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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Who Will Win??? MESSI or RONALDO
Many of the blogs I have written recently have been about one man; Cristiano Ronaldo. As much as I like Darren Fletcher and Ji-Sung Park et al, they don’t quite attract attention like Ronaldo does.
This blog is the result of numerous comments people have left in recent weeks with reference to Ronaldo’s ability. I have seen numerous comments berating Ronaldo and lauding Lionel Messi as the best player in the world. Are these people for real?
So, it’s plain and simple, Ronaldo vs. Messi.
Tomorrow morning, Cristiano Ronaldo will wake up to be declared as the European Footballer of the Year. I think it’s safe to say Ronaldo will be gob smacked by this achievement as he seems like such a modest and quiet guy. He will join an elite band of Manchester United legends as only Best, Law and Charlton have held the title whilst playing for United.
It would be boring if I was to simply list the achievements of Ronaldo as we all know what he is capable of, what he has done and, love him or hate him, it’s impossible to deny how effective he is.
So, to ensure fairness and to avoid being branded a completely biased Ronaldo loving idiot, I accept that Messi undoubtedly has a God given talent. Whilst I would be absolutely delighted if he ever joined United (I know this is never going to happen but I can dream), I wouldn’t swap him for Ronaldo.
‘Messidona’ is an incredible dribbler and has already replicated two of the most famous goals scored by possibly the greatest ever footballer, Maradona.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=x0cVCq8rsiY&feature=related - Remind you of Maradona’s ‘real’ goal against England?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=frnyf666z0s – I think this is self explanatory.
He also became the first Barcelona player to hit a hat-trick in the El Clásico since the 1993/1994 season – the previous player weas the legandary Romario. And whilst he has the talent, enthusaism and ability to rightly be described as world class and one of the best players in the world, I can honestly say that he isn’t a better player than Ronaldo.
For impact, goals, effectiveness and consistency, there’s only one ‘best’ player in the world.
Am I right? Who is better and who would you rather have in your team?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or
Dressed to impress: Ronaldo arrives for the Ballon d'Or awards ceremony
Clarets turf out Gunners
Burnley celebrate famous win
Burnley's giant-killing spree in the Carling Cup continued after a 2-0 win over Arsenal's rookies in the quarter-final at Turf Moor.
Kevin McDonald struck in each half as Owen Coyle's men followed up victories over Fulham and Chelsea with a richly-deserved success over the Gunners.
The Championship side took the lead after just six minutes when McDonald slotted into the net after Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski had failed to collect Chris Eagles' low cross.
Gunners striker Nicklas Bendtner was denied by Brian Jensen either side of McDonald's opener, and the Burnley keeper also made a smart save to thwart Carlos Vela.
Fran Merida came close to a brilliant solo goal early in the second half before McDonald, who scored his first goal for Burnley at the weekend, grabbed his second of the night on 57 minutes.
He anticipated Eagles' quick throw-in and, after getting the better of Mark Randall, flicked a nonchalant finish past Fabianski and inside the far post.
Though Jensen kept his side in it on occasions, Burnley's football was more than a match for a fledgling Arsenal side that had ripped apart Sheffield United and Wigan in previous rounds.
Capital Punishment III
The match was locally billed as 'Capital Punishment III' after Chelsea and Fulham were put to the sword in previous rounds - and it lived up to expectations.
Yet Arsenal almost took the lead before McDonald made the breakthrough when Merida released Bendtner, however Jensen stayed alert and diverted the striker's effort to safety.
Burnley took the lead in the sixth minute after Chris Eagles swung in a superb cross from the right and Arsenal could not clear their lines after Fabianski failed to gather the ball.
McDonald took full advantage to score from the edge of the six-yard box to put the the second-tier side in the driving seat - and they never looked back.
Arsenal were stung and Bendtner sprung the offside trap in the ninth minute after a good through-ball from Vela but Jensen was equal to his effort.
Then Martin Paterson skipped away from Kieran Gibbs but his shot carried little power and the goalkeeper was able to make a comfortable save.
Burnley were dictating the pace against their inexperienced opponents and Robbie Blake tested Fabianski in the 28th minute.
The young Arsenal goalkeeper looked nervous and spilled his effort, only to recover in time and take the ball off Paterson's toes.
Paterson should have extended Burnley's lead when he stole in on the blindside but only succeeded in rattling a shot against Fabianski's body.
Arsenal responded in the 37th minute and Bendtner sent Randall clear with a clever flick. Randall had only Jensen to beat but the goalkeeper stood tall to make the block.
The goalkeeper was again proving difficult to beat after an impressive display in the victory against Chelsea.
It looked as though Vela would equalise in the 41st minute but Jensen cleared the danger.
Merida came close after 49 minutes when he weaved his way into the penalty area but failed to test Jensen, curling his effort just wide.
Burnley extended their lead in the 57th minute with McDonald again showing a cool head when needed.
Randall was caught napping when Eagles delivered a throw-in and McDonald raced clear before curling a delightful shot into the far corner with the outside of his right boot.
Uphill task
This was an uphill task now for Arsenal and Wenger responded by bringing on Jay Simpson for Jack Wilshere in a bid to turn things around.
Simpson had shown his potential in the last round with a brace in the victory against Wigan.
However, Paterson should have made it 3-0 in the 65th minute only to send a soft header into Fabianski's arms following a cross from Blake.
Burnley were happy to knock the ball around and keep possession but Arsenal still looked dangerous going forward.
Bendtner should have pulled a goal back with three minutes remaining but the striker failed to capitalise on a good ball from Vela to put the seal on a miserable night for the Gunners.
| Burnley | Team Statistics | Arsenal |
| 2 | Goals | 0 |
| 1 | 1st Half Goals | 0 |
| 8 | Shots on Target | 9 |
| 3 | Shots off Target | 4 |
| 3 | Blocked Shots | 1 |
| 3 | Corners | 1 |
| 13 | Fouls | 12 |
| 3 | Offsides | 2 |
| 0 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 68.2 | Passing Success | 81 |
| 35 | Tackles | 23 |
| 80 | Tackles Success | 82.6 |
| 39.6 | Possession | 60.4 |
| 52.1 | Territorial Advantage | 47.9 |
Run Ronaldo, Run
If he wants to go, they should let him go.
That's my opinion.
And if you're wondering what I'm talking about, then you really haven't been clued on this whole summer have you?
Cristiano Ronaldo.
The player who signed a lucrative deal with one of the world's richest clubs not that long ago and now is being courted by another club that is of similar stature.
To cut a long story short, he's wanted by Real Madrid but Manchester United's owners would rather see him rot in the reserves (which made him even more upset, mind you) and the young man's even gone on to say nothing about the whole situation throughout Euro 2008 which has pretty much frustrated every single MU fan around the world.
He's also gone on to say that he's only thinking about Portugal's progress in the tournament and has successfully ducked all the questions concerning his footballing future after the summer.
Here's a little thought for all those MU fans out there.
Sir Alex Ferguson has always said that no one is bigger than the club, not even himself. Remember Jaap Stam, Ruud Van Nistlerooy or even one Golden Balls?
If one Ronaldo goes, then so be it. It's a team game after all, right?
But then again, it's only an opinion.
Torres brilliance not rewarded
After seeing Manchester United crowned Premier League champions, we can finally take stock of what has undoubtedly been a truly enthralling season.
As the dust settles on Fergie's final day success, I have to say that, like many others, I have been thoroughly impressed with United's flying winger Cristiano Ronaldo this campaign, a player who has really caught the eye - for obvious reasons. Hats off to the lad.
The Portugal international has illuminated almost every game he's played in. Then again, the same can be said of Liverpool's Fernando Torres. Well, whenever he's been allowed to play that is.
Since there has been so much praise lavished on Ronaldo, let's talk more about Torres.
For me, he has been nothing but fantastic this season, no doubt about it. This 24-year-old striker is a newcomer to the hustle and bustle of the Premier League and he has shown that he is a cool customer when coming to terms with the physical side of the English game. Not every foreign player can do that, often failing to make as big an impact as Torres has.
The fact that the Spaniard did so well in his debut season is very encouraging and I think he can only get better. The only criticism is maybe that he doesn't score enough goals away from home. A sign of a true quality striker is the ability to score both home and away. But, so far at least, he's still worth all the money Liverpool spent on him..
To be honest though, it's a shame that despite all the effort shown by Torres, Liverpool have finished the season with nothing to show. They may have won a lot of accolades, but there are no trophies to show for their efforts. No hardware. Praise can only take you so far.
On the flip side, this will just make the team hungrier for success and, with that desire for glory, comes titles. Hopefully, Liverpool will shed the tag of ‘nearly-men' soon.
I expect a clear out at Liverpool come summertime when the league goes into hibernation. Xabi Alonso, John Arne Riise, Peter Crouch and Jermaine Pennant could all be saying their goodbyes. I actually wouldn't miss most of them, especially Pennant whose place on the right wing was taken by Dirk Kuyt. Need I say more?
If you were to ask me who I would like to see arriving at Anfield, then Gareth Barry is one of them. It is getting a little ugly between Martin O'Neill and Rafael Benitez, but this shows how important and talented Barry is.
There can be little doubt that Barry will be the perfect foil for Steven Gerrard in the centre of midfield. We have seen it before when the duo played for England. It will be a good combination for Liverpool and one that will persuade Rafa to stick Stevie G in midfield because that is his best position. Period.
Liverpool also need an out-and-out winger and Blackburn's David Bentley is one of those who has impressed me. This former Arsenal apprentice will be a perfect replacement for the other former Arsenal apprentice at Anfield. Bentley is one of those wingers who can do everything - deliver accurate crosses from deep, take on players with pace and is deadly from free-kicks. But Blackburn have been steadily improving every season and don't need to sell their players. It would take a massive amount of effort and money to even open discussions with Rovers gaffer Mark Hughes.
Apart from Liverpool, there were a few key moments - or should I say controversial moments - that marked this BPL season. I was particularly surprised by the sackings of Jose Mourinho and Sam Allardyce at Chelsea and Newcastle respectively. They were perhaps a victim of their own club's misguided ambitions. But the most talked about BPL moment has to be the reinstatement of Kevin Keegan at Newcastle. It was an appointment that shook the English game.
Who knows what kind of twists and turns we will have in the coming 2008/09 season? After the exciting cliff-hanger we had on the final day of the season, I for one will be looking forward to next season with even more anticipation than before. Will you?
Champion of Champions 2008
Choose Your favourite Sports performer from 2008. From November 28th, www.ESPNSTAR.com, alongside SportsCenter India, Asia & Malaysia, and Score Tonight will be conducting a joint initiative Online and On Air to decide the Sports Personality to have made the biggest impact on sport in the calendar year 2008.
The criteria for selection are that the "nominee" should have made an "impact" on sport during the year 2008. It is not solely a performance related vote. It is your vote that will decide who wins.
Below, you'll see a list of sixteen athletes who have excelled in 2008. When voting opens, we're looking for you to decide exactly who was the "Best of the Best."
How-to-vote
The mechanism to decide the winner is as follows:
The criteria for selection are that the "nominee" should have made an "impact" on sport during the year 2008. It is not solely a performance related vote. It is your vote that will decide who wins.
Below, you'll see a list of sixteen athletes who have excelled in 2008. When voting opens, we're looking for you to decide exactly who was the "Best of the Best."
Sourav GANGULY
In October, India’s most successful Test captain announced his retirement from international cricket. As of October 2008, the Calcutta-born Ganguly is India's most successful Test captain, winning 21 Tests out of 49. He also led India into the 2003 World Cup Final. Ganguly is credited with having nurtured the careers of many young players who played under him. The left-handed Ganguly has over 11,000 One Day International runs to his credit, but despite this ODI success, and his stellar time as captain, his Test place was often lost to younger players towards the later stages of his career. He often polarised opinion.
Kobe Bryant
Remember the "I want to be traded" saga when Kobe Bryant expressed his anger? The 30-year-old inspired his team, the Los Angeles Lakers, to reach the NBA Finals last season and received the MVP accolade for his remarkable performance during the regular season. The American also went on to help Team USA to win back the golden honour. This 6'6" man was also awarded the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team.
Michael PHELPS
American swimmer, Michael Phelps, won an unprecedented eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympic Games. That took his career tally to 14 Olympic golds - the most by any Olympian. He has 16 Olympic medals in all. As of August 2008, he also held seven swimming world records. Out of his eight gold medals from Beijing, five were won in individual events, tying the record for individual gold medals at a single Olympic Games. For a week in August, 6’4” Phelps held centre stage in the sporting world, and delivered on every single occasion.
MS Dhoni
As Indian cricket prepares for life without the ‘Fab Four’, MS Dhoni has established himself as the leader of the next generation. His performances in leading India’s teams in Twenty20 and One Day Internationals in 2008 have propelled him to the top of the pecking order in Indian cricket. Initially seen as a flamboyant and destructive batsman, Dhoni has come to be regarded as one of the coolest heads to captain the Indian ODI side. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, CB Series against Australia and the IDEA Cup against Sri Lanka. He is currently ranked the best ODI batsman in the world by the ICC and was awarded the ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 - the first Indian player to achieve this feat.
Cristiano Ronaldo
"Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law," said the legendary Johan Cruyff in an interview in April 2008. The 23-year-old Portuguese international then went on to win a Champions League and Premier League double with Manchester United, scoring over 40 goals in the process, and was then the subject of a summer of turmoil as United and Real Madrid battled for his signature. Ronaldo promptly missed the start of the new campaign with injury, but compensated for it by being named FIFPro Player of the Year. Always in the headlines, it’s hard to think of a more high-profile footballer throughout the year.
Rafael Nadal
2008 was the year when Rafael Nadal finally overtook Roger Federer to become World number 1. It was also the year when he beat Federer in arguably the greatest match ever seen in a Wimbledon final. Additionally, he was crowned Olympic Champion in Beijing, and won the French Open at Roland Garros in May. He has five Grand Slam titles to his name. For much of his career, Nadal has had a rivalry with Federer that many critics consider the greatest ever in tennis history. They are the only men in the open tennis era to have played each other in six Grand Slam finals. Nadal was ranked World number 2 behind Federer for a record 160 weeks before earning the top spot in August. On October 18 the Spaniard clinched the year-end World number 1 ranking for 2008.
Nicol David
Malaysia’s Nicol is the World number 1 ranked squash player and the first Asian to top the sport’s rankings. She is the current World Open and British Open Champion having won both of those prizes in 2005 and 2006 as well. In July, Nicol David was among 497 honoured in conjunction with the 70th birthday of the Penang Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas. The Penang-born Nicol, became the youngest person from the Malaysian island to be conferred a Datukship.
Abhinav Bindra
Despite standing just 5’8" tall and weighing in at a slight 65 kilogrammes, Abhinav Bindra has proved to be a giant for Indian sport in 2008. His gold medal in the 10-metre Air Rifle event at the Olympic Games in Beijing was India’s first Olympic gold for 28 years. The 26-year-old is also the current world champion in the 10-metre Air Rifle event. But for a few short days in August, he made India forget about its cricketers, and focus on another sport.
Lewis Hamilton
22-year-old Briton, Lewis Hamilton, won his first F1 Drivers’ Championship in 2008. After being pipped to the 2007 title by just a single point in his rookie F1 season in 2007, the Hertfordshire-raised Hamilton went one better this season after recording victories in Australia, Monaco, Britain, Germany and China.
Sir Alex Ferguson
The legendary Sir Alex Ferguson guided his team to a Premier League and European Cup double 25-years after winning his first European Trophy with Aberdeen. Many thought that Chelsea had left Manchester United behind when they won back-to-back titles, but Ferguson rebuilt his side so that the 2007-08 season would go down in folklore.
Usain Bolt
Was there a more exhilarating moment throughout the 2008 sporting calendar than Usain Bolt’s chest-thumping world-record setting victory in the Olympic games’ 100-metre final? The 22-year-old Jamaican was criticized in some quarters for over-celebrating that victory, but responded by setting new world-best times in the 200m and 4x400 metre finals - both of which secured gold medals. Bolt became the first man in history to set world records in all three at a single Olympics. His name and achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname "'Lightning' Bolt".
Sachin Tendulkar
Shane Warne describes "The Little Master" as the greatest player he has played with or against. Wisden rank him the second greatest Test batsman, and the second-best One Day International batsman. Sir Donald Bradman named him in his "Bradman’s XI" dream team. His key milestone for 2008 came in October when he surpassed Brian Lara’s record for the most runs in Test cricket, and became the first batsman to score 12,000 Test runs. The Tendulkar legend will end at some time, but 2008 proved that there is still plenty of batting left in India’s iconic bat.
Fernando Torres
A record-breaking 24-goal haul for Liverpool in his debut season in the Barclays Premier League was one thing, but for 24-year-old Spanish striker Fernando Torres, scoring the winner for his country as they ended 44 years of pain by winning Euro 2008 was the high-point of an incredible year. Signed by Liverpool from Atletico Madrid, Torres top scored for his new club in the Premier League and equalled a Liverpool record by scoring in eight consecutive home matches.
Tiger Woods
The abiding image of Tiger Woods in 2008 will be him limping his way in obvious discomfort to victory in an 18-hole play-off at the US Masters. It was a rare sight to see Woods struggling, but it also marked him out as a true Champion. He had no need to continue as he already held 13 major Titles. But this was Tiger Woods, the fighter. Two days after securing Major number 14, he was in hospital for a knee operation and will be off the Tour for up to 10 months.
Manny Pacquiao
WBC World Lightweight Boxing Champion, Manny Pacquiao, is the "Ring Magazine" pound-for-pound World number 1 ranked boxer. An accolade afforded him after Floyd Mayweather, Jr. announced his retirement from boxing. The Filipino was also the former WBC Super Featherweight Champion, Ring Magazine Super Featherweight and Featherweight champion, World champion at IBF Super Bantamweight and WBC Flyweight. He’s the first Asian to win four world titles in different weight divisions
Valentino Rossi
World MotoGP Champion, Valentino Rossi, is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time with eight Grand Prix World Championships to his name. He is also one of the highest earning sports personalities in the world. In 2008, Rossi became MotoGP Champion for the fifth time regaining the crown in his first season with Honda. He began his Grand Prix racing career in 1996 and subsequently won the 125cc World Championship. Twelve years later, the 29-year-old Italian has won 97 of his 210 GP starts, and made the podium in 151 of those races.
How-to-vote
- Sixteen sports personalities have been shortlisted.
- This list has been chosen by a group of ESPN STAR Sport representatives. From now on, it's your choice on who wins.
- The voting mechanism will be in the form of a knock-out.
- The 16 will be paired against each other in a knockout draw shown Live on SportsCenter on Friday, November 28th.
- Pairings will then be made available for the public to cast their votes for a set period.
- The "winner" (i.e. the person with the bigger percentage of votes cast) will go through to the next round – while the loser is "eliminated"
- This is repeated for a Quarter Final, Semi Final and Final with the winner announced on SportsCenter on December 31st.
McCaw enjoying Baa-Baas build-up
New Zealand captain Richie McCaw will end an exhausting and emotional year by making his debut for the Barbarians.
He is itching to start Wednesday night's Olympic centenary clash with Australia at Wembley.
McCaw features in a Barbarians side drawn from the cream of the southern hemisphere and captained by South Africa's John Smit, who is joined by six of his 2007 World Cup-winning colleagues.
It is a unique experience and McCaw is relishing the chance to end a high-pressure season playing alongside many of the big names he spent the last nine months bashing from Christchurch to kingdom come.
McCaw and Smit, rival captains in the Tri-Nations and Super 14, are rooming together. So too are Welsh wing wizard Shane Williams, who starts on the bench, and South Africa's Bryan Habana.
"You are alongside people you wouldn't normally have a chance to play with," said McCaw.
"Normally we don't see each other after games, we have to just move on, so being able to sit and have a beer and a yarn without worrying about the pressures of next week is unique.
"Rooming with guys you normally beat the hell out of - or vice versa - is pretty good. And John is a good roomie. His snoring was alright last night!"
McCaw admitted to still being bruised and a touch stiff from the All Blacks' 32-6 victory over England.
"They were physical," he said.
New Zealand spent the year rebuilding their aura after the crushing disappointment of defeat to France in the World Cup quarter-finals last autumn.
They did so, winning 13 from 15 Tests to claim the Tri-Nations title and complete a third Grand Slam tour.
McCaw backed Martin Johnson to revive England's fortunes - but he believes they must become smarter and fitter if they are to compete with the world's best.
England had four players sin-binned against the All Blacks and it could have been more as they failed to adapt to the demands of referee Alain Rolland.
"As soon as one has been given, you've got to react to that," said McCaw.
"That's why I was happy with our boys. They backed off and didn't give the referee an excuse to penalise them. I guess that's just making sure you're smart.
"Talking to Chris Jack he has found that the style of rugby here means you don't need to be as fit.
"The big thing is to believe in what you're doing. We had a belief in what was going to work. That's the way Martin Johnson operates, I'm sure.
"The big thing you've got to remember is that there isn't a lot between the top teams. There might be on the day."
McCaw believes the southern hemisphere have benefited from the experimental sanctions law being used in the SANZAR competitions, which sees most penalties replaced by a free-kick.
He feels it not only helped their fitness but also their ability to break down the more structured European sides.
"I found the free-kicks encouraged guys to look up, identify where the space was and to play what they see. That has stayed in our game," said McCaw.
"From what I've seen that's the difference. In the southern hemisphere the guys play what they see and back themselves.
"Up here they want to play with more structure and build pressure, which works to some degree if you do it well."
That is not how the Barbarians play and the Wembley crowd, expected to be in excess of 50,000, can expect a high-scoring encounter against the Wallabies.
The Barbarians starting XV includes Habana and Joe Rokocoko on the wings, Francois Steyn at fly-half and former world player of the year Schalk Burger at number eight.
Williams, the current world player of the year, starts on the bench alongside former Australia scrum-half George Gregan.
The Wallabies have included 18-year-old James O'Connor at full-back while uncapped Brumbies lock Peter Kimlin features among the reserves.
George Smith captains the Australia team while winger Lote Tuqiri returns from knee surgery.
The match has been organised as part of the British Olympic Association's celebrations of the first London Olympics.
Australia won the rugby gold medal in 1908 with a 32-3 victory over Great Britain, who were represented by Cornwall.
Hughes backs Jo to shine
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is convinced summer signing Jo will prove his worth at Eastlands.
The Brazilian striker, 21, could return to the side against Paris St Germain in the UEFA Cup at Eastlands tonight after recently being on the fringes.
While Robinho has settled in quickly following his summer move, Jo has struggled to adapt after arriving from CSKA Moscow.
Hughes, however, believes Jo will come good.
"He is a young player who has come into a stronger league than he has been used to, " said the City boss.
"It takes time and it is harder for forwards to integrate straight away. Robinho has been able to adapt quicker but he is a more experienced player.
"Jo has found it a little bit of a struggle but he is working hard in training. He will get better."
Hughes added: "There will be changes against PSG. We will look to use the squad as we need to give a respite to some key players."
City are looking to record their third successive victory in the group - they have already qualified for the last 32 - and Hughes wants a positive response following the defeat by Manchester United.
"We need to pick ourselves up very quickly, " he said. "No-one likes losing any game, least of all a derby.
"We came up a little bit short. Our energy levels were not where they need to be to force the issue against a side as good as United. We just needed that spark to our play."
The French side also suffered a loss at the weekend, going down by a single goal to Rennes.
Hughes wants to finish the last two matches - they play Racing Santander in Spain in a fortnight - in style.
He said: "There is a prize to be had. If we are to finish top of the group that is to our benefit. Hopefully that will mean an easier draw in the last 32.
"If we can get a positive result from this match that should be enough and I feel we can make chances at home against any team.
"PSG are a good side. They need a decent result but it just depends on what significance they place on this competition.
"They have changed their team in previous rounds and protected their senior players for league games."
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Will Seahawks' Woeful 0-2 Start Leave Them Out of the Chase for the Super Bowl Title?
If you set your goal to not only get to but win the Super Bowl this season, it is not a good idea to lose your first two games. During the 8-year period from 2000 through 2007 only 6 of the 70 National Football League teams that started the season at 0-2 went on the make the playoffs, much less win the Super Bowl. So here come Mike Holmgren's Seattle Seahawks, all full of spit and vinegar and wimpering out while losing their first two games, a 34-10 thumping from the Bills in Buffalo and a 33-30 overtime loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers, a National Football Conference West Division rival.In two games the Seahawks, which returned all 11 of their defensive starters (almost unheard of in pro football), gave up 33.5 points a game.One explanation for their lapse of playmaking came from defensive coordinator John Marshall, who maintained that there were not many blown assignments as much as the players simply not trusting their teammates and overcompensating in their own areas to make up for what they perceived as a shortcoming somewhere else. It kind of sounds like they were minding everyone else's business but their own.There are, of course, some other perhaps less plausible but more understandable explanations, such as spending too much time:1) Reading the press clippings about how great they were going to be this year.2) Placing a quick cell phone call to their agent to see what new endorsements might put them more in the spotlight.3) Figuring out the quickest route to the hot dog stand after the first half ends.4) Trying to figure out if that foxy looking blond in the 4th row on the starboard side is approachable.The defensive front did record 8 sacks but the defensive secondary was last seen somewhere near Tukwila, 12 miles south of Qwest Field in downtown Seattle.The six exceptions to the 0-2 rule of going nowhere fast were:1) The 2007 New York Giants who went 10-6 and won Super Bowl XLII (Super Bowl 42 to people in the real world, as opposed to NFL executives).2) The 2006 Kansas City Chiefs who went 9-7 and lost the AFC wild card game.3) The 2003 Philadelphia Eagles who went 12-4 and made it to the NFC championship game.4) The 2002 Atlanta Falcons who went 9-6-1 and made it to the NFC divisional game.5) The 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers who went 10-5-1 and made it to the AFC divisional game.6) The 2001 New England Patriots who went 11-5 and won Super Bowl XXXVI (Super Bowl 36 to people in the real world, as opposed to NFL executives).Alexander Pope, the master of the heroic couplet, penned "Hope springs eternal in the human breast, Man never is, but always to be blessed" and so it is with the Seahawks.After being mired in a pitiful state like fraternity boys caught with their pants down outside in the dead of winter, the Seahawks made a 180-degree turn at home last week and routed the St. Louis Rams (another division opponent) 37-13. With all of Seattle's starting wide receivers banged up and left with major inexperience at the wide receiver position, the Hawks' handed off to Julius Jones 22 times for 140 yards (6.4 yards per carry), including a 29-yard touchdown scamper. They handed off to T. J. Duckett 19 times for 79 yards and 2 short TD runs, and that was that.Did I mention that rookie tight end John Carlson (all 6-foot-5, 251-pounds of him) continues to look good and actually catches the ball when you throw it to him? Carlson comes to Seattle from Notre Dame. He is not the first great tight end from Notre Dame.That honor belongs to the immortal Leon Hart, the 1949 Heisman Trophy winner and the only lineman to win 3 national titles in both college (1946, 1948 and 1949 national championships at Notre Dame) and pro football (1952, 1953 and 1957 NFL championships with the Detroit Lions).Leon Hart is also the last and only 1 of 2 linemen ever to win the Heisman Trophy. He was an All American tight end on offense and defensive end on defense. That was when men were men rather than self-centered, spoiled, multi-millionaire, petulant stars who show up but don't always play for fear of being hurt.Seattle has a bye this week but travels to New York on Sunday (10-5-08) to face the defending Super Bowl Champion Giants. We shall see if the Seahawks can duplicate their last game success at home while on the road in East Rutherford (NJ), where Giants Stadium is located. There is a rumor going around that the Giants are really happy to see the Seahawks coming, something about patting their 3-0 record.
Michigan State Women Finish 1-2-3 to Win the Colonial Inter-Regional Championship
Both of Michigan State's women and men cross country runners announced themselves big time Saturday (9-27-08) as the women used a 1-2-3 finish to capture the Colonial Inter-Regional women's title at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg (VA), and the men were runner-up in their contest.Lisa Senakiewich was 1st, Nicole Bush was 2nd and Sarah Price was 3rd, all are seniors and were also the only 3 runners to crack 22 minutes in the 6K race (3.72 miles). Senakiewich clocked 21:03.1 followed by Bush in 21:08.2 and Price 21:31.8. For Senakiewich, winning was double sweet as the victory represented her first career cross-country title. The win was triple sweet as the Spartans last two scorers were both freshmen—Carlie Green was 5th in 22:06 and Tiffany Abrahamian was 8th in 22:20. The 1-2-3-5-8 finish gave MSU 19 points to host William & Mary's second place finish with 42 points. In cross-country, the low team score wins. To highlight Michigan State's depth on the women's side, sophomore Emily MacLeod was 9th in 22:22.4 and senior Laura Portis was 10th in 22:22.7. The Spartans emphasize team running rather than individual success, and it shows. Freshman Rebekah Smeltzer was 11th, junior Ashley Casavant 15th, junior Leah Elenbaas 16th, and sophomore Becky McCormack 28th.If Michigan State's second 5 women runners were a team they would have finished 9-10-11-15-16 with 61, good for a 3rd place team finish ahead of John Hopkins University (102 points), LaSalle University (114), Saint Joseph's (120), Hampton University (217), Norfolk State (221), Howard University (223) and Longwood (227). That is impressive!There is a reason why the Michigan State women are ranked No. 8 nationally in the pre-season poll by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association. Now you know.Sophomore Spencer Beatty led the Spartan men by finishing 5th in 25:10.7 for the 8K race (4.96 miles). Like the team-running of the women, MSU took 8th through 12th places with freshman Joe Dimambro 8th (25:18.0), junior Max Goldak 9th (25:18.8), junior Shane Knoll 10th (25:24.4), senior Adam Sprangel 11th (25:25.8) and sophomore Pat Grosskopf 12th (25:28.9). The 5-7-8-9-10 finish was good for 39 points to William & Mary's 32.The depth on the men's side included junior Dan Lewis 18th, sophomore Mike Quick 19th, freshman Aaron Simoneau 24th and freshman Isaiah Van Doorne 32nd.If Michigan State's second 5 men runners were a team they would have finished 11-12-18-19-24 with 84, good for a 4th place team finish behind Tennessee at 3rd (71) and ahead of LaSalle University (99), John Hopkins University (151), Longwood (194), Howard University (231) & Hampton University (230). Joe Dimambro's 8th place finish was his third top-10 finish in as many races to begin his collegiate career as a freshman. Junior Shane Knoll's 10th place marked his second straight top-10 finish.Michigan State's cross-country program under the tutelage of Walt Drenth, Director of Cross-Country and Track & Field, is committed to win a national championship.In an additional sad note, Rita Arndt-Molis, former MSU Associate Head Cross-Country Coach for the men's and women's program and the Assistant Track and Field Coach for the past two years, has accepted a position as the Miami (OH) University Head Women's Cross-Country and Track and Field Coach.
College Football 2008
9 AP Top 25 Teams Lose, 6 to Unranked Teams, No. 1 USC, No. 3 Georgia & No. 4 Florida All Fall.
College football's 5th week revealed the nation's 6 luckiest teams—Missouri, Texas Tech, Brigham Young (BYU), Kansas, Boise State and Vanderbilt. They were the 6 teams among the AP Top 25 Poll who had a bye week, saving them from a possible upset loss.The other 19 Top 25 teams did not fare so well in Week 5 as only 10 of the 19 won (a scant 53%) while 9 more—including 3 of the top 4 teams—lost.Among the 9 ranked teams that lost, 6 committed the unforgivable sin of losing to unranked teams, an absolute no-no if you want to be in the hunt for the national title. You can pretty well say goodbye to the national title hopes of Southern California, Wisconsin, Wake Forest, Clemson, Illinois and Texas Christian (TCU). The biggest loser was No. 1-ranked University of Southern California (USC, the University of Shoulda Coulda), which traveled to the Corvallis (OR) den of the Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers, an unranked team at 1-2 who had already lost away games at Stanford and Penn State, decided to take out their nastiness on the Trojans, dominating USC 21-0 in the first half and hanging on for a 27-21 victory.USC should have known better, since the Trojans were upset by the Beavers 33-31 during their last trip to Corvallis two years ago. That loss ended Southern Cal's 38-game regular-season winning streak.No. 4-ranked Florida hosted unranked Mississippi and promptly lost 31-30 with lousy defense and its star quarterbacks Tim Tebow, last year's Heisman Trophy winner, having a horrific day. Tebow was sacked 3 times by holding the ball too long, overthrew 4 receivers deep, lost a fumble that turned into an Ole Miss touchdown, and failed to convert on a run attempt with a critical 4th down and 2 feet to go at the Ole Miss 32-yard-line with 40 seconds left.Florida won the first half 17-7 but lost the second half 24-13. It is a loss that coach Urban Meyer and his players will not soon forget, nor should they.No. 9 Wisconsin led by 19 and was all over unranked Michigan but let the Wolverines back into the game by giving up 20 points in the 4th quarter, allowing Michigan to enjoy its biggest home comeback in history and give new coach Rich "I'm Not Hitched to West Virginia" Rodriguez his first win at Michigan, 27-25.No. 16 Wake Forest spotted unranked Navy 17 points on its home field and never came back while losing 24-17.No. 20 Clemson led unranked Maryland 17-6 at the half but could not score in the second half while losing at home, 20-17. Here is a news flash: Apparently Maryland is a whole lot better than Clemson this year.No. 23 East Carolina hosted unranked Houston and bit the dust, 41-24. East Carolina's early season wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia are looking less impressive every week.The other 3 ranked teams that lost at least lost to ranked opponents. No. 3 Georgia hosted No. 8 Alabama and was dominated by the Crimson Tide 41-30 in a game that was not nearly as close as its score. No. 22 Illinois traveled to No. 12 Penn State and made the Nittany Lions look good in Happy Valley as the Illini went down, 38-24. No. 24 Texas Christian (TCU) traveled to No. 2 Oklahoma and found out why you do not want to play the Sooners at home, losing 35-10.The Georgia Bulldogs simply got beat up, and at home no less. Georgia was ranked No. 1 in the pre-season AP Top 25 Poll and will now take a nosedive in the rankings. Illinois, Clemson and East Carolina should all be kicked out of the Top 25 this week.Seven other ranked teams won, some impressively, some not. They included:No. 5 LSU at home 34-24 over 1-4 Mississippi State (not impressive), No. 7 Texas at home 52-10 over Arkansas (impressive), No. 13 South Florida on the road 41-10 over North Carolina State (impressive), No. 14 Ohio State at home 34-21 over Minnesota (the Gophers came in unbeaten), No. 15 Auburn at home 14-12 over Tennessee (seriously, not impressive), No. 17 Utah at home 37-21 over 1-AA Weber State (beating a 1-AA team is not impressive), and No. 25 Fresno State on the road 36-31 over UCLA (hardly impressive, given the current state of UCLA football).Other game results that struck a chord with me were:Seeing the recent great Hawaii Warrior tradition of winning games now hitting hard times. Hawaii dusted off 1-AA Weber but has lost to Florida, Oregon State and San Jose State to open the season. June Jones, who built a 75-41 record in 9 seasons at Hawaii, bolted the program to take over the head coaching job at Southern Methodist University this year.Michigan State is now 4-1 after beating Indiana 42-29 on the road, but can the Spartans continue to win against Iowa and Northwestern and host Ohio State with a 6-1 start? Has coach Mark Dantonio been able to build a different mindset at Michigan State, or will the Spartans fold once again when playing better competition?Question: When is the last time the Tennessee Volunteers started a season at 1-3? Answer: 14 years ago. How bad could North Texas be? Rice is seldom if ever good, and the Owls whipped in-state rival North Texas 77-20. That was also the score at the end of the 3rd quarter. North Texas must be really bad. North Texas has played the 5th toughest schedule in the country so far, but Jeff Sagarin also has them rated at 152 among 119 1-A teams.Washington's top two institutions—Washington and Washington State—are both terrible this year. Washington has lost its first 4 games, and the Huskies ' star quarterback Jake Locker broke the thumb on his throwing hand while losing Saturday to Stanford, 35-28. Things are not good in Husky land. Fourth-year coach Ty Willingham may be moving soon.Things are even worse at Washington State. The Cougars are 0-5, having lost 39-13, 66-3, 45-17, 48-9 and 63-14. First year coach Paul Wulff will get a temporary pass but it is possible that when Washington State hosts in-state rival Washington on Nov. 22, the Cougars could be 0-11 and the Huskies 0-10.Texas-El Paso (UTEP) coach Mike Price finally got his first win this season by hosting and beating the University of Central Florida, 58-13. Both teams are now 1-3. The beauty of college football is the unexpected, the excitement of thousands of fans pouring onto the field after their Oregon State Beavers upset No. 1-ranked Southern Cal, the inexorable attrition of unbeaten teams clashing during conference play, and the unknown players who announce themselves as tomorrow's stars in today's games.Welcome to college football's 6th week, when Wisconsin hosts Ohio State, South Florida hosts Pittsburgh, Auburn travels to Vanderbilt, Utah hosts Oregon State, Michigan State hosts Iowa, Southern Cal hosts Oregon, and Missouri travels to Nebraska.
Chanderpaul scoops top ICC award
West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been named the International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year at the annual awards ceremony in Dubai.
England women's captain Charlotte Edwards, who presided over 13 victories in an unbeaten home summer, pipped Claire Taylor to the women's award.
In the emerging player category, Sri Lankan spin prodigy Ajantha Mendis was chosen ahead of England's Stuart Broad.
England's Kevin Pietersen and Ryan Sidebottom made the World Test team.
Edwards was delighted with the acknowledgement and said: "This is a massive night for women's cricket. It's a huge honour for me to be involved with a ceremony like this - I'm so glad that the ICC is recognising the women's game.
"It's a big moment for the other girls who have been nominated for this and I am honoured to be included in that shortlist, let alone win it. 
Edwards made her England debut in 1995 and has played over 100 ODIs
"Women's cricket has a big year ahead. It's fantastic for the game and an exciting time to be involved in women’s cricket."
The emerging player had to be under 26 at the start of the period under review, 9 August 2007, and must not have played more than five Tests and/or 10 one-day matches by that time.
Mendis has made an explosive start to his international career, taking 26 wickets in his first three Tests at an average of 18 and adding 20 scalps in eight one-day internationals at a cost of just 10.
The 23-year-old said: "I am delighted to win the award. It is an honour to play for Sri Lanka and I hope to continue playing for my country for a long time to come."
During the voting period, left-hander Chanderpaul played eight Test matches, scoring 819 runs at an average of 91.00, including three centuries and six fifties, all against the top seven teams in the world.
He also played 13 ODIs in that time, topping the averages with 74.75 having scored 598 runs, with a century and five fifties.
"I am honoured to be given this prestigious award," the 34-year-old from Guyana said.
"A special thank you goes out to my manager, my agent and all my supporters in the Caribbean and throughout the world. It's also important that I thank my team-mates without whom this wouldn't have been possible."
ICC president David Morgan said of Chanderpaul: "Shivnarine has been a rock in the West Indies batting line-up for many years and he thoroughly deserves this award."
The panel for selecting the Test and one-day sides was chaired by West Indies legend Clive Lloyd and included former Australia captain Greg Chappell, recently retired South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock, former Sri Lanka opener Sidath Wettimuny and former Bangladesh batsman Athar Ali Khan।
Cricketer of the Year:Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Test Player of the Year: Dale Steyn
ODI Player of the Year:Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Emerging Player of the Year:Ajantha Mendis
Associate Player of the Year:Ryan ten Doeschate
Twenty20 International Performance of the Year:Yuvraj Singh
Women's Player of the Year:Charlotte Edwards
Spirit of Cricket:Sri Lanka
Umpire of the Year:Simon Taufel
ICC World Test team of the Year (in batting order):
Graeme Smith (SA, captain), Virender Sehwag (Ind),Mahela Jayawardene (SL),Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI),Kevin Pietersen (Eng),Jacques Kallis (SA),Kumar Sangakkara (SL, wicketkeeper),Brett Lee (Aus),Ryan Sidebottom (Eng),Dale Steyn (SA),Muttiah Muralitharan (SL),12th man: Stuart Clark (Aus) ।
ICC World ODI Team of the Year (in batting order):Herschelle Gibbs (SA),Sachin Tendulkar (Ind),Ricky Ponting (Aus, captain),Younis Khan (Pak),Andrew Symonds (Aus),Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind, wicketkeeper),Farveez Maharoof (SL),Daniel Vettori (NZ),Brett Lee (Aus),Mitchell Johnson (Aus),Nathan Bracken (Aus),12th man: Salman Butt (Pak).
Aussie spinner misses first Test
The 36-year-old leg-spinner has failed to recover from a shoulder injury sustained in September so off-spinner Jason Krejza is set to play instead.
McGain and Krejza, 25, are uncapped in Tests and one-day internationals.
The first first of four Tests takes place in Bangalore's spectacular Chinnaswamy Stadium from 9 October.
The Australian camp, and McGain himself, had voiced confidence that his shoulder strain was not serious.
But he has struggled to bowl in the nets and was unable to take his place in the Australians' final tour match against a Board President's XI starting in Hyderabad on Thursday.
He is already rated doubtful for the second Test, team spokesman Matthew Slade confirming: "He won't be available for at least two weeks."
It is a bitter pill to swallow for McGain who, until March this year, still worked in the IT department of a bank in Melbourne.
But following a meteoric rise in his first full Pura Cup season - Australia's equivalent of the County Championship - he has unexpectedly forced himself into the Test picture.
McGain told BBC Sport last week he was even prepared to look ahead at a possible dream Ashes tour in 2009.
"It would be fantastic," he said. "It's such a wonderful series and I've enjoyed watching it for many, many years."
Australia could draft in Beau Casson, a 25-year-old slow left-armer who made a Test debut in Barbados in June.
Beyond Krejza, their only other option is Michael Clarke's part-time spin. Andrew Symonds is not in the squad for disciplinary reasons.
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council has kept umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson off the roster for the series.
The duo officiated in the ill-tempered Sydney Test between the two nations in January which almost saw India pulling out of the series after a string of controversial decisions.
India are likely to name a squad of 14 for the Bangalore Test, with much debate centring on who will bat at six.Veteran Sourav Ganguly, captain of the squad which famously beat Australia in 2001, is in the frame along with Mohammad Kaif and Subramaniam Badrinath.
McGain and Krejza, 25, are uncapped in Tests and one-day internationals.
The first first of four Tests takes place in Bangalore's spectacular Chinnaswamy Stadium from 9 October.
The Australian camp, and McGain himself, had voiced confidence that his shoulder strain was not serious.
But he has struggled to bowl in the nets and was unable to take his place in the Australians' final tour match against a Board President's XI starting in Hyderabad on Thursday.
He is already rated doubtful for the second Test, team spokesman Matthew Slade confirming: "He won't be available for at least two weeks."
It is a bitter pill to swallow for McGain who, until March this year, still worked in the IT department of a bank in Melbourne.
But following a meteoric rise in his first full Pura Cup season - Australia's equivalent of the County Championship - he has unexpectedly forced himself into the Test picture.
McGain told BBC Sport last week he was even prepared to look ahead at a possible dream Ashes tour in 2009.
"It would be fantastic," he said. "It's such a wonderful series and I've enjoyed watching it for many, many years."
Australia could draft in Beau Casson, a 25-year-old slow left-armer who made a Test debut in Barbados in June.
Beyond Krejza, their only other option is Michael Clarke's part-time spin. Andrew Symonds is not in the squad for disciplinary reasons.
Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council has kept umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson off the roster for the series.
The duo officiated in the ill-tempered Sydney Test between the two nations in January which almost saw India pulling out of the series after a string of controversial decisions.
India are likely to name a squad of 14 for the Bangalore Test, with much debate centring on who will bat at six.Veteran Sourav Ganguly, captain of the squad which famously beat Australia in 2001, is in the frame along with Mohammad Kaif and Subramaniam Badrinath.
Beijing bids farewell to Olympics
The Olympic Games have drawn to a close with a glittering ceremony inside Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium.Spectacular fireworks kicked off the proceedings, while a beautifully choreographed drumming and dancing display recalled the opening ceremony.
It was a more celebratory affair, as exuberant athletes, dancers and
musicians got into the party spirit.
The Olympic flag was handed to London mayor Boris Johnson, with organisers briefly showcasing the 2012 Games.
The countdown to 2012 has started, and organisers will know they have a great deal to live up to with China hosting one of the best organised Games in history and staging some of the most memorable opening and closing ceremonies ever seen.
Beijing's dramatic farewell to the 29th Games of the modern Olympiad got under way with a magnificent firework display, which quickly segued into an amazing display of dancing and drumming.
Scottish cyclist Chris Hoy, who claimed three gold medals in Beijing, carried the flag for Team GB as more than 200 flag bearers led the way for the thousands of athletes.
After speeches from Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organising Committee, and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, the Beijing Games were officially declared to be over.
China staged the Olympics against a background dominated by fears of pollution, worries over security and protests about its human rights record.
But the sporting action was enthralling, with highlights including Michael Phelps swimming to a record eight gold medals and Jamaica's Usain Bolt breaking three world records on his way to three golds.
"We have come to the end of 16 days which we will cherish forever," said Rogge.
"New stars were born and stars from previous Games continued to amaze us.
"We shared their joys and their tears and marvelled at their abilities, and will long remember their achievements here.
"These were a truly exceptional Games."
The British flag was raised and "God Save the Queen" sung by the choir, before Johnson was handed the Olympic flag from Guo Jinlong, the major of Beijing, and Rogge.
It heralded the start of an eight-minute segment for London organisers to offer a flavour of the 2012 Games, as a red London bus arrived into thestadium.
Hoy, dressed up as a city gent, and fellow British cyclists Victoria Pendleton and Jamie Staff accompanied the bus on bicycles alongside a troupe of dancers holding umbrellas.
Singer Leona Lewis and former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page emerged as the bus transformed into a grass-covered carnival float, and the pair combined for a rendition of "Whole Lotta Love".
And the biggest star turn came when former Manchester United star and England captain David Beckham arrived to kick a football into the crowd of athletes.
The Olympic flame was then extinguished, before the attention shifted to a "memory tower" in the centre of the stadium.
Legendary Spanish tenor Placido Domingo and Chinese soprano Song Zuying joined forces to sing, while Hollywood actor Jackie Chan later joined a throng of dancers and singers for a closing number.
The sporting action was finally brought to an end earlier in the day, with France's men claiming gold in the final of the handball.
It was the 302nd and last gold medal to be awarded, and followed Sunday's finals in boxing, basketball, volleyball and water polo, while Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru won the men's marathon.
Best receives 18-week suspension
Northampton and Ireland flanker Neil Best has been handed an 18-week ban after pleading guilty to a charge of eye-gouging.Best was cited for making contact with the eye or eye area of Wasps number eight James Haskell with his hand in the Premiership match on 20 September.
The 29-year-old, who joined Saints from Ulster in the summer, will not be allowed to play again until 28 January.
More to follow.
Man City misfit sounds Reds alert
Isaksson was told he had no future at City by Sven-Goran ErikssonAndreas Isaksson's final game for Manchester City seemed a cruelly fitting end to a miserable two years at Eastlands.
On the last day of the 2007-08 season, the giant keeper conceded eight goals away at Middlesbrough, a side hardly renowned for routing Premier League opponents.
It was only the 17th game he had played for City and the Swede was relieved when PSV Eindhoven stepped in to sign him a few weeks later.
On Wednesday, Isaksson returns to England for his side's Champions League tie against Liverpool.
PSV arrive at Anfield with something to prove following their 3-0 mauling by Atletico Madrid in Eindhoven in their first match in Group D.
After being drawn in a tight group that also includes Marseille, there is little room for manoeuvre for the Dutch champions now.
"After what happened in the first game, the match at Anfield is very important for us," Isaksson said.
"If we are to have a chance to go through to the next round we need a good result against Liverpool.
"Atletico were much better than us in that game. Liverpool are the biggest team in the group, but Atletico are very good as well.
"They have very good strikers in Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan and I think they can do some damage to Liverpool."
But Isaksson admits the duo have some way to go before they can be put in the same class as Liverpool talisman Fernando Torres.
The former Atletico star slotted past Isaksson, who has 60 caps, when Spain beat Sweden 2-1 in the group stages of Euro 2008.
"Torres is a world-class striker, one of the very best players around. He is fast, clever and a deadly finisher and the number of goals he scored last season was phenomenal, as it was his first year in England.
"We will have to be very careful and not give him too much space."
PSV have a star of their own in 22-year-old Holland international Ibrahim Afellay, who has been compared to Johann Cruyff by Dutch legend Ronald Koeman.
Arsenal are reported to have watched the Morocco-born midfielder 15 times last season, while City made enquiries about him on transfer-deadline day.
Isaksson said: "Ibrahim is very gifted and can go a long way. He needs to show what he is capable of against Liverpool, which none of the team really did against Atletico in the first match."
Isaksson will also be determined to show English fans what he can do after his torrid two years in Manchester.
"Last season was tough and frustrating, because I didn't play much," Isaksson said.
"I'm in football to play games, not just to train and be on the bench. Now I'm back playing and enjoying it. PSV are a big club and we have a good team, so it's been a great move for me.
"This is the chance for me to start over. I don't want to think about what happened in the past anymore."
City beat off competition from several major European clubs to land Isaksson from Rennes for £2m in 2006.
The 6ft 6in keeper, who had a season at Juventus early in his career, was an established international with Sweden and had developed a lofty reputation during two years in France.
Yet soon after he had signed he picked up knee and ankle injuries and missed the first three months of the season, which set the tone for the rest of his time at the club.
Isaksson played the final 10 games of that season, before fracturing his thumb in pre-season, which caused him to miss the first two months of the following season.
By this time Sven-Goran Eriksson had taken over from Stuart Pearce as manager and announced that he wanted to rotate Isaksson, Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel before he would settle on a first-choice keeper.
Eriksson eventually plumped for Hart, which meant the end for Isaksson at City.
"He told me during Christmas last year that I didn't have a future at the club, so I knew I had to move on. I thought I was worth a spot in the team, but it was up to him.
"The timing of my injuries weren't the best and Joe played well when he had the chance. I was very unlucky, but that's football."
The 26-year-old bears no hard feelings towards his compatriot and says he was bemused by Thaksin Shinawatra's treatment of Eriksson.
"Sven did well with the team and everybody liked him, so it was all a bit bizarre when we heard he was going to be sacked," he said.
Neither is there any resentment about the decision to give Hart the starting jbetween the sticks. Isaksson thinks it is only a matter of time before the 21-year-old becomes England number one.
"Joe is a great lad and we got along really well," he said. "He had a great season last year and has a great future.
"He's young and still learning, but he could be England's number one, there's no doubt about it. He's got the qualities to do it, although you need a bit of experience as well.
"He's only played one season at City, so he needs more games before he can be ready to challenge, but it will happen soon I think."
Scholes & Rooney suffer injuries
Scholes was replaced by Ryan Giggs after 16 minutes in DenmarkManchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson fears Paul Scholes could be out for up to eight weeks with suspected medial knee ligament damage.
The 33-year-old midfielder limped off after just 16 minutes of United's 3-0 Champions League win over Aalborg.
"It's difficult to say how serious it is but it looks like the medial ligament, in which case it will be six to eight weeks," said Ferguson.
Striker Wayne Rooney was also forced off with an ankle problem.
Rooney was replaced by Carlos Tevez just before the hour mark as a precaution after injuring his ankle and Ferguson was unsure as to the seriousness of the injury.
"We are hoping it isn't ligament trouble," added the Scot.
"He just felt his ankle. I would imagine he would be doubtful for the Blackburn game on Saturday."
England coach Fabio Capello will be taking a keen interest in Rooney's injury as on Sunday he will be naming his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus.
606: DEBATE
Give your reaction to Man Utd's injury problems
The loss of Scholes adds to United's worries in midfield as Michael Carrick is out for at least another month.
The England midfielder was ruled out for six weeks after breaking a bone in his foot in the 2-1 defeat at Liverpool on 13 September.
There were some plus points for United, notably from Dimitar
Berbatov who opened his account for the club with two second-half goals on his Champions League debut.
The Bulgarian striker had failed to find the net in his first three games in a United shirt after a £30.75m summer switch from Tottenham and Ferguson was delighted with his contribution against Aalborg.
"He got two fantastic goals। That will help his confidence," he said.
"When you transfer for that amount of money you want to score your first goal quickly and he has got that now."
Berbatov added: "I knew it would come sooner of later, but of course the team winning was the most important thing and it was just another goal."
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
O'Shea targets Euro glory
John O'Shea has already set his sights on helping Manchester United become the first team to retain the Champions League.
No side has successfully defended Europe's biggest club prize, since it was relaunched in 1992.
But after their tense penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea in Moscow last May, United are keen to keep the famous trophy for another 12 months.
And according to Republic of Ireland international O'Shea it is just the kind of challenge Sir Alex Ferguson's men love.
"It would be very special to be the first team to retain this trophy," he said.
"It is a major challenge for us but facing demands like that and responding to them is what this club is all about.
"If we are still in it after the group stages, when the competition really kicks in, we are in with a great chance.
"With the squad we have, we feel with a bit of luck at the right time, it is ours for the taking."
When the draw was made, Aalborg were viewed as the weakest team in Group E, which also includes Villarreal and Celtic.
But that illusion was shattered a fortnight ago when Bruce Rioch's men became the first team to take a group stage point at Parkhead in three years.
"The result Aalborg got at Celtic was an eye-opener for us," admitted O'Shea.
"We saw how competitive and compact they were and we will need the right attitude to get the right result.
"We have a lot of experience of keeping the ball and quietening down a great atmosphere away from home in Europe and we will need it if we are going to get the result we want."
Ferguson will make changes from the side that beat Bolton in such controversial circumstances on Saturday, with one inevitable as skipper Gary Neville has remained at home to rest a thigh strain.
After so long on the sidelines, Ferguson now expects his captain to only be available for one game a week.
The position regarding Owen Hargreaves is less straightforward as the former Bayern Munich man is still troubled by a knee injury that first bothered him before his £18million move from Germany.
"We are trying to manage his situation in a different way," said Ferguson.
"He has had all the treatment but now and again it still flares up. There is nothing we can do about it.
"The specialist says it will go away in time and we hope that is correct because he is a very important player to have."
Arsene Wenger has demanded Arsenal use tonight's clash with Porto to show they are genuine European contenders।
Arsene Wenger has demanded Arsenal use t
onight's clash with Porto to show they are genuine European contenders.
onight's clash with Porto to show they are genuine European contenders.The Gunners have been busy addressing the fallout from Saturday's shock 2-1 defeat by Hull amid accusations of complacency.
Wenger, who felt physically sick at the result, remains convinced it was a momentary blip that will be forgotten with an emphatic win over the Portuguese champions.
"We had a disappointing result against Hull but I have been sitting on the bench long enough to know that if we'd played that match 100 times we'd lose it once," he said.
"I believe we will win tonight. We want to make sure we win and get the right belief into the game.
"Everybody says we should not have any chance of winning the Champions League but I believe we have enough quality to do it and that is what we want to show tonight."
Wenger initially reacted to one of the most embarrassing results of his 12-year reign by threatening a cull of the players exposed on the weekend.
Winger Samir Nasri is likely to be restored to the midfield after recovering from the knee injury that has troubled him since August.
But with Wenger's anger at the Hull defeat subsiding, the Arsenal boss' resolve to swing the axe appears to have softened.
"Players will not be dropped to punish them. Sometimes you make changes because you consider the other team and the balance in your own side," he said.
"Sometimes one player is not at his best. If a player is not playing tonight it's not down to punishment, it's just because of the rotation in the side.
"You cannot play every single game with the same 11 players."
Porto provide an early shot at redemption following the Emirates horror show against Hull and Wenger wants to see his side's character.
"The players were very disappointed after the Hull match and are focused on tonight's game," Wenger added.
"It is part of a career to deal with disappointments and to show enough mental strength and desire to go forward.
"The players are desperate to go out and win the game against Porto."
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