Barca 2 Man U 0

Lionel Messi Shows Yet Again That A Small Man Can Be A Great Football Star

The New York Times:

ROME — Patience, flair and a brilliant game of keep-away prevailed over force Wednesday night when Barcelona dominated Manchester United, 2-0, to win the European Champions League title, Europe’s most prestigious club soccer tournament.

Barcelona controlled the ball for long stretches with its unhurried and clever passing, attacked incessantly, held tight with a patchwork defense and made a tactical switch at forward, placing Lionel Messi as a central striker and shifting Samuel Eto’o to the right wing. Eventually, Messi drifted into midfield to secure possession. Both he and Eto’o delivered goals as Barcelona won its third European title and second in four years.

It will be left to Barcelona’s supporters to gleefully debate whether this is the Catalans’ greatest team, now that the first-year coach Pep Guardiola has guided his squad to the Spanish League title, the Spanish Cup and now the European Cup with a style that is familiarly elegant and ebullient. For a night, it was enough for Barcelona fans — seemingly the vast majority among 72,000 at Olympic Stadium — to celebrate with cameras that flashed like fireflies as the trophy was held aloft in a shower of confetti.

I couldn't have said this better myself. Bravo! Viva Barca! Viva Messi!

Barack, Say It Ain't So!

Here's trouble. The Telegraph reported a year ago that president-elect Obama's favorite Premier League team is West Ham. Obama hasn't denied the story. Oh, puhleez! Barack, say it ain't so!

The key question hanging over Barack Obama's White House credentials has been answered - the Democrat has been revealed to be a West Ham United fan.

As the 46-year-old's campaign to become America's first black president moves into overdrive, Obama has declared his fondness for the Claret and Blues quarter of east London.

According to reports, the US senator has been a fan of the Hammers ever since a trip to England five years ago and watches Premier League games whenever his busy schedule allows.

Of course, Bill and Hillary Clinton are reported to be Man U fans. As is Nelson Mandela. That's despicable in my view, but at least Man U is at the top of the table.

But West Ham? As of today, West Ham is 10th in the Premier League, with a record of 7 wins, 5 draws, and 9, that's right 9 losses. And it has a -4 goal differential. The team plays 9th place Fulham tomorrow. I'm pulling for Fulham.

What about this team could it possibly be that deserves any of Barack Obama's attention? I just don't get it. Not at all. I hope and pray it's not an augury of things to come. Things like stubbornly backing abject losers. Supporting failed strategies. Inadequate defense. Uncoordinated offense. Poor planning. This I could expect from Bush, who has no idea what the Premier League is, but from Obama?

Meanwhile, it's reported that Osama bin Ladin apparently is/was a fan of Arsenal:

First there was Osama bin Laden's association with Arsenal, which led to the north Londoners reportedly banning the terrorist from attending any future games.

Bin Laden was apparently on the terraces as Arsenal side reached the final of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1994 season. The man behind the Sept 11 attack was rumoured to be so smitten with the Gunners that he bought a replica kit for his eldest son.

I have no idea what to make of that.

A Deserved Award To Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo

UEFA reports:

Cristiano Ronaldo's sparkling contribution to Manchester United FC's double conquest of English and European football has been recognised by his peers, with the winger being named FIFPro World Player of the Year for the 2007/08 season.

Honour
Ronaldo received his award in Manchester today after winning the vote carried out by the Fédération Internationale des Footballeurs Professionels (FIFPro). The Portuguese international's exploits – including scoring 31 goals in 34 Premier League games for the champions and helping United to the UEFA Champions League title – were overwhelmingly endorsed in a poll of some 57,500 FIFPro members around the world.

'Amazing'
The 23-year-old said: "To be recognised by my fellow professional players worldwide, coming from over 50,000 players, is amazing. I would like to thank my team-mates and coaches and everyone involved at Man United and the national team, as well as my family and friends for their support. Thank you also to FIFPro for this award and for your work in protecting the interests and welfare of players around the world." Ronaldo scored a total of 42 goals last term to succeed Kaká as the world's players' player of the year.

This isn't a surprise. He deserves it, much as it pains me to acknowledge that anything at Man U is good.

Manchester United Wins. Barely.

Edwin van der Sar

90 minutes of really exceptional soccer in a very few sentences:

Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Manchester United in the 26th minute. Frank Lampard tied it for Chelsea in the 45th minute. That meant penalty kicks:

Petr Cech, maybe the world's greatest Goalkeeper, blocked Cristiano Ronaldo's shot on the third pk. John Terry then missed, hitting the post. Anderson and the ancient Ryan Giggs scored for Manchester; Salomon Kalou scored for Chelsea. Manchester Keeper Edwin van der Sar, the hero of the match, then batted away Nicolas Anelka's shot, giving Manchester United the win, 6-5 on pks.

The penalty kicks came in a pelting rain. Great television. Chelsea fans would like a re-do.

Tomorrow In Moscow

Ashley Cole

It's Chelsea versus Manchester United for the UEFA Champions League title at 8:45 pm CET Luzniki Stadium in Moscow. That's 2:45 pm EDT (New York Time). Details here.

At the moment I'm physically in the US. With the exception of various ex-pats from other corners of the world (read: Brits and those they colonized) and immigrants (most of whom prefer to speak Spanish), there is not much conversation about this event. The game, however, is on TV on ESPN2 at 2:30 pm, after the 2 pm pre-game show.

Is this going to stop the workday? Doubtful. Is this going to stop traffic? Cause the streets to be deserted? Quite unlikely. Is it going to make Sportcenter for more than 3 minutes? Doubtful. Know what? I don't care. I'm going to enjoy the game and feel happy that I got to watch it. Almost everybody around here has no clue what they're missing.

Going To the UEFA Final In Moscow, I Wish

Chelsea's Didier Drogpa With Manchester United Defenders


Big football/soccer news. Apparently, people with tickets to the UEFA Final on May 21 in Moscow can get into the country without a visa. This just in from UEFA:

All ticket holders attending the UEFA Champions League final in Moscow on 21 May will be able to use their match ticket as a visa entry to the Russian Federation for a 72-hour period.

High-level discussions
UEFA made the announcement on Monday. It said the decision had been made in order to organise the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League final in Moscow in the most efficient and enjoyable way, and following high-level discussions involving the UEFA President, Michel Platini, the Russian Government and UEFA. /snip

Exceptional gesture
"This is great news for football fans travelling to watch this year's UEFA Champions League final in Moscow," said Mr Platini. "Our job is to make sure that they are able to get to and from Moscow as easily as possible. I am therefore extremely pleased that, at my request, all fans travelling with a valid match ticket can use this to enter Russian territory, and for this I must thank wholeheartedly the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, the Russian Government, the City of Moscow and the Football Union of Russia for this exceptional and unprecedented gesture.

Football diplomacy. Meanwhile, I cannot imagine the US saying to people across the world, "We'll be happy to let you into the country without a visa, just show us your Super Bowl ticket." Similarly, I don't think China will open its borders to every Olympic ticket holder who shows up.

The game in Moscow, if you're not paying attention, is between the two most powerful English sides, Chelsea and Manchester United. Chelsea won a match between the two on April 27 2-1. This is going to be a great game between two remarkable teams who are tied at the top of the English Premier League.

Oh how I wish, I wish, I wish I could be at this game. I know. I hear you saying, "Yeah, you say that all the time about River Plate and Boca Juniors, about Barcelona and Madrid, about..." OK, it's true. But that, I remind you, doesn't mean that I don't want to go to all of these games. A lot.