Reuters Soccer Blog

Lazio soar like their new eagle

Lazio, Serie A champions in 2000 but largely also-rans ever since, came up with a not very new idea before the season to try to boost their fortunes this term.

An eagle, the symbol of the Rome club, flies around the Stadio Olimpico before home games for good luck.

So far it’s working, with Lazio top after six games. In fact, apart from England, Europe’s main leagues have a distinctly refreshing look in early October with Valencia ahead in Spain, Mainz producing miracles to win seven out of seven in Germany and Stade Rennes first in France.

Some Italian animal rights activists are unhappy with the use of the eagle but Lazio say the bird is treated well and could point to the fact they borrwed the idea from Benfica, who have had an eagle flying around before important matches for years.

But Lazio fans are not getting carried away with their soaring start just yet…they were also pacesetters at this stage two seasons ago but soon dropped down the table.

PHOTO: Lazio’s eagle before kick off. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

By the way…the European season has started

Nevermind Iker Casillas hoisting the World Cup, it doesn’t seem five minutes since Javier Zanetti had the European Cup on his head while sporting that crazed grin back in May.

Yet here we are again at the start of another European season. In fact the likes of Juventus and Liverpool have already begun competitive action in Europa League qualifiers and this weekend France’s Ligue 1 begins and England’s Community Shield pits double winners Chelsea against runners-up Manchester United.

It all feels a bit surreal and excitement among fans does not seem to be as palpable as previous seasons. The World Cup was a letdown for many and the transfer market is as dead as a dodo.

Could the beautiful game be losing some of its spark?

The harsh economic realities in the rest of industry are filtering through to soccer. AS Roma are up for sale after big debts and Liverpool are hunting for a buyer while Manchester City are the only European club spending big given no “must haves” were really discovered in South Africa.

Several top sides have new coaches but fans’ enthusiasm for recent Liverpool failure Rafael Benitez at Inter Milan and unheralded Massimiliano Allegri at AC Milan has been muted at least. Roy Hodgson is a good coach, but will he get pulses racing at Anfield?

Even the Special One Jose Mourinho has been surprisingly quiet in his first few weeks at Real Madrid having bagged a treble with Inter, a workmanlike team at best, last term.

Should Europa League winners qualify for the Champions League?

Rules and competition formats which apply to other sports can rarely be implemented in soccer but UEFA may want to have a look at the benefits of a European club basketball formula if it is to further improve the Europa League.

The winners of Eurocup, the continent’s second-tier club basketball competition, win a berth in the Euroleague — the equivalent of football’s Champions League — and the move has had only a positive effect in attendances and the overall quality of teams.

My colleague Brian Homewood has duly noted that the Europa League has produced plenty of drama and full grounds across Europe in its first season after replacing the old UEFA Cup.

But would Liverpool have fielded their best XI in the knockout stages if they hadn’t lost a realistic chance of finishing in the Premier League top four well before the closing stages of the season?

And could Fulham, for all their exploits on the road to the Europa League final, ever hope to play in the money-spinning Champions League given the current balance of power in English club football?

Giving the Europa League winners a Champions League berth would force the top teams in Europe’s lesser club competition to take it seriously from start to finish while it would also present unheralded clubs with a chance of moving up the ladder.

Why Norway look doomed in World Cup playoff race

Europe’s 53 national teams have been split into nine groups with the winners of each qualifying directly for South Africa. The best eight runners-up will play off among themselves over two legs next month for the remaining four slots. The runner-up with the worst record will miss out on a playoff berth entirely.

Usually, deciding the worst runners-up would be a simple case of comparing the respective team records. But there is one small snag — namely Group Nine, which has only five teams while all the others have six sides.

Somebody in FIFA then had a brainwave: in the groups with six teams, the results against the last-placed team will not count when it comes to deciding the eight best runners-up.

This little gem means we have to wait to find out who is going to finish bottom of Groups One to Eight before we can even think about who might be the worst runner up. It also means that losing a match to the bottom team could ultimately benefit a side finishing in second place, as they would not have so many points lopped off their final tally.

Group Nine, which is the group of five, has already finished with Norway taking second spot with only 10 points. For what it is worth, we at the Reuters Soccer Blog believe they could be the unlucky ones. It looks as if, whoever finishes second in the other groups, all will have at least 11 points, regardless of who finishes bottom. Here’s why:

Group One: Second-placed Sweden already have 15 points (they will lose six from their two wins over Malta, who are almost certain to finish bottom) and should pick up three more at home to Albania in their last game. Leaders Denmark have 18 points. (Portugal or Hungary could also reach 19 points in this group).

Group Two: Greece, currently second with 14 points, should reach 17 points by beating Luxemburg at home. Even if they lose six points, that will mean they will still be better off than Norway (as will any team who overtakes them).

Americans fall for soccer but can MLS cash in?

The US national team beat European champions Spain in the Confederations Cup and give Brazil a scare in the final. In the NFL heartland of Baltimore, 71,000 turn out to watch Chelsea v AC Milan.

In Pasadena, Chelsea v Inter Milan pulls in 81,000.

David Beckham gets booed and jeered on his return for L.A Galaxy and the American sporting public laps it up – top sports talk shows, which usually ignore soccer other than to mock the game occasionally, lead their bulletins on the issue.

Giants Stadium in New York sells out with 79,000 for USA v Mexico in the Gold Cup final – even though both teams field reserve sides.

There is more to come — Real Madrid and Barcelona are about to start mini-tours of the U.S. that will bring in similar huge crowds.

In Major League Soccer, the Seattle Sounders average 30,000 for home games in their first season. Philadelphia and Vancouver sign up to became the next teams to join the league.

Hoffenheim’s Cinderella story turns sour

Having seen the changes at the top of the Bundesliga in the past few months you cannot help but feel sorry for newcomers Hoffenheim, who have played some of the most exciting football this season.

They won promotion last year and halfway through the season they topped the standings in a sensational run. They shared the top spot at the halfway mark with Bayern Munich but were ahead on goal difference and style of play.

But that is where their Cinderella debut season with their free-flowing, attacking football ended; the clock struck 12 and the golden chariot turned into a defective Trabant.

The league’s top scorer at the time, Vedad Ibisevic, who netted 18 times in 17 matches, tore his ligament during the winter break. Out for the rest of the season.

Then came midfielder Carlos Eduardo’s five-match ban after fighting with Hamburg’s Ivica Olic during a friendly match.

As if that was not enough they also missed striker Chinedu Obasi — twice through injury — before the tranquillity of the team was again shattered by a weeks-long doping affair involving Andreas Ibertsberger and Christoph Janker.