Forlan’s extra time winner ends Fulham’s dream run.

Diego Forlan‘s extra time winner four minutes from time dashed Fulham‘s hope of clinching theri maiden European title after Atletico Madrid defeated the Englisg side by 2-1. The win for the Spanish underdogs has got them a much sign of relief after ending theri 48 year title drought in Europe. With this Atletico Madrid became the fourth Spanish team to win the trophy in seven years. (including formerly known as UEFA Cup).

The match started with a pack to capacity crowd with an evenly matched suporters from both sides coming all the way from their respective countries. Atletico Madrid had the first chance at the goal when the ball hit the wood work. In just the 12th minute Sergio Agüero quickly countered on Danny Murphy‘s misplaced pass and finds Diego Forlan, who drags his shot against the foot of Mark Schwarzer‘s left-hand post. The Spanish were narrowly ahead. the signal from them was sure that they will be only attacking. Just minutes later Fulham replied with a narrow miss when  Zoltán Gera‘s volley goes high over David de Gea‘s crossbar.

Goal: Atletico finally got the break through in the 32nd minute when Sergio Agüero‘s mis-hit shot past Mark Schwarzer was diverted to Diego Forlan who made no mistake in breaking the deadlock. But again Fulham replied with leveling the score just five minutes later after Simon Davies volleyed Zoltán Gera‘s chip to the back post past  Atletico‘s keeper David de Gea. The teams went into the break all square at one all.

Second half saw many substitutions in the match, surprising for Fulham was bring back Bobby Zamora as early as  the 55th minute. Both sides tired to score but the score line stayed as it is. The match went into extra time. in the opening half, first in the 11th minute José Manuel Jurado‘s cross flicks off the head of Brede Hangeland and finds reaches Diego Forlan at the far post and steadies himself and fires back across goal, forcing Mark Schwarzer to stretch out to save. And finally in the 26th minute of the ET Diego Forlan cleverly back heeled Sergio Agüero‘s low cross to gave Atletico the vital lead in the dying minutes. The scoreline remained 2-1 much to their delight.

 

Fulham takes on Atletico Madrid for the Europa League trophy.

After weeks of hardwork, the glory is finally waiting for either Fulham FC or Atletico Madrid for one of the most prestigious event in Europe. The inagural UEFA Europa League final between two teams will be taking place in just few hours in Hamburg, Germany and there is plenty to look for. Being the first of the big finals preceeding the champions league much is happening at both ends.

For Fulham this is a dream come true as being their first major final in the clubs 131 years history and also the expectations of the barmy army which is pretty much behing the only English club in Europe. The other English club Liverpool were knocked out by spanish giants Atletico Madrid in the semi finals. The news from the Fulham camp is that their fierce striker Bobby Zamora has recovered from his Achilles tendon problem and is expected to play. So is Damien Duff, who is fast recovering from a leg injury. Other than that the whites are all ready for the big night. The Spanish must be making plans to stop Danny Murphy & Co.

For Atletico Madrid the best plan will be to attack. With Diego Forlan, Jose Antonio Reyes and Sergio Aguero at the front, getting the ball past the net will not be easy. Their defence is a cause of concern with nothing much of a star power in it. Atletico‘s manager Quique Sanchez Flores must be hoping to over come the dissapointment faced in the domestic league with no special break through and conceeding 52 goals. One outside positive for the Spanish side will be the German crowd support which will be behind them as Fulham  beat Hamburger SV to reach the final, Fulham may even have to listen to lown jeers from the Hamburg Arena spectators. 

The match will start at 2045 Hours CET.

Forlan’s goal takes Atletico a step ahead of Reds.

Diego Forlan‘s goal within the opening 10 minute handed the hosts Club Atlético de Madrid a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League while in the other semi final in Germany, both Hamburger SV and Fulham had to settle for a goal less draw.

                                                                                                                 Pic source: timesonlice.co.uk

In just the 9th minute of the game, Jurado made the ball for Forlan but he completely mistimed his header but the ball fell sweetly for him and he bundled it past the scrambling duo of keeper Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher. Liverpool tried to get back in the game when Yossi Benayoun popped up in dangerous attacking positions and Steven Gerrard serving notice of his threat in the 19th minute as drove but could only hit the side netting. The scoreline stayed the same till the end with many other small chances for them. With this Atlético Madrid attempt to reach their first major European final since the 1985/86 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup but the job is half done, with just a single goal lead over the reds and the next match at Anfield in a week’s time, the proceedings may may prove difficult for the visiting team.

Hamburger SV will be happy on the result at the Hambury Arena as they were sucessfull in holding the visiting team for a goal less draw which gives them a clear away goals rule advantage when the return leg will be played at the Creavan Cottage. And one can also say that their 15+ hours journey didnt tire them psycologically. The match saw both the teams concentrating on the defence. Fulham‘s Bobby Zamora and SV‘s van Nistelrooy were given very less room to break free. Nistelrooy came close for scoring in the final minutes of the first half but that was too easy to go past the net. Now all eyes will be at the return leg which will be like a Cup semi final.

Liverpool, Fulham’s high hopes from Europa Cup. Journey may become a hurdle…

The much awaited Europa League semi final featuring two English premier league clubs Liverpool and Fulham will finally go underway tomorrow. The reds will be travelling to Madrid to face Atletico Madrid for the first leg while Fulham, which is three places below Liverpool in the domestic league, will be up against Hamburger SV at the Hamburg Arena, Germany.

Atletico Madrid have already won at Anfield this term as they claimed a 2-1 victory in a pre-season friendly but now the intensity is more with a 50-50 situation for both the teams. Big blow for the reds is that its Spanish striker Fernando Torres will not be part of home coming to his former club as he will be going for a second knee operation in four months which is going to keep him out for a minimum period of 5 weeks, which is likely to stall his appearance in the World Cup also. Other problem for Liverpool is to how players will respond after a prolonged journey to the Spanish capital as the volcanic ash has cancelled all flights across Europe. The team will be banking on the performance of Dirk Kuyt, Steven Gerrard for the match and hopefully the reds will be giving out there best as this is the only chance to make a mark this year.

Hamburger will be fired for tonight’s fixture as they know that a win in the semis will make their dream final at their home stadium. As repeatdly said, Fulham will be taking extra care of one name that is of former Manchester United striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy who had an excellent run against them when he player the premier league. He was transferred from Real Madrid where he was denied the first team place. Hamburger on the other hand will be hoping tp stop the fieryFulham‘s big man Bobby Zamora who has been responsible for terrorising the opponent’s defence on many occasion. The long by-road journey can also have an impact on their playing.

Both the matches will be starting at 2105 Hours CET.

Injuries and fatigue factor may spoil the world cup.

Sir Alex Ferguson was fuming over England’ manager Fabio Capello for makingWayne Rooney play for 90 minutes in the friendly over Egypt as a result he was over exerted and could not play the subsequent league match. Recently Franck Ribery was caught in a similar situation when he was reported to aggravated an existing problem by playing with an ankle injury in France’s friendly against Spain. Bayern’s management was reportedly to be furious over the matter and has complained to FIFA over the same.

 

In this ever going was between club and country the players will suffer and in the
end the fatigue may be visible in the World Cup. Nobody wants that but the we
are heading into that direction.

Given an example, in cricket last year when most of the players were playing in the
Indian Premier League (a cricket venture by the Indian Cricket Board) in
different clubs on the lines of football leagues they gave their best and the
tournament went with the same hopes in the T20 World Cup which was to be followed
in june in England. The things went in the wrong direction where defending
champion India bowed out of the tournament in the quarter finals which nobody
expected. The post defeat analysis showed the fatigue factor in the team
and also the carry forward injuries which they suffered during the IPL.
Pakistan on the other hand won the tournament because they were not allowed
to play in the IPL and concentrated fully on the World Cup.

Coming back to football, if more casualties follow the World Cup in South Africa can be a problem which may result to a flop show. Many in Europe thinks the World Cup is now second to club football because all the money and fame is in Champions League and top domestic league were they reside.

In the end I hope that the above is proved wrong and the country’s spirit remains at
the top. A win by a new country, Asian or an African nation will definitely
impact and change the thinking for the future.

Wembley stadium add “new” to its name.

Wembley Stadium is a stadium, located in Wembley Park in London, England. Primarily an association football venue, Wembley is owned by The Football Association (The FA) via its
subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited, and hosts the home international
matches of the England national football team
and the main English domestic cup finals.

As long ago as the 1880s, Wembley Park Leisure Grounds had football and cricket pitches, a running track, fountains and waterfalls, walkways and flowerbeds. The first
event in the old stadium was the famous ‘white horse cup final’ of 1923. Over
the years, the stadium was regularly updated and improved. Floodlights were
added in 1955. Whilst the electric scoreboard and the all encircling roof, made
from aluminium and translucent glass, were added in 1963. Those changes aside,
the structure of the stadium remained essentially the same as it was in 1924
and the old stadium struggled to meet the developing needs of sports fans when
it was finally closed in 2000.

The stadium was renovated and reopened to the fans lately in 2007 and the final of the FA Cup took place where Chelsea won 1-0 against Manchester United with a goal by Didier Drogba,making him the first player to score in the FA Cup final at the new Wembley.

Wembley’s 90,000 capacity makes it the second largest stadium in Europe (after Camp Nou,
Barcelona) and the largest and tallest in the world with every seat under
cover. It is one of the most expensive stadia ever built, costing close to
£800 million. Immediately following its opening, it was often referred to
as the “new Wembley Stadium” to distinguish it from the original stadium.
Now again the stadium will be alive with the league cup final between Manchester Unitedand Aston Villa will take place on the last day of this month.

Aston Villa in Carling Cup final.

Aston Villa came back in one of the most dramatic fashion to book their place in the final of the League Cup scheduled to be held on 28th February. They must be curiously waiting for one of the Manchester team for the big date at Wembley Stadium.

Villa came from two goal behind to win the fixture 6-4 over Backburn Rovers’ 10 men to take the overall aggregate 7-4. Two strikes from Milner and a goal each from Emile Heskey, Stephen Warnocknad Young took them through.

Important announcement: League Cup Match Postponed.

The Carling Cup/League Cup semi final between Manchester United and Manchester City, originally scheduled on 6th January, has been postponed due to heavy snowfall in the Eastlands.
The match will now be played on 19th January ’10 and the return leg at Old Trafford will be played on 27th January ’10. As a result of it, the premier league match of thered devils against Hull City originally scheduled on 26th January ’10 has been further postponed which wil be communicated on a further date.
Thank You.

EPL Reporter

The 1909 Jersey history

United wearing the V style jersey hoping the latest home kit will see its fair share of success, and will earn a place in the Old Trafford museum alongside classic kits like this one.It may look like a rugby shirt compared with today’s sleek, modern designs, but this classy affair has a proud place in the club’s history. The kit is based upon a 100-year-old design supplied by one of the club’s own players, Billy Meredith, before the 1909 FA Cup Final. Meredith, nicknamed the “Welsh Wizard”, is regarded as football’s first superstar and guided United to victory in the Cup and the league title the next year.It was in this kit that Ernest Mangnall’s men won United’s first FA Cup in 1909. With opponents Bristol City also sporting red as their first-choice kit, both sides were forced to wear neutral colours. United opted to ditch the usual scarlet number sported back then, but kept a dash of red with the V. It was V for victory, right enough; inside-forward Sandy Turnbull netting the game’s only goal. The team were presented with their shirts by keen fan George Robey, the music-hall comic at the behest of manager Mangnall, a man ahead of his time when it came to working the media. The V design returned between 1922 and 1927. With its current shirt sponsors as nike, the jersey has got a world wide reach with a global brand. The red devils trademark has reached its fans for a further about the design. Names like Wayne Rooley, Dimitar Berbatov, Rio Ferdinand are now household name and they are on the back of most of the jerseies wore across the world wiht major amount of fans in South Asia other that its home country. Its a matter of proud feeling that the this team had got many trophies after the first triumph to become one of the best in the world today and managed to hold this position for a long time.