Ode to the beautiful game 2

[Buzz]

Thought I better start a new tread before we get yelled at by the mods.

 

[Buzz]

Michel Plagini has lost his appeal against his 90 day suspension.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/dec/11/michel-platini-uefa-fifa-cas-appeal

 

[Buzz]

Arnold Peralta who was a member of the Honduran NT has been shot dead in his home town. He was 26. R.I.P.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-35068362

 

[Buzz]

Is this guy football's "Teflon Don"?!

Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter insisted that a USD 100 million bribery case in which he is reportedly implicated "is over", and pleaded ignorance over alleged corruption by top officials at the scandal-hit world body

http://www.ibnlive.com/footballnext...100-million-bribery-case-is-over-1175803.html

 

[Buzz]

Bloody ******* ****!!!!! Bournemouth 2-1 Manchester United!!!!

 

[Maofan7]

Chelsea have sacked manager Jose Mourinho

Hope Manchester United now sack Louis van Gaal and appoint Mourinho. Chelsea are a bunch of short sighted idiots. The problem was never Mourinho at Chelsea, but the players who have let him down. Chelsea will need to undertake a cull of the main troublemakers

During his start at Manchester United, Alex Ferguson only just avoided relegation and could have been sacked by Martin Edwards. But Edwards kept the faith. The following season, having got rid of the failing players, Ferguson put United on an unprecedented run of success. Chelsea will come to bitterly regret what they have done. What they should have done was simply done what Ferguson/Edwards did during their problem season - wrote the season off, cleared out the troublemakers/failures during the summer, got out the cheque book and brought in new players, and started again the following season.

 

[Buzz]

FIFA has had a few of it's bank accounts frozen.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35119240

 

[tamuno]

I agree about Chelsea. They all look old and slow and that has nothing to do with the manager. That said I knew Mouwould be sacked. He started predicting it after the first few losses (not knowing how bad thins would get).

 

[Buzz]

Ok Maofan may have a point. Today was just a disgrace.

 

[Buzz]

Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter have both received eight year bans from football.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/35144652

 

[Buzz]

FIFA presidential candidate Tokyo Sexwale was questioned by a U.S. grand jury over a $10m payment to former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/35155892

 

[Maofan7]

Washington Post article entitled: 'How a curmudgeonly old reporter exposed the FIFA scandal that toppled Sepp Blatter'

 

[Buzz]

French sports minister Patrick Kanner questions the legitimacy of FIFA's ethics committee after it banned Michel Platini for eight years. Why am I not surprised?!
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...nis-eightyear-ban-from-football-a3142941.html

 

[Buzz]

Oh wow just wow! What is that now?! Seven games in a row without a win?!

 

[Lorac]

The English Premier is certainly not going the way anyone expected. The current champions down in the bottom half of the division and Leicester top of the pile. Still no team has taken the season by the scruff of the neck. And of course all the papers are on about today is how long are Man Utd going to go on before they get rid of their manager and if Ryan Giggs is ready to be the full time manager.

 

[Buzz]

At least we didn't lose yesterday.

 

[alexikeguchi]

The season's not over yet, but I'm happy to see Arsenal top of the table to start 2016. Though Ozil is brilliant this season, and they are somewhat less streaky than usual, I think their current placement is more due to the clusterf*ck that is the PL this year than to any inherent improvement in consistency. It's amazing to be in first with not even 40 points!

 

[Buzz]

The January transfer window is here! My faith in Van Gaal has been badly shaken but I am willing to give him more time to see what new hires he takes on. Hopefully the team can get an infusion of new blood and get rid of Rooney.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/transfer-news-live-manchester-united-7101113

 

[Buzz]

Oh thank goodness! Man U finally won something!

 

[Buzz]

Another $&@#% loss for Man U. After their dismal performances of late and the way the team's big wigs are dragging their feet, why on earth would Mourinho want anything to do with is team?!

 

[tamuno]

Oh well. Good for Liverpool.

 

[Buzz]

The Qatar WC has hit financial difficulties. The country has said that some fans will be housed in tents because there will be shortfall of available hotel rooms. They expect to have 46,000 rooms available, but promised 46,000, and FIFA requires 60,000.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-22/qatar-world-cup-fans-could-sleep-under-stars/7265234

 

[Lorac]

Netherlands great Johan Cruyff dies of cancer aged 68

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35892775

A legend has passed. He was amazing to watch and really put Dutch football on the map.

Rest in Peace Johan.

 

[Buzz]

Gone too soon. R.I.P.

 

[Maofan7]

Absolutely gutted by the news of Johan Cruyff's passing. He and George Best were the greatest players of all time. Yet another premature death from cigarette smoking. He was a pioneer and a legend, and the master of total football. One of the highlights of his playing career were the 3 consecutive European Cup victories with Ajax (1971, 1972, and 1973). Ajax would go on to also win the super cup in 1972 and 1973, and the Intercontinental Cup in 1972. Ajax declined to participate in the 1971 and 1973 Intercontinental Cup finals. The other highlight of Cruyff's playing career was of course the 1974 World Cup (and that iconic moment - the Cruyff turn). It will always be my opinion that Holland were robbed in the final with a second rate West Germany's awarded what should never have been a penalty, and then fluking a winning goal despite Holland playing them off the park. As this article points out in relation to the German non-penalty:-

The Dutch continued to dominate with their taunting game of possession football, but they couldn’t have foreseen what would happen next. In the 25th minute a surging run from Bernd Hölzenbein was brought to an abrupt end as he threw himself over a tackle with the ball running out of his reach. Taylor blew for a penalty, although to many in the crowd it appeared to be a schwalbe, the German term for what the English would call a dive, something that Hölzenbein had quite a reputation for. ““That was his speciality,” Franz Beckenbauer has recalled. Sepp Maier agrees. “I have no penalty. Those who knew Hölzenbein knew very well. He simply flew over.”

Cruyff was also a superb manager as well, winning the European Cup with Barcelona in 1992, the Cup Winners' Cup in 1987 with Ajax, and the Cup Winners' Cup again with Barcelona in 1989. He also won the La Liga four times in a row with Barcelona between 1991 and 1994

Ajax

1971 European Cup Final: Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos
1972 European Cup Final: Ajax 2-0 Inter Milan (Part 1, Part 2)
1973 European Cup Final: Ajax 1-0 Juventus
1972 Intercontinental Cup: Ajax beat Independiente 4-1 on aggragate. First Leg: Independiente 1-1 Ajax, Second Leg Ajax 3-0 Independiente

Netherlands: 1974 World Cup

Group Stage (Won Group)

Uruguay 0–2 Netherlands (Part 1, Part 2)
Netherlands 0–0 Sweden
Bulgaria 1–4 Netherlands

Second Round (Group A - Won)

Netherlands 4–0 Argentina (Part 1, Part 2)
East Germany 0–2 Netherlands (Part 1, Part 2)
Netherlands 2–0 Brazil

Final

Netherlands 1–2 West Germany (YouTube Alternative: Part 1, Part 2)

 

[Maofan7]

Barcelona have just been knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid!!

 

[alexikeguchi]

Barcelona have just been knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid!!

For the second time in three years no less. I was somehow expecting it because I had a feeling Griezmann would step up with Torres being suspended, and Barcelona seems to be in a bit of a slump of late. How about Man City vs Atletico for the final? It would be cool to have two teams that are typically overshadowed in their home cities.

 

[Buzz]

The day Canada wins the World Cup then I'll be shocked. Short of that nothing shocks me anymore in this sport.

 

[Maofan7]

Liverpool come back from 2-0 down after 9 minutes to beat Borussia Dortmund 4-3 (scoring the winning goal in the 91st minute), to go through to the semi-finals of the Europa Cup 5-4 on aggragate

It's been the week of the underdogs, as Dortmund were the favourites to win the competition.

 

[tamuno]

Wait, no-one is following the drama in La Liga and BPL?????