We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Join me this afternoon as the current Champions League holders and presumed favorites take on Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan side. There are also several league matches to keep an eye on. See you at 2:45 pm EST.
posted by The Blue Devil @ 1:02 PM
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
36 Comments:
The sides for tonight's titanic battle at the San Siro:
Inter Milan: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Zanetti, Motta, Cambiasso, Pandev, Milito, Sneijder, Eto'o. Subs: Orlandoni, Cordoba, Stankovic, Muntari, Materazzi, Chivu, Balotelli.
Barcelona: Valdes, Dani Alves, Pique, Puyol, Maxwell, Xavi, Busquets, Keita, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Pedro. Subs: Pinto, Marquez, Bojan, Henry, Milito, Abidal, Toure Yaya.
A fairly decent link for the match:
http://www.justin.tv/footycaster1212#r=rO2oZd0~
Inter get the game under way with a ferocious crowd noise in the background. The ground is positively bubbling.
Danny Alves has gone over on his forearm and looks hurt. The physio team is trying to sort that out and he'll be stretchered off.
Now Eto'o is getting booked for whacking the ball away into distance after being called back for a foul. A bit of petulance there.
Eto'o hits one from distance that's merely parried away by Valdez and Milito tried to stick it in from an acute angle. Didn't get it right. Best chance of the match so far.
Bugger! A student has just come by to pester me about an assignment and I've missed the opening Barca goal. I'll have to have a look at the replay when it comes up.
Here's the commentary on the 365 site:
"19 minutes: GOAL PEDRO RODRIGUEZ! Maxwell is allowed to break towards the by-line as Maicon goes walkabouts. The left-back pulls the ball back and Pedro steers it home. poor defending from Inter."
Interesting comment, there, especially regarding Maicon. I think that's the way to beat Brazil in the World Cup this summer as both Maicon and Danny Alves - ironically lining up against him today - are essentially wingers who tend to get out of position quite frequently.
It's going to be one of those days, I'm afraid. Another student has come by and I've missed Inter's equalizer. If I were doing this for a living I'd have been sacked by now. But what are you paying to read my drivel? Exactly!
From Football 365 again:
"30 minutes: GOAL SNEIJDER. Eto'o crosses from the right and the chance seems gone, but Milito picks out the unmarked Sneijder on his left and the Dutch midfielder fires the ball through Valdes.
Zlatan sniffing about looking to knock in the cross.
The Inter fans aren't happy. Their midfield is giving the ball away too cheaply and Barca are the kind of side who will make them pay for that.
Barca slice through the Inter defense again, with Xavi finding Alves on the overlap, but it comes to nothing.
Sneijder has a tasty free kick oppo right at the end of the half. This could be critical....
Deflected behind for a corner.
Barca with a bit of gamesmanship at the start of the second half, waiting for a while to come out, leaving Inter anxiously waiting for them on the pitch.
1-1 as Barca kick off the second half. The San Siro crowd is a whole lot more muted now than they were at the start.
Milito running through miles offside.
GOAL! I actually caught that one!
Barca were warned a moment ago about playing too high up the pitch and Inter cut through them again on the right side through Milito who squared to Maicon. I thought that the chance had gone by the Brazilian fullback kept his cool and slotted home.
2-1 Inter!
More bad news for Barca - Puyol gets a yellow and is out for the home leg now.
I've just come up from setting up my classroom for tonight and it's 3-1 Inter!
Football 365 says: "61 minutes: GOAL MILITO! Thiago Motta wins the ball in midfield. Sneijder makes a mess of his header from Eto'o's cross but luckily the ball falls to Milito, who nods into an empty net. Looked as though he could have been offside.
How "Special" will the legend of the "Special One" be if he can pull off an improbable victory in this semi-final tie for Inter.
Maicon's down on the turf now getting treatment. It's got to the point where you have six men in orange jumpsuits whenever a player goes down so you can never tell when it's serious.
Maicon is stretchered off and Balotelli - the sole Italian for Inter today - is coming on.
Inside ten minutes now and Mourinho is furiously pacing up and down the training area. Barca haven't really offered much in this second half but he'll know that players like Messi and Eto'o can hurt you quickly.
Stankovic picks up a booking that will rule him out of the second leg.
I'm off to my class, then. It's looking - bar late heroics - like Inter's night.
Over and out - I'll chat with you tomorrow.
Jose's non-Italian side have run out victors today and will have plenty to celebrate. But I still have a sneaking suspicion that Barca might do them at Camp Nou.
I'm back on Wednesday afternoon taking a peek at the matches on today, which include the second CL semi final between Bayern and Lyon.
Villa have taken an early lead at Hull through Gabby Agbonlahor. That leaves Hull mired in the relegation zone on 28 points.
Getting toward half time and still 0-0 in Germany. When you think that this tie could so easily have been United v. Arsenal, it's a disappointing fixture for a CL semi final.
Into the second half now. Villa still leading at Hull. Bayern still being held by Lyon in Munich.
GOAL! That man Arjen Robben has just hit a rocket in from 25 yards to put Bayern in the lead.
1-0!
James Milner has knocked in a penalty for 0-2. Hull are finished now.
Full time in Germany - 1-0. A slim margin for the Germans to take to Lyon.
Into stoppage time at Hull. There are some titanic struggles at the weekend. West Ham visit Wigan while Hull go to Sunderland.
That's it for me today, chaps. I'm off to class. Cheerio!
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