Monday, March 31, 2008

Design Change

I decided today to change the look of this weblog.

The old look looked dull and boring.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

CONCACAF Champions Cup: DCU and Dynamo Advance

The two Major League Soccer clubs taking part in the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup both finished off their Central American opponents last week and advanced to the semifinals:

At Washington:

DC United advanced to the semifinal round on Tuesday, following their 5-0 annihilation of Jamaican club Harbour View FC in game two of their two-game series, enabling the four-time MLS Cup champions to win their series 6-1 on aggregate. Devon McTavish and Luciano Emilio each scored twice for DCU.

At Houston:

Two-time defending MLS Cup champs Houston Dynamo, thanks to Dwayne De Rosario's double, handled Guatemalan club CSD Municipal on Wednesday 3-1 to take their two game set by the same score on aggregate.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Results From UCL and UEFA Cup Quarterfinal Round Draws

Here are the results from Friday's draws:


UEFA Champions League
quarterfinals:

Arsenal vs. Liverpool

Manchester United vs. AS Roma

Fenerbahce vs. Chelsea

Barcelona vs. Schalke



UEFA Cup quarterfinals:

Rangers vs. Sporting

Fiorentina vs. PSV Eindhoven

Bayern Munich vs Getafe

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Zenit Saint Petersburg

Thursday, March 13, 2008

CONCACAF Champions Cup: MLS Clubs Fit To Be Tied:

Two games in quarterfinal round play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup involved teams from Major League Soccer were played Wednesday:

At Kingston, Jamaica:

DC United and Harbour View played to a 1-1 draw in game one of their two-game home-and-away series, played on the Jamaican club's pitch. Devon McTavish scored in the 45th minute to give United the 1-0 lead, only to see Harbour View's Lovell Palmer tie it up in the 85th minute.

At Guatemala City:

Visiting Houston Dynamo and Municipal played to a 0-0 stalemate in game one.

The winner of this tournament will head to Japan to play in the FIFA Club World Cup tournament this coming December.




This is the final edition of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, which will be replaced beginning this coming summer by the new CONCACAF Champions League.

We Have Our UEFA Cup Quarterfinalists

The 2007-08 UEFA Cup round of 16 concluded on Wednesday and Thursday:

Wednesday games:

At Munich, Germany:

Despite dropping a 2-1 home decision in game two, Bayern Munich still easily disposed of RSC Anderlecht on aggregate, 6-2.

At Saint Petersburg, Russia:

Thanks to Pavel Pogrebnyak's double (39', 78'), Zenit Saint Petersburg blanked visiting Marseille in game two 2-0, enabling the Russian club to come back from losing the series opener to take the series because of the away goals rule, even though the aggregate score was 3-3.

At Liverpool, England:

After Everton took game two at home 2-0 to deadlock their series (2-2 on aggregate) with Fiorentina, it would be the Italian club that would come out on top by outscoring the Toffees in the penalty kick shootout 4-2.

At Hamburg, Germany:

Despite losing game two 3-2 on the road, Bayer Leverkusen still advanced to the quarterfinal round. Even though they and Hamburg had three goals apiece on aggregate, the Factory Squad still advanced because they had two away goals to HSV's none. Sergej Barbarez (19') and Theofanis Gekas (55') provided the goals that sent Leverkusen through to the round of 8.

At Eindhoven, Netherlands:

After Dimitar Berbatov's goal at 81 minutes of game two for Tottenham Hotspur forced the English club's series with homestanding PSV Eindhoven into overtime (with the series deadlocked on aggregate 1-1) in which neither club scored. PSV would go on to win the penalty kick shootout 6-5 to advance to the quarterfinals.

At Getafe, Spain:

Albin scored what turned out to be a series insurance goal (77') as Getafe took game two 1-0 at home and their series with SL Benfica on aggregate 3-1.



Thursday games:

At Bremen, Germany:

Despite losing 1-0 on the road, Rangers still won their series with Werder Bremen, taking the two-game set 2-1 on aggregate.

At Lisbon, Portugal:

Bruno Pereirinha scored the only goal of the match 85') which enabled Sporting to win game two at home 1-0 over Bolton, enabling the Lions to take their two-game set with the Trotters 2-1 on aggregate.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Reds Finish Off Inter

At Milan, Italy:

Fernando Torres (seen here celebrating with Steven Gerrard) scored the lone goal (64') of game two of the two game set that saw visiting Liverpool defeat Inter Milan 1-0 to take the series on aggregate, 3-0. This means that four teams from England will reach the quarterfinals of the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League, the first time that four teams from one country made it to the tournament's Elite 8.

Photo © Getty Images

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Oregon State Beavers Fight Song

Bayern Crushes Anderlecht Plus Other UEFA Cup Results

Eight games on Thursday launched round-of-16 play in the 2007-08 UEFA Cup:

At Brussels:

Five different scorers each scored once (Hamit Altintop [9'], Luca Toni [45+1'], Lukas Podolski [57'], Miroslav Klose [67'], and Franck Ribery [86']) as Bayern Munich annihilated RSC Anderlecht 5-0 on the road in the opening game of the clubs' two-game series.

At Marseille, France:

Djibril Cisse's double (37', 55') helped sparked Marseille to a 3-1 series-opening home victory over Zenit Saint Petersburg.

At Florence, Italy:

Second-half goals courtesy of Zdravko Kuzmanovic (70') and Riccardo Montolivo (81') lifted Fiorentina to a 2-0 series-opening home win over Everton.

At Leverkusen, Germany:

Theofanis Gekas scored the lone goal of the match (77'), lifting Bayer Leverkusen to a game one 1-0 home win over Hamburg.

At London:

PSV Eindhoven, thanks to Jefferson Farfan's tally (34'), picked up a series-opening 1-0 road win over Tottenham Hotspur.

At Lisbon, Portugal:

Goals from Ruben De la Red (25') and Pablo Hernandez (67') helped Getafe hold off SL Benfica 2-1 for a game one road win.

At Glasgow, Scotland:

Rangers blanked Werder Bremen 2-0 at home in game one of the club's two-game series. Daniel Cousin (45') and Steven Davis (48') provided the scoring for the Jers.

At Bolton, England:

Simon Vukevic's equalizer at 69 minutes provided a precious away goal for Sporting as they gained a 1-1 game-one road deadlock with Bolton Wanderers. Gavin McCann scored at 25 minutes for the Trotters.


Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Royal Blues Win Shootout With Dragons; Blues Smother Legend; Roma Qusts Galacticos

Three more round-of-16 series in the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League concluded Wednesday:

At Porto, Poturgal:

Despite losing game two 1-0 on the road, FC Schalke still advanced to the quarterfinals by winning the penalty-kick shooto
ut 4-1. Goalkeeper Michael Neuer is pictured here being hugged by teammates after his shootout saves placed the Royal Blues in the Elite 8.



At London:

Goals from Michael Ballack (5'), Frank Lampard (25', pictured here c
elebrating after scoring), and Salomon Kalou (48') enabled Chelsea to manhandle visiting Olympiacos in game two, 3-0, to take the two game series on aggregate, 3-0.



At Madrid:

Goals from Taddei (73', pictured here celebrating) and Mirko Vucinic (90 + 2') lifted AS Roma to a second straight 2-1 win over Real Madrid, this time
on the road, to finish off the Galacticos 4-2 on aggregate.

All photos © Getty Images

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Gunners Detrone Rossoneri; Yellow Canaries Stun Sevilla; Barca and Red Devils Also Advance To Elite 8

Four round-of-16 series concluded Tuesday as the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League continued:

At Milan:

Late goals from Cesc Fabregas (84', shown here celebrating) and Emmanuel Adebay
or (90+2') enabled Arsenal to defeat hosts (and defending champions) AC Milan 2-0 in game two of their home-and-away series with the Rossoneri, thus enabling the Gunners to advance to the quarterfinal round by winning the series 2-0 on aggregate.



At Seville, Spain:

Volkan Demirel turned back three Sevilla penalty kicks in the shootout, as visiting Fenerbahce, after dropping game two of their two-game set 3-2, won the penalty kick shootout to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time. Pictured here are a group of happy Yellow Canaries.


At Barcelona:

Xavi Hernandez scored the lone goal of the match at three minutes (seen here celebrating) , as Barcelona took game two of their series with Celtic 1-0 at home to finish off the Bhoys 4-2 on aggregate.


At Manchester, England:

Cristiano Ronaldo's series-wining score at 41 minutes (he's seen here celebrating with teammates) lifted Manchester United to a
1-0 home win in game two over Lyon, enabling the Red Devils to take out the French champions 2-1 on aggregate.



All photos © Getty Images