AYASE HARUKA 綾瀬はるか

Watching that drama now called 'Sekai no chuushin de, ai wo sakebu' or '世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ' or 'Crying out, in the Center of the World' and I am already falling head over heels for her. She is so pretty and cute! I just wonder why her boobs have became so big since it is not so in the drama! Haha! Thinking positively, she has matured physically now! :)



My first impression when I saw her is that she resembles the looks of Zhang Ziyi but she is cuter and looks more innocent (at least in the drama). Then, I begin to realize that she has Elizabeth Hurley's complexion too. She is a great actress in the drama, but I am a sucker for sad dramas. This one guarantee lots of tears and I think I cannot watch on any longer. It is very suffering to watch dramas where you have to go through episodes of sufferings until the death of the lead actress. Beautiful Life comes to mind. Same process but at least the sufferings of Beautiful Life comes much later in the end of the drama. This one is a long ride.



She portrayed herself as a cheerful, positive, very considerate and friendly high school girl in the drama who later had leukemia. We have to go through the sad process of seeing her suffer throughout and seeing how her love with her boyfriend endured. Man, why must they make such sad fate dramas. Don't follow the South Korean drama storyline, please!



Well, some biodata of her:

Birthdate: 24 March 1985
Blood Type: B
Height: 165cm
B/W/H: 88 / 62 / 92
City: Hiroshima



I wish she will keep on featuring in more dramas in the future. I will definitely want to watch her in more happier ones. She is talented. So young and definitely a great performance from someone her age. I thought she looked the best when she was in the wedding dress in that drama. The theme song is splendid, I wish I can get it somehow. It is really a touching song.



P/S: I realized she has a mole at the bottom left of her neck.







Want to see more sexy swimsuit and bikini photos, check these websites out!

Some websites dedicated to her:
Ayase Haruka 01

Ayase Haruka 02

Ayase Haruka 03

FOOTBALL: LIVERPOOL 0-0 CHELSEA

First, CONGRATULATIONS TO RAUL GONZALEZ for scoring the 50th goal in Europe! Finally, after such a long wait! However, he only got his 50th from 97 Champions League matches while Alfredo Di Stefano's record was 49 goals out of 58 matches.

Liverpool again performed so well in Europe. I was impressed by their performance and became they first team this season to stop Chelsea from winning and scoring. Referee Massimo De Santis rejected Liverpool's claims for a first-half spot-kick when Sami Hyypia was clearly fouled by Didier Drogba, when Luis Garcia was dragged by Paulo Ferreira as the last defender in the penalty box and when William Gallas handled a header from Jamie Carragher through a corner kick.

Some thoughts from the game:

1. Luis Garcia - He wasted so many passes to his team mates. So many good chances, especially through counter attack was ended by his lousy passings to his team mates. I don't know what is wrong with him, especially for someone who is able to perform outstanding back heel passes. Very disappointed with him although he did manage to control the ball well when it was around him.

2. Frank Lampard - Very quiet match for him, very lousy tackler. Not his usual self which is more offensive.

3. Steven Gerrard - I really don't like his habit of surging from behind his opponents to tackle a ball. Very dangerous and can easily earn him many cards. All his dead balls from free kicks and corners are disappointing, I wonder why they don't let the others to try out free kicks. Luis Garcia, Dietmar Hamann or Xabi Alonso will be good alternatives. Some kicks are so disappointing they cannot even fly at all!

4. Xabi Alonso - Great job throughout the night in shutting down Arjen Robben. His brilliant passes and runs to get past players were remarkable. A late challenge with John Terry which earned Terry a yellow and still keep Terry unhappy after the match by arguing with him. I thought he should play more forward than defensive so he could give more pressure upfront. No doubt he helped to stop many attacks especially coming from Robben. He should also be given more chances on dead balls.

5. Arjen Robben - Switched the wings with Damien Duff but was not able to do his stuff when Xabi Alonso was around. Else, he was dangerous. Had a great effort stopped by Reina.

6. Michael Essien - Quiet night but sent in some great passes for some offensive attacks as well as helping in the defense. This guy could only improve given time.

7. Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, William Gallas, John Terry - They were the reasons why the match went scoreless. All four had been solid, especially Terry and Carragher. Carragher did get shouted by Xabi Alonso for the dangerous pass that almost threatened Liverpool's goal.

8. Djimi Traore - He was impressive. His great control of the ball, his defence, his ability to pass good balls as well as helping in the attack.

9. Ricardo Carvalho - Having a tough night defending by committing alot of fouls. Still, effective in shutting down the attacks.

10. Djibril Cisse - Surprisingly, put on the wings but was just as good winning possessions and pressuring Chelsea with his speed. Actually, I never like him but is abit impressed by him during this match.

11. Peter Crouch - Actually, this is the first time for me to see him play live. His control of the ball is really good, he had some good chances to score. If only he was a little bit more brave and aggressive, he could score some goals! Still, he was abit slower but his height gave him great advantage on air. A good passer too for a striker with his height.

12. Shaun Wright-Phillips - I am sure he could give more impact to Chelsea's attack if he was in the starting 11. He showed some great skills controlling the ball and tricking opponents with his dummies and runs. I'm sure he could have contributed more.

13. Jose Reina - Good keeper, controls the penalty box really well. He knew when to come out to stop players when they were approaching the penalty box. Very good timing. He was solid!

14. Petr Cech - Not much action for the night from him, but when he had to work, he was perfect.

15. Damien Duff - I thought he had a good match. He was actually more effective throughout the night compare to Arjen Robben. He did managed to get past a few players and pressured the Liverpool defence a few times.

16. Paulo Ferreira - Except the incident with Luis Garcia, he had been very steady controlling the right side of the defence. He was very calm and did his job well.

17. Dietmar Hamann - Like Alonso, I thought he should go more forward instead of anchoring deep in the midfield zone forever. His contribution to the match was great. He passed well, attacked well, defended well, all-rounding performance.

18. Claude Makelele - Had some back tacklings, a bad night by his standards. Still, not too bad, he did shield the attacks in many occasions from going through.

19. Steve Finnan - Seriously, I don't recall much about him in the match.

20. Sinama Pongolle - Came in for Cisse. Did some fantastic runs into the box. Still, perhaps it was too late to bring much impact.

FOOTBALL: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WEEK 2 DAY 2

No upsets, nothing surprising, all big guns win. Full Stop.

The biggest matches tonight are:
Liverpool Vs. Chelsea
Inter Milan Vs. Rangers

I will definitely watch the Liverpool-Chelsea match. I want to see many goals, whichever side scores will do just fine for me!

FOOTBALL: CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WEEK 2 DAY 1

I was away during Week 1 and was too tired to watch any matches on day 2. Now, I am ready as ever, eventhough I have a gigantic RIBA presentation tomorrow morning.

Ajax Vs. Arsenal
Manchester United Vs. Benfica

Remember how Ajax had been unlucky for the past two seasons by reaching quite far and to lose with last minute or even injury time goals? Hopefully, this season will smile on them. Benfica, reminds us of the old days. The 1968 European Cup final rematch with revenge in Benfica's minds after their defeat then to Bobby Charlton, George Best and team. I will try to wake up at least during the 2nd half to catch the Old Trafford match! It's historic but not anticipated to be a mouth watering encounter.

With both Arsenal and Manchester United having alot of players in their injury lists, this is the best time for Ajax and Benfica to kill them off. Still, both of them are not the best clubs in England for the past decade for nothing.

FERNANDO ALONSO IS THE 2005 F1 CHAMPION!



At 24 years and two months old, the Spaniard is almost my age and already a Formula 1 champion! I am 24 years six months old! Damn! The last youngest champion record was held by a Brazilian named Emerson Fittipaldi at 25 years and 10 months old when he took Jackie Stewart's crown in 1972.

Congratulations to him for getting the crown. I guess this has been a very 'weird' year in Formula 1. That's all I can describe it. No thanks to the rules changing habits of FIA to get rid of Ferrari's dominance.

Ok, some F1 Girls to see. Check the website out!

FOOTBALL: PREMIERSHIP TEAM OF THE WEEK

I hardly go through Soccernet's Team of The Week until I checked it today and saw this:



I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. They did not! A whole team from Chelski? My goodness! I thought they are kidding! This is the first time since I read Soccernet to see players and even the coach from the same club! Will the season turn so one sided and we'll see this same Team of the Week lineup many times this season?

FOOTBALL: CHELSEA CONCEDED 1ST GOAL, BAYERN 1ST LOST

Today we have more interesting records broken here and there. Let me highlight the figures.

Luke Moore of Aston Villa became famous to be the first person to score against Chelsea this season. 640 minutes of Premiership matches without conceding a goal. That will be 7.1111... matches. Impressive record if I do say so myself. They are still unbeatable. Somebody should come up with some awards for any teams to beat them just like how it was successful to see the first defeat of Bayern Munich in 15 consecutive victory matches.

Like Moore, Rafael van der Vaart and Piotr Trochowski became famous by ending that record and Hamburg SV themselves extended their unbeaten record to 17 games in all competitions! Their fans will be enjoying so much beer, they will never ever forget how sweet their goals are! :) A German brewery, Bitburger had promised to give away 10,000 litres of beer to fans of the first team to beat Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga this season.

Owen scored again as the Magpies win slimly 1-0 against Manchester City for the first win at home this season (after 8 tries). Souness will be much a relaxed man now. With some players back (Bramble and Parker), it adds more choices to the starting line up. I am hoping more will be back from suspension and injury and may the sky be clearer again at St. James' Park. Liverpool needed a penalty to get a draw away in Birmingham as Birmingham were reduced to ten men at the 84th minute. The most shocking defeat of yesterday was Manchester United to Blackburn Rovers. The Rovers had not won in Old Trafford since 1962!!! That is 43 years of waiting!!! The nightmare of the day must have come from Everton. They had their 6th straight defeat (8th in 9 matches) to a newcomer Wigan. This is Wigan's first ever Premiership campaign!

ARSENAL

Well, enough figures. Let's concentrate on Arsenal. They have been in the headlines for the past few days. By the way, the drew 0-0 last night. First, we heard of Pires accusing Neville of injuring him. Then, I heard Wenger talking about stopping international friendlies. Then, we have Vieira warning Wenger that he needs to sign more top class players to retain Henry. Finally, after the outcome of last night's match, Wenger is suggesting new points scheme?

Let's start with Pires comments on Phil Neville. 'I tackled to get the ball but he didn't. He made the tackle to catch me and he did.'

Neville's team-mate Tim Cahill, meanwhile, has been accused by Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg of kicking the ball into the Swede's face during the same match.

'I wasn't entirely pleased,' said Ljungberg.

'There were a few pushes and when I fell down the ball was in my face.'

'Then he kicked the ball into my face. That is why I was a little bit angry. There is no injury though. I guess I have a wooden skull.'

How did Neville replied? Well, here it is:

Neville is claiming it is Arsenal who have the disciplinary problem and highlighting the red card shown to Robin van Persie for kicking FC Thun's Alen Orman in the head in a Champions League clash.

'I made one tackle to win the ball but certain players have made a meal of it. The comments don't surprise me one little bit - some clubs have different agendas.'

'And the ref didn't even give a foul, yet all of a sudden I am a thug. Four days before that one of their players nearly took someone's head off and they were all pleading innocence.'

'How many times have we had that from Arsenal? I don't need to say any more. Sometimes when you are playing these type of players, they seem to think you are not allowed to tackle them.'

'My record over the years, apart from one sending off against Fulham, suggests I am not a dirty player. To say I went out to get him is insulting.'

'People said I deliberately went out to target Reyes. I have seen the video and I made two tackles on him. Two tackles on a world-class player. I think they must have it written in their contract that you can't tackle them.'

'Arsene Wenger will defend his players but there also has to be a bit of honesty. Look at Arsenal's disciplinary record - that suggests the problem lies within.'

My comments? Well, I did not see the tackles on Pires, Ljungberg and Orman. Surely, a high kick that can endanger the head should be at least a red card. No matter intentional or unintentional. I heard comments from Wenger and I am not pleased. Regardless whether he is going for the ball, the head of a human being is more valuable than a ball! If that should happen to an Arsenal player, how will Wenger react? With a tackle like that, Wenger still said something like this.

'The sending-off was an unpleasant surprise and the wrong decision'

When asked if he though Van Persie's boot had been raised rather high, the Arsenal manager responded: 'Who was? The referee? He was flying high - he did not watch the game.'

Wenger insisted: 'It was not Robin's fault - there was no purpose. He wanted to play the ball.'

'He got a high ball, and never saw the opponent, never looked somewhere else than at the ball - it was an accident. For me, it is never a red card.'

Thun manager said:

'I said to my player 'that was pretty hard' - but Ljubo does have a black eye and you can see stud marks, so from that point of view, it was a red card. But I would not say Van Persie did it on purpose.'

Right, if this kind of thing happens to expensive players like Ronaldinho or Henry or van Nistelrooy or Lampard, let's see whether a red card is sufficient. There will be millions of people calling for heavy fines and you will have long debates for weeks. This red card is too much for an unknown player called Orman from an unknown club called FC Thun. Who cares? The fact is Van Persie is of a more expensive player in value than Orman, so he does not deserve the red card.

As for stopping international friendlies, well, there has been calls for ages for less international matches. To me, that plea will be ignored forever because FIFA also wants to earn as much money from international matches just like clubs wanting to earn money from club matches. However, it is the clubs who pays for the wages of their players so I think this issue should be discussed further to get a good solution. The debate by Wenger on injuries is definitely a good one.

'Nowadays you get a player back on a stretcher 24 hours before a must-win match.'

'It's impossible for a player to come back in good form and prepare properly when he has played for his country on a Wednesday evening in Turkey.'

'You'd have to be a magician rather than a coach to get them back to their normal selves by Saturday.'

'FIFA must take the lead and make the national federations subscribe to a worldwide insurance system.'

Insurance system? That to me is a good suggestion. At least clubs pay for their players and they should get something if their players cannot play for their matches because of sustaining injuries in their international matches.

As for Henry to remain in Arsenal, that comment by Vieira will test Henry's loyalty to Arsenal. Wenger comments must have pissed off FC Barcelona.

'All the rest is talk about what could happen in nine months. It's good you speak now of Barcelona, you know how many times they have won the European Cup?'

'Plenty of players have gone to Barcelona to win the European Cup and they have won it only once in their history.'

Finally, his comments on the points system to increase goal scoring in the Premiership football. The incentive to award further points for teams with at least a three-goal margin.

'In France, we had a system where you got a bonus point if you scored three goals in a game but it didn't work at all as, even if you lost and scored three goals, it was the same as a draw.'

'But what could happen is that the difference between goals scored and goals conceded gives you more points - for example, if you won 6-3 or 7-2.'

'If you won by three clear goals, you could get another point. That would encourage the team that was leading 2-0 or 3-0 to carry on going forward and the team that was behind not to concede any more.'

'It's important that the team which takes the initiative wins. Your intention at the start has to be to try to win the game. You can still end up with a poor game, but a negative attitude is to say that getting a point would be fantastic.'

I am neutral on this. Accusations have been made that the Premiership is turning so boring as Chelsea is dominating it like how Ferrari did seasons ago. If we recall clearly, FIA changed the rules so many times for so many seasons. Their objectives is to make Ferrari not to dominate the races and finally, after many tries, the tyre issue made Ferrari almost totally absent from the podium this season. Will the FA do such extremes to make the Premiership less predictable?
Awarding point systems will be abit difficult to implement. Imagine they will have to change all the rules just because of Chelsea. All records in the past will be useless anymore because of the new point system. I just take this as a sudden urge to comment by Wenger and let it past for now. It is not surprising that he comes up with all these suggestions at a period of time when everyone forsee that Chelsea is going to dominate the Premiership for a long, long time.

FOOTBALL: REAL MADRID 3-1 ATHLETIC BILBAO

Finally, first win after 3 loses. Good to see Raul scoring again with a double and not relying too much by putting Ronaldo in front of him all the time. Robinho also scored which is surely a good sign. However, the good result was hampered by the sending off of Woodgate and scoring an own goal as well. That is probably the worst debut I ever heard before in my llife for any player! Who wants to start his first match for a club with an own goal and a red card?

Talking about red cards, there has been many red cards shown to Madrid players just this start of the season. That includes yellow too. Baptista and Ramos just got red from the previous match. It is at a very alarming rate. The coach better do something to rectify this as well. Seeing Guti playing again was nice, especially when he contributed to the 2nd goal. Well, hopefully this win is a boost for the upcoming matches of the season. That is what a fan will normally hope for. No more bad spell! So is for Newcastle! Get rid of the bad spell!

FOOTBALL: LUXEMBURGO ON PRESSURE

Real Madrid will face Athletic Bilbao in a MUST WIN situation. I see Luxemburgo as pressured as Souness this season. Both are having difficulties to win this season! This is the worst thing about football. You won't wish the clubs you support are in such difficult situations where they cannot win. Another defeat will see Luxemburgo getting closer to the exit door. Although Real Madrid is having a tough bad luck period with the refereeing system, I don't see that as an excuse. If you can't score in 90 minutes, there must be something wrong with your team. For more than that, you seriously need to find the problem fast. Although the mistakes made by a referee per match may result in a goal or two. You cannot focus on the wrong things and put your blames elsewhere.

For once, the stubborn fellow finally will return to the traditional 4-4-2 system and have wingers around. Seriously, playing players out of positions is never a good thing, especially if you are playing so many of them out of positions per match. They let in so many goals from dead balls (especially high balls) this season now that they are actually tackling such an issue in training-which is a good thing. Luxemburgo is finally facing the problems straight on! Woodgate may get his debut tonight. It is scary to think of him playing again. It is a very nervous occassion. I hope he comes out of the match in one piece. I hope the team gel fast! Time is running out for more unconvincing matches with no goals and more defeats.

Barcelona drew with Valencia, Juventus, Milan and Inter all won their matches. The interesting thing is to see Vieira scoring for the Old Lady and Samuel to score for Inter from a Figo cross. They must be much more happier now with their new club. I'm sure they are settling down quite well. Kaka was again on the scoresheet last night. It's good to see the old Kaka back again after a very quiet last season in Milan.

The most shocking thing in the La Liga now is having Celta Vigo on top of the table after just being promoted this season to the top league. They just won against Villareal. Celta Vigo suddenly turned into the Real Sociedad of a few seasons back. They are the dark horses! Villareal themselves, who were the dark horses of last season by playing some of the most exciting football in Spain, is now at the bottom of the table. It is very shocking indeed.

Sol Campbell's return to Arsenal brought a two goal man-of-the-match win for him. Wenger must be rejoicing and so will Eriksson. At least now he has more options for England in defence. Barcelona seem not to be having a smooth start this season either like Madrid. At least they don't lost as badly and drew more. Milan too seemed to be having the same form as Barcelona. Only Juventus, Chelsea and Bayern Munich are winning matches like there is no tomorrow! Their new season is as smooth as ever up to now!

FULL METAL PANIC! THE SECOND RAID



It's back again! After the first Full Metal Panic! series and the second Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu!, this is definitely a great return! I had have enough of the comedies from the second series and it's about time they bring the mechas and scenes from the battlefield back! After 8 episodes, I am loving it. Can't wait for the next episodes to show up!

I love it when they give more story progress to characters like Kaname Chidori and Captain Teletha Testarossa with Sousuke Sagara. Melissa Mao is still as hot as ever! Wow! She reminds me of Haruka Urashima from Love Hina. I'm also happy that Mikuni Shimokawa is again the singer for both the opening and ending of the anime.

According to reviews, we are expecting just 13 episodes from this series. I hope they have more. At least 26 would be great. Oh well, most importantly, we are getting a good story plot here. The enemies, Amalgam and especially those two sisters are bad-assesed enemies which are hard to fight against. There are many questions left unanswered after 8 episodes so I am following faithfully every week!

Here is the plot summary from Anime News Network.com:
This series is set about two months after the events ocurred in the Tuatha de Danaan at the end of the original series. Mithril becomes aware of a secret organization that has technology able to counter the ECS (Electronic Cloaking System) mode. This organization, known as Amalgam, also has "Black Technology", obtained from "Whispered" like Kaname Chidori, and like the other intelligency agencies, they intend to obtain more. However, when Sousuke's mission to protect Chidori is terminated by Mithril, all seems to be in place for Amalgam's plans... Like many of its fans know, it is based of the FMP novel "The End of Day by Day."

FOOTBALL: BLACKBURN ROVERS 0-3 NEWCASTLE UNITED

I watched the 2nd half of this match. Finally, Newcastle United won! I was on the phone with my girlfriend when I was almost finishing the call when Shearer took the freekick and scored with a low shot. From then on, the goals just keep on pouring in. I was excited to watch this match particularly because of Craig Bellamy. In my mind, this guy definitely wants to put many goals behind Newcastle's net to show Souness his frustration. However, it did not materialized.

Newcastle are playing with bad passing, alot of high balls kicked from defence over and over again, they just don't seem to be very convincing enough. There are no real danger they provide to the Blackburn's penalty box. Owen's first goal, Shearer's first of the season and N'Zogbia's second of the season gave Souness their first win of the season. I'm sure Souness is a relieved man.

Not so for Luxemburgo. Real Madrid should be biting their nails now. Although Barcelona lost and so is AC Milan, Real Madrid's defeat is the 3rd in a row. Bad luck or not, they are far from convincing with the current squad that they have. He better do something fast before being risked to be sacked.

Liverpool 0-0 Manchester United? Luckily I did not watch that match. I never like to watch matches without goals unless you are being entertained by alot of beautiful football. Still, Chelsea is still perfect and will be hard to catch. Inter Milan and Juventus both won their matches. Del Pierro must be relieved to be back to the starting line up and scoring! That will surely put the pressure off him as there are rumours of offloading him.

Now, we still have a match to watch. How is Arsenal going to prepare for this one?
Arsenal VS. Everton

FOOTBALL: THE TIME FACTOR

I guess I missed the opening matches for the Champions League because of a busy week, being sick but well now and as well as returning back to Singapore quite late. I managed to watch abit of the Liverpool match only but failed to wake up for the Manchester United match even after I managed to switch off my alarm clock. The results are quite shocking but somehow, expected in the sense that many clubs have too many new players. It is either for the best or the worst. Real Madrid seem to be the worst of them all with really pathetic results from their last two matches.

Seeing how Real Madrid, Arsenal and Inter Milan played showed me they need TIME badly to make use of what they have. People ask me how these clubs, especially Inter and Real, who have some of the best players in the world, cannot win matches convincingly? Well, my answer is to look at Chelsea when the Russian billionaire first went for a shopping spree. It takes them 1 season to start winning something. As for Inter, perhaps they have to sort out their starting 11 because I believe they really buy too many players.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, have to think about how to solve their defence, which is always the least taken care of department in the whole team. High balls into the penalty box is always the weakness to them. Casillas also should start shouting like hell at his defenders, to give more instructions on how to cover him. He has always been the lonely ranger in the penalty box. The other debate is again about not playing with the wingers system. I am fine with whatever systems the manager wants to play. I believe any system has its strengths and weaknesses, he should therefore adapt more according to opponents. Not be as stubborn as shit with his own style forever, no matter who he faces.

Arsenal will have to stop relying on Henry just like Real have to stop putting Beckham in the starting 11. Beckham may sell jerseys and tickets but he really does not win matches convincingly for Real Madrid. England should do the same if they want to win more matches. Their captain to me is someone who cannot be dropped at all for no good reasons. Arsenal definitely looks to be different in the sense that their squad members are generally younger this season and the squad seems to be paper thin. Any more injuries or suspensions will cause them alot of worries. I hope the young lads can play well as a unit and gel fast to face the remaining of the season.

The signs are not very convincing for these 3 teams. I hope they buckle up and improve fast. I expect far more from them than the recent results shown. It is definitely not what they are truly capable of. I think they played too predictably, especially for Arsenal and Real Madrid. It seems that they rely too much on certain players and just keep on attacking through the same methods. Newcastle? I think only a miracle can save them! Haha! Good luck, Souness!

Well, the bright side of this season is Kaka. He seems to get his form back again from 2 seasons ago when he first played for AC Milan. Eto'o continues to be very sharp upfront for Barcelona. Chelsea is not showing signs of slowing down, getting more and more consistent and Lampard also seems to be getting back his form. Can anybody stop Chelsea? Money can buy success and Chelsea is the best example of that. They are the most expensive football squad of all time as of now! The season is still very new so let's expect more things to come!

This weekend big matches:
Liverpool VS. Manchester United
VanNistelrooy is on fire but I want Liverpool to get something out of this match!

Atletico Madrid VS. FC Barcelona
Eto'o is still having a good spell so Madrid will have to watch him well. Of course, not to remember magician Ronaldinho as well as the reliable Deco. Barcelona should be able to win this match if they play well. Still, won't be surprised if Kezman and Torres do some damages to Barcelona.

GOING BACK TO MALAYSIA

Guys, I 'm flying back to Kota Kinabalu this weekend to attend my girl friend's graduation. It's also a great break for me for my busy life here. Yeah, this program is busier than I thought. I will get more busier throughout the end of this semester. There are just so much to do and the workload seems to never end. There is always something new every week! Damn!

Now, I'm been doing abit of statistics for research purposes after not touching it since STPM. A bit rusty and I really need some polishing. Still doing alot of virtual reality design work. Very exciting and definitely interests me alot but alot of self exploration and investigation. I can't wait for my trip tomorrow! Until then, hopefully I can fill this blog with some photos of my trips. It has been football and football all the way. It starts to get boring again. I need to balance the two up.

Will try to get a haircut done there and watch some movies too. Cheap and good! I saw Ah Sou and Dark Water in the GSC website. Hope they are worth watching.

FOOTBALL: ROAD TO WORLD CUP 2006

Northern Ireland won against a very overrated England. Spain managed only a draw after Luis Aragones so confidently predicted a 3-1 win. What a shame! Italy recovered from a shock opponent goal for a trashing. Who is this guy from Fiorentina, Luca Toni, who scored a hattrick? Holland also goes on a goal rampage while France managed to win slightly. The patterns seem clearly the same. England always disappoints in the world stage and so is Spain. Holland has the trademark to perform badly when the real competition comes.

It is always like that, no matter how much the hype about the current English team being able to win the World Cup. It is utterly rubbish. Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen? They are overrated and they are not gods. I can assure you coming World Cup month, the side that everybody should look out for is Brazil. They have the tradition, the history and the consistency to prove that they can easily win again year in Germany.

What more with more geniuses in the team that consists of the magical Ronaldinho, the all-rounder Kaká, the goal-scoring machine Adriano and the reborn football legend Pele, Robinho. Which team in the world have so many geniuses in a team? France only has Zidane with Henry who fails to perform always at the big stage. Holland may have Arjen Robben and Roy Makaay, Argentina may have Leo Messi and Juan Riquelme and England may have Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard but how many great players they have per country? Let's be very modest and say 3.

Brazil has 4 superior geniuses and not counting the old horses Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Dida, Emerson, Juninho, Edu, Zé Roberto, Lúcio and the just as good Baptista with the much talked about Cicinho. I'm sure being a Brazilian coach at this stage of history is an honour and pure joy. Imagine yourself being the Brazilian coach. You are having a dream team here to configure to play every match for the country. I'm sure you are more worried of how to choose with so plenty of talents than being worried of lack of talents. You are just spoilt of choices!

If for any reason Brazil is going to blunder shockingly like France 1998, it has to be the tragedy of having to lose almost all the players with injuries or suspensions, maybe severe food poisoning or perhaps lack of sleep or rest. If not, there is not a chance that they are not going to win the World Cup one more time. England? Please, let us be more realistic here. I will still think Argentina is going to be just as strong eventhough Korea Japan 2002 proved that it was the opposite entirely.

FOOTBALL: THE LEGEND SPEAKS

This is a post taken from:
http://www.goal.com
Zidane Believes Madrid Will Miss Owen
9/4/2005 9:22:00 PM

Zinedine Zidane believes that Real Madrid were wrong to allow Michael Owen to leave and that the England striker could turn around Newcastle's fortunes this season.

The French international admits he was sorry to see the former Liverpool star leave El Bernabéu stating that Owen is a world class player who will be difficult to replace.

"Michael returns to The Premiership an even better player for his experience in Spain," Zidane told a British Sunday newspaper.

"You know you are going to get goals when he’s in your side - and it’s goals that bring you success. I’m disappointed that Michael has chosen to leave Madrid because world-class players are difficult to replace.

"But he hasn’t left because he failed at Madrid - on the contrary I think he was a big success. He may have arrived with a big reputation but he returns an even better player."

Zidane believes that Owen could revive Newcastle United's season following his €25million switch because his arrival will lift the whole club.

"I know from my own experience that there are always question marks when you move from one country to another, but Michael has nothing to prove because his goals in a difficult league speak volumes for how good a player he is.

"A single player can suddenly lift morale at a club and the confidence that brings can have an incredible impact. People become better players around confident, world-class performers and that leads to success."

Owen joned Madrid last summer from Liverpool for €12million and only failed to appear in three matches for the team throughout the season.

Despite scoring 15 goals in all competitions for the Spanish giants he was still considered to be behind Ronaldo, Raúl and Robinho in the pecking order for a place in the starting line-up.

His initial wish to join Liverpool was thwarted when the Reds refused to match Madrid's asking price and he caved in on his demand to make the move to Newcaslt eon loan, by signing a four-year feal at St James' Park.





Now, let's talk about the World Cup qualifying matches...

OK, we have World Cup qualifying matches week now. We see how Argentina were beaten, how Italy were drawn, how England managed one goal from a midfielder and how Brazil and Portugal go on a goal feast. This is an early indication of what the next World Cup will hold.

Still, let us not forget too far from the 2002 World Cup. All the great indications of the qualifying were flushed down the toilet when the World Cup arrived. Everything goes upside down, inside out, backwards!

People argued it was held in Asia, which was totally a different timezone with different food, atmosphere and weather. This time, it is going to be in Germany, where most players who play in European clubs should more or less get used to it. Let's see how it is gonna be then.

FOOTBALL: SERGIO RAMOS, THE LAST PUZZLE?



The transfer window is closed already.

I thought the statement issued was pretty interesting.

This is what is written on the Real Madrid website:

Official communique

Authorized people from the player Sergio Ramos had payed in the Liga de Futbol Profesional´s head office the cancelling contract clause that linked the player with the Seville Football Club. Either Real Madrid and the player decided to proceed with that way of payment after considering Seville FC that it won´t be an "hostile method". Ramos will be a Real Madrid player for the next eight seasons.

I guess with his signing, we have someone to cover for Samuel's departure. Is the squad complete enough? Hopefully, this season will be a good one, baby!

As for other late signings before the transfer window closes, the shock one will be from Solano to move back to Newcastle and for Jenas to leave for Totenham. There are a couple of loans including the one involving Portillo to Bruges.