February 17, 2011: Art
Here we are, more than halfway through February and as expected, Cardiff are in the mix for a shot at automatic promotion to the English Premiership. At times so far it has been an exciting and frustrating season for Cardiff. Malaysian owner Datuk Chan Tien Ghee (TG) has shown his commitment towards a run at the Premiership by bringing in players on loan such as Craig Bellamy, Seyi Olofinjana, Jay-Emmanuel Thomas, etc. Lately the spirits of the Cardiff players have been on the upside especially since their huge 1-0 victory over rivals Swansea City. However, in their most recent match, Cardiff allowed opponents Burnley to score late for a 1-1 draw. For many Cardiff fans, these late breakdowns are indeed very hard to accept. If Cardiff want that shot at automatic promotion, then they must clamp down at the most vital moments. Victories and the valuable 3 points will pay huge dividends instead of draws. Right now it is an extremely tight race in the Npower Championship. Queens Park Rangers are on top with 60 points while Cardiff are in 2nd with 55 points. Cardiff must be determined to earn 3 points each game from here on out as they have Nottingham Forest, Swansea City, and Leeds United breathing down their necks!
Cardiff’s next match will take place on Saturday February 19, 2011, at Nottingham Forest. This is a match-up you will not want to miss! Nottingham trail Cardiff by only 2 points but have a game in hand. Will there be a winner or will both teams share the spoils?
June 15, 2010: Robin
As usual, Italy started their World Cup campaign off slowly and had to come from behind to draw with Paraguay 1-1.
Another goalkeeper blunder, this time from Paraguayan Justor Villor as he misjudged a center, allowed De Rossi to equalize for Italy. So far there have been three major goalie gaffes – the other two being Robert Green of England v USA and Faouzi Chaouchi of Algeria v Slovenia.
Paraguay’s goal was scored by Anton Alcaraz a defender recently signed by Wigan. The ESPN analyst for the game was Roberto Martinez – Alcaraz’s new manager at Wigan!
Cameroon looked awful losing 1-0 to Japan and Holland showed a few good touches in dispensing with Denmark 2-0. Goals are still in short supply with only 18 of them through 11 games. Maybe the Brazil v North Korea game today will address the goal problems?
And in non-World Cup soccer, Rafa Benitez unveiled as boss of Inter Milan.
June 14, 2010: Robin
And that includes Germany’s four in dismantling Australia. I hate to say it, but today’s three games (Holland v Denmark, Japan v Cameroon and Italy v Paraguay) may not offer much relief (I’d love to be wrong). So far it’s been an impotent first round with only Argentina and Germany showing us any meaningful soccer.
The refereeing continues to be excellent. Tim Cahill of Australia got the first straight red for a rash challenge some may have questioned as not serious foul play. However, I’ll take it, as the players are under no illusions that such play will be tolerated.
Vuvuzelas are here to stay. No consideration will be given to banning these horns from inside stadiums during the 2010 World Cup.
Saturday’s first-round tie by the US and English teams was seen by an estimated 13 million people on ESPN on Sunday (per Nielsen, the TV ratings company) It was the nation’s most-watched soccer telecast since the 2006 World Cup final between Italy and France, and the most-watched involving the US men’s national team since 1994. The US – England game’s combined audience on ABC and Univision, rivaled the current National Basketball Association finals, which averaged 16.4 million people for game four on Thursday night.
: Robin
After the 1-1 draw with the US on Saturday I received the following e mail from my friend Roy – a friend since 1967 (we worked in London as articled clerks in those days) and a QPR supporter. Roy knows plenty of things about the States as he has two US daughters after marrying an American in the early 80’s. I can attest to the marriage, as I was the best man. The two daughters both have QPR shirts, but I’m not sure where their national team support lies.
Roy’s Game Assessment: USA 1 England 1
E-mail June 13, 2010.
The players all seem tired – only Gerrard, Lennon and Johnson seem to be on song.
Some players never seem to turn up for England – Lampard seemed invisible, Rooney subdued, Carragher slow and rusty, Sean Wright-Philips ineffectual – where was Joe Cole?
Too many injuries King, Rooney, Barry, Milner, James, Lennon always fragile. Ferdinand gone.
You can’t rely on Crouch when the pressure is on.
Green joins the goalie gaffs club along with Seaman, Robinson and Carson (don’t forget Bonetti in 1970).
We are not organised – OK going forward between midfield and strikers but no proper pattern between midfield and defense. Donovan, Dempsey and Altidore could run at the back four – Gerrard & Lampard don’t defend enough
As I said, USA would be well organized. Mostly played the ball on the floor and denied us space for a lot of the first half; staggered to see England had 58% possession. The US could win the group if they score more than England v Algeria & Slovenia
And why does every commentary sound like its accompanied by constant loud buzzing and humming? (Roy – they’re called vuvuzelas).
England has dodgy keepers, poor organization, too many injuries and we bottle penalties – what chance do we have?
And my reply to Roy is:
Thanks for the assessment. It must be galling to know you still can’t beat the Yanks even after 60 years.
It’s simple Roy, England have two chances – little chance or no chance.
Cheers
Robin
June 14,2010 New Jersey USA.
PS. I wore the England red away shirt (2008 European Championship version) for the game and will continue to do so for every England game during the tournament. Believe you me, I feel your pain.
June 12, 2010: Robin
USA v England Saturday June 11 ABC 2.30pm
Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg Capacity 44,530
Referee – Carlos Simon, Brazil
Easily the biggest game of the tournament to date and it’ll be interesting to see what the TV ratings are. Can the US produce another shock as they did in 1950 when they beat England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil? A result that was considered so unthinkable that at least one Fleet Street newspaper presumed the post-match telegram (or similar) they received from their man in Brazil to be in error and published a scoreline of England 10-1 USA.
On paper the answer is clearly no. Man for man, the only US player that would make it on the England squad would be goalkeeper Tim Howard – so how come the US is still in with a chance?
First, remember that 11 of the 23 players on the US squad have played in the Premiership, so at least the basic skills are there – and the US players understand the English mentality.
Second, this is the first game of the group stages and this is not a must win situation for either team.
Thirdly, the World Cup is a marathon – 7 games in under a month if you get to the final – and you don’t need to be sprinting in the first game.
England doesn’t appear to have a settled team as yet – nor do the US if it comes down to that. We don’t even know at this late stage which goalkeeper will start.
Watch the crowd – there could be more traveling American fans than English.
The important thing for the US is to not give up an early goal and to get organized at the back.
Last night on TV Alexi Lalas went for a 2-1 win for the US and Ruud Gullit went for a 1-1 draw.
Lastly, my Round of 16:
Group A – Mexico & France
Group B – Argentina & South Korea
Group C – England & USA (USA needs to lookout for Slovenia)
Group D – Germany & Serbia (no Michael Essien for Ghana)
Group E – Holland & Denmark
Group F – Italy & Paraguay
Group G – Brazil & Portugal (Ivory Coast will struggle if Drogba can’t play)
Group H – Spain & Switzerland.
No African teams!
