A quick whizz round to pick out the picks of this weekend's viewing and it's an international football tournament frenzy!
Yes, the Oceania Nations Cup final is on Sunday! Now, since Australia decided to bunk up with the Asian Federation, this is basically New Zealand's tournament. They're the only side in there with any significant number of professionals. Qualification for the last four - the tournament run along the lines of the pre-1980 European Championships - is based on World Cup qualifying results and New Zealand duly topped their group ahead of the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Tahiti won Group A from New Caledonia with Vanuatu and whipping boys Samoa trailing in behind. The finals are taking place in the Solomon Islands and the semis were in the wee hours of this morning. Tahiti beat the hosts 1-0, but New Zealand crashed spectacularly against the tiny French dependency of New Caledonia. The final then sees the current and former French colonies face off, Tahiti probably favourites, with New Zealand and the Solomons contesting third place. Both games are on Sunday in a double-header at Honiara.
World Cup qualification for Brazil is in full swing with matches all over the world. In Africa, it's the second round of fixtures in the second group stage. The picks here are Morocco v Cote d'Ivoire, Zambia v Ghana and South Africa v Botswana on Saturday Mali v Algeria on Sunday. Venezuela v Chile is the pick of the South Amercian qualifiers along with Uruguay v Peru, but most eyes will be on a friendly between Argentina and Brazil in New Jersey. Th third round of CONCACAF qualifying gets underway as well, the USA at home to Antigua and Barbuda in what, population-wise, is a total mismatch. Of the region's bigger players, Canada look to have the easier group and they start away to Cuba.
League action does continue and there are three games to go in the Argentine Clausura. Boca have opened up a three-point lead at the top and face rock bottom Banfield, without a win in five, this weekend. Tigre and Arsenal are the nearest challengers with the latter's game against Argentinos Juniors the pick of the round. In Brazil, champions Corinthians got their first point of the season in this morning's game against Figueirense, but it's Vasco da Gama leading the way with three from three so far. They're away to Bahia this week, but most eyes will be on Palmeiras against Atlético Mineiro where a certain Ronaldinho Gaucho will make his first appearance for Atlético-MR following his sensational sacking by Flamengo. His former employers are at home to Coritiba.
Sampdoria take a 3-2 lead into the second leg of the Serie B promotion play-off final with Varese. It's all all-square in the Segunda Division play-off semis in Spain where Hércules and Alcorcón are locked at 1-1 and Real Valladolid and Córdoba are goalless ahead of Sunday's return legs. Nacional take on Defensor Sporting, who finished top, in the Uruguayan Clausura final.
Finally, there's a tiny wee competition in Poland and the Ukraine you may have heard about that starts today. Pick of the weekend's fixtures are Spain v Italy on Sunday and Saturday's Group B fixtures. It is, statistically speaking, the most morbid group of death in international football history with Portugal ranked 10th in the world, Denmark 9th, Germany 3rd and the Netherlands 4th. Saturday sees Germany take on Portugal and the Dutch play Denmark.
That lot should keep you going.
The home of football sarcasm
Showing posts with label Segunda Division. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Segunda Division. Show all posts
Friday, 8 June 2012
Friday, 1 June 2012
Marking your card #11
But the football's all finished, right? WRONG! Football never ever stops. You just need to be a bit more creative to get your fix. Here's what we'll be keeping an eye out for this weekend.
Promotion to Spain's Primera Division is up for grabs for either Celta Vigo or Real Valladolid. Celta play fifth-placed Cordoba and a point would do both - Celta for promotion and Cordoba to seal a play-off place. Valladolid play Guadalajara who need a win to stand a chance of staying up. Alcorcon and Hercules are in the play-off places at the moment, but only Almeria from outside can possibly make it in. They must beat relegated Alcoyano to stand a chance.
It's the semi-finals of the Copa Argentina. After coming through a penalty shoot-out last Wednesday against Rosario Central, Boca Juniors face Deportivo Merlo in one game while River Plate take on Racing Club in the other. Since River's relegation, we've been denied superclasico action. Maybe the cup final? Fingers crossed.
It's an international frenzy - meaning pretty much every domestic league still running is on hiatus - with World Cup qualifiers Africa, Oceania, Asia and South America. Pick of the African games is Tunisia v Equatorial Guinea while New Zealand's trip to Fiji is the only show iin town in Oceania. In South America, Uruguay, Venezuela and Argentina top the standings on seven points. It's Uruguay v Venezuela on Saturday with Argentina at home to Ecuador. With Brazil being the hosts, there's only nine sides in the competition and it's Paraguay who sit out this round.
The Toulon tournament comes to a close with Mexico playing Turkey in Friday's final. It's France v Holland in the 3rd-place game.
Finally, there's a Central Asian derby as Kyrgyzstan go to Kazakhstan for what is termed a friendly. USA v Canada should be fun too.
Promotion to Spain's Primera Division is up for grabs for either Celta Vigo or Real Valladolid. Celta play fifth-placed Cordoba and a point would do both - Celta for promotion and Cordoba to seal a play-off place. Valladolid play Guadalajara who need a win to stand a chance of staying up. Alcorcon and Hercules are in the play-off places at the moment, but only Almeria from outside can possibly make it in. They must beat relegated Alcoyano to stand a chance.
It's the semi-finals of the Copa Argentina. After coming through a penalty shoot-out last Wednesday against Rosario Central, Boca Juniors face Deportivo Merlo in one game while River Plate take on Racing Club in the other. Since River's relegation, we've been denied superclasico action. Maybe the cup final? Fingers crossed.
It's an international frenzy - meaning pretty much every domestic league still running is on hiatus - with World Cup qualifiers Africa, Oceania, Asia and South America. Pick of the African games is Tunisia v Equatorial Guinea while New Zealand's trip to Fiji is the only show iin town in Oceania. In South America, Uruguay, Venezuela and Argentina top the standings on seven points. It's Uruguay v Venezuela on Saturday with Argentina at home to Ecuador. With Brazil being the hosts, there's only nine sides in the competition and it's Paraguay who sit out this round.
The Toulon tournament comes to a close with Mexico playing Turkey in Friday's final. It's France v Holland in the 3rd-place game.
Finally, there's a Central Asian derby as Kyrgyzstan go to Kazakhstan for what is termed a friendly. USA v Canada should be fun too.
Monday, 28 May 2012
TW3 #14
For the second time in quick succession, Athletic were blown away in a cup final, this time by Barcelona in the Copa del Rey at the Vicente Calderon. This was Athletic 63rd game of the season, and it showed. Not that Barcelona haven't also had a lot of games, but their possession-based game doesn't place quite the same physical demands on players as Marcelo Bielsa's high-tempo pressing game. At the end of the first year of the Bielsa project, the players, quite frankly, look knackered. With Messi at his unplayable best and Iniesta pulling the strings, Barcelona took control early with Pedro beating Gorka Iraizoz at his near post. Twenty minutes later, Messi had doubled the lead and Pedro bagged a second - game over. Even the introduction of Euroballs favourite Toquero could get Athletic back into it.
So Pep Guardiola leaves with 14 trophies - from 19 contested - in his four years as Barcelona manager. Not bad, really. He leaves for a sabbatical and Tito Vilanova has the task of taking the side forward. Tough gig.
Torino and Pescara are promoted to Serie A, Torino as champions. They drew with AlbinoLeffe while Pescara were beating Nocerina. With the better head-to-head record, Torino finish top. It's Sassuolo against Sampdoria and Hellas Verona v Varese in the play-offs. Deportivo La Coruna are promoted to the Primera Division in Spain, as champions, after coming from behind to beat Huesca. They're four clear of Celta Vigo with a game to go. Celta need a point in the last game to seal second, Valladolid's draw with Alcorcon giving them a bit of breathing space.
We're previously waxed lyrical about our love of the penalty shoot-out, and this week has seen the venerable institution make headlines again. First, Sepp Blatter wished to find a better way of resolving drawn games and then players on two continents show why that's a misguided notion. Two quarter-finals in the Copa Libertadores went to spot-kicks. Santos matched Vélez Sarsfield's 1-0 thanks to Alan Kardec before prevailing 4-2 on penalties while Universidad de Chile and Libertad drew 1-1 for the second time in the tie. La U won the shoot-out 5-2 to progress. It looked like Boca Juniors and Fluminense would go the same way as Flu led the second leg 1-0 heading into the dying moments, but Santiago Silva grabbed a stoppage time equaliser to send Boca through 2-1. In the final tie, Paulinho's goal was enough for a 1-0 aggregate win. Boca play La U in the semi-finals while the other tie is an all-Brazilian affair with Santos at home in the first leg to Corinthians.
The League 1 play-off final also went to penalties after a drab 0-0. Sheffield United's well-documented issues with forwards necessitated a change of approach and their flooding of the midfield blunted Huddersfield and the two sides cancelled each other out. Town missed their first three penalties, but in Alex Smithies they have a goalkeeper who is something of a 12-yard specialist. He saved two of United's first three before the players finally found their shooting boots. At 2-2 after five each, it went to sudden death, eventually coming down to the goalkeepers against one another with the 11th penalties. Smithies tucked his away, but Steve Simonsen sent his into the stands and Town are promoted. In League 2, Crewe were comfortable winners against Cheltenham.
Back in domestic action, three assists from Juan Roman Riquelme helped Boca to a 3-0 win over Godoy Cruz and, combined with Tigre's draw with Atlético Rafaela, opens up a three-point lead at the top with three games to go. Reigning Brazilian champions Corinthians lost their second game of the season and remain without a point. Atlético Mineiro were their conquerors, one of three sides with 2-0 records - Vasco da Gama and Botafogo the others. Colo Colo won their Chilean Apertura quarter-final against Deportes Iquique 5-4. A 3-3 draw on Thursday was followed by a 2-1 win on Saturday, Colo hanging on with ten men for the last ten minutes. Universidad Catolica are out, well beaten by Union Espanola, and O'Higgins progress after two wins over Union La Calera. Universidad de Chile are 2-0 up in their tie against Cobreloa ahead of the return in the small hours of Tuesday morning. Universidad Cesar Vallejo are Peruvian champions. They got the point they needed in a 0-0 draw with Universidad San Martin which rendered Real Atlético's 1-0 over Union Comercio academic. Defensor Sporting are Uruguayan champions with a round of fixtures remaining. A 3-0 win over El Tanque Sisley leaves them four points clear of Liverpool - 3-1 winners against Cerrito - with a game remaining. All done in the Colombian regular season and the top eight are now split into two groups of four, the winners of which will contest the final. Deportes Tolima finished top, seven clear of the field, and they're in group A and red-hot favourites.
In the international friendlies, an Eren Derdiyok hat-trick helped Switzerland beat Germany 5-3. Without their Bayern players, Germany were not anywhere near their best and this isn't representative of their chances in the Euros. The Dutch were beaten at home by Bulgaria, Joris Mathijsen taken off injured early on as well. The form of both Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has seen Bert van Marwijk try to play them together, going away from the 4-2-3-1 that served them so well previously.
And that'll do us for now. The Euros are just eleven days away now.
So Pep Guardiola leaves with 14 trophies - from 19 contested - in his four years as Barcelona manager. Not bad, really. He leaves for a sabbatical and Tito Vilanova has the task of taking the side forward. Tough gig.
Torino and Pescara are promoted to Serie A, Torino as champions. They drew with AlbinoLeffe while Pescara were beating Nocerina. With the better head-to-head record, Torino finish top. It's Sassuolo against Sampdoria and Hellas Verona v Varese in the play-offs. Deportivo La Coruna are promoted to the Primera Division in Spain, as champions, after coming from behind to beat Huesca. They're four clear of Celta Vigo with a game to go. Celta need a point in the last game to seal second, Valladolid's draw with Alcorcon giving them a bit of breathing space.
We're previously waxed lyrical about our love of the penalty shoot-out, and this week has seen the venerable institution make headlines again. First, Sepp Blatter wished to find a better way of resolving drawn games and then players on two continents show why that's a misguided notion. Two quarter-finals in the Copa Libertadores went to spot-kicks. Santos matched Vélez Sarsfield's 1-0 thanks to Alan Kardec before prevailing 4-2 on penalties while Universidad de Chile and Libertad drew 1-1 for the second time in the tie. La U won the shoot-out 5-2 to progress. It looked like Boca Juniors and Fluminense would go the same way as Flu led the second leg 1-0 heading into the dying moments, but Santiago Silva grabbed a stoppage time equaliser to send Boca through 2-1. In the final tie, Paulinho's goal was enough for a 1-0 aggregate win. Boca play La U in the semi-finals while the other tie is an all-Brazilian affair with Santos at home in the first leg to Corinthians.
The League 1 play-off final also went to penalties after a drab 0-0. Sheffield United's well-documented issues with forwards necessitated a change of approach and their flooding of the midfield blunted Huddersfield and the two sides cancelled each other out. Town missed their first three penalties, but in Alex Smithies they have a goalkeeper who is something of a 12-yard specialist. He saved two of United's first three before the players finally found their shooting boots. At 2-2 after five each, it went to sudden death, eventually coming down to the goalkeepers against one another with the 11th penalties. Smithies tucked his away, but Steve Simonsen sent his into the stands and Town are promoted. In League 2, Crewe were comfortable winners against Cheltenham.
Back in domestic action, three assists from Juan Roman Riquelme helped Boca to a 3-0 win over Godoy Cruz and, combined with Tigre's draw with Atlético Rafaela, opens up a three-point lead at the top with three games to go. Reigning Brazilian champions Corinthians lost their second game of the season and remain without a point. Atlético Mineiro were their conquerors, one of three sides with 2-0 records - Vasco da Gama and Botafogo the others. Colo Colo won their Chilean Apertura quarter-final against Deportes Iquique 5-4. A 3-3 draw on Thursday was followed by a 2-1 win on Saturday, Colo hanging on with ten men for the last ten minutes. Universidad Catolica are out, well beaten by Union Espanola, and O'Higgins progress after two wins over Union La Calera. Universidad de Chile are 2-0 up in their tie against Cobreloa ahead of the return in the small hours of Tuesday morning. Universidad Cesar Vallejo are Peruvian champions. They got the point they needed in a 0-0 draw with Universidad San Martin which rendered Real Atlético's 1-0 over Union Comercio academic. Defensor Sporting are Uruguayan champions with a round of fixtures remaining. A 3-0 win over El Tanque Sisley leaves them four points clear of Liverpool - 3-1 winners against Cerrito - with a game remaining. All done in the Colombian regular season and the top eight are now split into two groups of four, the winners of which will contest the final. Deportes Tolima finished top, seven clear of the field, and they're in group A and red-hot favourites.
In the international friendlies, an Eren Derdiyok hat-trick helped Switzerland beat Germany 5-3. Without their Bayern players, Germany were not anywhere near their best and this isn't representative of their chances in the Euros. The Dutch were beaten at home by Bulgaria, Joris Mathijsen taken off injured early on as well. The form of both Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has seen Bert van Marwijk try to play them together, going away from the 4-2-3-1 that served them so well previously.
And that'll do us for now. The Euros are just eleven days away now.
Friday, 25 May 2012
Marking your card #10
What we'll be watching this weekend.
First up, the Copa del Rey final. It's Athletic v Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid and it's already causing problems with one senior Madrid politician calling for it to be played behind closed doors in case either of these clubs partisan and nationalistic support dare boo the Spanish anthem. Yeah, whatever. When these sides met at San Mamés, they played out a wonderful 2-2 draw described by some as a hymn to football. More of that please. It's Guardiola's last game - for now at least - in charge of the Blaugrana against the man whose advice he sought before taking the job. Athletic haven't been on a good run and a defeat here will leave them not just exhausted, but also potless which would be an incredible shame. Barca have 'only' won three of the five competitions they've completed so far, but would of course love little more than to send off their favourite son with one more piece of silverware for the mantle.
There are still two rounds remaining in the Segunda División and Deportivo La Coruna can seal a return to the Primera with a draw at home to Huesca. The other automatic spot is between Celta Vigo and Valladolid - locked together on 81 points. Celta are away to relegate Nastic while Valladolid play Alcorcon who are in the mix for the play-offs. They, Hércules, Córdoba and Almería are the three clubs fighting for the other two places for that final promotion spot.
It's the final round of Serie B fixtures in Italy. The top two - Torino and Pescara - are already up with Torino needing a win over rock bottom AlbinoLeffe to make sure of taking the title. The play-off places for the remaining promotion spot are already sealed - Sassuolo, Hellas Verona, Varese and Sampdoria - but not the order or who will play whom for that final Serie A spot next season. Of the four, it's Verona in the best form.
The other two games in Europe concern promotion in England. On Sunday, Cheltenham play Crewe for a place in the third division while there's an all-Yorkshire affair the day before as Huddersfield Town play Sheffield United for a second division place. It's all gone a bit wrong for United after two of their strikers displayed differing levels of mindless idiocy to deprive the club of their services - one for three matches, the other for five years (minus good behaviour). Town, meanwhile, struggled to find their feet after replacing their manager, but began to come into form in the final weeks of the season. It should be fun.
Further afield, the Chilean Championship play-offs begin with leaders Universidad de Chile against Cobreloa. Two points cover the top five in Argentina, but none of them play each other this weekend. It's the final round in Colombia with loads of teams trying to make the top eight play-offs . Pretty much every game has something ridin on it on a great weekend for lovers of the word 'permutations'. It's the last round in Peru with Universidad César Vallejo top by three from Sporting Cristal who must beat Juan Aurich and hope for Universidad de San Martín to overturn UCV.
The Toulon tournament and U19 European Championships rumble on as well with loads of games over the weekend. We'll pick Czech Republic against Netherlands in the latter and Netherlands v Turkey in the former.
There are international friendlies galore as well as the Euros - just a couple of weeks away - loom on the horizon. Germany v Switzerland looks a particularly nice one.
The season may be over, but the football never stops. Have a good one.
First up, the Copa del Rey final. It's Athletic v Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid and it's already causing problems with one senior Madrid politician calling for it to be played behind closed doors in case either of these clubs partisan and nationalistic support dare boo the Spanish anthem. Yeah, whatever. When these sides met at San Mamés, they played out a wonderful 2-2 draw described by some as a hymn to football. More of that please. It's Guardiola's last game - for now at least - in charge of the Blaugrana against the man whose advice he sought before taking the job. Athletic haven't been on a good run and a defeat here will leave them not just exhausted, but also potless which would be an incredible shame. Barca have 'only' won three of the five competitions they've completed so far, but would of course love little more than to send off their favourite son with one more piece of silverware for the mantle.
There are still two rounds remaining in the Segunda División and Deportivo La Coruna can seal a return to the Primera with a draw at home to Huesca. The other automatic spot is between Celta Vigo and Valladolid - locked together on 81 points. Celta are away to relegate Nastic while Valladolid play Alcorcon who are in the mix for the play-offs. They, Hércules, Córdoba and Almería are the three clubs fighting for the other two places for that final promotion spot.
It's the final round of Serie B fixtures in Italy. The top two - Torino and Pescara - are already up with Torino needing a win over rock bottom AlbinoLeffe to make sure of taking the title. The play-off places for the remaining promotion spot are already sealed - Sassuolo, Hellas Verona, Varese and Sampdoria - but not the order or who will play whom for that final Serie A spot next season. Of the four, it's Verona in the best form.
The other two games in Europe concern promotion in England. On Sunday, Cheltenham play Crewe for a place in the third division while there's an all-Yorkshire affair the day before as Huddersfield Town play Sheffield United for a second division place. It's all gone a bit wrong for United after two of their strikers displayed differing levels of mindless idiocy to deprive the club of their services - one for three matches, the other for five years (minus good behaviour). Town, meanwhile, struggled to find their feet after replacing their manager, but began to come into form in the final weeks of the season. It should be fun.
Further afield, the Chilean Championship play-offs begin with leaders Universidad de Chile against Cobreloa. Two points cover the top five in Argentina, but none of them play each other this weekend. It's the final round in Colombia with loads of teams trying to make the top eight play-offs . Pretty much every game has something ridin on it on a great weekend for lovers of the word 'permutations'. It's the last round in Peru with Universidad César Vallejo top by three from Sporting Cristal who must beat Juan Aurich and hope for Universidad de San Martín to overturn UCV.
The Toulon tournament and U19 European Championships rumble on as well with loads of games over the weekend. We'll pick Czech Republic against Netherlands in the latter and Netherlands v Turkey in the former.
There are international friendlies galore as well as the Euros - just a couple of weeks away - loom on the horizon. Germany v Switzerland looks a particularly nice one.
The season may be over, but the football never stops. Have a good one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)