Embarrassment of the Century!!!

The most successful club in the history of soccer just got ridiculed by a 3rd division team!!!

Real Madrid lost 0-4 to Alcorcon in last night's Copa del Rey (King's Cup) match. It's safe to say this club is getting by because of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, who were both absent from yesterday's game. Ronaldo is still nursing an ankle injury while Kaka, Casillas, and Sergio Ramos were given some much needed rest by coach Manuel Pellegrini.

This is a new low for Madrid and it's time to push the panic button. There are reports circulating that the board of directors have issued Pellegrini an ultimatum while fans are asking for the immediate firing of Pellegrini. The situation at Real Madrid has been getting worse every week.

What I think? Pellegrini is not a bad coach and is probably the right man for the job until the club is able to hire a top coach such as Arsene Wenger (Arsenal), Jose Mourinho (Inter Milan), or Rafa Benitez (Liverpool). It would cost 20 Million Euros to get Benitez away from Liverpool, but he's the right man for the job in my opinion and the money will be well spent, that is, unless Liverpool decides to fire him due to his recent struggles, in which case they'll be responsible for paying that money.

And as I've been saying for some time now...THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE PLAYERS!!! Guti walked off the field giving Alcorcon's fans the finger, argued with the coach, and now will be fined and possibly suspended. Benzema declared publicly that he can't play with Raul because Raul wants to be everywhere on the field and gets in the way of the French striker, and everyone is criticizing Benzema for his poor performance even though it's not his fault.

The mentality of this club won't change until both Raul and Guti are gone. They don't want to lose whatever is left of their spotlight, and because of this, the team is not able to progress. They're past their prime and it's time to just let the new guys take over. Until then, no matter who plays or coaches for Real Madrid, the outcome will be the same...a team of stars, playing average soccer, with the possibility of getting embarrassed by 3rd division team!

And the nominees are...

This is the 30-man list of nominees competing for the 2009 Ballon d'Or. This award is given to the best player playing for an European club. The winner will be announced on December 1st.

Premier League:
Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal)
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
John Terry (Chelsea)
Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

La Liga:
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Kaka (Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Thierry Henry (Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Xavi (Barcelona)
Yaya Toure (Barcelona)
David Villa (Valencia)
Luis Fabiano (Sevilla)
Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid)

Serie A:
Diego (Juventus)
Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan)
Julio Cesar (Inter Milan)
Maicon (Inter Milan)

Bundesliga:
Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg)
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)

Ligue 1:
Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux)

Only 9 berths left!!!

There are 4 more nations who qualified for the 2010 World Cup after the games played on October 14th: Switzerland, Argentina, Honduras, and Slovakia. The final 9 berths are still up for grabs.

The 4 European berths will be decided by playoff matches between Russia, Greece, Portugal, Ukraine, France, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Ireland. There will be a drawing on October 19th to determine the matchups.

Out of the 5 berths allowed to the African Confederation, 3 are still up for grabs with Cameroon, Tunisia, and Algeria leading their respective groups.

Last, but not least, the inter-confederation playoffs will decide the last 2 spots for qualification. Uruguay will play Costa Rica while Bahrain will play New Zealand.

All these games will be played on November 14th (1st leg) and 18th (2nd leg).

Going to South Africa!!!

Germany, Italy, Mexico, United States, Denmark, Cote d'Ivoire, Serbia, and Chile will be playing next summer in South Africa!!!

These are the latest countries that qualified for the 2010 World Cup after this weekend's results.

France, Russia, Bosnia, and Ireland have secured a playoff match against 4 other nations (still to be determined) for the final 4 spots allowed for the European continent (UEFA). Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, Sweden, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, and Croatia still have a chance to earn one of the 4 playoff berths still up for grabs.

As for the South American continent (CONMEBOL), the situation is a bit more complicated...Argentina holds the 4th place, giving them direct qualification, while Uruguay is in 5th place and will earn a playoff match against the 4th place team in the North/Central American qualification (CONCACAF). The only problem is that these 2 teams will play each other on Wednesday, and depending on the outcome of that game, Ecuador or Venezuela could steal the 5th place for the playoff game against the winner between Costa Rica and Honduras.

Things will be very interesting this Wednesday as the final games for World Cup qualification will be played. Check back on Thursday and I will post all of the results here.

He just won't learn!

THAT'S IT!!! I might be the last one to do so, but I'm officially off the Ronaldinho bandwagon!!!

After promising to his teammates to become a more responsible and professional player, Ronaldinho has let everyone down once again. His level of play is not improving, neither is his fitness, or game shape.

First, he was caught partying it up 2 days before AC Milan lost to Zurich in the Champions League. Then, he went to Paris, of all places, the night AC Milan tied Atalanta at home for the Serie A. Even after the team told him not to go, Ronaldinho felt he had to celebrate his game-tying goal in the 84th minute. He just doesn't get it.

The situation has become so bad that the club is now thinking about fining the Brazilian for every night he's out partying. There's a lot riding on his shoulder to carry the team after Kaka's departure to Real Madrid. He's not rising up to the challenge, and I can guarantee you that he won't.

You can take a look for yourself.

Trouble in the Floren-team?

Real Madrid's president, Florentino Perez, is demanding his club to play better soccer than what they have shown so far this season.

Spanish media is reporting Perez has told coach Manuel Pellegrini to stop the rotation of players and define a starting squad. He wants the coach to name 11 players that will be able to quickly learn how to play with each other, and that this group of players can win matches and put on a show to all of the fans.

Due to his low production on the field, Raul will most likely be the player who will be warming the bench for the starters from here on out. As I have been saying for quite some time now, Raul is way past his prime and he should let go of his position to benefit the club.

After an abysmal performance against Sevilla over the weekend, Real Madrid is now actively looking for another left-back to replace Marcelo. Drenthe has also been discarded after his tackle broke Tenerife's Marc Bertran's leg, so they will use Arbeloa to fill the gap from now until the transfer window reopens in the winter. A couple of names have been mentioned as a replacement, but many rumors say Roberto Carlos would be willing to return to Real Madrid this winter, even if he has to play for free!

Hopefully, the result of all this will be a team that will be very competitive for the remainder of the season. The only problem with all this will be when the chosen starting 11 start to struggle and players such a Raul and Guti start to sabotage the team, so they can get back into the starting squad, as they've done in years past.

Upcoming World Cup Qualifiers

* Home Teams listed first *

Saturday 10/10/09
Russia vs. Germany
Ukraine vs. England
Denmark vs. Sweden
Republic of Ireland vs. Italy
Czech Republic vs. Poland
Portugal vs. Hungary
Armenia vs. Spain
France vs. Faroe Islands
Mexico vs. El Salvador
Honduras vs. USA
Argentina vs. Peru

Sunday 10/11/09
Bolivia vs. Brazil

Wednesday 10/14/09
Germany vs. Finland
Portugal vs. Malta
Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Spain
England vs. Belarus
France vs. Austria
Italy vs. Cyprus
Czech Republic vs. Northern Ireland
Brazil vs. Venezuela
Uruguay vs. Argentina
Trinidad and Tobago vs. Mexico
USA vs. Costa Rica

Champions League Early Impressions

At this point, after 2 match days, I have to say both Barcelona and Real Madrid are the front runners to win it all this year.

Some of Europe's top clubs have not played well this season, and the lesser known teams are definitely making this year's tournament a lot more interesting.

I'll start with the obvious train wreck that is AC Milan. It's safe to say that without Kaka, this club is not a real threat to any opponent. They almost lost to Marseille and they played very poorly at home against Zurich, resulting in a 0-1 loss.

Liverpool has also disappointed thus far this season with a 1-0 win at home against Debecen and a loss of 0-2 away to Fiorentina. The Italian club is a decent opponent, but I have no idea why they beat Debrecen by the absolute minimum score while playing in their home turf. I have no idea where Debrecen is from, but I would think they shouldn't be a match to Liverpool.

Other big clubs such as Chelsea, Juventus, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Arsenal have played okay, but have yet to show they are capable of winning the title this season.

This year's surprise club in my opinion is Sevilla. They have been playing good soccer in both the Champions League and in La Liga. Although I think they won't be title contenders, they will get in the way of the big clubs who are considered favorites to win the title.