So I got the sasser worm or some weird thing that would never happen with a Mac on my computer today and it basically shut me down for four hours. So the links are late and the Champions League clips blow.
Happy St. Paddy’s day everyone.
Champions League
+ Samuel Eto’o scored the match’s only goal as Inter Milan knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League with a 1-0 win.
+ José Mourinho after Inter win: ‘Today I was the enemy – and I won’
+ Paolo Bandini: Italian press hail Inter’s ‘perfect night’ against Chelsea.
+ David Pleatt: Chelsea pay for shortage of width and craft against Internazionale.
+ Graham Poll: German inefficiency robbed Chelsea of two deserved penalties against Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan.
+ Didier Drogba does not believe he deserved to be sent off against Internazionale last night but was more disappointed with the overall result of the game as his Chelsea team lost 1-0 and exited the Champions League.
+ CSKA Moscow reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time with a 2-1 victory at Sevilla.
+ Sevilla president Jose Maria Del Nido has come out in support of Manolo Jimenez following the club’s Champions League exit, insisting the under-pressure coach’s immediate future at the club is safe.
+ Goalkeeper Andres Palop has apologized to the club’s fans after his error helped CSKA Moscow knock Sevilla out of the Champions League.
+ Barcelona playmaker Xavi has been ruled out of tonight’s Champions League match with Stuttgart through injury.
+ Italy’s World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi has insisted he isn’t impressed by the success of the ‘Big Four’ in the Champions League – because their is nothing English about the clubs.
North America
+ Paul James: TFC’s culture change a good sign of things to come.
+ The Subs Bench interviews Canadian striker Stephen Ademolu.
+ Maple Leaf Forever!: On the nü-NASL expansion scheme.
+ Hamburg’s veteran midfielder Ze Roberto has ruled out a summer move to the New York Red Bulls.
+ DC United has waived midfielder Danny Szetela.
+ Philadelphia Union manager Peter Nowak yesterday blasted what he called the excessive whining over referees’ calls, a problem he said would turn MLS into a "freak show."
+ Philadelphia Union will play Valencia on July 31st,
England
+ Iain Dowie has taken over as manager of relegation-threatened Hull City to mastermind club’s fight for Premier League survival.
+ The Premier League have confirmed a nine-point deduction for Portsmouth will take place "with immediate effect".
+ Arsène Wenger has identified the 18-year-old Ajax attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen as an Arsenal star of the future, although the manager may have to bide his time before he can conclude a deal for the Dane.
+ Arsenal youngster Armand Traore believes he will eventually play for Paris St Germain, the "club of his dreams", although he admits a move this summer would be too early.
+ Manchester City full-back Wayne Bridge is set to be sidelined for around a month after undergoing a hernia operation on Tuesday afternoon, the Barclays Premier League club have confirmed.
+ Steven Gerrard has escaped censure from the Football Association for his apparent forearm smash on Michael Brown during Liverpool’s 4-1 win over Portsmouth on Monday night after referee Stuart Attwell confirmed he dealt with the incident at the time.
+ David Conn: Tom Hicks and George Gillett take Liverpool further from new Anfield.
+ Burnley’s chairman, Barry Kilby, has dismissed claims the club are looking at replacing Brian Laws just over two months after he was appointed manager.
Spain
+ Real Madrid have started bidding early for the summer transfer market as they knock on Fiorentina’s door with €15 million for Juan Manuel Vargas.
Italy
+ Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini has rejected talk of Juventus swapping Amauri for Simon Kjaer at the end of this season.
Germany
+ Bayern Munich captain Mark van Bommel has agreed a new contract which ties him to the Bundesliga leaders until the end of next season.
+ Bayern Munich director of sport Christian Nerlinger has told his club’s fans they can look forward to seeing a new big name in their squad next season, regardless of whether Franck Ribery stays.
France
+ Nice have been ordered to play their Week 29 match against visiting PSG behind closed doors despite having appealed the LFP’s initial decision following crowd disturbances in Week 22’s 3-2 home loss to Monaco.
Brazil
+ Corinthians are ready to offer Deco an escape from Chelsea. The playmaker is desperately unhappy at Stamford Bridge and wants to return to Brazil after the World Cup.
Rules and such
+ UEFA president Michel Platini is continuing to campaign for more referees on the field in football.
+ Football clubs can seek compensation if young players they have trained sign their first professional contract with a club in another European Union country, judges ruled.
The compensation story out of France pertains to a TFC trial player? “He currently trains with Toronto FC.”
John Terry hits a security guy with his car last night. The guy suffers a broken leg.
I saw that Drogba incident, it didn’t look like a foul to me, if anything it looked like Drogba was fouled.
Graham Poll needs to get a grip. There were plenty of decisions on the field that were questionable but none that were outrageous.
Overall Chelsea was outplayed by the better team over two legs, end of story.
Gerrardthrowns an intentional forearm to the head of another player and the ref thinks a free kick and a good talking to are sufficient. No wonder non-Scousers hate this douchebag.
As for Chelsea Inter, I think Chelsea were definitely denied a clear peanlty when the Inter defender wrapped his arms around Drogba and took him to ground. Inter deserved to go through, and would have with a 1-1 scoreline if the penalty was given and converted, but it is pathetic to think that a defender can blatantly tackle (think rugby, not soccer) the other team’s most threatening goal-scorer in the box and not be punished. As for the red, I suspect that Drogs knew exactly what he was doing…
Nick – Drogba’s incident wasn’t a foul? So stepping on people is allowed now?
As much as it pains me to compliment Inter their play was excellent. That is what football is about. Passing the ball until you find a hole. No rush to get the ball up field, oppurtunities will present themselves.
I don’t think Snijder misplaced a pass in the second half. Brillant match from him.
NAM:
It’s no justification, but A certain disgraced former England captain has employed such tactics on corner kicks – attacking and defending – for years. Chelsea dying by that sword earns them no sympathy from me.
Drogba’s was definitely a foul, as were all his Champions league indescretions when his team mates needed him most. Will UEFA hold him to the probation punishment he must have finally vbiolated by now?
The Gerrard incident was clearly intentional, and the handling of the Gerrard incident is clearly showing the shortcomings in the FA’s system. “the ref dealt with it at the time” isn’t cutting it anymore, and such decisions are looking every bit as foolish as Sepp’s refusal to use replay.
Real Madrid want Ca$hley? Good luck with that! I think his head just exploded. Somewhere, a Bentley nearly went off the road.
SB
Serie AHH, it didn’t look like a foul to me. Albeit, I only saw 1 angle. I have no doubt that he stepped on the guy, but It didn’t look intentional to me. Drogba looked like he was trying to regain his balance and get into a scoring position after definitely being fouled by the same guy that he would then foul. Drogba should feel hard done by, the red card was harsh to say the least. Honestly, I’m not bothered, I don’t like Drogba or Chelsea and I’m glad they are both out.
”Gerrardthrowns an intentional forearm to the head of another player and the ref thinks a free kick and a good talking to are sufficient. No wonder non-Scousers hate this douchebag.”
Wonderful grammar. Him getting away with it makes him a douchebag? It’s the ref’s incompetency that allowed him to get away with it. Although you could say he is a douchebag for throwing the intentional forerarm. But he’s not the only player to have ever done so. Many great players have done similar stupid things.
Drogba did intentionally step on the guy. As much as I dislike Drogba, Thiago Motta was an annoying pest all game and he should’ve been booked again for jumping on Drogba’s back right before the stamp.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1258584/Spurs-say-Robbie-Keane-Celtic-summer–wife-wants-striker-join-David-Beckham-LA-Galaxy.html
Robbie Keane’s wife wants him to join LA Galaxy lol
Sportsfan – go fuck yourself. Next time I’ll spell check it for you.
Gerrad is a douche because he is constantly comitting nasty fouls and is generally a dirty, nasty player.
Nowak said that MLS players have created a culture of dissent, where referees’ decisions aren’t respected, and that there’s a constant sense of frustration on the field and on the benches.
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Well news to Nowak, while nobody likes crying players all the time, the officiating quality in MLS leaves much to be desired.
Nam – Quit writing spelling mistakes lol. If you’re the ”Dyslexic Nam”, I’ll forgive you.