I didn't actually get to watch the match live because I had my own football match to play, but the first thing I did when I got home was check the match reports. As I was opening up my computer, I was thinking how it would be amazing if Fernando Torres, who hasn't had a great tournament, scored. And then, lo and behold, I opened up BBC's webpage, and it's Germany 0-1 Spain on Fernando Torres' goal. Good goal too, eerily reminiscient to a couple that he scored for Liverpool this past season. Nice through ball from Cesc Fabregas, and Torres just got in behind Lahm and chipped the ball over Lehmann. Class goal, and it brought them the championship. Well done to Spain (though I dislike the coach, Aragones, on so many levels), and well done to Torres, he deserved that goal.
My match didn't go quite as well, though we won easily. I had about five chances on net that I just whiffed, either not enough power on the shot or careened it off a defender's foot. I also ended up with a few bloody scratches on my knees from the rocky pitch. But no yellow cards this weekend. So I guess that's good.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Current Events - Futbol
As per usual, played two football matches this weekend, one in the Mexican league and one in the Ecuadorian league. Did not play my best, I will admit, only got one goal on Saturday and should have had one more, probably should have had two or three on Sunday.
What I did get was a yellow card on Sunday, and I don't think I really deserved it, though in retrospect I can see why the ref gave it to me. The defender and I went hard for a loose ball, knocked shoulders twice, and the third time I wasn't really playing the ball, more the player. Foul, certainly. Card, no way. But as we were walking away, I glanced over at the girl, and I guess she took it as an insult, because she punched me in the arm and said, "¿Qué pasa?" basically a Spanish "What's your problem?" I just walked away, although I think actually I might have raised my hands up in that sort of universal 'bring it on' gesture before I did. In any event, I got a yellow card. In all my years playing club and varsity, I never once got carded. I think in the past five years with the Mexican and Ecuadorian leagues, I've picked up at least one card per season, if not more. A couple were for in-play fouls, but at least one was definitely for mouthing off to the ref. Oops. So much for the nice, docile little Asian girl.
What I did get was a yellow card on Sunday, and I don't think I really deserved it, though in retrospect I can see why the ref gave it to me. The defender and I went hard for a loose ball, knocked shoulders twice, and the third time I wasn't really playing the ball, more the player. Foul, certainly. Card, no way. But as we were walking away, I glanced over at the girl, and I guess she took it as an insult, because she punched me in the arm and said, "¿Qué pasa?" basically a Spanish "What's your problem?" I just walked away, although I think actually I might have raised my hands up in that sort of universal 'bring it on' gesture before I did. In any event, I got a yellow card. In all my years playing club and varsity, I never once got carded. I think in the past five years with the Mexican and Ecuadorian leagues, I've picked up at least one card per season, if not more. A couple were for in-play fouls, but at least one was definitely for mouthing off to the ref. Oops. So much for the nice, docile little Asian girl.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Transfer season in Europe
Transfer season in European football is an interesting time of year. The tabloids go nuts inventing the most out-there rumors they can come up with, every big name in the game gets paired with every other big name, from managers to clubs to players, and I sometimes get a kick out of the things that actually do end up happening. Torres to Liverpool, for instance. I nearly fell out of my chair when that one actually went through. A friend texted me the news, but I refused to believe him, because he has a tendency to get his info from tabloids. Then I went online and saw it made official on BBC.
This season, however, is stressing me out. Xabi Alonso, one of my favorite players in the red jersey, is almost always the subject of transfer speculation during the closed season. Not really sure why this was in the past, but this season it makes sense—he had a poor season this year, picked up an early injury and never really gained his best form. A lot of people are questioning whether he’s suited to the holding midfielder role Rafa’s put him in, as well as the fast pace of the EPL. Some think he’d be better off at a Spanish or Italian club, where the pace is slower and he’d be allowed to go forward more.
I agree Alonso didn’t find his best form this season. But I think a lot of that is down to the injury. European football is such a grueling contest from start to finish, with game after game after game and no major rest periods in between. One injury, maybe a slight miscalculation in the time it takes for an injury to heal, and a player is suddenly light years behind his teammates in terms of fitness. Right near the end of the season, Alonso played in both legs of the CL semi-final against Chelsea, and particularly in the first leg, he was excellent. He kept up with the pace, fought hard on the defensive end, and played some class passes in the offensive third.
I don’t know a great deal about Gareth Barry, the guy Rafa seems to want to bring in, but whose high price might necessitate the sale of Alonso to Juve (or elsewhere). Steven Gerrard has said he thinks Barry should be playing CL football and that he wants him in the Liverpool midfield with him. But I don’t know if that’s worth losing Alonso. When Alonso is on his game, he’s the driving creative force behind the Reds offense. Masch is a beast on defense, but he’s not much in the distribution department. Gerrard can play some brilliant through balls, but he’s more of a power player, the strong backbone of the midfield. And while Lucas has the potential to be very good, Rafa clearly recognizes the importance of experience, as he played Alonso in the CL matches last season, even though he wasn’t at full fitness.
I also think Alonso has become a leader for the Reds, solid and experienced and well-respected by the fans and his teammates. I think if he left, it wouldn’t leave a hole only on the pitch, but off the pitch as well. Gerrard, to my eye, is the bleeding-heart loyalty of Liverpool, passionate and driven, but not always the most rational. Alonso is, as many have said, the brain, the calm leader and organizer. Passionate, of course, but also a counterweight to Gerrard in both playing style and on-pitch persona.
To conclude, I would be gutted to see Alonso leave. He seems to love the club and to understand what the club means to the fans, and I still believe he’s one of the most important players on the squad, a part of the spine Rafa has talked about. I don’t believe selling him to make way for Barry will improve Liverpool’s chances at a title run next season.
This season, however, is stressing me out. Xabi Alonso, one of my favorite players in the red jersey, is almost always the subject of transfer speculation during the closed season. Not really sure why this was in the past, but this season it makes sense—he had a poor season this year, picked up an early injury and never really gained his best form. A lot of people are questioning whether he’s suited to the holding midfielder role Rafa’s put him in, as well as the fast pace of the EPL. Some think he’d be better off at a Spanish or Italian club, where the pace is slower and he’d be allowed to go forward more.
I agree Alonso didn’t find his best form this season. But I think a lot of that is down to the injury. European football is such a grueling contest from start to finish, with game after game after game and no major rest periods in between. One injury, maybe a slight miscalculation in the time it takes for an injury to heal, and a player is suddenly light years behind his teammates in terms of fitness. Right near the end of the season, Alonso played in both legs of the CL semi-final against Chelsea, and particularly in the first leg, he was excellent. He kept up with the pace, fought hard on the defensive end, and played some class passes in the offensive third.
I don’t know a great deal about Gareth Barry, the guy Rafa seems to want to bring in, but whose high price might necessitate the sale of Alonso to Juve (or elsewhere). Steven Gerrard has said he thinks Barry should be playing CL football and that he wants him in the Liverpool midfield with him. But I don’t know if that’s worth losing Alonso. When Alonso is on his game, he’s the driving creative force behind the Reds offense. Masch is a beast on defense, but he’s not much in the distribution department. Gerrard can play some brilliant through balls, but he’s more of a power player, the strong backbone of the midfield. And while Lucas has the potential to be very good, Rafa clearly recognizes the importance of experience, as he played Alonso in the CL matches last season, even though he wasn’t at full fitness.
I also think Alonso has become a leader for the Reds, solid and experienced and well-respected by the fans and his teammates. I think if he left, it wouldn’t leave a hole only on the pitch, but off the pitch as well. Gerrard, to my eye, is the bleeding-heart loyalty of Liverpool, passionate and driven, but not always the most rational. Alonso is, as many have said, the brain, the calm leader and organizer. Passionate, of course, but also a counterweight to Gerrard in both playing style and on-pitch persona.
To conclude, I would be gutted to see Alonso leave. He seems to love the club and to understand what the club means to the fans, and I still believe he’s one of the most important players on the squad, a part of the spine Rafa has talked about. I don’t believe selling him to make way for Barry will improve Liverpool’s chances at a title run next season.
Monday, June 16, 2008
A few years too late
Had two fútbol matches on Sunday, which was brutal, even more so because we lost both of them. However, between matches, I was approached by a friend of our coach, who asked me to join a semi-professional team, a selección of the best players in the Ecuadorian league. Having played with and against a number of the players who are on the team already, I can safely assume that the team is going to be quite good. Some of the girls in the Mexican and Ecuadorian leagues here are the best players I’ve ever played with.
I really wanted to join. They have full training sessions three times a week, and they’re going to join up with a semi-pro league this coming winter, and from the sounds of things, the coach really wants this team to be something, to get some attention. I was so tempted.
But I’m leaving in August, unlikely to return until next summer. I would be training for nothing more than physical exercise, and while that’s valuable, it would also be unfair to the other players, who need to get used to playing with the women they will be playing matches with. It bothers me too, that if this guy had approached me four or five years ago, I would have seriously considered it. When I was 15, 16, even 17, I still toyed with the idea of making fútbol my primary focus in life.
Now I’m 22, graduated from college and headed abroad for a year, and this opportunity comes along that, were I four or five years younger, I would take full advantage of. I’m glad for the future I’m laying out for myself—grad school, academia—but times like this I realize that other doors are closing, and I have no choice but to let them close.
I really wanted to join. They have full training sessions three times a week, and they’re going to join up with a semi-pro league this coming winter, and from the sounds of things, the coach really wants this team to be something, to get some attention. I was so tempted.
But I’m leaving in August, unlikely to return until next summer. I would be training for nothing more than physical exercise, and while that’s valuable, it would also be unfair to the other players, who need to get used to playing with the women they will be playing matches with. It bothers me too, that if this guy had approached me four or five years ago, I would have seriously considered it. When I was 15, 16, even 17, I still toyed with the idea of making fútbol my primary focus in life.
Now I’m 22, graduated from college and headed abroad for a year, and this opportunity comes along that, were I four or five years younger, I would take full advantage of. I’m glad for the future I’m laying out for myself—grad school, academia—but times like this I realize that other doors are closing, and I have no choice but to let them close.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Chinese and Scouse
I found this kind of fun site outlining some basic facts about Scouse, the accent in Liverpool. Now, I actually stumbled across this site doing something pseudo-academic and not football related. I was looking up Chinese diaspora populations on the web and came across information stating that some of the earliest Chinese immigrants to Britain arrived in Liverpool. Makes sense because it’s a port city.
What’s interesting on the above website is the little tidbit at the bottom about a little idiosyncrasy in Scouse that might actually have Chinese origins. The syllable “lah,” often added at the end of sentences, is generally thought to be a term for “lad.” But in Chinese (Cantonese in particular, but I’ve heard in Mandarin as well), “lah” is a suffix that indicates exclamation. I remember sitting next to a woman on the plane from Hong Kong to LA who, when I was telling her about my study abroad experiences, kept saying “Okay-lah.” And when she had to get past me to go to the bathroom, she said “Sorry-lah.” I thought it was interesting at the time, a little glimpse into the effect of British colonialism on language in Hong Kong.
Now I get a kick out of the possibility that Chinese might have had such an influence on an accent that is considered so distinct in England as to almost be considered a dialect.
What’s interesting on the above website is the little tidbit at the bottom about a little idiosyncrasy in Scouse that might actually have Chinese origins. The syllable “lah,” often added at the end of sentences, is generally thought to be a term for “lad.” But in Chinese (Cantonese in particular, but I’ve heard in Mandarin as well), “lah” is a suffix that indicates exclamation. I remember sitting next to a woman on the plane from Hong Kong to LA who, when I was telling her about my study abroad experiences, kept saying “Okay-lah.” And when she had to get past me to go to the bathroom, she said “Sorry-lah.” I thought it was interesting at the time, a little glimpse into the effect of British colonialism on language in Hong Kong.
Now I get a kick out of the possibility that Chinese might have had such an influence on an accent that is considered so distinct in England as to almost be considered a dialect.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Current Events - MN Weather
I think this is the longest stretch of bad weather we’ve had in recent summers. We’ve barely seen the sun since the end of May, and in the past week, counties both north and south of us got hit with tornadoes (and we’re talking hardcore tornadoes, like F5s). About a week ago, we had the most massive wind and hailstorm I’ve ever seen, hands down. The hail wasn’t really that big, maybe quarter sized, but it came down in torrents so fast and furious that in some areas, windows broke. Our windows held, thankfully, but my mom’s garden was completely destroyed, and most of the leaves on the trees were completely stripped. The whole storm only lasted about ten minutes, but when it was over, the yard was covered with a layer of quarter-sized ice pellets mixed with shredded green. We spent days cleaning it all up, only to get hit by another windstorm two days ago, which brought down most of the remaining leaves and prompted another two days of cleanup. Now the weather forecasters are predicting a 50% chance of showers every day of the upcoming week.
Almost makes me miss LA weather. Almost.
Almost makes me miss LA weather. Almost.
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