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Tuesday, June 13, 2006

World Cup 2006:

Australia 3
Tim Cahill 82',89'
John Aloisi 90+2'
Japan 1
Shunsuke Nakamura 26'

3 goals in 8 last minutes awarded Australia a much deserved win over new Continental members Japan. Austraila, that will play their football under the ASEAN region from now on, set a signal to the rest of Asia after they pulled a remarkable comback to score their first World Cup points. Super-subs Tim Cahill and John Aloisi made japan pay for their missed chances after Cahill equalised from a corner. Soon after, Cahill's superb shot deflected of the post and rattled the net to give Australia the lead. Completing thier first game in the World Cup, Aloisi scored the third by beating the defence and slotting it to Kawaguchi's left.

USA 0
Czech Republic 3
jan Koller 5'
Tomas Rosicky 26',76'

New Arsenal signing Rosicky strike twice to knock USA down. After Koller scored the opener, it was always going to be Czech's night. Us were slow on the field and did not make many chances. The bright spares in the side was man City's Renya and L.A. Galaxy's Lando Donovan.

Italy 2
A Pirlo 40'
V Iaquinta 83'
Ghana 0

AC Milan's Pirlo started of the scoring with Vincenzo Iaqunita from Udinese scoring 7 minutes before the whistle to welcome Ghana into the world cup.

preview:

South Korea to beat Togo by 3-0.
France to learn from mistakes to beat Switzerland 4-1.

<--Matthew Matthias Tay--> Red Devil entered entry @ 10:21 AM

Monday, June 12, 2006

WORLD CUP 2006:

Germany 4
Lahm 6'
Klose 17',64'
Frings 87'
Costa Rica 2
Wanchope 12',73'

Poland 0

Ecudour 2

Tenorio 24'

Delgado 80'

Germany make history by beating Costa Rica 4-2 to mark the opening of the world cup. This is the highest scoring opening game to date where Paulo Wanchope and Klose scored 2 goals for their respective sides. germany had 2 other goalscorers in Lahm and Fringe. Poland was stunned by the South Americans Ecudour 2-0.

England 1
Beckham 3
Paraguay 0

Trinadad and Tobago 0
Sweden 0

England started on a high after David Beckham struck the quickest goal of the tournament thus far, scoring after 3 minutes. His 35 yard free-kick seemed to have taken a nick of the Paraguay skipper Gamarra but it has been said that it might be credited to Beckham. In the other group game, Singapore referee Samsul Maidin red carded A. John as T&T held Sweden to a goalless draw.

Argentina 2
Crespo 24'
Saviola 38'
Ivory Coast 1
Drogba 82'

Serbia & Motenegro 0
Holland 1
Ajren Robben 18'

Argentina and holland started the group of death with three points after edging out Ivory Coast and Serbia and Motenegro respectively. All strikers were on target with three Chelsea players hitting the back of the net.

Mexico 3
Omar bravo 28',76'
Iran 1
Y Golmohammadi 36'

Angola 0
Portugal 1
Pauleta 4

Mexico and Portugal beat group minnows to register three points each to show that there will be little shocks in this world cup.

Preview:
Australia vs Japan, Brazil vs Croatia
With this tight group, little would espect nothing more than Brazil and Croatia to advance. This to me is a group of death as well. I say that Australia and japan will battle to a 4 goal draw and for Croatia to hold Brazil 1-1.

USA vs Czech republic, Italy vs Ghana
Everyone expects Czech and italy to go through. but many forget that in the last world cup, USA were denied a final spot against brazil due to poor refereeing. They gave germany a runabout and this year, I predict them to top the group with a 2-0 win over the Czechs. Italy has been perorming under national standards for the past four years and i don't see them shining this year as well. I say a 1-1 draw for Ghana.

<--Matthew Matthias Tay--> Red Devil entered entry @ 5:03 PM

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Dein voted off FA board
Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein has been voted off the FA Board by the Premier League.
Dein's place will be taken by Manchester United chief executive David Gill following a vote of all 20 top-flight chairman on the four Premier League representatives on the board.
The news comes as a surprise, with Dein having established himself as one of the most important figures in the game. Dein's ties to Arsenal were also cited by Jose Mourinho as one of the factors behind an unbalanced Premier League fixture list which provided Chelsea with five away games following their six Champions League group matches last term, while Arsenal played five of their games at home.

United's budget boosted by Obi's sale
English champions Chelsea have signed teenager John Obi Mikel after agreeing to pay £12 million ($22.4 million) to Manchester United who were also chasing the Nigerian midfielder.
The wealthy London club completed the deal on Saturday to end an 18-month battle over the talented player. Chelsea said they would also pay Mikel's former club Lyn Oslo £4 million. Half of the payments to United and Lyn will be paid in a year's time.

Fergie eye Riquelme
Sir Alex Ferguson aim to follow up on his interest in Villarreal's £15 million rated player. He will cut short his holiday to fly to Germany to see him play against his United stars Edwin van der Sar and Ruud van Nistelrooy when the two sides meet in the final group game.

Wenger: 'I bought Rosicky to replace Pires'
Arsene Wenger has revealed he swooped for Tomas Rosicky as soon as he discovered Robert Pires was leaving Arsenal and believes he has found the ideal replacement for the French winger. Pires ended his six-year stay at Highbury last week when he agreed a two-year deal with Spanish Champions League semi-finalists Villarreal. But in readiness for the 32-year-old's departure, Wenger was already tracking Rosicky who eventually signed for £7million from Borussia Dortmund 11 days ago. And although the Gunners boss admits the two players are not identical in style, he believes Rosicky, 25, can fulfil a similar role at the club. 'I took Rosicky to replace Robert. I moved very quickly after Robert told me he would go,' he told the club's official website. 'I wanted to secure [Rosicky] before the World Cup starts. He is a little bit similar position-wise to Robert.

Marseille Warn Ribery Suitors
Olympique Marseille have warned United and Lyon that their coveted winger Franck Ribery is not for sale.Marseille claim they have had contact from both clubs, but insist they are looking to hang on to the 23-year-old French international, who was voted France's Young Player of the Year last month."Manchester United representatives have also approached us and we told them the same thing, which is that Franck Ribery is not for sale." Ribery has caused a stir in the French camp after some dazzling performances for his country in the friendly matches leading up to the World Cup.Widely regarded as French Lique 1's finest player last season, Ribery is clearly enjoying breaking into Raymond Domenech's side. "United representatives have approached us and we told them that Franck Ribery is not for sale."Marseille chairman Pape Diouf"I feel really good in that team," he said. "Every time we train or play together, it's a lot of fun." Ribery earned the praise of Arsenal striker Thierry Henry when he came off the bench in the 1-0 win over Mexico at the weekend.

Ron: Ruud Row Has Been Blown Out Of Proportion
Cristiano Ronaldo insists his training ground row with Ruud van Nistelrooy was nothing more than "a storm in a teacup."Van Nistelrooy was omitted from the Reds' squad for their final game of the season with Charlton after a reported bust-up with the Portuguese winger.Ronaldo confirmed the pair had a disagreement but says the issue has been blown out of proportion."Quarrels happen in all teams, in all professions," explained the 21-year-old. "It's normal to have small disagreements. "That's what happened, something perfectly normal. People are turning it into something and it's only a storm in a teacup."The pair are currently preparing to represent their respective countries at the World Cup. Van Nistelrooy was an unused sub during Holland's 2-1 friendly win over Mexico on Thursday night. Earlier in the week, the Dutch striker scored the only goal of Holland's 1-0 victory over Cameroon, a close-range strike in the 23rd minute.Ronaldo, meanwhile, started Portugal's 4-1 win over Cape Verde Islands in Evora but came off in the 62nd minute, shortly after being shown the game's solitary yellow card. Paris St.Germain striker Pauleta bagged a hat-trick for the home side.

<--Matthew Matthias Tay--> Red Devil entered entry @ 8:47 PM