FOOTBALL: FLORENTINO PEREZ RESIGNS!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the news. The cancer in Real Madrid is finally gone. My prayers will be that Fernando Martin will not be another cancer to the club and knows football more than him. Finally, he decided to step down.

There are 6 coaches at Real during Perez's era in the club. Vicente Del Bosque, Carlos Queiroz, Jose Antonio Camacho, Mariano Garcia Remon, Wanderley Luxemburgo and Juan Ramon Lopez Caro. Under Perez's charge, Madrid signed Beckham, Owen, Woodgate, Gravesen, Samuel, promising stars Robinho, Cassano, Cicinho, Ramos, Diogo, Garcia, Baptista as well as `galacticos' Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.

Madrid also sold some important players like the captain Hierro, the consistent Owen, the magical Solari, the hardworking Figo, the solid Makélélé, Samuel, Cambiasso, Celades, Geremi, Conceicao, Munitis, Campo, Karanka, Cesar, Sávio, the deadly Morientes, the beautiful dribbler Redondo, the split passer McManaman, half-owned Eto'o, loaned Portillo out almost every season and failed the medical of Milito.

As a fan, all I ask from Real Madrid is simple. Beautiful football played by players who deserves to be on the field. When many players are bigger than the club, it just will not win as many matches anymore. The economic might of the club won't benefit a fan whatsoever directly especially to those who always watch through the television. I hope Perez's policy of signing players on the basis of marketing muscle rather than the needs of the team while offloading talented, hardworking players in ruthless fashion will not be repeated.

Richest club in the world? For what? It won't last. Winning titles matters because it will be recorded into history. Nobody will remember the richest club in the world. People only remember great moments in history. People only remember great football plays on the field to victory. People remember great matches. I rather be behind Manchester United and even Chelsea in the Football Richest Clubs list than winning nothing season after season.

When he was first the president, he bought Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo, which is fine since he collected the best players in those positions at that time. After that, everything goes out of control. Money is more important than football! The most unforgiving things which made me hate him are:
1. Firing Vicente Del Bosque
2. Firing Makelele and Geremi
3. Firing Morientes and Owen
4. Selling Eto'o when he scored again and again against them
5. Choose Beckham over Ronaldinho
6. Milito failed a medical and Woodgate passed!

Honestly, the Galatico policy died after Beckham came. The inability to win titles start when he arrived by forcing an additional player into the squad when you already have Figo. I say we drop under-performed players. The new president must have the power to give the coach the ability to bench any player if they are not on form. That will include Raul, Beckham, Zidane and Ronaldo. The restructuring may take some time though but I hope it is for the better.

Let's have a brand new start in March!

On an unrelated issue, Chelsea's Asier del Horno will serve only a one-game Champions League suspension after UEFA agreed to reduce the punishment following his foul on Barcelona's Lionel Messi. I guess now Mourinho is satisfied.

FOOTBALL: CHELSEA 1-2 BARCELONA

Well, I woke up only in the 2nd half! Crap! My alarm clock alerted me to wake up early but I failed as I tried to sleep a little bit more. I hope I did not miss too much great action from the first half.

By the way, the second half was fast and furious. The attacking flow of football was good. I wished for the match to be like how AC Milan played Barcelona a season or two back but alas, this is more one sided because Chelsea were down with 10 men. I did not see the incident as I watched only in the second half, but here is the report from Soccernet.com.

But the game erupted in the 37th minute when Messi chased a long ball into the corner.
Robben had the edge on him and tried to shield the ball out of play for a goal-kick but Messi was too quick for him.

The Argentinian teenager skipped around the Dutchman, kept the ball in and left Robben floundering in a heap.

Del Horno came hurtling towards Messi but once again the young striker was too fast.
He poked the ball past the Chelsea defender and then took evasive action to avoid the full force of his challenge.

Television replays showed it was a badly mistimed tackle but did not appear to be malicious.
It was probably a booking at most, but Messi rolled around in the mud and the Barca players reacted as if he had been murdered.

They sprinted to surround referee Terje Hauge, who waited until Del Horno stopped pretending he was also injured before granting the Barca wishes and brandishing his red card.

Chelsea were furious, Messi was fit to carry on and a smouldering Mourinho repaired his back four by replacing Joe Cole with Geremi.

Well, is Messi really acting? I need to watch the replays. You get to see more of Messi's skills in the second half and he is definitely terrific. He will definitely be the player to watch for the World Cup. So much composure and really very steady on the ball. His dribblings are so messy (no pun intended) and definitely creates hell for the opposition.

Eto'o was pushed rather back to give Larsson more space in front, which is a weird formation. Ronaldinho was always the dangerous wanderer in midfield. You can easily see the difference in class when he goes head to head with Lampard. Lampard is easily struggling when they go one on one. Ronaldinho did create the first goal with the own goal by Terry from a free kick. Barcelona like Arsenal last night, could have scored easily 2-3 goals more but were unlucky. Messi hit the crossbar too.

I am excited as everyone else to hear what Mourinho has to say. What funny remarks will he make this time around....hehe! That joker! Chelsea need two goals at least in Nou Camp to turn things round and I wonder why Gudjohnsen is selected in front of the favourite Drogba for this match. Why is Damien Duff not used when Robben was substituted? I thought Robben was the most dangerous person for Chelsea in the second half.

Generally, the night produces alot more goals compare to last night. 16 goals are scored today compare to only 5 yesterday! 3 times more! Scorelines like Werder Bremen 3-2 Juventus should raise eyebrows! How did that match go? Should be exciting to watch too. Ajax 2-2 Inter and Rangers 2-2 Villarreal. Glad to see Riquelme and Forlan in the scoresheets for Villarreal, especially for Riquelme. His return from injury will mean that Villarreal again being the team to beat this season after what they had shown last season!

Well, Champions League fever is over for now. Back again in two weeks time. Many changes can happen in football in two weeks.

FOOTBALL: REAL MADRID 0-1 ARSENAL

First of all, I just want to say which players are playing well tonight.

Ljungberg, Henry, Fabregas, Reyes and Robinho, Lehmann, Casillas.

Who are the players who are playing really badly tonight?

Ronaldo, Beckham, Ramos and even Zidane.

Now, the analysis. Real Madrid were giving too much space to Henry, Ljungberg, Reyes and Fabregas to run. It was not surprising that Henry got into the scoreline with at least 3 good chances given to him alone. In fact, Real Madrid should be thankful they lose the game 0-1 and not 0-3. I can easily see 5 clear chances as a whole. Beckham wasted 1 million chances, some with the goalkeeper down. I wonder why he is still on the field? Well, Teg gave me a good answer for that.

Woodgate? I don't know about it because I woke up in the middle of the 1st half. I have no idea how bad or crucial is the injury. Zidane and particularly Ramos gave away tonnes of passes. Ronaldo with all his untimely speech regarding the home fans is totally silent for the whole match through. Cicinho should be glad he is still on the field with all those dangerous challenges.

Therefore, the substitutions of Robinho and Gravesen are totally beyond the logic. Beckham and Ronaldo should be the ones substituted. In fact, I see Robinho as the most dangerous and effective Real Madrid player of the night. Sometimes, you just have to keep quiet with the incredible decisions of the coach, which I guessed comes from the pressures of the money minded president.

The only discontentment is Reyes with his funny injury where he crawled back to the field. That is the first time I ever saw an incident like that. Someone being injured outside the field coming in to stop the match. Apart from that, I don't see a point to introduce Raul and not Cassano. Raul still being unfit and totally slow to give any danger to the opposition.

All I have to say is that Real lost because they gave too much space to Arsenal, depending too much on lousy crosses and expecting some Crouch-like players to score through headers, sending long inaccuracy passes and playing ineffective players to the end of the match for the sake of who knows what apart from publicity appearance fees.

I was in the MSN chat with Teg who is in a real fiery mood, hehe! I can imagine him with his Arsenal bandana/bandanna on his head and with an Arsenal flag on his shoulders as he jumps up and down his sofa set in front of his plasma tv. Hehe! Congratulations to Arsenal and particularly Henry. They could be the Liverpool of this season. Real Madrid need to play really effectively in Highbury if they are thinking of advancing.

This match is a gentle reminder of what Henry is capable of and how catastrophic it will be if he is to go to FC Barcelona.

FOOTBALL: 2006 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST 16

Real Madrid VS. Arsenal

Chelsea VS. FC Barcelona

These are the two matches to be shown live over the next two days. I will surely catch both of them regardless of whatever circumstances!

Real Madrid are hosting the Gunners and they must be careful of the veterans Henry, Ljungberg, Pires as well as Reyes and Fabregas. With good marking of these players only victory is possible. I will give Madrid the edge as the host in this match. We need to win if we don't want to suffer in Highbury in the return leg. Albeit all the good results of late, Real are always very shaky in defence and giving away easy goals at home is the biggest weakness we have to be kicked out of the Champions League.

Chelsea are at home so they must try to score against Barcelona in order to have the advantage. Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi and Deco are dangerous players they have to mark really tight. If not, they will make Chelsea suffer. I will honestly think Barcelona are a more dangerous side but it won't be easy to score against Chelsea. I wish Chelsea can win but advantage is given to Barcelona for those quality of players they have in their arsenal. This will be a close and most exciting match of the last 16!

FOOTBALL: ROMARIO CLOSER TO 1,000 GOALS - EVEN WITHOUT SCORING

I am always a fond admirer of Romario. I always feel that he is not given enough chances to show his full capabilities both in club and country football. I always find it a great joy watching him dribble the ball with ease past so many defenders without even depending on speed to score goals.

Whenever he is in the penalty box, you will be assured he is the most calmest person on earth as he patiently find the opening to score. He is very dangerous when he is in the zone. That is truly a samba dance of a great Brazilian footballer. He is definitely up there among the footballers whom I respect in this generation. He is in my list of great fooball legends.

(article taken from thestar.com.my/sports on Monday, February 20, 2006)

SAO PAULO: Romario is getting all the help he can to reach his 1,000th career goal.

The veteran striker had five goals added to his list on Friday after a re-count made by Vasco's club officials. He now has a total of 960 goals.

Vasco said it researched Romario's career and discovered that five goals were not being counted. The club also said Romario lost a goal, which had been erroneously given to him.
Romario said his main objective is to reach the 1,000th goal by the end of this season, when he is expected to retire from professional football.

Several of Romario's goals this year came in friendlies against minnow clubs in matches set up by Vasco as part of a project called “Romario 1,000,'' aimed at helping the striker reach the milestone.

Nine of Romario's 14 goals this season came in six of those friendlies. The striker netted a total of 35 goals last season.

Last week, Romario refused to play in a friendly set up by Vasco when he saw that some of his opponents from a small German club were over 50 and visibly out of shape.
Romario, who turned 40 in January, played his 1,200th career match against Portuguesa yesterday in the Rio de Janeiro state championship. It was his 500th game with Vasco.

The striker, who led Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title in the United States, stunned everyone last year by winning the scoring title in the tough Brazilian league. He netted 22 goals, two more than 22-year-old Argentina international Carlos Tevez of Corinthians.

Romario burst onto the scene with Vasco in 1985. He returned to the club in 2000, after having played abroad with PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona. He also played with Vasco rivals Flamengo and Fluminense.

Romario said he intends to pursue a career in beach football after retiring.

FOOTBALL: MOURINHO LINKS

Hehe! Something to laugh about regarding Mourinho.

Check the video clip at Bore Me. Another one on Tricky Football.

Of course, Mourinho's potato field ready for Barca's visit!

Champions League is coming! Champions League is coming!

I can't wait!

12 MIDNIGHT SIBU CHINESE NEW YEAR CLIPS!

I uploaded 14 Chinese New Year 12 midnight clips of the scene around my house in Sibu during Chinese New Year just recently. The fireworks and firecrackers are quite strong this year! Easily the biggest blast for the past 5 years!

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Will only last for a week so download it fast! Hurry up!
Enjoy!

FOOTBALL: SHOCK DEFEATS

It is surprising enough to see some giant defeats for Real Madrid and Chelsea after a run of good results. After Souness left, Newcastle are starting to taste some victories too. Things can change really fast in football if you ask me.

The only reason I can think of for big clubs to lose humbly now is the emphasis of the Champions League last 16 coming very soon. Are teams playing with less effort to preserve energy for the big one? Or is it for the World Cup on a longer run? I have no idea but we will see the true colours when Champions League matches are played end of this month.

I can't wait! Although I am also very nervous and shaky if I am going to watch Real Madrid play. They are just not very consistent and unpredictable. They can win one match 3-0 and lose the other one 0-6. They are totally unreliable.

As for the clashes of the weekend, it is between the top two of the La Liga and Serie A. What a coincidence you may say. If you think that is so interesting, wait you see the point difference. Both are 9 points apart. Finally, both 2nd placings are at home so the home fans should cheer vigorously for them to have the most of the advantage. Now, how coincident can that be?

Valencia VS. Barcelona

Inter Milan VS. Juventus

Barcelona (16W, 4D, 2L) lead the La Liga table with 52 points while Valencia (14W, 3D, 6L) are chasing behind at 43 points. Juventus (20W, 3D, 1L) lead the Serie A table with 63 points while Inter Milan (17W, 3D, 4L) are behind with 54 points.

Who will you want to win? Naturally, I want both the top clubs of both leagues to lose. That will open up the competition more and make the chase longer to last. Down with Juventus and down with Barcelona. The reason? Adriano and David Villa of course are the main reasons.

FOOTBALL: OFFSIDE RULE FOR FEMALES

I got this from OleOle. Interesting stuff.

A BBC discussion board explain offside rules in female terms. The metaphor should make it much more easier for them to understand it. Here are the discussions by different people.

"You're in a shoe shop, second in the queue for the till. Behind the shop assistant on the till is a pair of shoes which you have seen and which you must have.The female shopper in front of you has seen them also and is eyeing them with desire.Both of you have forgotten your purses.It would be totally rude to push in front of the first woman if you had no money to pay for the shoes.The shop assistant remains at the till waiting.Your friend is trying on another pair of shoes at the back of the shop and sees your dilemma.She prepares to throw her purse to you. If she does so, you can catch the purse, then walk round the other shopper and buy the shoes. At a pinch she could throw the purse ahead of the other shopper and,*whilst it is in flight* you could nip around the other shopper, catch the purse and buy the shoes. Always remembering that until the purse has *actually been thrown* it would be plain wrong to be forward of the other shopper."

"However if you were loitering by the till checking out the gift cards you are technically NOT INTEREFERING WITH PURCHASE and can be in that position when the 'purse is thrown'. The purse must be allowed to fall to the floor before you can pick it up and buy the shoes though."

"I think the whole offside issue should be complicated a bit more by saying that the attacking player is not offside if the ball is passed to him by a header.You could go one further and say that the attacking player is not offside if the ball has been played through the legs of any member of the defending team to the player in the offside position."

"I enter the shop and nob the first bird allowing the second bird to purchase her shoes - am i interferring with play ?? "

CHINESE NEW YEAR 2006 MOVIES

I watched all three of them. Here are my comments.

Fearless
I thought this is still a great movie although people told me they get so bored with the fighting sequence. This is like Ong Bak where you fight from the start to the end of the movie. Yeah, it was said to be Jet Li's final martial art movie so he is given all the fighting he desires. He gets to fight to his heart's satisfaction.

His moves are definitely artistically appealing. Therefore, Jet Li is the best and most suitable candidate to play the role of the legendary martial artsmaster Huo Yuanjia (1868-1910). Huo Yuanjia is basically someone who loved martial arts so much that he dedicated his whole life to it. He wanted to be the best in the world so winning fights after fights was the only thing that mattered most to him.

He turned arrogant and pride overtook him but the death of his beloved family members made him a totally changed man when he was rescued by some rural villagers when he wondered around aimlessly. He learnt some values in life, came back to his city and battled with the Westerners who looked down on the Chinese. He was finally poisoned by the Japanese. I read different versions of how he was killed but all versions agreed that he was poisoned by the Japanese. I heard one of his disciples was a legend as well.

I still think some of the moves are too gravity defying to be realistic so perhaps some are computer generated. Well, if you love the art of fighting, you will love this movie. It is abit too violent for general public viewing but still, you need some brutality in a kung fu movie. Those who go to Jet Li movies are those who can appreciate his martial arts. He was a shaolin so he has real Wushu skills. Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung were more from the performance martial arts Chinese clan.

My Kung Fu Sweetheart
I watched this more to spend time in the cinema for the sake of Chinese New Year mood. Since I don't like any of the actors or actresses, I won't be expecting much from the movie. Yes, it is the worst among the 3 movies here. It is too childish, more suited for kids who likes simple comedy and fantasy kind of storyline. If you have no more movies to watch and feel bored, this is good enough to kill time.

The Shopaholic
I watched this movie for the sake of Lau Ching Wan. He is always given the title of Mr.Bean of the east. Yes, this movie was much better than expected. Although it is meant to be a comedy, but it is great in playing the roles of matching love with different personalities. Personalities here meant people who has different mental sicknesses. A shopaholic, a thrifty millionaire, a bargain hunter and a undecidedable doctor. How can all four different personalities match? It is a good movie which focuses on psychology with a humour twist. Worth your time and I ended up very confused. It is still good. This movie is a must to all those arts and social science students majoring in psychology. :)

FOOTBALL: CHELSEA VS. LIVERPOOL

Hello dudes! I am so outdated here. Hehe! Been home for the Chinese New Year break and updating with friends back home. Sibu had a great midnight blast that was so great. There were no regrets coming back this year. It was one of the finest blasts for the past 5 years. My neighbours go for 7-10 rows of firecracker but I only blasted two rows. I had recorded tonnes of videos during midnight in 320X240 and 640X480 resolutions so I can share with anyone who wanted to witness the Chinese New Year sky blasting ceremonies in Sibu. Hehe! I am so detached from the football world, I have no clue what had gone on for the past one week plus.



I am back in Singapore, briefly met Shevy in Kuching during my transit. Met many friends back home and it's time for some updates. Will need to catch up with my football news first. So this is the feature that will determine whether the league leader, Chelsea is chasable. Therefore, a defeat to Chelsea will bring joy to the entire league and an unhappy Mourinho who still think nobody can ever stop them.

However, Liverpool have not been consistent of late so it is hard to give them any advantage going into the match. I just saw the news of Fowler coming back to Anfield. Liverpool fans must be cheering him now! I wish Liverpool will win this match but Chelsea won't be easy to beat at home.

Many things happened since I was away. Souness was sacked finally. Roma have been scoring goals like there is no tomorrow since Cassano left them. The sudden change of fortunes must be welcomed with great joy by their fans. Barcelona's winning streak came to an end. Shearer hit the goal to become the record goal scorer for Newcastle. Sol Campbell with his alleged personal problem but I hope he will be back soon.

Apart from that, Champions League is coming soon on February 21st and 22nd and I am hopeful Real Madrid will be ready by then. Still, the bigger matches go to Chelsea VS. FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich VS. AC Milan.

The match schedule for the two legs of the last 16 to be shown on local tv is already out:
Feb 21 2006:
Real Madrid VS. Arsenal
FC Bayern Munchen VS. AC Milan

Feb 22 2006:
Werder Bremen VS. Juventus
Chelsea VS. FC Barcelona

Mar 7 2006:
Juventus VS. Werder Bremen
FC Barcelona VS. Chelsea

Mar 8 2006:
Arsenal FC VS. Real Madrid
AC Milan VS. Bayern Munchen

Seems like great features to me but how are they going to show two same matches on the same day is still unthinkable for me. I think perhaps one match will be shown as a delay telecast.

CHINESE NEW YEAR VISITS

Normally, we reserve the first two days of Chinese New Year for relatives visitations. After that, we go to friends' houses and welcome them to our homes. This year, I met some friends whom I had not met for ages! I managed to take photo with a few of them.







Therefore, it is really great to update with them after 4-5 years of not seeing each other. It was indeed nostalgic to catch up with one another. Some changed, some still looked similar. Of course, the general comments regarding me is I had been gaining some weight. I used to be slim. Hehe! These group photos are therefore very valuable and memorable.