Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

So remember that great “Serie A vs. EPL” section on La Gazzetta which I promised I’d partially translate?
Here’s the first batch of pink-goodness: a look at ALL THE PLAYERS from tonight’s Inter Milan vs. Manchester United UEFA Champions League match.
Boy I can’t wait for game-time. Meanwhile, feast your eyes on this. (oh, and credit goes where credit is due of course: the original)
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Tags: Adriano, Carlos Tevez, Christian Chivu, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dejan Stankovic, Dimitar Berbatov, Edwin Van der Sar, English Premiership, Esteban Cambiasso, Gary Neville, Inter, Inter Milan, Ivan Córdoba, Javier Zanetti, Ji-Sung Park, John O'Shea, Julio Cesar, Julio Cruz, Maicon, Manchester United, Manchester Utd, Michael Carrick, Nicolas Burdisso, Patrice Evra, Patrick Vieira, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Serie A, Sulley Muntari, UEFA Champions League, Walter Samuel, Wayne Rooney, Wes Brown, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Posted in English Premiership, Inter, Player Profiles, UEFA Champions League | 2 Comments »
Saturday, December 27th, 2008

It’s that time of the year again. With the days fast approaching December 31, awards for the “Best XI” of 2008 are being handed left and right. The biggest one (at least as far as us Europeans are concerned) probably being UEFA’s Team of the Year (voting is still open on uefa.com here).
While we wait for the UEFA popular vote (winners announced in January), let’s have a look at what the main sports newspaper in France has in store for us this year. Here’s L’Équipe‘s All-Star XI Football Players for 2008.
And once again, don’t be surprised if Premiership elements are leading the way and Serie A is snubbed…
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Tags: All-Star Best XI, Cristiano Ronaldo, Daniel Alves, Fernando Torres, Franck Ribéry, Iker Casillas, John Terry, Kak, Kaká, L'Équipe, Lionel Messi, L’Équipe’s Best 11 Soccer Players of 2008, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Philipp Lahm, Rio Ferdinand, Soccer, Steven Gerrard, Xavi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Posted in Player Profiles, World News | 51 Comments »
Thursday, May 29th, 2008

Since it’s May 28 and all the Euro 2008 rosters have been finalized, let’s take a look at Italy’s biggest rivals from Group C. It may be called the “Group of Death”, but I am talking of course about France. Coach Raymond Domenech had already made a “Pre-selection” list of 30 players some weeks ago, eventually cutting down the group to the required 23 imposed by UEFA. Much like World Cup 2006 (which saw the surprise call-ups of Franck Ribéry and Pascal Chimbonda) there were a few surprises in the list, in particular regarding the absentees.
For example, Mickaël Landreau and Djibril Cissé had extensively featured on Les Bleus‘s roster since the World Cup but instead, the French coach chose to privilege and reward the recent form of Steve Mandanda (keeper for Marseille) and Bafetimbi Gomis (striker for St. Etienne). Les Verts‘s forward had surprised everyone this Tuesday, by scoring the two victory goals in France’s friendly encounter vs. Ecuador (one better than the other, the second of which a spectacular scissor-kick). Cissé must be really fuming though, because he hasn’t played in a major tournament since World Cup 2002 (he was suspended in 2004 and injured in 2006).
In defense, the biggest surprise comes from the absence of Julien Escudé, a pillar of FC Sevilla’s and France’s backline in recent years (it seems however that the French center-back “re-awakened” his hernia (pubalgia) problems on Tuesday and was thus excluded for health/fitness reasons), as well as that of for Philippe Mexès (considered by many as one of Serie A’s best defenders this year). The latter just further demonstrates my theory that Domenech has an absolute phobia for anything coming from Italy, biggest case in point being David Trezeguet‘s (20 goals in Serie A this season, one goal behind topscorer Del Piero) absence even from the “Pre-Selection” list. One really has to wonder how on Earth Sebastien Frey didn’t get the cut.
Finally, Jérémy Toulalan and Lassana Diarra were preferred over Mathieu Flamini and Alou Diarra (Flamini just signed for AC Milan… you see how proving my theory just gets easier and easier?), while Hatem Ben Arfa was discarded due to his limited use in Lyon’s line-up this year. French sports newspaper L’Équipe suggests that by choosing 4 main strikers (Henry, Anelka, Benzema, Gomis) in his roster, Raymond Domenech is determined to keep utilizing his tested 4-4-2 formation for the SwissAustria tournament.
Here’s the full list:

.
Number |
Goalkeepers: |
Club: |
Nº23 |
Grégory Coupet |
Lyon |
Nº16 |
Sébastien Frey |
Fiorentina |
Nº1 |
Steve Mandanda |
Marseille |
. |
|
Defenders: |
|
Nº3 |
Eric Abidal |
Barcelona |
Nº2 |
Jean-Alain Boumsong |
Lyon |
Nº14 |
François Clerc |
Lyon |
Nº13 |
Patrice Evra |
Man Utd |
Nº5 |
William Gallas |
Arsenal |
Nº19 |
Willy Sagnol |
Bayern Munich |
Nº17 |
Sébastien Squillaci |
Lyon |
Nº15 |
Lilian Thuram |
Barcelona |
. |
|
Midfielders: |
|
Nº21 |
Lassana Diarra |
Portsmouth |
Nº10 |
Sidney Govou |
Lyon |
Nº6 |
Claude Makélélé |
Chelsea |
Nº7 |
Florent Malouda |
Chelsea |
Nº11 |
Samir Nasri |
Marseille |
Nº22 |
Franck Ribéry |
Bayern Munich |
Nº4 |
Patrick Vieira |
Inter |
. |
|
Forwards: |
|
Nº8 |
Nicolas Anelka |
Chelsea |
Nº9 |
Karim Benzema |
Lyon |
Nº18 |
Bafétimbi Gomis |
St. Etienne |
Nº12 |
Thierry Henry |
Barcelona |
Tags: Bafétimbi Gomis, Claude Makelele, Eric Abidal, Euro 2008, Florent Malouda, France, Franck Ribéry, François Clerc, Grégory Coupet, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Jérémy Toulalan, Karim Benzema, Lassana Diarra, Lilian Thuram, Nicolas Anelka, Patrice Evra, Patrick Vieira, Raymond Domenech, Samir Nasri, Sebastien Frey, Sébastien Squillaci, Sidney Govou, Steve Mandanda, Thierry Henry, William Gallas, Willy Sagnol
Posted in Euro 2008 | 1 Comment »