We will start off this week with a plug for the Canadian International Player of the Year as selected by Canadian fans at the Voyageurs website. To quote from the press release – “This award recognizes the Canadian international who, through both their club exploits and international play, made the greatest impact in 2007. Last year, Atiba Hutchinson won this award on the strength of several strong UEFA Champions League performances for his club, FC Copenhagen, as well as for his professionalism, and dedication to Canadian soccer.”
You need to register on the Voyageurs message board, in order to cast a vote but the process I am told is fast, easy and free. And for our American friends, remember even if you are a registered Republican, in Canada, we are only allowed to vote once.
The Times looks back at a game that was played fifty years ago and one that we are unlikely to see the likes of again. Bill Shankly speechless?
For those of you who have not come across The Fiver (an occassionally factual daily e mail from the Guardian Unlimited) you can follow the link and discover the winners of their annual year end awards. Any awards that you would like to add?
Last weekend saw Bundesliga teams play their last league games until February 3. Spain (returning January 6), France and Italy (both returning January 12) sign-off this weekend with some great games in prospect.
Lyon might have been a bit slow out the gate this season but a win over second place AS Nancy would give them a very comfortable seven point lead at the half-way mark. And a seventh consecutive league title would be in prospect come the New Year.
Nancy are winless in the last four games but with third place Bordeaux already eight points behind Lyon they look to be the last team with any hope of challenging the perennial champions.
Not surprisingly the attention in Spain will be on the Barcelona vs. Real Madrid match. However, the other Madrid vs. Barcelona weekend match-up between Atletico Madrid and Espanyol doesn’t look bad either.
Atletico has only lost once in their last nine Liga games while Espanyol are undefeated in the last twelve. When you consider that no Spanish side has scored more goals at home than Atletico and likewise Espanyol away then we could be in for another belter o####ame at the Vicente Calderon.
Like Lyon, a win for Real Madrid at the Nou Camp would provide the reigning champs with a seven point cushion at the top. However, there is a great deal more competition in the Spanish league and only the most foolhardy Real Madrid fan would be expecting a stroll to a second straight title come the New Year.
There was an interesting article a couple of weeks ago from Gabriele Marcotti on how Real's summer signing spree that cost around $160M has largely failed to produce any direct results. However, it seems to have reinvigorated some other players.
Raul is a prime example having already scored eight league goals, his best return in the last three seasons with less than half the season gone. Raul’s scoring stats over the last few seasons have mirrored his decreasing effectiveness. Starting with the 1998/99 season and moving forward to 06/07 Raul’s league goals have been 25, 17, 25, 14, 16, 11, 9, 5, and 7.
Any hope that Milan may have had at the start of this season of stopping Inter’s drive for a historic three consecutive Serie A titles seems to have evaporated over the first four months of this season.
Milan – FIFA Club World Champions and UEFA Champions League winners – are a massive twenty-two points behind Inter and even if you give them nine points from their three games in hand the gap is still monstrous. As it presently sits a finish in the top four is a more realistic goal.
Inter have seen injury worries mount in the last few weeks but it has made little difference to what has become a well oiled machine. Second place Roma have rattled off six wins and four draws (22 points from a possible 30) but have seen the gap with Inter grow from three points to seven over that time span.
Argentine forward Julio Cruz has been putting the ball into the net on a consistent basis with nine goals in 12 Serie A appearances and he has scored in his last three appearances. What makes it surprising is that Cruz is doing it at the age of 33 – an age at which most players are seeing production tailing off.
One thing going for Cruz is his lack of “mileage” – less than 400 games in 15 seasons means that the Argentine striker has averaged less than 25 games a season with a high of 33 games for Bologna in the early part of this decade.
Quick free kicks Super subs? Spurs’ Jermaine Defoe has come off the Premiership bench twelve times this season but has only scored once (against Manchester City two weeks ago). But with 14 goals as a substitute Defoe is second in Premiership history to Manchester United’s Solskjaer with 17.
Defoe’s best season as a scoring sub was in 01/02 when he scored six goals after coming on for West Ham. This is Defoe’s 9th season in the Premiership but he has failed to complete ninety minutes in more than half the 207 games that he has played in.
Andy Johnson of Everton has scored all of his three Premiership goals after coming on as a substitute this season – he is without a goal in 8 Premiership starts.
It is a hard sell to Liverpool fans but things are getting better as far as the Premiership is concerned. Going into this weekend Liverpool are 10 points behind the leaders and have a game in hand. Last season the gap was 15 points with an equal number of games played, in 05/06 it was 15 points and Liverpool had two games in hand.
The 04/05 season saw Liverpool 15 points in arrears (same games played) and a year before that, 16 points worse off than the top of the table Arsenal. In 2002/03 on this date Liverpool sat 5th and were only 5 points behind leaders Arsenal. However, by season end Manchester United were on top while Liverpool maintained the same league position albeit finishing 19 points behind the Champions.
If Villa starts a back four of Mellberg, Knight, Laursen and Bouma against Manchester City this weekend it will be for the 15th straight time in the Premiership. City has an outstanding record against Villa – 3 wins and a draw in their last 4 Premiership visits – in the last ten Premiership meetings against Villa City have 8 wins, a loss and a draw.
Another side that is hoping that history means something are Middlesbrough. Boro have a great home record vs. West Ham – 8 wins, 1 draw and no losses, they’ve scored 20 and conceded only six.
Steve Bruce will hoping for a better holiday period than last season. Twelve months ago Wigan were the only side to lose all four games. The best holiday performers were Manchester United with ten points out of a possible dozen. Next best were Arsenal, Liverpool, Blackburn, Bolton and City each with a point fewer.
Canada has shown that they are a legitimate challenger for one of the CONCACAF spots on offer at the 2010 World Cup. However, at this moment that is probably of little consequence given the nature of their controversial loss to the USA in the Gold Cup semi-final.
With only seconds left and Canada pushing for an equalizer a ball was lofted forward towards the US penalty box. Onyewu stretched for the header and finished up heading the ball to the feet of Atiba Hutchinson who calmly side footed it past Keller in the US goal.
From the limited TV replays we received in Canada – apparently the Toronto thingies were playing a game of rounders – Hutchinson was not in an offside position when the initial ball was played forward and although he was in an offside position when he benefited from Onyewu’s wayward header the only way it could have been judged offside was if the ball had deflected of the big US defender.
It would require an active imagination to construe Onyewu’s header as a deflection. But an active imagination apparently is exactly what the assistant referee has as he immediately flagged and the referee accepted his call. If there are any referees out there who might shed some light on this decision I know a good number of Canadian fans would love to hear from you.
The first thirty minutes of the match consisted of the USA trying to play a bit too quickly while Canada could have done with a bit more pace to their game. Although the US may have had the better of the play Canada had a couple of set piece opportunities that might have turned profitable.
But it was the USA that opened the scoring through full back Frankie Hejduk. Hejduk may have trouble with his distribution at times but you have to admire the enthusiasm and energy that he brings to every game. And you have to admire the way he struck the ball from just outside the box to put the US into the lead.
The second goal came from the penalty spot after Beasley was tripped by Canadian keeper Pat Onstad. Beasley was played in by the simplest of passes inside full back Paul Stalteri. Donovan drilled his penalty down the middle.
The two goals the USA scored in the last ten minutes or so of the first half served to change the shape of the game in the second half. The play spread out and as Canada tried to push forward there were acres of space for the US midfielders and forwards to run at the Canadian defence. As the second half progrressed the US’s bad habit of spurning chances reemerged and it proved costly, although thanks to the officiating, it was not fatal.
The emergence of Ian Hume was a turning point for Canada as the wee man starting hustling the US defence and running at the them at every opportunity. Suddenly Canada’s attacks became more intense and threatening and when Hume equalized with a quarter of an hour left we knew we were in for a barnstorming finish.
Ratings Canada Onstad (6) – Had no chance with either of the two US goals. Otherwise rarely tested.
Stalteri (4) – Was guilty of a sloppy back pass in the second half. Was unable to get forward into attacking positions.
Hastings (6) – Handled Dempsey and Johnston well.
Hainault (6) – Ditto.
Jazic (7) – A very competent performance.
Bernier (6) – Pace of the game was a bit too quick for him but he made few mistakes.
Hutchinson (7) – Never imposed himself on the game but he showed again that he is type of player who can turn a game in an instant.
Nash (4) - When given time he sprayed a couple of great passes but in close quarters he was ineffective.
De Guzman (7) – Victim of a brutal challenge in the first half but De Guzman was Canada's most consitent performer over 90 minutes.
De Rosario (5) – Looked like he was going to pull off something special in first half but faded in the second.
Gerba (6) – A thankless task being the lone striker with little support for long stretches of the match. Fought valiantly.
Subs. Hume (8) – A terrific performance off the bench only reinforced the unanswered question as to why he was used so sparingly in this competition.
Nakajima-Farran – no rating
USA Keller (6) – Handled what he came his way.
Hejduk (8) – Scored a call and was here, there and everywhere…although you may not want to see that in your right back.
Onyewu (3) – He might be a fan favourite but too often he is an accident waiting to happen.
Bocanegra (4) – Was lucky to be on the park after a spectacularly late challenge on De Guzman in the first half.
Bornstein (5) – Showed great promise and energy in the first half but suffered in the second half as much of the US attacks avoided the left side.
Dovovan (6) – The upside his Donovan continued to look for the ball even though he struggled most of the evening. He will want to remember his set up for the first goal and his well-struck penalty. He will want to forget his wiff with an open goal in front of him. That was in the 50th minute and would have killed the game as a contest.
Bradley (4) – Was prominent in the early stages of the first half but his performance dropped off alarmingly as the game progressed. Rightfully shown a straight red card for a challenge that was late, high, from behind and designed to stop a player breaking away from him – the referee got that one spot on!
Mastroeni (7) – Patrolled his area well with a minimum of fuss as a good holding midfield should do.
Beasley (6) – Everytime I watch Beasley I am left with the feeling that he could have contributed so much more.
Johnson (4) – Poorly timed runs and failed to link well with Dempsey and the midfield.
Dempsey (5) – Absolutely starved of the ball but failed to go and get as well.
Gongatore - Who or what team was the biggest surprise for you in La Liga this season? Who do you think will win in the Gold Cup semis? Can Capello survive to coach another season at Real? Will FR be shown the door at Barca?
Bobby – I predicted Racing Santander would be relegated and they finished mid-table so they have to be in contention my biggest surprise. Recreativo Huelva and Getafe would also be worthy of consideration. If you need me to pick one then I will opt for Recreativo given that they had just been promoted.
I will go for a USA - Mexico final but I would not underestimate this Canadian side. Hutchinson and De Guzman in midfield are excellent players. If I was Bob Bradley I would try to make sure that are not allowed to settle and in particular I would play a quick player - Landon Donovan? - a bit deeper against the Canadian holding midfielder Martin Nash.
Nash is a fine passer but he lacks pace and when he doesn't have time he normally struggles. In Canada's case I would be trying to get a skilful player up against Onyewu rather than trying to match him with brute strength. Canada tends to stick De Rosario out wide on the left and he can drift out of the game for long stretches. If he came inside he might cause enough problems to create a couple of clear cut chances or get a set piece opportunity.
Capello will leave and I believe Rijkaard will go also.
Henry14 - Q1 Do you know what Milan are up to, the other week Berlusconi claims he want Sheva, and has $140m for Ronaldinho , and then Ancelotti was Henry, then Galliano wants Eto'o , who do you see them signing. Q2 What do you think will happen to Capello as coach, because Marca claimed 56% of the fans wanted Capello back Q3 Do you remain adamant Henry is staying, even after dubious statements he has made which are so far from the one he said last summer and I quote "this is my last contract, the fans in England appreciate me even if they are not Arsenal fans something l can never get anywhere, l will never play in Spain" Q4 - Who do you think will own Arsenal summer next year?
Bobby – A1 – Circumstances have overtaken the answer seeing that Milan signed David Suazo from Cagliari. A2 – I would have thought that an approval rating of 56% after winning La Liga for the first time in four seasons is hardly a ringing endorsement or vote of confidence. I still believe that Capello will saddle up and ride out of Dodge. A3 – It’s silly season in England and I am taking transfer speculation with a kilo of salt. I think Henry will start the new season with Arsenal. Q4 - The same people that own the club now.
Quest5227 - My question deals with Manchester United (as always). I think we both agree that they could use another striker for the upcoming season. Who do YOU believe would be the most useful striker that they can get- realistically?
Bobby – Probably a fully fit Louis Saha – unfortunately he doesn’t come with a 100% health guarantee. I would be surprised if United make a move for a striker before moving some players out. Given the three new signings United will need to shave a chunk of money off their wage bill as well. Once they have decided who they have shifted and how much they get for them then we will have a better idea. The money being quoted for the likes of Darren Bent is silly. When you consider Andy Johnson moved for around 7M pounds last summer, 17M is crazy.
Wyofc – I was reading the some of the articles today and the one about demands of Club and National teams caught my eye. Do you think they will impose a game limit? If so what would be the number and who gets to decided if they are all for club, all for national team or what breakdown? If you look – say the number is 52 games is the max – that is one a week – and it looks like the standard number of league games are 38, that leaves 14 for FA Cup, Champions/UEFA, National team duty, other tournaments. To me putting a limit on number of games makes sense for the human body/mind is concerned, but posses many many more problems between clubs and nations. Just kind of wondered your thoughts.
Bobby – It is an interesting thought but one that would also raise considerable problems beyond the club and country debate. How would account for playing conditions, or travel ala David Beckham, or the age of a player? Another factor might be how spread out are the matches.
Digity - Care to comment on Lalas' statements regarding the 'inferior' EPL product?
Bobby – Lalas works for a very large and successful organization – I’m meaning the company that owns the LA Galaxy. I would find it amazing if he just said what he did on the spur of the moment as opposed to a well thought out strategy. However, I would agree that the average English pundit is generally pig-ignorant about anything that happens in the football world outside of England. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I have never understood the debate about what league is the best. Frankly, I don’t even see how you can compare leagues or why anyone would want to.
Maoze Reading - With Guadeloupe reaching the semifinals of the Gold Cup I was wondering what would happen with the CONCACAF spot at the Confederations Cup if they were to somehow win it all? Would the spot go to the second place team since Guadeloupe is not a recognized member of FIFA?
Bobby – My understanding is that in such a case the runner-up would get the CONCACAF place at the Confederations Cup.
CIAO - Do you think Capello will be fired? If so, with the instability, would any respectable/skilled player still consider moving to Real Madrid? I could see if they keep Capello last season would be considered a transitional and a successful period. So players may want to join Capello’s team. I could even see Kaka making the move to Madrid. Suazo was snatched from under Moratti's nose by rival AC Milan. Inter is perplexed. Regardless, I think it may be good for Inter as they should try to bring in players that will challenge for a starting position... Who do you think Inter should bring in to replace Recoba? And Adriano if he leaves? I personally would like to see Miccoli replace Recoba. And Cassano, Klose, Guti, F Torres or David Villa replaces Adriano. Cassano might be interesting. He will probably step it up a bit this season to regain his spot on the national team - at least I hope... Regardless, I think Inter should definitely keep Ibra and Cruz, they cannot replace them.
Bobby – I think Capello will leave. Some great players will still sign for Real Madrid because Real Madrid has been a mad-house for a while and it didn’t stop players moving there. The problem with your theory about players wanting to join Capello’s team is that it has never been for a longtime or unlikely to be in the foreseeable future Capello or any other coaches’ team. Real Madrid is always only two or three games away from a crisis and that means that whoever coaches Real Madrid will find themselves in a tenuous position. After all, if Capello’s termination clause had not been so costly he would have been gone earlier this year.
Do you think Inter is looking to replace Recoba? He has hardly been used under Mancini so I don’t see it as a great loss to Inter. Miccoli is a great little player and I never understood why Juventus never kept him around. Adriano needs to sort his head out and until that happens Inter is not likely to get market value for him. I’m not sure that there are too many clubs who would gamble on taking Adriano at this time. As for the possible replacements you mentioned – Cassano (it would a trouble for trouble swap at least), Klose (cannot see that move happening now), Guti (not the same type of player and Inter has signed too many floaters like him before), Fernando Torres (I don’t think he would fit with Ibrahimovic) and David Villa (more likely to say in Spain).
Canada destroyed Guatemala 3-0 in a Gold Cup quarter-final match in which Guatemala was fortunate to get the nothing. Canada dominated from the start and Guatemala had no answer to a team that controlled the game in all areas of the field.
There might have been a few eyebrows raised when Coach Stephen Hart recalled midfielders Patrice Bernier and Martin Nash in place of Issy Nakijima-Ferran and Chris Pozniak. As it turned out the Guatemalans hardly got close to Nash all afternoon and Atiba Hutchinson and Julian De Guzman were given free rein to control the midfield. De Guzman must have covered every blade of grass at least twice while Hutchinson exhibited a fantastic change of pace when breaking from the midfield.
As expected, Guatemala started the game defending deep and allowing Canada possession. However, after a lapse in concentration led to Canada’s first goal Guatemala found it impossible to adjust from their one-dimensional game. The second goal scored by Ali Gerba was probably as nice a goal as Canada as ever scored. A series of one touch passes eventually found Gerba unmarked in the centre of the penalty box and he powered a side-footed shot high into the Guatemalan net.
The third goal that came before half-time was an own-goal courtesy of Henry Medina. Even at 3-0 down Guatemala was unable to mount any kind of threatening attack and Canadian goalkeeper Pat Onstad’s only action came when he was put under pressure and had to hack away a ball that had been played back to him.
Altogether an exceptional performance from Canada and now a Gold Cup semi-final game waits on Wednesday at Soldier Field in Chicago against the host country.
Officiating - Referee Courtney Campbell of Jamaica had an outstanding game with one exception. The elbow thrown by Carlos Ruiz that cut Richard Hastings should have been a straight red card. Instead Ruiz got away with a yellow.
As the Canada – Haiti match coincided with part of the FSR last night I didn’t get a chance to see the full game until today.
An improved performance by Canada – they played at a higher pace and kept Haiti under pressure when they had the ball. Toronto’s Chris Pozniak came into the side to play as the defensive midfield player, while Atiba Hutchinson dropped a bit deeper to play alongside Julian De Guzman in the centre of midfield. Over the ninety minutes the two moves gave Canada a more solid look in the engine room although the price paid was a lack of support to Rob Friend who played as the lone striker.
Dwayne De Rosario’s two goals inside five minutes just after the half hour mark of the first half put Canada in the driver’s seat. The first came after a Stalteri cross that bypassed striker Rob Friend but dropped to De Rosario. The Haiti keeper got caught out badly at his near post. The second was from the penalty spot when the lively Issey Nakajima-Farran was fouled after nipping around a defender. The power in De Rosario’s spot kick compensated for a placement that was a bit to close to goalkeeper Gabart Fenelon for comfort.
Either side of half time Haiti enjoyed their best spell and that lasted for around twenty minutes. During that time Canada lost their way defensively and needed keeper Pat Onstad to come to the rescue on at least three occasions. In one case Onstad took a sickening shot to the head as he dove at an on-rushing Haitian forward. After a delay of over five minutes Onstad continued on.
Going into the last eight of the Gold Cup (opponents still not known) the centre of the Canadian defense is probably the biggest concern. Under any sort of pressure Hastings and Hainault look very uncomfortable. Despite De Rosario’s two goals against Haiti there were long stretches of the game when he was not involved in the game as he was left marooned out on the left wing. To be consistently successful Canada has to find a way to bring De Rosario into the game for longer stretches.
Ian Hume was left on the Canadian bench again – something that I think surprises many people while Rob Friend could have benefited with more support up front. He was left to plough a lone furrow with minimal support from midfield.
A post-script to how Guadeloupe stacks up against other teams in the region. In the Shell Caribbean Cup of 2007 – the qualifying competition for this Gold Cup – Guadeloupe played eleven games, winning seven and losing four. They beat French Saint-Martin, Dominica, Martinique, Dominican Republic, Antigua & Barbuda, Cuba and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. They lost to Guyana twice, Haiti and Cuba. In total they scored 22 goals and conceded 14.
Having spent the first two decades or so in my life in a country that has, over the years, turned embarrassing and shameful results (not always defeats) on football fields around the globe into an art form, I’ve suffered more than a few humiliating experiences.
Embarrassing losses to England (9-3, 5-0, 5-1) can come rolling back as if they were yesterday. A devastating loss to Peru at the 1978 World Cup was followed by a draw with Iran. If it is possible to scrape a 5-2 win then Scotland achieved it four years later against New Zealand and then there was a scoreless draw in 1986 against a Uruguayan side that played 89 minutes with ten men.
An opening round loss to Costa Rica in 1990 was perhaps the lowest of the low and since then there has been two draws with the Faroe Islands, a loss to Belarus and assorted beatings in the European Championships. Plus the managerial reign of Berti Vogts had to be endured.
But although Scottish supporters and the media now have a much better grasp of where their team sits in the larger scheme of things they will not stay silent if their team turns in a #### performance.
I think we saw the same thing last summer at the World Cup when US fans vented their anger and disappointment at what they considered to be an unacceptable performance.
At the time I had suggested that if there was a silver lining to the USA’s early exit it was that the supporters had shown that they were no longer willing to accept just making it to the World Cup Finals. Expectations had risen and the USA team now knew that more was now required of them. The fans and media expected the USA to not only reach the Finals every four years but also to produce decent performances at the Finals.
A year on and I can’t help but contrast the reaction in the USA with that found north of the border after what was arguably the worst result ever suffered in international competition by Canada.
On Saturday evening Canada produced a display that exhibited the worst kind of tactical cowardice in a performance that was pathetic and humiliating. Canada lost 2-1 to Guadeloupe, a country that isn’t even a country.
The mainstream media’s reaction to what is possibly Canada’s worst result in the last 30 years of international competition? The sum of it is two press bureau articles from the Associated Press and Reuters.
The Associated Press describes Canada as “sluggish and disorganized” while quoting interim coach Stephen Hart as saying that “both goals were definitely preventable”. That’s telling them!!
As for Reuters they dedicated a whole two paragraphs to the loss and stated that Canada “became the victim itself of a huge upset.”
What we were treated to on television during the game was even worse. Apparently the fact that a 41-year-old Jocelyn Angloma had been capped 37 times for France was proof that this Guadeloupe side should not be taken for granted and were a good team. God knows how terrified we would be if we ever came up against a team that fielded a 70-year-old Bobby Charlton who has 106 international caps and a World Cup winners medal.
And there was more – the Guadeloupe side had a Sheffield United player in the starting eleven (David Sommeil a reject Manchester City centre back who started four Premiership games for relegated Sheffield United this past season) as well as seven players who played in France and none at a top flight side. That was presented as evidence of quality opponents. You can see how Guadeloupe could be mistaken for Italy or Brazil with a line-up like that can’t you?
Oh yes and this is from commentators that will tell you that Canada is one of the top four countries in CONCACAF. The summation of this humiliation was “an unfortunate result” – hardly a scathing assessment of a reprehensible performance. Instead of holding the Canadian team’s feet to fire as the players day-dreamed their way through ninety minutes what we heard was pathetic.
There were repeated tirades about these horrible Guadeloupe players feigning injury. Certainly something good Canadian boys wouldn’t do. Has Don Cherry been cloned? And of course the Canadians love playing for their country – if that is the case they certainly didn’t show it last night and in the process they didn’t receive one piece of criticism from the men in the booth.
For excessive stretches of the game Canada played as if it was an Artistic Gymnastics contest that could be won on marks for artistic impression if they maintained possession long enough without actually achieving anything of substance.
Balls were played square across the back four continually while the defenders rarely had to deal with anything other than a lone striker. The five-man Canadian midfield in what was supposedly a 4-3-3 formation and the full backs rarely turned the Guadeloupe defense.
When things turned bad there was little or change in the tactics by the coach. Did I mention that coach Stephen Hart suppossedly approached the mighty Guadeloupe with the primary intention of keeping a clean sheet? Thank goodness that someone is there to keep prospective and to not allow the expectations for this Canadian side to get to grandiose.
The midfield pairing of Nash and De Guzman that had performed so admirably against Costa Rica was virtually non-existent while keeper Greg Sutton, who had missed the win over Costa Rica because of concussion, showed that the condition had obviously not cleared as he conceded two long range efforts.
This is not an inexperienced Canadian side. Take a look at the average age and the cumulative number of caps. Atiba Hutchinson and Paul Stalteri have played in the Champions League, Julian De Guzman has held down a regular spot for Deportivo La Coruna during the second half of La Liga season and Dwayne De Rosario is recognized as one of MLS’s great talents.
With a couple of minor exceptions the team was made up of players with experience of playing overseas and generally at good levels. So why do the Canadian media and many fans continue to treat them as a bunch of inexperienced grinders who are beyond criticism?
Someone once said that inconsistency is the real mediocrity and with the results against Costa Rica and Guadeloupe Canada showed that never truer words were said. And perhaps based on the reaction from Saturday’s game, mediocrity is all that we deserve.
I received a question about the seedings for the group stage. The best internet site I have come across that details in the inner working of the UEFA seeding system and the co-efficients is authored by Bert Kassies. It is an impressive piece of work.
With the final thirty-two now decided you would have to rate Levski Sofia's (first Bulgarian side to make the group stage) defeat of Chievo as a major surprise as well as Ajax blowing a late lead and going out to FC Copenhagen.
FC Copenhagen contains some names that should be recognizable to many. Tobias Linderoth (ex-Everton), Marcus Allback (ex-Aston Villa) and Jesper Gronkjaer (ex-Chelsea) have all spent time in the Premiership. Goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen was with Rangers in Scotland while Razak Pimpong played for Ghana in the World Cup. Canadian Atiba Hutchinson, who will surely play in one of the big three leagues in Europe within the next couple of years, just signed for Copenhagen this year after spending two seasons with Helsingborgs of the Swedish league.
Here is the country-by-country by pot breakdown of the 32 teams that will be drawn on Thursday and last season's make up.
Country pot 1 pot 2 pot 3 pot 4 Total Last Season
Spain 3 0 0 0 3 4
Italy 2 1 0 0 3 4
England 3 1 0 0 4 4
France 0 2 1 0 3 2
Portugal 0 1 2 0 3 2
Holland 0 1 0 0 1 2
Germany 0 1 1 1 3 3
Scotland 0 1 0 0 1 1
Romania 0 0 1 0 1 0
Greece 0 0 2 0 2 2
Russia 0 0 1 1 2 0
Belgium 0 0 0 1 1 2
Ukraine 0 0 0 2 2 0
Bulgaria 0 0 0 1 1 0
Turkey 0 0 0 1 1 1
Denmark 0 0 0 1 1 0
Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Norway, and Slovakia all had teams in the group stage last season but for 2006/07.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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