Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Soccer Break Friday – R.I.P FA Cup?
When I was in a French campsite in the 1990s a Dutchman caught wind of the fact I was English and immediately asked “Do you know the scores in the FA Cup semi-finals?”
Ask most football fans about what day in the season they looked forward to the most in the past and the FA Cup would have often topped the list, but the grand old competition is on the wane.
This year, four Premier League fixtures will be played before the trophy-starved Manchester City and Stoke City take to the Wembley turf for a shot at glory, the irony being Manchester United could clinch the league title about 20 minutes before their bitter city rivals try to win their first piece of silverware since 1976.
Is this farcical and disrespectful to the FA Cup or a sign the times-are-a-changin’? Money rather than trophies seems to rule modern football, so it’s no surprise to see the lucrative Champions League taking over as the ‘must win’ competition.
Off the pitch the red half of Manchester had a pleasing day after announcing their revenue was up by 30 per cent. The Red Devils roll on.
Over to the ongoing FIFA corruption scandal, and president Sepp Blatter has written a letter to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport about his re-election bid on June 1.
The talk in Africa is that one of the executive members embroiled in the affair, Issa Hayatou, should step down from his role as one of African football’s most influential figures. Agree?
Soccer Break Friday – titles at stake
The week is ending but the drama is just cranking up. Yes, the weekend is almost upon us, and that means loads more football action around Europe where there is still plenty at stake.
European competition is almost over for another season after Braga and Porto booked their places in the Europa League final in Dublin.
Borussia Dortmund became the Bundesliga champions last weekend, and AC Milan need just a point against AS Roma to lift the Serie A title on Saturday.
In Spain, should Real Madrid lose at Sevilla on Saturday and Barcelona grab a point at home to Espanyol on Sunday, the Catalans will be La Liga champions.
Things are a little tighter in the Premier League and Ligue 1, where two or three clubs in each league have a decent shot at glory.
All eyes will be on Old Trafford come Sunday, where leaders Manchester United host Chelsea. A United win, and they would need a mere point from their two remaining fixtures.
A Chelsea win, and both sides will be level on points though the Londoners would hit the top of the table due to a better goal difference. Who would have thought it after Chelsea’s woeful run of form in the middle of the season?
hot tip. Lyon to win French league in shock finish
Soccer Break Wednesday
That Champions League and drama undoubtedly go hand in hand was again in evidence after another tense night in Europe, with one blog even describing Inter Milan’s comeback victory over Bayern Munich as one of the best Champions League matches of all time.
As if that’s not enough, a “Little Pea” was scoring a double for Manchester United to send them through to their 11th quarter-final in just 19 years of the competition. No club has reached the last eight on more occasions.
What a night of action. Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar, instrumental in last year’s cup win, made another bad mistake. Are you worried Inter fans?
Despite the nervous ending for Man United it was all smiles in the end, Wayne Rooney in bullish mood after the match.
Looking to join holders Inter and Premier League leaders Man United in the next knockout round on Wednesday are fellow European giants Real Madrid while Chelsea should progress against Copenhagen.
Real, for all their spending and talent, have not reached the quarters since 2004, and failure again at the hands of Olympique Lyon would leave many baffled critics and fans. Do you think with twice Champions League winning coach Jose Mourinho at the helm they have a better chance?
On to Chelsea and rumours that Fernando Torres, badly in need of a goal to boost his confidence, could be rested. Where’s the logic in that?
Marvellous Marseille fans keep singing through the pain
I had been told the Stade Velodrome had a great atmosphere and after the constant noise the Marseille fans made in Wednesday’s 0-0 Champions league draw with Manchester United, I have one question – what would it be like if the stands had roofs?
Despite the dire match, the supporters at either side of the ground never stopped chanting and banging drums for a second. If the Velodrome wasn’t open to the elements I can only imagine that the noise would be even louder and give the home side an even bigger advantage.
French soccer fans aren’t really reknowned for thier raucous support like English or German supporters but down in Provence they really do know how to party even if the football on show was sending many neutrals to sleep.
It’s amazing loyalty to keep singing in a game with only two half-decent chances on a chilly February evening.
A sing-off between Marseille, Liverpool, Dortmund and Celtic fans might be a decent idea for a reality television programme. The Kop at Anfield might make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck but I’d wager the Marseille lot might be a few decibels louder.
The French champions will certainly notice the difference at Old Trafford in three weeks if the prawn sandwich brigade are in town.
Why not visit Reuters Soccer Blog on facebook to comment and interact with other fans of world soccer?
CR9 back in Real good books
Cristiano Ronaldo’s match-winning performance against Olympique Marseille on Tuesday has helped defuse the fierce criticism he attracted for his irresponsible sending off against Almeria at the weekend.
The Portuguese forward, a world record signing for the La Liga club in the close season, apologised for the two yellow cards he picked up — one for ripping off his shirt to celebrate a goal (which had the effect of showing off his bulging muscles to the cameras) and the second for recklessly kicking an opponent.
The Spanish press questioned his attitude the following day and noted that he will miss Saturday’s crucial La Liga clash at third-placed Valencia.
He was also slammed for sulking when he had a penalty saved and not celebrating with Karim Benzema after the Frenchman had driven home the rebound.
Almeria vice president Ricardo Martinez even called him a “chulo”, a cocky show-off.
But against Marseille the former Manchester United star wisely did his talking on the pitch, scoring two superb goals and generally running the French side ragged to fire Real into the last 16 of the Champions League.
“The Portuguese demonstrated that what you have to assess about him is his performance on the pitch — not so much his poses, his gestures or his kicks to opponents, something that all footballers have done at one time or another — and in this he has no equal,” purred Madrid-based sports sheet Marca.
If Real are to win everything they need to keep him fit then because when he isn’t there they struggle in big games. They lost at Sevilla, lost at home to AC Milan and drew away without him, and lost 1-0 away to Barca with him half-fit just over a week ago.
Also, it will be interesting to see whether Pellegrini can control Ronaldo’s rampant ego. His sulky refusal to celebrate with Karim Benzema, who put away his saved penalty against Almeria, was probably Ronaldo’s biggest crime last weekend.
France revels in best Ligue 1 match in a decade
France’s Ligue 1 cannot compare with England’s Premier League or Spain’s La Liga in terms of worldwide profile or star quality on the pitch but on Sunday Lyon and Marseille produced the sort of spectacular entertainment Chelsea v Manchester United just could not match.
I had not expected much from this match, which ended in a depressing goalless draw last season. Both teams had played in the Champions League earlier in the week – yes, there are French teams in that competition — and I suspected they would play conservatively, probably settling for draw.
If you look at my Predictions League ranking, you’ll see I’m not actually the bookies’ nemesis.
Lyon and Marseille did indeed draw, but not before scoring five goals each in probably the best Ligue 1 game since Marseille came back from four goals down to beat Montpellier 5-4 in the 1998-99 season.
Here is how it unfolded:
1-0 (3rd): Miralem Pjanic volleys home after a bad clearance by the Marseille defence
1-1 (11th): Souleymane Diawara heads home from a corner kick. The ball is deflected by Stephane M’Bia but the league hands the goal to Diawara.
Undoubtedly French team performances are more eye-catching this year than ever. But to say a goal-less draw is poor quality soccer and a 5-5 one can exceed that of Spain or England’s Premier seems not a scientific proposition. If the goalkeepers can save all these goals, the match is equally spectacular.
