CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2008/09 - TUESDAY GROUP QUALIFYING GAMES - REAL MADRID & VILLAREAL

REAL MADRID managed a very important victory away to the dangerous
Russian team ZENIT ST.PETERSBURG, 1-2 in their Group H qualifying
clash. The game was end to end stuff, well fought & the type of game Real
had to win fighting all the way. As is common in these types of games, the
element of luck played it´s part & it went the Spaniards way. The other
quick note is that RAUL started on the bench & did not get a run, some
many think it´s the end of the Raul cycle & being on the bench maybe
a more common feature in his game from now on.

















All the goals came in the 1ºst half & Real got lucky early in the 3ºrd
min when Russian defender HUBBOCAN put in an own goal & Real´s
1ºst goal. The Russians got their act together & began putting in passes
& giving the Real Madrid defence some problems.

Then in the 24th min, the Zenit sensation DANNY managed to equalize
for the Russians (see above).

Then that man again, VAN NISTELROOY scored in the 30th min
to put the Spaniards ahead & make his goal the winner. Said another

way, Van Nistelrooy was the saviour once again & gave Real Madrid
the 3ºpoints & a tranquil position in their Group to front future
games with relative ease.

The 2ºhalf was a barage of Zenit attacks - hitting post & Casilla saves -
& Real Madrid suffered. However, Coach Schuster did not enter the
" game " of attacking to create defensive holes for Zenit to take
advantage & made defensive changes - Drenthe, Javi Garcia... - to
calm things & finally weather the Russian storm.
























MARCOS SENNA (above) scored a free kick in the 67th min to seal
the win for VILLAREAL over Scottish team CELTIC GLASGOW
in their Group E clash tonight.

The Scots came with a defensive attitude, looking at best for the drawn
result, as their "double" defensive wall strategy showed. The truth is
they nearly pulled it off as they stop everything Villareal threw at them
& frustrated the locals. The fact of the matter is that a brilliant free kick

from Senna was needed to break the "grid-lock".

In any case, great result for Villareal who step forward in their now

customary style of hard work & good team play.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - MORRONS & VIOLENCE

Situation: It´s Saturday & ESPANYOL plays FC BARCELONA
in a "high risk" local derby. That´s not the problem, the problem
is when FC Barcelona radicals called "Boixos Nois" ( "Our Boys",
shows us real originality by these guys) begin throwing flares at
Espanyol fans. No reason at all, just to hurt, provoke & if lucky
cause some disgrace. That is go to Football not to watch Football,
irrationality, this is the prime characteristic of these primitive
animals.

These objects - flares - are alight & burning & very dangerous
flying objects; there are numerous cases of lost limbs & even death by
receiving a direct hit, & there they are, as the pictures show, when they
are banned by law from Football fields.

















This, of course, caused the Espanyol fans to react in the same manner,
with the logical result that things get out of control & the game gets
called off for 10 mins. Great, thats good, but why in the hell are these
piece of shit with two legs allowed to go to Football when they are known
criminals, allowed to represent FC Barcelona & allowed to take in flares
& who knows what other illegal stuff to cause injury & possibly death.

Everyone is blaming everyone: Espanyol blames Barça, Barça blames a
relaxed Espanyol security, both blame local police...bla bla bla. Luckly the
social outrage has lead Police to quickly identify via CCTV at least 5
brain damaged morrons that have been arrested. Thank god no one was
seriously injuried or killed, thank god!


















This mental disease, were "useless" human wasted find their lost
identity in the "group" & the worship of abstract "concepts" as my
colours - what the fuck is this! - need psychological help. Seeing this
is not possible the law must be enforce with harsh punishment. The
Clubs should work to erradict this from their fans & players should
have the "balls" to go out in public & make a stand against this sort of
behaviour.

Unfortunately the disease is here, in the UK, Germany , Italy , Greece ,
Turkey..., & players score goals & celebrate jointly with these barbarians
( Barça players did this after scoring twice on Saturday - they claim they
knew nothing...obviously blind to flare lights & screams) or go public &
claim that they admire Fascist ideas - Milan goalkeeper Abiatti - as a
group thing, the power of the collective. You idiot, collective & ideology
to an untrained mind - stupid mind - is interpretated as me vs the World.
Add drugs & alcohol & the World , the other Club & other people
become enemies to be hated & eliminated. Its dangerous stuff guys!

Either we take a stand or we are all going to feel a REAL disaster soon.
It maybe you one day, your friend, your son or the person next to you
that receives a flare driven in their face to explode...& then what!

A disgrace for Espanyol, a disgrace for FC Barcelona, a disgrace for
Spanish Football, a disgrace for Catalans, a disgrace for Spaniards,
a disgrace for any rational & thinking human being to witness this
senseless obedience to concepts that will not solve their life. Sport is
to united & not divide, to enjoy & not to cause pain. Its really simple! Tweet

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TENNIS: SPANIARD RAFAEL NADAL REMAINS WORLD ATP Nº1

Spanish Tennis player RAFAEL NADAL maintains his Nº1 ATP World
ranking after the standings were released by the Association today. The
Spaniards maintains a more than a thousand point lead over his next
rival, ex – Nº1 Roger Federer.

The other Spanish player in the Top 10 of the ATP listing is DAVID
FERRER with 2.490 points & in the 5th position.

ATP Classification (Sept. 2008):

1. Rafael Nadal (Sp) 7.000 puntos
2. Roger Federer (Swz) 5.930
3. Novak Djokovic (Srb) 4.960
4. Andy Murray (Gb) 3.040
5. David Ferrer (Sp) 2.490
6. Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) 2.400
7. David Nalbandian (Arg) 1.975
8. Andy Roddick (Usa) 1.960
9. Stanislas Wawrinka (Swz) 1.670
10. James Blake (Usa) 1.650

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 5 SUMMARY

SFS apologises for not giving a quality summary this week of Round 5
of the Spanish - Liga - League, due to business travels that has taken
away time to dedicate to the actual blog today. However, SFS will now
give a very quick summary of results & scorers.



















ATLETICO DE MADRID felt the injuries of Simao & Maniche
to go down 0-1 to SEVILLA with a solitary goal from LUIS FABIANO
from a free kick

















VALENCIA CF stay on top of the League ladder - share with Villareal
on points - after winning DEPORTIVO 4-2. Goals for Valencia came
from MATA, DAVID VILLA (twice) & JOAQUIN, while for Deportivo
MORRETI gave an own goal & LAFITA the second
























ALMERIA continue their good start with a goal from their inform
forward NEGREDO to win RECREATIVO 1-0

GETAFE via a late goal from CASQUERO (above) won ATHLETIC
DE BILBAO.

Other scores:
Espanyol 1 (Carcominas) - FC Barcelona 2 (Henry, Messi)
Sporting Gijon 0 - Villareal 1 (Rossi)
Numancia 0 - Osasuna 0
Malaga 2 (Lolo, Adrian) - Valladolid 1 (Leon)
Racing (Marcano) - Mallorca 2 (Varela, Webo)

Real Betis 1 (Sergio Garcia) - Real Madrid 2 (Heinze, Van Nistelrooy)
SEE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS GAME



Real Betis - Real Madrid (1-2) Tweet

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FC BARCELONA:THIERRY HENRY MAY LEAVE IN JANUARY 2009 - TOO MUCH "PAIN" & BENCH TIME

The title comes from an interview that FC BARCELONA star
THIERRY HENRY gave to "L´Equipe", which has been picked up

by local daily "AS". The Frenchman admitted that he may consider

the option of leaving Barça if he spends "too much" time on the
bench.

Henry has a "beef" because during pre-season coach Guardiola

expressed that he would not count with Samuel Eto´o as the teams

true forward & thus would give him the chance to exhibit himself

upfront for more time. But things chance so quickly in Football, as
Eto´o has not left & is playing well, plus scoring goals. Result, that
Henry is spending more time on the bench & that is frustrating the
Frenchman. So much so, that he claims he rejected other club offers

after Guardiola´s pre-season chat.

The other reason is that Henry has his daughter in London & that is

mentally "killing him softly" - like the song.


















Having commented this, there is one hard fact no one can deny
independently of the repeated reasons: Henry is not the player he was

at Arsenal. In fact, let´s forget SFS made that remark & change the

statement; since at Barça Henry has not lived up to expectations & other

teammates are simply playing better, thus deserve to be on the field ahead

of Henry. Perhaps The Frenchmen should "shut up" - & shut up SFS - by
concentrating, get into shape & bring the best Henry he has inside,
understanding perfectly that his personal situation is delicate & SFS is

sensitive to the reasons. But he´s a professional & gets paid millions of
Euros a year, quite frankly we are not really interested to hear about your
daughter & bench time, the fan pays more than 60-80 € in tickets to see
Henry score & Barça win.

SFS - thanks Mundo Deportivo for the Club header

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 4 THURSDAY GAMES RESULT

The last 4 games of Round 4 were played tonight with the following
results & scorers.

VALENCIA CF remain the League leaders after defeating MALAGA
away 0-2. The two goals came from DAVID VILLA (above) in the 71st
& 91st min. Villa is in fabulous form.

VALLADOLID stopped the "impressive" ALMERIA side win a 2-0
victory, thanks to goals from RUBIO in the 67th min & MEDUNJANIN
in the 95th min. Excellent win for Valladolid who will appreciate the
valuable 3ºpoints

RECREATIVO played a "dirty style" match to finish as it deserved, a
1-1 draw. JAVI GUERRERO put Recreativo ahead in the 71st min to
see 5mins later LOPEZ equalize.

MALLORCA finally found its game & won 2-0 NUMANCIA with the
later hitting the post. JURADO put Mallorca ahead in the 11ºth min &
WEBO scored the 2ºnd in the 51st min.

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - ROUND 4 2008/09 - REAL MADRID 7 SPORTING GIJON 1; GETAFE 1 AT.MADRID 2 VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Hi guys, was out last night on business so excuse for not putting up
details of part of yesterdays Round 4 Liga games. You can see the
scores on the right side of SFS, however we will post 2 videos for your
enjoyment:

Real Madrid 7 - 1 Sporting Gijon Highlights

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SERGIO AGUERO - "HIS IN FASHION"

The title comes from the letters of a "Suede" song ("She´s In Fashion"),
a band very in the mode & "Chic"during its hey-day. Seems that "glitter"
is raining on Argentine International & ATLETICO DE MADRID star
SERGIO AGUERO who is on the lips of Club owners, Managers, Media
& fans around the World. His evolucion & young age is calling the
attention of everyone as it seems he is destined to be a "GREAT".














According to "Marca", MANCHESTER CITY officials are in Madrid
today to see tonights Round 4 match between Getafe & Atletico de
Madrid & to watch the "man of the moment". This gives rise to
speculations that Man.City is preparing a huge offer to try & tempt
the Argentine over. The contract release clause for Aguero is 60M€
& that maybe "peanuts" for the new Manchester City Arab & petrol
rich owner.

However, SFS is confident that Aguero will not make the mistake of
Robinho, as he has a much better head on his shoulders. Atletico de
Madrid fans can feel relaxed as they have Sergio assured for a few more
years yet. Tweet

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THE GOIKOETXEA TACKLE ON MARADONA: THE 25 TH ANNIVERSARY

It was 25 years ago today - 24 of September 1983 Camp Nou at
22.30HRS - Athletic de Bilbao defender ANDONI GOIKOETXEA
enters & fouls FC Barcelona forward DIEGO ARMANDO
MARADONA. See the video clip:



The foul reached the left ankle of Maradona & become the "most famous
tackle" in Football History, as many claimed it was an intencional act to
"put out of play" the Argentine World star. The Bilbao defender would go on
to be labelled "The Butcher Of Bilbao", a harsh & unfair tag for any
Football player or person.

Maradona was out injuried 106 days.

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FC BARCELONA: WITH INIESTA & XAVI THE FUTURE IS GUARANTEED

FC BARCELONA may have started their 2008/2009 Spanish League
campaign with a “goal drought”& with harsh criticisms from media &
fans on new coach Guardiola´s strategy & line-ups, but it seems that
these “uncertainties” were squashed last Sunday with Barça 1-6
thrashing of Sporting de Gijon in the Spanish League.

Not only were their plenty of goals with questioned Eto´o scoring &
Messi also getting into the act, but midfielder Iniesta shone brilliantly
along with Xavi Hernandez. It is with these last two names that Barça
should be celebrating & feeling confident about their future.














The FC Barcelona midfield combination of XAVI HERNANDEZ &
ANDRES INIESTA has played a vital part in 9 out of Barça 10 goals
scored to date. Xavi Hernandez was voted EURO 2008 Best player & the
form that gave him that prize is continuing & evolving to greater heights.
Quite frankly, Xavi Hernandez is maturing like a fine wine & is arguably
– if not – one of the World´s great midfielders. Added to this, his “partner in
crime” both at Barça & the Spanish National side, midfielder Andres Iniesta
is now exploding onto the Spanish & World Football stage in such a way
that it can only give rise to confidence & optimism for the future.

With this observation, the FC Barcelona forwards – Eto´o , Messi, Henry,
Bojan, Pedro…etc – can only rub their hands in delight as they will be
guaranteed a healthy supply of passes , balls & set ups that will ensure that
they put them into the back of the net. Barça fans will also benefit from the
multiples joys as Xavi & Iniesta are midfielders that arrive from midfield
lines to score goals & thus will participate in the future goal feasts, plus save
them from difficult match situations.

In conclusion, as long as both Xavi & Iniesta stay clear of injury, Barça
will develope into a dangerous, winning & feared side. It´s a question of time
& patience as new coach Guardiola puts in place his view of how things
should run. SFS is sure that FC Barcelona has benefited from its 1-6 victory
over Sporting de Gijon last Sunday to inject the “mental faith” needed to
believe in themselves, shrug off criticisms & set course for Football glory.
A Football glory that both Iniesta & Xavi will be fundamental!

*SFS thanks "Mundo Deportivo" for its Club header

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VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS OF SPORTING 1 - FC BARCELONA 6 - ROUND 3 2008/09

Due to numerous requests, here is the video highlights of yesterdays
Sporting de Gijon 1 -FC Barcelona 6 match which was an authentic
“whitewash”. Hope the Barça fans enjoy the clip because Sporting
admires like SFS will rather wish to forget.





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DANI GUIZA CARRYING THE SPANISH FLAG WELL IN TURKEY

There are Spanish Football (Soccer) players around the globe exercising
their profession in a successful manner. Most cite Fernando Torres as the
best example but there are plenty carrying the flag high & well. One of
those is DANI GUIZA, ex-Mallorca & Spanish International forward
who is currently in Turkey playing with FENERBAHCE & all reports
comment that he is doing quite well. Here is a video of Guiza scoring a
goal from a Roberto Carlos pass which I found uploaded yesterday on
“Youtube”. I can´t read Turkish so I presume it was from this weekends
round of matches:

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09 - ROUND 3 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS

The rest of Round 3 matches took place today in the Spanish League with
an unusual run of low scoring & drawn games. The highlight was that
Valencia go to the top of the ladder with their narrow win.

Here is a brief summary of all the results, scorers & images of todays
clashes.














REAL MADRID managed to lift a gear in the 2ºhalf of the game
& take the 3ºpoints against RACING DE SANTANDER with a final
0-2 scoreline. The first half was even, & the bad news was the injury
of Guti in the latter part who was substituted by Van Dar Vaart.

The 2ºhalf saw a more aggressive Real Madrid & they were rewarded
with a goal by midfielder DE LA RED ( above) in the 54th min.

Real Madrid continued their dominance & in the 74th min VAN
NISTELROOY scored a wonderful & the winning goal for his team.
SEE VIDEO OF BOTH THE GOALS BELOW:

Racing reacted late in an attempt to score a goal but Real Madrid managed

to keep them at bay. Important win for Real that takes them up the ladder.















VILLAREAL are looking good even away from home after defeating
NUMANCIA 1-2 & getting into the top part of the league ladder. The
scoreline was surprisingly opened by Numancia in the 42th min by
BRIT. However that "shock" was quickly overcomed by CAZORLA in
the 50th min with the equalizer & LLORENTE with the winner in the
76th min. Notable mentions go to PIRES & NIHAT who played an
important part in Villareal´s win.
















Real important win for ATHLETIC DE BILBAO against
VALLADOLID 2- 0 to give them a confidence building 3ºpoints. The
action come in the 2ºhalf when LLORENTE headed in Bilbao´s 1ºst
goal in the 50th min & latter IRAOLA converted a penalty in the 80th
min to secure things. As said, vital win for Athletic won were in a bad
state up to this moment.
























Big local derby between REAL BETIS & SEVILLA FC that finished
as derby´s tend to do, in a 0-0 draw. Both teams were very conservative
& not willing to risk at all, although Betis looked the more dangerous
at times.

















Same thing between DEPORTIVO & MALLORCA as in the Betis &
Sevilla derby, a 0-0 draw. Very boring, conservative & with Deportivo
hitting the post in the 44th min, but little else.















ALMERIA keep doing the business & find themselves 2ºon the League
table after defeating MALAGA with a solitary goal by NEGREDO
(above) in the 76th min: final score 1-0
























VALENCIA find themselves leading the Spanish 1ºst Division with 7º
points after winning a very difficult game against OSASUNA 1-0.
The game was fiercely fought but Valencia managed to lift itself
towards the end & it´s class palyers took control. It was a David Villa
pass that set up MATA in the 84th min to allow him to score & give
Valencia the victory & the 3ºpoints.

FC BARCELONA needed to win YES or YES tonight to lift itself up the
Spanish League ladder & to get off their back the criticism being received
from local media & fans alike for their lack of goals. Well tonight they
manage to "kill two birds with the same stone" as they ripped through
& defeated REAL SPORTING DE GIJON 1-6.

Sporting are currently last on the ladder & the reason is simple, they
not signed class players ( lack of budget) & they have a very,very poor
defensive strategy that allows goals to rip them apart.

FC Barcelona player XAVI ( above celebrating) started the scoring in the
26th min, that was followed latter by SAMUEL ETO´O in the 32th min
with a header ( as seen below) & Barça´s second; that´s how the 1º half
finished.





















The 2ºhalf saw more of the same & terrible defensive plays by
Sporting with the own goal by JORGE in the 49th min illustrating
what has been wtitten. But there´s more, a defensive error forced
Sporting´s GERARD to foul Messi to avoid danger which earned
him a RED CARD in the 56th min & left Sporting with 10 men.
This action had totally cancelled Sportings efforts back in the 50th min
as they managed to grab a goal via MALDONADO that gave some
hope.

With the home team playing badly & in a numerical disadvantage, it
was´nt long before Barça scored again in the 70th min thanks to
INIESTA, the 5ºth goal come in the 85th min via MESSI who put in
the sixth ( his second) of Barça final goal in the 90th min.

If Barça were criticised for not scoring goals, tonight that shut plenty
of months, with the help of the very sad Sporting defence. Tweet

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CYCLING: ALBERTO CONTADOR WINS VUELTA & MAKES HISTORY

Spanish cyclist ALBERTO CONTADOR won the "LA VUELTA DE
ESPAÑA" cycling Tour, & by doing so got into the history books as
the 5ºth rider in Cycling History to have won the "3 Great Races":
"Giro di Italia, Tour de France & La Vuelta..." Alberto Contador joins
the leyendas Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault & Gimondi & still is young
enough to give us more victories in the future.














The top 3 places in the General classification has finished thus:
1. Contador 80.40,23; 2. Leiphieme ,46; 3. C.Sastre 04,12














Increible year for Spanish cycling as Carlos Sastre who finished 3ºplace
in "La Vuelta...2008" won this years "Tour De France", & Contador
won this years "Giro di Italia" & "La Vuelta ...2008". Tweet

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TENNIS: SPAIN DEFEATS USA FOR IT´S SIXTH DAVIS CUP FINAL

Young Spaniard & World Nº1 Tennis player RAFAEL NADAL defeated
American ANDY RODDICK in 3 straight sets - 6-4; 6-0; 6-4 - to take
Spain to a 3-1 lead today in its semi final clash & guarantee that Spain
cruises into its 6th DAVIS CUP final. The Spaniard was inspired & was
great infront of the home crowd in Madrid to carry his nations flag.
























Spain will either play Argentina or Russia in Noviembre in the final
that will take place the 21st of November. Tweet

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SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA 2008/09- ROUND 3 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Two matches have been played tonight as part of Round 3 of the
Spanish 1º Division - "La Liga". The following are brief summaries
of the results & scorers.
























ATLETICO DE MADRID had a comfortable victory against
RECREATIVO DE HUELVA with a 4-0 scoreline. The home side
come out strong & it was´nt long before SERGIO AGUERO scored
Atletico´s 1ºst in the 7th min from a header that saw him alone in the
box. Bad defensive mistake from Recreativo were Aguero was lethal!
























Recreativo regained order in their play but in the 52th min a "cracker"
from outside the goal area from midfielder MANICHE saw Atletico´s
2ºgoal for the night.

Then to add the "cherry on the cake", French forward SINAMA
PONGOLLE banged in two goals - 77th min & 88th min - to give

Atletico a great scoreline & allow everyone to briefly forget that
Diego Forlan was missing tonight through injury. SEE VIDEO of
game highlights & goals:

Atlético Madrid 4 - 0 Recreativo Huelva resumé 20.09.08

The other game saw leaders ESPANYOL draw with GETAFE 1-1
in an average match were both were conservative. The goals came

in the 2º half with Getafe scoring 1ºst via a penalty that MANU
converted, & then Espanyol equalized in the 57thmin via SERGIO
SANCHEZ . From then on it was a touch the ball & wait & see

situation with both happy to share the points: a just result.

Surf into SFS late tomorrow night for all the results, images & scores

of the rest of Round 3 clashes

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SALOMON KALOU ON FC BARCELONA LIST?

Local Sports Daily "Marca" has picked up the news from English paper
the "Daily Mirror" that 7,5M€ separate the Ivory Coast & CHELSEA
FC forward SALOMON KALOU from FC BARCELONA.
























This "surprise" news reinforces FC Barcelona concerns after the
start of the new season, that it is not scoring enough goals & that
Samuel Eto´o is not hitting the target. If the operation is finally successful
the palyer would obviously come over in December when the "Winter
Transfer Market" opens. Tweet

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FRANCE PROPOSES A "4 NATIONS" EUROPEAN TOURNAMENT

The French Football Federation has put on the table the idea to
celebrate a yearly European 4 NATIONS Tournament, following in
the style of European Rugby´s 6 Nations Tournament.

The French have put up France, Germany, Italy & Spain as the incial
sides with the possibilty of inviting England.The tournament would be
held straight after the end of the Spanish League & in France.












The idea is born from the fact that the mentioned National sides play
relatively little between themselves & this option would be good for the
European Fans. The only "difficulties" would be:

1. The tight Football Calendar already in place - World Cup, Euro &
FIFA Confederation Cup games
2. Players local Clubs adversity to having their stars play more & risk
injury
3. Economic compensations.
4. Non participating Nations "jealously"

Point 2 & 3 maybe overcome by TV rights cash flows which would be
significant. While the 4th point maybe solve be a system of rotating
invitations.

It´s an idea & it will be thought out, no doubt the fans & European
Football wins, but it´s the Calendar that needs solving. Stay tuned!

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THE 24 MEN OF REAL MADRID 2008/2009: THE TEAM PHOTO

SFS knows that a "large sector" of it´s readership ( specially from the
Asian Zone) are REAL MADRID fans & await eagerly to see & collect
images of their team.

With this in mind, & aiming to please, SFS has come across this official
Real Madrid team photo for 2008/2009 season courtesy of daily "AS".

The paper titles : "The 24 men of Real Madrid". The picture angle many
have been a mistake, better front on, but this is what we have guys.

The question is: will Real Madrid stay all season with the chosen 24 above?
Will it add a new member in December?
Stay tuned!

Hope the Real fans enjoyed this.

*Thanks to "Mundo Deportivo" for the team header.

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UEFA CUP 2008/09 QUALIFIERS: 4 SPANISH TEAMS BEGIN THE LONG ROAD

The long road of the UEFA Cup kicked off tonight with 4 Spanish
teams in action. Many consider the Uefa Cup more difficult & much
more unpredictable than the Champions League. The 1ºpart set up of
the Uefa Cup is a home & away knock out leg which then turns
into a Group ( Champions League format) stage to see the top teams
of each group later fight it out till the final. It is basically a tooth-grinder
of a competition which takes the punch out of most teams.

















The first team to feel the true nature of Uefa is DEPORTIVO who went
down away 2-0 to Norweign side BRANN BERGEN. The goals come
in the 20th min via a penalty that BJARNASSON converted & in the
36th min via SOLLI.

Bergen deserved the win as they were superior & will make the return
leg a must win game ( & with 3 goals) affair for Deportivo who face an
uphill battle.
























SEVILLA FC did the job as was expected with a 2-0 victory at
home against SALZBURG. Young CAPEL ( above) scored the first
goal for Sevilla in the 6th min. From here Salzburg stood firm until
the 90th min when CHEVANTON scored Sevilla FC second goal.

In theory, Sevilla should´nt have problems for the return leg.
























RACING with all the illusion in the world won an even affair against
HONKA ESPOO by the narrow margen of 1-0. The goal come in a
moment of a lapse of concentration from Honka as the 2º half had
just started. In fact, in the 46th min PEREIRA got in & scored Racing
only & winning goal.

Racing has the advantage for the return leg, but needs to be cautious
as it is not at all in the bag.
























VALENCIA flew to the Portugues Islands of Madeira to meet
MARITIMO, a good Portugues side with class. Valencia won 0-1
thanks to then 12th min fabulous goal from MORIENTES (above).
However, Maritimo was not daunted & put Valencia at times against
the ropes. So much so, that in the 2º half they hit the post twice & nearly
equalized in the last minute, but Valencia too missed their chances
( Villa missed a beauty) throughout the game to have the game turn to
a seesaw affair for most of the time.

Good win for Valencia, they escape from a tough ground & from a very
good Maritimo team. The 2º leg is going to be a grand game. Tweet

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFIERS 2008/09: REAL MADRID WINS (SEE VIDEO) & VILLAREAL DRAWS

It was Real Madrid & Villareal´s turn tonight to start their unique roads
towards the European Cup Final in Rome, with both sides not
disappointing & maintaining the positive results of the Group game
debuts.
























REAL MADRID played a professional match, that is, it did the job &
grabbed the 3º points by defeating BATE BORISOV 2-0. It was
SERGIO RAMOS who opened the scoring in the 10th min to settle
his team & part the traditional opening nerves. The rest of the 1º half
was an even affair of attacks & counter-attacks without result.














The 2ºhalf saw a more aggressive Real Madrid & it was rewarded
with it´s 2º goal when VAN NISTELROOY scored in the 57th min.
From here it was clear that Real had the game wrapped up &
played to maintain the scoreline causing the ocassional extra danger.

The bad news was the injury to Real Madrid midfielder GAGO who
was back in the line-up to see now how he recovers from injury in the
following weeks. See video of goals (excuse the "bad" image):

VILLAREAL came out of the "Old Trafford" hell with a valuable
& praise worthy 0-0 draw against the current European Champions
MANCHESTER UNITED. The English team fell to the "IRON LAW"
of Football: if you don´t take your chances you either lose or draw with
luck (Villareal hit post in 2ºhalf). That is precisely what happened
tonight, with Man Utd not converting its multiple chances (post included
in the 2ºhalf), specially all the 1ºst half.

It was frustrating for Man Utd all night as Villareal bravely withheld &
grind down the English to grab a just result & an excellent away point
for them to take back to Spain.

















The other news was the return to the field from injury of Cristiano
Ronaldo in the 62ºth min, but even he could not turn the result
around.

An excellent night for both Spanish teams overall!

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