Brazil vs USA 3 - 2 Result / Brazil Restores Order

In the first 45 minutes, Brazil looked like emulating Spain down 0 - 2 against the Americans. But unlike the Spaniards, Brazilians are made of sterner stuff, retaliated and scored three straight goals to send USA to heartbreak land.

Even with the tournament win, Brazil's defense look weak. They basically allowed Dempsey to attack and the guy took advantage of the situation and scored...shocking the Selecao. It seemed the South Americans never learned and Landon Donovan slipped another goal. USA basically took a page from Brazil - launching into a quick counterattack that tore the Brazilian defense.

After halftime, Brazil went on attack mode (like most in the match) and this time made it count. The relentless pressure paid off in the 46th minute Fabiano scored - he trapped the ball, turned and shoot despite the pesky defender hounding him---- Howard had no chance with that screamer. Empowered, the Selecao continued the barrage leveling the match on the 74th minute. Lucio finally snatched the win for the Brazilians on the 84th with a powerful header. Such a great comeback and deserved victory for Brazil! Great game too displayed by the Americans. The 2009 Confederations Cup was a great tournament- plenty of action, surprises and most importantly goals.


Brazil dominated possession 59 -41 percent according to Fox Sports. Basically, the game was played mostly in the USA side of the field.

Footy Watch: Brazil vs USA Confederations Cup Finals / Prediction / Result

Brazil vs USA in Confederations Cup Finals (Predictions / Result) --- Yes, you read it right. Who would have thought? I don't think even the staunchest USA supporter could have dreamed of it earlier in the competition. Judging from the forums, I think their only dream was to have coach Bradley replaced but its all changed now. Two massive wins seem to mask the the problems of the team. Same with Dunga (Brazil's coach), few months back Brazil struggled and his side was criticized severely and talks of firing him were all over. Then something changed, Brazil kept on winning again. They won their last three South American Qualifying matches, a spectacular victory over Portugal in a friendly and is undefeated in the Confederations Cup (15-game unbeaten run in all tournaments plus friendlies) Brazilian fans are in a good mood and would like to win another tournament before the World Cup. Although no team has won the World Cup after topping the Confederations Cup - there's always the first time.

Brazil vs USA will be on Sunday and it has making of another great match. The five-time World Champions better get their A-game ready for a determined USA squad will give it their all. This is a much different USA from the one earlier in the competition. Same with the US, they shouldn't forget what Brazil is in football or they'll be destroyed. What I'm saying is respecting opponents prevent unnecessarily humiliation in the football pitch.

Maicon, Kaka, and Robinho will be a constant threat to the United States all game long. The Brazilians are also dangerous in set pieces so the US better not give them any and resist reckless tackles (BS conspiracy theory FIFA is not NBA). The Selecao counter-attacking is devastating any more of those wayward passes and ball control failures will be punished much like the first time they met. But Brazil has this defensive frailty - Santos is the weak link in the left. As Egypt showed, sustained attack makes Brazil vulnerable. Brazilians should frustrate Onyewu and Dempsey - as they are the key to US attack. Mark them like what they did Argentinian playmaker Riquelme in the 2007 Copa America.

The Americans will again rely on their mental strength - that strong sense of belief which makes them win despite their backs against the wall and hard work in defense. USA will focus on defense against Brazil but this team isn't afraid to counter. US should clog the midfield like the South Africans for it gave Brazil fits. The lack of space proved to be an uncomfortable experience for some of them (rendered Maicon useless). I'm sure the Brazilians are wary of USA after the latter's victory over Spain. The element of surprise is gone I'm wondering how the United States will adjust to a squad well-prepared for them.



Brazil vs USA Prediction / Result
Experts predict Brazil will win 3 -1 over USA (not me)

I looked at the past winners of the Confederations Cup France and Brazil has won the tournament twice and it has the most wins. Mexico also won the Confederations Cup in 1999. Denmark and Argentina are the other tournament winners.

THEO WALCOTT: TEMPERING EXPECTATIONS

I'm glad this is not another "The Greatest" hyperbole their press is known for in branding performances.

Theo Walcott is an English football player who earned national approbation for scoring three goals in England's 4-1 victory over Croatia in a World Cup qualifying game weeks ago. A commentator from Espn said he is being build up by the overly optimistic English media again:

All of a sudden we are forced to endure countless tabloid articles about how good he was at school, his preferred breakfast or what his other half's favourite soap is. It is arguably what we in Britain do better than anywhere else on earth. Build them up, build them up, build them up ... wait until he shanks a pen in the quarter-finals of the World Cup then dismantle the kid like he was a sideboard from Ikea. Then it'll be wasted talent this, WAG-obsessed that and before you know it he'll be drinking white spirit and begging outside White Hart Lane...

It's true - the same media singing praises to this young talent will the same ones which will rail him on his future failure esp. at the World Cup. The guy is talented alright but the English media has to temper their expectations. They can't handle disappointment very well. Their ruthlessness comes out every defeat. More so if they consider their opponent as beneath them. To their press, England is never beaten by the strong team just a lucky one LOL. I hope Theo doesn't swallow these sweet words easily as it has a painful catch. What is it? Ask David Beckham.

CHELSEA VS MANCHESTER UNITED

LIVE BLOGGING 10:30 pm Mst

64th minute: Manchester United still leading 1-0.

66th minute: Joe Cole strike saved by Man U keeper

Oh no...It seems Ferguson is getting the better of Scolari. I want to see a second goal. C'mon the game's getting defensive. Fans at Stamford Bridge are singing out of tune as usual.

68th Chelsea's acting casually at the penalty box. They deserve to be punished.

79th Kalou header ties the score 1-1. Manchester United's defense very porous.

92nd Ronaldo's spectacular Bicycle kick saved by the Gk

Match ends 1-1

Park Ji-Sung scored for United on the 18th minute via rebound off Derbatov shot

Thank you for reading. See you tomorrow!

I'M WATCHING MANCHESTER UNITED VS LIVERPOOL LIVE RIGHT NOW!

Make it two GK. In this video, the GK scored to tie the game!

9:50 pm This is a live blog read from the bottom up ok? Its fun doing this. The game's all hype. It has been fun. I'll do this in another "El Classico" type match. TV pundits are talking about the game trying to put a microscope on every little thing that happened. YAWN. I've got to go.

9:45 pm Just finished dinner
Game over. LOLERPOOL wins 2-1. I saw one disturbing moment in this match. On the 84th minute Rafa Benitez was shaking his booty for some reason. I thought I discovered who the guy in Barney suit is. It turns out he was telling his player that he won't be replaced. Tell that to the touchline official man. Nice booty shake beats Beyonce LOL. Derbatov just got a reality check though he just arrived. Good luck to him in his English football career.

Another LOL moment. Man Utd GK Van Der Sar joined in the last-ditch attempt to score a goal. It didn't materialize. I only saw one game in which the GK joined in the Corner Kick attack and scored. It happened in South America and the GK scored a header!

9:26 pm I'm having dinner - fried chicken.

9:24 pm I'm going to concentrate on the game now.

9:22 pm 76th Babel scored. It is 2-1 for LOLERPOOL!

9:19 pm The crowd started singing again after screaming their lungs out!

9:18 pm Some Man U fan called Liverpool LOLERPOOL. LOL

9:16 pm 69 min. Man Utd corner kick failed. Baldy GK of Liverpool saved a shot. The resulting corner produced nothing. Benitez taking down notes as he usually has for years.

9:14 pm 67th minute Gerrard's on as if He mattered. We'll see.

9:12 pm 65th minute The crowd is singing awfully. They are probably bored like me.

9:09 pm 63rd minute - Some Man Utd player took a piss lol. Sorry, I'm bored maybe he went to the locker room.

9:06 pm 60th minute The hype's exposed. The game's boring. There is lack of creativity with some players resorting to long range shots. Liverpool - Luckypool

8:50 pm Second half begins.

8:37 pm There are some sectors in England that want to limit foreigners as I've wrote in my blog before I'm watching the EPL because of these talented imports. I don't have any special loyalty towards English football. If that happens, I'll just switch leagues. The score is 1 a piece with Manchester United players scoring all the goals.

8:36 pm Half-time.

8:34 pm 45th minute - The game's getting boring.

8:14 pm Wes Brown on the 27th minute scored an own goal. Liverpool is such a lucky team! There was a defensive mix-up on Manchester Utd. penalty box! Score: 1-1

7:57 pm It has been a very long time since I watched an EPL derby live such as this. I really want to take advantage of the opportunity. So far Manchester United is leading 1-0 with 9 minutes on the clock. I decided to finish the Australia - New Zealand rugby match so I missed the opening minutes. I've got to go.

Teves scored on the 3rd minute.

PAUL SCHOLES AND THE NEW FOOTVOL GAME

Maradona's FOOTVOL copied perfectly by his heir apparent Messi

Footvol - is a new game derived from Football (with elements of Volleyball like spiking, hence the name) much like Futsal. This game much like football, but once the players are in the penalty box (the square box in the football field where the goalkeeper stays) smashing the ball with either hands is allowed. This game was originally invented by Diego Maradona during the 1986 World Cup semifinals against England. He called it "Hand of God" - the English later used this incident to cover up their inadequacies and the Argentinian spectacular second goal.

The game hasn't caught on until this week where it became in vogue.

this is the pirated and failed version of FOOTVOL - Paul Scholes in UEFA Supercup few days ago

I've never seen a defender FOOTVOL before I'm glad it happened last night 0:51 of the video between Lecce and Torino

Unfortunately for the Scholes, he is no Maradona - which means he got carded and the goal was disallowed...LOL.



Here's Diego Maradona finishing England off in '86. Messi also did a move a la Diego in Primera liga. Enjoy the videos!

GOOOOOOOOL!!!

1:58 pm Argentina successfully defended its Olympic title defeating Nigeria 1-0 at the Bird Nest today, August 23, 2008. Angel Di Maria scored the winning goal on the 58th minute.

The match was more exciting than most World Cup championship matches I've ever seen with plenty of open play and counter attacks. The big difference was Messi whose runs troubled the Nigerians. It was his through ball to Di Maria that led to the winning goal

The match was terrific and congratulations Argentina: 2008 men's Olympic football champion!!!


Running Blog
1:21 pm I'm watching Argentina vs Nigeria the men's Olympic football final. Angel Di Maria scored for ARG on the 58th minute.


Tonight: 7:00 pm Boxing finals

ADDENDUM

2:58 pm Team USA won last night dumping Argentina 101-81 though the later gave them a huge scare. Ginobili got hurt, left the game and never came back. The Americans built a 21-point lead in the first quarter. Becoming complacent, the Redeem Team tried to showboat (calling Mr.Rogge) but their alley op passes went pffft. The Argentinians, unawed and unafraid, went to a zone defense and started to become physical. Team USA responded by throwing bricks like they were in a construction site even insisting on some highlight plays but thankfully went awry. Their huge lead was cut to six. Their b987 WERE being squeezed tightly even Coach K was clueless on what's going on. Then, the ref called a foul on Anthony who restored US pride by halftime with nine point lead.

The mighty Americans thought the game would be over by second quarter but the Argentinians keep hanging on. As usual, their talent and physical power overwhelmed the South Americans. Carmelo " The Brat" Anthony came in looking for a fight but thankfully got restrained by Jason Kidd. He got embarrassed several times by Scola. Great job Mr.Kidd! Now, there's no question USA IS NOW THE OLYMPIC CHAMPION!!! The world order was restored.

Another Espn writer plays the race card to get the hits.

Don't use sports to press racial and political agendas. It's disgusting! As far as I'm whether black or white the world wants Team USA then to be beaten because of their arrogance. The world hated their arrogance. This 2008 Team USA is more gracious than their past counterparts. Before the 2004 Olympics, Carmelo Anthony guaranteed the US is going to win the gold medal - many basketball fans were appalled at his arrogance and total lack of respect to his opponents. I was happy that team got beaten esp. by Puerto Rico. Serves them right!

This is the "bonus medal" an exasperated sports fan from Philboxing.com gave to some sports officials of a certain Christian country in Asia. I don't recall any that fits that description but if you add Christian in name only I know one.

With the U.S. victory, many sports fans in the country were happy (Team USA basketball only - the only thing that mattered to Filipino fans - not swimming) relieving them of the pain of another painful Olympics. For the third Olympics in a row, the country laid an egg in the games.

Recah Trinidad:

Anyway, with the early successive fall and failure of RP athletes, there came text messages wondering what Peping Cojuangco, the No. 1 Filipino official who’s a special guest here, was up to?

Last Monday, Cojuangco was seen with two lovely teeners, said to be his grandchildren, during the USA-Germany basketball match.

Wearing the official Philippine shirt, Cojuangco was observed enjoying every minute of the action, even making kuyakoy—the lullaby rocking of the foreleg—at courtside.

LET THE FINGERPOINTING BEGIN!!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/080822
http://www.philboxing.com
http://sports.inquirer.net/inquirersports/inquirersports/view/20080821-155929/If-Phelps-devoured-the-Olympics-what-did-Peping-do

ANOTHER EXCUSE

Europe's best and wealthiest football clubs formally took sides Tuesday against FIFA's plan to restrict their use of foreign players.

Members of the new European Club Association - representing 103 teams from 53 nations - used their first business meeting to reject the so-called '6+5' rule proposed by Sepp Blatter, president of world football's governing body, to protect the national identity of clubs.

The rule would force clubs to start matches with at least six players eligible to play for the national team and a maximum of just five foreigners, despite European Union law on the freedom of movement of workers.

Clubs prefer a plan put forward by European governing body UEFA which is based on a quota of players on the roster who were developed in that country, regardless of nationality.

"There is no necessity for a 6+5 rule and the organization favors instead UEFA's homegrown approach," the ECA said in a statement Tuesday.

Club delegates meeting at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, confirmed Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Joan Laporta as chairman and vice chairman of the ECA.

Rummenigge, the chairman of German champion Bayern Munich, and FC Barcelona president Laporta represented clubs last month at a meeting with the European Union during which Brussels made it clear that '6+5' was unacceptable. For Full Story

Japanese player in Scotland

Now, it is to protect the national identity of clubs - yeah right! This stupid rule is discriminatory - it is even against EU rules of movement of workers can you believe this? I hope this stupid rule will never materialize. Hypocrites are alive and well in Europe. The continent is enjoying a high level of play thanks to these foreigners - how backward can their thinking be?

English Premier League Chairman Richards (PL harms England)thinks foreigners hinder the growth of local players. But victories of Italy and Spain in the World Cup and Euro respectively debunks his assertion (Italian and Spanish leagues have many imports too but manage to develop local talent).Whatever it is that prevents the English National Team from winning is definitely not the fault of foreigners but by cojones-less players abundant in their side (there's so much hubris and hype surrounding this team that they fall flat on their faces at every failure). They blame everything surrounding them (David Beckham blamed the pitch for penalty miss in Euro 2004) but themselves.

PREMIER LEAGUE HARMS ENGLAND

Cristiano Ronaldo currently the world's best footballer - Portuguese playing in England. He led his team (Manchester United) to victory in the UEFA Champions League last month.

Sir David Richards has broken ranks by admitting the England team is being harmed by the number of foreign imports.

Premier League chairman Richards' comments completely contradict the view of Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, who insisted England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 had nothing to do with the recent influx of overseas stars.

Speaking at the Third Dubai International Sports Conference, held in the United Arab Emirates principality at the end of May, Richards said in an recording obtained by the Guardian: "Does the Premier League hurt the national side? I think the answer to that has got to be yes."

He added: "We've been a bit lazy in the Premier League over the years. We created a system of academies and every club spends about £3million a year developing young players. But it hasn't worked, because the availability for us to go out and buy the best stars is an easy thing.

source

Excuses. Excuses. All I know is I'm watching the English Premier League because of Ronaldo, Tevez, Park, and Drogba. These imports have made EPL a very competitive and exciting league. It showed recently the dominance of English team in European competition esp. in the UEFA Champions League and foreign players have contributed much to the league's success. They are not the enemies here but short-sighted club owners and the English FA (Football Association) for not being able to develop new talents. What about Italy and Spain? Their leagues are full of foreign players yet have a strong national team (with the Azzuri (Italy) as the defending world champions).