Jermaine Pennant has tried paella and he likes it very much: The non-English speaking soccerball leagues 09/10

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01371/antonio-cassano_1371916c.jpg

Great initiative, a hoy hoy, I'm on dis ting

Dani Jarque R.I.P
Van der Vaart and Sneijder look like they are going to Inter, meaning Chelsea have to put up with Deco for another year
Roma looking into even more fat, useless Brazilians
Bundesliga starts, no-one seems to notice.

Also, Ribery has supposedly been signed as the next galactico for next year, because, you know, transfer rumours are always so accurate.

Van der Vaart and Sneijder look like they are going to Inter

both of them!? meh.

in the meantime the dutch league has a new star.

http://psv.nieuwslog.nl/data/subdomain/150/article/20090311182853_keisuke_honda.jpg

Keisuke Honda, all the way from Japan. will probably leave his minor club VVV (he basically scored all their goals or gave assists so far) for PSV (if they sell Afellay)
would be nice if Honda helped Japan to a World Cup quarter-final.

Have been reading good reports on him elsewhere on the internets.

shhh i was going to say you heard it here first.

HOW MANY FOOTBALL THREADS

5 (6 if you count MLS I guess)? As per every year?

One for Scots; one for us glory hunting organic prawn sandwich eating types; one for the dudes waiting for their club to go into administration; one for De Subjectivisten and me to orgasm sneeze over Barcelona and then FA Cup, oh and I guess Carling Cup threads. Not that crazy.

sorry, I guess it's just cos they all have similar titles and all cropped up recently (start of leagues d'uh) tht I noticed the 'abundance'

carry on :D

(this is the thread I'm most interested in, besides the SPL obv; bookmarked)

dani jarque RIP; very sad :(

Everyone's favourite Belgium manager gets fired, so I'm guessing he'll be Chelsea manager come February

Turns out most leagues started this weekend, including Ligue 1, without anyone seeming to notice.

Advocaat is Dutch, a hoy hoy (but will be manager of Belgium from january 1st 2010 on)

G'Day, mates: Robbie Fowler is coming to your pissant town: The 2009/10 A-League

I thought he was Dutch, and originally typed "everyone's 7th favourite Dutch manager", but then obviously misread the article - before my first hit of caffeine this morn - and cocked it right up, thinking I'd got his nationality wrong.

Good and madly fascinating summary of the Mutu fiasco here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/mattslater/2009/08/mutus_misery_is_footballs_foll.html

That's pretty good, but I don't really understand the tone of incredulity - you could question using the replacement SWP fee rather than Mutu's own fee, and I suppose whether Chelsea should be entitled to compensation for the whole term or just the period of the ban (though that would effectively mean that a club couldn't sack a player who failed a test), but the principle of the thing seems fair enough. It's just a pity it's Chelsea's pockets being lined.

MADRID, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Valencia have secured a loan of 74 million euros ($106 million) which they plan to use to acquire a stake of 72.5 percent in itself in an attempt to stabilise the cash-strapped club, president Manuel Llorente said on Sunday.

Local bank Bancaja agreed to lend the cash to the club’s charitable foundation and the Valencia regional government, the Generalitat, has guaranteed the loan, the club said on their website (www.valenciacf.com).

The foundation plans to buy the remaining 1.53 million shares available in a capital increase, which has already raised around 18.75 million euros, they added.

“From this point a new era of stability begins and the players can concentrate fully on their game,” Llorente said. “We have saved a very difficult and worrying situation.”

Valencia’s foundation said in a statement it planned to make shares available to those who had not been able to take part in the initial phase of the capital increase.

“At last the club is being returned to the Valencia fans,” Llorente said.

The club finished sixth in the league last season and qualified for the potentially lucrative Europa League. But their financial woes forced a halt to construction on a new stadium and officials said they might have to sell prize assets such as Spain internationals David Villa and David Silva.

The club’s debts of some 500 million euros rival those of Real Madrid and Barcelona but they lack the vast earning power of the two Primera Liga giants.

Will banks ever learn that giving more money to those who can't pay what they already owe = stupid?

oh they'll make it all back by selling t-shirts

So Serie-A started off this weekend. Ronaldinho didn't look fat and pointless, Bari got a point against Inter, Genoa beat Roma and look like they might still be able to keep up last season's good form and everything else was a bit boring. Good times.

holy shit Bolivia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4qHKXkXumY&feature=player_embedded

x_x

you can't deny the remarkable agility of the lads

Anyone been watching ESPN's European football, then? I've been dipping in and out, and it's felt weirdly unsatisfactory, almost like I'm expecting an anchorman or something to try and give it some context. I do keep missing the live games, though, so I'm stuck with the edited re-runs of matches. The continuity feels a bit lacking.

This Serie A highlights show right now is inspired - turns out that what Serie A highlights need is to be shot so you can't make out what's going on, and to have the commentary replaced with the new Mika single.

Ooh useful thread, been meaning to pay better attention this year.

In France, it seems Gourcuff is continuing where he left off last season, along with the rest of Bordeaux (who tbf haven't had the most troublesome opposition yet). Top scorer in front of teammate Chamakh; I wonder how long the team can hold onto them.

that bolivian highlight bringing me back to the ?brazilian national cup final? of some years back, where at 2-0 up some wiseass decided that ball juggling was the order of the day with 2 mins to go, starting off a riot.

I think he's going to stay there for the year. Rumour is that Arsenal were hashing out a deal for around 6-8m for him, but once we sold Adebayor, they told us to double it and wouldn't step down. For everyone else though, 6-8m is fine. He doesn't want to go to West Ham though, and is a good enough player that he should be at a champions league team.

Still can't believe how much Milan cocked up over Gourcuff, even if Ronaldinho has given up the Elvis diet.

darraghmac, you mean this? Some wiseass = Kerlon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBXv5FISzjg

That seal dribble shit warrants getting elbowed in the throat, frankly [/working class]

(still patiently waiting for Kerlon to become the best footballer ever - he has his own thread: KERLON )

My favourite foul ever, about 24 seconds in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Yj7GoXPZw

unless that situation degenerated dramatically after that clip stops, then no, i mean riot

players fleeing from the pitch, throwing themselves 15ft down concrete stairwells, etc.

but in principle, same kind of event.

there's a cafu clip with much the same type of foul. you can't help but think 'good on yer' while wincing.

oh aye I remember the one you mean, no idea how to find it though as I can't remember who it involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk5cDq2iL0Q

that's the one

ROME (AP) -Leading gay rights group rebuked national team coach Marcello Lippi on Wednesday for saying he'd never allow openly homosexual players to play for Italy because it would create scandal.

Lippi's remarks came amid a wave of anti-gay violence in Rome, including a violent attack against a gay couple, that has prompted new calls for an anti-discrimination law to better protect the rights of homosexuals.

Lippi was quoted on an Internet television program as saying a gay couple on the field would create "conflict'' in football-mad Italy, where games and the lives of its top players are dissected in detail in national sports dailies and television talk shows.

"We're not talking about a cultural question, but of a mechanism of interests for whom a relation of this type would enter into conflict,'' Lippi told the KlausCondicio program. "Even if from a cultural perspective people would approve and be able to understand and accept such a situation, it would nevertheless be exploited so much that it would end up negatively.''

Gay rights group Arcigay said Wednesday such comments only increase prejudice against homosexuals and are particularly damaging coming from someone such as Lippi, who is held in such high esteem by the young.

"We are tired of hearing politicians, singers and coaches who fuel... a climate that is by now poisoned by fear and suspicion,'' Arcigay said in a statement. "We don't want to be afraid any more, and we hope that people in the public eye will have the courage to affirm the dignity of everyone to live their own lives, their relations and loves in broad daylight.''

Lippi's remarks came amid a spate of violence against gays in recent days that has convulsed the capital: Last week, a gay couple was attacked as they embraced, with one of the men suffering a head wound and another knifed in the abdomen. The attacker was arrested.

And on Tuesday night, vandals tried to torch a prominent gay disco while it was closed, breaking a window and throwing flammable liquid inside.

Mayor Gianni Alemanno has denounced the "grave'' attacks and said that decisive action must be taken whenever such forms of intolerance occur.

Alemanno, a right-wing former neo-Fascist, has joined Arcigay and members of the center-left opposition in calling for anti-discrimination laws to help combat anti-gay violence.

"Why, dear Lippi, couldn't footballers openly experience gay love when they show their flirts with every type of showgirl in front of every TV camera?" said a statement on the Arcigay association's website (www.arcigay.it).

El Real Madrid traspasa a Robben al Bayern de Munich por 25 millones de euros, apparently

this has a whiff of madness about it to me. i know he is a lazy, petulant fuck, but no one better than Bayern came in for him? really?

leaves Bayern nicely loaded on wings tho.

if it isn't a precursor to a ribery move in the opposite direction, but that seems unlikely

maybe a tee up for next year. Madrid seem to have a thing with these back room, long term transfer agreement shenanigans.

If only the rest of the Bayern team weren't shockingly bad, I'd almost want to watch one of their games this season. I mean, as exciting as it will be to see Robben and Ribery as providers, they are doing their magic for... Toni and Gomez. Well fuck me.

Arjen Robben came in the second half against reining champions Wolfsburg and slotted the 2-0 and 3-0! Dream debut, looking very good together with Ribery.

Valencia's kit is as ugly as this game is boring.

bah the one time i'm distracted and something happens! well, i think kanoute got sent off, i'm not sure due to the spanish commentating.

Did anyone see the Milan derby?

My god... I just saw Axel Witsel's (Standard) horror charge on Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht) of last night, breaking Wasilewski's leg. This is a serious shocker, like Eduardo last year. There's video here, but it's not for the weak hearted

my girlfriend just texted me from a pub to tell me that Barcelona have just scored one of the best goals she's ever seen. True? (Assuming that she's seen plenty of good goals.)

she's talking shite tbh, 3 headers, none of the 3 particularly exceptional.

how long has she been in the pub?

not long enough for this to be excusable, pfft.

2 of the 3 goals

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3326143/

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3326145/

lol merdeyeux

third https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mz7yZu0-0Q&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.101greatgoals.com%2Fvideodisplay%2F3326208%2F&feature=player_embedded

none too impressive for barca's standards.

and talking of barca, gudjonsion decides against the premiership to go to monaco :( would have loved to have seen him back on motd.

am so sick of dating girls who exaggerate the quality of goals

Club America rakes Toluca in a 7-2 goalfest. I saw a good chunk of this live and was really surprised that Toluca didn't show up, they were Mexican champions a year or so ago.

Salvadore Cabanas, who scores a few of America's goals, is one player I'm really surprised hasn't been whisked away to Europe yet.

ah nice thread!

Breaking news from the world of Serie A, as Roma coach Luciano Spalletti resigns only two matches into the Italian league season.

oh snap

next liverpool manager then?

http://debalisnietrond.web-log.nl/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2009/09/02/been.jpg

X-ray photo of Wasilewski's leg

let's try that again

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/73/beens.jpg

that is charming

gyaaaaaaaaaaaa-

ay ay ay : /////////////

Strange things is that one doctor says he'll be playing ball in March 2010 already, when another says it's game over.

Going for the old good doctor bad doctor routine huh.

Italian football likers - who is this feller, and is he any good? I'm assuming that, since he's coming to Saints, the answer is most likely "no", but hey.

Is it Ali Dia with a facelift and a fake passport?

I'm not sure tbh, I've never seen him actually playing when I've seen Fiorentina.

Earlier today Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro said that 18-year-old Inter starlet Davide Santon should consider moving to a different club to have a chance of keeping his place with the Azzurri.

Unsurprisingly, this did not go down well with Inter coach Jose Mourinho, who responded to the World Cup winning defender, speaking to Inter Channel.

"Cannavaro is still a player, but he speaks as if he already were a coach or manager," he said. "He's making a mistake doing this, also because he's forgetting something that doesn't concern Inter.

"At Juventus him and [Giorgio] Chiellini play in central defence, so also [Nicola] Legrottaglie should change teams if he doesn't want to miss out on the World Cup.

"The same argument goes for [Sebastian] Giovinco, a player with his talent who plays so little should consider the choices for his future better," he concluded.

-love this guy tbh.

Muslims: We'll Kill Mourinho

Barcelona's away kit gave me a headache. Zlatan is a fucking dude though.

Italian football likers - who is this feller, and is he any good? I'm assuming that, since he's coming to Saints, the answer is most likely "no", but hey.

― William Bloody Swygart, Wednesday, 2 September 2009 15:41 (1 week ago) Bookmark

he was probably the most awesomely imposing 91st-minute substitute i have ever seen - i quailed to stare into his face - he didn't touch the ball iirc

here we go

wtf arsenal

oops wrong thread

http://www.101greatgoals.com/picture-special-the-gay-kiss-rocking-honduran-football-orlin-peralta-brayan-beckeles/36231/

Honduran football has been in uproar this week after a picture of two footballers seemingly smooching on the lips was snapped during the match between Vida and Deportes Savio.

The players involved were Vida midfielder Orlin Peralta (in the background) and defender Brayan Beckeles (in the foreground).

The match ended 2-all, with Orlin Peralta having grabbed the opener after 10 minutes of the contest.

With homophobia rife in football and the players’ reputations at stake, the pair have been forced to go on the record to deny that they actually sucked face with one another, arguing that the angle of the picture distorted the real image of the pair actually kissing on the cheek.

http://www.diez.hn/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/ediciones/2009/09/14/multimedia/besito/2257172-1-esl-HN/Besito_noticia_full.jpg

Glad to see a bit of gayness in such a homophobic sport, wish they didn't go all Lil Wayne/Baby and deny it though.

non-English

wtf arsenal

― The nation's most valiant right back (Suedey 2), Wednesday, 16 September 2009 19:49 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oops wrong thread

― The nation's most valiant right back (Suedey 2), Wednesday, 16 September 2009 19:50 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I make that about right, Arsenal had less Englishmen than Celtic the other week. Celtic had one.

Wilshere is just about to come on!

I take it all back!

Technically now 2 English Arsenal players playing now. Ok, one is for Blackpool. But we are going to have no problems with the new Homegrown Player rule (unlike Liverpool, who are a bit screwed) and look like we will contribute a large portion of the next England team (Gibbs, Bartley, Ayling, E-Thomas, Lansbury, Wilshere, Afobe, and Frimpong all look like the best youngsters in the country bar Rodwell and Stanislas.)

So is Luis Suarez becoming a fucking beast or is it just lol dutch football? This weekend was the second (SECOND!) time this season he's scored 4 in a game!

Also, Sampdoria for the title and CR9 is begrudgingly trying to steal Ballon D'Or from Messi.

Oh wait, now I look for when we scored 4 before I can't seem to find it. Should always google before listening to friends.

(Other than the weekend obv.)

'We'? Are you Steve McClaren in disguise?

*he*

surely martin jol in disguise.

http://english.ajax.nl/upload_mm/0/7/6/172866_fullimage_09-05-28_Contract_M_Jol_0026_600x338.jpg

So it turns out Athletico have just had 50m disappear. It must be what supporting Spurs must be like, but in Spanish.

(for the lol supposedly awesome team always playing terribly and constant changes and a considerably bigger and more annoying rival up the road, not the randomly evaporating money.)

Top ref gives fans the finger - football needs more of this sort of thing in my view

Russians show everyone how to take a penalty kick properly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muVsPLGaqwo

too bad about the Hitler salute at 0.28

lol @ keeper claiming the goal doesn't count.

(Busacca is a great referee)

I think £9M for Alan Hutton counts as randomly evaporating money.

xp

keeper shd've got down to that, I think. poor keeping

man martin jol is lokoing good.

(ex GF syndrome?)

Haaglandia/Winston 6 - 6 Excelsior Rotterdam

9' [0 - 1] N. Nieveld
10' [0 - 2] G. Fernandez
24' [1 - 2] Renfurm
25' [1 - 3] M. Janota
54' [2 - 3] Sensoy
64' [3 - 3] Schotman
76' [4 - 3] Stoffels
89' [4 - 4] L.v. Steensel
95' [5 - 4] Keyzer
98' [6 - 4] Sensoy
103'[6 - 5] A. Alisic (pen.)
120'[6 - 6] A.V. Peppe

and now its gone to penalties

11 different goalscorers in one match

Wait a minute, one of the teams has an '/' in its name?!

http://www.haaglandiavoetbal.nl/

they'll be singing/dancing on the streets of Haaglandia/Winston tonite

Well if they'd won the penalty shootout they might

That's the most Dutch thing in the world, a team that can't even go under a single name. According to the website the second faction is actually 'Sir Winston', which is even better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdbBt154AEE

eh i assume he's in trouble for that?

he might get suspended yes, but no one seems to know what the rule book says. the funny thing is he now claims to have been doing this systematically his whole career. oh, and he's Danish by the way...

Cheating Swedish goalkeeper is not Swedish.

as someone just said ...

Sampdoria beat Inter last night 1-0 and will now go on to win title. Cassano to go mental and steals Messi's Ballon D'Or Kanye style?

galacticLOLs more like.

Sevilla are killing 'em.

They look pretty bloody tasty. I caught the first half, they were all over them right out the blocks

Spend 400m and Guti is yr best player, you know something is up.

AC Milan getting all that bad karma for pinching Flamini. Not much else happening other than Palermo stealing the Old Lady's handbag.

how much bad karma did fabregas generate? just askin

Well we had a bunch of shit and underwhelming** seasons of getting kicked around and the heartbreak of losing in finals, so quite a bit I assume.

**in terms of supporting a team that went from being 49 games unbeaten to nearly being embarrased by Spurs in the league. Could obviously be worse, people who get annoyed at me because they support a mediocre team in the lower leagues.

to nearly being embarrased by Spurs

nice

Fucking hell, selling Kaka means selling 15,000 less season tickets. No wonder they look so fucked.

selling under outside pressure knocks you down a level or two.

Football getting a little bit gayer by the day :)

http://www.sportlive.it/pictures/20091013/santoruvo_bacia_aurelio.jpeg

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3645256/ 1 goal, 2 bicycle kicks.

good stuff, keeper was shit though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z244tMvbM7o

o_O

The jumping at a plastic fence in celebration after his goal is kinda lol but mostly sad though

http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/xx228/desportugal_pictures/ramires_benfica_apresentado_desport.jpg

bet you the next shot is dude wondering where his thumb went.

j-league madness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQPW2jC_URY

This week in football- ummm, Lyon get stuffed & Real are really boring without Ronaldo. Not much else going on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbcpwuYcEyA

Actually quite a lot going on in France, with a game being cancelled because three payers from one of the teams have the swine flu. It also happens to be one of the most heated games of the season, olympique Marseille vs Paris Saint Germain. And the situation was handled in worse than terrible fashion. The decision to cancel the game was taken by the federation 6h before the game was due to start. Sadly this means that fans from Paris were already in Marseille and seeing as there is little love between the two clubs, fights broke up.

Also, in the case of Lyon, two defeats in a row in the championship. It seems like almost half their team is on the injury list with exactly the same injury (to the "adducteurs", sorry don't know what it is called in english).

Anyone get hurt in a kinda-lol-but-mostly-sad ultra kind of fashion?

also, this is what should happen with red carded players- put 'em in a dungeon!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AydeKKHACqQ&feature=player_embedded

Well apparently at one point they were saying that there was one person killed but this appears to be wrong. A few injured however.

Here Juande, gone tomorrow

A big hand to Real Madrid who've just lost to a third division club,Alcorcon, a lovely 4-0 being the final score. I believe there's a return game as it is a Copa del Rey fixture, but shit, that's gotta hurt. And a few fans are already asking for Pellegrini to be fired.

yeah this got me lolling. I rate Pellegrini as well but some quite astoundingly bad defending going on.

Didn't see the game, only the result and I really had to double check to see if I wasn't hallucinating!

"Pellegrini conceded: "We've seen it 3,200 times before: a team who were tremendously motivated and were able to play at their best."

3,200?

3201 now

OK this is an English-speaking league but I wasn't sure where to put it. Check out the rough stuff by this New Mexico defender in the NCAA Women's playoffs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNmPybFK2_o&feature=player_embedded

Awesome game happening in France, between Lyon and Marseille. In the first half Lyon lead twice before Marseille equaliser. Opening of the second, Marseille scored to lead 3-2. Then scored one more to make it 4-2 around the 75th. And then Lyon scored two in 2 minutes to make it 4-4 with about 5mn left to play.

And one more for Lyon to make it 5-4. A beautiful goal btw.

Fuck the craziness just wont stop, Marseille equaliser at the 92nd, which makes it 5-5

(ws new mexico #15)

That New Mexico centre half's fouling is like O_O how the hell has she not been sent off?

Yeah ws with caution tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzrsjJ28NtI&feature=player_embedded

lol elaborate goal celebration dance done with only 13 seconds on the clock

I realised after that ridiculous Liverpool-Alaves final that I'm nearly always disappointed by high-scoring matches, they rarely correspond with quality play. Was the Lyon-Marseille game good though?

It's produced a couple of nice quotes anyway. Kim Kallstrom made the unusual observation that "The 5-5 draw was a fair result anyway", while Didier Deschamps noted that "If we have to score six goals to win a game, especially away, it's going to be tough".

Quite rightly, I might add.

The game wasn't actually all that impressive play-wise for the most part. The first 15mns, Lyon was really in control. Then until like the 75th, the game produced wasn't that good. A few blunders (one of Marseille's goal came off an apparently easy shot that Lloris kinda let go) and all. But overall, most of Lyon's goal were quite nice. Their fifth for example came off a really good team effort, awesome construction. As for Marseille, at least two of their goals were quite nice(Brandao's and Koné's).
So tbf the game wasn't really high quality play for the most part. But it was quite entertaining, especially since the lead kept changing. And it was about a million times better than last year's game, a terribly drab goalless draw. Also, the Ligue 1 has a reputation for boring low-scoring games so this is quite a nice reminder that this reputation isn't really true.

Oh yeah, as for the declarations... I agree with Kallström's, a draw really is a fair result seeing how both teams played. And as for Deschamps, it was quite a week for his team, 11 goals in two away draws in the same week! But I have to say he's only got himself to blame for the fact that his team scoring 5 isn't enough for a win. The dude basically came and took a squad with good results (2nd two years in a row in the championship) and then changed like half the team. And he wonders why it isn't gelling and the defense is completely off the mark and shit. To be honest, I'm quite disappointed with what he's doing to Marseille. He's getting some results, but the way they play is all over the place, it almost always looks like luck when they win!

hope it stays that way ;-)

What, the big games in L1 being entertaining or Marseille playing badly and doing ok? I dont know if you're for PSG or not, so have no clue as to which way your post should be understood :D

well, both but meant the latter...

Germany and Hannover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke, 32, has died after being hit by a train, police have confirmed.

just read that here too http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/10112009/58/bundesliga-germany-keeper-enke-commits-suicide.html

all of these details of his depression etc. make for very very horrible, sad reading. RIP.

horrible. rip

my dad was telling me goalkeeping suicide joeks earlier :P

dad: you hear about that german keeper?
sam: yeah, enke?
dad: i heard he was such a terrible keeper that he tried committing suicide by jumping in front of a train but it went under him.
sam: ...........

possibly the wrong emoticon

quite possibly

=]_[=====]_[=====]_[=====] x_x

would have been better tbh

...in total seriousness, this is a terrible tragedy, a great shame, and plz don't ban me, I know that was in E- taste but as a goalkeeper myself I have been especially shaken by this.

Parallels with a German movie, in fact: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066773/

morbidly pondering whether to buy him on fm10. he can be got on a free and is (was?) better than almunia...

something very odd going on in Ankara - Darius Vassell appears to have been booted out of the hotel he's been living in, he just looked v v dazed during an interview.

this guy = otm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeaUAzGxgJE

Antonio de Nigris passed away suddenly on Sunday, Nov. 16 in Greece. The Mexican player died due to a heart attack during the weekend.

The 31-year-old was a member AE Larissa.

The news was confirmed by Monterrey’s President Jorge Urdiales to Milenio Television saying, “We’d just like to inform that he died. At this moment we’re thinking about how to help Aldo and his family.”

His younger brother Aldo de Nigris is a player for Monterrey.

De Nigris played with the Mexican national team 16 times, scoring 4 goals in the process. He started out with Monterrey before a quick stint in America.

In recent years the player plied his trade in Turkey at Ankarasapor and Ankaragucu before moving on the Larissa in Greece.

Do we care about this at all?

^^^wow!

Crikey. Does anyone remember that mid-90s scam in England where matches were abandoned after power cuts? That turned out to be the work of a betting ring I think

good ol' fashioned karate kick coming back in a big way

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_B1JtfOpd85I/SgrBsWlTcQI/AAAAAAAAN24/lNVQ98stof0/s400/0+hristo+stoichkov+barcelona.jpg
http://colleges.ac-rouen.fr/sainte-marie/hotpotatoes/images/zidane-real-madrid-photo-vintage1.jpg
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00494/pique_682x400_494957a.jpg
http://www.football-pictures.net/data/media/239/Higuain_smile.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2146/2254955109_a8f7a819c7_o.jpg
Y'ALL EXCITED?

YES

any news on Messi? no fun without him

i think its like 80-20 that both him and zlatan play

ok let's be having you

anyone got a stream? my usual site for providing them has gone dead

oh, i got through. heavy traffic i guess.

link

el clasico

Henry starting, Ibrahimovic on the bench. This should be a ridiculously good game.

pep is a natty dresser

booming save

From rjginblueoz on 606: "If Barca and Real played a season in the Premier League they would be lucky to finish in the top half."

<3 u 606 never change

casillas beard a+
playing messi upfront on his own d-

kinda boring half, needs more pork.

oh defendingpaws

zlatan in a big game scores. everyone in the world except me shook. <3 this dude.

busquiets sending off oooooooooooooh

http://www.barcaloco.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/busquets-and-barcelona-beat-bilbao.jpg
http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2008/03/BiscuitChef_450x450.jpg
http://www.eteamz.com/concordsoccerrefs/images/BaldrefwithRedCard.jpg

£80m of lol

get this stuck in my head whenever benzema on the ball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0KWZeGyM14

LASSIE RED CARD CONTROVERSY

Saw the last ninety seconds of this. Seemed a bit scrappy.

Haha at barca & real on a par with Birmingham - them and the old firm scrapping it out in the championship, that's what I want to see

Congratulations to each and every one of you.

http://sportisatvshow.blogspot.com/2009/12/im-joint-thirtieth-best-footballer-in.html

I'm the joint thirtieth best footballer in Europe!

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_K60Z1eMb6jQ/SxVGShQox5I/AAAAAAAABM4/e4D439Hy35A/s800/benzema%20ballon%20d%27or%202.JPG

Hey, look at this — so are you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A91itY-abJI&feature=player_embedded

serie b- team scores despite a player being seriously injured and everyone shouting for them to stop. everyone fights, someone gets a red card during. they eventually decide to let the other team stroll through and make it equal. :)

Has anyone been to the Bernabeu? I'm going to Madrid in January and looking to get tickets for the Malaga game, which I wouldn't've thought was a particularly big draw, but I'm having trouble finding out how to go about it - the official website is no help (hasn't been updated since September) and I'm not so keen to pay agency prices. All info gratefully received.

I've been once before and just bought from fans outside the ground, but can't do that this time - I need to have this sorted out in advance.

I can't imagine they'll be on sale until the turn of the year at the earliest, but keep an eye on this.

http://www.realmadrid.com/cs/Satellite/en/1202798190251/noticia/NoticiaEspecialVentaEntradas/1202798190251.htm

disgusting savages about to ruin Rome derby atm

Second leg of the Mexican finals is tonight. The first leg was a warp speed attack-fest that saw Monterrey come back from 3-1 down to beat Cruz Azul 4-3. Tonight's game is going to be played at Azul's stadium in Mexico City, where the supporters apparently have a train whistle run by car batteries that they set off whenever their team are attacking. I love that train whistle.

pretty fond of this pic of Estadio Azul too

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/197/443219115_f1efe20647_m.jpg

http://www.101greatgoals.com/conspiracy-theory-did-gremio-let-flamengo-win-the-brazilian-title-video/42495/

Brazilian football is in uproar this week after video evidence appeared to identify that Gremio colluded with Flamengo during their final match of the season to surrender the match to the red and blacks. In doing so, Flamengo ran out 2-1 winners which saw the Rio giants claim their first league title in 17 years.

there's a link to lehmann's latest fuck-up. o_O seriously what planet is that dude on

Pretty goal by Monterrey

http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2008/06/lehmannR_450x300.jpg

This guy didn't score it, but he is running things: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humberto_Suazo. He scored at least one in the first leg. xp

Wow at this scoring record:

http://i49.tinypic.com/foq3q.jpg

Inevitable tying goal by Azul makes this look a lot more like yr standard final.

Never really in doubt for Monterrey, but it got interesting at the end. Not nearly as good as the first leg :/

Lehmann also shocked (shocked!) Germany the other week by doing a Paula Radcliffe behind an advertising board, to much lols. Forgot to bring it up here though.

lol he is batshit allright
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELUl6ghIt44&feature=player_embedded

what is batshit about that clip i dont speak german

From youtube comments:

the fan asked him:

"can´t you be just normal?? be normal just once!"

loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

Mexican final was good fun, especially that first game. On their first leg of the semis, talking with a cab driver while we were stuck next to the stadium in Mty, the guy was telling me that Monterrey were just so lucky and bound to lose in the semis against a much better Toluca team. In your face cab driver!

This guy really does make me wonder why Real bothered buying Benzema.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RCs9RmfAQc&feature=player_embedded

higuain is like the most underrated striker in the world and real fans hate him and dont understand why he is great because he was bought in that IIIIIIIIIIIINSANE period where Real just went for quality they can mould into their own tactics instead of just spending ridiculous amounts on big name types?

slavia prague banner

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/4150460358_e71a774aec.jpg

fans of arsenal

Hey remember Humberto Suazo from up above? He's leaving Mexico, bound for Spain.

Living the dream:

http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2010/01/19/1751725/milan-midfielder-gennaro-gattuso-opens-up-fish-store

“Someone might even smile at it, but this fish store is a dream come true for me,” beamed Gattuso. “I wanted to become a fisherman when I was a child, but life’s events have later driven me in different directions.”

Seriously love this guy.

That's the best thing I've read since, well, ever

It's also unsurprising in the best sort of way, because it makes so much sense.

equivalent of an ex pro opening a pub in essex i guess

though the thought of beckham pursuing that option is just fucking cruel

Isn't Gattuso the one who reads Dostoyevsky out loud before each game?

Don't know if he reads aloud, but yeah, he's said reading Dostoevsky is part of his pre-match routine.

Here he is on the Italian equivalent of Beadle's About, reacting about as well as you'd expect to seeing a dog savaging the inside of his car:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BEEYtYx3Jw&feature=PlayList&p=E0580C773F491879&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=6

20 minutes of pornographyLeo Messi's first 101 goals for Barcelona:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhbeKxOUDgg&feature=player_embedded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jbfaFEQNjw&feature=player_embedded

he doesn't have a lot of interest in scoring ordinary, boring goals, does he?

one of the most horrible injuries I've ever seen in the depor-athletic game just now. Felipe with what looks like a dislocated knee and ankle after being taken out by the Bilbao keeper while scoring.

"Paraguay international Salvador Cabanas is in critical condition after being shot in the head at a Mexico City bar during an apparent robbery. "The first report is that the bullet entered the front of his head and did not exit," Mexico City prosecutor, Miguel Angel Mancera, told the news channel Televisa."

:( fucked up

^^^dude was looking at a move to Sunderland before this

So Ronaldo did this on the weekend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IQ8CgOcGkY

But then he did this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkoQpPCMgpw

commentator sounds like dr. zoidberg when he says 'ronaaaldo'

http://i47.tinypic.com/10elniq.jpg

ILX exclusive - here's Ronaldo (centre, possibly winking) on his way afterwards

oh mutupaws

been a crazy week in the non-english soccerball world tbh.

that felipe injury. man.

how many people here watch spanish football? tonight is atletico madrid v barcelona, which i'd guess is probably the best fixture in the world in recent seasons with an obscene goal average and extraordinary skill/goals from aguero, messi, and ronaldinho (rip)

I try to watch a bit of it but after Barca-Sevilla a month or so back I have decided to tread lightly w/ Barca. Sevilla are an exceptional side, maybe third best in Spain and yet it was like watching someone play fifa on easy w/ man utd v. a pub team made up of amputees. There wasn't any suspicion of Sevilla ever doing anything other than losing and it rendered almost any Barca opposition worthless. That said, it's a Sunday so I didn't get a film from lovefilm, and may watch.

(ronaldinho also not an rip anymore! he's been *fucking immense* these past couple of months, almost like the ronaldinho of old. if robinho still has his place in the brazil team, someone should slap dunga in the face with a fish.)

reyes! should have never sold him!

that was terrific.

surely he's still a way off ronaldinho of old, he's probably one of the best half dozen or so attacking midfielders in the world this year which is a drastic improvment but you have to remember how good he was and _ought_ to be

this season's barcelona aren't so great to watch really, amazing consistently and possesion stats, messi is more clinical than ever but there isn't quite the energy or change of pace

this is the first time they have even been a goal down in a league game this season!

^consistency

Yeah, I guess. It is ridiculous that they had a 99 goal front line (!) and... Pep has decided that Pedro&Zlatan > Henry&Eto'o. And... it's working? Pedro does not look out of place as an Henry successor (!), it's all a bit too much.

and this assulin kid who might debut tonight is the next lightning quick mesmeric dwarf etc etc

aguero wtf

Agüero's miss there was shameful.

wtf aguero.

in other news, I finally convince Messi to come to Arsenal for 80m at 32. This is ok because during the decade i've been there I was 200m+ in surplus. I only wents for him because Wilshere wanted out from current league and european champions. Turns out I left it too late and he's cuptied, but also had a muscle problem and is out for two months. why oh why football manager do you want to fuck with me like this.

lol xpost.

yeah I've heard lot about that assulin kid. he's already been playing for the national team for a year!

!

noice.

fuuuuuuuuuuuck

this is truly going to be a game worth liveblogging the fuck out of now

simao awake for the first time since that goal v liverpool in 2007(?)

tomas ujfalusi used to be in royal trux rite

ty for reminding me this clusterfuck is on

terrific save from victor vloldes there.

never seen that jeffren kid before- yet another lol midget amazing barca winger ffs?

and playing at right back

i found a stream on sopcast but the sound is maybe 30 seconds out of sync with the picture. weirdest thing.

http://www.veetle.com/viewChannel.php?cid=4b3a31f6e460c

this any good? Not got the sound on but the picture's aright

my commentary sounds like it is being recorded in a wind tunnel. turned it off and went for some brahms instead.

really hope aguero comes to the premiership. aguero at madrid>torres at madrid.

signs of degenerating into tactical coherency

did Atletico do anything in particular to get good again? I remember at the start of the season they were so bad relegation looked like a threat, I think?

annual january change of manager boost? gives them stability for all of a month or two?

he may have left earlier than that but as it is just a rolling lol atletico, i dont care enough to pay attention. they are basically the spanish man city (pre-oil money).

Also: Tiago and Reyes seemingly having their first good games in about 6 years.

maxwell off?

barca falling apart here.

fuck i hadn't noticed it was ex juve tiago
everyone seems to have a thiago silva/neves/motta etc

Atletico's managerial history is pretty great, I see. Javier Aguirre must be the best manager ever to have kept the job for that long. (And then he seemingly got fired for no reason.)

dani alves and keita obv the most important players in this team, they are fucked when they aren't there

ex chelsea as well! back when they were buying every promising centre midfielder like... scott parker and geremi. lol having money at yr club.

for no reason? you yourself said they were in relegation form! I guess they are actually more spurs than city.

doesn't help that their chairmen is a certifiable lunatic.

this game has just turned into lol yellow cards

he didn't get fired this season! the guy who replaced him got fired this season. as far as I can tell he wasn't doing that poorly. but shit, it's all too much for me.

this is rote football opinion of the week in catalunya no doubt but get tae fuck ibrahimovic they need pato/torres/someone fast and clinical

oh my bad, all atletico managers just blur into one after a while.

still <3 zlatan even if no-one else does. should have bought villa instead tho.

this muniesa is a john o'shea for the new decade

when is el clasico? it is starting to look like it will be a proper title defining game as opposed to just being lol real's players haven't adjusted yet last time.

Smashing game, I enjoyed that muchly.

the madrid/barcelona return is in april apparently
guardiola seems to be typical of the newer spanish coaches in his privileging of control/possesion/determinism, so eto'o (who he had tried to get rid of sooner) leaves and with it the lethal directness which offset the mannerist deliberation of xavi/iniesta etc
messi compensates a little but he's not a pure centre forward

eh, that was the first time in the league this season that they've been behind the opposition at any point in a match let alone lost a match. It's not really like Guardiola has been unsuccessful this season. The players out with injury or suspension, not quite match-fit Puyol - although he played pretty well, absolutely dreadful performance of Xavi, lack of effectiveness of Messi and Iniesta and some poor shooting all round did for them this match imo.

Big Barcelona fan but the fact that the defeat made me £44 has tempered the disappointment :)

first half of this was Yoga flame for all time and the second half was a bit of a let-down.

they're still an amazing side, maybe better than last year but ibrahimovic can't really do what eto'o did to vidic last year

do you think they're still as good to watch

yes and no. pedro is looking like he will be a huge player and is fucking immense at times but any team with henry > any team without him. zlatan is easier on the eye than eto'o even if he is less effective with certain tactics, and keita has really grown as a player.

shame bojan is going to go the way of dos santos instead of messi.

xpost. They were great to watch last season without Eto'o. They're not as good to watch this season and no doubt will not replicate last season's success but seem to be more consistently effective and disciplined (if you ignore tonight and the home defeat in the cup to Sevilla).

more consistently effective and disciplined

this is why i think guardiola is closer to say benitez than cruyff (see also frantic gesticulation, buying loads of defenders)

obviously he has far more skilful players but i think you can see how he much he values working off the ball, closing down space etc

also if eto'o wasn't playing last season they could play a thierry henry who still looked like a great forward, i hope he's not done but form is hard to recapture at 32

cristiano ronaldo scores with terrific free kick then reveals 'madeira' t-shirt exactly as i had predicted
kaka pen 2-0

Do you reckon Gary Neville's been wearing a different charity t-shirt every game for the last decade, just in case?

this is a rly good game, senna fk in reply 2-1

this is good stuff

higuain kaka c ronaldo is an absurdly direct and dangerous front line

They didn't look too dangerous against Lyon tuesday. Especially since they just kept on trying to score going through the middle without ever thinking about the wings. But I agree they have amazing potential.

and the villareal defense was sort of a joke made up of youngsters and reserves, but still

Ronaldo's Madeira t-shirt was endearingly low-tech.

hahahaha i turn on tenerife-real for 30 seconds and real concede a goal after a tenerife player literally heads the ball out of casillas' gloves just after he has caught it

um and then real score while i am writing that post

loooooooooool was it given?

a: no it was casillas!

haaaaaaaaa

Ronaldo's Madeira t-shirt was endearingly low-tech.

― Number None

more endearingly low-tech t-shirt in tribute to natural disaster

http://estaticos02.marca.com/albumes/2010/02/27/fotogaleriadia/1267294821_extras_albumes_0.jpg

so... was it given?

it was. there is literally no defending happening in this game. fucking hate spanish football ;)

did you happen to watch the chelsea game today?

lol jim otm.

by now i'm largely kidding, altho it is depressing how dominant the top 2/weak the rest are

man city's first goal wasn't the result of no defending, it was the result of hysterically bad defending. whereas here there just doesn't seem to be much of a motive to defend. not really complaining; it's probably what i needed, peace y'guys

tenerife are obnoxiously shit and lazy too

barcelona vs valencia!

messi cutting inside past about four players and finishing is kinda played out by now

huh I just came to say that that little Messi guy looks pretty good. I guess my stream is about 20 minutes behind.

oh I missed the first goal. You're even righter than you were when you said it!

the director nearly missed that last one showing replays of the second

how much have i missed? is it worth even trying to find a stream or should i just wait for the extended highlights tomorrow morn?

that was great

some cunts from madrid on now though

kaka on the bleachers because of twitter fight?

lol

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01005/Becks_injury_682x4_1005235a.jpg

I knew everyone hectoring him would eventually take out his Achilles.

his Achilles.

― EZ Snappin

guys i came over as soon as i heard omg he really is our diana

Real Zaragoza v Barcelona

Real Zaragoza Substitutes
No NAME POS
11 Jermaine Pennant

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/2231/1459668w4.jpg

"Hi Thierry! Remember me?"

"Not really"

Mareseille and Lyon are playing one another and it doesn't look anything like their previous game which ended in a draw... a 5-5 draw. 0-0 right now and nothing very interesting so far. And my stream keeps dying. And really both teams ought to wake up seeing as almost all the other teams at the top of the table won today (except Lille, lost against Bordeaux)

Just as I post, Pjanic strikes the crossbar!

(messi)

Nice reminder Jibe, i just switched on in time for the goal

Messi hattrick, Pennant in

I got up to get myself a drink and missed both of those :-(

i'll stan for Ibra like he's my blood but at this point i think he's better of faking an injury just to get out of there tbh

That was a hell of a sweet strike for the winner. I enjoyed that a lot, suspect I turned on at the perfect moment - the Velodrome looked amazing too

My stream died and some friends came over so I stopped watching about 2 mns before the first goal, kind of pissed off. Lyon are really fucked right now, it's not looking good at all for them placing in the top 3 (= CL spot). Guess they'll have to win it if they want to take part in it next year :s

Lyon's plans for a new 60,000 ground in the east of the city have been ploughing on for some time. Local opponents flutter around their ambitions like a cluster of mosquitos – small, annoying and with the capacity to bite above their size. Just recently the club have been bogged down with research by a team of archeologists to make sure the foundations do not disturb anything, and they will soon be running tests to establish whether the stadium's carbon emissions will have any impact on the neighbourhood

Nice overview of French footy. Ligue 1 is so getting its own thread next year.

Not only is the football entertaining, what's happening around is too. You have Lyon trying to build their stadium (they've been at it for a few years, at least 4 iirc), Blanc telling Bordeaux they should get a new stadium too, as do Lille and Marseille, you have the PSG and its usual crises (tho the one this year is a bit more important than the past few years, what with a fan dying, them playing at least three games without a crowd etc) and lots more. A league where the team in 2nd place after 29 games is a team that was in the Ligue 2 just last year, the team in 3rd place is Auxerre, a small club in a city of about 40k inhabitants etc. Come enjoy the pleasure that Ligue 1 is! etc...

(I'll admit to being biased and overlooking the boring goalless Nancy draws and other things of such ilk).

Shoulda read the article first, it says most of what I wrote! Good overview indeed.

Who exactly are the PSG fans, Jibe? They seem to have a fairly big support (as well they might, having 9 million people all to themselves), but from everything I read I'm guessing not many are from the sophisticated Parisian elite.

Nop not really sophisticated Parisian elites (don't get me wrong, some are but those you keep hearing about in the news are not your typical sophisticated Parisian).

To be honest, loads of people from Paris support PSG, and the suburbs are mostly PSG or OM fans. Some more fans spread across the country but I'd say the majority come Paris and surroundings.

There's actually quite a lot to say about the PSG fans. I'll try and keep it short. Basically, the fights between fans that get a lot of press are caused by a few people spread in two stands, Boulogne and Auteuil. Boulogne are the right wing guys (very right wing to say the least and once again not all of them are). To counter their growing influence, some fan groups emerged in the Auteuil stand, in the 90s I think. Auteuil is where you get most of the guys of African origin, who were not really well greeted in Boulogne.

A few weeks ago, Marseille came to Paris for a league game. There is a lot of bad blood between fans of both teams (teams of the two biggest cities in France, the only two French teams to have won a European cup etc).They played against each other in Marseille in nov, but originally were supposed to play in october. The Parisian team didn't come finally because they had a few players who had the H1N1 flu and so the game was cancelled. A few Parisian fans did come to Marseille though and they started running amok. They got beat up pretty bad by people in Marseille (they were doing this in one of the sensitive neighborhoods of Marseille), some one got run over.

Anyways, so forward to march and Marseille coming to Paris for the league game. These games are usually under very tight police surveillance and for fear of Parisian fans taking it out on OM fans as payback for what had happened in ocober, the OM fans were told they'd be under police surveillance all the way from Marseille to Paris. They didn't want that, so finally hardly any OM fans came from Marseille.

Some Boulogne guys wanted to fight anyway, so they came close to the Auteuil crowd, fight broke out, guy from Boulogne was in a coma and died just recently. So PSG have not been allowed to have fans go to away games, and have to play with no spectators for a few of their upcoming home games. Its become a political matter and just about every politician has something to say about this situation (usually dumb shit and even worse solutions).

So yeah, most PSG fans aren't like that, but these are the ones you keep hearing about in the press. I have some friends who support PSG, they haven't beaten anybody up and all though.

errr, I'm a PSG fan (and I know another poster on this thread who also is). Paris est magique!

dunno if i'm part of the parisian sophisticated elite tho :-(

I didnt say all PSG fans were like that, it's just a small fringe that give them all this bad press. I'm not a PSG fan but that's what I've heard from friends who are. And they're great people obv! I'm actually sad about what's happening to PSG, I'd love to see them back at a competitive level (like last season, before they fell apart).

Paris est pas si magique en ce moment malheureusement

Nice overview of French footy. Ligue 1 is so getting its own thread next year.

― Ismael Klata, Monday, 22 March 2010 12:30 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I was thinking of starting one for this, Bundesliga, Serie A (although its being renamed I think? maybe the season after but its Premiership-isation is happening soon), La Liga and lol general world football. I think if we have individual threads we may be more likely to pay attention to each? Other than this one which was basically 6 months of WOWMESSI, LOLCASSANO and the occasional great goal youtube embed until Jibe started dropping knowledge.

Still pushing for our own ILF too.

yeah I'd still wanna see an ILFootball board

one of the less sophisticated supporters of the PSG

http://static1.purepeople.com/articles/2/25/36/2/@/174170-nicolas-sarkozy-au-parc-des-princes-637x0-2.jpg

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/4678/bienvenuefh.jpg

Pulling this off was pretty damn sophisticated.

Definitely up for 'Olympique Marseille still won't win Ligue 1, 2010/11'. Feel I need to know more about Bundesliga too, but we don't have any experts there do we? Actually, a full ILX census might be in order, too much potential knowledge is going untapped.

Is that a Chuckle Brother?

(one on the left obv, although maybe the one on the right too, satire fans)

Wait, they can't rename Serie A, it's got the best name as it is!

a full ILX census might be in order

next thing we'll all be logging in with our CHIPPED ID CARDS

Love your title Ismael! But i dunno, they just might win it next year (and this year too, though that's quite a long shot). They might even win their first title since 93 this year, they're playing the final of the Coupe de la Ligue (the Coupe de France's younger brother no one cares about) against Bordeaux in a week or two.

Still pushing for our own ILF too.

― he might have even have gone in. (a hoy hoy), den 22 mars 2010 17:13 (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

wouldn't mind this either

nother vote for this

Love your title Ismael! But i dunno, they just might win it next year (and this year too, though that's quite a long shot). They might even win their first title since 93 this year, they're playing the final of the Coupe de la Ligue (the Coupe de France's younger brother no one cares about) against Bordeaux in a week or two.

― Jibe, Monday, 22 March 2010 16:43 (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol so its a perfect french equivilant of the liverpool one. see also juve won't win etc.

Juve won a championship in the 00's didn't they though?

seems we have a critical mass here in favor of ILF (or is that a bias of the foreign football thread?)

Juventus goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti was so upset after conceding a 35-yarder against Sampdoria that he broke his hand punching a dressing room table. (The Sun)

Messi failed to score on Wednesday night. Shite.

That Juve goalkeper was their third injured GK of the season iirc. They've called up their youth league keeper.

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u25/musesick72/karma-1.jpg

Roma beat Inter 2-1 in the Stadio Olimpico blowing the race for the top spot in Italy open like an IED blows up one of those flimsy British briefs in Afghanistan!

IBRACADABRA! as Barcelona beat Mallorca, who have a solid home record, 1-0 in the Ono Estadi with a scrappy goal from our sweet Prince Zlatan.

The Madrid derby tomorrow night in the Bernabeu. Real need to win to match Barcelona on points. Should be easy pickings for the in-form Real against the egregiously inconsistent Atleti, but you can't completely rule out a team that boasts el Kun, Diego Forlán, and that gypsy Reyes.

kun's been pretty awful lately what i've seen but yeah you never know with atletico, gonna be a fun game no matter what.

i'm psyched for roma! with totti back from injury today and the arguably easiest remaining schedule (and no euro cups), there's oddly enough a small chance they could win this year.

yeah but they are roma and totti being back means he'll just break or pull something in about three days

there's the possibility that atletico could play like something of the sum of their parts for one night only i suppose

fuck madrid though, apparently those fucking nonces guti and sergio ramos tried ostracizing higuain for wrongfully electing to shoot rather than pass in one instance vs lyon and florentino perez is trying to sell the only player madrid have demonstrably improved in years (already scored a ridiculous 22 in 22 in the league) because he's not one of his own signings.....cunts the lots of them

lololololove these guys for understanding that real madrid should be a wtf soap opera.

that doesn't mean they're not awful cunts though, barcelona wining the cl final would be poignant as fuck

well yes and yes and ;_;

this has been kinda shit, apart from reyes the goals have owed more to defensive lapses than skill, little rhythm to speak of and c ronaldo having started wide right with little success now flits about all over the place but without much heed to the rest of the team

the goals have owed more to defensive lapses than skill

gimme my steez back

and i forgot about arbeloa's goal but that was good too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWe-FVjqilU

<3 that guy srsly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0L2RlDby54&feature=player_embedded#at=38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yfhCziPkB4&feature=player_embedded#

+ everyone loves a scoring goalie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsBrGF33vZA&feature=player_embedded#

+ultras really are the worst
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5edRplZEbM&feature=player_embedded#

I just saw this piece on La Liga's financial difficulties - not such a favourable comparison to the Premiership after all. And can you guess who this is?

Real Zaragoza pay him £49,200 a week

lol means he ends up post-deductions on the same as john utakakakakaka an £80grand a week footballer over here.

lol free transfer, more like. if we call his transfer value a conservative 5m, then over a four year deal that's worth half of his wages there.

The thing that really bugs me about all this 'oh noes big players won't come to real madrid to be moderately less rich than they were before except that they keep making more revenue so will most probably continue paying more than any other team in the world' is... well its fucking stupid and smh at this whole game. i'm gonna go support leyton orient or someone.

Bernabéu attendances are down 7%

lol big name pulling power. and they still want rid of higuain for more

i can't quite make out that last xp tbh

Villarreal have just failed to pay their players for the first time because the ceramics industry from which their owner, Fernando Roig, makes his money has been hit hard by the crisis.

yellow submarine sinking? ;_;

Hamburg's Paolo Guerrero throws a bottle at his own fan

I feel bad about using the HE'S READY meme for the rong Barca game this week

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philminshull/pique_afp595.jpg

i think i picked the rong barca young'n to make a thread about. pique has some real potential for lols over the next ten years imo. (also a classy player.)

El FC Barcelona saltará al césped del Santiago Bernabéu con Valdés en la portería, Puyol y Maxwell en los laterales, Piqué y Milito de centrales, Busquets, Alves y Xavi en el centro del campo y Pedro, Messi y Keita en la delantera.

o_0

A falta de confirmación, el once del Real Madrid será el siguiente: Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Albiol, Garay, Arbeloa, Gago, Van der Vaart, Xabi Alonso, Marcelo, Higuaín y Cristiano Ronaldo.

english motherfucker do you speak it

take it to de subjectivisten, smarty

v difficult to understand i guess :(

nah I got u, just wanted to be all internet hardman for a sec :)

so rip dani alves' defending career?

lol guti and van der vaart- how is this team top again? ;_; pour one out for kaka and karim

Aye, where is Kaká?

injured i think
could be 'injured' though

http://www.veetle.com/index.php/channel/view#4bc069a27e7c8
http://www.veetle.com/index.php/channel/view#4bc055586b17f

for whoever it is that asked. first in spanish, think the second is in english.

my sopcast has ray hudson, will try to transcribe some choice quotes iir :D

ok every word he says is gold and too quick for me to even think about transcribing it.

cr9 looking pissed off that messi has stolen his #1 place and determined to use tonight as a chance to show how good he is at taking on 4 players, passing to himself and just generally being awesome

this barcelona team needs a striker. two wingers as forwards isn't working. why no bojan? whatever happened to kerrison? should they go for like villa or dzeko or zamora in the summer?

marcelo-cristiano killing this, if only van der fart wasn't about 5 minutes behind everyone else.

They should buy Torres, but yeah Bobby Z could do a job - his whole career is one long episode of stepping up

Messi gets thumped off the ball, his reaction - a goal!

Great goal, terrific movement and touch, nice finish blah blah blah

:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

"What you tryna do Real? You putting out a fire with gasoline. Messi doesn't live in a tactical world, a technical world, he lives in a magnetic spectrum of excellence."

fuckin' magnets :D

7 goals against real already at 22.

wao. can you quietly secretly reveal which sopcast this is?

"little leo messi maaaan, you could corral him with twenty alligators and he'd still slink his way through them unharmed"

http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=71776∂=sports channel marked FS TV Teus [EN]

"lionel messi man, he's like a zombie hunter, looking for a twinkie"

dunno if that works, pick this game here and then the one with the fox soccer logo saying fs tv teus

alonso hit the bar!

other commentator just called messi "super normal". i lol'd.

any bets on who will get sent off first? i'm going for albiol.

Not happy at the number of easy bookings here - Messi's was insanely harsh. Could easily see him or Xavi getting a red for being caught offside

oh higiaunpaws

xpost

oh yeah torres would be perfect if pep wanted to play 4-4-2 or he was humble enough to play second choice to ibra. zamora has to be the hottest property striker in europe right now though, right? (i.e. worth under 10m and yet killing it against every team he comes against, incl. in europe and looking great at dictating play, v. technically sound [when did this happen?] and wouldn't mind sitting on the bench at barca or whatever because it would be fucking bobby zamora at fucking barcelona or wherever.)

ach my connection is so slow today that it can't cope with the glory of Hudson. Downgrading to Maged TV with David O'Leary bringing the expert opinion on the panel it is.

whatever happened to big game cristy naldo?

"rapier like football like this should be outlawed, its so heavenly" pedro scores

he calls alves 'chamaeleon eyes' btw.

fucking classy goal also.

vdv smh

― he might have even have gone in. (a hoy hoy), Saturday, 10 April 2010 22:18 (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

guti's pass was a beaut but man do real know their way around a shitty overrated dutchman

― he might have even have gone in. (a hoy hoy), Saturday, 10 April 2010 22:19 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i cant even tell who he is carding anymore, this ref is nuts

― he might have even have gone in. (a hoy hoy), Saturday, 10 April 2010 22:20 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i kinda doubt any album is going to get on the list w/ only one voter, and even if so i wouldn't wanna be that voter -- why push something nobody else likes onto a list that's supposed to represent the collective tastes of a group?

if ur passionate enuff abt an album to vote only for it & give it 200 points then u probably also wld really like more ppl to listen to/talk about/appreciate that album. this is not unreasonable.

i mean werent u complaining that more ppl who like stuff outside the ilx mainstream need 2 vote itp? i only voted for 10 albums 8 of which im v v v likely the only person voting 4. but if like one other person really likes one of these & it sneaks onto the list im not gonna feel bad bcuz w/e gay british shit more ppl voted for doesnt make it

― Lamp, Saturday, 10 April 2010 22:20 (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i mean it was "chamaeleon eyes" who did the foul, he has a yellow already and so... he's still on, god knows who got it

― he might have even have gone in. (a hoy hoy), Saturday, 10 April 2010 22:21 (51 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol rong thread

― he might have even have gone in. (a hoy hoy), Saturday, 10 April 2010 22:21 (39 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

still don't know who it was who got carded... dude is making poll look sane.

Was Ronnie got booked, no idea why

the Madrid player apparently booked for his side getting a foul? ya.

I opted for a Spanish stream to keep me in time with people I'm talking to, although now I have no idea what Barca have done in bringing on Iniesta for Maxwell.

move cham eyes to lb?

is ramos ever gonna get sent off?

looks like Pedro's covering left back. fair enough.

I still stand by my claim that Alves looks like the Green Goblin.

guti has actually been p. good since coming on.

hudson calling real "the whites" can make this sound like some crazed race war at times :S

"what he is, is like something out of greek mythologies, leo messi, a bull with tiny legs, and the crazy eyes man"

Barca have a ridiculous 80 points from their 31 league games this season.

FC Twente have 80 from 30, and are two wins away from their first league title.

OH STEVIE STEVIE

you guys, the undoubted highlight of El Clasico and perhaps the moment that summarised Spanish football atm was Sergio Ramos attempting to get Messi sent off by quickly taking a freekick and attempting to hit it against him so that he might get a second yellow for encroachment, when he was just running past and not delaying things at all

this was rly good actually. barcelona found opportunities harder to come by than usual, and this was probably the best case all season for ibrahimovic (in absentia) or at least a more conventional cf. that said, playing compressed in their own half at times largely denied the space cronaldo & higuain need. messi did well, perhaps should have taken one of his chances after getting played onside by madrid several times in the second half, but as with pedro had one moment of clinical finishing. xavi ran the shop and has near faultless instinct these days, there's a huge gulf between him and alonso & gago.

thought ronaldo was fairly shit and he proved the adage that he'll never play a pass without expecting to receive it straight back. guardiola showed his nerve by replacing lb with lw (maxwell for iniesta) and by the end madrid were just kicking the shit out of them in futile attempts to recover possesion. pellegrini is finished, if ever he wasn't and there'll be more absurd scapegoating even though he's probably around par for the season.

Such a shame Pellegrini is gonna be ousted, he's done p. fucking good given its his first season, a whole new team to gel half of whom are cunts (hi dere ramos and pepe) and to play exciting football. If he was in charge of signings and all of next season I wouldn't be surprised to see them winning everything but they'll just go for Mourinho, buy a bunch of cunty cuntos and retire Messi in the corresponding game next season.

steve mclaren is just :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD these days.

assuming he does win it and gets a cl place i srsly hope he stays rather than fucking off back to whichever english club wants to pay him £2m a year and subsidize his pr rehabilitation

takes over at inter when jose leaves to make them the best team in the history of the world

+ one (1) stewart downing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOb6784pJuc&feature=player_embedded

Schteve will be taking Sheltic into the, how you shay, Championsh League. Posshibly.

Jibé's been a bit quiet of late, so I hadn't picked up on Marseille moving clear in France, and potentially ruining next year's Ligue 1 thread title

"Marseille will just cheat their way to Ligue 1 10/11"

Ha yeah, I've been away in Italy for a while and I'm very much a lurker so used to keeping quiet. But yeah Marseille is on track to win the Ligue 1 for the first time in 17 years. They haven't won a single trophy since their champions league in 1993 and this year they've already won the Coupe de la Ligue (a shitty trophy, but a trophy nonetheless). I feel bad for poor old Robert Louis-Dreyfus who bought OM towards the end of the 90's, spent quite a bit of cash on this team and died in July, just before they start winning again.

So yeah, Marseille is on top. They have one late game in hand (this wednesday against Sochaux). Bordeaux is 6 points shy of them with 2 late games in hand. But they've been awful lately (since 2010 began basically) so unless they finish the season like they did last year (13 wins in a row) they're unlikely to repeat their championship win.

If we consider that Marseille winning is a done deal (not really, they have a history of fucking up when they're in control, but I don't see them failing this year), what's become very interesting now is the race for the two other champion's league spots. 5 teams are still in contention:
-Auxerre : they have their chances I guess. Right now they're in second spot, 2 points off Marseille with one more game. They're the best defense in the league, haven't lost a game in a long while etc. I kinda like them but really don't want them to end up in the top 3 spots, cause they'd get thrashed in the CL.
-Lyon: in third place, equal points with Montpellier but beter goal diff. In january, it looked like their chances at grabbing a CL spot were done for and yet here they are. They've finally reached the CL semi-finals, which might tire them a bit but is also quite a big confidence boost etc. They have the toughest schedule of the top 6 teams since they'll be playing against Bordeaux, Montpellier and Auxerre in the coming weeks iirc. Really hope they qualify for the CL.
Montpellier : equal points with Lyon. This team is the Cinderella story of the season, since they were promoted to Ligue 1 only this year. But they're starting to show signs of failure. I don't think they'll be in the top 3 and they might not even be in the Europa league spots.
Bordeaux: the reigning champs though not for much longer I guess (but who knows with them). They really need to get out of their slump. Also, this season is quite important for them cause it looks like Blanc might leave (his interview after their defeat to Lyon in the CL was worded in a way that made it look like he was saying his goodbyes to Bdx) and if he does Gourcuff might follow him and Chamakh is sure to leave.
Lille : really like this team, they're an attacking side with a good midfield and some fine players (Hazard Gervinho etc). They're 3 points behind Lyon and Montpellier.

I really hope OM, Lyon and Bdx get the top 3 spots, like the past 2 years, so that they keep playing the CL. Lille as 4th would be great, I really enjoy this team. And Montpellier and Auxerre, well they can be 5th and 6th for all I care. They're fun to have in Ligue 1 but they'd stand no chance in European competitions I fear, so don't mind if they don't take part in them.

Also, fun thing: Bordeaux has put an end to two long-standing things in French football. They lost to Marseille in the Coupe de la Ligue to put an end to 17 trophyless years. And they lost to Lyon in the CL QF, putting an end to 7 years of "Lyon will never get past the QF in Europe".

sorry for the tl,dr coming out of my lurking :D

nice post

do you know if the lb at valencia (mathieu) is near the france squad, i've been surprised by how good he is but then he's behind evra and abidal....

Nope, haven't really heard his name come up when talking about the French squad. But yeah, there's already Evra and Abidal in front of him. Cissokho (Lyon) and Trémoulinas (Bordeaux) also have good press and are ahead of him in Domenech's eyes I guess. Cissokho has already been called up once to the French team iirc.

Is Sochaux any good? Not top of the league obv, but they have Charlie Davies, one of the USA's best attacking players and I wonder if he'll continue to grow there (once he gets over his devastating car injuries).

poor old Robert Louis-Dreyfus

is the cousin of Elaine from Seinfeld

or was, I guess

*cough* remember clichy still alive *cough*

xp
Sochaux isn't that good no. They're currently 15th in the league but not battling against relegation (unless something miraculous happens, the three relegated sides are sure to be Grenoble, Boulogne and Le Mans). They've been in the lower reaches of the league the past few years. Not really a good team, probably worth midtable.

Haha, awesome, did not know that about Robert Louis Dreyfus

jesus christ have we seen the elbow on capel? lucky he wasn't decapitated. wwf stuff.

We have not. Link?

watchin it on sky. looks better in the slow-mo than at the time tbh, he's up and complaining.

xxxp the bitter irony is that PSG did OM a big favor by beating Bordeaux last weekend. I think I might have preferred to see them lose that one...

Ha come on, don't you like to see your team win more than you despise OM winning?

It's OM? lol Wenger stan but I could understand hating OM more than any other team. (See also people who hate Juve or whatever.)

Jibé - I know it is petty and inglorious - but yeah at least in this case, I think deep down I'd have preferred my team losing (esp. since we're solidly stuck mid-table and have zero stake in the league anymore)

<3 chupete suazo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anM-fvdJc_k#t=16

daniel alves almost scored a great goal tonight, hit the crossbar with an overhead kick from an acute angle

i read that but apparently there ws some dubiety other whether he had tried to cross it? y/n?

didn't think it was clear either way, i'll give him the benefit of the doubt cuz he's 'that type of player' who would attempt it from there

cool.

andrés iniesta has a facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/AndresIniesta?ref=ts

Bordeaux managed to lose its 4th league game in a row last night. After having a 10 point lead or so at the beginning of this year they will now mostly likely end up not qualifying for the CL. What a waste

What's happening to them is quite impressive. I really hope they qualify for the CL and they still can if they get their shit together. They're two points away from Lyon and four from Auxerre, with one game less still. And Auxerre will play against Lyon and Marseille in the upcoming weeks, so they might lose some points. But yeah, def a waste.

They're a talented side, what's happened to them? They did look extremely fragile and nervous in the second leg against Olympiakos; possibly it was the same against Lyon, but I put that down to Lyon being more powerful and clinical. It's strange to see reigning champions collapse like this, normally teams do so before they've managed to win anything.

A conjunction of factors can explain their fall. First of all, they don't really have a bench. They keep playing the same players over and over and the bench players hardly have any playtime. So their main players are tired and have been getting injured (this season, their most important players all were injured at one point - Gourcuff, Diarra, Planus etc). And the bench players hardly got a chance to play so when they come on, they aren't that good. Last year they were really lucky since their main players were never injured. Another thing to take into account is that they went all the way to the QFs of the CL and once again their lack of a great bench cost them. Gourcuff, their main playmaker, has really not been as impressive as he was last year.

Also, psychologically, the ruckus over whether Blanc is going to leave to coach France or a team elsewhere probably troubled their season. Especially since the French Football Federation announced that Blanc was on their shortlist of people to replace Domenech after the World Cup. And Gourcuff said that were Blanc to leave, he'd do all he could to follow him.

This season, Marseille is Bordeaux 08-09, Bordeaux is Lyon 08-09 and Lyon is Marseille 08-09. (Probably not gonna make much sense for those who don't follow french football)

Can I lower the tone to ask if Gouffran is really the legend PES 2010 makes him out to be?

no

but I suspect Wenger will buy him one of these days and make him an occasionally great player

Jibe - that last sentence is pretty much OTM supericially - ie. I don't find the teams themselves that comparable and Marseille certainly doesn't look as impressive as last year's Bordeaux.

so anyway, sorry to bore you all non-French Ilxors

Not at all - Ligue 1 is clearly where it's at these days.

Baaderonixx - yeah no question that those teams are not alike. But it's their trajectories that I find similar.

nothing boring about any of this

have we lold at the rumour of real wanting capello to fuck over again a third time? like jesus i think i'd find it more believable if it was schteeve mc linked.

they fired him the first time and he went back....

And the second time not only did he get treated like shit by absolutely everyone, they also made him put up with Cassano.

the same rumour that also puts rooney in real? here's me hoping.

anyone gonna watch inter - juve?

you're not missing out

Yeah. At 90m! There is no way Rooney is worth more than Ronaldo imo, and there won't be unless he can do this season x3.

My iPhone Sky thingy gets me espn, but not when Italian footy's on. I get a wiggly line and what sounds like a New Order instrumental instead. Serie A's uncharted waters for me these days. I'm hoping to pick it up again in a few years once the thrill of Ligue 1 wears off.

maicon just put inter ahead with one of the silliest/best goals of the season

serie a is better this season than it's been last couple of years imo. or maybe i'm just saying that cause inter might lose this year

fucking HELL that maicon goal

Tat goal is impressive! And Maicon made it look so effortess, kinda like he was fooling around with friends!

it's no mario stanic lol-at-chelsea-we-piss-around-and-do-THIS

nah it's only to be compared to a ginola UEFA cup effort for newcastle some years back, but ginola's was better tbh.

yeah

can i just

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwy_MrjR3R8

Great goal too. Forgot how goood Ginola could be. Awful !newcastle shirt tho... that big fat ugly logo in the middle is just... well ugly

that ginola is amazing. though maicon had more touches which in this case speaks for him

ginola both footedness to the fore, and the deft touch to tee it up-

both amazing goals though- fade on maicon's is so perfect

um, I wouldn't argue that maicon having more touches makes it better. if anything it further condemns juve for not closing him down properly. but great strike. ginola's is out of this world tho

let nobody ever forget that ginola was the best winger on the planet for 3 months in 1999

reminds me that ilx need to decide on the best goal of all time- could be a thread to rival the film/tv threads that one.

except of course it would be all matt le tissier

http://rusta.co.uk/music/music_001.html

'Ginola - il est magnifique'
Jazz Master Julian Stringle pays tribute to football God David Ginola in this timeless classic. A beautiful song for a beautiful man.

Sounds like the soundtrack for a TV show in which David Ginola travels the world solving mysteries and scoring jaw-dropping solo goals.

tv executives have forged decent careers on worse ideas than that

Roy fucking Hudson just now - "Messi has desire spilling out of his ears".

<3

FC Twente win 2-0 against Feyenoord and Ajax win 4-0 against Heracles, Steve's got to win next week to guarantee the title. Ajax are second but have a gd of +87, compared to Twente's +40.

+87? Wow, I know what team I am following next season (assuming Suarez isn't sold.)

So have we decided on seperate euro threads next season? 'Feyenoord still not on dis ting while we search for the next Alfonso Alves 10/11'?

Definitely. I'm assuming we may have our own board by then so am banking thread ideas generally - FC Bunyodkor still won't win the Asian Champions League, Greatest Substitutions write-in POLL, that sort of thing.

What's actually happening with the proposed ILF... are we actually getting one?

My bad, it's +38 and +83, thought that todays scores weren't taken account. Even so still 45 more than Twente who've arguably got the tougher final game against NAC Breda.

I'm mildly in favour xp, but would suggest keeping the main EPL thread on ILE so's we don't become totally cut adrift.

Yeah, and the CL/off-season threads. But I meant are any mods actually going to get on this and make us a borad?

Matt DC rules with an iron fist iirc, and is against

Casillas; Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Raúl Albiol, Marcelo; Gago, Xabi Alonso, Guti; Van der Vaart, Cristiano e Higuaín.

César; Bruno, Marchena, Alexis, Jordi Alba; Albelda, Banega, Pablo, Silva; Mata y Villa.

this is a pretty important game but i'm struggling to give a fuck about madrid and don't quite trust valencia on account of their weak defence

picture-of-myself.jpg

HE'S NOT READY

can they just put this back ten while I get some food?

What're you going to eat?

gonzalo!

dunno, gave up on the idea till halftime.

if real genuinely want him out, they are mentals.

So Valencia aren't even in this match, huh? 'predict when los che actually pay their players 10/11'?

if real genuinely want him out, they are mentals.

― tart w/ a heart (a hoy hoy), den 18 april 2010 21:27 (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

fixed. just turned this on, surprised real are only one up

It's a good game. Real should have them buried, but Valencia could strike at any time. I haven't seen David Villa play for ages but I'm always so impressed with him, instantly - there's something about him that just looks like a great player, not entirely sure what it is

I think its the immense talent and ability.

Or the soul patch, whatever.

A goal to send LJ into a Spanish football radge if there ever was one.

is it just me or is benzema already starting to morph into ronaldo in his late, fatty real phase?

Why are Barça going to Milan by bus? You'd've thought they could charter a train or borrow a yacht and go in a bit of style.

Yaya has a cracking Rosa Parks joke he wants to try out.

+87? Wow, I know what team I am following next season

+87 makes me think the SPL is a competitive league tbh. Ajax home record is insane for a league that claims to have other professional teams in it.
P17 W16 D1 L0 F64 A4

with 64-4 goals record it's shameful they managed to drop 2 points tbh

now, if that were spur's goal record you could guarantee we'd have dropped fucking 12.

ach now that apostrophe has really convinced me it's bedtime.

French football stars questioned by police over Paris prostitution ring

no names named.

Actually thefour names are already kinda known.

Franck Ribery and Sidney Govou, who are the other two?

And for the curious amongst you: Ribéry and Govou (no doubt about those two, Ribéry even issued a message about this story before his name was even out in the open). The other two aren't yet official but rumour has it it's Benzema and Ben Arfa.

oooh

can we say that? is that ok?

I like how the journalist ran out of prostitution ring facts and made up with word count with Thierry Henry Handball Scandal.

Now come on, Wiltord was a) part of that Lyon team and b) Wiltord, professional drug dealer... I'd be downright ashamed if he wasn't one of them.

he's another one wenger sold iirc

Actually, he isn't. We couldn't find a buyer and made him run down his contract not even making the bench.

boy you showed him!

Yes I did!*

* While buying my crack from him at Premiership prices.

bully 4u imo

Wiltord is still playing? Must be the bizarro Silvestre.

We couldn't find a buyer and made him run down his contract not even making the bench.

love this new take on "paying him millions for doing fuck all" - we taught Bobo Balde a similar lesson.

ha, pre-caffeine way of wording things i guess.

Sol Campbell never darkened our door again IIRC

Fuck I mean lols but that still hurt to type

Nope, apparently Wiltord wasn't in on it. But I can't help but think that the Lyon dressing room must have been good times what with Wiltord, Govou (notorious for enjoying partying a bit too much) and Ben Arfa and Benzema going out with underage prostitutes.

Also Wiltord still plays with FC Metz in hte Ligue 2.

ben arfa and benzema can't have been too far off underage themselves tho?

Yeah. They're both 22 or something right now. And anyways, the legal age for sex is 15y 3 months and underage in this story means something like 17 and a half. So the underage thing probably won't be too much of a problem. The prositution thing on the other hand ...

ireland- the underage limit is 16, i think, but if two 15 year olds have sex the male is guilty of statutory rape. everybody's happy with this. i'm just glad i was a slow developer tbh.

also glad you've never had sex w/ underage prostitutes tbh.

i never said that. i never actually said that.

mutu banned again for failing doping test.

thats the second time this season, right? no-one at fiorentina wanna just take him to rehab ffs?

i think it's the sentencing for getting caught actually. 9 month ban. he's gonna be a bankrupt retiree before christmas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC1BE45tY7U

have finally seen this. two points make it better than ginolas:

1. i just dont like ginola
2. see pt. 1.

Meanwhile, back in France: injury time penalty winner for OM on Saturday, putting them five clear with five to play

Don't know if it was dubious or not, I can only speculate

this end of season is killing me

Zahia Dehar, now 18, was reported as saying she was “shocked” that players may face up to three years’ jail for their actions, while also telling the press that “I loved them all. They spoiled me. I wasn’t truthful about my age. They should be left alone.”

The footballers all deny any wrongdoing.

While pictures were circulated around the Thursday papers revealing who Zahia Dehar is, footage of the prostitute from an appearance on French television has also begun doing the rounds online today .

Featuring on an awful show in which Zahia Dehar was filmed in just her bikini, the footage captures the classy hooker dancing erotically with two guys before she was put into a small closet with one guy with whom she changed clothes in a race against the clock.

Footage of teenage prostitute Zahia Dehar can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjfKQ23lCMQ&feature=player_embedded

“Nearly all of you for the last two years have been saying that what he does is normal. And then there is just this idiot of a coach who says it is not normal. The coach takes all the flak - I can’t motivate him, I can’t educate him, this or that, next year it’s best if Mourinho goes and not Balotelli. And then, in the second most important match in the world at club football level, all of my team leave the field dead and one player could have done a little bit more to help the team who was in danger. The fans wanted more, his team-mates wanted more, and he did not give it. And then that thing with his shirt. Full stop… On Saturday we have another game, and he will play. It is not a problem for me and I expect the fans to give him the chance to demonstrate that he is with us and can help the team and that he has learned today that to play football at the highest level, you have to play in a certain manner.” Jose Mourinho on Mario Balotelli.

and before i google new gerrard rumours, here is one of the bestest things in football

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIkdQ9bW2OA&feature=player_embedded#!

what is "that thing with his shirt"?

samp beat roma!

and getafe vs sevilla on sky sports 1 has been pretty good. 3-3 and kanouté just got sent off.

lol this game!

haha, totally! twice-scored retaken injury time penalty!

and he put them in different corners too

fucking hell - has there ever been such a spectacular end-of-season implosion as Bordeaux's in 2010?

Was gonna say Arsenal post-St Andrews 08/09 but this is kinda lol, that was mostly sad.

Well last year they had so much luck that this year karma decided to even things out. I'm kinda sad that they won't play the CL next year (well they might start winning again but I have my doubts) because they were good this time. Then again, seeing as they probably won't have any of their big players next year...

well I am pretty pissed off that the recent trend in "consolidation" in Ligue 1 seems to have already died off. REALLY not looking fwd to seeing Auxerre or Montpellier get spanked all across Europe.

Ah, we'd give anything for some non-consolidation over here

Totally agree. Really hope that Auxerre will lose against Lyon and Marseille so that the first three can be Marseille, Lyon, Lille. And if Bordeaux wakes up and starts winning again, they can qualify for the Europa League.

how good are lille? i guess cl qualification would let them keep hold of gervinho and hazard for the time being

real zaragoza/madrid this weekend was great btw, very close until the 82min with kaka scoring nicely on return, gave the lie to the current rep of lesser la liga teams giving up vs the big two

several zaragoza injuries wd have given our eponymous hero a chance to shine but the lazy fuck got inured too

Lille are quite good, have a bunch of good young players (Hazard, Cabaye, Rami, Gervinho). Play nice attacking football. Had a great streak around november iirc where their entire team was fit and they won 8 games in a row scoring at least 3 goals (which isn't very usual in Ligue 1). Will probably sell half their players to Lyon in the summer because that's what they've always done. Though yeah, if they qualify for the CL (and I'd say they really have a chance at grabbing the third spot, maybe even finish 2nd if Lyon fucks up because of the CL) they might be able to keep most of their players.

nice, the last time they were in the cl they were very defensive (controversial giggs fk in the away leg....)

Yeah I remember that. Their coach was Claude Puel... who coaches Lyon now, a few similarities in both teams' style of play.

How do you rate Lyon's chances tomorrow?

I want to believe they can go through. The problem is, I'm kind of stuck on their flaws. They're usually incapable of taking charge of the game. They're better when they can concentrate on blocking the other team's plays and creating from that... and well, seeing as Bayern are one goal up, they might let Lyon do the playing.

But still, Lyon have their chances, especially if every time Bayern announces that one of their players is out they're actually telling the truth. By my count, they have no defense left (De Michelis and VanBuyten both injured), Tymoschuk and Contento out too. Things keep going on the way they do and Lyon will win because Bayern won't have enough players to field a team.

Honestly, the way things are, I'd say Bayern have a 60-40 edge over Lyon. OK, I'm being a bit optimistic so I'll say 70-30. Most important thing is that Lyon need to man up and not play the way they did in the first leg, all defense, kick the ball upfield and hope for Lisandro to work his magic.

you've summed it up very well. Don't really believe in their chances as I don't think they will be able to shut out Bayern and keep a clean sheet

They could keep a clean sheet if they had everybody fit and on the field. But without Toulalan, Cris maybe injured, Boumsong coming back from injury, I really fear for them. And kinda of scared that Gonalons (if he plays) will be mindfucked by Van Bommel and take a silly red card. Anyhow I'll keep on believing in their chances until the end of the game.

little love for herculez gomez, the first american player to lead a non-domestic league in goals*

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2010/04/gomez-claims-share-of-mexican-scoring-title.html

*OK tied w/ two other players including chicharito hernandez, but did it with fewer starts and minutes played overall

Boumsong coming back from injury, I really fear for them.

i lol'd.

meanwhile back in the Ligue 1, Bordeaux conceded last night its 5th defeat in 6 games.

Sergio Busquiets is a meme machine and he doesn't care who knows it: La Liga 10/11?

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47764000/jpg/_47764402_mcclaren282.jpg

Outschtanding.

He is er, how you say, still thinking he is Dutch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS9KGYk-q5Y

Hehehe.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11906_6129900,00.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/03/laurent-blanc-replace-raymond-domenech-france/print

laurent blanc to be offered france job but only after domenech has one last chance to fuck up at the world up

it seems that McClaren isn't really doing the comedy accent any more, he's just genuinely forgotten how to speak proper English.

forgotten?

forgottener.

And in the Ligue 1 this weekend, Bordeaux finally overcome their slump and notch a victory. Too little too late probably but it's good to see them come back a bit. Lyon win too, against Montpellier a team at the top of the table. If they win all their games, they could finish 2nd which would be quite a surprise seeing as at the end of december they were 6th and trailing the first team by 13 points or so. Also, Marseille and Auxerre (respectively 1st and 2nd) played against each other in a goalless draw. A very boring one which I happened to watch. I've got to stop watching football games, the last ones I've seen were all incredibly boring playwise -Lyon-Bayern both legs, return leg Inter-Barca, this game).

And PSG save their season once again by winning a cup. Their 8th Coupe de France it is. And as with every thing regarding PSG, there is a small controversy (OK not really, but at least a few people mocking them) as they've won this cup without beating a single professional club in 90mns (they beat Auxerre in penalties in an empty stadium and Monaco in the final thanks to a goal in extra time). But who cares, good for them, I really wish that team would get its shit together and start being a contender again.

PSG is really (or has become) the archetypical "cup team". Can't think of an equivalent elsewhere. Since 2004 they have won a cup every other year (while being generally dismal in the league).

I was reading about the history of Coupe de France - it sounded great, the little club always got to play at home, always loads of shocks, final was a big event, etc. Is it still like that?

Also, I was wondering about Monaco - do they have any fans?

yes
no

messi just scored 30th league goal of season vs crappy tenerife

pissing it down in barcelona

FUUUUUUUCK!

WHHHHHHHHHHY?

Eh it's OK, you knew that was bound to happen one day or another baaderonixx! I'm v happy btw! You just might have to wait more than Marseille's 18 yrs till you win a championship again (when was PSG's last btw, 1994 or something?), though you keep winning cups.

To EZ Snappin, to make it clear, baaderonixx is a fan of PSG and bitter rivals OM won the championship today. Their first trophy in 18 years (apart from that cup they won a few weeks earlier).

whaddya mean eighteen years they won the chOH GOD I'M OLD.

never favoured any team in france but i guess this is a good thing, marseille is a proper club and i like lucho gonzalez

spurs qualifying for CL should show PSG fans that even the worst fucking losers get lucky on a long enough timescale

http://www.idrottsforum.org/features/oddner/hairpics/waddle_eng68.jpg

He might be happy, but that's next season's thread title ruined. Well done OM.

does 18 years count in the match fixing years?

1993 title not taken into account(1993 CL is though). Last official championship title is 1992.

To EZ Snappin, to make it clear, baaderonixx is a fan of PSG and bitter rivals OM won the championship today. Their first trophy in 18 years (apart from that cup they won a few weeks earlier).

Thanks!

That's a bummer dude. Swear away.

thanks :-(

hey you know what's really shit?

spanish football.

barca just clinging on there

summarised by the referee blowing for full-time dead on 3 minutes after barcelona spent 1 of the allotted 3 minutes making a substitution, that of bojan, who is an awful cunt and a crap footballer

a terric prospect though, I hear

"Barca fans out there as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs."

Hudson <3

lj your moaning about spanish football is boring. Don't see you do the same on the english football thread and the defenses and quality of football in the premiership are fucking awful bar a handful of teams so stfu.

Bojan is indeed a rather talented young man.

actually i have said a number of times that the current premiership is the worst i can remember and below about 11th place all the teams are shit. but they can all defend now and then. my main gripe with spanish football is that it currently resembles a procession

like, spanish teams seem to give up far more readily than english teams - even the shit ones - and the style of football is while technically superb a little bit tactically lacking at times. at least english teams have recognisable tactics and the game has a mutable structure.

but the main reason i moaned was humorously because i thought barcelona were about to win the league. not so?

itt lj is ignorant and bigoted :D

fine i take it all back hurrah for the spanish league and its democratic tv deal system

but seriously, it's not football i'd pay to watch - too many cheaply-won free-kicks and an overtly relaxed playing-style

hmm

ban me

oh Zlatan....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFv6kh_rPPA

i'd imagine when repressed homosexuals fuck women they do so with renewed vigour and loathing-disguised-as-glee

Tony Adams is back! Back! BACK!

They've given me a clean plate here

Good to see Adams has found his level.

that remains to be seen

Ligue 1 is over. Marseille are champions, Lyon finishes second after an amazing comeback. In december, they were 6th, played horrible football and had just lost to Montpellier and most people thought they wouldn't finish in the CL spots. But from january till now, they still played horrible football for the most part but they lost only a game iirc to finish in second spot. And the third spot for CL goes to Auxerre, sadly not to Lille. Auxerre will have a tough time winning its qualifier to reach the CL groups I'm guessing, especially if they draw one of the big clubs (like the spanish one for ex).
Lille qualify for Europa league after they failed to win their last game against Lorient. And missed a penalty. Really hope they manage to keep their players even though they aren't qualified for the CL. Montpellier qualifies for the Europa League and Bordeaux, for the first time in 5 years, will not play any European cup. And they're about to lose quite a lot : Blanc is going to take over France after the World Cup, Chamakh is leaving to Arsenal, Gourcuff I'm guessing will stay unless he has a great WC, some other players are probably gonna leave (A. Diarra for ex).
Amongst other news, Lorient cap off a great season with a 7th place. They have one of the smallest budgets in France and are usually around the 10-12th spot. PSG finishes its lackluster season in the championship with a 3-1 defeat to Montpellier and end up in 13th spot. They're looking more and more like a cup team rather than a league one. The three teams who are going down are Grenoble, Boulogne and Le Mans.

I meant to ask about the teams that come from tiny places like Lorient, Sochaux, Guingamp, even Lens I think - how on earth do they manage to compete at the top level?

Lorient is able to compete thanks to the good job done by their head coach, Christian Gourcuff (father of that other Gourcuff). He usually finds and buys players from lower levels or players who've been in the Ligue 1 for a long time (like Marama Vahirua for ex). Plays good counterattacking football, are usually quite nice to see. Every year they see some of their players sold to bigger clubs (last year saw Abriel off to Marseille, Jallet to Paris... this year Gameiro, their forward, is off to a bigger club too, maybe Marseille if rumours are anything to go by).
Sochaux and Guingamp are clubs that compete thanks to their youth teams, the players that they train from the earliest age onwards. For example Drogba started playing in Guingamp iirc. or maybe Le Mans. Actually this is the way most small teams manage to compete, thanks to the young players they train.
Finally, Lens is not that small a place! And it is quite famous for its football team. They're supposed to have some of the best supporters in France.

apparently Drogba started at Le Mans before moving to Guingamp aged 24, for £80k. Took a while to get going, that one.

we really need a Ligue 1 thread next year, even if it's just you saying stuff and us saying "wow thanks for the info."

Squeaky bum time for Inter, looking more nervous with every passing minute.

and de rossi just scored a wonderful thuddesque screamer to put roma two goals up

never in doubt.

sampdoria get the final champions league spot. They started this season aiming to finish 10th. The downside: Juventus are interested in their general manager and coach; there's also interest in top-scorer Pazzini, the legend Cassano, and the midfielder Palombo

barcelona winning 3-0 against valladolid, madrid drawing 1-1. Barcelona to finish as champions on 99 points, Messi as pichichi with 33 goals.

47 goals in total this season for messi.

he just scored again!