Yet Another Player Dies On the Field

Not even a week has gone by since the shocking death of Sevilla midfielder, Antonio Puerta, with news coming in of the death of yet another player on the field. Chaswe Nsofwa, who formerly played for Zambia, collapsed on the field during a practice session on wednesday. Chaswe joined Israeli club Hapoel Beersheba during the off season and scored two goals in his side's 3-0 win against Hakoach Amidar Ramat on Saturday. Rescue workers failed to start his heart on the fied and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Reports have claimed that it was around 40 degrees celsius with low humidity. May his soul rest in peace.

Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory?

For those fans who stayed up into the early hours of the morning(Indian Time), must have stared at their screens in disbelief as the Indian cricket team lost a match which they should have won with ease. In the fourth ODI of the Natwest Series, India won the toss and elected to bat. They got of to a dismal start losing their first 3 wickets for a mere 32 runs with 10 overs gone. Tendulkar(55) and Yuvraj(71) steadied the ship, and with help from Khan(20) at the tail they took the score to a modest 212. Broad was the pick of the English bowlers picking up 4 wickets. England got of to a miserable start as well and were teetering at 114/7, with batsmen 8 and 9 at the crease. A hundred to win in 25 overs with 3 wickets in hand. Should have been India's game, right? Wrong. India have known to lose games from winning situations and this turned out to be no different. Ravi Bopara(43*) and 21 year old Broad(45*) played maturely and sensibily to take England all the way to victory. Earlier on Agarkar had demolished the England top and middle order scalping 4 wickets. Broad naturally was adjudged man of the match his first in a promising career. Its amazing how many times the Indian team disappoints its fans and how long can we continue to support such a team.

The Champions League Draw

Having just gone through the UEFA Champions League Draw for the 2007-08 season, I couldn't help but try and analyze the various groups. The first thing that I noticed was that two big teams were not there, Bayern Munich and Juventus. The omission of Juventus was understandable as they were in the Serie B last season due to the match fixing scandal, but what about Munich. They couldn't qualify for it, for the first time in their history. Group A- Liverpool, Marseille, Porto and Besiktas. Should be no problem for Liverpool and Porto to advance. Group B-Chelsea, Valencia, Schalke and Rosenborg. This group should see Chelsea and Valencia going through without a problem. Group C- Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Lazio, Olympiakos. A bit of a tricky group. Real Madrid should be one of the teams going through but the second would be a closesly contested battle between Bremen and Lazio. Group D-AC Milan, Benfica, Celtic and Shakhtar Donetsk. Defending Champions Milan to progress and Benfica and Celtic to battle for
 the second spot. Group E- Barcelona, Lyon, Rangers and Stuttgart. Favourites Barcelona to go through with ease and Lyon could face trouble from Rangers. Group F - Manchester United, AS Roma, Sporting Lisbon, Dynamo Kiev. We all remember last seasons
 match between United and Roma and can expect more though United haven't got off to the best start this season. A tricky and difficult group. Group G- Inter Milan, PSV, Spartak Moscow and Fenerbache. Inter Milan and PSV to go through. The last group, Group H should see Arsenal going into the enxt round easily along with Athens at the expense of Bucharest and Slavia Prague.
It should turn out to be a very thrilling and exciting Champion League with a large number of exciting matches.

Nani Inspires United To First Win

The way things were going in the first hour of the game, I thought it would be another disappointing day for a United supporter. Spurs seemed to be dominating a lot of the play and it was thanks to some good defending and a bit of help from the referee that United managed to keep a clean sheet. Nani showed a bit of magic and brilliance with a screamer of a shot that saw the ball fly best a diving Robinson to bring United their first victory. A 1-0 win at home agaisnt spurs. Spurs were unlucky not have been a penalty awarded to them when the ball struck Brown on the left hand on the way to the goal. Keane started the Spurs momentum with a shot on the crossbar just 23 seconds into the game. Deserving or not Manchester United have their first win and the goal by Nani was deserving enough to be a match winner. Elsearound the world, Milan were comfortable 3-0 winners away to Genoa with Kaka scoring twice just before half time. Inter Milan have only themselves to blame for a 1-1 draw at home to Udinese after an injury own goal gave the visitors a point. The much awaited first match of the much fancied Barcelona ended in a tame draw. Racing Santander held on for 30 mins with 10 men at home to Barcelona.

Its A Ferarri One-Two

Ferarri bounced back with a One-Two finish at the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul. Felipe Massa led from start to finish and was followed by his team mate Kimi Raikonnen who started third from the grid. Lewis Hamilton who started behind Massa on the grid ran into tyre trouble with 15 laps to go and could only manage to finish 5th. Alonso who lost places at the start to fall to 6th managed to come back strongly and finish in third place. Nick Heidfeld had a strong race to finish in 4th. Hamilton still leads the drivers championship with 84 points followed by Alonso on 79 points. Massa has 69 points followed by team mate Kimi with 68

Wins For Big Clubs Around The World

Saturday saw the start of the Spanish La Liga and the Serie A and matches from the Premier League. Liverpool were comfortable winners away at Sunderland with Sissoko and Voronin getting the goals. Chelsea struggled a bit but a goal from Lampard saw them through against Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge. Fabregas scored the lone goal for Arsenal at home against an improved Manchester City. Van Persie had earlier missed a penalty. The Spanish La Liga saw Real Madrid come from a goal down to beat rivals Atletico 2-1. Raul and sneijder were the scorers for Real. UEFA Cup winners Sevilla saw of Getafe 4-1. The Italian League saw the return of 'the old lady', Juventus. The 5-0 drubbing of Livorno show that they are definitely are a force to reckon with this season.Over at the Dutch Eredivisie Ajax, thrashed NEC Nijmegen 5-0 and over in Scotland Celtic humbled Hearts 5-0. An interesting Sunday lies ahead with Manchester United, AC Milan, Inter, Barcelona all ready to play.

The Much Awaited Madrid Derby

The new season of the Spanish League gets underway in a few hours, with the Madrid derby. Atletico, who lost captain Torres to Liverpool at the srat of the season, have made sure that he will not be missed. They have reinforced their attacking options with the likes of, Simao, Luis Garcia, Forlan and Reyes. Meanwhile Real will be kicking off the season with a new coach and many new faces. Metzelder, Saviola, Robben are all looking eager for a starting spot. Real lost the super cup to Sevilla 6-3 on aggregate and will be hoping for a strong positive start. I have a feeling Atletico will take this game.

India Win Thriller, Level Series

India pulled off a thrilling nine run victory in the second ODI to level the series 1-1. After being demolished in the first ODI, India bounced back to score a mammoth 329 in their alloted 50 overs. Inida got of to flyer with Ganguly(39) and Sachin(99). The main controversy in the Indian innings was the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar for 99. He was adjudged caught behind when replays show the ball coming of the arm. The innings was later bolstered by (49) and Dravid(92*), who played a blistering innings. Flintoff was the pick of the English bowlers claiming 5/56.
England too were given a solid start by openers Prior and Cook who were both dismissed in their 30's. It all looked over when England were 220/6 in the 38th over and needed anohter 110 to win in 12 overs. Then came the fight back by Mascarenhas, who hit 5 towering sixes to score a quick 52 of 39 balls and Broad(29). England fell short by 9 runs finshing at 320/8 in their fifty overs. a brilliant and very thrilling game of cricket. Now we wait for the third ODI.

Transfer Rumours

Its amazing how rumours get around, but i just thought i'd share this with people.It's the word going around with desperate signings taking place with the transfer window coming to a close. From what ive heard and read- real madrid have offered Barcelona 40million for Iniesta. Liverpool have approached Madrid for defender Cicinho, and Spurs have approached Vasco for Riquelme.United seem to be interested in gaining the services of Anelka and the Biggest surprise is Barcelona offering 84 million pounds for Drogba. Imagine if even one of these comes true?

Maiden Tons For Bell And Cook as England reach 288

England put aside their recent test series defeat and amassed 288 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in their 50 overs in the first ODI against India. Bell and Cook put on 178 for the second wicket. Cook was finally dismissed after pacing his innings well, for a well deserved 102. his previous best was 41. Bell on the other hand played an aggressive and commanding innings finishing unbeaten on 126 of just 118 balls. Pieterson who came in to the crease late in the innings was unbeaten for a quick 35. Inida fielded poorly and were always one specialised bowler short. Khan and Singh bowled well, both going for 49 in the 10 overs picking up a wicket each along the way. It'll be an interesting run chase looking at India's formidable batting line up.

India Ready For England

In just a few hours India will take on England in the first one dayer of the Natwest Series. India, who recorded their first overseas test series win in England after 21 years, will be hoping to take their momentum into the one day series.India have a relatively young squad apart from the their big three of Sachin, Sourav and Dravid. England have been boosted by the return of Ansrew Flintoff, who is scheduled to bat at no. 6 and carry the middle order. Broad and Tremlett are expected to play with Sidebottom sidelined with an injury. India will be favourites and have three players with 10,000 runs each. however England who were stunned at home by the West Indies recently will be looking tomake amends after the test series loss. The first one day is being played at Southampton

NO. 50 For Federer

Over the last two weeks we have seen Roger Federer a bit with his game. He lost the Rogers Masters Cup to Djokovic in a third set tiebreaker, in the final. He struggled in the Cincinnati Masters Cup as well, being stretched to three sets against Almagro in the QF and Hewitt in the SF. He beat Hewitt in a third set tiebreak. However the Roger we know was back to his best in the Finals demolishing James Blake 6-1 6-4. This was Federer's 50th title and the surpsrising fact is that 25 of his wins have come in the masters and grand slam events. He is surely looking good for the US OPEN.

Liverpool Robbed Of Victory At Anfield

Those who saw the game will know what I'm talking about. The Liverpool vs Chelsea game was a refereeing disaster. The mush awaited clash of the weekend surely didn't disappoint. It was fast paced with opportunities for both teams right through out the game. Liverpool took the lead with 15 minutes gone through a wonder goal by Torres. It was his first goal for liverpool in the league. Into the second half, referee Styles gave Chelsea a penalty which clearly wasn't there. Video replays show that Malouda was merely jumping over the ball when he was brought to ground and was never a penalty. however Chelsea tok advantage of this gift and equalised with Lampard netting home. United's loss and draws for Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, have surprisingly left Manchester City on top of the table with a 100% record so far.

Stoner Wins 7th Race Of Season

Casey Stoner led from start to finish and extended his league at the top of the riders championship as he clinched the Czech Grand Prix. Stoner finished under 8 seconds ahead of John Hopkins who produced his best finish in MotoGP. Defending Champion, Hayden finished an impressive third claiming his 3rd podium finish in 4 races. Rossi finsihed a disappointing 7th but still remains 2nd in the overall leader. Stoner is close to securing his first ever riders championship.

City Take Derby, Who Does Alex Turn To?

A few minutes ago Manchester City triumphed at home,1-0 against arch rivals Manchester United. Giovanni scored the lone goal for City striking from outside the box and taking a slight deflection of Vidic, before beating diving Van Der Sar. United have now got just 2 points from their first three games, kicking off the worst start in premier league by defending champions. The thing to be noticed was the calibre of bench strength and substitutions made by Ferguson. United were without Rooney(injured) and Ronaldo(Suspended). Playmaker Nani was taken off to bring on Chris Eagles and later 19year old Campbell made his Premier League Debut for United. Is this the kind of bench strength Alex Ferguson hopes to retain the title with? Hargreaves making his debut for UNited in the League played well but Tevez was the disappointment missing two golden opportunites in the second half. United fans are surely worried and hurting a great deal, as they have already slipped 7 points behind the leaders in just 3 games.

Arjuna Award For Saurav Ghoshal

A few days back India's number One squash Player, Saurav Ghoshal was awarded the Arjuna Award. This award is handed out by the government for outstanding achievement in sport. No squash player in India has received this award in over a decade. Ghoshal, 21 was also the firstIndian to win the coveted Britsh Open in 2004. Ghoshal who won his third national title in July has withdrawn from an international tournament with a slight injury. Ghoshal claimed he didn't want to take any chances that could hamper his performance at the upcoming Britsh Open that gets underway middle of next month. He is currently ranked No. 41 in the world and hopes to improve his ranking by the end of the year.

History In The Making? Surely Not.

Martin Jol is without star striker, Berbatov, for tomorrow's home game against nearly promoted Derby. Berbatov has been ruled out for two weeks as he boarded a plane to Munich to get a groin injury treated. Tottenham have never lost their opening three games in a season in the history of the premier league and Jol will be desperate to keep that record intact. He is most likely to start with Keane and Bent and will turn to Defoe in the second half. However I dont think Derby should trouble the Spurs at home too much and Tottenham should come through with a comfortable. victory. However, all eyes this weekend will be tuned to two mouth watering matches. The Manchester Derby kicks off on Sunday without City looking in ominous form whereas United have not got off to a  good start this season and will be without Rooney(injury) and Ronaldo(suspension). The other big match, probably the biggest is between the two heavy weights Chelsea and Liverpool. A draw is what is on the cards but I feel Liverpool will win with the home advantage. Chelsea look a bit dodgy in defence
 without Terry but Soccer is a funny, unpredictable game and we will have to just sit and wait.

India Comfortably Home Against Scotland

India wrapped up the one dayer against minnows Scotland with ease. India won the toss and sent Scotland into bat. They managed a respectable total of 203/9 in 46 overs which was rain interrupted. Scotland were struggling at 49/4 before a steady middle order partnership took them to 131. Haq and Hamilton found their way into the 40's before being sent to the pavillion. The Indian bolwers did well with Singh, Agarka, Chawla and Patel all claiming 2 wickets. India were given a brilliant start by openers Utthapa and Gambhir who put on 104 runs before Utthapa was out for a well compiled 55. Gambhir played a steady innings for his man- of- the- match unbeaten 85 and got support from Yuvraj(38 off 28). India set a target of 209 in 46 overs under the D/L system reached home in the 40th over with 7 wickets in hand.

Heartbreak For United As Chelsea Escape Again

It was another lousy day at the office for Ale Ferguson as Manchester United failed to pick up all three points away at Portsmouth. United playing without injured striker Wayne Rooney had superstar Tevez in the starting line up. However, it was veteran Paul Scholes who got them the lead 15 minutes into the game with a screamer from outside the box. Benjani then equalised 10 minutes into the second half. Portsmouth were down to 10 men midway into the second half but United failed to take advantage and ended up having Ronaldo sent off towards the end of the game. 2 points from the opening two games has left fans sort of shocked and unhappy and are now all nervously waiting for the manchester derby next weekend. Man City have two wins from their opening two games under new manager Eriksson. Elsewhere Chelsea came from behind with two quick goals courtesy of Lampard and Drogba early into the second half, away to Reading, to take them four points ahead of United. Chelsea next have a mouth watering clash against the formidable reds of Liverpool who won their away fixture in the Champions League Qualifier mid week.

Troubled Days Ahead For Jol?

The season could not have got off to a poorer start for Spurs manager Martin Jol after their 3-1 loss at home against Everton.Gardner got the lone goal for spurs whereas Stubbs,Osman and Lescott scored for the toffees. Jol must be wondering what he's doing wrong. Jol started with three strikers, Keane, Bent and Berbatov and even brought in Defoe in place of Bent in the second half but the Toffees were too strong and went to the top of the table. People have a lot of expectations from the spurs team this season and Martin Jol will have to turn things around unless he plans to be the first manager to be sacked this season

What Is Alex Thinking?

Im sure Wayne Rooney's injury has brought about a gloom amongst United
 supporters even though it marks the early arrival of superstar Tevez to the
field. What fans would like to know are where are the replacements? United had John O'Shea playing striker against Reading. Is that how badly 
United are lacking in strikers.Ferguson let Smith and Rossi go, and as far as
we know only brought in Tevez. Saha is out and now united are without rooney
for two months. A draw in the first round is surely not what ferguson had in mind. He better get his substitutions and bench right if he wants 
to hold on to the title.


 

Tevez To Debut Against Portsmouth

With Rooney out of action for around 2 months with a broken foot, Sir Alex has included new signing Tevez, in the starting line up for the mid week clash against Portsmouth. United who drew against Reading at home will be hoping to get three points on the board and stay in touch with the front runners. Liverpool, Chelsea, new look Newcastle all registered first round wins. United fans will also be hoping that Reading can carry on their performance and hold off visitors Chelsea.