mexico, however, features just a single match on its calendar. Experts believe this has direct relation to the fact that most US Border Patrol agents are massive grid-iron fans, who would never miss opening day.
In the southern half of the Americas, Corinthians legend Roberto Carlos can rest easier tonight. After years of study, French physicists have confirmed that the incredible bend that the former galactico put on his infamous 1997 free kick against their home side, was indeed no fluke and that the Brazilian deserves every accolade for greatness he receives.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crSkWaJqx-Y
It’s one thing for a planet full of pubcrawlers to argue that you’re the most amazing left back of all time but it’s another when science is on your side. Forget string theory and quantum mechanics, this is research grant money well spent.
Now to what’s on tap this weekend. The WFC gang is back to serve it up but you’ll have to supply your own pretzels.
That mad Baggins is off again...
From the desk of the vacationing Geoff Edwards
Belgium v Germany, Euro ’12 Group A
Given that many of the day’s headline matches are of the killer whale versus minnow variety, this tilt stands out at first glance. Unfortunately, Geoff notes that Die Mannschaft haven’t lost to the Belgians since 1954, which, and I don’t get to say this often enough anymore, is before I was born. In that match, the Rote Teufel (think ManU or AC Milan) caught the Germans with a major hangover, it being the champions’ first game after winning their initial World Cup. Thomas Vermaelen wears the armband for the hosts, while Philip Lahm, now officially caretaking for Michael Ballack, leads out the visitors. As well, Manuel Neuer’s stellar turn in South Africa has earned him the Nr. Ein for Germany.
Chris Mann
Chris Mann
Liechtenstein v Spain Euro ’12 Group I
Undoubtedly the biggest mismatch of the week, newly-crowned world champions Spain will travel to Liechtenstein (population 34,761) on Friday, where they will face a country ranked an incredible 140 places below them in the FIFA rankings. Vicente Del Bosque has named a full-strength team despite the lowly nature of Spain’s opposition and it would hardly be surprising if David Villa, Fernando Torres and friends racked up a double-figure margin of victory at the Rheinpark Stadion.
Estonia v Italy Euro ’12 Group C
The Cesare Prandelli era begins in earnest tomorrow evening, as the Azzurri take on Estonia at the Lillekula Stadium in Tallinn. If a new-look Italian side can gel from the off, led out by redemption minded Daniel De Rossi and Giorgio Chiellini, then Prandelli’s men shouldn’t have a problem with their Baltic opponents, but Estonia – ranked 94th in the world – should not be underestimated. Players such as Tarmo Kink and Andres Oper are more than capable of punishing the Italians should they lose concentration. It should be an straightforward victory for the Azzurri but, as we saw so clearly in South Africa, Italy can be prone to self-destruction.
Eliot Rothwell
Eliot Rothwell
Slovenia v Northern Ireland Euro ’12 Group C
The Slovenians, under Matjez Kek, have made real progress, of late. A play-off victory over Russia cemented their rise to the top table of global football and rocketed them up 60 (yes, 60!) places in the FIFA rankings, all the way to 19th. The rangy figure of striker Mile Novakovic may cause the likes of Jonny Evans problems, as the slippery Köln striker looks to evade the clutches of his markers.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland have a problem. They never seem able to get out of a group situation. Even in their last World Cup qualifying group, they were pipped by Slovakia and (you’ve guessed it) Slovenia. Manager Nigel Worthington will no doubt be scratching his silver mane trying to fathom how his side can conquer the likes of England and Spain, yet fail dismally against weaker teams. The Northern Irish cause should be aided by long-time saviour David Healy who, reminiscent of Lukas Podolski, remains out-of-form with his club side, while invariably turning up in spades for his country.
When not whipping Wales into shape, Toshack sings lead on PS Guitar Hero.
Montenegro v Wales Euro ’12 Group G
Recently established on the international stage themselves, Montenegro, host John Toshack’s Wales, in what could be a contender for match of the week. The Welsh posses an in-form Gareth Bale, lightning quick and blessed with a traction engine in his left boot. Montenegro, meanwhile are blessed with two goofy-footed technicians of their own. AS Roma’s Mirko Vucinic and Stevan Jovetic, of Anfield goalscoring fame, are more than a match for the weary defence of James Collins and Danny Gabbidon.
With both sides blessed with attacking menace and cursed with frail defences, the highlight reel should be lengthy.
England v Bulgaria Euro ’12 Group G
With the retirement of talisman Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgaria have adopted a 4-2-3-1 in recent matches, with the clear aim of controlling the ball for as long as possible. Martin and Stilian Petrov, in the midfield, should provide the Bulgarians with some creative spark against the too often lacklustre English.
With the English press heavily criticising Fabio Capello of late, the knives will be out should England not win this game and comfortably. Unfortunately for Capello, his side are suffering from any number of injury problems, most notably missing first choice centre-backs John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, as well as rangy impact sub Peter Crouch. This leaves the Italian the tough choice of relying on his out of favour World Cup squad or blooding unproven youngsters in a game that actually matters.
England have often struggled against possession minded sides and whilst they may run out eventual winners, I predict it to be a frustrating one, with the Bulgarians combining technique and tactics to stifle Englands attackers.
Tapesh Patel
Tapesh Patel
France v Belarus Euro ’12 Group D
While this match ushers in a new era for the French, Laurent Blanc probably still doesn’t know his best eleven. We can therefore expect wholesale changes from the World Cup team. Philippe Mexes will likely team up with Adil Rami in defence and Loic Rémy with Guillaume Hoarau in attack. The formation Blanc will play is also a complete mystery; the 4-4-2 diamond deployed against Norway will probably change to a straight 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3, due to the lack of an attacking playmaker (with Samir Nasri, Franck Ribery and Yoann Gourcuff all ruled out). The diamond in the rough is undoubtedly Florent Malouda, who has arguably been the best player in the Premiership so far this season.
Belarus will look to spring a shock on France if the hosts start slowly, but it may prove a difficult task, as key winger Aliaksandr Hleb has hardly played since April. To be honest, though, I wouldn’t like to predict how this will pan out.
Lithuania v Scotland Euro ’12 Group I
Lithuania are still seen as minnows but Scotland will undoubtedly know the threat of their opposition, with many of the home side being current or former practitioners in the Scottish Premier League. Aberdeen’s Andruis Velicka leads the line for the hosts, while former Hearts man Saulius Mykoliunas is sure to get a hot reception, after being banned for play-acting the last time both sides met. Eight changes have been made by Craig Levein for the match. The most notable are the omission of James McFadden and the inclusion of 40-year-old David Weir, who will become the oldest player ever to have donned the Tartan Blue.
This match will undoubtedly be a tight one, with both sides seeing the match as a proverbial six-pointer.
Avi Goldberg
Avi Goldberg
San Marino v The Netherlands
For their first qualification game, Netherlands coach Bert Van Marwijk must like the thought of San Marino. The Oranje can afford to play more attacking football but the question is will coach Van Marwijk change the formation and test the new boys, midfielders Hedwiges Maduro, Theo Janssen and the ‘old’ come back of Ruud Van Nistelrooy? The coach has not given any hints whatsoever on the details of the line up but one thing is sure, the fans are expecting a lot of goals. Playing with a 3 man defence will definitely increase their chances for a nice goal fest.
Martin Palazzotto
Martin Palazzotto
Major League Soccer
As the season hits the stretch run, with most clubs having played 22 of their 34 matches, the top clubs in both conferences are feeling some pressure. In the east, Columbus are clinging to a four point lead over the hard charging NY Red Bulls. The Crew are in the capital, hoping to take 3 points from lowly DC United, while Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez face a strong challenge out west, in Rio Tinto Stadium, versus holders Real Salt Lake.
Real are trying to reel in the west leading Galaxy, who have cooled of late, and would like to take more than a draw from a home match, no matter the opponent. At the same time, they must look over their shoulders, as FC Dallas have risen out of the midden heap and are breathing down their necks.
LA are in Chicago to face a Fire side that, with the addition of Freddie Ljungberg, has rediscovered its spark. Fully 13 points behind the 2nd place Red Bulls, with two clubs to climb over before they can even consider the New Yorkers, the Fire have a great deal of work to do. The good news is that, through some scheduling quirks, they have 3 matches in hand on the rest of the field. They need to make every one of those count, however.
The Mexican Apertura
If you absolutely, positively can’t do without some Mexican football this weekend, you’ll have to settle for the Guadalajara derby; it’s the only show in town. Chivas and Tecos are propping up the Group 1 table, so if it weren’t for the local rivalry, you might not think much of the prospects for entertainment. On the other hand, Chivas haven’t really been taking the Apertura seriously, chasing, as they were, after the Copa Libertadores. Having come up just short in that pursuit, the Goats can fully focus on butting heads with their neighbours and serving notice to the rest of the league that they are baa-a-a-ck.
Argentine Primera Division
On Sunday, Velez Sarsfield, battling it out for second place, with who else but Arsenal (de Sarandi), are confronted with a golden opportunity. They go into Estadio Jose Amalfitani to face top of the table River Plate. It’s a heavy-weight battle and the winner will rule the Primera Division roost. On the other hand, if the aforementioned Argentine Gunners take an inviting 3 points at home against minnows Argentina Juniors, a draw in Buenos Aires could see both of the big boys looking up at a surprise leader.
Kris Dwyer
The Oz Files with Kris Dwyer
After last weekend, when the A-League took a ‘dive’ it’s only fitting that theres some tasty matches coming up. First though, it’s the Socceroos.
Australia v Switzerland in Qatar
It’s a big game for Holger Osieck, the new $2million man at the head of the Socceroos. However the ‘Roos have been dealt a blow with injuries to Michael Beauchamp (ankle), Josh Kennedy (back) and Harry Kewell (groin) limiting the squad for the upcoming international friendly match against Switzerland. After consultation with the three players and their clubs, Osieck has decided that they would not be required in camp. Instead, the German has added Jon McKain and Tommy Oar into the squad.
On to the A-League, then…
Apparently, Perth have this nice chap named Fowler in their squad. Supposed to be famous or something.
Grudge Match – Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix @ nib Stadium
Last season, the two play-off debutants faced each other in the first round, with the Phoenix taking out the match in a heart breaking penalty shootout. The Kiwis ended up going all the way to the Preliminary Final only to be knocked out by eventual champions Sydney FC, whilst the Purple Army from the west seethed and dreamt of what might have been.
With the home side branding this as their chance for revenge, you can only expect fireworks, especially with former Glory players Jade North, Leo Bertos and new signing Nicky Ward, all making the trip west. The Glory are at near full strength, with only Michael Baird (suspension) and Victor Sikora (long term hip injury) unavailable.
One to Watch – Melbourne Heart v North Queensland Fury @ AAMI Stadium
Melbourne Heart are desperate to get their first win ever in the Hyundai A-League and North Queensland Fury are a team desperate to get back to winning ways. Both sides play fluid Euro-esque attacking football, and, without a doubt, have two of the most passionate, flamboyant managers in the league, making this match a real cracker for the neutral.
..
Well, that about wraps it up. We’ll be back on Monday with more news, reaction to the matches and, if we can twist the right arms, even a few highlights. Enjoy the footy and we’ll see you then!
Discussion
No comments yet.