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2009-2010 Off-Season / Pre-Season - Football Slate

Bundesliga Week 10 Results

October 26th 2009 23:30
I haven't stayed in touch with the Bundesliga these past couple of weeks. But here are last weekends results along with video highlights.

Bayer Leverkusen – Borussia Dortmund: 1-1

Bayern Munich – Eintracht Frankfurt: 2-1

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1899 Hoffenheim – 1. FC Nurnberg: 3-0

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Hannover 96 – VfB Stuttgart: 1-0

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Borussia M'gladbach – 1. FC Koln: 0-0

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1. FSV Mainz 05 – SC Freiburg: 3-0

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Hertha BSC – VfL Wolfsburg: 0-0

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FC Schalke 04 – Hamburger SV: 3-3

VfL Bochum 1848 – Werder Bremen: 1-4

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EPL Pre-Season: Newcomers & Youngsters Shine In Manchester United Win Over Valencia

August 6th 2009 18:36
For their last pre-season game before the Community Shield, Sir Alex Ferguson gave the Old Trafford faithful the opportunity to see newcomers Valencia and Owen for the first time on home ground.

Both players had their bright moments in a wide open game where the two teams shared an equal number of scoring chances. Owen was the most unlucky of the two as he missed four scoring opportunities, all from close range. At the same time, he showed an uncanny ability to hang on the shoulder of Valencia's last defender which allowed him to be sent in alone several times. It's too bad he couldn't convert any of his opportunities.

Owen's partner that day was the one who finally broke the deadlock six minutes after the break as United's other summer acquisition, Antonio Valencia, delivered a superb cross that was beautifully headed in by Rooney. Valencia would be at the origin of United's second goal twenty minutes later when his cross into the box was trapped by Macheda and then converted by youngster Tom Cleverley.

Cleverley had come in at half-time but only hit his stride when Gibson and Macheda stepped on the pitch at the hour-mark. The three youngsters showed great chemistry as they combined to create several scoring opportunities in the final ten minutes of the game. Gibson in particular had the best chances as he hit the woodwork in the 78th minute and was later denied by Cesar Chavez who had to come up big against the youngster superb long-range strike.

At the other end, Ben Foster had a relatively quiet first half. In the second half, Kuszczak had to make one big save right at the start of the half, but he too wasn't bothered much. Most of Valencia's attempts to penetrate the box were broken down by Rio Ferdinand and his backline. The Spanish team mostly relied on long range strikes that were easily gobbled up by the goalkeepers except for Michel's shot early in the first half which rang off the crossbar.

After a disappointing loss against Bayern Munich last week, it was nice to see United go up a notch for their last game before their meeting against Chelsea this weekend.



Manchester United's line-up: Ben Foster (Tomasz Kuszczak, h-t); Ritchie de Laet (Fabio da Silva, 62nd), Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans (John O'Shea), Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia (Nani, 79th), Michael Carrick (Darron Gibson, 62nd), Darren Fletcher (Anderson, 62nd), ZoranTosic (Tom Cleverley, h-t); Wayne Rooney (Dimitar Berbatov, 62nd), Michael Owen (Frederico Macheda, 62nd).
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2009 Audi Cup: Bayern Munich Beat Manchester United On Penalties, Milan Lose Yet Again

July 31st 2009 05:24
For the second and final day of the Audi Cup, the winners of yesterday's games were pitted against each other in a friendly final while the losers met to decide third place.

The first game of the day was between Boca Juniors who had lost 2-1 against Manchester United and AC Milan who were routed 4-1 by home team Bayern Munich. After being used to seeing Milan concede the first goal since the start of pre-season, it was refreshing to see them take lead for once when Thiago Silva deflected Pato's shot/cross into the back of the net just a few minutes before the half-hour mark. Unlike their previous games where they were flat, the Rossoneri had a lot more vivacity on the field, especially in midfield where Gattuso and Ambrosini (and Pirlo later on) always did their best to come back and help out in defense. Unfortunately, the Italians weren't able to hold on to their precious lead. Four minutes before full-time, Lucas Viatri scored a splendid header from a desperate cross to tie the game. The game was decided in a shootout which Boca won 4-3 as Pirlo and Pato both missed their shots while Insua was the only one to be stopped by Storari.

It's another disappointing result for Milan who are still winless in the pre-season. The team is way too old and you get a sense that some of the veterans feel entitled to playing-time instead of trying to earn it. Milan's lone bright spot of the game was Onyewu who had a good outing. He seemed a bit in over his head in his first few games but he's slowly coming around. It'll be interesting to see how he progresses.



In the second game, Bayern Munich and Manchester United - sporting their new ugly-ass Power Rangers away kit - could only come to a goalless draw as both teams hit the woodwork on their best scoring opportunities – Gomez in the first half, and Berbatov on a overhead kick also in the first half. Bayern had most of the possession during the first half which took place almost exclusively in United's territory. Although, the situation balanced itself in the second half, the English champions couldn't really find their rhythm until Wayne Rooney came on and had to rely on set-pieces such as corners to really bother Bayern's goalkeeper.

Finally, the Germans won the cup by defeating United 7-6 on penalties as Evra and Evans both missed their chances – the former due to a lack of confidence, and the latter because he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. Van der Sar's intimidating tactics didn't seem to bother Bayern's strikers since only Pranjic – with a poor attempt – was stopped by the Dutch goalkeeper.

Next for United is a final friendly at Old Trafford on Wednesday before the start of the season.



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2009 Audi Cup: Bayern Munich Crush AC Milan 4-1

July 30th 2009 05:29
It's going from bad to worse in the Rossoneri camp. Since losing Kaka to Real Madrid and long-time manager Carlo Ancelotti to Chelsea, Milan's management team has done nothing to appease a group of fans that's getting restless. Millan's pre-season results hasn't improved matters since their are now 0-4 in their last four games. After going winless in the World Football Challenge which took place in the United States, Milan returned to Europe only to be rolled over by Germany's Bayern Munich in the Audi Cup.

The home team took the lead early on in the game via Thomas Fuller. Instead of waking up the flat Italians, the goal only seemed to demoralize them before the 15-minute mark. Munich easily dominated Milan by applying a sustained pressure in midfield, leaving Pirlo no space to maneuver. In that situation, Ronaldinho and Pato were both isolated in front and had to come back to get the ball themselves. Once they did that however, Milan had no one in front to send the ball to, and they were caught in this vicious circle for most of the game. Despite their total domination, Munich had a lot trouble to extend their lead in the first half. Most of that had to do with Mario Gomez wasting chance after chance. Being relatively unfamiliar to the Bundesliga, I wonder if he's their equivalent to Emmanuel Adebayor – he may score a lot but it takes a lot of opportunities for him to put the ball in the back of the net


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2009 Audi Cup: Anderson & Valencia Score In Manchester United's Win Over Boca Juniors

July 29th 2009 20:51
After a perfect run in Asia, Manchester United returned to Europe to continue their preparation for the coming season. Their next stop is Germany where they're currently taking part of the Audi Cup in Munich.

It was a day of firsts for Sir Alex Ferguson's men as two players got to shine in their 2-1 victory over Boca Juniors in the opening day of the Audi Cup. First, Anderson scored his first United goal on a superb free-kick at the 22nd minute. The Brazilian's curling shot left goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri rooted in place as the ball flew to his far post's top-corner. Despite having scored in shootouts, Anderson never had an official goal since his arrival at Old Trafford. That free-kick was a great way to finally break the ice


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Eto'o Joins Inter Milan, Ibrahimovic Signs With Barcelona, Adebayor & Toure Move To City

July 29th 2009 04:36
After Real Madrid's successful bids to get superstars Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo last month, the Nou Camp stayed eerily quiet, proceeding to make only one depth-related move by bringing in Inter's Maxwell to replace Sylvinho. All that changed this past weekend when the blaugrana completed a blockbuster move of their own, swapping striker Samuel Eto'o along with midfielder Aleksandr Hleb for Inter's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and signing the latter to a 5-year, €46 million contract.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Samuel Eto'o, Inter Milan, Barcelona
Who's the winner of that deal? Inter or Barca?

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EPL Pre-Season: Manchester United Come Back From Behind To Defeat FC Seoul 3-2

July 25th 2009 05:12
Sir Alex Ferguson's men were issued a stiff challenge on Friday afternoon (local time) by K-League club FC Seoul who didn't seem starstruck at the sight of the English giants.

As a matter of fact, it was the Koreans who opened the score at the 23rd minute when a majestic early cross from the right wing was tapped in by the striker who had slipped between Ferdinand and Brown. Up until that point, the game was going at a flat pace with United trying to break through Seoul's ten-man defensive scheme. Rooney finally found a way at the half-hour mark when O'Shea's cross floated above the central defender to land on Rooney's head inside the box. Unfortunately, Evra would get beaten for the second time during this half when Damjanovic received a beautiful through-pass which set him on a direct path to goal. The striker simply chipped his shot above the onrushing Kuszczak to give his team the lead right before the break


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EPL Pre-Season: Arsenal Crush SC Columbia 7-1

July 23rd 2009 05:41
It was a walk in the park for Arsenal in their second pre-season game as they romped over SC Columbia to a final result of 7-1.

The Gunners started the game with an unexpected intensity that proved troublesome for their opponents. However, despite getting several shots towards Columbia's net in the first fifteen minutes, it was the English club who would fall behind when Patrick Lehner slid in front of Almunia, deflecting the keeper's lazy clearance in the back of the net. Although Almunia didn't look brilliant on that play, much of the blame has to be put on newcomer Thomas Vermaelen's shoulders. Instead of simply clearing the ball, the defender passed the ball to his goalkeeper while the latter hadn't realized that Lehner was closing in on him. With one player coming from his left, Almunia lazily put the ball on his right foot and it's at that moment that Lehner struck with an efficient sliding tackle


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La Liga Pre-Season: Benzema Outshines Cristiano Ronaldo In Real Madrid Win

July 21st 2009 04:26
Madrid fans everywhere were eagerly anticipating the start of their team's pre-season games in order to drool over the club's newest acquisitions. Neutral observers on the other hand were curious to see what kind of formation Manuel Pellegrini would use to satisfy everyone. Although Kaka and current Roja players were absent for Madrid's first friendly encounter, viewers still had the opportunity to see both Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in action for the first time.

The two players were put into different line-ups. Ronaldo started the game with what can be considered the usual starting eleven while Benzema came on at half-time along with the Dutch brigade


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EPL Pre-Season: Manchester United Cruise To 2-0 Win Over Malaysia's Select XI

July 21st 2009 02:34
In a rematch of Saturday's pre-season confrontation, Manchester United had an easier time dominating their Malaysian opponents thanks to the solid performance of their midfield maestros, Michael Carrick and Ryan Giggs.

The visitors scored twice in the span of two minutes to effectively demoralize the Malaysian squad. First, Frederico Macheda coolly converted Fletcher's cross just outside the six-yard box in the tenth minute. Then, Owen followed up two minutes later with his second of the pre-season by beating two defenders to the loose ball inside the box. Although United had several more scoring chances throughout the game, the two goals stood as the difference between the two sides


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EPL Pre-Season: Owen Scores Late Goal To Provide United 3-2 Win Against Malaysia's U-23

July 19th 2009 18:17
For the first game of Manchester United's Asian Tour, Sir Alex Ferguson didn't hesitate to push his stars to the limit fitness-wise by letting them play a full hour in Malaysia's hot and humid stadium.The key to the game was ball control as both teams wished to avoid any potential burnout.

Wearing their Star Trek home kit for the first time, United started the game on the right foot, quickly putting themselves in the lead when Wayne Rooney buried a shot rebound past the goalkeeper. Nani added the Red Devils' second right around the half-hour mark after a superb pass by Rooney. Despite Manchester's two-goal lead, the Malaysian selection never gave up. Although they lacked finishing in the final third, they made up their inability to create plays by taking advantage of United's mistakes. First, Evra's missed header in the stoppage time of the first half allowed Yahyah to nicely lob Edwin Van der Sar as the goalkeeper had advanced too far off his line. The Malaysian striker scored his second of the game soon after the break when Ben Foster failed to properly control John O'Shea's back-pass. With the score tied at 2-2, the crowd started to sway, pulling more and more for the locals instead of the international superstars. The slew of substitutions on both sides around the hour-mark led to a bit of a decline in the quality of the game as passes became often too short or too long while miscommunication incidents happened at various stages of the play. Finally, it was Michael Owen, wearing the iconic number 7, who put an end to the debate by seizing a loose ball inside the box and striking it past the sprawling goalkeeper and the defender who had taken his keeper's place on the goal line


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EPL: Carlos Tevez Joins Manchester City

July 18th 2009 02:25
Carlos Tevez, Manchester United, Manchester City
Tevez leaves Old Trafford for Eastlands
After turning down Manchester United's contract offer in early June, Argentine striker Carlos Tevez has opted to pursue his football career with United's cross-town rivals Manchester City.

A fan favorite at Old Trafford, Tevez had a difficult season in 2008-2009 as Dimitar Berbatov was given a starting role alongside Rooney, leaving the Argentine with few starts in both the Premiership and the Champions League. With the 2010 World Cup less than a year away, Tevez needs to play as much as he can to make it on the star-studded Argentine squad. However, since City won't be playing on the European stage this coming season, you have to wonder if Tevez isn't taking a step backwards. His refusal to join Liverpool, a Champions League regular, based on their rivalry with United is a bit puzzling considering the rivalry between City and United. Yes, City aren't at the level of the Big Four just yet, but their recent signings suggest a better balanced team next season. All that's left for them is to strengthen their defense and they should be able to compete with the big boys soon enough


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EPL: Manchester United Sign Michael Owen & Antonio Valencia, Other Transfer News

July 8th 2009 03:42
As Real Madrid's lavish spending made headlines all over the world, the English Premier League had some important signings of their own with Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City all trying to improve their rosters.

Michael Owen, Newcastle United, Manchester United
Owen - Sir Alex's gamble
The biggest shock to come out of England was Michael Owen's signing with Manchester United. On the decline ever since his ill-advised stint at Real Madrid in 2004-2005 and his unfortunate injury during the 2006 World Cup, Owen spent the last four years playing for mid-table club Newcastle United. The Magpies' relegation at the end of last season appeared to be the end for Michael Owen. Several clubs in the Premiership showed their interest in him but none of them were in the caliber of Manchester United or Liverpool. His agents even sent a 32-page brochure (found HERE) to elite football clubs in Europe in an effort to resurrect his career


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La Liga: Karim Benzema Joins Real Madrid, Saviola To Benfica

July 4th 2009 04:08
Karim Benzema, Real Madrid
Benzema, the newest Galactico
Two more players were added to Real Madrid's newest edition of the “Galacticos.” First, Florentino Perez signed Spanish international Raul Albiol from Valencia. Bought for a fee around €15 million, the young defender will help solidify an unstable backline.

Earlier this week, Florentino Perez completed what is thought to be his final purchase of the summer by signing French youngster Karim Benzema. Several teams were in the running for the Olympique Lyonnais striker including Manchester United, but it was the Spanish giants who won race for a fee of €35 million. Benzema joins an already-packed Madrid offense with the likes of Raul, Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo, Huntelaar, and Kaka. It is for that reason Javier Saviola was sent packing to Portuguese club S.L. Benfica. The Argentine striker hasn't been in Madrid's plans for the past two seasons as he spent most of his time rotting on the bench and with Madrid on the hunt for David Villa before zeroing in on Benzema, Saviola had to move to a better environment


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