Of tactical woes, goal-line technology, and heartbreak

Liverpool lost to Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup final, and yes, I am heartbroken.

Did we deserve to lose? We had a terrible first half, marked by slow movement, sloppy passing, a weak left flank (I know Stewart Downing has generally been inconsistent, but Jose Enrique, madre mía, what decline!), and our lone striker not getting anywhere near the goal.

Liverpool fared better in the second half though, and Andy Carroll was a game-changer, scoring that beauty of a goal at the 64th minute. Carroll had another header that we all thought would be the equalizer, but alas, it was not counted by the referees. You can view it on replay over and over and over again, and it will tell you that the ball went past the line!

Still, we had our chances, especially in the last 20 minutes of the game. I felt the fire and the fight in the team. Unfortunately, attempts from Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson just flew over the net.

A heartbreak indeed. Trust me, it is not a good feeling to have your heart broken past two in the morning.

No domestic cup double for Liverpool this year. My biggest fear? The cloud that’s hanging over the club in recent months. I suppose we’ll get the answers as to who’s in and who’s out pretty soon.

In the meantime, this is what broke my heart. Seeing Steven Gerrard in tears.

Midweek Football Hat-Trick!

Amidst a rather insane week at work (I promise to find time to write properly soon), I scored a midweek football hat-trick, recording three straight wins for teams I root for.

First up, the Azkals. The boys in blue (white? I’m not even sure what our colors are anymore, let alone the kit makers) beat Tajikistan 2-1. I wasn’t able to catch the game live (yes, work has been insane), but I was getting SMS updates. Tajikistan scored the opening goal at the stroke of halftime, while our boys lived up to the Azkals moniker by fighting their way back, with Phil Younghusband scoring at the 54th minute and Angel Guirado Aldeguer cinching the winner at the 80th minute.

The boys are through to the semifinals of the AFC Challenge Cup, and that’s quite a milestone for this team. Onward and upward, Pilipinas!

Second, the Merseyside Derby was not televised owing to a late schedule in England, hence it was about 4 a.m. Manila time. The most important point to note is that Liverpool won, owing to a Steven Gerrard hat-trick. Now that is just a great way to bounce back after two consecutive losses post-Carling Cup victory.

While I didn’t catch it live, I was able to get a copy of the match, and yes, I had tears in my eyes watching Stevie’s goals. Superb work rate from the boys, and even Luis Suarez was unselfish for the third goal. Now that’s how you win.

Photos of course, are in order.

 

Lastly, Real Madrid are through to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, beating CSKA Moscow on the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, 4-1 (5-2 on aggregate). Madrid’s goals came from all three forwards, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain, and Karim Benzema. Kaka and Mesut Ozil were also stellar in this match.

Gotta leave you all with some nice Portuguese backs.

 

My two captains, an update.

Liverpool won over Manchester City 1-0 in the first leg of the Carling Cup semifinals, thanks to a penalty smoothly taken by Steven Gerrard at the 11th minute. The Reds never looked back since.

My other captain, Iker Casillas has finally transferred to Adidas after 11 years with Reebok. Hooray! No more ugly zigzag-soled shoes!

And yep, this was the best transfer news to come out of the La Liga and/or EPL. Much can be said when the most interesting bit of the day is the UFL lineups.

ETA: I just realized that in both photos, my eyes darted to the crotch areas.

Welcome Back, Captain Fantastic!

Of course, only Liverpool would end up with a crummy draw against Blackburn Rovers. It’s the story of our season—the opposing team’s goalkeeper always has a monster game at Anfield. And Bunn surely did.

The gripes started with a Charlie Adam OG on the dying minutes of the first half. Thankfully, the Reds managed to get a point in thanks to a Maxi header in the second half. Now, if only all our other headers did not go over the bar, then we probably could have managed another point.

It wasn’t the best of Boxing Day matches, but definitely, the highlight has got to be Steven Gerrard coming in as a substitute in the second half. And immediately right after he comes on, Captain Fantastic manages to make a dangerous free kick. That he’s back also proves to highlight some much-needed quality passing in this match (the Reds seem to just be passing onto open space and praying that a teammate will get to the ball first—I’m looking at you, Stewart Downing).

And as for Andy Carroll, I still think he overdid the Christmas Day drinking.

This one’s for you, Steven Gerrard.

Because you are flawless in every way. Captain Fantastic through and through.

And here’s his brilliant free kick against Manchester United. Note Luis Suarez and Martin Kelly in the video—so funny!

Just a few notes: We deserved the three points, and that’s not just me being an ardent Liverpool supporter. We had more shots on goal, and played better in the second half—just an unfortunate miscue to clear the ball during a scummy corner kick allowed the other team to score, thanks to Chicharita. Overall, I’m glad the boys played well—just unfortunate that de Gea (pronounced as “Dee-Gay” by the scum supporter in a Hawaiian shirt next to me last night) was also in fine form last night.

I’m disappointed with the 1-1 draw, but Liverpool’s performance has been very encouraging. Onward and upward to return to European football (and to get back at the Old Trafford on February 11, 2012), please.

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Also, Heckle & Jeckle had an unusually high number of cute white guys last night—which leads me to the painful realization that they probably are ManUtd supporters and that my Steven Gerrard shirt was enough to repel them. Only a Jamaican man came up to me, pointed at my shirt and said, “Liverpool! Gerrard! I am a fan! All my friends are Manchester United supporters!” He did like Mich more though—because he asked if she had a husband. Haha!

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P.S. Congratulations are in order for Real Madrid as well. Caught the second half of their match vs. Real Betis, and they won 4-1, thanks to Kaka and a Pipita Higuain hat-trick. I must say, Pipita’s come back even better than his season-ending injury in 2010-2011.

A Winning Weekend, Finally!

I’ve got a lot on my plate this weekend, such as an article to transcribe and some interviews to do content analysis on. However, nothing can and will take away my weekend basketball, rugby, and of course, football.

Basketball
Let me just out myself and say that I do (not-so-secretly) root for the Blue Eagles—and they pretty much demolished the Tamaraws in the first game of the UAAP Finals. One more game, and the defending champions are bringing home the UAAP men’s basketball crown to Loyola Heights once more.

Rugby
I’ve been making a point to catch the All Blacks’ games, and yes, they made me follow rugby (shame I’ve yet to see the Volcanoes in action—and I don’t mean the action of the billboard type). They did great versus France, 37-17. Snaps:

Football
Liverpool beat the Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield, 2-1, and the Reds came out firing. The goals were courtesy of a Johnson deflection of Charlie Adam’s shot, and a brilliant goal from Luis Suarez, who was on fire the entire time he was on the pitch. Relentless, I’d say—-to the point where he had a bit of a hissy fit when substituted out for Steven Gerrard. Andy Carroll, I thought, in the first half, looked more like the player equivalent to what Liverpool paid for him. In the second half, he wasn’t much of a factor—but as it is, he better play and play and play until he stamps his class (at least for the time that’s given to him).

Now let’s talk about Steven Gerrard. He came on during the Carling Cup match versus Brighton, which I missed. This is pretty much the first time I’ve seen him since… lord knows when. The last game he started was back in March. As for class, it was a very inspired 10-minute appearance from Captain Fantastic, with some brilliant runs with Dirk Kuyt and a shot that just went wide over the net. Overall, a good game for the lads, and I’m still waiting for Andy Carroll to blow me away.

 

Over in Spain, I was beginning to wonder if there was something brewing internally that made Real Madrid lose five points in two matches. Then again, the whole La Liga table was been pretty interesting after jornada 4. In any case, if I ever had doubts, these were erased as the men in white powered over Rayo Vallecano, 6-2. It was a slow start for Real Madrid, however, with Michu beating the defense to follow up a shot that was earlier parried by Iker Casillas—all within the first minute of play. Madrid got their scoring going with a Ronaldo hat-trick (the first goal with an assist from Kaka; the second a penalty kick, because Kaka was brought down; the third another penalty kick because he was brought down), Higuain (off a Xabi Alonso free kick, headed by Ramos for Higuain to easily net), Varane (with a nifty backheel kick in front of the goal to softly lob it over the keeper), and Benzema (off an Özil assist).

Midway through this jornada, it’s Real Betis at the top of the table, followed by Barcelona (ugh), Sevilla,  Real Madrid, and Valencia. And for those wondering, Athletic Bilbao are in 17th.

Some Somber Notes
The Philippine National Basketball Team lost to Jordan. The medal hopes are still live, as they’ve got to battle it out for 3rd. Go Gilas!

In Chelsea’s match versus Manchester United last Sunday, Fernando Torres scored a goal and then missed a golden opportunity in front of a wide open net to score another. Torres decides to bite karma in the ass by scoring a goal against Swansea. Karma decides to bite his pretty ass once more when, after scoring a goal, he is shown a red card for a two-footed (swan-like) tackle. Oh freckles.