Followers

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

League Cup: Chelsea 0 Swansea City 2

Swansea City players celebrating a goal
Swansea City took another step toward their first appearance in a major final after upsetting Chelsea 2-0 in the League Cup on Wednesday.Goals from Michu and Danny Graham earned the Welsh club a 2-0 aggregate lead after the first leg of the semi-final at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea's interim manager Rafael Benitez selected a strong side for the tie, although he opted to rotate his attacking options, with Fernando Torres replacing Demba Ba and Oscar returning to the starting line-up.

Swansea, meanwhile, made five changes, most notably the fit-again Michu coming in for Graham, who started on the bench.

The hosts dominated the early exchanges and created a good chance 10 minutes into the contest.

A flowing move saw David Luiz and Eden Hazard combine beautifully to release Ramires into the area. The Brazilian took his time, but could only poke his shot tamely toward goal, with an effort that did not trouble Gerhard Tremmel.

The Swansea goalkeeper was, however, called into action again soon after.

More slick approach work from Chelsea saw Hazard surge forward before freeing Mata, but the Spain international's side-footed shot lacked power and flew straight at Tremmel.

Minutes later and Mata was at it again, a clever back-heel by Oscar put the Spaniard clean through on goal but he could only drag his shot wide.

Chelsea were made to rue their missed chances when Swansea took the lead seven minutes before the break.

A simple pass by goalkeeper Turnbull was miscontrolled by Ivanovic on the edge of the area, allowing De Guzman to chase the defender down.

However, the loose ball instead broke to Michu, who took a touch before bending it superbly past the goalkeeper to open the scoring with a sublime finish.

Chelsea were stunned but Ivanovic almost made amends minutes before the break. The Serbian cut inside from the left before fizzing a shot goalwards which a diving Tremmel managed to push around the post.

The chances continued to come for Chelsea after the break, with David Luiz wasting two free-kicks before slamming a fierce shot straight at Tremmel, just shy of the hour mark.

With time running out Benitez sent on Frank Lampard for Ramires, much to the delight of the home fans.

The midfielder would have been relieved to see the assistant referee's flag deny Michu a second goal, for offside, shortly after his arrival.

New signing Demba Ba was the next to be sent on, making his home debut with 10 minutes to go in place of Torres.

The former Newcastle man had two great chances within minutes of his arrival but could not find the back of the net, heading straight at Tremmel before heading another chance over.

His night then proceeded to get even worse as, after being sent clean through on goal, he tangled with Tremmel, and with the crowd howling for a penalty, inside found himself booked for diving.

Again, the misses were to prove costly as Swansea doubled their lead in stoppage time, again through a defensive mistake by Chelsea.

For the second time in the match, Ivanovic was to blame. The defender's poor back-pass to Turnbull was pounced on by substitute Graham, who rounded the keeper before calmly slotting home.

There was still time for more drama, with just seconds left on the clock, Ba smashed the ball home, after good work by Lampard, only to be denied by the offside flag, to leave the Blues with a huge challenge ahead of them.








Source: soccerway.com

Casillas picks Ramos over Ronaldo & Gerrard backs Messi: Who voted for who in 2012 Fifa Ballon d'Or?

Goal.com analyses who some of the game's biggest names voted for in the award and breaks down the final results after the Barcelona star triumphed for a fourth time.

Lionel Messi - FC Barcelona v Atletico Madrid

Lionel Messi has won his fourth Ballon d’Or title, scooping the prestigious individual award over runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo and third-place team-mate Andres Iniesta.

Radamel Falcao finished up in fifth, behind another Barcelona stalwart, Xavi, while Iker Casillas came in at sixth.

Andrea Pirlo, Didier Drogba, Robin van Persie and Zlatan Ibrahimovic made up a star-studded final top 10 for the calendar year of 2012.

After the awards ceremony, Fifa has released an intriguing list of the full votes for the award, which is decided based on decisions made by international coaches, captains and a selection of media representatives from each member nation.

The voting list reveals some decisions that would raise few eyebrows, but other ones that can be considered as particularly surprising.
FIFA BALLON D'OR 2012 RESULTS
PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL FINAL VOTE
1. LIONEL MESSI
2. CRISTIANO RONALDO
3. ANDRES INIESTA
4. XAVI
5. RADAMEL FALCAO
6. IKER CASILLAS
7. ANDREA PIRLO
8. DIDIER DROGBA
9. ROBIN VAN PERSIE
10. ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC
41.6%
23.68%
10.91%
4.08%
3.67%
3.18%
2.66%
2.6%
1.45%
1.24%

In England’s votes, both manager Roy Hodgson and captain Steven Gerrard voted for the brilliant Messi as their winner, with Ronaldo in second.

They differed with their decisions for third-place, though, as the Three Lions boss went for Falcao, while the Liverpool captain opted for former team-mate Xabi Alonso.

For Spain, boss Vicente Del Bosque, who himself was recognised on the night with the Coach of the Year award, went for three of his own players; Casillas, Xavi and Iniesta in the top three positions.

Casillas himself had a vote and very surprisingly opted for club and international team-mate Sergio Ramos as his No.1 pick, with Ronaldo only second ahead of Iniesta, perhaps hinting at why the Portuguese ace felt his club were not fully supportive of his Ballon d’Or bid.

Messi had a vote as captain for Argentina and did not select Ronaldo in his top three at all, opting for Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Aguero. Alejandro Sabella voted for Messi, with Ronaldo also absent from his selections.

Portugal matched that tactic, as Bruno Alves, who was voting in place of Ronaldo, went for his team-mate as top pick with Messi not in the top three, although Paulo Bento did name the Argentine in third.

Italy boss Cesare Prandelli voted for his star player Pirlo over Gianluigi Buffon and then Messi, while Buffon himself also went for the Juventus midfielder as his top choice.

Philipp Lahm backed Iniesta over Messi and Ronaldo, while Germany coach Joachim Low voted Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Xavi as his top three.

France coach Didier Deschamps backed Messi over Ronaldo and Xavi, while Hugo Lloris stayed loyal to the goalkeepers’ union by voting Casillas as No.1 over Falcao and Drogba.

Brazil skipper Thiago Silva’s votes were unremarkable, with Messi beating Ronaldo to top spot and his PSG team-mate Ibrahimovic in third.

Louis van Gaal voted for Messi over Ronaldo and Falcao, while Netherlands captain Wesley Sneijder voted Van Persie over Messi (second) and Ronaldo (third).

Darren Fletcher, who was casting votes as Scotland captain, backed former team-mate Ronaldo at No.1, with Messi and club team-mate Robin van Persie as his other selections.

For a full breakdown of the Ballon d'Or votes, click here to see Fifa's full list from national captains, coaches and media representatives.









Source: goal.com

Mikel happy to win fans’ vote and assures of giving his best to Nigeria

The Chelsea midfielder has sent appreciation to fans who voted for him as the country’s best footballer for 2012 as he looks ahead to continue impressing in the national colours.

Obi Mikel with Champions League trophy

Midfielder John Obi Mikel has sent a thank you message to the fans who voted for him as the best Nigerian footballer of 2012 in a poll conducted on the Goal.com website.

Mikel emerged winner ahead of Chelsea team mate Victor Moses, Ahmed Musa, Reuben Gabriel and John Utaka.

The midfielder who is presently training with the Super Eagles in Faro, Portugal ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations spoke through his agent John Ola Shittu.

“As always, he says thanks so much to everybody. He appreciates all the support and assures them of always doing the best for his country whenever he is given the opportunity to do that,” Shittu told Goal.com.

Mikel will be presented with a winner’s plaque during the Nations Cup later this month.









Source: goal.com

Where is Pirlo? Barcelona and Real Madrid bias proves that FIFPro World XI has no credibility

How can the Fifa-backed award possibly be taken seriously after the shocking exclusion of the Juventus and Italy star, and the admittance of underachievers such as Dani Alves?

     UEFA EURO 2012 - Italy v Croatia, Andrea Pirlo

Footballers are often ridiculed for having more money than sense, and it is little wonder when they are responsible for monstrosities like the 2012 FIFPro World XI.

The best team of the last calendar year, as voted for by approximately 45,000 professional footballers around the globe, produced an all-La Liga line-up consisting of just one player – Atletico Madrid's Radamel Falcao – who is not contracted to either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

If the Fifa Ballon d'Or is traditionally regarded as the most prestigious individual prize in football, then the FIFPro XI considers itself the most distinguished team construct.

However, any credibility that the Fifa-backed award has acquired since its creation in 2005 has now all but disappeared.
 FIFPro World XI
 


CASILLAS
REAL MADRID

DANI ALVESSERGIO RAMOSPIQUEMARCELO
BARCELONAREAL MADRIDBARCELONAREAL MADRID

XABI ALONSOXAVIINIESTA
REAL MADRIDBARCELONABARCELONA

MESSI
FALCAOCRISTIANO RONALDO
BARCELONAATLETICO MADRIDREAL MADRID

The most bizarre inclusion was that of Dani Alves at right-back. At the start of last season, the Brazilian was arguably the best full-back in world football. But 2012 was his worst year since arriving in Spain, as he endured problems with Pep Guardiola and then spent time on the bench under Tito Vilanova.

There were numerous superior right-backs in Europe, including Borussia Dortmund's Lukasz Piszczek, Juventus' Stephan Lichtsteiner and Shakhtar Donetsk's Darijo Srna, to name just a few, all of whom – unlike Dani Alves – won a league title in 2012. The footballers who picked Alves clearly chose him on reputation, and watched little to no German, Italian or Ukrainian football. Most will have barely heard of Piszczek, let alone be capable of spelling his name on a ballot paper.

His Barcelona team-mate Gerard Pique also fell out with Guardiola, but his greatest personal achievements of 2012 came off the pitch with Shakira. He certainly had plenty of time to spend with his beautiful Colombian girlfriend as he missed almost half of the 2011-12 Liga season and struggled for form when his footballing partner Carles Puyol was sidelined with injury.

In Pique's favour is the fact that, in addition to winning Euro 2012, this is possibly the worst era for defenders in almost 50 years. But, the likes of Thiago Silva and Mats Hummels were surely more worthy candidates to be considered alongside Sergio Ramos.

Marcelo's addition at left-back is no disgrace, once again due to the dearth of top quality full-backs in the game, but a player who was twice dropped for crucial Real Madrid clashes at the end of last term (the Liga decider in April at Barcelona, and the Champions League semi-final first-leg versus Bayern Munich) should not be preferred to Ashley Cole, who was heroic throughout Chelsea's road to glory. That the Champions League winners, however fortunate they were to lift the trophy, have no representation in the FIFPro XI is somewhat absurd.

Annus horribilis | Dani Alves struggled throughout 2012 under both Guardiola & Vilanova

The ultimate insult, though, was the exclusion of Andrea Pirlo. The Italian magician will go down in history as one of the best centre midfielders of all time, and 2012 was his annus mirablis as he led Juventus to Scudetto glory without losing a game, before winning three man-of-the-match awards on his way to taking Italy to Euro 2012 silver. In the current campaign he has been just as dominant.

The fact that 45,000 ballots couldn't tally up enough votes for Pirlo makes you lose faith in democracy, particularly as the former AC Milan star has been hailed in the world media on an almost daily basis since his Euro 2012 quarter-final masterclass against England.

Football today may have become monopolised by a small group of rich, elite clubs, but Barcelona and Real Madrid – neither of whom made the Champions League final in 2012 - are not the only two teams in world football.

Andres Iniesta's insertion in the midfield three is a no-brainer, but the additions of Xavi and Xabi Alonso ahead of Pirlo demonstrates an embarrassing bias towards the Clasico couple.

Even the selection of Atletico Madrid superstar Falcao, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi, is debatable given the presence of equally brilliant candidates such as Robin van Persie, Didier Drogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but it is Pirlo's absence that has rightfully created all the headlines.

The Fifa Ballon d'Or itself has suffered its fair share of criticism in recent times, from the snubbing of Wesley Sneijder in 2010, to the bizarre inclusion this time around of Pep Guardiola in the top three of the coaching category.

But its credibility is still just about intact. This is sadly not the case any longer with the FIFPro XI.









Source: goal.com

Victor Moses: The Super Eagles are poised to win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations trophy

The Chelsea star is optimistic that the Nigerian side has the wherewithal to win their third African trophy as the tournament countdown begins.

Capital One Cup - Leeds United v Chelsea, Victor Moses

Chelsea forward Victor Moses has boasted that the Super Eagles are poised to lift the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations trophy.

Moses who scored a beautiful goal in the Blues' FA Cup game against Southampton on Saturday told Goal.com after the game that a lot of factors are playing out that will give the Super Eagles victory in South Africa.

"I want to say that we have a fantastic crop of players that are very talented and are ready to do their best at the tournament," Moses said.

"It gives me joy to know that these players are good in their own right and are always willing to give their best in every circumstances.

"We have played together for a long time to know what we want in any game. In every position, there are good players and this will be an advantage for us during the competition.

"I am confident of a good outing in South Africa and we have prepared very well. Having missed the last edition, there is a burning desire in us to make Nigerians proud after the tournament."

Moses who joined Chelsea from Wigan this season in the English Premiership is making his first appearance at the continental showpiece and talked about his personal goals for the competition.

"My ambition is to contribute my quota to the overall success of the team. I want to play in every match, score goals when the opportunity presents itself and help players in good positions to also score goals.

"When all these happen, then you can be sure that we are going to bring back the trophy. This is my first Africa Cup of Nations and I want to make it a memorable one," Moses concluded.








Source: goal.com

NQSYVD8SX3PW