Asian Champions League Winners, four-goal heroes in Spain, Real Madrid dumped out of the Copa del Rey and violence in Bolivian football all feature on this week’s the good, the bad and the ugly.

Good

It was good for Japanese side Gamba Osaka as they became the second team from Japan to win the Asian Champions League in a row. They beat Australian side Adelaide 2-0 away to complete a 5-0 aggregate win. Brazilian forward Lucas scored twice in Australia but the real star of the show was Japanese international Yasuhito Endo, a class act. continue reading

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If West ham aren’t careful they will be tip-toeing their way to the Championship. Maybe Curbs saw the looming credit crunch coming that has knocked the Hammers for six, and did a runner. We should have seen it coming. The squad was “trimmed” in the close season in an attempt to cut costs. West Ham are owned by an Icelandic banking consortium which have gone as bust as “XL” the club sponsor. continue reading

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Horrible start to the season!

After the excitement of last year where we secured 5th place in the Premier League, last 16 of the UEFA Cup and semi-finalists of Carling Cup, EFC seemed to have lost the plot somewhat. A very strong defence has been the platform for our relative success in recent years but with 18 goals conceded in the league already, we look about as watertight as sponge. continue reading

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It feels good again to be a Derby supporter. Over the last two weeks wins against Sheffield United and QPR (away) and draws against Cardiff and Swansea (away) make a pleasant change of fortunes for the (once) mighty rams. Suddenly there is an air of confidence sweeping through the club. This is something we haven’t had for a long time (well at least for 362 days as Ed kindly reminded me of two weeks ago!) and with a home game against Birmingham next, perhaps we are seeing a slow turning of fortunes.
And it looks like Derby have unearthed another star of the future in Miles Addison. He is only 18, a strong, confident midfielder with a powerful shot, and the reason why Robbie Savage is having a tantrum in the stands every Saturday.
And finally, for all of you who have been using the word ‘Derby’ as a joke recently, I have a joke of my own: Tottenham!
Go the mighty Rams

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 Enhanced Podcast [4:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week languagecaster asks a fan from Hull City about his team’s chances in the Premier League. There is also another English for Football phrase.

For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources with:

• Worksheets and transcripts
• Vocabulary lists
• ** NEW ** Football language glossary

Transcript

DF: Hello John, it’s good to have you here as a Hull City fan. Now this is the first ever time that Hull
City have been in the Premier League or the top division in England, how do you think they are going
to do this season? continue reading

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A week to go until the Championship kicks off and much work has been going on in the off season. This being a post about Derby County, I can report that the squad has been ‘freshened up’ (whatever that means!) and several new faces have been brought in to replace those failures from last season. Manager Paul Jewel, who did actually get his first win under his belt in the pre-season - a victory over Burton Albion - has been shopping in the lower leagues for talent, and he thinks he has found some in the likes of Kris Commons, Paul Green and Liam Dickinson. Not too many other teams will be shaking in their boot at those names. But there are also the arrivals of Nathan Ellington and Rob Hulse to add some experience.
If the pre-season is anything to go by, this will be another long and painful season for the Rams, but there is a quiet confidence around Pride Park that Jewel is the man to bring us back up the the Premier League. He has been given time to settle and is now preparing for the might of Doncaster next week. Can Derby bounce straight back??

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Is the Premier League boring? Are the results too predictable? It does seem as though the ‘Big Four’ - Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United - seem to own the top four spots. But what about the other big leagues in Europe?

Well, five teams in the premier League have contested the top four places in the last four years - Everton being the only team outside the Big Four to get a look in. In La Liga and Serie A there were eight, while in the Bundesliga there were six - very similar to the Premier League. So, on the face of it, La Liga and Serie A look a lot more exciting, but if we look closer - at the top TWO finishers - there were three teams in the Premier League, three in La Liga and four in Serie A and the Bundesliga.

Pretty similar.

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It’s the time for deals to be done, signings to be made and fans to dream about what might be for their teams. While Ronaldo’s off on move to real Madrid from man United has got most of the headlines, for me and other Liverpool fans it is the tiny hope that the Reds will really make some big signings to reinforce the additions of Torres (33 goals, the winner on the Euro 2008 final - yes, Liverpool are claiming that!) and Mascherano, busy and effective in the middle of the field. There have been insane whispers that David Villa is a target - oh if only it could be true! Spain’s strikeforce backed up by the English midfield duo of Gareth Barry and Gerrard. We would sweep all before us to claim the title!

But we could do with a world class left back, and right back… and left winger. A top-notch central defender would come in handy too to cover injuries…

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On June 7 2008,  the Japan National Team had a match in the 3rd Qualifier of the FIFA World Cup 2010 against Oman. This was the same opponent as last week in Japan but this time it kicked off at 5:15 PM in Masqat, Oman. The weather was astonishingly humid and muggy and because of the condition, every player was drained of their reserves of strength. continue reading

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The Japanese national side played an Asian Qualifier for the South Africa World Cup 2010 on June 2 in Yokohama, which they won 3 - 0 against Oman. In this match, Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic) and Daisuke Matsui (Saint-Étienne) played very well and I really admired their performances. They are definitely the key-players for Japan!! In five days, Japan will have another match against Oman but this time Japan is the away team and it will be really hard to get used to the temperature and climate of Oman as it is so humid there now. It will surely be a tough game but Japanese people hope that we will win the game!! Don’t miss it!!

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Many things have changed in Barcelona since Belleti’s goal in Saint Dennis. Last season has been the final evidence that this Barça needs to change. Now it’s easy to detail the errors. However, the people who like football can just clap or whistle at the stage.

Rijkaard has been fired. It’s true that he hasn’t managed well the commitment of Barça’s shadow stars. Therefore the team now needs a change of mentality more than a change of stars. Why do we need more players if we don’t know either how to treat or how to teach them that in the Camp Nou - it is our way or the highway. Despite losing all our opportunities by binning all our talent, Barça should preserve its game. Rijkaard has taught us that the team can move the ball as much as anyone and can make bright football. Maybe Guardiola would be the follower of Rijkaard, so then why do we need him? What has he done, in spite of being a superb mid-fielder? Is it necessary for Barça to allocate a job to all its former stars? I don’t know. continue reading

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Read the scenario below. If teams were NOT awarded points for wins and draws what DIFFERENT criteria would result in the situation described?

Answer: The team with …………………………. is awarded more points.

“West Ham are crowned champions of the Premier League, while Aston Villa narrowly beat Middlesbrough for the 2nd group stage CL spot. But it’s not all bad for Boro and neighbours Sunderland, who will play in the CL next season. Heartbreak for Derby who miss out narrowly - they’re in the UEFA cup though!

MU are hoping for a back door entry to the UEFA cup via the fair play award and surely they can build on a solid platform for next year.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, French manager, Arsen watches his beloved Arsenal go down - everyone knew they would right from the start of the season. They are joined by fellow Londoners, Fulham, and Blackburn lose out right at the death meaning Liverpool are safe for another season - the Reds finish just one above the relegation places! They’ll need to invest heavily in the transfer market next season!”

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getting to the sharp end of the season, really exciting is n’t it? Do we play Carlton Cole as a lone striker or Carlton Cole as a lone striker? it’s mind numbingly dull at the moment being a west ham fan. bring back the brinksmanship of last year, a non goal here, a unreistered player there. beating manu and arsenal home and away. great times. Are the injuries just becoming an excuse? Maybe Curbs needs some new ideas and be a little bit more adventurous at home. roll on next year.

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Football can be a cruel game. It can also be a game of incredible drama. Both of these traits were evident in the pulsating Liverpool v Arsenal trilogy this month. Arsenal, the young side built by ‘The Professor’ Wenger to play a free, quick, passing game lost their European dreams, and probably their hopes of a league title when they came up against ‘The Rotator’ Benitez’s hard-working, driving, tactically shrewd Liverpool.
continue reading

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I am sorry that I am late in writing the match report about the World Cup Asian qualifier game but…

On March 26 2008, the Japan national team played against Bahrain. As you know, we lost the game 0-1. It was so shocking (and boring) but we have still a lot of possibilities to win the other games so never mind, life goes on!!

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