Cristiano, Real Madrid defeat Barcelona, all but lock up La Liga title

In a huge Clasico, Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid defeated Barcelona at the Nou Camp 2-1 to all but lock up the La Liga title. The was Madrid’s first at the Nou Camp since 2007, and manager Jose Mourinho’s first career win in 10 visits to the legendary stadium. The scoring opened when Sami Khedira scored a goal off a corner in the 17th minute. The Catalans would pull one back when Alexis Sanchez would tally one in the 70th but a mere three minutes later, Cristiano ran onto a beautiful Mesut Ozil pass and smacked it passed Victor Valdes at an angle from the right.

With the win, it increased Madrid’s lead in the table to seven points with four games remaining. If everything stands pat, it would end Barcelona’s three year run as La Liga champions. It’s been a great run of form from Madrid this season, and with Cristiano breaking his own record for scoring, seemingly everything has gone right in the league this year for Madrid.

Cristiano needs stitches; Real wins 1-0

Real Madrid opened their Champions League campaign with a 1-0 victory but their star winger Cristiano Ronaldo required stitches in his ankle following the match with Dinamo Zangreb. Cristiano called the referee’s performance “shameful” and when asked why other players seem to go after him much he said, “I think it’s because I’m rich, handsome and a great player. They envy me – there’s no other explanation.” Real’s left back Marcelo was sent off during the game and assistant Aitor Karanka said, “It’s worrying to see Marcelo was sent off when Cristiano Ronaldo is receiving stitches in the dressing room. All players should be equally protected.” I agree with Karanka and it is obvious when some refs are biased against a team or player. FIFA needs to start punishing these refs and/or get some new ones in because a player should not be receiving stitches after a game, whether its Cristiano or a youth player.

Cristiano, Real Madrid defeat Barcelona, win Copa del Rey title

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6397884/cristiano-ronaldo-wins-copa-del-rey-real-madrid-extra-time

Real Madrid fought hard for 120 minutes and came out victorious in the Copa del Rey final over their arch rival Barcelona. After an action packed 90 minutes of scoreless football (Or soccer for my fellow Americans), the game went into extra time where in the 103rd minute Angel di Maria’s cross found the head of Cristiano Ronaldo who slammed it in the back of the net. This cup was Madrid’s 18th Domestic Cup, and the first since 1993. Jose Mourinho had made a point to winning everything this season, and with the league all but out of reach, he nailed down the Copa del Rey and will have his sights on the Champions League, where they face Barcelona Wednesday to kick off the semi finals. Hala Madrid!

Darren

Torres ineffective, Chelsea falls to Liverpool

In his first outing as a Chelsea player, Fernando Torres faced off with his old club Liverpool and it didn’t go according to plan. The man many, including myself, thought was transferred for a ridiculous fee didn’t make much of an impact on the game. Only taking two shots, Torres was subbed off in the 65th minute and was forced to watch as Liverpool’s Raul Meireles scored a goal minutes later to give the Reds the victory.

I know it’s only the first game but when you are transferred for $80 million, you need to make an impact immediatly. Is Torres fully fit? Did Liverpool intentionally transfer him to a Premiership foe? Questions like these will be asked until Torres displays the skills that have made him one of the world’s best strikers. Chelsea will either hit the jackpot with Torres or go bankrupt and aren’t off to a great start.

Darren

FIFA Ballon d’Or finalists announced

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=836182&sec=global&cc=5901

In the 23 man list of finalists for FIFA’s Ballon d’Or, Spain dominated by having seven of them. Iker Casillas, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Carles Puyol, David Villa, Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta all reached the final list. No player from England, France or Italy made the list, mainl due to the poor performances from the countries. Asamoah Gyan of Ghana made the list in somewhat of a suprise. Despite Ghana having the run they did, many times the African nations will be overlooked. Not this year however and much respect to Gyan for his play.

In my opionion Iker Casillas deserves the award after picthing shutout after shutout in the tourney and coming up with big saves (Mainly the breakaway save in the final) and being a great captain for Spain. Another person that could win it would be Iker’s fellow countryman Andres Iniesta who played terrific midfield throughout the tournament as well as knocking home the game winner against Holland in the final. The other finalists include: Daniel Alves (Brazil),Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Julio Cesar (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Maicon (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands).

Darren

Real Madrid thrash Depor

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=301960&cc=5901

Real Madrid came into yesterday’s game having only scored nine goals in seven games this season. Facing a much weaker Depor side, Madrid came out firing on all cylinders and scored in the 4th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo headed the ball into the back of the net off a corner. From there it was “All systems go.” Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain would all score before an own goal by Depor knocked them down to 5-0. Juan Rodriguez would get one back after capitalizing on one of the very opportunities his team had and then finally Cristiano would score a vintage Cristiano goal and cap off the scoring and the game at 6-1. This was only the 2nd time Madrid had put up a half dozen goals on Depor, the last time coming in 1945. Jose Mourinho gave Juan Carlos a cap, his La Liga debut, and also gave Esteban Granero and Lass Diarra some much needed minutes. Juan Carlos’ appearance came at the expense of Karim Benzema who has been involved in many rumors and speculations. Real Madrid can now look ahead to their Sept 17th matchup with Malaga who sit tied for 10th and with 7 points.

Darren

Mourinho, Real Madrid win Champions League opener

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=307860&cc=5901

Jose Mourinho brought the troops into the Champions League opener Wednesday and they took care of business with ease. Despite not having Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo having a subpar game and missing many chances, Real Madrid easily handled Ajax in a 2-0 victory. Real Madrid collected an astounding 35 shots (14 on target) and Gonzalo Higuain scored off a volley from Mesut Ozil, and was in on a 50-50 ball that Ajax midfielder Vurnon Anita headed off his foot and into his own goal. Next up for the Whites is AJ Auxerre on September 28. Mourinho wants more scoring and that means the squad will need to bury some more chances, especially if they take 35 again. Look for Xabi Alonso and Mesut Ozil to continue to distribute and Cristinao Ronaldo, Higuain and Benzema to continue to get oppotunities at goal.

Darren

Spain wins its first World Cup

After many lackluster World Cup performances, Spain finally did it. Being a European soccer powerhouse for many years, Spain has many great teams and arguably the best club league in the world. All that never translated well into International play as Spain had never even made it to the World Cup final. Well Spain finally did in 2010 and didn’t let the opportunity slip. Facing the 4th ranked Netherlands, Spain was in a dogfight of a game. In a game with 13 yellow cards, one double yellow/red, 47 fouls and alot of stalled play, neither team could score in regulation. The best chances came from a 5th minute header that Spain’s Sergio Ramos caught cleanly but was parried away by the Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg, and a late one on one chane for Arjen Robben that Iker Casillas knocked away with his foot. After the completion of the 90 minutes, we would see the game go into extra time. The chances seemingly started to increase gradually as both teams looked to get the go ahead goal. During the first fifteen minute stanza, the Dutch brought on Rafael Van der Vaart and it instantly seemed to boost their midfield and Spain had 60th minute sub Jesus Navas abusing the Dutch defense looking for a goal. Neither team would be able to score and we headed to the second fifteen minutes where the magic would happen.

Spain would bring in Fernando Torres for one of the tournaments stars, David Villa, and the Dutch would bring off their captain Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, effectively ending his career as he’s set to retire. Spain’s subbing was slightly questionable due to the fact that Torres’ form was not good during the tourney and he’d had lackluster performances, while Villa was tied for the most goals in the tourney with 5 and had been solid in every game. It turns out, Torres would be a key part of things to come. After some beautiful teamwork from Xavi and Andres Iniesta, a through ball to Iniesta from Xavi would get interrupted as Dutch defenseman John Heitinga would grab n drag Iniesta to the ground, resulting in his seconds yellow card of the game and effectively getting a red to expell him from the match. It would be costly as minutes later a play that will be seen for a long time occurred. Having the ball on the left wing, Torres crossed the ball into Cesc Fabregas who would volley the ball to an open Iniesta. Iniesta would take his time, keep his composure, and blast a shot to his left, right under the keepers right hand and score the go ahead goal for Spain with only a couple minutes to go. That goal would be all she wrote and Spain would end up winning their 4th straight 1-0 game in the knockout rounds and win their first World Cup, and the 10th for Europe.

Spain showed throughout this tournament that they weren’t just a goal scoring team and could play solid defense. Iker Casillas, who is in many peoples eyes the #1 keeper in the world, had 5 clean sheets in the Cup and wouldv’e had another against Chile if it weren’t for an unlucky deflection.The aformentioned David Villa was outstanding up top as he scored 5 goals and tied with 3 others as the leader of the tournament. Sergio Ramos performed great offensively and defensively and of course did the Barcelona connection of Xavi and Iniesta. I think Fernando Torres’ lack of form was a good thing for the team as it made guys like Jesus Navas, Pedro and Villa step up even more. Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Busquests all were solid in the midfield and the defensive unit of Carles Puyol, Capdevilla,Pique and Ramos were fabulous as well. It was an all-around solid showing from the Spaniards, and they probably will reclaim the world’s #1 rank from Brazil, the country who’s hosting the 2014 World Cup. I was happy to see this type of play from Spain and hope it continues. Congratulations to captain Iker Casillas and the Spanish National Team for winning the 2010 World Cup.

Darren

World Cup Group Play Predictions

For the 2010 World Cup, there are many teams who could be suprise advancers and a few top teams who could falter early. After the opening game, a 1-1- draw between South Africa and Mexico, it’s very clear that every game has a shot to be entertaining and well played. Here are my predictions for group play:

Group A: France,Mexico,Uruguay,South Africa

No host nation has ever missed out on moving on and South Africa is hoping that trend continues as they are in a solid group. I believe France will win the bracket in a tough,tightly played group and advancing with them will be Uruguay.

Group B: Argentina,Nigeria,Greece,South Korea

Argentina is a popular “choke pick” but Argentina has enough talent to get through this group. South Korea is a fit team but doesn’t pack a strong punch. I believe Argentina and Nigeria move on in this group.

Group C: England,USA,Algeria,Slovenia

In pretty much a two team race, England’s Saturday faceoff with the U.S will more than likely be for 1st place in the group. I think Rooney as co take care of business and the USA comes in 2nd.

Group D: Germany,Austrailia,Ghana,Serbia

In a group with a beat up German squad, Austrailia, Ghana, and Serbia’s chances got  stronger as the Germans had to find replacements for injured stars such as Michael Ballack. I think Germany still has enough to win this group and my pick for 2nd would be Serbia slightly over Austrailia.

Group E: Netherlands,Japan,Cameroon,Denmark

Another group that could go any which way, the Netherlands is the favorite to move on I think they will have enough firepower to do so. The interesting matchup will probably the Cameroon/Denmark matchup as I think that will dictact 2nd place. I believe Cameroon moves on with Netherlands.

Group F:Italy,Paraguay,Slovakia,New Zealand

The defending champion Italians seem to have an easy bracket in their return to the World Cup. The Italy squad isn’t as revered as they have been in some Cups but thats a good thing. In recent history when Italy has been slept on they’ve had solid showings.When favored, not so much. I think Italy takes care of business and moves on along with Paraguay.

Group G:Brazil,Portugal,Ivory Coast,North Korea

In my personal favorite group, my favorite team Brazil, #1 in the world, has a tough bracket which contains the world’s best player Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal squad, one of the most feared strikers in the Premiership Didier Drogba on Ivory Coast, and the ultra fit, sleeper pick North Koreans. Brazil will be challenged no doubt but will more than likely do what they do best and win games and move on. Second will probably be determined off the result of the Ivory Coast/Portugal game. I think C. Ronaldo and Portugal end up in 2nd and moving on.

Group H: Spain,Chile,Honduras,Switzerland

What more can be said about Spain? One loss since 2006, the best keeper in the world, and a tendency to score in bunches. Seemingly a perfect recipe for victory…Right? Well for Spain it hasn’t been firendly to them in the World Cup. Spain has a tendency to struggle and be lackluster but I believe this may be the perfect time for Spain. With Iker Casillas manning the net and Iniesta and co attacking, Spain should easily win their group and move on. My pick for second is the Swiss.

Darren