Livin' the life...

"Torres ends Spain's long wait for glory"

That's the headline of the official Euro 2008 UEFA website! Below is a photo of the Liverpool striker who sealed the deal for Spain and in doing so, earned a well-deserved Man-of-the-Match award.

In general, I must say that Germany didn't play well, only a few of their players shone in that final. Whereas in Spain, everyone seemed to turn up, fully ready to end their 44 -year award-drought. Regarding Germany, from what I've heard they didn't "deserve" to be in the final anyway! However I'm just glad that on the day the better team one.

Congrats Espana! Woohoo!

Read more on the Euro final at the following sites: UEFA Euro 2008, Yahoo! Sports and ESPN Soccernet. And see these links for photos: UEFA and Yahoo!.

Surprise wins, current world and Euro champions demolished, this is shaping up to be a great contest! (Excerpt from official Euro site.)

Woopie!

I must say however, it is a real shame England got eliminated.. the atmosphere over here just isn't the same! It lacks that sense of joy, and patriotism that was so prevalent during the World Cup in 2006. England was so alive then! Well, that's before Portugal eliminated them. eek!

[Image above sourced from the Official UEFA Euro 2008 website. You can get a PDF, pin-up version of the matches from UEFA here.]

EURO 2008 soon!!

Another year, another glorious final lined up. UK fans, you can catch it live on iTV or, of course, your nearest pub from around 7pm. Barbadian fans, if you're free (i.e. you're a student), ESPN Deportes should be televising this around 2.45pm. Otherwise (i.e. you work) you may have to follow live textual coverage on Soccernet or your favourite IRC channel (I remember #soccer on DalNet being a good option).

If time permits, I'll be wat... wait a minute.. CL final? No no, I WILL be watching this on iTV tonight AND wearing my Liverpool F.C. jersey! All ManU and Chelski fans, my regards!

Just watched the game and the highlights, and this is how it finishes in the Quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League 07/08. Therefore, Liverpool knock out Arsenal and progress to the Semi-finals.

I liked the way one commentator phrased it, "This week there were thoughts of problems with carrying the Olympic Torch through London; if only they knew that if wanted a safe passage through Europe they should have taken it through Liverpool."

LLLLLIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVEEEERRRRRPPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!!! Excellent!

Further match reports can be seen at UEFA.com and ESPNSoccernet.

Just a few days ago I posted about Mourinho and his public notice to return to the game, as the coach of a top Spanish or Italian club.

Well.. after seeing the news tonight that Inter's coach Mancini is stepping down at the end of the season (linked possibly to Inter's "shocking" CL exit at the hands of Liverpool even though he denies it), I think I have a pretty good idea where he [Mourinho] may be heading!

Let's wait and see how it turns out!

I found this rather shocking so definitely worth a blog post..

"Jose Mourinho has expressed his wish to return to Stamford Bridge in next season's Champions League and "kill" Chelsea with a leading Spanish or Italian club.

The most successful manager in Chelsea's history also had warm words yesterday for his former employers, but admitted that he had formed no relationship with Avram Grant during more than two months together at the club.

"He was working at my club but he wasn't working with me," he said. "I don't know the person. I feel nothing for him but I feel everything for the club. I still feel that the club is part of me and I want it to succeed. But I hope to play them next season in the Champions League and I want to go there and kill them." " (Ref)

.. Or.. is this just a publicity stunt to broadcast that he's looking for a job at a top Spanish (Barcelona, Real Madrid?) or Italian (Juve?) club? I wonder..

Draw took place only moments ago in Nyon, a place in Switzerland about 25 kilometres north of Geneva. Anyway see below for the results (I watched it live online at the UEFA site - where I also got the photo below - So this is literally as fresh as it gets for me, lol):

Here are some random comments from the public that I pulled from a BBC site with respect to the draw:

'1116: Premier League leaders Arsenal have been drawn against reigning champions AC Milan. What a tie.' from SirLordArseneWenger on 606

'1122: "On Liverpool's recent form they will get mauled by Inter, especially away. Arsenal will struggle also. United and Chelsea should be OK, but could still be tricky for United.' from Ssmith25 on 606

Anyways... these games will play starting 19 February! Pool.. Inter, Arsenal.. AC.. I can't wait.. .

"Marseille 0-4 Liverpool: Rafa's Reds run riot

Liverpool delivered an inspired performance when it really mattered to secure a place in the Champions League knockout stages at the expense of Marseille.

The Reds became the first English side to beat Marseille at the Stade Velodrome in European competition as early goals by Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres were added to by second-half strikes by Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel." [Full story]

Good going guys, great work. Especially Torres, Kuyt, Hyypia and.. Harry Kewell!

Final score at Wembley Stadium: England 2 - 3 Croatia. What does this mean? Firstly, the Three Lions crash out of Euro 2008 and secondly, Mr. McClaren, well, sir, you need to find a new job.

I watched it, and Croatia honestly played better and simply wanted the win more. Funny thing is, they've already qualified so one could only imagine that their sole purpose at Wembley was to shed blood! And.. that's exactly what they did!

I think soccernet aptly sums it up nicely, especially noting the UK data loss incident I blogged about yesterday. So I'll leave you with the following excerpt:

"And, stood on the sidelines, red and blue brolly protecting him from the elements, McClaren must have felt just like Chancellor Alistair Darling in the wake of the Child Benefit data crisis, blameless for the blunder but culpable all the same." (Soccernet)

Tsk. England next summer will be well quiet.

Sit back.. relax.. and enjoy.

I've watched it so many times and each time, it's more beautiful.. *sniff* !!

Anything you can do I can do better; I can anything better than you!

Videoo sooonn too comeee!!!!!

Wait, 8-0 ? That.. sounds .. like.. some type of Champions League football RECORD.. hmm.. I wonder..! *heh

Hurray! Congrats Brazil! Job well done in wining the right to host one of the world's biggest events! Especially this event, noting how soccer-crazy Brazil is! The photo to the right shows people waving flags at the Christ the redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, after Brazil was officially chosen by FIFA to host in 2014.

If you ever doubt the value of football to Brazil, remember this comment made by Brazilian President Luiz Inacia Lula da Silva on receiving the news of Brazil's success, "Soccer is not only a sport for us," .. "It's more than that: Soccer for us is a passion, a national passion." (Source)!!!

Just to let you know, there are a couple words that it would be wise NOT to use in England or with a Brit today or in the near future. For your benefit and personal safety, I've listed them below..

football, McClaren, England, Russia, Euro, Moscow, qualifier, Steve, 2008, Luis Medina Cantalejo (or just 'referee'), even Mc or Claren are a bit on the risky side..

On the bright side though, you can use, 'go Isreal' and 'go Andora'.. Actually, last night on the radio one of the hosts blatantly stated that her new National team was Israel! She was appalled at the performances of especially Crouch and Rooney.

Feel free to add any other words or terms in the comments section of this post.. It's really all for the safety of our fellow (wo)man. :-)

So I in the kitchen making some hot chocolate and I get the phone rings.. on the other end of the line is my boy Do, he starts, "So.. it seems Mourinho's left Chelsea though, or got sacked". I blurt out, "You're KIDDING!!!", and rush to the PC and browse to www.soccernet.com. To my amazement, there it was, "Mourinho sacked after Chelsea crisis meeting" (use this url). Man.. oh man.. I was so shocked I hit up www.goal.com and www.bbc.com/sports just to make sure it was true!

This is some serious stuff though..  I'm very.. very interested to see how Chelsea will perform come this weekend as they travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United. Thing is, in Chelsea's last 3 games it's been L-D-D and somehow I doubt this will get any better at the weekend. Sir Alex will surely be looking to ride this wave and pull off an impressive win at their home grounds.

Oh well, goooo Pool!

"Iraq beats Saudi Arabia 1-0 for Asian title" was the title of the article that caught my eye just moments ago.. I must admit, it's nice to see that even though many consider Iraq to be a nation in almost complete turmoil, that these players shook it off and won this football title. Congrats indeed Iraq!

Actually, this reminds me a lot of ... the entire Italy situation at the World Cup last year.. yet Italy still were the ones to lift the World Cup. I guess it all just goes to show..

"Liverpool enjoyed the perfect start as Voronin produced a cool finish after intercepting a poor pass and rounding the goalkeeper. ... Riise produced a trademark thunderbolt to restore the lead with a free-kick from distance... Ukrainian Voronin, a free transfer from Bayer Leverkusen, put the game beyond Werder with a cunning finish after a brilliant Xabi Alonso pass." [Werder Bremen 2 - 3 Pool in Grenchen, Switzerland on 17 July // ESPNsoccernet]

A.. snapshot... maybe? What I think is interesting though is that Voronin was free! Hmm.. I'll have to wait now to see how well Torres and Babel fit it. To be fair though, I think Voronin was at Pool for a bit longer so he may be more familiar with how the guys play. I'll keep checking youtube for the full highlights of the match.. keep you posted, .

I didn't want to go post on Torres again until he started to actually play but a friend (thanks Ramal) just shared this vid with me and I couldn't help but share it with you!

lol, man oh man, all I'm seeing is Puyol, not good dred!! lol! Also, you saw that one with Ronaldinho and that other Barca player?.. Ah.. I hope for great things from Torres!

Wow! It's been ages since I posted! I'm really sorry about that but the last 2/3 days have been pretty hectic! And today I'm left with the task of catching up with all that I've missed i.e. reading tons of news, rss feeds, forum posts, emails.. fun oh fun! Add that with work and I've got another packed day.

Ways! Let's move on! Today is a big day.. why? Liverpool vs AC Milan in the Champions League final. *crowd goes wild*. AC will be looking for revenge and Pool will be looking to prove that their triumphant 2005 win was NOT a fluke. It will indeed be a battle! I believe that 2:45pm is the start time in Barbados, 7:45pm in the UK and 8:45pm in Greece (not 100% sure about Greece).

Of course.. I'll be backing you know who. REEEDDDDDDDDSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two years ago Liverpool faced AC Milian in what I call one of the most exciting games of football I've EVER watched! Now.. these two great teams are to play again, in the final, but this time in Athens Greece! Below I've included the video clip showing how Pool beat Chelsea (on May 1st) to book their spot in the final.

You can also view Liverpool-Chelsea extended version and the AC Milan-Manchester United highlights, both from the 2nd leg matches.

Iraq / Today.. "A rocket attack on Iraq's heavily fortified Green Zone killed four Filipino contractors working for the U.S. government, the American embassy said Thursday. It was the third straight day that extremists used rockets or mortars to hit the area where Iraq's parliament meets." (FoxNews)

This week Champions League is back on Tuesday/Wednesday and the semis feature AC-ManU and Pool-Chelsea respectively!!! However.. this post is not mainly to note that, it's more to give you a glimpse of some serious football talent by none other than Barcelona's Lionel Messi. In the game this weekend against Getafe, Messi scored two EXCELLENT goals!!

In the first goal he starts from around the half way line and takes on about 5 Getafe players then the goalkeeper (GK) and scores a beauty from a tough angle. This goal's so good that it's being compared to the legendary Maradona strike where he does essentially the same thing.. The main difference though is that Messi is 19 years old! In the second goal, he shows some great control and "ROOFs it" giving the GK no chance! Anyway... enough talk, check out Messi's goals!

Truth be told, it's been a really interesting two days in football.  Yesterday, ManU crushed Roma 7-1 in what Totti now calls his "saddest night of sporting career", whereas Chelsea scored an 88th-minute goal to knock out the Spanish power-house Valencia. Those were definitely two heart-breaking games!

Today was somewhat less exciting as AC Milan deal with Bayern Munich in Germany, with a final score of 2-0.. and my squad, Liverpool, managed a careful 1-0 win over PSV to make it 4-0 on aggregate.

What does this all mean though? WELL! Besides having 3 English teams in the last 4, .. *clap *clap for England .. next up, in the Semis is: AC vs ManU and for yet another year... Chelsea vs Liverpool. These games will be on 24/25 April and the replay will be on 01/02 May 2007.

For photos on the games check this site. For the highlights, I recommend doing a quick search on youtube or metacafe. If you just want to read on the games.. go to the Official CL site.

There I was, just looking for some photos to report on the Champions League results from Tuesday and Wednesday at ESPNsoccernet. Now if you're a regular visitor there like me, you know that on the first page they usually have a Standings Table from one of the European Leagues.. eg. German Bundesliga, La Liga or if you look at the photo to the right, the Premiership. So as it only takes a scroll, I checked it out.

To my surprise though, this time, the table was totally "knackered" as you can see from the screen shot on the left. Look closely at the points standings.. Arsenal in 2nd with 55 points?? Newcastle in 7th with 37 points??

I haven't a cluuee what went on here.. If they were doing a query to fill that table and ordering by PTs (points), that error shouldn't happen at all.. probably this isn't being ordered? And thus showing up in the default format in which the names are in the data store?

Not everyday one sees stuff like that... hmm, probably it just is that the DBMS made an error.. computers can still make errors... right?

Last weekend in the EPL, Liverpool thumped Arsenal "well-good" (4-1 to be exact - Highlights viewable here) and tomorrow, they're playing PSV in Eindhoven in the Champions League Quarter Finals. I'm hyped as so far I've been hearing everyone telling me "you don't underestimate 'the Dutch Teams'".. plus, the names of Kone, Farfan, Cocu are ringing in my ears!

Anyway, hopefully I get to catch the match live and ESPN won't show AC-Bayern instead! (Even though I have a feeling they will.. after all, no one expects Pool or PSV to win.. do they?)

So, this weekend, I had almost given up looking for a funny but now.. on Sunday evening, I received a forward (i.e. email) which perfectly fits the part! Read below!

Titled: His/Her Diary.

HER DIARY:

Dear Diary,
On Saturday night, I thought he was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a cafe to have some coffee. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment. Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk, he agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong - he said, "Nothing." I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry.
On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior; I don't know why he didn't say, "I love you, too."
When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there and watched TV; he seemed distant and absent.
Finally I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed. I decided that I could not take it anymore, so I decided to confront him with the situation but he had fallen asleep. I started crying and cried until I too fell asleep. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else.
My life is a disaster.

HIS DIARY:

Dear Diary,
Today Real Madrid lost the football match. DAMN IT!

LOL!! Thanks a TON Buddy Lee!

OK, I'm not a big fan of Barca or Real.. but I was told this game was GREAT.. So I checked for the highlights on youtube and here is the link for the Barca-Real 3-3 draw that was on Saturday.

Looking at that.. I don't know how we (Liverpool) contained that Messi boy.. wow.. By the way, did I mention he's only 19?

Well well well... who would've guessed this.. If you look there to your left, you'll see the draw for the Champions League Finals that took place a little earlier today in Athens (Greece is about 6hrs ahead of Barbados, 2hr ahead of UK).

As I look at the list though, I really am not too too sure of the biggest match-up.. although I bet almost everyone would say it must be the AC-Bayern.. I think ManU will have the edge over Roma and possibly Chelsea over Valencia..

I've got my boys (i.e. Pool) to beat PSV and this is not just because I'm a fan but if one takes a peek at the group stages where Pool played PSV twice, you'll see that we won the game at home 2-0 and got a 0-0 draw in Eindhoven.

One thing though that you should note is that the winners of Game 2 play the winners of Game 4. Therefore provided that Pool and Chelski win their games, they will face up again in the semi-finals! Anyway, I won't go into that too much as I'm sure David Villa will ensure he has something to say about it all.

Before I head off, if you want to check out a replay of the draw, see this site.

Well, we did it! We have knocked out the defending Champions, Barcelona out of the Champions League. BRILLIANT!!! Check the highlights below.. it's short, only 2 mins.

AH.. and for you people who want the extended highlights version, you can check out: First Half and Second Half.

Hmm.. so from yesterday we have Pool, Chelski, Valencia and Roma advancing. It'll be interesting to see if we'll have two more English teams added to the mix today or possibly we'll end up getting some representation in the last 8 from the Dutch (i.e. PSV Eindhoven)?? Other than that possible "upset" by the Dutch, I expect AC, ManU and Real to progress.

Time will tell though, time will tell.

Well yesterday was great and as you would expect, I've found some highlights! Enjoy!

Too sweettt!!! And what's that? Attendance was 88,000? !!!!

ESPNsoccernet front page reads:

"Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise put their troubles behind them with two goals that have given Liverpool a foothold in their Champions League tie with Barcelona. An early Deco strike had put the holders ahead but then Bellamy headed in (43) before setting up Riise in the 74th minute..."

I think the commentator said that this is the first time Barca have been beaten at home in the CL since 2003.

Guys, you did great.. Bellamy .. BRILLIANT!!!! Great first goal and sweet vision to see Riise and assist for the second goal! Riise .. you showed you can use your right foot.. SWEET!!

Final score at Estadio Camp Nou, Barcelona 1 - 2 Liverpool.

(Next game is Tuesday 6th March at Anfield. See you then!)

For other Champions League results including the ones from yesterday check The Official UEFA site.

This... is worth posting just because of who he is or.. was.

AC Milan have signed Brazil striker Ronaldo from Real Madrid. The 30-year-old striker, three-times FIFA World Player of the Year, has signed a deal until June 30, 2008 for €7.5 million. (Ref: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=405663&cc=3888 )

Today was a pretty cool day indeed! Why? Well mainly because of two reasons...

1) I finally dragged myself down to my mobile phone service provider and signed up for Internet access on my phone and;

2) Liverpool beat West Ham 2-1 AT West Ham. Goals coming from the in-form Dirk Kuyt and also the robot man, Peter Crouch. This win puts Liverpool within two points of second place Chelsea.

Ok but enough about football, I HAVE the net on my phone!! How cool is that! Since I got home, I've been trying stuff out and I already have a nice listing of (mobile) Bookmarks. If you're looking to get this done as well, the cost is 26c/day for Card customers and (I THINK) $8/month for Bill phones. (Oh and of course this is the rate for my service provider i.e. C and W. I'm not sure about the Digi rates but if you desire I may be able to check those upon your request.)

Also worth noting is that after the lady tinkered with and handed me back my phone (it is set up while you wait), she told me it should be on in about an hour. This... is relative I guess, but probably she was being a bit generous with the time... because I still could not access any sites for about 2 hours after. Of course by then I was beginning to get a bit... disappointed but what I did next was to turn off my phone for about an hour then when I turned it back on, I got the GPRS little icon on my screen and I was "cooking with gas" (i.e. it was working).

So in a nutshell I suggest you wait for about an hour (or whatever time the CSR suggests) then turn off your phone for 30mins and then turn it back on. Hopefully that should do the trick! You can always use www.jasonnurse.com to test it out, I won't mind at all.

Anyway, so thus far I've hit a number of sites including the just mentioned www.jasonnurse.com. Truth be told however, I don't like how it's displayed. Therefore, I actually think I'm going to reconsider that design or probably try to implement a WAP/mobile site. As for this blog site.. it doesn't show at all, I believe this is because there is simply too much content on the page to display on my 1.2" x 1.5" screen.

Ok, so I'm done commenting on that for now but I hope to take some pics and show you how stuff looks on the phone.

OF course I can't let the week go by without a tribute of some sorts to Pool for their display against Chelsea at the weekend! THerefore.. below I've included the highlights from the match. I'm sure you'll agree that those are two BEautiful goals. Enjoy!

PS. If you're a true fan like me, this little 2 minute clip won't do it for you and You'll want the extended highlights (13 minutes worth!). You can see those at here. Alsooo.. if you like to hear the non-English commentary... (I find they tend to put more excitement into their commentary.. especially when a goal scores!) you can check this page.

Liverpool Head of Press Ian Cotton said: "Unfortunately we expect to be without Luis for six months." (Ref)

This is as a result of that Carling Cup Arsenal game... *sigh.. This is just highly uncool... At least the transfer window is still open??

First Liverpool 1-3 Arsenal on Saturday in FA Cup now today... Liverpool 3-6 Arsenal in Carling Cup? Both At Anfield?

This is a joke? A hoax of some sort?

Hmm... *jason reviews the starting line-up*.. HMmm..

Ok Benitez, I get you want to "use the squad you have" but... these young Arsenal players DESTROYED us though.. *sigh..

I'm... shell-shocked though. 6-3? We're suppose to be good at the Cups! Good in competitions! Anfield is a fortress!!! Or... does this mean we will win Champions League? ... Probably get 1st spot in EPL? ....

I think... I'll retire to my rocking chair... I as a member of the Kop, am not pleased. 9 goals conceded at home in two consecutive matches against the 'same' FC? Not... pleased.

Well Liverpool just won 2-0 against Watford at Anfield so I'm pretty pleased by that. Other than that today looks like it'll be a pretty normal Saturday. Sad to say, the "football field" in my neighbourhood isn't quite 'up to scratch', so for the 100th Saturday, there will be no football in the LLP.

Speaking about that football field though, lately Do and I have been trying to get it into a better condition... to at least allow for some form of Christmas football. I want to take some pics and post, so I'll get on that asaP.

No movies this Saturday either for me, and interestingly, lately I've been hearing an increase in prices at the Olympus for the new year. I'll try to verify that and have more on my next posts. But for now... ta ta

Well... the first knockout round draw is complete and guess what... Liverpool (04-05 CL winners) will play Barcelona (05-06 CL winners) (As one can see from the draw results on the right).

Needless to say... That will be some clash! And... Lix... Will... Share!

As I look through the list of clashes in this round though, Pool / Barca seems the most interesting. Next up would probably be the Real / Bayern and then the Inter / Valencia. Anyway... it's all beautiful football, so it'll be all a gem to watch!

For a full listing of the draw's results and even the video of the draw check UEFA's official site.

Two weeks in a row? In the EPL... *sigh, I could cry.. *sniff*

Goals this time were from S Gerrard, J Carragher (Yes, that's right, Carragher net one), S Luis Garcia (The best buy in my opinion since Benitez came) and M Gonzalez in the 90'.

SWEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTT! And... next week is CHARLTON who got a calm 5-1 today by Tottenham.

So anyway, we're now in 4th place and with Arsenal facing Chelsea tomorrow (without Henri), I think they'll stay behind us for a bit longer.

Oh, on the right, the picture shows the shots taken and the position they were taken from. As you can see, Pool had ALOT of shots at that unfortunate Fulham keeper... actually, it looks somewhat like a war zone in there... poor chap. Lol!

Today as I was following the CL games on the net, I had a flashback to some of the times I've had during my undergrad studies. What am I talking about? It was those days when to "watch" CL football, I had to scamper into the nearest Computer Lab somewhere on the U.W.I. campus and "see" football via the IRC client I had saved on my drive.

If I think about it hard... I think the channel I used to hit up was #soccer, the guys in there were really great with the second-by-second commentary and of course some crazy fans that actually added to the 'atmosphere'. Ah... the good old days!

Now... I hardly use IRC even though of late I've seen some move by a couple dudes I know to revive the #sponger movement. (#sponger and #sponger2 by the way were 'great' bajan IRC channels 'back in the day' like 1999-2000ish.)

Footie: By the way!! Even Liverpool lost, so did PSV Eindhoven (Bordeaux trashed'em 3-1), so, Pool still top the group! Even though... It seems that a lot of big guns are coming 2nd in their respective groups... Barca (oh yes, Barca dealt with Werder Bremen sternly today as well - 2 - 0 to last year's champs), Inter, possibly Real... So, we'll have to wait and see what (2nd place team) awaits Pool in the next round.

Well, last year's CL Champion Barcelona MUST beat Werder Bremen today to go through to the next stage. Is it possible? Yea sure! Is it not possible? Yea sure! Bremen are a pretty good team though, but in away games....  they're not so good. Personally I think they can't win, but, all Bremen need is a draw and I definitely believe that's possible.

Pool take on Galatasaray today also and all Pool need is a draw to top the group. Interestingly to say, I had a talk lately with one of my mates and he suggest that Pool (will win the group and) may just meet up on Real in the knockout stages.. I don't think I've ever seen that match up before and I agree it should be interesting!

Tomorrow, I'd say the game to watch is definitely the Man Utd v Benfica. Man U, as Do informed me felt like some 'Final Day Drama' so 'they lost' the previous match against Celtic that would've put them through to the next stage. So..., all the best for Man U, at least the game is being played at Old Trafford, so that should mean something good for'em!

Sorry, this score line was sooo pleasing to me, that I just had to get AND post a screenshot of it.

Luckily I got to watch most of the first half of the game, including Bellamy's two excellent goals from those two, excellent passes! I'm sure there will be some vids on youtube featuring these goals in a day or two.

To me, this is the way a club of Liverpool's prestige should command games... or at least... certain games.

I eagerly await the mid-week CL battle! GO POOL!

Liverpool.

What great mates I made in UK! One of them snapped this photo for me on a visit to Liverpool. Cheers Andy! MUCH, much appreciated!

One can also check Football:more than just a game. That is just beautiful. Enjoy.

PS. I'm trying out having MetaCafe videos on this blog (as you can see above). So I ask you to help me in this testing phase.. If this post (video mostly) takes a long time to load, just drop me a Comment letting me know please. Thanks.

PS #2. I thought that song that played to the video above was pretty good, my type of music (under the right conditions... *heh)!! Just in the event you share my taste, the song is 'Bushman - No One Else'.

I didn't get to catch the game but I didn't hear good things at all, and from the final result (ie 2-0 to ManWho)... what can I say besides, "we'll get'em next time mates! . . ." And as I'm not a bitter guy, I'll say congrats to all the ManWho supporters, (yes, including you Ramal, even though based on this post, I should bun fyah pun you).

Also, I notice that some other characters are talking about Liverpool even getting relegated (yes, I'm referring to you Buddy Lee), but you were rather LUCKY yesterday as Barca should've destroyed Real.! From my understanding though, wait until they play at Camp Nou (ie Barca's stadium). Ways, as I told you before, all this means is that Pool will be in the top 4 rather than in the top 2 in EPL.

Enuff said on epl.

(Note to self: looks like pool going to have to win CL or/and FA or/and Carling instead. Must email RaFa.)

Ah Liverpool 1 - 0 Bordeaux. An away win at Bordeaux, to set the stage for a THRASHING at home in the next meet. Great work! Great work! And once again The Robot man (ie P. Crouch) himself brings home the bacon.

This win takes Pool to the top of their group as one can see here, and I'm sure it also brings a  to the Kop's face.

In the pic to the left, one can see Hyypia missing the header but Crouch tidying up and adding to his tally to make it 3 goals in the CL thus far!

Now this CL win is done, the next thing is the league game with top-of-the-table ManU on Sunday 22nd. Luckily, Benitez has declared Stevie G and Agger fit for that match (Ref). So basically it's a full squad, as Sissoko and Kuyt are back as well. THEREFORE, as usual between these two teams, it will be a shOwdown! I've already tipped my pal Do with who's going to win, but as a ManU supporter, he's *blinded by the lights. No doubt Ramal will be the same... Ah well. Joga Bonita!

By the way, on that Chelski win over Barca on Wednesday... without Eto'o, Barca seemed almost, toothless up front. And about Ronaldinho, the general word is he's under a lot of pressure to perform but in that game, I really can't say too much as the defenders played him rather well. This weekend (on Sunday) though, he'll have an ideal time to shine as Barca take on Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. And then again, next week on Tuesday 31st when the Barca - Chelski is replayed at Barca!

Sounds like a nice weekend for footie though, enjoy! (Kat and Mark: you two better be watchin that Pool game!! :@)

'Final score at Anfield today Oct 14th '06: Liverpool 1 - 1 Blackburn.'

EPL just seems not to be Pool's domain whatsoever. I mean, sure, usually the FC hits within those top 4 spots but can we get any higher than 3rd?? I guess that's to be seen. This result today and the performance of late is just.. *arg, especially when Man-Who, oups, ManU, Chelski, Arsenal winning. As of today, 8 games have been played and Pool hold 10th spot with 11pts.

To think about it, for Rafa, these may be some pretty tense times... given in the 2 yrs he's been at Pool, the FC has won 4 trophies (04-05: Champions League, UEFA Super Cup; 05-06: FA Cup and the Community Shield). I really hope this is a standard he can keep up, or even better. As always though, he or more generally, the FC have my support (once he or the FC don't do what I consider rubbish!!)... poOl Rules! You'll neVer Walk Alone!

Also, check for:

• Champions League action this coming week (18th)... Bordeaux vs Liverpool at Bordeaux. (Much respect to Vladimír Šmicer, a past Pool hero who now plays for Bordeaux.) AND
• the Chelski vs Barca at the Bridge (plays on 18th as well) - that should be a nice one AND
• A big one: Pool vs ManU at ManU on Sunday 22nd. AND if you wish...

Update on Chelski - Barca game on 18th:

At the weekend, even though Chelski beat Reading 1-0, they suffered some big blows - seems like both top pick keepers, Cech and Cudicini have taken up spots on the IL.  Not good news when facing Barca, I THINK. Hmm, we'll see. (For more on this check this link.)

"93 mins: FULL-TIME: CROATIA 2-0 ENGLAND
93 mins: A dreadful night for England comes to an end. They may have got a slice of luck for their second goal but there can be no complaints from England who were outplayed in every area of the pitch." (Ref) These were the words of the Soccernet GameCast commentator to sum up the England vs Croatia game which took place in Croatia last night.

Normally I wouldn't be too too interested in this outcome but because of my ties with England and also the amount of emphatic England fans I know (eg. Do, Frank, the Bar) AND the fact that Stevie G (A LIVERPOOL FC MAN) was MIA, I must comment.

Firstly, I didn't watch the game (but I read some of the commentry), but England, come come, you gotta play a bit better, even in Away games. Draw with Macadonia (at home) then get beat 2-0 by Croatia (not crying down Croatia though, they're a pretty tough team, esp at home)?

Prior to that game though, I watched an interview on FoxSports with a man who I think was Croatia's captain, and out front he stated that without Stevie G (who missed this game through suspension), his team felt they had a pretty good chance against England. So I ask, was this England's "weak-link"? Is Mr. G that integral in the English team? I'll leave you to ponder on that one... As a Kopite, you KNOW what my answer is.