Sports EGG

My First Deutsch Presentation :D

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 20:39:00 +0000

Bayern Munich Vs Inter (ECL Final)- Match Tracking

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sat, 22 May 2010 19:05:00 +0000

Saturday: 22nd of May '10

15-25 (interval)

Looks Inter is dominating the first half of the match. Sneijder is playing some real good football. Sneijder blasted a superb kick from outside the box and was superbly saved by the Bayern goalkeeper. Robben is equally deadly in the box and is making some nice runs on the channel.

25-35 (Interval)
Again Sneijder spot kick was comfortably saved by Bayern goalie no problem at all. Van Gaal is peacefully sitting in his box while Mourinho is roaming on the sidelines. Shows how restless Mourinho is. Commentator just said evergreen Zanetti indeed he is, aged 36 and still going strong. Robben free kick from the far corner of the outside box, easily cleared. Ok it seems if Inter wins the finals then Italy will be 3rd in UEFA rankings and Germany will move to 4rth and vice-versa. Sneijder is been kept quit for some time by the Germans. Yes and Milito scores he scores, first blow to Bayern. The slight from his right leg deceived the keeper and of he goes on the score sheet. Now bayern is trailing and Mourinho is happy.

35-45 (Interval).

Well Bayern is pressing hard now. Robben off the hook this time with his shot sailing over the cross bar. Sneijder to Milito - Milito to Sneijder and Sneijder missed an easy chance. He was so close to a goal. Must say it's a bad miss he should have scored. Ollic strike from outside the box, no way near to the goal post. Half time closing in. Fans already started to blow the whistle. Van Bommel strike far wide from the goal post. Ok so it is half time and the score is Inter 1 Bayern null.

45-55 (Interval)

Ah yes one more thing, Bayern is placed as a home side here. They have given the real compartment while Inter has the away section. Heard if Inter wins the final then they have to give Real Madrid 3 million pounds or dollars. It was there on the clause for Sneijder transfer. Second half started with both sides knocking on each other goal posts. Klose is warming up and Etoo run was canceled by Bayern defense. Robben run and shot was foiled by Walter Samuel. Inter won a free kick thanks to Pandev the Macedonian. Sneijder on the dead ball and he misses. ball traveling safely over the goal post. Atintop misses the near post. Sneijder on the corner with the ball let's see. Yep it was cleared with ease by Bayern defense.

55-65 (Interval)

Chivu is really having a tough time with Robben. Bayern with the corner as Cambiasso cleared a dangerous ball. Pandev was fouled again. Lucio looks solid in defense stood firmly against Muller. Robben was fouled Pandev and Chivu seems to be in the guilty party . Robben shoots and rebound was not been capitalized by Muller. Weak cross to robben intercepted and Inter is on attack. Foul on Milito and a free kick is been awarded. Saved, Sneijder was again denied by the Bayern goalie. Ah Robben strike equaled by a superb save by Caesar.

65-75 (Interval)

Chivu departs and Dejan comes in for him. 1982 on the same venue Italy won the World Cup playing West Germany in the finals. So it's all written for the Italians it seems. Diego Diego Diego Milito scores. It's Inter Night, it's Mourinho night screams the commentator. It was a superb solo effort from the Argentinian. Milito is on a hat-trick lets see if he finishes the match with 3 goals. Gomes comes in for Ollic, Van Gaal must pull all his cards now. Bayen 2 goals down and only 15 minutes are left. Pandev wins a free-kick for Inter.

75-90 (Interval)

Robben trying to run past Zanneti and wins a corner. Corner didn't last longer and was cleared. Nice ball from Muller from the line but was cleared by Lucio. Van Bommel gets a yellow, fouled Milito. Goran Pandev makes way for Muntari. Ball Possession stats 65 Bayern 35 Inter. The game as it turns out, Italians are defending and Germans pressing on them. Now here comes the free-kick, wall is being made. Bastian on the ball Robben takes it and it hits the wall. Muntari pass intercepted and it's a throw in. Bayern on the ball, they did nothing with it. Bayern infiltrates inside Inter Box but in vain. Muller didn't show much today he's in attack and was blunt all through the match. Van Bommel catches Sneijder foot and a free-kick was given to the Italians.

Time remaining 2 minutes and I can see cup going to the Italian camp. Seems Materazzi will come off the bench. It's three added minutes. Milito receives a standing ovation and Materazzi comes in for him. Bayern fans are dead silent and Inter camp is alive and rocking. Think it's done final whistle anytime soon.

Last run by Robben and he slips. It is !! Inter Won. After 45 years they are again the kings of Europe. The trophy is been engraved for the Nezzuries. The special one is class apart and he proves it. It's over , Italians standing tall in Spain.

Signing Off
----------

AC Milan - Forgone era of Old War Horses

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:46:00 +0000

So it was on Tuesday, 16th of February, think the mid week fixtures of EPL and ECL will surely take away my job someday. Thank god it was not on Wednesday, otherwise could have missed my early morning meeting (10:30 AM too early for me :P).

OK, other then the fact ... whole match was dominated by United, AC were good in patches well almost brilliant. The classy Ronaldinho showed that his show is not over yet, thanks to VDS otherwise it could have been a different story all-together, happens the case if Fabianski was there b/w the United goal post.

Looking at the over all match performance, think Nesta is still one of the classy Italian defender, Seedorf is still lethal and deadly, and Beckham lustre was not there on the field as it is was there in the pre-match interviews. The three lions possessor was nearly absent in the AC midfield, still beleive AC wasted Seedorf, not including him in the starting line up. A back flick from Seedorf was all that needed in the AC camp to come over a 2 goal deficit. But, good to see it came late ... otherwise that match would have been a different story all-together.

The aging AC Milan side was brilliant in fragments. First five minutes then at the death, there show was energetic. On the downside, AC displayed a horrible defensive show at the back and some poor coordination between goalie and the last line of defense ... for the United third goal. You rarely see that kind of poor defensive show by AC defenders, who have a glorious pedigree at the defensive line. An unmarked Rooney was clearly an invitation to cast doom upon themselves, still believe AC took Rooney too lightly and it was seriously absurd as he was the lone striker. May be AC defenders were too week to contain him (exception Nesta who was brilliant and johnny was poor :P).

I am so eagerly awaiting the away fixture of AC at OT on 10th of march 2010. Lets see what strategy they come up with. I believe Seedorf will replace some-one in midfield as he was awesome that night. In spite of a awesome show in the mid-field AC really failed to capitalize the opportunity in front of the goal. The coming clash, believe will be an eye catcher with a packed OT, I am still hopeful to see Rooney bald head to shine and some nice crossing from Valencia.

Owen Strikes First Blood

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:13:00 +0000

Wigan:United 0-5 , Dated 21/08/08

Michael Owen just penned his first goal in his United report. A fantastic pass from Nani, and off he goes with a clinical finish on the far post ... Krikland must be awestruck, as how Owen pull this off ... watching the ball, skimming over his shoulder combined with a spasmodic state, he could have done nothing to stop that strike.

The victory over Wigan this weekend was even more sweeter, as Berba was also there on the score sheet with his superb solo effort. But the following event, was even more delightful when Owen opened his goal tally for united. Surely Neville is ain't no hater of Scoucers anymore; as the United Bossman is going to add more to his goal tally. The clinical striker must have given enough dossier to Capello, to ponder for his inception in the England squad.

The season is yet too see more of these eye catching, awestruck and exquisite goals from Owen. And the latter would be no better with Owen on the score sheet against Arsenal next weekend.

Berbatov is lazy :)

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:44:00 +0000

I was reading this article on goal.com and yes it was on Berbatov. The lad was criticized of his style of play by groups; they say sometimes he is too lackadaisical in his approach. Though I agree on this fact as sometimes it seems that, out of lethargy he simply refuses to run for the ball. And sometimes when he has the ball he rolls carelessly.

What’s the point this group of cynics are looking for then? Tell you, they don’t have any clue as why he doesn't panics when he has the ball. He defended his approach and it came out something like this … take a look at this article on goal.com. To sum up the entire article these two lines answered all those raised questions.

"I am a relaxed guy," he continued. "I play that way and I can't change my style. I watch games and see guys who panic on the ball - they look so nervous."

As the article said to the eyes of the uneducated he is lazy, which is entirely correct as SAF is too foolish to allow him play like that. Surely Berba has a charm and perfection of its own when it comes to receiving and ball control.

Surely the hardest part in football is when you receive the ball. At the moment if one feels that he has got immense responsibility to capitalize then surely the focus is lost. Panic drills down to your body and certainly you do not deliver what is expected from you.

It’s ironic as Berba finds that because of his immense talent on the ball he looked to be a bit lazy. So be it he's lazy to a certain lot cause for others he just scored 11 goals and has given highest assist for United.

Lampard sent off

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:27:00 +0000

Liverpool-Chelsea: 2-0, Anfield, 1st of Feb ‘09

These days it’s common, you show your cleats blades to ref and straight away he will flash a ticket to the stands. Poor Lampard, though he had a clean tackle on the ball but ref got it all wrong and off he goes. Pity these uncooked decision kills all the drama and energy that a mega Sunday clash has to offer.

It’s hard to gulp down the fact as what difference it could have made if Lampard had stayed all through out. Right from the start the Merseysiders were bombing the Chelsea half like anything. It looked like Liverpool was going to break the lock at any moment. The complete game was dominated by them before that sent off took place.

But what if Lampard had stayed? Tell you what those trademark deflected Franky goals could have saved Chelsea from getting humbled at Anfield. It was highly likely that this game could have been converged to a draw. Before that sent off, the game could have given a four point cushion to United with a game in their hand. But ref got it all wrong, pity he gave that bad decision against Chelsea. It could have been the case, Alonso pocketing a yellow card but sorry Franky these days you are not reckoned to show the wrong side of your boot to ref.

United Hits Top Gear !!

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 10:54:00 +0000

It's been almost five month or so to see Man Utd on there usual league standing. Seems the steady SAF 1-0 boys are back with all there cylinder's firing. They go miser in some and deliver there frustration in one go 5-0 WBA perfectly fits to it.

For United the league started with a poor start again this season. They exhibited the usual fight back in between and now they are on top. It seems they follow a pattern. A mandatory slip when they start as if the hangover from the last league victory is not over yet. The slip is misunderstood by others and they start to hope, take Liverpool for example, they misunderstood it to a great extent and almost came in way to break this pattern. The above written fact may look as if I am too bent towards United. But one can't help himself when the commentator says the Champions of the World, Europe, and England is playing against any other team say 'Liverpool' and nothing else.

It’s not an easy job to follow this pattern, mean you have to play so many games inside out. Since you have to play so many games against so many teams you must have so many strategies too. But wait so many strategies? Not true when it comes to United they have there own home made recipe of 4-4-2. Though strategies can not be restricted to formation, there are loads and loads of other things. But it seems SAF has compacted all that load under one file and named it as 4-4-2. It may be skeptical to restrict SAF to 4-4-2 but for United its not just 4-4-2 it’s more than that. The mastered formation keeps on changing with the onslaught of a game and it seems it changes every year with a new fizz in it. Next comes the planning and it looks like SAF knows all from the start. The most intelligent move that SAF made so far was the squad rotation. He made cover for each and every position. So even though the injury list is alarmingly high; for any other team it may prove out to be fatal but here they are, sitting on top.

With 39 goals so far and the usual Ronaldo on top for United with 10 the season has more to offer hmm much more to offer. That’s my prediction and it’s based sorely the way Berbatov is playing. Given his facial similarity with a vulture he acts more like it. The lazy fellow mesmerizes one with his first touch and the ease with which he finishes. And nothing is more entertaining then watching Berba in the box controlling the ball gleefully, with defenders dangling around. Simply United were great this season in their box play which is not so great when you compare them with arsenal.

Lastly paving the last note on my supposed pattern. This time it is exhibited by the teams that play against United, not all but most of them. Fear!! Simply hate that behind the ball strategy and defensive play.

Check out your soccer character

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:07:00 +0000

Try out the character checker, answer five simple question to find out; who resemble your character the most.

Arsenal Untimely Heroes

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:33:00 +0000

"You'll never win anything with kids" the very infamous phrase by Alan Hansen proved to be right; as the gunner moved out from their title bid. For a major part of the season the Wenger squad relished the top spot in the BPL, the whole scenario ended in a bitter outcome, after a series of failures in the month of march. Hansen phrase which marked the defeat of Manutd to Aston Villa back in the 1995/96 season when united sold there high profile player, with big names Hughes, Ince and Kanchelskis in the list. But United hit back with a squad deployed with some of there terrific self groomed boys; as they went on winning the Cup and the League in the same season. The same scenario might would have been repeated at the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal academy players and Wenger string of cheap purchases from the summer transfer window.

From the start of the season it seems that the Hyper squad strengthening of the EPL giants which pulled in some big stars in their squad will leave little ground for Arsenal to carry themselves to the top draw. United and Liverpool were among the teams who splashed heavily on summer transfers, mounting their team value in over hundred's of million ... while on the other side Arsenal was low in their budget and squad value.

Tables turned and what predicted comes out to be totally incorrect in the first phase of the season with Arsenal leading the charts leaving United and Chelsea behind; once again the Hansen phrase was going to be denied by the exuberance of young guns. The Arsenal campaign went on smoothly, what Sir Alex had achieved was going in well for Wenger this season with some minor hitches; Tottenham battered Gunner's in their lunge to Carling Cup ... Adebayor and Bendtner clashed with each other.

The real frustrating time was the month of march where a series of decision made against Arsenal hunted their BPL title campaign; which ended in a great sorrow at Old Trafford where Arsenal was beaten up by 2-1. Critics said that the squad was not strong mentally and was incapable of handling pressure at the end. The major impact that a captain deliver's to his team was missing from the armband of William Gallas; the guy couldn't even cope up with his frustration level on the field which he showed when he moved to the other half of the pitch following an incident. Gallas never talked or organized to the team when it comes to defending set pieces ... when it mattered the most in the pressure situations. The injury to Eduardo against Birmingham too was a blow for Arsenal; he was settling in well, scored in many crucial arsenal games that he played, surely arsenal missed him at the end. When it comes to the squad rotation and backup's the quality on the bench was not as good that other's have; United this season showed the quality and depth of their squad which parried their injury vows.The bench strength proves out to be a major worry for the Gunners.

The Heroic effort of the Arsenal young guns ended in a major disappointment regarding BPL and the failure in ECL; their is nothing for Arsene to reward his squad ... the gaffer eyes the second spot, which seems to be the only option left. The untimely hero's played to their heart out this season, the breath taking move's and passes of Arsenal which pulls accolades even from their rivals, will be passing their gestation period as they take on the next season.

Fourth Official IN - Referee Ouchh !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:04:00 +0000

Bolton Januray 4rth 2003: Referee Graham Barber goes off injured and is substituted with the fourth official Mr D.Pugh during the FA Cup third round match between Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton.

Saturday Mar 15 2008:The game between Manutd and Derby County was held up as referee Phil Dowd's thigh gets injured and was treated along with Roy Carroll who suffered a problem in his groin .Referee Phil Dowd limped off with that hamstring problem and he was replaced by Trevor Kettle for the final five minutes.Derby fresh from there six goal trauma off from Chelsea displayed a terrific effort with gods on there side saving them from shambles. With suspended Kuszack and injured VDS, the match saw the return of Foster who was a bit doggy with his clearance , but with two terrific saves and awesome distribution the lad was up there with an impression.

Ronaldo currently the messiah for united was battered brutally through out the match with nasty challenges. But at the end rescued his side in the 75th minute; executing a terrific finish on a half volley, showing the notch of his technical skill with terrific balance while finishing off the pass from rooney and goal !!. Ronaldo afterwards made a technical error in his goal celebration in which he pointed "i made five attempts for this goal"(which turned out to be more then that). With thirty one goals under his belt Ronaldo is not far away from Best record and surely the odds are in favor for him to break that.

Finally the drama doesn't ended here, the referee got injured at the later part of the game , at the same time fourth official struggled to officiate a substitution as he was about to replace the referee funny Ain' it.

Soccer Supply Chain !!

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:20:00 +0000

Here's a Soccer Supply chain problem regarding forecasting that i framed for my college tech fest. The event goes by the name Induschron; involving a four stage of problems on Industrial engineering.

Cover, lining and bladder are important components that are used to manufacture football. A firm called “Fevernova”, which sells its football through a chain of retailer’s across India, requires estimating the necessary amount of components, needed in the coming year (quarterly) to meet the demand. One piece each of cover and bladder with two piece of lining is required to make one football.

The daily demand data of football in the previous year is provided in the following Graph.

Click on the picture to enlarge the view.

Fevernova currently purchases Cover, Lining and bladder from Wish-Aish Corp., Tall Winder Corp. and Ab-Shake Chop Ray Corp. Wish-Aish ships each order in 6 days, Tall Winder ships each order in 4 days and Ab-Shake ships it in 8 days on receiving respectively. Demand of football is normally distributed and is independent from one day to the next. Fevernova carries a safety inventory regarding standard demand deviation for each of the component; which is 12% of the expected daily demand of football in a particular period with a desired service level of 95%. The review period for inventories in each quarter is set to be four weeks for the replenishment of the inventory.

1) Evaluate the daily demand of cover, lining and bladder required to meet the expected demand in the four quarters of the coming year.
2) Do the error analysis on your proposed forecasting model by evaluating Absolute Deviation (AD), Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD), and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE).
3) State whether your forecast in overall is under forecasting or over forecasting.
4) Follow periodic inventory system and specify the buffer stock of all the components for all the quarters.

For the solution drop your comments with your email. Download all the stages of the problem from here

German Giants at Salt Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:29:00 +0000

“All the top Bayern stars will be there at the Salt Lake Stadium on May 27”

Oliver Kahn is all set to hang up his boot from the professional career against Bagan; over 120000 spectators will be there witnessing the event at salt lake stadium. The Kolkata based stadium namely salt lake stadium is the second largest soccer stadium in the world with Rungrado May Day Stadium in North Korea on first.. Home for three major soccer giants in India namely Mohun Bagan, Mohammedan Sporting and East Bengal, the stadium hosts some of the fierce local derbies between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal.

East Bengal represents Bengalis hailing from Eastern part of Bengal, but they also have several supporters hailing from Western part of Bengal. Mohun Bagan represents Ghotis generally belonging to people of Western part of Bengal and they also have some supporters hailing from Eastern part of Bengal. Mohammedan SC supporters of which are mainly from the Muslin section of the population.

With Kahn paving way for Rensing, the promising young goalkeeper who is impressive with his match performance and is all set to replace the aging Kahn. The likely keeper for Munich Rensing; injured Kahn with a ferocious hit while warming up thus making Kahn out with a blackened eye and coming up with a performance in that match, Bayern won 2-0 against Arminia Bielefeld .

Bayern featuring the likes of Mark van Bommel, Martin Demichelis, Lucio, Ze Roberto, Daniel van Buyten and Andreas Ottl alongside captain and goalkeeper Oliver Kahn will be a delight for Indian soccer fans as Mohun Bagan will take on the German giants. Munich were there in 2006 with there youthful second team under Gerd Muller and went ahead winning the IFA challenge shield; defeating Ever-Ready in the final with a score line of 5-1.

One interesting fact about Mohun Bagan and east Bengal rivalry is that; the local fish market price always rose when there is a clash between the two side as fans from both sides are fond of fish and sea food. With the progress of time both teams now have fans belonging to various communities and regions of India.

The rivalry is rated 7.4 on a scale of ten on localderbies .

Quiz: Liverpool

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 08:58:00 +0000

Quiz: Arsenal General Trivia

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 08:31:00 +0000

Quiz: Chelsea The Mourinho years

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 07:58:00 +0000

Quiz: Manchester United Trivia

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 07:46:00 +0000

Fetching high!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:05:00 +0000

United with AIG leads the charts for annual sponsoring of club jersey. Majority of the sponsor's in the soccer world are related to Telecommunication, Automobile, Banks and brewery.

Lion's of Babylon

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:59:00 +0000

World witnessed the forgathering of three faiths under one cult, cult that drives us crazy, the only cult that can unite anything, we follow it as the sole religion "Football" (isn't). Putting aside the bygone fixation of the war torn country the lions of babylon emerged as champions of Asia, rising from the dearth and proving there mettle as what they are capable of. Salutation, salutation to the Lions of Babylon

Surely one of the top event that Asia has witnessed in the past year. A spectacular display of exuberance and hunger that pictured, how Football tied the three faiths together and put forth a glorious event for Iraq. The team outshine the likes of Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia in the forgone tournament. The glorious event yet was stained with blood, when the celebration back there in the home land met with serious attacks on fans celebrating on streets.

Iraq riding on the shoulder of a young Iraqi team nicknamed lions of the two river played down the horrific events that involved several death threats, family deaths and many more mental and physical stress. The player's lost their close relatives during tournament even the physiotherapist was killed in a bomb blast while picking up his plane ticket. Iraqi team lead by Brazilian coach was forced to practice outside Iraq and thus where camped at Jordon due to bad circumstances back there in the country.

The glory led Iraqi team opened the gates for Nashat Akram Ali whose performance impressed Seven Goran Eriksson to include the lad in the city squad from Al-Ain UAE. The player will be a delight to watch in City midfield and would add another Asian spice in BPL big eye catching bag.

Six-Four "Berbatov"

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 11:27:00 +0000

From Bulgaria with love and a happy home package for new year too. What a dramatic weekend for EPL follower's, a ten goal haul from White Hart Lane, Manutd energized to the highest state and then straight to the penultimate all thanks to bogey Hammer's knocking the devils off from Upton park paving gunners to chuff on top of the table.

With all the drama and energy in the box it was the belligerent Berbatov, who take away all the reserved accolades to steal the show. The all one man show against reading showed the energy carried by Berbatov to lift his team up from the shambles to the top half. But the terrific display on the other hand had made the situation rife for a possible move away from white hart lane in the January transfer window.

Lets take a closer look at the goals scored byBerbatov against reading, starting with the first here's the stat.
1. Collected the assist from Keane with a terrific run just at a right time, making finishing a piece of cake.
2. Just caught ball at the right place on right time packing off with a ferocious strike at near post.
3. Awesome balance after the usual tugging from the defense and extraordinary finish.
4. Out muscled the defender wrapping it up with a thunderous hit.

Fans at white hart lane must hoping to have a long term commitment from their Bulgarian star. But the real test will be the edgy January transfer window, where all the guns will be heading towards the Bulgarian head. Berbatov holds the jack for Tottenham to lift them up the table and Spurs will have to be on their toes to be retract his starlet.

Almunia - England Borne

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 02:12:00 +0000

Almunia is perfectly poised to bore the three lions with England unparalleled worries over the selection of the nation goalkeeper. FA is now playing safe and ready to use all its option leaving no holes unplugged to sequester the bitter outcome. The woes are clear, a stopper may let you down and that rude awakening let FA to consider Almunia as an enroll for England stopping post.

With Under Fifa’s regulations, a player who is uncapped at senior level has only to have “lived continuously for at least two years on the territory” to represent that country and FA is all set to use it. With a highly competitive league sprawling across the nation boundary, EPL is brimming with enormous talent showcasing some of the highly rated future prospects still uncapped leaving an option for FA to siege them.

With player's of different ethnic group and nationality coming under one flag the scenario is getting obvious in many European nation(Croats-Aussie , Portugal-Brazil, France-so many) and England will only be the next one to embrace it. FA recent call for an Italian coach made skeptics to belief that this will only widen up the possibility for the inclusion of foreign player's under three lions. Pressure on Capello will be enormous as England will strongly consider the next big thing in South Africa. The Italian flag ship will be up for it and will leave no holds barred, to be up with a strong squad leaving little for a make shift plan, which already casted a deadly spell over england recent lunge for Euro 08.

NFL to I - League

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:58:00 +0000

All India Football Federation (AIFF) rechristened the National football league as I-League with ten teams in top division. NFL was introduced back in 1996, but failed to perform to a satisfactory level. Several problems regarding, regulating the norms setup by the organizing body was felt in the past. Quota for foreign player which was set as maximum of three in a particular squad was thoroughly neglected by several clubs. The prepared fixture never goes as it was intended, as matches were rescheduled too often annoying the viewer's. Poor telecast of matches seriously ripped the interest of the viewer's if there were any.

With the introduction of I-League and broadcasting rights in the hand of Zee Sports and Graeme Le Saux in the commentary box there is a glimmer of hope that this time Indian football will not disappoint its fan's. The kick off was scheduled on 24th November involving Dempo and Salgaocar, both of the clubs hold a high rank in the Indian League. The provision of relegation is set with two teams being relegated to the second tier and 4 teams will come up from the lower division. The I- League is aimed to provide bigger pool of talented player's for the National team which currently ranks 145th in the world.

With growing popularity of foreign leagues in India , it will be very difficult for the I - League to pull the attention of the masses, which are used to the high standard display of foreign leagues like EPL, Serie A. The condition of pitches over which matches will be held too are in a grim state with smooth passing almost impossible and significant amount of effort from players and coaches is still required to lift the aerial game.

The names that associate a fan to his club is quite popular all over the world. One feel proud to be called as Citizens (Man City) or Saints (Southhampton). The scenario is more or less same in India also with teams having nickname which associate their fans with the unique thing that belong to a club or its place.

The pilots - Air India
Mariners - Mohan Bagan
Hilsa - East Bengal
The Millmen - Jct
Neelapadda - Viva Kerala
The Whites - Dempo
Flaming Oranje - Sporting Club de Goa

Hilsa(Fish) is quite popular in Bengal.

EPL Medical Ward

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 13:46:00 +0000

As the Pundits say if you want to play in EPL get ready to be assaulted by fearsome tackles and be prepared to take the bruises, because the game played here is physical. The fast paced game played in EPL gives little room for players to show their creativity. Often we see player's flying up in the air all thanks to the nasty challenges that goes around frequently.Manchester United player Evra said in an interview "once i receive the ball and lift my head up i see player's rushing towards me in no time, game here is more physical compared to the French league". With teams like Bolton and Blackburn which are famous for their physical play makes premiership a delight for those people who love to watch rough games with an electric atmosphere electrified with nasty challenges.

The harder you play more you are prone to the injuries. Recently a survey showed that chances of getting injured increases as you grow older. The ability of the muscles to take on the cyclic fatigue decreases as a player goes down in his career. The physically demanding game of EPL is evident from the fact that there is a greater pool of aged player's in leagues across the Europe apart from EPL. Imagine Costacurta who retired at an age of around forty playing in premiership, but what aged player lack in their physical attributes they cover it up with their experience, as Ryan Giggs said "now I better know when I have to make a run".

Coming to injuries the pool of players that are currently injured is vast and comes out to be very critical for some clubs. Often we see club signing a new player and accidentally he gets injured in a training session which is quite annoying. The climatic condition in England too make the players more susceptible to injuries.
Here we see the recent top five injuries that have plagued EPL.

But if we look at the brighter side, which is rapid technological improvement in the medical ward of the high profile clubs, that makes it easier for the player to recover quickly. Take the case of Wayne Rooney who was plagued with Metatarsal and ankle injuries; he was stretchered off the field in Manchester United's 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge, following a challenge by the Chelsea full-back Paulo Ferreira. The striker was ready for the world cup earlier than the expected date, all thanks to a removable plastic pneumatic boot that he used over the traditional plaster cast. The removable boot is far superior, because the boot can be removed for physiotherapy treatment, which is aimed at preventing stiffness in the ankle and foot. The injuries which ended the career in the past now pose a lesser threat and recovery time too is shorter.

Quite often we see player's flying on the pitch due to some nasty challenges and at times its the same age old childish scuba diving. The player get criticized over this but quit few of us know, that it is the best way to avoid injuries(apart from that diving stuff). More you go rigid higher will be the risk of getting yourself injured. But mind you if you fly, get your landing right :) .

The Rebel League.

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 18:28:00 +0000

Remember G-14, the association of clubs across the Europe that has won most of the trophies, which Europe has to offer. Presently G-14 is an agglomeration of Europe's eighteen most prestigious clubs. In the present scenario, a serious of action taken by UEFA president "Platini" to change the structure of European champions league, infuriated the G-14 as they were kept at bay and were totally neglected on the proposed changes.

Retaliation was expected and it was quite threatening as the G-14 body tried to rattle UEFA by proposing a new rebel league, involving the entire European heavyweight in it. In an attempt to strengthen the G-14 association, the president of the group himself, Olympique Lyonnais chairman Jean-Michel Aulas announced to expand the group by injecting sixteen more clubs.

The above scenario is less likely to happen in the near future, but guess if it ever happened and a new rebel league is put forth.
Clashes between the old war horses which were very unpredictable, as who would be meeting whom in the finals of ECL will become predictable as they will be meeting to often in the proposed league. Surely the charm and charisma of these big clashes will lose its shine and would turn out to be just a next match.
Secondly just evaluate this fact that a team like Celtic, has to travel to Milan to play a match and on the next fixture, comes out to be in Barcelona. The travel and uneven climatic condition will take its toll on the player's, leading to higher fatigue rate which may turn them to play with less enthusiasm.

G-14 is opposing UEFA just for the fact that Platini wants to involve teams from smaller league to play in European Champions League (ECL), which will degrade the quality of ECL. But guess what these small clubs itself are the poaching grounds for bigger clubs to snatch the players who want to be associated with big clubs and will be eager to play in Europe (ECL) by signing any damn contract. On the other side as the smaller clubs will now get a chance to show their mettle in ECL, as per to new proposal by Platini ... surely that will gave higher clubs a stiff neck during transfer negotiations.

In some cases Platini is right on his proposed changes in ECL, as it will give a chance to the smaller teams across the Europe to emerge in a broader picture . But this step might take the fizz out of ECL, as most of the matches will be predictable and miraculous escapes by smaller teams from a relatively heavy team will be less as god has a very small quota for that .

Both parties are right in their own grounds but the matter must be sorted peacefully before football is dragged into dirty political grounds.
More

Samir Nasri Vs Zizou

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:04:00 +0000

Samir Nasri is touted as the next Zidane the Marseille maniac has shown the signs of emulating zidane with his terrific display. Check the video below showing signs of Zizou in Nasri.

Check on youtube

Keep checking sportsegg for more on Nasri.

Prospects Vs Veterans - II

noreply@blogger.com (Sanjeev Singh) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:09:00 +0000

Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell better known as sol Campbell, scored the opening goal for Arsenal against Barcelona that would have been a dream return for him in the arsenal squad hadn’t they lost in the finals. Sol Campbell always wished to play in Europe which lead to a controversial switch to arsenal back there in 2001-02 (Bosman Ruling), Ever since, he has been labeled "Judas" by Spurs supporters. Campbell was the linchpin in the arsenal defense and played a vital part in their premier league glory.

Sol Campbell Strangely began his career as a striker but, played in every defensive position in Tottenham before settling as a central defender. The Mighty defender was highly affected by injuries and poor form in the season 2005-06 which paved a move to Portsmouth, which was quite unlikely as rumors were around that he may switch to Fenerbahce or Marseille. His presence in the Harry Redknapp squad provided a solid foundation to the Portsmouth defense which led to impressive standing in the premier league.

Both Micah and Sol represented their country at a young age with Campbell debuting against hungry back in 1996 and Micah in 2006 against a friendly against Netherlands, making him the youngest defender ever to be called up to the England squad. The young lad is currently the favorite as a right-back in English squad and will surely give a fight to Gary when he will come back from his long injury layoff.

It’s not very likely that someone is evaluated worth 15+ Pounds by top clubs at an age of eighteen and Micah is one of them with Chelsea and other major club in line to snatch the teenager away from Man City. Rumors were there that Sir Alex wants him as a long term replacement for Gary Neville. Micah Richards who was better seen as a right back in his earlier days at Man City is now a regular feature alongside Richard Dunne back in the centre of City defense. Excluding the recent blow to Man City who were hammered by Chelsea, with a six nil away defeat Micah alongside Dunne was doing his job perfectly fine leading the Citizens to sit at the top of the premier league table. The teenage sensation fancies taking the skipper role and wish to play in arsenal someday