What's up with Fenerbahce?

Fenerbahce Istanbul - Underdog, Overachieving

Fenerbahce Istanbul has really heated themselves up. They have gone through a lot in the UCL. Now, they are emerging as possibe champions in the league. Even with less super stars in their teams, compared to the others, they have responded to obstacles and downsides in their games with much intensity and determination. They are surely a force to reckon with and are a threat to the other clubs who are vying for the trophy. They prove that hard work and determination can defeat skill.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Fenerbahçe – Alex

Alex is a star. The Brazilian attacking midfielder failed to make a splash in his first spell in Europe, but he’s certainly made waves this time around. The Yellow Canaries’ No20 has been the star several times in Europe this season and is the man Chelsea need to watch. Having scored both goals against Besiktas at the weekend, he’s definitely in form.

-Goal.com

Team Line up:

Name and position	No	Joined in	Former team	Birth date	Citizenship
Goalkeepers
Volkan Demirel	1	2002	Kartalspor	27 October 1981
Serdar Kulbilge	22	2005	Bursaspor	7 July 1980
Volkan Babacan	88	2005	Fenerbahçe PAF	11 August 1988
Mert Günok	89	2007	Fenerbahçe PAF	1 March 1989
Defenders
Diego Lugano	2	2006	São Paulo	2 November 1980
Roberto Carlos	3	2007	Real Madrid	10 April 1973
Yasin Çakmak	5	2007	Çaykur Rizespor	6 January 1985
Wederson	6	2007	Ankaraspor	22 July 1981
Can Arat	17	2001	Fenerbahçe PAF	21 January 1984
Önder Turacı vice-	19	2004	Standard Liège	14 July 1981
Edu Dracena	36	2006	Cruzeiro	18 May 1981
Gökhan Gönül	77	2007	Gençlerbirliği OFTAŞ	4 April 1985
Midfielders
Stephen Appiah	4	2005	Juventus	24 December 1980
Kemal Aslan vice-	7	2003	Gaziantepspor	24 October 1981
Mehmet Aurélio	15	2003	Trabzonspor	15 December 1977
Ali Bilgin	18	2007	Antalyaspor	17 December 1981
Alex	20	2004	Cruzeiro	14 September 1977
Selçuk Şahin	21	2003	İstanbulspor	31 January 1981
Deniz Barış	24	2004	Gençlerbirliği	2 July 1977
Uğur Boral	25	2006	Gençlerbirliği	14 April 1982
Gürhan Gürsoy	32	2004	Adanaspor	24 September 1987
Claudio Maldonado	33	2008	Santos	3 January 1980
Strikers
Colin Kâzım-Richards	8	2007	Sheffield United	26 August 1986
Mateja Kežman	9	2006	Atlético Madrid	12 April 1979
Semih Şentürk vice-	23	1999	Fenerbahçe PAF	29 April 1983
İlhan Parlak	38	2007	Kayserispor	19 January 1987
Deivid	99	2006	Sporting Lisbon	22 October 1979

-Fenerbahce Istanbul Official Site

This is a video of the long-shot screamer of Deivid again Chelsea FC in the Quarter Finals League of UCL.






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"Anything can happen in the game. A goal can be made in a millisecond.": Liverpool v Arsenal, Chelsea v Fenerbahce

Stage of disbelief

I was very shocked at the results of the second set of matches in UCL's Quarter Final Leg. For me, the results were surprising because I didn't think that Liverpool and Chelsea will even submit goals at this stage. Well, I guess what my coach said when I was playing for my college was true: "Anything can happen in the game. A goal can be made in a millisecond."

CHELSEA FC v FENERBAHCE ISTANBUL

SUKRU SARACOGLU STADIUM, ISTANBUL - I am really disappointed at the Blues because it's a fact that all of the goals made in this game were made by Fenerbahce. Even with their line-up of famous star players, they were still beaten by a team that consisted of a few star players. They weren't in top shape during the whole game, something that I didn't expect to get from teams in this late stage of the UCL. It seems that the blog entry that I was going to make about Fenerbahce will push through. I was going to put an entry if they won this game.



It's sad to know that Chelsea did not play their best but there are still other games in which they can make comebacks. It's just the first game of the quarter finals.

The first lead was received by Chelsea from Yellow Canaries' Deivid de Souza, who made an own goal. He later gave the game an upset by scoring the last goal for the game from 30-yards which netted the turkish team the win. Minutes later, Kazim Kazim made the equalizer for his team by beating the blue defenders' offside trap and scoring agains Carlos Cudini.

Even if they lost, Chelsea still made a few notable attempts, one by Lampard and another by Drogba. Just shows that they didn't give up.

"Normally it's a good result to lose 2-1 away from home, but because we played the better football, we are disappointed," Chelsea manager Avram Grant said. - Canadian Press

Great work Fenerbahce, keep it up. Chelsea, you should do better in the next game.

ARSENAL FC v LIVERPOOL FC

EMIRATES STADIUM - The first game of Arsenal and Liverpool was one that gave disappointments to both teams. They wanted to win the first out of three but instead of a win-lose situation, they ended up with a draw. Arsenal made the first move when Gunner striker Adebayor headed a magnificent cross from fellow Gunner Robin van Persie. Liverpool wasn't going to stand for that so after a few minutes, they responded with a goal from Kuyt from captain Steven Gerrard's own cross. Overall, I think that Arsenal did very well even t

hough they failed to score again. There was also a controversial non-penalty call that could've given Liverpool the edge for their next match-up.

Well, the advance to Semi Finals is anyone's game right now. Who knows? Maybe Chelsea FC will take this as a wake up call and bring on their A game in the last two games. Maybe Fenerbahce Istanbul will continue to ride on their momentum and throw away Chelsea's chance to advance. Maybe Liverpool FC will show what they had in the past games - pin-point long-range screamers, excellent plays and passes. Maybe Arsenal FC will use this disappointment to increase their determination to succeed in this endeavor.

Maybe. Maybe not. We won't know until they play again.

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HOORAY for BARCELONA FC and MANCHESTER UNITED FC!

2:30 a.m. Philippine time.

As I opened my TV, I asked myself, "How will I be able to watch two games at the same time?!" Without another TV unit to spare, I didn't have much choice but to use the jump function. It was the Barcelona v Shalke game on Star Sports and the ManU v Roma on ESPN.

I was shocked to discover that Barcelona, the team clad with orange jerseys, wasn't going to have Ronaldinho and Messi in their line up and that Eto'o just came from a fitness test. It's sad to know that they weren't going to play in Barcelona's 6th Quarter Final game since the start of UEFA Champions League. My alarm also went up when I heard that Totti wasn't going to play as well. These were going to be exciting matches.

BARCELONA FC v SHALKE FC
The game started with a very calm atmosphere. Both teams weren't showing much intensity against each other. For a few minutes, the game was showered with mediocre plays, fouls, etc. But then, out of nowhere, Barca's striker Bojan Krkic found a chance to convert and he did, giving his team the lead. Of course, I wasn't able to see this at it's exact time of happening because I was thinking watching the ManU-Roma game that time. So I quickly switched back to Barcelona's game. A few minutes after Krkic's goal, the Shalke players tried to get some for their team with Kuranyi's attempt on the 16' and Westermann's on the 20' but their efforts were futile and were stopped by Barcelona's goal keeper. That was about it. A series of failed attempts stemming from excellent plays followed. I was disappointed to see that Henry wasn't able to convert since I was hoping to see some from him. Nonetheless, over-all, I was happy to see that my team pick for this match won, even without key players Ronaldinho and Messi.

MANCHESTER UNITED FC vs AS ROMA
STADIO OLIMPICO - The game started with a much higher intensity compared to the other match. I observed that even without the Roma striker Totti, the Red Devils were having a hard start. They weren't making an effective impact in the front third. There were a couple of below average through balls and goal attempts. An example was Anderson's long range attempt which passed high above his opponent's goal. On the other hand, AS Roma was playing very well despite having their star player sit this game out. Roma's Mirko Vucinic was playing really well and was showing his opponents that he was a threat to the ManU defense. They were showing a lot of short one-twos which definitely gave Manchester United some trouble. I thought that AS Roma might get a chance to win this one. Then, on the 39' minute, Wayne Rooney made an excellent cross which was converted by the Portuguese player, Cristiano Ronaldo. This gave the Red Devils a boost in morale. This was soon to be followed by another goal from Rooney, who was, by the way, showing excellent performance in this game. AS Roma wasn't able to get back up after the the second goal.

These were exciting games but it was quite hard to watch both games alternately. I'm hoping that the next matches of this Match day will be better.

My bets: Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC.

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Mourinho to San Siro?

Last March 7, 2008, I heard a news commentary on Jose Mourinho. One particular thing caught my attention. He said that he didn't have any bad feelings against his past workmates but when he gets back to the club manager scene, he will "crush Chelsea FC". Of course, I was a big fan of Chelsea FC and if I didn't have any respect for Mourinho, considering that he is a great manager, this news report would've ticked me off.

So when will this "crushing start?"

Excerpts from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ and http://soccerlens.com/ -

"By Jimmy James, Special to SI.com, Goal.com

A report from the English press has claimed that José Mourinho has just one week to accept or reject the job as Inter's next manager.

Speculation raged last week that the ex-Chelsea boss had flown to Italy to meet Nerazzurri officials just a day ahead of Inter's crunch Serie A clash against Lazio.

Mourinho has since denied those reports, but The Sun is nonetheless claiming that the Portuguese's agent, Jorge Mendes, did travel to Milan to hold talks without his client.

Mourinho has said he doesn't want to meet Inter president Massimo Moratti, suggesting that he's not interested in the $48 million, four-year deal the San Siro outfit has put on the table.

[Update: Jose Mourinho has denied any meeting with Inter. In an official statement:

“I say categorically that it is not true that I went to Milan, that I met with Massimo Moratti (the Inter president), who I do not have the pleasure of knowing personally.

It is false to say that I am on the point of signing a contract with Inter Milan.”]

-Soccerlens.com

He supposedly has one week to accept or decline the Nerazzurri offer, but Mourinho is said to be keeping his options open with AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid all possibly opting for a change of coach this summer."

-Sports illustrated.com

I'm really excited for his return to the Club manager scene because I know that he will be able to make his teams win league titles. Also, I'm intrigued at the idea of him "crushing" his former club.

Do you think that he will be able to do this?


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Chelsea's China debut

News Report from http://www.chelseafc.com/ -

Fri, 28th Mar 2008
Chelsea Football Club has announced our first ever match in China.

Chief executive Peter Kenyon confirmed that the opening game of the Samsung-Chelsea Asia Tour 2008 this summer will be in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

It will be played against the Chinese Super League team Guangzhou Pharmaceutical in the Olympic Stadium, the venue for the 2010 Asian Games, and is currently scheduled for July 23.

Kenyon said: 'I am delighted that we are coming to China, and particularly to Guangzhou, for the first time. We have a lot of support here and now we can give our Chinese fans the opportunity to see us play.

'Chinese football is developing at a rapid pace and Chelsea wants to play a role in that. We are a major partner in the Vision China grass roots project and are committed to making that a success.

'I would like to thank the Chinese FA for their invitation to play here, Mr Liu, the director general and party secretary of Administration of Sport for Guangzhou, for helping with the arrangements and Kito, our match sponsor.

'Guangzhou has a well deserved reputation as a sporting city with excellent facilities. Together with our sponsors Samsung and adidas we will be working hard to put on a great show for the fans.'

The match is the second of the summer tour to be confirmed following the announcement earlier this week that Chelsea will play a Malaysia Selection, an all-star team of the best players from the Malaysian Super League, currently scheduled for July 29 in Kuala Lumpur.

Chelsea's opponents Guangzhou Pharmaceutical played Manchester United last summer, losing 3-0, and this year were promoted to the Chinese Super League.

The city is probably better known to Europeans under its westernised name of Canton and is situated 75 miles from Hong Kong.

Chelsea has built a number of significant relationships in China and Asia recently.
Last year we became the first major club to sign a partnership with the Asian Football Confederation as the Official Football Development Partner of the confederation's Vision China grass roots project, part of their larger Vision Asia programme.

So far Chelsea has helped launch four of the planned 10 Vision China city leagues, in Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan and Qingdao and another is coming soon in Zibo.

Chelsea and the Chinese FA have worked closely together before and the club hosted the Chinese Olympic football team for a two-week training camp in the winter of 2007.

In addition Chelsea has become the exclusive football club partner of a grass roots talent search in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, where Guangzhou is the capital. The Super Soccer Star television show will be broadcast in the province of Guangdong in April with the four finalists destined to visit Chelsea's world renowned Academy and Stamford Bridge later in the summer.

The club is also a sponsor of the International Football Arena Beijing, the leading independent forum for debate among the game's leading figures which will take place again on May 23 and 24 in the Chinese capital. For more information click on IFA Beijing.

The tour will be the first time Chelsea has played in Asia since May 2005 when the opponents were the Suwon Bluewings, the K League team owned by sponsors Samsung.

Chelsea also took part in the FA Premier League Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur in the summer of 2003.

Today at 1pm UK time, fans in China will be able to ask Michael Ballack questions in a live webchat. This can be viewed elsewhere by clicking here. Player webchats open to UK supporters are scheduled for the near future.

-Chelsea Official Site

I hope they come to the Philippines as part of their Asian Tour! It would really boost up the football scene here. I wish that football is as prevalent in the Philippines as it is in China, Thailand, Japan, and other neighboring asian countries. Instead of the over-abundant basketball courts in parks or stadiums, it would be great if the football players here were able to play whenever they want.

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