The English teams are the clear winners of the 1st leg last 16 knockout matches with Arsenal and Chelsea both winning 1-0 at home, respectively against Roma and Chelsea. Liverpool even managed to win 1-0 away against Real Madrid and Man Utd drew 0-0 away against Inter, a good result for the Red Devils considering their defensive crisis.
The Italian and Spanish teams didn't even manage to garner a win for apart from the already mentioned results, Barcelona could only draw 1-1 away to Lyon after a not so impressive performance whilst Villareal did all the work but could only work out a 1-1 draw against Panthinaikos.
On the other hand Bayern Munich seem to have already qualified for the quarter-finals with a 5-0 away mauling of Sporting Lisbon whilst a comedy of errors gave rise to a 2-2 draw between Atletico Madrid and Porto.
Look out for some cracking 2nd leg last 16 knockout matches in mid-March! The England vs Italy saga should prove produce some pure thrillers with unexpected twists and some tense moments!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Taking care of strays
Last week my street witnessed a brutal mauling of a cat by a pack of stray dogs. If memory serves well, there had already been a complaint some time ago about this pack of dogs but as personally witnessed, no action has been taken to rectify the situation. This is leading residents to be scared that this pack of dogs might attack their pets and even worse, their children.
A few weeks ago a man was taken to court having taken care of a number of strays that he picked up in the Pembroke/Swieqi area but did not have the necessary resources to adequately take care of these strays. The residents in the immeadiate area of where the temporary compound is situated also complained because of the noise and for health reasons.
Instead of using up money to prosecute this man, who at the end of the day had his heart set at doing a good deed, funds should have been made available either to improve the set-up of this compound or to create a facility whereby strays can be given the love they crave so much for and be well fed and taken care of.
A few weeks ago a man was taken to court having taken care of a number of strays that he picked up in the Pembroke/Swieqi area but did not have the necessary resources to adequately take care of these strays. The residents in the immeadiate area of where the temporary compound is situated also complained because of the noise and for health reasons.
Instead of using up money to prosecute this man, who at the end of the day had his heart set at doing a good deed, funds should have been made available either to improve the set-up of this compound or to create a facility whereby strays can be given the love they crave so much for and be well fed and taken care of.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The good and bad aspects of sports
Last weekend saw the tragic running over of a Genoa fan by the coach carrying the Fiorentina players. While first of all wishing him a quick and full recovery, one has to wonder what was he doing next to the coach kicking it and throwing stuff. All this because Fiorentina clinched a dramatic equaliser late in extra-time and the referee was blamed for not having done his job well. Even if this was the case, which it clearly wasn't, there is no excuse for all this exasperation, not only after last Sunday's game but generally. There is a sense of malaise enveloping Italian football and this should be quickly eradicated. It was done in England, where nowadays one sees whole families going to watch a football match but unfortunatly this is not always the case with Italian football. For the good of all, especially true football lovers, a plausible solution should be found and implemented. Italian sports programs have an important role to play in this aspect, where they should stop playing ad nauseum all the decisions taken by referees. Sometimes even the 'experts' themselves in the program do not have a uniform opinion regarding a decision taken. This in the light that the referee only has a split-second to take a decision. One must accept that mistakes are made by everyone in football, starting from club presidents who do not choose the appropriate coach and player/s, the players themselves and referees too.
Also shocking was the decision not to allow the Israeli player Shahar Peer to take part in the Dubai Open tournament. After the initial and understandable uproar, since it is a well-known fact the the Arab countries aren't big friends with Israel, especially following the recent 3-week Gaza conflict, it has been stated that the decision was taken for sporting reasons; these being because of local opinion following the Gaza conflict, the risk of a spectator boycott and a potential to the well-being of the player. As Peer herself stated, she is not representing her government but is simply a tennis player who wants to be able to play the sport that she loves.
Sports events are usually trumpeted and used as a means of unifying people and countries and for fund-raisers, but unfortunatly as can be seen above, this is not always the case.
A well-deserved congrats goes to Alex Del Piero, who shall shortly become dad for a second time and a very big good luck goes to Newcastle's coach Kinnear, who shall be undergoing a triple bypass operation.
Also shocking was the decision not to allow the Israeli player Shahar Peer to take part in the Dubai Open tournament. After the initial and understandable uproar, since it is a well-known fact the the Arab countries aren't big friends with Israel, especially following the recent 3-week Gaza conflict, it has been stated that the decision was taken for sporting reasons; these being because of local opinion following the Gaza conflict, the risk of a spectator boycott and a potential to the well-being of the player. As Peer herself stated, she is not representing her government but is simply a tennis player who wants to be able to play the sport that she loves.
Sports events are usually trumpeted and used as a means of unifying people and countries and for fund-raisers, but unfortunatly as can be seen above, this is not always the case.
A well-deserved congrats goes to Alex Del Piero, who shall shortly become dad for a second time and a very big good luck goes to Newcastle's coach Kinnear, who shall be undergoing a triple bypass operation.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Speechless...
Birthday list
2,000 bottles of champagne — Moët & Chandon and ’61 Bollinger
500 bottles of whisky — Johnny Walker Blue Label, 22-year-old Chivas
8,000 lobsters
100kg king prawns
3,000 ducks
4,000 portions of caviar
8,000 boxes of Ferrero Rocher
16,000 eggs
3,000 cakes — chocolate and vanilla
4,000 packs of pork sausages
500kg cheese
4,000 packets of crackers.
You must be wondering what this list is all about. It is basically a wish list to celebrate Mugabe's 85th birthday that is allegedly being organised by the Zanu party, of whom obviously he is the leader. Donations are being 'collected' so as to finance this lavish party. All this despite the fact that millions of people in Zimbabwe rely on international food, unemployment reaches 94 %, while cholera and famine are widespread in the country. Mugabe always celebrates his birthday lavishly and last year only, 1.2 million dollars were spent for his birthday celebrations, yet he does not have the finances to help out the people of his own country. When people know no shame...
If you are interested in this story, I am posting the link which gives all the finer details regarding this scandalous story.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5697712.ece
2,000 bottles of champagne — Moët & Chandon and ’61 Bollinger
500 bottles of whisky — Johnny Walker Blue Label, 22-year-old Chivas
8,000 lobsters
100kg king prawns
3,000 ducks
4,000 portions of caviar
8,000 boxes of Ferrero Rocher
16,000 eggs
3,000 cakes — chocolate and vanilla
4,000 packs of pork sausages
500kg cheese
4,000 packets of crackers.
You must be wondering what this list is all about. It is basically a wish list to celebrate Mugabe's 85th birthday that is allegedly being organised by the Zanu party, of whom obviously he is the leader. Donations are being 'collected' so as to finance this lavish party. All this despite the fact that millions of people in Zimbabwe rely on international food, unemployment reaches 94 %, while cholera and famine are widespread in the country. Mugabe always celebrates his birthday lavishly and last year only, 1.2 million dollars were spent for his birthday celebrations, yet he does not have the finances to help out the people of his own country. When people know no shame...
If you are interested in this story, I am posting the link which gives all the finer details regarding this scandalous story.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5697712.ece
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sports titbits
Both Daniel Bogdanovic and Michael Mifsud have joined lowly Barnsley. Admittedly they are 21st in the Championship but they should be getting competitive football in a very challenging league that can only work wonders for both of them. While Bogdanovic seems to be at the team for long-term, Mifsud has signed a 6-month contract. At the end of the season he will be able to choose his next destination calmly, hopefully making the right decision. In any case, I wish both of them the best of luck and may they make Malta and Barnsley proud !
A photo of Michael Phelps purportedly showing him smoking marijuana was recently published in an English newspaper. This obviously led to an outcry were many people and sponsors metaphorically 'crucified' him. He made a mistake, admitted and accepted the 3-month suspension inflicted upon him by the USA swimming committee without any qualms. As the saying goes... 'he who is without guilt, may he throw the first stone'.
Scolari has just been sensationally sacked by Chelsea. Admittedly he was not doing as well as one envisaged, considering the enormous potential that the players possess. Having not coached at a club for a number of years certainly was not to his advantage and also having to adapt to a new country and a new language. He should have been given some more time for his ideas to be accepted and understood but alas football is not as it once was... it is common knowledge that it took Ferguson a couple of years to rub off at Man Utd and was once on the brink of being sacked, and yet look at what they've won and will most probably win in the near future. My money is on Mancini being the next Chelsea coach while I would not discard Zola, even though the latter is certainly more of a long shot since he's relatively new to the coaching scene and has only been with West Ham for a couple of months; had it been at the start of the 2009/2010 it would have most certainly been a different story.
A photo of Michael Phelps purportedly showing him smoking marijuana was recently published in an English newspaper. This obviously led to an outcry were many people and sponsors metaphorically 'crucified' him. He made a mistake, admitted and accepted the 3-month suspension inflicted upon him by the USA swimming committee without any qualms. As the saying goes... 'he who is without guilt, may he throw the first stone'.
Scolari has just been sensationally sacked by Chelsea. Admittedly he was not doing as well as one envisaged, considering the enormous potential that the players possess. Having not coached at a club for a number of years certainly was not to his advantage and also having to adapt to a new country and a new language. He should have been given some more time for his ideas to be accepted and understood but alas football is not as it once was... it is common knowledge that it took Ferguson a couple of years to rub off at Man Utd and was once on the brink of being sacked, and yet look at what they've won and will most probably win in the near future. My money is on Mancini being the next Chelsea coach while I would not discard Zola, even though the latter is certainly more of a long shot since he's relatively new to the coaching scene and has only been with West Ham for a couple of months; had it been at the start of the 2009/2010 it would have most certainly been a different story.
Best of wishes to the Maltese national team, hoping that they will manage to grind out a positive result against Albania !
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Xena f'restorant
Hekk kif tiftaħ il-bieb, l-arja hi mimlija bil-vuċijiet tan-nies fuq l-imwejjed; min mal-familja, xi żgħażagħ jitbewsu fuq xemgħa b'xi tazza inbid aħmar jiċċelebraw l-anniversarju tagħhom, jew xi ħbieb tax-xogħol jew ta' għaqda jiddiskutu xi kwistjoni taħraq kif ukoll xi tfal jgħajtu għax iridu xi ħaġa partikolari jew jiġru madwar il-post. Fl-isfond jinstema' ċ-ċekċik ta' platti u tazzi li qegħdin jinġabru u jinġarru mill-wejters. F'kantuniera mużiċist qed idoqq il-pjanu, jagħmel li jista' biex iferraħ aktar l-atmosfera u jitgħaxxaq in-nies waqt li qegħdin jieklu. Issa wieħed ikun jista' jibda jxomm diversi rwejjaħ tal-ikel li jkun qed jiġi msajjar li aktar u aktar jiftħu l-istonku u jżidu l-aptit tan-nies preżenti. Xi biċċa laħam tradizzjonali tajba bħat-tiġieġ jew taċ-ċanga jew xi pizza u pasta jew ukoll xi ħuta li tant Maltin imorru għaliha. Ma jonqosx li jkun muri f'xi vetrina mimlija bis-swaba' ta' tfal id-diversi tipi ta' deżerta li minnhom wieħed ikun jista' jagħżel wara l-ikla bnina li jkun ħa; xi biċċa torta dejjem tinżel għasel mal-Maltin !
Monday, February 2, 2009
Sports Bonanza
Much has happened in these last few weeks in the world of sports, with some cracking football matches and nail-biting finals in the Australian Open and in the World Super Bowl Series.
One should tell a good number of coaches and players in many football leagues, that fans are mainly interested in watching interesting matches rather than listen to them nagging about referees. A case in point is Rafa Benitez, who attempted to engage a psychological battle with none other than Sir Alex Ferguson, the king of this type of this type of 'battles.' Inevitably this could have distracted the team and Benitez himself, as evidenced in Liverpool's 1-1 draw against Wigan, when Benitez inexplicably took off Torres and Gerrard, thus losing vital points in their quest of winning the league for the first time in 18 years. Nonetheless, Liverpool made up for this by winning 2-0 against Chelsea with 2 late goals courtesy of Torres and in one fell swoop practically excluding Chelsea for the title challenge. Manchester United continue to grind out more postive results, with their latest wins coming against West Brom (5-0) and against Everton (1-0).
Juventus seem to have lost the plot with the consecutive losses against Udinese (2-1) and Cagliari (3-2). It is pretty evident that in general, all the players seem tired and out of form, missing that spark that is vital for a team definetly not packed with many skillful players but of players who are always willing to give that something extra for the team. One should not start criticizing left right and centre but be patient and sooner rather than later results will pick up. Every team is bound to suffer from a slump, it is how the team reacts that makes or breaks a season. One should also take into consideration the abnormal amount of injuries that Juventus players have had; this is certainly a delicate and vital point that should be dealt with. Luckily enough Inter seem to be stuttering for following their 2-0 away win against Catania, this was followed by a 1-1 home draw against lowly Torino. Milan, Genoa, Roma and Cagliari seem to be the current in-form teams, with Milan leapfrogging into second place and Genoa consolidating their fourth position. Roma have made giant strides in trying to gain a Champions League berth after their disastrous start to the season while the in-form team 'par excellence' Cagliari beat Juventus 3-2 away, thus reaching a Uefa Cup position... quite a remarkable feat both for the team and its coach, who had started with 5 straight losses.
Talking points in the Italian league were Panucci's refusal to go on the bench in Roma's 3-0 away win against Napoli and the unjust suspension inflicted upon Mannini and Possanzini. Panucci should learn what the words 'humility and respect' mean. There were stars like Totti, Perrotta and Aquilani on the bench for the same game, while it is not the first time that stars are benched for some games, such as Ronaldinho lately, Del Piero, Cruz just to mention a few, but never have they uttered a word of dissent. Being a cry-baby never brought any good, especially with regards to the teams harmony. One should learn to fight for his place through hard-work at training and by showing respect to your fellow team-mates and coaches. Regarding the suspension of Mannini and Possanzini, they seem to have been made a scapegoat by WADA even though they did their tests and proved to be drug-free, only because they left the restricted zone for a few moments while their President had a good shout at the whole team after Brescia's 3-0 loss against Chievo in December 2007. Hopefully common sense prevails so that these two players can resume their playing careers as soon as possible.
With a vociferous and fully-armed crowd with banners, Siggiewi Smina unfortunatly did not manage to beat Luxol Bupa even though they showed flashes of brilliance but albeit only at patches. What seems to be Siggiewi's undoing is the lack of harmony and unity within the team's ranks. If some elements would play more for the team rather than for personal interests, the team has the potential to improve in leaps and bounds.
As the commentator's of Eurosport stated, all those who managed to watch the Australian Open final between Federer and Nadal were regaled with a spectacle of outragously magnificent tennis play. Two greats battled it out in a thrilling and nail-biting final in which Nadal seemed to profit from some uncharacteristic tactical mistakes by Federer towards the end of the fourth set and the fifth. Nadal's words that Federer is a great player and that he deserves to break the Grand Slam record and Federer's tears are testimony of two humble yet great tennis players, who have yet years of spectacular tennis left in them !
Finally one must not omit to mention the Super Bowl Final, which has left a whole American state in delirious celebrations. The Pittsburgh Steelers won their record sixth Super Bowl with a nail-biting 27-23 win against the Arizona Cardinals with a dramatic touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with only a mere 35 seconds of the final remaining.
One should tell a good number of coaches and players in many football leagues, that fans are mainly interested in watching interesting matches rather than listen to them nagging about referees. A case in point is Rafa Benitez, who attempted to engage a psychological battle with none other than Sir Alex Ferguson, the king of this type of this type of 'battles.' Inevitably this could have distracted the team and Benitez himself, as evidenced in Liverpool's 1-1 draw against Wigan, when Benitez inexplicably took off Torres and Gerrard, thus losing vital points in their quest of winning the league for the first time in 18 years. Nonetheless, Liverpool made up for this by winning 2-0 against Chelsea with 2 late goals courtesy of Torres and in one fell swoop practically excluding Chelsea for the title challenge. Manchester United continue to grind out more postive results, with their latest wins coming against West Brom (5-0) and against Everton (1-0).
Juventus seem to have lost the plot with the consecutive losses against Udinese (2-1) and Cagliari (3-2). It is pretty evident that in general, all the players seem tired and out of form, missing that spark that is vital for a team definetly not packed with many skillful players but of players who are always willing to give that something extra for the team. One should not start criticizing left right and centre but be patient and sooner rather than later results will pick up. Every team is bound to suffer from a slump, it is how the team reacts that makes or breaks a season. One should also take into consideration the abnormal amount of injuries that Juventus players have had; this is certainly a delicate and vital point that should be dealt with. Luckily enough Inter seem to be stuttering for following their 2-0 away win against Catania, this was followed by a 1-1 home draw against lowly Torino. Milan, Genoa, Roma and Cagliari seem to be the current in-form teams, with Milan leapfrogging into second place and Genoa consolidating their fourth position. Roma have made giant strides in trying to gain a Champions League berth after their disastrous start to the season while the in-form team 'par excellence' Cagliari beat Juventus 3-2 away, thus reaching a Uefa Cup position... quite a remarkable feat both for the team and its coach, who had started with 5 straight losses.
Talking points in the Italian league were Panucci's refusal to go on the bench in Roma's 3-0 away win against Napoli and the unjust suspension inflicted upon Mannini and Possanzini. Panucci should learn what the words 'humility and respect' mean. There were stars like Totti, Perrotta and Aquilani on the bench for the same game, while it is not the first time that stars are benched for some games, such as Ronaldinho lately, Del Piero, Cruz just to mention a few, but never have they uttered a word of dissent. Being a cry-baby never brought any good, especially with regards to the teams harmony. One should learn to fight for his place through hard-work at training and by showing respect to your fellow team-mates and coaches. Regarding the suspension of Mannini and Possanzini, they seem to have been made a scapegoat by WADA even though they did their tests and proved to be drug-free, only because they left the restricted zone for a few moments while their President had a good shout at the whole team after Brescia's 3-0 loss against Chievo in December 2007. Hopefully common sense prevails so that these two players can resume their playing careers as soon as possible.
With a vociferous and fully-armed crowd with banners, Siggiewi Smina unfortunatly did not manage to beat Luxol Bupa even though they showed flashes of brilliance but albeit only at patches. What seems to be Siggiewi's undoing is the lack of harmony and unity within the team's ranks. If some elements would play more for the team rather than for personal interests, the team has the potential to improve in leaps and bounds.
As the commentator's of Eurosport stated, all those who managed to watch the Australian Open final between Federer and Nadal were regaled with a spectacle of outragously magnificent tennis play. Two greats battled it out in a thrilling and nail-biting final in which Nadal seemed to profit from some uncharacteristic tactical mistakes by Federer towards the end of the fourth set and the fifth. Nadal's words that Federer is a great player and that he deserves to break the Grand Slam record and Federer's tears are testimony of two humble yet great tennis players, who have yet years of spectacular tennis left in them !
Finally one must not omit to mention the Super Bowl Final, which has left a whole American state in delirious celebrations. The Pittsburgh Steelers won their record sixth Super Bowl with a nail-biting 27-23 win against the Arizona Cardinals with a dramatic touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with only a mere 35 seconds of the final remaining.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
