The Tottenham Hotspur is the team that currently holds the title for the Carling Cup championship and, on Sunday, they will have to face the Manchester United who is standing in their way of winning a second title in a row.
The 2009 Football League Cup Final will take place on March first at Wembley Stadium in London.
The Carling Cup is now in its 49th season with 92 teams coming from the Football League (England, Wales) and the Premier League (England)
The last time that the Manchester United came up with victory at the Carling Cup was in 2006 and, lately, they seem to be in a good position to relive that moment.
In contrast with the recent success of Manchester, the Spurs, whom haven’t performed very well lately, have to carry with them the mental struggle of facing one of the most powerful teams on earth in order to keep the title at home.This could prove to haunt them on Sunday when the moment of truth arrives.
Last year, the Tottenham Hotspur beat the Chelsea in order to win the championship, but the team of the ‘blues’ at that time was not so strong. Now the story is totally different, as they are facing the Manchester United, the team that obtained the Carling Cup with a 4-0 victory over the less-notable Wigan Athletic.
Apparently, Alex Ferguson is going to allow some rookie players to compete in a finals’ game, drastically different from the Spurs who are going to play with their best men.
Honestly, I believe that the Tottenham Hotspur don’t have much of a chance of beating the Manchester United, though Ferguson’s usage of rookies is something that could favor the Spurs.
Real Madrid’s Raul Gonzalez has said that he plans to play two more seasons with this team before his departure from Spanish soccer. He has marked the year 2011 as the time to leave the club.
He did say that he’ll review his decision 6 months before the established date.He mentioned that it will be a time to reflect if it benefits him and club, if the decision is made final.
He has had thoughts about playing in Major League Soccer (MLS), like former teammate David Beckham. Also, he said he would like to travel around different places of the globe for a year.
Raul has played with Real Madrid since 1994 and has been the only club he has ever been with and was the youngest player to ever be on the senior side. He has been the team’s captain since 2003, after Fernando Hierro departed from the club.
During his time with Madrid, he has won over six Spanish league titles, three UEFA Champions League titles, four Spanish Super Cup titles, one UEFA Super Cup title, and two Intercontinental Cup titles.
Also, he is Real Madrid’sall time topscorer with 311 goals, surpassing Alfredo di Stefano’s record. In addition, he is Spain’s all time top scorer with 44 goals. Individually, he has obtained different recognitions such as FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year and the UEFA Champions League Top Scorer.
Raul has made numerous appearances in various soccer events. He has appeared in the Spanish League 506 times. In the UEFA Champions League over 123 times and the FIFA World Cup 11 times.
David Beckham won’t be wasting any time during the MLS offseason, as he will be moved to the Italian soccer club AC Milan in January, as a loan from his current club, the L.A. Galaxy.
The former Man U star is moving to keep playing competitive football and try to stay in good shape so he’s eligible for the national team for different friendly games and qualifiers. How good will this decision be? For the Galaxy… and of course, for the AC Milan.
Is this a marketing stunt? For the Milan it definitely is. This will be a great way to draw more money to their team. They haven’t been on their best moment (financially speaking). And who says “soccer” around the world in a more popular way than David Beckham.Maybe not the best player, but the most famous, no doubt about that. Beckham was a great merchandising source for Manchester United, he put the L.A. Galaxy on the spotlight, and now he’s going to get the world’s attention from Italy. Let’s be honest! It’s not like the AC Milan really needs Beckham as a part of the squad, does it?
The good part for LA Galaxy soccer betting fans is that this hard work with top-class figures will help Becks get fitter and improve his skills. Some of the best qualities Beckham used to have were fading with the years, and others might just be a little rusty after all this time playing with a low-profile soccer league like the MLS (there’s no comparison for us with European soccer yet!)
David Beckham will be back with the Galaxy by April 2009, when the MLS Season starts again. Let’s hope he gets back as the star everyone claims him to be.
These 2008 Beijing Olympics have given a lot to talk about. Especially for soccer fans, who enjoyed an incredible game between Argentina and Brazil. The big surprise was to see the Brazilian squad defeated… with no goals scored!
Argentina surprised with 3 goals, scored by Sergio Aguero (who scored 2) and one by Juan Riquelme thanks to a penalty.Even with the big advantage of having top-class players like Messi, Batista has made an excellent job as a coach in Argentina, while Dunga will have to face tough critics of his performance as coach of what’s supposed to be one of the best soccer teams in the world.
The Brazilian soccer team has had some bad results lately (before the Olympics there were awful soccer scores showing), and yesterday’s game was one of the biggest failures. Even if they actually win the bronze medal on the game against Belgium, their performance will be remembered as a very poor one, very unlike the usual Brazil.
Let’s see what happens with Dunga and his team. If they continue the way the have been doing it… we will probably have to find other favorites for the next World Cup.
This Wednesday brings a major event for rabid soccer betting fans: the Manchester United will play on the UEFA Champions LeagueFinal for the first time in almost a decade, facing the also british club Chelsea.
After many ups-and-downs, it seems finally the Old Trafford guys are regaining strength. Some were really impressed by the fact that Man U has played with good level, but never made it to the Final. But now Manchester has reached (and maybe surpassed) the level of the other big european soccer clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Chelsea had a great performance as well this year, but in most cases the soccer odds favor Manchester United for being a more aggresive team. Getting here took nine years to them, so they will do whatever it takes to bring the UEFA Championship title home. Besides, with Ashley Cole injured and not completely sure that he will be able to play a good match, Chelsea has less chances of beating the Manchester squad.
So, my predictions are that the 2008 UEFA Champions League will be won by Manchester United, but not without a good struggle. The difference is probably going to be one lucky goal on the second half.
With so much going on for soccer fans, you probably know already these 2 names are really hot in the news. Manchester United’s Paul Scholes and brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo are giving a lot to talk about… one for good, and the other one, not so much.
Many are following the european Champions League games, which get more exciting as the finals approach. With an unexpected turn of events, the English club Manchester United will be part of the Champions Leaguefinal for the first time in 9 years. All that thanks to the amazing 25-yard shot by -now for sure- star Paul Scholes, which crossed right into the net and caused a win over Barcelona 1-0. Who would’ve expected that? Barça’s presence in the UEFA Champions League final is usually a must. Manchester was very low in the odds to win this match, considering they didn’t have one of their best players, Wayne Rooney, because of an injury. Thanks to Scholes’ outstanding performance, Old Trafford is celebrating having crushed one of the big favorites, along with the possibility of taking the Cup home on May 21st. Man U could be facing either Chelsea or Liverpool that day. Of course, Paul Scholes will be there… and he has become a key figure of the game.
On the other hand, it seems scandal is what old players go for when they can’t live out from their fame anymore. And soccer is no stranger to that situation either. Still recovering from knee surgery in Brazil, AC Milan’s Ronaldo got caught in a scandal for picking up 3 prostitutes that turned to be transvestites. After admiting the basic facts, he claims being a victim of extortion from them and also reported having psychological issues related to his surgery. Oh, really?. Well, it’s been so long since we heard good news from Ronaldo as a major piece in any soccer team. His performance has dropped down enough to be news just by the sex scandals. Too bad, we’re talking about a former world class soccer legend here.
The good news is we’ll never run out of good soccer players to trust when picking our favorites out of the betting lines. You’ll see that next time when you watch the Champions League final.
Finally! So, Beckham is still alive, and actually playing for the L.A. Galaxy. After the horrible defeat suffered by this MLS team on its first game against Colorado Rapids (4-0, one of the worst losses in the history of the club), they made it better on their home opener, beating the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0.
Of course this probably wasn’t the welcome the Earthquakes were expecting after more than 2 years off the League. Just 9 minutes after the match started, David Beckham appeared, assisted by Landon Donovan, and scored the first goal. It was almost a miracle for Becks, after being a total wreck during his first games at the MLS. We were all really disappointed after all the fuzz made around his arrival to American Soccer last year, that ended up on nothing useful. But now results are finally beginning to show and that gives us some hope again.
The Donovan-Beckham duo teamed up again later on, when the English player assisted with a pass to Landon Donovan, who took a brilliant shot to the empty net, to score the second goal.
Of course, this result doesn’t mean sure victory for the future. But it’s a good start. Let’s see if they do that good with regular MLS teams that haven’t been off the field for a long time.
Every team (in NFL and College football, soccer and basically every sport) has its set of key players, the ones who seem to make everything happen and the ones considered like the real soul of the team when they are on their best. However, relying on a team’s key players when looking for a good sports betting strategy is just dumb.
Of course everybody thinks about the key players. Even the oddsmakers will set the betting lines according to the starting QBs, starting pitchers and so on. But the truth is, ANYTHING could happen during a game and nobody knows how things are going to turn out. Even with the superstars we put our trust on.
A perfect example of these unexpected streaks of bad luck is the sad, sad story of the L.A. Galaxy: Once upon a time, there was an MLS soccer team that seemed to have everything fixed to become the next champions. They could even afford an imported $250 million player like David Beckham. Everything was set and everyone was positive that this could only mean improvement and success. What they could not anticipate was the amount of injuries that were going to come along with this expensive star and how he would have to stay off the field for so long.
The Galaxy hit rock botton last Wednesday on the SuperLiga Final. Besides the fact that they were defeated, the matchup brought Beckham a brand new injury: a sprained knee. No wonder why some are changing the popular saying to “mend it like Beckham”.
Even when some might say “you could see that coming”, I bet nobody actually thought Landon Donovan was going to miss a penalty on the tie breaker. That’s just plain bad luck. Anyway, key players costed the team, in some way, the victory against Pachuca.
All this could happen in any sport. NFL football relies on key players a lot, but if your favorite team has a great starting QB it doesn’t mean that your money is guaranteed. College football puts a lot of pressure on their star Quarterbacks. And so on. So, if you are going to place your money thinking of your team’s best players, just keep in mind that there are some things that not even the best handicappers can predict.
Trying to step away from NFL football a little bit, we can focus today on Soccer. And even with the shocking news of Sevilla player Antonio Puerta who died a few days ago, we will stay in this continent. Soccer is a very popular sport with a very unpopular U.S. League. However, the MLS has been drawing a lot more attention since David Beckham -superstar for some, overrated for others-came all the way over from England and entered the L.A. Galaxy.
Tonight, the Galaxy will face Mexican squad Pachuca on the SuperLiga final. Many soccer betting fans are confident with the selection of great players for Los Angeles, but the truth is that we can not forget that the Galaxy players have been a wreck lately when it comes to injuries. Landon Donovan has always been considered one of their key players (for the U.S. National squad too). About 10 days ago, Donovan strained his calf during a game against the New York Red Bulls, and that has kept him away from the field.Coach Frank Yallop said he was feeling much better now and it is likely that he will be playing tonight. Still, we have to consider that he’s had minimum rest and it could affect in some way during the matchup.
On the other side, there’s Beckham with his never-healing sprained ankle that made him move to the bench for most of the games (including his official “opening game” with the U.S. team). It’s pathetic how the attention of every camera has been all over a player that is not even playing in most of the shots. But leaving all that aside, the British player has shown that he’s still “got it”, by scoring a very impressive free-kick goal against D.C. United during SuperLiga Seminfinals (I bet none of you missed it even if you wanted to, because the miracle of him finally scoring was on TV over, and over, and over…).
Beckham is aware that his injury is going to bother him for a little more time, so it is expected that he plays against the Mexicans, but nobody can know for sure for how long he’s going to be playingand if during that time he will do something worth recording.
For all bettors and bookies out there expecting some cash tonight, just don’t forget that Soccer injuries are all over L.A. Galaxy, specially on key players, and it could affect the results. Also, we have to remember that Soccer is THE major sport in Mexico, so they will probably put a good fight for that SuperLiga title.
