After Togo pull out only 15 teams left for the African Cup of Nations ’10!!!

After some horrifying attack on the Togo players and officials like the one in Pakistan where Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked, Africa’s most prized football tournament that is The African Cup of Nations 2010 finally kicked off in Angola where 15 teams along with the host will be playing for over 20 days for their dream date at Luanda on 31st.

A little about the mascot for the tournament…
Palanquinha, The mascot was inspired by the Giant Sable antelope, which is a national symbol of Angola, ex-libris of our fauna, as it is a species that is not available in any other part of the world. Bearing the scientific name, Hippotragus Niger Variani, the Giant sable Antelope only inhabits the Cangandala National Park and the Luanda Total nature Reserve in the Malange province. It is enlisted on the endangered species list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as well as on the Convention for the Protection of African Fauna and flora absolute protection list.
The tournament kicked off with a grand opening ceremony in the capital Luanda and the match ended with a high scoring 4-4 draw against Mali in Group A, that followed by a 3-0 victory of Malawi against Algeria the day after.

Meanwhile in group B, Didier Drogba couldn’t display any fireworks as his team Cote d’Ivoire only managed a goal less draw against Burkina Faso while the other match could not take place as Togo has withdrawn from the tournament after being attacked and the players are still in shock. The team’s assistant coach and media officer were killed and reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale seriously wounded by separatists from the enclave of Cabinda. This leaves only 3 teams in this group to fight for two spots for the next round.

In the 3rd group, last time champions Egypt started their campaign with a win over African power house Nigeria with a 3-1 victory and the other featuring Mozambique and Benin ended with a 2-2 draw.
Group D with teams Cameroon, Gabon, Tunisia and Zambia will be starting their campaign today with Cameroon locked up with Gabon for the big one.
So lets see who will emerge as the king of Africa in the coming days…
Good Luck to all the teams.

Spurs desprate for Maxi Rodríguez, Viera back to premier league!!!

Maxi Rodríguez is the man who is in the breaking news. It seems like the premiership teams are after him. The Argentine who is dubbed to be the next big thing in Argentina and the European world is being closely watched by several premier league team including Tottenham Hotspurs and Liverpool. Other than them, his home club Boca Juniors, Spanish powerhouse Villareal, all are after him. Currently playing with Atletico Madrid, he has the potential to break all the barriers. Tottenham Hotspurs are so curious to sign him that they are even offering David Bentely in exchange for the Argentine.

After spending some tough time with several European clubs, former French skipper Patrick Viera may be back to England. The tall & short-tempered Frenchman would be on its way to Manchester to play with Manchester City. Rumours are that his is unhappy with his performance at Inter and a 6 month loan deal till the end of the season here will probably lift his game. According to the new Man City manager Roberto Mancini “the deal is 99 percent on”. Interestingly he also coached Viera which his stint in Inter. But things may halt as he has accepted Inter’s request to delay his departure from San Siro till the time the injury hit Inter players are back.

Its Gianfranco Zola’s Hammers Vs Chelsea, Manchester United to play Fulham.

After the extended mid week party, the teams are again back for the premiershipaction for the weekend and there is plenty to look for in the next three days. Seems like the horror run may continue either for Portsmouth at the bottom or Liverpool who are hanging at seventh position. Post Saturday the picture will be further clear whose ship will start to sink. Leaders Chelsea will be visiting up against the team for their former player Gianfranco Zola when the meet them West Ham United this Sunday at Opton Park.

Manchester United will be visiting Craven Cottage to play Fulham on Saturday and a win against them will against take them to joint first and the pressure will again fall on Chelsea who will be playing the day after. News from the locker room is that the red devils will be going with the same squad that played Wolves last Tuesday. Wayne Rooneyhad plenty of chances but the goal came of a penalty for him so he will be in a determined mood to score in the open play. Gary Neville is still unfit but he may be on the bench for the match. Rio Ferdinand is still unfit for the weekend but is expected to resume training in the coming days. Frenchman Gabriel Obertan, after his first league start, will be all ready for the match along with Darron Gibson who has shown that he belongs to this team.

After Frank Lampard’s penalty gave Chelsea the victory against the Pompeys, much needs to be worked upon the Blues fire power and defence as they are conceding too many goal as compared to their clean sheet records of the past. Their bid for Steven Gerrard has definately given waves in the EPL world.
Match at Old Trafford will be starting at 1500 Hours GMT (2030 Hours IST)
Other matches during the next three days are:
Saturday
Aston Villa Vs Stoke City 1245 Hours GMT
Blackburn Rovers Vs Tottenham Hotspur 1500 Hours GMT
Manchester City Vs Sunderland 1500 Hours GMT
Arsenal Vs Hull City 1700 Hours GMT

Sunday
Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs Burnley 1330 Hours GMT
Everton Vs Birmingham City 1500 Hours GMT

Monday Night
Wigan Athletic Vs Bolton Wanderers 2000 Hours GMT

Arsenal back in the title race, Manchester United stunned by Villa.

Aston Villa stunned Manchester United in their own backyard giving them a shock 1-0 defeat. Sole strike by Gabriel Agbonlahor gave the visitors full three points. Leaders Chelsea were held for a draw against Everton. In the classic Sunday showdown at Anfield, Arsenal came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 and come only 6 points behind leaders with a game in hand.

At old Trafford the game really didn’t go in Manchester United favour for the reasons that some of their main players were out due to injuries though Vidic and Brown provided some resistance but that was not enough for the red devils. It was also Aston Villa’s first victory at this ground since 1983. Fire power was also lacking from Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs who also came back after missing the min weeks match against Wolfsburg . The goal for the visiting side came in the 21st minute when Gabriel Agbonlahor headed home Ashley Young’s ball who gave a chip in from the left flank. With the score remained as it is for the rest of the match and no late surprise by Manchester United, it was all over for them. United was unable to capitalise on Chelsea’s high scoring 3-3 draw against Evertonearlier during the day.

In the only match on Super Sunday, Arsenal are back to the title race after they came from behind to beat Liverpoolat home in an exciting match at Anfield. Even the return of Fernando Torres wasn’t enough for the home team to take this one away. His opening scare for the gunners in the 11th minute was not too strong to find the net.Liverpool got the lead when Gerrard’s free kick landed in the Arsenal’s penalty area and in the mix up Dirk Kuytkicked the ball in the back of the net. The hosts went in to the break with the lead.
Second half was the visiting teams half, first an own goal by Glen Johnson helped Arsenal to come at par and again and again with four goals in the previous meeting, Andrey Arshavin scored again with a brilliant shot from the right of the penalty area leaving Reina a mere spectator in the action.
With a game in hand, Arsenal are slowly catching up Manchester United and again it looks like that it will be a three way battle down to the wire.
Other results were:
Stoke City 2-2 Wigan
Birmingham 1-0 West Ham
Bolton 3-3 Manchester City
Burnley 1-1 Fulham
Hull City 0-0 Blackburn Rovers
Sunderland 1-1 Portsmouth
Tottenham 0-1 Wolverhampton

Know your player: Didier Drogba.

Considered to be Chelsea’s spread head, Didier Drogba has surely been one of the best players Chelsea has ever had. Didier Yves Drogba Tébily, born 11 March 1978 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire) is an Ivorian, who plays in the centre forward position. France was his adopted home where he started playing club football and spent his childhood years. He is a regular in a Chelsea’s line up in the English Premier League and is the captain and all-time leading scorer of the Côte d’Ivoire national football team. He recently took his team into the African Nation’s Cup and to the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.

Funny things happened to him when he was 13, he had to repeat his class and for that his parents banned him from playing football but after that there was no looking back. After turning 15, Drogba signed up with Levallois and started playing club football there. And finally at the age of 21, he got his professional contract with Le Mans club in France when he scored hand full goals.

After scoring many goals for Olympique de Marseille, Drogba was transferred to Chelsea for a record £24 million by making him one of the most expensive player from his country. He scored his first goal for the blues as early as the third match against Crystal Palace. He then took his team to the league cup victory and the semi finals of thechampions league in the same year.

He was included in the PFA Team of the year & UEFA Team of the year in 2007, he was also the top scorer in thepremier league in 2007. He is currently the leading the goals tally for his country.
As far as the current season is concerned, Drogba has been always in the thick of the action and has scored 14 goals in 16 matches which is nearly a goal per match in the league. So definitely he is the player to look out for. Beware of it everyone!!!

Anfield ready to fire at Gunners. Manchester United hosts Villa.

After their mid week victory in the champions’ league, the red devils will be all ready for Saturday’s match against Aston Villa who are currently at surprise fifth position in the premier league. Everton will be up against leaders Chelsea and the mercey side club will be hoping to win their first win at Stamford bridge in nearly a decade. Also in the offering is the classic Sunday showdown at Anfield featuring Arsenal andLiverpool, a defeat for any of them can lead to serious trouble.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be a worried man as his key defenders are out with their respective injuries which includes Gary Neville who picked up a groin injury in the match against West Ham United, Rio Ferdinand with a calf injury, there is no certainty over Owen Hargreaves. The previous two matches were relatively easy where Sir Alex could play his mid fielders in defensive role but this is an important and tricky fixture especially when Aston Villa is in the top flight. Their manager Martin O’Neill is already eying the champions’ league place for next year. Darron Gibson will be starting for United and would be seen as the key figure to score along with the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes etc.
As both the clubs lost their respective matches last week, Chelsea would be a bit confident against Everton as two records goes in their favour, the first one being explained above and the second one that they still maintain the 100% win record at home this season.
Once the title contenders and fierce rivals both Arsenal and Liverpool are playing with nothing to loose as a defeat for Liverpool will further push them down to the mid table position and a defeat for the gunners will relegate them to 7th position specially their closest rivals Tottenham Hotspurs, Manchester City are having an easy fixture on paper.
Kick-off at Old Trafford is scheduled to start at 1730 Hours GMT (2200 Hours IST)
Other matches over the next two days are…

Saturday
Stoke City v Wigan 1245 Hours GMT
Birmingham vs West Ham 1500 Hours GMT
Bolton vs Manchester City 1500 Hours GMT
Burnley vs Fulham 1500 Hours GMT
Hull City vs Blackburn Rovers 1500 Hours GMT
Sunderland vs Portsmouth 1500 Hours GMT
Tottenham vs Wolverhampton 1500 Hours GMT

Sunday
Liverpool vs Arsenal 1600 Hours GMT

Hammers Hammered by United. City clips Chelsea’s wings.

In what was a one sided game at Opton park, visiting Man United thrashed West Ham United by 4-0 in the English premier league this Saturday. In the other big match of the evening, Manchester City managed to hold on to a 2-1 lead against Chelsea by saving Frank Lampard’s late penalty giving leaders their first loss in 6 matches. With the result Chelsea are now only two points above Manchester United.

Much was expected from Gianfranco Zola’s side at home against the red devils but in the end it looked like a practice game from Manchester United who went in with their new formation keeping only one striker at the front. The first half saw plenty of chances and finally Manchester United scored their first goal in the stoppage time when a right footed cross found West Ham’s defender who cleared the ball only to find Paul Scholes outside the penalty area who shot the ball like a trace of bullet with his left foot to find the up right corner of the goal.
In the second half, Ryan Giggs was again the play maker when he passed a perfect rolling ball to Gibson who shot a similar ball of that of Paul Scholes from his right foot but from a different angle from the right flank. And just 9 minutes after this Antonio Valencia tripled United’s lead when point to point passing of Wayne Rooney and Giggspassed to Anderson on the left, and the Brazilian’s cross found Antonio Valencia free in the six yard box to convert easily. And finally just 2 minutes after the previous goal, Rooney completed the 4-0 whitewash from a narrow target after combining with Dimitar Berbatov.

In the other big match at the Stadium of Manchester City, Emmanuel Adebayor own goal had put Chelsea in front just seven minutes but the he himself scored the equaliser just before the half time. Carlos Tevez gave the home side the vital lead with a low free kick in the second half which they managed to keep till the end but not beforeDidier Drogba won a penalty for Chelsea which was saved by goal keeper Shay Given when Lampard’s week shot on the right was spotted by him.
So a good day at office for United and with Sir Alex back to the touchline things seems to go United way now. As the lead is narrowed to 2 points the next weekend will be crucial for both Chelsea and United.

Manchester United on visit to break Hammers. Blues meet Blues.

After their win in the recent league cup match, the red devils will be extend this winning run in the premier leagueagainst struggling West Ham United, who are just one place above the relegation zone. Leaders Chelsea will be visiting the City of Manchester Stadium to face Manchester City and a win for City will take them to 4th place in thepremiership.

From the home side the latest is that Zavon Hines will be ready to replace Charlton Cole who picked up a knee injury against Burnley last weekend. Gianfranco Zola’s men would be fired up for this match as they know that a defeat will further reduce their chances of staying in the top flight. While on the other hand Manchester United will be all fired up for Saturday’s match and with Park Ji Sung, Dimitar Berbatov back to the starting 11 a victory will be definitely on the cards. Rio Ferdinand, Owen Hargreaves are still out with their respective injuries. The match will be starting at 1500 Hours GMT (2030 Hours IST)
In the other big match Chelsea will be travelling to Manchester to face Kevin Keegen’s men who have put up a surprise performance this year and would be definitely eying the Champions league qualifying spot giving some tough time to Liverpool who have been regular in the top 4. Chelsea on the other hand will be eager to win this tie after their eye opening loss in the League cup last Wednesday.
Other matches during the weekend are:
Saturday
Portsmouth Vs Burnley
Arsenal Vs Stoke City
Aston Villa Vs Hull City
Blackburn Rovers Vs Liverpool FC
Wigan Athletic Vs Birmingham City
Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs Bolton Wanderers

Sunday
Fulham Vs Sunderland
Everton Vs Tottenham Hotspurs

3-0 in Manchester United’s favour is expected while Chelsea–City match may end up in 2-2 draw.

100 for Giggs, Rooney’s hat trick takes United 2 points behind leaders.

Hat-trick by Wayne Rooney and 100th goal by legend Ryan Giggs took Manchester United to victory against Portsmouth at Fratton park but not before a controversial penalty was awarded against the winning team in the opening half of the match. While their neighbours Manchester City had to settle for a draw against Hull City at the City of Manchester Stadium.
The red devils started the match with Tomasz Kuszczak as their goal keeper becauseEdwin Van der Sar had to sit out because of knee injury which is expected to take more than 2 weeks to recover.
In the first half, the home team started attacking in the first minute itself when Pompey’s shot had to be blocked by United’s goal keeper. More attacks followed every minute in the middle and in between the attacks Antonio Valencia burst forward and exchanged passes withRooney, and when the winger pulled the ball back for his team-mate in the penalty area, the England forward waited for a clumsy challenge to arrive from Michael Brown. Wayne Rooney had no problems in converting it giving a 1-0 lead for the visiting side in the 22nd minute. In the 33rd minute a controversial decision led to the equaliser byPortsmouth through a penalty. As everybody was getting ready for the goal kick the referees pointing to the spot even left Portsmouth’s players unaware. Don’t know what did the referee found in the clearing punch of goalkeeper a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomasz_Kuszczak” target=”_blank”>Tomasz Kuszczak who must have touched Everton players. The teams went into the break with 1-1 score line.

Second half truly belonged to Manchester United, first up was Wayne Rooney with his second when a brilliant play in the mid field by Manchester United led a pass to Wayne Rooney” target=”_blank”>Ryan Giggs and with a two on two situation Ryan Wayne Rooney” target=”_blank”>Giggs gave a perfect pass from his right leg to Wayne Rooney who shot the ball giving no chance to the keeper. In the third penalty od the game, when Wayne Rooney” target=”_blank”>Giggs was brought down in the penalty area,Wayne Rooney completed his hat trick. And finallyManchester United wrapped up the victory with a Wayne Rooney” target=”_blank”>Giggs goal in the 88th minute thus completing his century for league goals for United.

After the win, all eyes will be on the Arsenal –Chelsea match which will decide the permutations to be done in the coming weeks.

Started by Fletcher, ended by Valencia. Clean sheet for United.

The stage was set for the big day and the teams performed as expected with some giant killing touch in it. The premiership Saturday saw some exciting matches and of course some major change in the top four of the table with Manchester United going to second place after their win against Everton and Arsenal loosing to Sunderland and it was business as usual for Chelsea which had no problems in beatingWolverhampton Wanderers.
It was a chilly day at Old Trafford and United needed a win to prove that the defeat against the premier league leaders was totally unjust and 75000+ strong crowd expected the same.

There were some minor changes applied at the back by Sir Alex where Rafael replaced John O’Shea on the right and fit-again Nemanja Vidic returned to the centre in place of the recently injured Jonny Evans. Michael Owen was the extra man for the attack.
The home side’s first chance came as early as the sixth minute when Fletcher’s shot was just wide of former Red Devils’s keeper Tim Howard. While the home side kept attacking Everton’s goal, the goal finally came in the 34th minute when Patrice Evra crossed from the left-hand byline, Valencia headed it down to Fletcher who flashed a stunning volley into the top left-hand corner, giving no chance to the keeper. One of the best goals seen in thepremiership this season. The match went in to the break with United leading 1-0.

In the second half, Everton’s goal was disallowed in the 55th minute due to offside when Marouane Fellaini shot with a great kick beating United’s goal keeper Edwin Van der Sar. After that in the 60th minute Rooney’s long shot just kissed the top crossbar. The second for Man United finally came in the 66th minute when Wayne’s wayward attempt was kept in play by Giggs and the Welshman passes to Carrick to stroke the ball left-footed into the bottom right-hand corner. And with 15 minutes remaining United finally came up with a third through Valencia who got it offBaines’s deflection.
So in the end a clean sheet for United which looks fired up after the break and gives some strong signals to the leaders Chelsea that “that place is ours”.