Nantwich Town have crashed out of another cup competition tonight.

The Dabbers were beaten 4-3 after extra time in the quarter-final of the Cheshire Senior Cup by Cammell Laird.

A dramatic 118th minute goal by the hosts killed off Peter Hall’s men as Nantwich’s dismal run continues.

And it had all looked so promising after being 2-0 and then 3-1 ahead in the second half of normal time.

Michael Lennon

Michael Lennon put Nantwich ahead on 20 minutes, before new signing Melvin Robinson doubled the advantage in the 47th minute.

Aaron Bowen pulled on back for Laird, but a minute later Robinson struck again to give Dabbers a 3-1 lead.

But 60 seconds later, Bowen notched his own double to make it 3-2 and Tony Rendell took the tie into the extra 30-minute period when he made it 3-3 in the 76th minute.

Then, with the tie seemingly heading for a penalty shoot-out, Shaun Tuck popped up to crash home the winner.

LUFC vs Grimsby Town – Johnstone’s Paint Quarter Final

SIMON GRAYSON’S men continue on the road to Wembley in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy on Tuesday night with a tie against League 2 outfit Grimsby Town at Elland Road.

The game is to be shown live on Sky Sports 1 from 7.30pm and the United gaffer told leedsunited.com he expects to field a strong lineup:

“There might be a couple of opportunities for players, but there won’t be wholesale changes. We have no game at the weekend, some players need extra games,and we want to try and win it because if we win on Tuesday we are through to the semi-finals and three games from Wembley which would be a nice day out for everybody.”

Sweeney... set for Elland Road return.

Midfielder Max Gradel looks set to play his final game for the club as his month-long loan spell from Leicester City expires in the next few days, though Grayson had not ruled out trying to extend the deal:

“I would like to keep him because he has done well for us and he has enjoyed it, but he isn’t our player and I respect that. I will speak to Nigel (Pearson) at Leicester and ask the question and we’ll see where we are.”

Another loanee in Sam Vokes is back in contention after being cup-tied for the game at Oldham. Though the Whites are without the suspended Michael Doyle and Tresor Kandol whilst Luciano Becchio is still out with an ankle injury.

Peter Sweeney, who appeared nine times for the Whites, makes his first return to Elland Road since departing for Tuesday’s opponents during the summer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/harlequins/8191371.stm

Over the years we have seen much dirty play, and indeed dirty tactics, in the game of rugby. This has, unfortunately, marred its very honest and gentlemanly approach to the game.

Either today or tomorrow, we will find out the future of, in particular, Tom Williams who currently faces a 12-month ban for his part of the fake blood debacle in the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster.

I personally cannot believe that this could happen to the young, and potential England star, player. Yes – he did play a critical part in the scandal, but how much of the idea do you think was his? If your coach (or one of the senior coaching staff), in the most crucial match the club has ever played in, tells you to fake an injury in order to get your specialist kicker back on the field, it’s unlikely you’re going to say no.

Let us not forget these are tactics. Dirty tactics, yes – but tactics nevertheless. Therefore, regardless of the fact that Harlequins did ultimately lose the game, no one was actually hurt.

The same cannot be said, however, for a certain Schalk Burger who deemed it acceptable to gouge the eyes of Luke Fitzgerald.

And before you think I’m being biased against a South African – I am half South African myself. Schalk’s actions could have blinded a player, which is certainly something I’d consider worse than using slightly dirty tactics to win a game. Yet the Port Elizabeth-born flanker only received a ban of 8 weeks(!) – less than a fifth of what Williams could receive.

This problem needs to be resolved with the men behind the scenes. The typical ban for eye-gouging is significantly higher so how Schalk got away so lightly is unfathomable.

I’m looking forward to the result of the trial, however the cynic in me says that Williams won’t be lucky, and I tend to listen to my cynical side.

This will be a tough one… After beating the straw in extra time in the first round the elephant have had a rather easy run up to the quarter finals. He completely dominated the game both against the pump and the airco and maybe now it’s time to see what he’s really up for. The vacuum cleaner on the other hand have shown both strength and stamina in his runs up to the this quarter final. How he strategically maneuvered the giant anteater is still one of the highlights from this tournament so far so let the game begin.

http://lt.se/sport/1.505424

There was no-one happier than me that Roger Federer defeated Ivo Karlovic in straight sets earlier today.

One of my friends is a massive Karlovic supporter and two years ago I bet him £250 that Big Ivo would not reach a grand slam semi final in his career and my goodness, he came a little bit too close to achieving this feat for my liking.

Federer, who has reached his 21st consequtive grand slam semi final, thankfully tamed the big serving Croatian in style breaking him twice with relevant ease.

Breaking the 6′10 giant was particularly significant as he had not been broken in a match since he arrived in England for the grass court season a month ago!

It’s not that I’m not a fan of the Croatian, in fact I love watching him hit aces past everyone, it’s just that if a rally develops he will lose the point 8 times of out 10.

I generally thought he had a chance against Federer today however the Swiss master picked off his massive serves brilliantly. This was seriously a returning clinic and a pleasure to watch from the five-time Wimbledon champion.

But Karlovic will be very pleased with his overall performance at Wimbledon as he has made his first ever quarter final appearance in a grand slam taking out two top ten players along the way in Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco.

If you have been won over by the Croatian giant’s massive serve and dodgy ground strokes join this Facebook group – ‘Ivo Karlovic – The King of Tennis’.

OUR last few hours in Halmstad passed as slowly as any, with hostel check out time at 11 o’clock, but the train south to Malmo not until 2:35pm.

So we passed the time in the internet cafe - me keeping tabs on Wimbledon, Houlker writing Monday’s diary on ‘Word Pad’ on the laptop to avoid paying for the privelege of going online.

An aimless stroll through town culminating in snack food for the train journey followed, and eventually it was time to go back to the hostel and pick up our bags – which we had thankfully been able to leave behind reception – before heading off to the train station, looking forward to another new chapter.

Talking of chapters, I selfishly read a few myself with my ipod on the go to fill much of the hour-and-three-quarter journey; Houlker entertaining himself by watching the baby sat opposite us, who had an amusing habit of making simple things look ever so difficult.

Finding ourselves right in the midst of the Serbs made for a fantastic atmosphere.

By 4:20 we had arrived in Malmo for the first time, both of us curious about what our final location would have in store and how aware the public would be about the football tournament going on around them.

The bemusing loss of our city maps meant we were forced to queue for one at Malmo station to get to the hostel. I struggled to hold back a snigger as Houlker decided he knew exactly where we were, before being corrected by the man behind the tourist information desk, who simply told him: “You’re looking at a map of Copenhagen.”

And so, correct map in hand, we found our way to the hostel where we checked in and got chatting to a couple of England fans in our dorm.

Soon enough it was time to rack up meals 13 and 14 on the ‘M’ tally (right) before we prepared for the group A showdown between Sweden and Serbia – effectively a quarter-final that Sweden only had to draw, a bit like Portugal against England in the Sven years.

As Houlker readied himself, I was approached by an Australian guy called Damian, or ‘Dime-ian’ as he referred to himself, who was over here as part of a trip around Europe.

“You mind if I tag along?” he asked, when I said we were heading to the match. “I’ve never been to a soccer game before!” Neither have I, I thought. Seen a few football games, mind.

And so Damian accompanied us on our walk to the Swedbank Stadion, and I told him a few things about ’soccer’ (probably against his will), before we went our separate ways when he joined the long line to buy tickets, and we headed straight to gate G.

We began to get excited when our tickets took us more or less right into the heart of the Serbian contingent, who proceeded to support their team manically for two hours (including during half-time), before ending the night on a sour note - reacting to their team’s defeat by launching some of the brand new seats of the Swedbank onto the playing surface at the final whistle.

Blackburn's Martin Olsson was more than happy to pose for a photo after a friendly chat.

Surprisingly, for a brand new stadium, we were free to wonder around the stands at the end, culminating in photos with three Swedish players including Martin Olsson of Blackburn Rovers and UEFA’s man of the match, Marcus Berg, who had definitely taken some treatment from the Serbs (eventually reduced to nine men) judging by the state of his face.

On our return, we decided to prolong our walk as we passed the hostel in search of evening entertainment in the city centre, but as we have come to expect in Sweden, entertainment is pretty elusive when time ticks towards midnight.

So, with an equally unsuccessful quest for food under our belts, we called it a night and returned to the hostel for some welcome shut-eye after another long day in the Swedish sunshine.

Highlight of the day – Finding ourselves right in the mix of the Serbian fans made an entertaining game even more memorable.

Lowlight of the day – Having three and a half hours to kill in Halmstad was a bit of an inconvenience.

Charles Akonnor

My Bournemouth career started well as I secured the signatures of Charles Akonnor, who’s represented Ghana no less than 51 times. 24 year old Frenchman (we won’t hold it against him), Vincent Escude quickly followed him through the door, arriving on a free transfer from Ajaccio. With absolutely no money to spend, and with a wage budget well into the red, I looked for loans. Eventually, four loan signings also made their way to Dean Court, in the form of Kyle Davies, Damien McCrory, Alexander Prijovic and Shane Lowry.

Having secured what I considered to be enough quality to see us challenge for the Blue Square Premier title, I went about decreasing the wage bill, with the majority of the playing and coaching staff taking wage cuts. Unfortunately, 12 players that were surplus to requirements were off loaded, leaving me with a very small first team squad, as I decided to focus on quality not quantity.

Pre-season went relatively well, as we won four and only lost to opposition from the football league, we pushed Plymouth particularly hard, before remembering our manners and succumbing to a 2-1 defeat. Our start to the league campaign went even better, as we conceded just the one goal en route to 7 straight wins. We continued this excellent form, and by Christmas we had only dropped 8 points, scoring 49 and conceding 13 in 23 games. We also performed well in the cup competitions, securing our place in the FA Cup third round by beating League 2 side Rochdale 1-0 at Dean Court, with our reward being a home tie against Charlton. In addition to this, we also overcame every obstacle presented to us in both the FA Trophy and the Conference League Cup, seeing us through to the 2nd round and quarter final respectively.

Prijovic: Leading the goalscoring charts.

Unfortunately however, injuries have taken their toll, with Lowry, McCrory, Prijovic, Pitman, Hollands, Escude, Akonnor and Cooper all on the sidelines at different points throughout the campaign. This has been a particularly shame for Prijovic, on loan from Derby, who’s the top scorer for the club, with 16 league goals to his name. His excellent form has seen him lead the way in the goalscorers chart, and it’d be almost heartbreaking to see him robbed off the award just because he’s suffered a couple of injuries. Hopefully, he’ll manage to regain his form when he returns.

Looking forward to the remainder of the season, I have four main aims.

1. To put up a good fight against Charlton.
2. To maintain our unbeaten run for as long as possible, winning the league in the process.
3. To win the FA Trophy and the Conference League Cup.
4. To keep the clubs finances in good shape.

I have a feeling task four may be the most difficult, with my assistant manager being a particular and persistent nuisance, offering contracts to the youth team even though I’ve given him strict instructions not to. Maybe I should sack him, but I’m not sure if I can afford the settlement, or find a better option for a cheaper price.

hand of god

This is a world famous goal that doesn’t really need any introduction but here we go. On 22 june 1986 Argentina played England in the quarter-final of the Fifa World Cup in Mexico. Diego Maradona scored in the 51th and the 54th minute both goals are historical and Argentina won the match (2-1).  The first goal is the ‘Hand of God’-goal and the second is considered ‘the goal of the century’. Check the video’s of both goals:

This is the draw for the Challenge Cup Quarter Final made a couple of minutes ago on BBC1.

Hull KR – Warrington Wolves

Huddersfield Giants – Castleford Tigers

Gateshead Thunder – Saint Helens

Wigan Warriors – Salford City Reds

Barcelona and Liverpool will both travel for the 2nd leg of the champion’s league quarter-final. Barcelona will meet with Bayern Munich in Germany. Barcelona with a 4 home goal advantage and with the champion’s league top goal scorer, Lionel Messi (8 goals). Liverpool will travel to Stamford Bridge to meet with Chelsea after a 1-3 defeat in the 1st leg. Chelsea with a 4-3 victory over Bolton over the weekend and Liverpool will the decision to play or not play the injured captin, Steven Gerrard. Liverpool will need at least 3 goals to advance to the semi-finals.

My predictions: Barcelona win, Chelsea win.

We went unbeaten for the first eight league games of the season, before we lost away to Man City. This run however, included a hard fought 2-1 win over Arsenal at the Den, having gone behind after only six minutes, with both Makarov and Cuesta on the score sheet. The game at the City of Manchester Stadium was followed by a trip to Anfield, which resulted in a 1-1 draw, as did our next game, at home the Chelsea. We then scored ten goals in our next five games, before losing only our second league game in fifteen, where two goals at the death gave Newcastle a win at St. James’ Park. Our incredible start to the season saw us sitting second in the Premier League following a 1-0 home win over Manchester United. Hopefully this league form will keep up. Although I don’t expect us to challenge for the title come May, European football would be brilliant for the club.

Could Millwall be involved in the greatest prize in club football next season?

We once again reached the quarter finals of the League Cup, beating Hull and Bristol City, only to be defeated by Manchester United once again. Hopefully we’ll avoid them in the FA Cup, as we really struggle against them in cup competitions!

A couple of players are already heading for the exit at the Den, with deals already in place for Preston Edwards, Kris Commons and Steven Smith. Smith struggled with injuries since arriving from Rangers, and never really challenged Antonio for the left back position. Both Edwards and Commons, heading to CSKA Moscow and Wisla Krakow respectively, were desperate for first team football, and as both have been great servants to club (Edwards in particular) I felt it was right to grant them their wish. Hopefully we won’t miss them too much. I still have a large chunk of my transfer budget left, so finding replacements shouldn’t be too arduous a task.

Both Preston Edwards and Kris Commons are set to leave the Den.

]]> http://onsidesoccer.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/1st-leg-quarter-final-preview-2/ Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:57:37 +0000 barcatellano http://onsidesoccer.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/1st-leg-quarter-final-preview-2/

Bayern Munich and Chelsea will both travel for the 1st leg of the champions league quarter-finals. Bayern Munich will meet up with spanish league leaders, Bareclona. Bayern Munich with the disadvantage of Miroslav Klose injured. Klose has scored 7 goals in the champions league, alike Steven Gerrard. Chelsea will not travel far as the meet with the english premier league’s  second best team at the moment, Liverpool.  Steven Gerrard with a 4 goals advantage over Didier Drogba, Chelsea’s  champions league top goal scorer.

My predictions: Barcelona v Bayern Munich tie, Liverpool win.

Tuesday’s results: Villarreal v Arsenal tie, 1-1; Manchester United v FC Porto tie, 2-2.

FC Porto and Arsenal will both travel for the 1st leg of the champions league. FC Porto will meet up with defending champions, Manchester United. Manchester United will have to defend well with Lisandro Lopez on FC Porto with 6 goals in the champions league. Arsenal will meet up with spanish side, Villarreal. Arsenal will have to defend well also as Joseba Llorente has 4 goals, 1 more than Emmanuel Adebayor.

My predictions: Villarreal and Arsenal tie, Manchester United win.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL DRAW

Villarreal v Arsenal

Manchester United v Porto

Liverpool v Chelsea

Barcelona v Bayern Munich

The first legs will be played on 7/8 April with the second legs on 14/15 April.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL DRAW

Manchester United or Porto v Villarreal or Arsenal

Barcelona or Bayern Munich v Liverpool or Chelsea

The first legs will be played on 28/29 April with the second legs on 5/6 May.

View: UEFA Champions League Website

A streak of 4 wins in 6 games saw us close the gap to Manchester City. This gap disappeared entirely in our next game as we beat them at Eastlands thanks to a wonder strike from Carlos, only his second league goal for the club, putting us well and truly in the race for the final Champions League spot. Due to our good form, both Swansea and Stoke approached me, however both were significantly below Millwall in the Premier League table, so the offers were turned down.

We were drawn against Middlesbrough in the third round of the FA Cup, beating them 2-1 thanks to goals from Carlos and Ashley Gould. Our reward was a home tie against Northampton, resulting in an easy 2-0 victory, with goals from Jesus Perez Cuesta and Nathan Brown. We face Aston Villa in the next round, who happen to be the only team to beat us since our League Cup Quarter Final defeat at the hands of Manchester United.

Gaby Mudingayi: Remaining at the Den for the forseeable future.

The January transfer window was full of rumours and enquiries, with Bayern Munich submitting a £10million bid Ashley Gould, which was dismissed. Portsmouth approached us about both Gaby Mudingayi and Thiago Motta, however were unable to meet our valuations for either player, meaning they stayed put. Despite my greatest efforts to offload him, Tamas Priskin refused to leave the club, rejecting offers from Austria Wien, Dinamo, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Preston. In fact, the only player to leave the Den was want away left winger, Emiliano Fantin, who demanded a move back to Italy following rumoured interest from Napoli. Thankfully, Napoli matched our valuation of £9million plus 30% of any future profit. This also happened to be our biggest ever transfer fee recieved. Two players arrived at the Den over the month, in the form of 18 year old Scottish centre back Simon O’Halloran, and 21 year old Brazilian centre forward Carlos Eduardo (both regens). Arguably the two biggest deals of the window for Millwall Football Club was the contract renewals of both Luiz and Nathan Brown, with both players extending their deals until 2018. Unfortunately, I have still been unsuccesful in my attempts to renew both Alexy Eremenko and Preston Edwards contracts. Preston Edwards is proving particularly diffiult to negotiate, as he’s not played in a league game all season due to Asmir Begovic’s good form.

Our next three league games are against Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, so points will probably be hard to come by.

It’s FA Cup quarter final weekend, except for at the Emirates tomorrow where it will be FA Cup fifth round weekend. Today we see Championship mid-tablers Coventry take on Premier League big boys Chelsea at the Ricoh Arena. Chelsea are strong favourites but were humbled by Barnsley at this stage last season. Coventry are now managed by Chris Coleman and his pondering face.

The art of looking thoughtful

Pre amble

Today’s studio guests are Stuart ‘Psycho’ Pearce and Graeme ‘Robbie Fowler thinks I’m gay‘ Le Saux. Not really sure why they’ve wheeled in Pearce, he only played for  Coventry for a couple of years. You associate him with Forest more than anyone else. Coventry of course are famous for their 1987 win over Spurs in the FA Cup Final. Chelsea are most famous for, erm, no scrap that they don’t have any history.

Teams:

Coventry: Westwood, Wright, Dann, Turner, Hall, Henderson, Gunnarsson, Doyle, Eastwood, Best, Morrison. 

Subs: Marshall, Ward, Beuzelin, Osbourne, McPake, Simpson, Thornton.

Chelsea: Cech, Cole, Terry, Alex, Bosingwa, Lampard, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Drogba, Kalou.

Subs: Hilario, Essien, Carvalho, Di Santo, Quaresma, Belletti, Mancienne.

Ashley Cole sobers enough up to play for Chelsea, and they field pretty much a full strength side despite having a big game away against Juve on Tuesday night. Michael Essien is on the bench for the first time since being injured in August, goodness knows Chelsea have missed him this season. I won’t pretend to know all of Coventry’s players but Clinton Morrison can be a decent striker on his day and apparently the midfielder Gunnarsson is well thought of and has good delivery from the wings. Freddie Eastwood isn’t bad either. This is the first time Coventry have sold out their new stadium since moving in three years ago.

1 min: Coventry kick off.

2 mins: Drogba holds up the ball on the edge of the box, turns Turner (hehe) and fires a left shot just past the far post. Coventry will be hoping that doesn’t happen too often. This is the kind of game in which Drogba could terrorise defenders. That was a good chance.

4 mins: Ashley Cole boozed up booed, brilliant. 

6 mins: Eastwood fires just wide but the whistle went as Doyle hustles Lampard unfairly.

7 mins: Ballack shoots over. All his goals this season have come in the cup.

8 mins: Bosingwa runs towards the box and then aimlessly shoots from a ridiculous angle. Unsurprisingly it goes well wide.

9 mins: Cole booed some more. I wonder if he still has a hangover.

10 mins: Malouda has styled his hair like Jon Obi Mikel. It looks interesting…

A hungover dog which is in no way representative of Cole.

13 mins: You can always tell when there isn’t much going on in the game when the camera starts cutting to the crowd. We focus on Abramovich who has his usual smug but glum look. He’s wearing a nice looking jacket for once. When you consider how much money he has and that his girlfriend Dasha Zukhova is a model/designer/editor/curator and whatever else she feels like doing, his dress sense when not in a suit is appalling.

15 mins: GOAL! Coventry 0-1 Chelsea! Drogba scores out of nothing. The ball is played back to Dann in defence but he dilly dallies on the ball and Drogba dispossesses him and runs towards goal. He’s slightly wide as he takes it past the keepr but finds the net with no trouble. Poor by Coventry but a great finish.

17 mins: Coventry have responded pretty well to going a goal down. They cross a couple of balls in but they are easily dealt with.

20 mins: Coventry playing a dangerous game as Drogba is caught just offside from a through ball by Ballack. Dann and Turner not having the best of games at the back.

24 mins: Leon Best who is wearing a comedy face mask runs at the Chelsea defence. He cuts into the box but then skies his shot. I have the Coventry website open and they are also doing minute by minute updates. They reckon it was just over. It wasn’t.

27 mins: Chelsea in control, just passing it around. I’m sure they don’t want to expend too much energy before Tuesday.

29 mins: Alex bundles into Leon Best and Coventry win a free kick near the Chelsea box. Henderson plays it in but it part cross, part curling shot. It drifts just wide having failed to curl enough.

32 mins: Stuff is kind of happening but kind of not. I’m finding this game a little boring.

33 mins: Kalou runs down the right and lays it to Mikel who scuffs his shot having got the ball stuck between his legs. It then gets knocked about a bit more before Malouda wastes it.

35 mins: Cole fouled about 35 yards out. Chelsea free kick taken by Lampard and it’s a good effort. He takes it Ronaldo style by striking through it so it goes up and under rather than curling. Westwood tips it over. I wonder if him and Eastwood have turf wars on the Coventry training ground. 

Gang wars, sort of.

4o mins: I can already sense that the most interesting aspect of this game will end up being Michael Essien’s second half substitute appearance.

41 mins: Kalou looks for a free kick as he tackled outside the box but nothing is given. Replays suggest he was unlucky, the defender scything him down somewhat.

44 mins: Coventry survive a sustained bit of Chelsea pressure, with several players running at them from various positions. No one can really produce the bit of skill for the breakthrough and eventually the Sky Blues clear their lines.

Half time: The half comes to a close with Chelsea in control. They have their goal and are dominating possession by just passing it around at ease. Every so often someone decides to run at Coventry and it’s only a final ball away from being 2 or 3-0.

I had been hoping Graeme Le Saux would just be providing analysis with Pearce but I’ve had to listen to his co-commentary all game. Maybe that’s why I’m finding it so boring. I haven’t heard him since he announced he was quitting the BBC before the last World Cup. I wish he had stayed retired per se.

Meanwhile, despite Chelsea’s dominance they are only one up so Coventry still have a chance.

46 mins: Chelsea kick off the second half. They have taken off one infuriating winger who can’t cross in Kalou and brought on another infuriating winger who can cross but has the consistency of really horrible hot chocolate that has been made with water instead of milk, in Ricardo Quaresma.

It's fair to say he's inconsistent...

50 mins: Time ticks by some more, Chelsea still in control.

54 mins: Coventry win another free kick in a good position but yet again the delivery is woeful. It sails harmlessly over. It’s clear that set pieces are Coventry’s best hope of getting back into this but at the moment they have been unable to produce a single telling ball. I think Henderson should stop taking their free kicks. Maybe on Football Manager Chris Coleman saw he had a low set piece rating but persisted because Henderson somehow had lots of assists anyway. I would suggest he finds a player with 15+.

59 mins: Wright bundles into Malouda who is still on the pitch for some reason. When I say bundle I mean leaps three feet in the air and charges into his back. Escapes a yellow impressively. Beuzelin comes on for Doyle.

61 mins: Coventry Henderson wastes another free kick. 

64 mins: Essien about to come on for Chelsea. I think had he been fit, Scolari would probably still be in a job. 

65 mins: Mikel off, Essien on.

66 mins: Terry goes on a run into the Coventry half but then remembers he lacks skill and pace and doesn’t know what to do. He tries to knock it past someone, loses it and then attempts to take out the offending opponent.

67 mins: Coventry’s long throws are causing more problems then their set pieces right know. Gunnarsson chucks it in, Cech flaps and misses but Coventry can’t get a decent shot away. They then win a second throw on the opposite side of the pitch and again the ball almost breaks to Morrison and Best but neither could quite turn and shoot. Chelsea need a second goal to kill this off.

71 mins: A clash of heads between Alex and Drogba. The earth moved, both come off temporarily. Chelsea have to defend a throw with nine men.

72 mins: GOAL! Coventry 0-2 Chelsea! And defend it they do. A super lightning break. Quaresma runs down the right, crosses into the box and Alex all people has run 50 yards to finish with aplomb with his left foot. Both him and Drogba had just come back on, and both were part of the four on one break. Great cross, great finish, great goal. That would be that I would think.

77 mins: Slightly bizarre moment. Chelsea player fouled and the free kick gets taken quickly. Lampard has it and while Coventry wait for the whistle he runs to goal and sets aim from 25 yards. He scuffs it badly and a low shot goes wide. It would have stood though.

79 mins: Fat Frank is through on goal again but can’t lift over the oncoming keeper.

80 mins: Drogba comes off and is replaced by youngster Franco Di Santo.

82 mins: Coventry’s best chance. Morrison is through on goal and Alex lunges in on him. Morrison stays on his feet instead of going down and thus can’t get his shot away. Cech smothers, Morrison complains. It’s hard to say as didn’t go down but that would have been a penalty had Morrison made more of it.

85 mins: Here’s a shock for you. St Mirren have knocked Celtic out of the Scottish Cup. That’s St Mirren who hadn’t beaten Celtic in 19 years and lost 7-0 to them just last week. Ex Coventry manager Gordon Strachan will not be a happy bunny.

This man got Coventry relegated.

88 mins: There has been some bits of excitement in the last few minutes but none that I feel were particularly worthy of writing about.

90 mins: Drogba given man of the match. About right I’d say, he gave the Coventry defence all sorts of problems in his 80 minutes on the field.

Full time: Coventry 0-2 Chelsea. A comfortable win for Chelsea in the end. Coventry had their spells of pressure but couldn’t turn it into real chances for Morrison and Best. Class prevailed with Drogba scoring a great early goal and the decider coming on the break after Chelsea had introduced Quaresma to stretch the Coventry defence.

T.

Kim Gevaert didn’t get to meet her ultimate dream. The Olympic final of the 100 metres didn’t happen for her. Everything was in her favor on Saturday, a draw that wasn’t too hard, beautiful times in the quarter and semi finals, but she didn’t seem in the same good shape like yesterday. Gevaert was sixth to reach the finish with a moderate time of 11:30.

With the time she ran yesterday during the semi-finals should she could have easily gone to the finals. She didn’t write Belgian history (she could have been the first Belgian sportswoman to reach an Olympic 100 metres final), but will still continue to fight for a place in the 200 metres- and the 4×100 m relay finals.

(more later)

Rafael Nadal Interview
Wimbledon
Wednesday, 2 July 2008

Rafael Nadal def Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Q: Phần nào của trận đấu làm anh thấy hài lòng nhất ngày hôm nay ?

RAFAEL NADAL : Mọi thứ. Tất cả mọi thứ.

Q : Nếu đây là 1 trường hợp thì chiến thắng này nằm ở vị trí nào trong số các chiến thắng tuyệt vời của anh tại Wimbledon ? Đây có phải là trận đấu hay nhất của anh từ trước đến nay tại đây ko ?

RAFAEL NADAL : Chắc chắn nửa cuối set đầu và set 2 là thứ tennis tuyệt nhất mà tôi chơi từ trước đến nay.

Q : Anh có thể giải thích vì sao anh chơi hay đến vậy ko ?

RAFAEL NADAL : Bạn ko bao h biết được tại sao ? Tôi cũng ko thể lý giải nổi. Bạn biết đấy, trận đấu hôm nay rất đặc biệt khi tôi được chơi với 1 tay vợt đẳng cấp như Andy. Và đó chính là 1 động cơ thúc đẩy tôi rất đáng kể để chơi tốt hơn thêm nữa với tôi thì việc lọt vào trận BK cũng là 1 mục tiêu cần thiết. Tôi chỉ ra sân và luôn cố gắng hết mình. Sự thật là tôi vẫn đang chơi rất tốt trước trận đấu đó, và tôi bước ra sân với sự tự tin và chiến thuật tốt nhất mà tôi có thể. Sau 1 sự khởi đầu bình thường, tôi gặp phải 1 chút lo lắng nhưng sau đó thì tôi bắt đầu chơi tốt hơn.

Q : Việc anh chơi tấn công suốt từ đầu trận đấu có quan trọng ko ? Mặc dù anh nói anh hơi lo lắng nhưng có vẻ như chính điều đó đã giúp anh áp đặt lối chơi của anh lên anh ấy ?

RAFAEL NADAL : Tôi chơi tấn công trong suốt cả trận đấu ư – oh ko phải Khi tôi gặp khó khăn, lúc đó tôi còn ko có thời gian – Tôi cố gắng hết sức để đánh bóng sát biên nhất có thể. Well, hôm nay là 1 trong những ngày tuyệt vời nhất của tôi tại đây. Tôi biết rằng nếu tôi chơi chậm lại hay lơi lỏng 1 chút Andy sẽ ngay lập tức đánh trả rất mạnh mẽ và lúc đó thật khó để đánh bại anh ấy ? Vì thế cơ hội tốt nhất để chiến thắng anh ấy là luôn phải chơi với tốc độ nhanh hơn của anh ấy, và tôi đã luôn cố gắng duy trì điều đó trong suốt cả trận đấu. Bạn biết đấy, Andy là 1 tay vợt tài năng. Và nếu bạn ko thể đẩy nhanh tốc độ chơi hơn anh ấy, rất khó để thắng được anh ấy.

Q : Anh có gặp khó khăn với việc tất cả mọi người đều cổ vũ ủng hộ cho Murray ?

RAFAEL NADAL : Tôi nghĩ rằng khán giả ở đây luôn rất fair-play. Well, chắc chắn là tại mọi thời điểm thì khán giả luôn ủng hộ Murray, đó là điều rất bình thường. Tôi cảm thấy rất thoải mái trên sân. Tôi rất cảm kích với mọi người ở đây nhất là khán giả. Bất cứ khi nào tôi ra sân, bất cứ khi nào tôi thi đấu tôi đều cảm thấy mọi người luôn ủng hộ cho tôi. Và hôm nay tôi chắc chắn mọi người cổ vũ cho Murray nhiều hơn 1 chút nhưng họ cũng vẫn luôn ủng hộ tôi. Và Andy cũng cư xử với tôi rất tốt