Beaty's Beat

The world’s game and its greatest prize. When did the World Cup start? What’s the history been like? Who’s going to win it this year? First starting in 1930, the World Cup has taken place in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia. As you may or may not know, the best sporting event on the planet is taking place in Germany this year. There are twelve different venues including Berlin (the capital), Hannover, Hamburg, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund, Leipzig, Cologne, Frankfurt, Kaiserslautern, Nurnberg, Stuttgart, and Munich. The opening game started out in Munich (Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2, but we'll get into that a bit later) and the tournament closes in Berlin on July 9, 2006.

First is a little history lesson. The first ever World Cup was held in Uruguay and they were the ones taking home the trophy over Argentina. You may have never guessed it but the US came in third in that particular tournament. For the second World Cup the host was the champion of the competition, Italy won on their home ground over Czechoslovakia in overtime in 1934. Four years later the Italians defended their title defeating Hungary in the year of 1938. 1950 was the year that Uruguay tied Italy in the record books for most World Cup championship wins, 2-2 on Brazilian soil and defeating the hosts. United States also made their mark in this competition defeating the English 1-0. In 1954, in the land of Switzerland, West Germany proved that the Italians and Uruguayans were not the only ones capable of winning the Cup by beating Hungary. In 1958 Brazil started to emerge into the soccer world and started to their supreme domination in soccer by hammering the host Swedes 5-2. In 1962, they repeated.

When you think of the World Cup there are always ones that stick out in the fans’ minds. The 1966 competition has to be one that most soccer fans immediately think of. This is when the English defeated an extremely talented West Germany in a 4-2 overtime win. "The Wembley Goal," scored by Geoff Hurst is one of the most memorable and controversial goals in history. This goal occurred in extra time when a Hurst shot from close range stuck the crossbar and bounced on the line. Gottfried Dienst, the official, had a different feeling however, ruling that the ball fell over the line. The 1960 World Cup did not feature any of the '66 finalists participating. Rather Brazil beat Italy in the final 4-1. This 1970 Brazilian squad was and is the best ever national team. The 1974 World Cup featured the second best national team of all time, the Netherlands. The Dutch introduced the "Totaal Voetbal" (translation = total football). This strategy is if on the attack players push up the field, another player takes his spot, and so on. This requires team organization which Holland clearly had. Although you may question, how can this team be the second best if they did not win the Cup? Well that's because the Dutch probably did not match up right with the Germans but still had the best combination of individual and team talent. Johann Cruyff is most famous for his move "the Cruyff" (which is a fake cross or shot and then you cut the ball behind your planted leg). Johnny Rep is another well-known player. In 1982 Italy defeated West Germany 3-1 in Spain. Paulo Rossi was the tournament's star player. In four years, the "Argie-Bargies" (Argentina) beat West Germany 3-2 in Mexico. This 1986 Cup is another memorable one. Diego Maradona was at the best of his game around this time. The Argentina-England game is the most well-known match in history. This game featured the "Hand of God", which is when Maradona was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and the bouncing ball was out of reach for the 5'6" forward so he decided to handle the ball and push it -with his hand- over the keeper's head. The official actually thought he had headed it so no foul was called and the goal stood. 

Another great game was in the '86 WC which had Brazil playing France. This match went into overtime and eventually into spot kicks. 4-3 was the penalty kick score in favor of "Les Blues". Onto the next Cup...1990, West Germany were crowned champions over Argentina (1-0) for the last time as a divided nation. In 1994, the tournament was played in our homeland but that didn't seem to help our chances. Brazil defeated Italy in penalties in the final match. In 1998, France upset Brazil in the championship, being the first team to win on their home ground in 20 years since Argentina, 1978. 2002 may be one Cup that all of you do remember since it is in recent memory. This Cup was co-hosted by Korea and Japan. One of the hosts, South Korea, did surprisingly well by making it to the semifinals. Germany lost to Brazil 2-0 in the final. By the way, Ronaldo had the worst haircut ever, a "baldie" except for a little sliver in front. That brings you up to date to 2006 and this year’s world cup!

What’s my main topic today? How about the teams of this World Cup? Since most of you out there don't know squat about soccer (just kidding – I don’t see that much coverage in the Link on soccer so maybe I’ll help change that). In the rest of the article I’ll discuss the favorites, shocks, underdogs, and of course our national team.

The favorites - as always Brazil, Italy, and Argentina. Others are Holland (my favorite team but I can't picture them winning), Portugal, and England. Brazil has a dream-team lineup starring the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year: Ronaldinho. Others are Lucio, Adriano, Ronaldo, Kaka, Ze Roberto, and Robinho. Italy's stars are Francesco Totti, Alessandro Del Piero, their keeper Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro Nesta, and Andrea Pirlo. They also have Europe's top scorer: Luca Toni. Argentina has a lot of talent including, exciting young player, Leo Messi. Others are Juan Riquelme, Hernan Crespo, Pablo Aimar, and Carlos Tevez. Holland's top player is Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Portugal's standout is Cristiano Ronaldo. England features the best midfield in the world: Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, David Beckham (who is massively overrated), and Joe Cole. John Terry, the best defender in the world also takes part on the UK side.

Shocks - Teams who are good but may go out earlier than predicted. For shocks I would include: Sweden, Mexico, Czech Republic, France, Spain, and maybe, just maybe Argentina. Germany has produced one of the worst teams in its history which still is not horribly bad, but I do not expect them to advance too far despite their unrivaled fan support. Sweden was not a great team in 2002 but they have gotten a bit worse since then. My prediction for the Swedes is to advance past the group stage but get knocked out in the Round of 16. Mexico of late has done well but I'm not sure they will be going too far past the group stage. Czech Republic has a good all-around team but once again, if they get past the group stage, they will probably not advance much further. France is always considered a favorite but after an embarrassing 2002 World Cup appearance, I just don't see "Les Blues" excelling in this tournament after a humiliating showing four years ago; the comeback would be so drastic (yet again so was their downfall [winning the World Cup one time and the next time, not scoring a single goal]). Spain also has a good team on paper but do not show the heart or determination to get it done on the field. Some may consider their squad an all-star lineup (Raul, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol), but they never produce and I don't see it happening this time. Argentina was a favorite along with France in '02 but both had disappointing showings (not getting out of the group stage). This time no credit is given to France, but people are hot to trot on Argentina. Argentina has a very tough group with Holland, Serbia & Montenegro, and Ivory Coast. I'm not saying they won't produce but there is a possibility.

Underdogs. Everyone roots for the underdog. Some of my favorite underdogs are Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Ukraine, and well, the USA. Ivory Coast has an amazing story. Côte d'Ivoire (as they are sometimes referred to as) was involved with a civil war but since they qualified for the World Cup, the government stopped the war! Ivory Coast’s best, or at least most well-known, player is Didier Drogba, who has proven he can excel at the highest level, the English Premier League, with League Champions, Chelsea. Another star is Kolo Toure who plays with English club, Arsenal. Serbia & Montenegro had an amazing qualifying record by only allowing only 1 goal to be scored in 10 games. But can they keep their amazing defensive tactics up at the World Cup? Serbia & Montenegro stars Mateja Kezman, their biggest threat to score. This will be their last Cup as one team; they will qualify next year separately. I think Ukraine has a legitimate shot of going far in the tournament. They have the, or one of the, best strikers in the world - Andriy Shechenko. Also they have a great defense - so we'll just have to wait and see. I consider USA an underdog only because everyone expects so much of them. But in reality, we have one of the toughest groups in the competition if not the toughest. Italy is a world-class team, and Czech Republic is a well-rounded team. Ghana is no push-over either. Everyone expects us to roll over Ghana, but they are a quality team. Also Americans are brainwashed with the FIFA World Rankings which basically mean nothing because they say that the US is fifth when they are clearly not. Listen to this, we lost to 19th ranked Germany (where they do not belong) 4-1. Then we tied Jamaica (who at the time was in the forties) and we moved up a spot! Now to the players, Claudio Reyna is a great player. He has done very well in Europe. Brian McBride and Bobby Convey have been great for English clubs such as Fulham and Reading. (McBride was in the top ten for EPL goalscorers). Landon Donovan is way overrated. He is the face of American soccer but is nowhere near the best American player. He was not good enough to play in Europe and clearly has no desire to play there, which is fine but the MLS is no great shakes. Trust me don't get your hopes up guys. It is true that our team is better than it was four years ago, everyone else has gotten better too and we are put into an unfortunate situation (our group stage).

So the World Cup is on! On Friday, June 9, Germany took on Costa Rica and looked quite good but then again, they were playing Costa Rica - not a soccer threat by any means. They won 4-2. Phillip Lahm scored in the sixth minute. Paulo Wanchope equalized in the next six minutes and then within six minutes of his goal, Miroslav Klose (Germany) put Germany on top, 2-1. The next goal came in the second half in the 61^st minute. Miroslav Klose struck again. Again Wanchope responded to make the score 3-2 in favor of the hosts. Finally in the 87^th minute Torsten Frings sealed the victory to make it 4-2, the final. Ecuador edged Poland 2-0. England had a lackluster game but still managed to get past Paraguay 1-0. Trinidad and Tobago pulled an upset by drawing with Group B favorite Sweden. Argentina played well, but the underdog Elephants (Ivory Coast) also played nicely, almost coming away with a draw (2-1). Netherlands got by Serbia & Montenegro narrowly by with a remarkable Arjen Robben performance – one to nil for the Dutchmen. Mexico and Iran were level until the 76^th minute when Omar Bravo scored his second and gave Mexico the edge. The game finished 3-1. Portugal got past heir former colony, Angola, by starting strong but then slacked off. The United States (sorry guys) were just plain awful, against the Czechs. C.R. simply outplayed the Americans who didn’t seem to belong. Australia surpassed the Japanese 3-1 in the next match. The favorites, Brazilians, was not impressive against the Croatians, yet still defeated them 1-0. South Korea, 2-1, over the African Togo. France had an embarrassing showing against the Swiss by drawing them and not scoring a goal. That is four World Cup games in a row for the “Frenchies” without scoring a goal. Spain demolished Ukraine 4-0. David Villa, who stole the former Spanish captain, Raul’s spot, had added two. Tunisia and Saudi Arabia tied 2-2 on the 14^th. Germany defeated Poland 1-0 for the start of Round 2 in the group stage. Ecuador romped the Ticos (Costa Rica) 3-0. England again did not play with flair, a very boring type of play. England did not look good but scored twice in the last ten minutes to get over T&T. Sweden and Paraguay were level for much of the match until Freddie Ljungberg scored in the 89^th. One to nothing was the final. Argentina scored six on the supposedly defensive-minded Serbia & Montenegro – the largest deficit of the tournament (six). Netherlands tossed Ivory Coast out of the Cup by winning 2-1. Angola upset Mexico by getting a goalless draw. Portugal defeated Iran 2-0 with plenty of other chances on goal. Deco, Portugal midfielder, scored the first – a truly beautiful goal. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the second on a penalty kick.

The biggest upset of all (so far) in the tournament: USA draws with Italy. Although I did not believe that we would have much of a chance to get through, it now appears that with a victory over Ghana and we have a pretty good chance of advancing – but to then probably face Brazil. Another upset occurred in Group E, Ghana were victorious over Czech Republic, 2-0. Ghana had many chances including a missed penalty. Ujfalusi (Czech defender) picked up a red card. A red card is the most serious offense in soccer. Getting a red card leads to an immediate ejection and no substitute is allowed to take your place AND you miss at least one game. Japan, on Father’s Day, picked up a draw with Croatia. Croatia had a penalty kick saved by Man of the Match, Japan goalkeeper, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi. The Croats also hit the bar in the goalless draw.

Did I get you hooked on the World Cup? Well, maybe, but not yet? I hope to provide additional updates through the championship game. I’m Scotty Beaty and I’ve always been hooked for life on Soccer. ***To see ongoing and past columns log onto: www.freewebs.com/hooked_for_life.

 
The Wembley Goal

"The Hand of God"

Don't I Know You From Somewhere?
Arjen Robben of Holland meats with Chelsea teammate Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) before the match.

       The World Cup is over, but we will always have memories of it as it was one of the best in living memory. But in case you missed the greatest sporting event known to man (shame on you), I will bring you up to date along with my opinions on the matter and review my predictions.

      The first game of the group stage was Germany vs. Sweden. Germany went into the game favorite and came out on top. Germany thoroughly dominated the game. Sweden was trying to take Miroslav Klose out of the game because he was the leading scorer, but in reality they should have (in the end) been really marking another Polish-born striker – Lukas Podolski, who scored in the 4^th and the 12^th. Another highlight of the match was Henrik Larsson’s penalty miss, which went as they say, “high, wide, and handsome”. Argentina faced CONCACAF’s (The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) best team (no it’s not the US), Mexico, and it was a great match. The 5^th minute featured Mexican capitán, Rafael Márquez’s goal, which was scored from a Pavel Pardo cross. Hernán Crespo’s volley/ Jared Borgetti’s own goal, leveled the two sides in the 10^th minute. Fast forward 88 minutes, in the 98^th, Maximiliano “Maxi” Rodríguez scored on a complete wonder strike. Juan Sorín sent Maxi a cross-field pass and very sweetly, Rodríguez trapped it on his chest and out of the air, volleyed the ball in to the top corner of the net, making it impossible for Mexican keeper, Oswaldo Sanchez, to save. England met Ecuador in their second round match. David Beckham finally did something for the Three Lions, scoring the only way he can, from free kicks. This was the only goal of the game. “Eng-uh-land” goes through one-nil. Portugal, Netherlands features the most unbelievable stat of World Cup 2006 – sixteen yellow cards and four red cards!!! Twenty bookings in total! That is completely unheard-of and out of whack. The average for a regular game might be one or two yellow cards. The game ended up in Portugal’s favor, 1-0, despite losing midfield maestro Deco and their holding midfielder, Costinha to red cards. Maniche had the game’s only goal. Italy just pulled out on top of Australia, 1-0 on a 90^th minute penalty from Francesco Totti. The Azzuri advanced to face the winner of Swiss./Ukraine, which is the next match. Switzerland, Ukraine was a dull match – you can even tell by just hearing the two teams. At the end of regulation, it ended 0-0. Ukraine ended up winning on penalties, 3-0, but there were four missed penalties, a very embarrassing statistic. Brazil faced Ghana in their Round of 16 match. Ghana was a huge surprise to get out of the group. Nobody expected them to be very good – including me. Brazil beat the Ghanaians handily, but the “Brazilians of Africa” have nothing to worry about; they should be very proud of themselves. Ronaldo, Adriano, and Zé Roberto all added their mark in the game with a goal for each. Three-nothing, the final. France received Spain in the draw. David Villa put Spain a goal up in the 28^th with a penalty. Franck Ribéry equalized in the 41^st after he dribbled past Spanish keeper Iker Casillas and slotted it into the back of the net. In the 83^rd, Patrick Vieira headed in a back-post header. Zinedine Zidane sealed the victory for France in the final minute.

      Onto the quarters…:

      Germany and Argentina was one of the best match-ups of the entire World Cup and it ended that way as well. At halftime, it was a goalless draw; at the end of regulation, it was a 1-1 draw. So this game was decided on penalties. The 49^th was marked by Roberto Ayala’s header goal past Germany and Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann. When almost all hope was lost for the host fans, the 80^th minute was when the tournament’s leading scorer, Miroslav Klose, scored his first knockout stage goal of his career, by a great cross from the new Chelsea boy, Michael Ballack. Onto penalties – all four German penalty takers made theirs (Neuville, Ballack, Podolski, and Borowski), while only half of the Argentineans scored. Germany through on spot kicks – four to two. Honorable mention goes out to Jens Lehmann, who many questioned coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s decision over Oliver Kahn. He saved two great penalty kicks to put Germany through.

      I don’t think many people thought much of this match to begin with, but it certainly ended as predicted. Italy thoroughly dominated this game against the Ukrainians. In the 6^th minute, Gianluca Zambrotta had a great strike that the keeper got a touch to, but it still found its way to the back of the net. Luca Toni, who led the Serie A in goals last season, ended his scoring drought in Germany by putting two into the back of the net. 3-0, Italy goes onto to play Germany in the semis.

      England vs. Portugal is another game that you just know will be a great game. In the second half, Wayne Rooney was sent for the dressing room as he (purposely/accidentally???) stepped on Ricardo Carvalho’s crotch. Then he gave a light push to Manchester United teammate, Cristiano Ronaldo’s, chest to back him away from the referee. Whether that was taken into account Horacio Elizondo sent Rooney off or not, is unknown. Shortly before this, England lost their captain, David Beckham, to injury. After regulation, was extra time, and after that, penalties. (Alternating Portuguese, then English players) Simão made his, Frank Lampard missed his (he has been horrible for the whole tournament), Hugo Viana missed of the left post, Owen Hargreaves narrowly made his as Ricardo got a touch on it. Petit, of Portugal, missed the whole entire goal! And Steven Gerrard, who you can always depend on, frankly wasn’t dependable in the end – Ricardo saved his penalty. Hélder Postiga made his penalty, and Jamie Carragher, who was brought in to do this, hit a very good penalty right in the corner, but the whistle was not blown, so he had to retake it. And of course he missed the second, but with the worst luck – Ricardo got a touch on it, and the ball went upwards and hit the crossbar! And for the final penalty, Cristiano Ronaldo fired his in to put Portugal on to the semis.

      France, Brazil – rematch of the 1998 WC final. France won 3-0. The outcome was similar here, France won but it was only 1-0. The only goal came from a Zinedine Zidane cross, which was met with a wide-open, back-post Thierry Henry. From then on it was all France. Franck Ribéry drilled a shot and Brazilian defender, Juan, almost put it in the back of his own net. As the final whistle was blown, France jumped and danced around to celebrate their victory. But Brazil was sent home (and they deserved to be).

      The semifinals, four teams left, two more wins and you lift the World Cup trophy, two losses and you’re in fourth place, not bad, but you were so close but so far. Germany, Italy played in Match 61, the first semifinal, and here’s what happened:

      Prior to this match, captain Michael Ballack gave some inspiring news to his team, “Actually we have no chance, everything speaks against us, everything favours them. This game featured a lot of diving, but no scoring. 0-0, at the end of 90 minutes, and it seemed to be the same way into the end of overtime, but it was not. In the 119^th minute, Italian defender received a pass and curled the ball into the side-netting. No chance for the recently brilliant, Jen Lehmann. By then, all hope was lost for German fans players. The next minute, Italy came back and scored via substitute Alessandro Del Piero. He was sent on a breakaway and slotted the ball passed Lehmann into the top corner of the net. Italy in, Germany out.

      France, Portugal, another great matchup. In the 33^rd, Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho fouled Thierry Henry in the box. Zidane stepped up to take the penalty, a great penalty at that. In the Brazil game, Zidane set up Henry for the only goal and now it was the other way around, Henry for Zidane. Another memorable moment of this game was whenever Cristiano Ronaldo touched the ball fans booed him. The announcer mentioned that there must be English fans there (as they would be upset with him for interfering on the referee’s decision on Rooney). But actually it was just the rest of the world who hate the diving that he does in the game. That set up a Italy, France final…

      But first is the third place game, but who cares about that? Bastian Schweinsteiger virtually had a hat trick and this was his show. He was not credited with three but all of the goals were his doing. Luís Figo, who came on as a sub, played his last game and went out with a bang. He delivered a great cross to Nuno Gomes who met his cross with a diving header. OK enough of that.

      Onto the final. July 9, the day that everyone has been waiting for, and dreading because although this is the biggest game of the tournament, it marks the end. In the 7^th minute, Florent Malouda dove in the box, but nevertheless a penalty was given. Zinedine Zidane stepped up and nobody doubted he would make it (including myself – no offense to Buffon) and he did, but he chipped the ball high in the upper right corner. The ball then hit the cross bar, bounced a couple feet over the line, and then the ball had so much backspin that it came back and hit the crossbar again and came out of the goal. A goal was given but I would think of Zidane doing such a cheeky play. Although I was rooting for Italy on the day, I said game over because the first goal is such a momentum (and no, it is not because of that dumb statistic on the screen “Teams that have scored first 41-6-7”, or whatever it was). Italy came back though in the 19^th, when Marco Materazzi got a header, on a corner, over Patrick Vieira, and into the back of the net (by the way, what was Fabien Barthez doing???). The game was tied one-one going into the half. Les Bleus lost Patrick Vieira in the 55^th, his replacement was Alou Diarra. Chances went both ways but one very close one was in the 86^th, when Andrea Pirlo struck a beautiful curling free kick, about 30 yards out, but just went wide. Onto extra time, the most remembered part of the game. Zinedine Zidane was walking alongside Italian defender, Marco Materazzi (the two goal scorers of the game), when out of the blue, Zidane turns around, lines up with Materazzi, and headbutts him! It was truly awful. I think Zidane could have been arrested for such a thing. I hope people don’t remember him for this because he was a great player, some think in the top 3 ever to play the game. Many ask why? What did Materazzi say? From a reliable source, I know what he said and it is not appropriate for a newspaper such as this. He insulted his sister and mother, but that is beside the point. They should both be fined. Anyway back to the game. The game went into penalties. The first time since 1994. And Italy lost that one. And the last time these teams met in a penalty shootout was in the 1998 World Cup and France went through on that meeting. Pirlo hit the first for Italy. He made his. Sylvain Wiltord, the substitute, made his as well. Marco Materazzi made his. David Trézéguet missed his off the crossbar. De Rossi made his to make it 3-1 Italy. Éric Abidal converted his penalty. Alessandro Del Piero, the last minute substitute, slotted his in. Willy Sagnol made his. Fabio Grosso came through on his penalty to crown Italy WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS!!!!! Congratulations Italy!!

      My predictions now just a short recap.

      Favorites – Brazil, Italy, Argentina; I had all of those pretty close.

      Shocks – Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Czech Republic, France, Spain, and maybe, just maybe Argentina; I was wrong about Germany who did very, very well. Sweden I was spot on. Mexico I was right. Czech Republic did not get out of the group, definitely a shock. France, I got horribly wrong, who was almost crowned champions twice in three World Cups. Spain was not a shock and neither was Argentina.

      Underdogs – Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Ukraine, USA; Ivory Coast and Serbia & Montenegro did not advance out of the group. Ivory Coast did well however. Ukraine did go far – the quarters. And USA was in fact an underdog, and as I predicted went nowhere. Also by the way who predicted that Landon Donovan was horrible, awful, and way overrated and he did absolutely nothing this World Cup.

      I would also like to discuss the announcers of the World Cup. The head announcers Dave O’Brien, who is baseball announcer, baseball!!! Stick with baseball, my friend. And Marcello Balboa needs to just comment on the game, stop telling me “Ya gotta do this” and “Ya gotta do that”. I mean come on; this is such a weak cast of characters for the ESPN/ABC broadcast. The only people that did a good job were Adrian Healy and Tommy Smyth, and occasionally JP Dellacamera and John Harkes.

      That’s all I have to say for now. Thanks for tuning in, I’m Scotty Beaty and I’ve always been hooked for life on Soccer. ***To see ongoing and past columns log onto: www.freewebs.com/hooked_for_life.

    Now that you know the rules of the tournament and how it works, let me tell you what has gone on this year, and what will happen (through the eyes of a self-proclaimed “semi-expert of world football”).

    Up to this point, the finalist of last year’s final, Arsenal, has shockingly been eliminated by the Dutch champions, PSV Eindhoven. Also eliminated in the Round of 16, was the defending champion, Barcelona, in the battle of the most recent champions. Liverpool, the winners of the tournament in 2005, sent the champs of ’06 packing with a tied aggregate score of 2-2, but they grabbed two away goals at Camp Nou, in Barcelona. Barcelona only came away with a 1-0 victory over the Reds, which was simply not good enough to put them through. In the next round, there were not many surprises except for the 7-1 absolute thrashing that Manchester United gave AS Roma. Needless to say, Man U advanced.

    The first leg of the semifinals is over. For a neutral observer of the game, it looks pretty good because all four teams still have everything to play for in the second leg. The Tuesday match featured AC Milan traveling to Old Trafford to visit the hosts, Manchester United. Five minutes in, Ryan Giggs swung in a corner and Cristiano Ronaldo, who was eventually credited with the goal, headed the ball onward, to the Milan keeper, Dida, who was very much off of his line. Dida was unable to cleanly save the header and the ball went up in the air and landed into the back of the net. Advantage Red Devils. The next goal was from Milan’s ever-dangerous Kaká. Minutes before the quarter-hour mark, the 25-year-old midfielder, burst through the gaping United defense and slid the ball past Edwin Van der Sar from an improbable angle. Putting his Italian side ahead, the Brazilian, again caused major problems for Man. United’s back four. The ball bouncing at his feet, Kaká juggled the ball over Gabriel Heinze and then headed the ball through the retreating Heinze and the oncoming Patrice Evra. Splitting the defensive duo, Kaká caused the two backs to collide and collapse, leaving him alone with Van der Sar and again he slid the ball coolly into the back of the net. Going into the half 2-1 down, Manchester United appeared to be in trouble. However, fourteen minutes after the restart, Wayne Rooney had something to say about that. A beautiful buildup by Michael Carrick, and a gorgeous flick by Paul Scholes, left Rooney just onside, and he put the ball past Dida. A half-hour expired before Rooney struck again to give United the win. Some space in the middle of the park, and a whole near post left open by the lack of awareness by the Milan keeper, gave Rooney an easy attempt on goal, of which he took full advantage. Rooney saved the Red Devils at home and helped them to a 3-2 victory, but can he will Man U to the final?

    On Wednesday, Chelsea hosted Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in London. Chelsea had a few chances within the first quarter-hour, but in the 29^th minute, the Portuguese international, Chelsea defender, Ricardo Carvalho, carried the ball to about fifteen yards before the half and then passed it downfield to their superstar striker Didier Drogba. Drogba took the Liverpool defender Daniel Agger for a run down the sideline and then stopped the ball on a dime to slot the ball into the oncoming threat of Joe Cole. Cole was outstretched and got a touch on the ball to redirect the low cross and give Chelsea the opening goal. To Chelsea fans, this goal made up all the time Cole had off due to injury. The game continued to be relatively even until halftime. However, Liverpool clearly realized that they had to take advantage of the away-goal opportunity. In the 53^rd minute, the Liverpool skipper, Steven Gerrard took a breathtaking volley, which required Petr Cech to make a brilliant save. In the end, it was not enough for the Reds to get anything positive out of the game. The match ended a one-nil victory to the Blues. Liverpool now need to get at least a 1-0 victory at Anfield, to force extra time, or any victory by two or more goals to put them through.