It’s Friday, which means it’s time to open the mysterious parcel you found in the mail three weeks after your grandfather’s disappearance, and try to decipher his clues to the weekend of football ahead. I’ll be setting out to find the truth in…
Saturday:
Man City – Arsenal (12:45 GMT, 7:45 AM US Eastern time) — Not quite as exciting as it would have been in October, when Man City were looking like the miniature painting of Arsenal that the duchess had done for her locket (flowing football, brilliant exploitation of bargains on the transfer market, no English players; and crucially, the fact that being painted for a duchess’s locket seemed stylistically in character for both teams). But it’s just about the perfect game for 7:45 in the morning. The suspense will be bearable, there will be a lot of talented players on the pitch, and Arsenal will need to play well to win.
Tottenham – Manchester United (15:00 GMT, 10:00 AM US ET) — Blackburn-Everton and Portsmouth-Chelsea both have potential in this time slot, but Spurs are too intriguing and Man Utd too brilliant to pass this match up. Tottenham were more lively in the game at Old Trafford last weekend than the 3-1 scoreline suggests, and it will be interesting to see whether their new signings can combine with the home atmosphere to put them over the top. For United it will be interesting to see whether Ronaldo chooses this weekend to show he can speak to animals and make flowers grow in his footsteps.
Sunday:
The African Cup of Nations (Ghana-Nigeria at 17:00/12:00; Ivory Coast-Guinea at 20:30/3:30) — We’re into the quarterfinals and have two worthwhile matches. Nigeria have been disappointing so far but match up well with Ghana on paper, while Ivory Coast have been one of the best teams in the tournament and will threaten to overwhelm a Guinea side that’s scraped by on sheer determination. My team, Angola, are through as well and play Egypt on Monday in what I’m telling myself will be another heroic upset.
What about you? I always enjoy hearing your thoughts about the games you watch, so feel free to drop a note in the comments. The epic in Africa will probably keep me from watching it, but Fiorentina-AC Milan on Sunday also looks like it might be something to see.
Read More: Another Lost Weekend
by Brian Phillips · February 1, 2008
I too am looking forward to the Spurs game — I fancy them to take a point at least. No, I won’t be putting money on it. Quite a good Saturday lineup in the PL.
As for the ACN, I fear for my Super Eagles. To say they’ve been insipid so far would be to be kind. Ghana’s midfield will overwhelm them, I suspect.
Nothing exciting on the Italian or Spanish front, then?
Fiorentina vs Milan should be a cracker.
I hope so, A.! Or maybe I hope not, since I don’t think I’ll be able to squeeze much of it in. Maybe I’ll just assume that Ivory Coast will breeze past Guinea and look in on Italy after all…
I think yours is valid assumption Brian, though the ACN is one truly great tournament which doesn’t disappoint often.
I will most definitely not be watching Fiorentina-Milan, as a matter of principle (apart from the fact that I have no telly and no ‘net connection that can support a stream out here, in the middle of a bustling Calcutta market). My beloved Fiorentina are struggling for a CL spot, and the only thing that will hurt more than seeing Milan beat them on their now-traditional jaunt through the second half of the season, will be seeing them beat Milan, who do need the points. Damn you, Juventus [she says, ignoring the obvious culprits in this scenario], why couldn’t you have stayed in Serie B a while longer? A decade or so would have been nice.
(But then they would have been terrorising the Albinoleffes of the world, who do not need that sort of thing right now.)
Wow. Wow. Well, a draw for Spurs is still a good result, but the way it happened (the virtually unmarked Tevez scoring on a corner three minues and thirty seconds into three minutes of stoppage time) is going to sting. Still, Tottenham have to feel good about their new signings—their defense already looked a lot better, apart from the 10 seconds around that last corner.
What a blow at the end, though. They gave up two points at the death and kept Arsenal at the top of the table.
I don’t want to talk about it.
Ursus minor was certain that a Man United goal was coming, and proved to be right. His Lillywhite faith is being tested.
I also blame Robbie Keane’s glacial pace when coming off for the extra 40 seconds of injury time, but then I tend to blame Robbie Keane for everything.
also blame
Well, I managed to miss almost everything. Set-off for the pub at 8.30am to meet some friends of mine who follow Man Utd and Spurs, and after digging my car out of the snow, got two blocks before my car overheated and died.
Spent the next three hours at the mechanic, getting back just in time to watch the turgid Liverpool match and to find out Spurs were robbed (or robbed themselves) in the last minute.
At least the Madrid game is cheering me up.
Tom, that’s awful! It’s not like you needed anything but the match itself to let you know the match was cursed. Let’s hope Almeria hold it together to give you something to hold onto today. Although I guess Brighton 3 – 0 Crewe must not have hurt anything?
Almeria have made my evening.
Yes, our biggest signing for 25 years ($500k, back in the First Division days) scored twice on his debut. Not bad at all.
Almost makes me forget it’s going to cost me $700 to fix my car.
Gutted for Tottenham. They totally outplayed Utd but didn’t find the energy to close the game down.
And Keane should be whipped.
Great signs from Ramos’ team though. They have shape and real confidence in the build up.
Fiorentina-Milan Update For Roswitha, In Case She Is The Least Bit Curious
Would you be satisfied at halftime with a dreary 0-0 draw in which Fiorentina have done everything but get past Nesta and Milan have done so little that the commentators’ debate from the forty-second through the forty-fifth minute was about whether Ancelotti would have the confidence to substitute a “senator of the team” like Seedorf at halftime?
Milan have had a couple of chances, one a bad miss by Gilardino on a good ball from Kaka; Fiorentina move with great determination into the six-yard box and then get confused about physics.
I’m still a bit deflated from the Ghana-Nigeria match, which had a vaguely shifty and disappointing feel, and which Nigeria should have deserved to win had they not gone bafflingly timid after Ghana were reduced to 10 men. I realize that Ghana is generally seen as a team with a certain air of righteousness, but without ever meaning to I always find myself rooting against the home side in soccer tournaments. Everyone acts like it’s twice as special when they accomplish anything, and I start to feel like it’s really half as special because they were supported by fifty thousand simultaneous religious experiences in the stands.
Brian, all you need to know about this match is that I have supported Fiorentina almost as long as Tottenham. Each of those allegiances, however, postdate that of the sporting allegiance that has defined my being since the age of 3.
The Chicago Cubs.
It’s my fault.
All my fault.
Ursus, I was just in the middle of writing the following sentence: “Pato’s little piece of deftness won’t have come as a great surprise to you, then.”
Ouch. Sympathies.
1-0 Milan.
Never surprised. Always distraught.
Pato was brilliant but looks like he might have picked up a serious injury. Shame!
A., it’s so hard to tell with an ankle, but it didn’t look good. Here’s hoping it turns out to be minor. It would really be too bad if he had to miss significant time after such a wonderful start.
Indeed, the ankle looks bad and he was in tears as he came off the stretcher.
I have no time for Milan at all, but the likely loss of a player of that quality for at least a few weeks doesn’t make the loss any easier to take.
Ancelloti has just described it as “something serious”; Milan are going to take 48 hours to complete their evaluation, but Pato’s already out of the lineup for next weekend.
Goddamit!
This guy is a breath of fresh air and I’m not just saying that as Milan fan.
He just has to play in the Champion’s League.
Brian, even minor sprains can take a few weeks to get over fully.
A., I know it all too well, believe me. I was hoping it was just a twist that hurt a lot at the time but would heal in a few days. Looks like there’s not much cause for optimism at the moment, though. Here’s hoping he’s as talented at healing as he is at scoring goals.
Brian, I really enjoyed the Ghana-Nigeria game. Mainly because Nigeria actually came out to play and took it to the hosts, when I’d expected they’d crumple up and die immediately based on their earlier showings. Instead, they waited until they had a man advantage.
Their implosion was bizarre, but lessened to me by Essien’s absolutely immense showing — that man wins the ball by the virtue of his mere shadow near a forward who is receiving the ball.
If any Englishman played like he did, we’d never hear the end of it.
Yep me too. He plays the game at such a leisurely pace, let’s just hope he doesn’t hang about in the recovery room.
Tom, I enjoyed the first half enormously—I just felt let down by the second half because Nigeria seemed to want to hide under a rock as soon as they had an advantage.
Absolutely agree about Essien.
Did you catch any of Ivory Coast-Guinea? Looks like it was quite a display (5-0!) by Drogba & Co. (Kalou & Co.!), who look more and more like the class of tournament so far.
Cote d’Ivoire were actually on the back foot for the first twenty five minutes or so of the second half and looking rather lackadaisacal. Then Drogba scored a typical Drogba call and the wheels came off for Guinea; Kone’s strike for the fifth was sublime.
“a typical Drogba goal”, sorry.
My multi-tasking just ain’t working tonight.
I missed this! But I have spent the last couple of days feeling immensely worried for Pato and his immediate future. Not to mention, of course, that Milan go into this weekend with zero fit strikers. Oh, Ronie, why can’t your legs be fit for more than twenty minutes at a time.
Even Pato’s objectionable orange boots take on a strange sort of poignancy for me, now.
Pato, Ronaldo, Kaka, Seedorf, Gattuso, Inzaghi, Gunnar Nordahl, Aldo Boffi, wit in literary criticism, grandeur in architecture, and the respect once universally afforded Tom Cruise as a sane man among sane men are all expected to be healed and ready to start for Milan against Arsenal in a couple of weeks, according to the good news today. So I’m starting to feel really optimistic that Pato’s feet will be back to burning tiny orange afterimages in our retinas almost before we know it.
All that AND Inzaghi? Now you jest.
Sheva too.
And San Ambrogio.
There’s an election to win, you know.
My God, can you imagine a front line of Nordahl and Ambrogio? Goalkeepers and Arians beware.
Indeed, though the rumour here is that Galliani is looking to move Ambrogio for another Beato with a better record at miraculous healing . . .