Barça vs. Shakhtar Donetsk

It sounds like a cheesy spinoff of a Godzilla title, but this afternoon's (evening in Europe) Champion's League clash of titans will leave you awestruck and ready to soil yourself...kinda like this guy.

Funny name aside, Shakhtar Donetsk are veritable footballing monsters, albeit, unknown monsters.  They unassumingly topped group H in the first stage of the tournament, allowing the Ukrainians to avoid Barcelona for the first knockout stage.  UEFA Cup Champions in 2009, Shakhtar is not unfamiliar to top-level football.  They have only lost one player in their starting 11 from 2009 and have since added former Arsenal midfielder Eduardo and Brasilian U-20 star Douglas.

 2009 UEFA Cup Champs 

Eduardo (nationalized Croatian) and Douglas are 2 of 7 Brasilians who inject "joga bonito" into an already attack-minded Ukrainian style of play.  Luiz Adriano and Jadson will need to influence the match with their counter-attacks if Shakhtar hope to grab an all-important away goal at the Camp Nou.

Bolstering the defense for the Ukrainian side is former Barcelona center-back Dmytro Chygrynskiy.  The failed 2009 signing returned home after one year in Spain as the first Ukrainian to play for the blaugrana.  He likely share his knowledge of the Barcelona system to give his Brasilian teammates an edge.

Flanking Chygrynskiy will be two world-class fullbacks in Darijo Srna and Razvan Rat.  The Croatian and Romanian, respectively, play similarly to Dani Alves and Adriano.  Between them, they have made over 150 caps for their countries  Srna, captain of his national side as well as Shakhtar, will have his hands full with Adriano and Andres Iniesta while Rat will be scurrying to mark Messi and Alves.

While (The) Ukraine has a relatively young nation and national team that played its first official match in 1992, Ukrainian players have been featuring prominently on the world stage for decades.  The USSR was able to achieve success throughout the decades thanks to players from Ukraine.  The former Soviet Republic's most capped player, and leading goal scorer is Oleg Blokhin, the 1975 Ballon d'Or winner.  The USSR's second leading scorer all-time is also Ukrainian, Oleh Protasov.

I fully expect this afternoon's affair to deliver drama and excitement.  Hopefully not too much drama in the eyes of a Barcelona supporter, but bring the excitement!

Messi is returning after sitting out this past weekend's difficult match at Villarreal.  Pedro could return as well.

Shakhtar were smashed 5-1 at the Emirates earlier this season.  While they were able to defeat the Gunners 2-1 at the Donbass Arena, I expect the Cule to sing their team to victory.  Like they say, it doesn't get any better than rooting for Barça.

Japan withdraws from Copa America

If we were still wondering whether or not soccer and politics were one and the same, Japan's withdrawal from Copa America this summer is a harsh reminder that the beautiful game is only as fruitful as the soil upon which it is played.

Currently, Japanese futbol is radioactive.

Today CONMEBOL announced that Japan will not travel to Argentina to participate in the 43rd edition of the Copa America.  They were invited to compete with the South American teams for the second time in the tournament's history along traditional invitees Mexico.  

With J-League fixtures suspended until April 23rd, Japanese officials are rightfully focusing on rebuilding a nation damaged by the tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis following the earthquake on March 11, 2011.  Japanese Soccer Association president Junji Ogura stated, "we want to restart our season, but the priority is to save lives and rebuild cities".  

This move comes as no shock to CONMEBOL nor should it come as a shock to the avid fan.  It was expected that the Asian Cup champions were going to use the summer tournament as an opportunity for younger players to gain valuable international experience.  European stars like Kagawa, Honda and Uchida would be available, however J-League standouts would be more likely to feature.

Now that Japan's national league will run well into the summer months, Copa America participation would interfere with the "business end" of the season.

The tournament, scheduled to run July 1-July 24, is now missing one team and CONMEBOL is searching for a replacement team.

Spain officials have claimed that La Roja has already been invited.  The World Champions would join hosts Argentina along with Colombia and Bolivia in group A.

Spain has played both Argentina and Colombia in recent international friendly matches.  They were demolished 4-1 in Buenos Aires on September 7th while it took the Iberians 89 minutes to break the deadlock against the Cafeteros in the Bernabeu back in February.

While Spain's introduction into the tournament could be tasty, it is unfortunate that Japan will be unable to participate.  They are a team that has risen to the occasion of big tournaments as of late (World Cup, Asian Cup) and have a strong league that produces more AFC Champions League teams than any other nation.  

When the league began in 1993, tremendous resources were poured in to ensure success, the most important being managers.  World-class managers such as Arsene Wenger, Carlos Queiroz and Big Phil (Luiz Felipe Scolari) have all been at the helm of J-League squads.

With billions of dollars lost to damage, soccer will be way down on the list of necessary repairs.  Basic necessities like buildings, food and water need to be ensured before Japanese can begin to think about sport.  And yet, the beautiful game has a way of bringing people together.

Perhaps the J-League will not be able to bring in Wengers and Scolaris, but there could be an upside to the situation.  Japan will be required to rebuild from the ground up.  Focusing inward on training nationals to coach and develop youth as opposed to hiring expensive internationals could pay dividends in the long run.

But before we think of that, let us hope that the people of Japan recover and return to health and safety.

Back in business

Alrighty.  After a nice long February vacation and three subsequent days of absolute laziness, I have rededicated myself to this blog which I enjoy writing so.  I would like to thank my cousin Chris for two reasons.  One: for setting my soccermanager.com rosters on Wednesday of last week while I was in New Hampshire and unable to access internet and secondly, for inquiring as to whether or not I had given up on the blog altogether.  The lack of structure that is February vacation highlights my tragic flaws like a Shakespearean prologue: procrastination and complacency.  Anywhoo, you are not here to read about me...

Since I last posted, there have been some tremendous events taking place - both in the real and footballing world.  In today's piece I would like to discuss African football.  More specifically, I would like to examine political climate in Northern Africa and its possible effect on two particular national teams: Egypt and Libya.

Before I begin to rehash the events that led to the overthrowing of Mubarak and subsequently revolutions across the Arabic world, I want to establish the guidelines for this particular post.  I don't know squat about politics so I plan to stay out of that.  I don't understand why exactly either government was overthrown besides that the peoples of Egypt and Libya were unhappy.  Regardless, I will attempt to analyze the affects these revolutions could have on the national teams of the two respective nations.

According to Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, in their 2009 published Soccernomics, a national team's success stems from three factors: 1) its nation's population, 2) GDP and 3) team experience.  In their comprensive analysis of the beautiful game, Kuper and Szymanski come to such conclusions that England are, despite the media, overachievers and nations such as the U.S. (yes, us!) and Turkey will be future powers in world football.  I will follow the path of Soccernomics and highlight how the turmoil in Northern Africa will influence Egypt and Libya.

In footballing terms, Egypt and Libya should not even be used in the same sentence.  Egypt has won the Africa Nations Cup seven times, including an impressive 3 straight tournaments.  At the end of that run, the Pharaohs were ranked as high as 9th by FIFA.  When you look at the numbers in terms of Soccernomics, it is no wonder that Egypt has been at the top of African football for so long.  They are the most wealthy nation on the continent and second in population only to Nigeria.  In terms of experience, Egypt's club teams have won the CAF Champions League 12 times and been runners-up 5.  That is 7 more than the next nation (Congo DR).

Last year, the Pharaohs captured their 3rd straight African Nations Cup

However dominant they have been over the past 6 years, Egypt failed to take advantage of a great opportunity when they did not qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  A slow start to African qualifying prevented Egypt from winning the group outright.  The Pharaohs valiantly won 2-0 at home against group leaders Algeria to force a neutral site playoff in Sudan.  Amidst great controversy, Egypt lost the match 1-0 and the world was denied the chance to see one of the great tournament teams Africa has ever produced.

With Egyptians facing great political unrest in their nation, it makes you wonder if the defending African champions will have what it takes to perform in future competitions against rising nations such as Ghana and traditional powers like Nigeria and Cameroon.  While these nations do not possess leagues as strong as Egypt's, their players are much more likely to play in Europe's top leagues.  The names Essien, Ayew, Gyan, Eto'o and Song should speak for themselves.

Ghana's U-20 World Champions will feed the national team for the years to come

While it is yet to be determined how the revolution will affect the Egyptian economy or even population, the events have already had an immediate impact on the Pharaohs' experience.  This past February, Egypt were supposed to host the United States for an international friendly to be played in Cairo.  That match was quickly cancelled after protesters in opposition to Mubarak began to gather in masses and the threat of violence became evident.

While missing a friendly is not a huge ordeal for Egypt, losing the ability to host a major tournament is a harsh reality that Libya could be facing in the near future.  Libya is currently ranked 70th in the FIFA world rankings and holds the dubious distinction of being the only North African nation never to qualify for the World Cup finals.  Libya is one of the wealthiest nations in Africa, considered an "upper middle economy".  Its population, however, of 6.5 million does not help Libya make waves in terms of world football.

Which is exactly why Libya must gain more experience by playing in major tournaments.  The Greens only positive result was in the 1982 Africa Cup of Nations when they were runners-up as the host nation.  They would like to replicate that result in 2013 - if they can retain their status as host nation.  Currently, one stadium in Benghazi is set to host matches.  Benghazi, in the western part of the nation, is the center for Anti-Gaddafi forces.  The capital city, Tripoli, has plans to construct two new stadiums for the tournament.

Aside:  At this point it might be worth mentioning that the despot Gadaffi's son, Saif al Gadaffi is not only a former player on the Lybian national team but also the former chairman of the Lybian Football Association.  I don't think that there is too much to get into detail about this, but its interesting nonetheless.

Lybian football's most infamous player and supporter

A more immediate effect of the conflict on Libyan football concerns the U-20 World Cup qualifying tournament to be held in Lybia.  The tournament is scheduled to begin March 18 and run through April 1.  However, the tournament has been suspended by the CAF indefinitely.  Four semi-finalists will travel to Colombia and represent the African continent.  As hosts, Libya would have a great opportunity to qualify and gain invaluable experience against the likes of world powerhouses such as Argentina, Brasil, Spain and England.  If Libya are unable to host, or worse, are disqualified from the tournament, it will not bode well for the future.

The Egyptian U-20 squad is currently in UAE in preparations for the tournament.  While Manager Diaa Al-Sayeed and his young men are awaiting news on Libya, they are still concerned about matters back home.  “The recent events in Egypt affected us just like they have affected all Egyptian departments. We have got over this crisis and now we are on our way back to our best performance to maintain Egypt’s history forever. I also think now everything is getting better because of the atmosphere in the camp. Playing several friendly games will help us too. Also, all the Egyptian team players have one motivation which is making the Egyptian people happy”.


It is difficult to say what will come of these two footballing nations.  Overall, Egypt is much more well-equipped to overcome the crisis, especially since violence does not seem to be on the horizon.  We cannot, however, say the same for Libya, as the Arab League, UN and NATO are all discussing the possibility of an armed conflict and no-fly zone.  If this aspiring footballing nation hopes to improve in the future, political stability must come first.
 

No worries...

So my hopes for Barcelona did not exactly pan out, but the tie is not completely lost.  A 2-1 loss is not insurmountable considering 1) they did get an away goal 2) Messi missed at least 2 chances and 3) they will not be as forgiving in the Nou Camp.

I was extremely impressed by Arsenal in the 2nd half.  Fabregas had an amazing match.  The matchup between him and Busquets was tremendous but I thought Busi gave the Arsenal skipper too much space.  If you go back and watch the match you will notice that he was Xavi-like in his ability to float into the hole between midfield and the back line.  His scoop pass to Van Persie early in the match made me giggle like a schoolgirl and I thought that he could have scored later in the half on the through ball played by Walcott.  All in all, it was an inspirational performance.

You can say what you want about Messi not finishing, but I think Barcelona fell asleep at the wheel in the second half.  Unable to penetrate Arsenal's defense only pumped up the Gunners and encouraged them to press for an equalizer and then a match winner.  I did not think Wenger's men were capable of playing such a high back line, but they did so with effectiveness.  Well, that is to say, Barcelona did not take advantage of the high back line like they should have.  Messi's incredulous miss inside 15 minutes came as a result of poor possession and miscommunication between Koscielny and Djourou.  Villa's goal?  Also from a lapse in defense between the aforementioned center backs.  Wenger clearly recognized this and remedied the situation by playing Wilshire and Song in front of the defense to prevent the deadly through passes.

As suspected, Walcott's speed was a serious problem for the Barcelona defense.  I feel that Arsenal reveled in the opportunity to play underdogs.  Not expected to attack all-out like they normally have to in the EPL, the London team were able to sit back and hit the Catalans on the break.  Walcott was finally able to use his greatest asset: his speed.  Running with the ball at the Barcelona defense Pique, Abidal, Maxwel and Dani Alves looked terrified.  They had no idea what to do with him and that was evident when they did not step up and force the England winger into making an early decision.  Walcott is not Ronaldo people.  His speed is special but his ball skills and passing are not.  Someone in that back line needs to step up and challenge Theo - then see what he does.

Congrats to Arsenal and their fans.  They were the better team for 90 minutes and fully deserved the win.  That said, I fully expect Barcelona to be lifted by the Cule (who never lift their cules!) and take care of business at home.  At the end of the day, Wenger's team are still weak in the defense and I do not think the Gaul has the gall to "park the buss" a la Jose Mourinho.

Tomorrow I will be over this match -  I promise.

Barça vs. Arsenal

I have been meaning to write this post for the past few days.  Today is the day of the game so I cannot put it off any longer.  Here we, here we, here we go...

These two teams are known for the attractive football they play.  In their respective leagues, and in all of Europe, they by far are the embodiment of Joga Bonito.  While Barcelona spend more to attain their goal, the two sides are quite similar in their approach of building a squad.  The Catalan Cantera is world famous for producing players such as Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Messi, Pique and even Arsenal's Fabregas.  Arsene Wenger, a shrewd businessman and uncanny evaluator of talent, has built a tremendous youth squad for his London club.  With the exception of Barcelona's penchant for buying big name players, these squads are similar both on and off the pitch.  That's what makes today's match to delectable.

Because the tie is going to be such a close one, I want to compare the various aspects of each team against one another as well as analyze key matchups we can expect to see on the pitch today.

Formation - Draw

Both sides prefer an open 4-3-3 formation with one centralized striker and two wing players.  Both also play Total Football, allowing for flexibility between positions and a more attacking approach.  However, Barcelona's brand is a bit more fluid thanks to players like Messi, Iniesta, Pedro and David Villa - all of whom feel comfortable in the center of the pitch or out on the flank.  With his return to form, Van Persie will create problems for the Barça defense in all positions, but the supporting cast does not rival that of the Spanish club.

At the end of the day, Wenger could switch to a 4-4-2 to try and win possession in the midfield.  He needs to prevent Barcelona from dominating the ball without sacrificing strikers up top.

Goalkeepers - Advantage Barcelona

I began with this one because it will be short.  Victor Valdez, a three time Zamora Trophy winner, is Barcelona's most successful keeper of all time.  Lukasz Fabianski has not been able to hold down a starting position at Arsenal despite competition from the aging Manuel Almunia and unproven Wojiech Szczesny.  Valdez is the type of leader at keeper necessary for teams to succeed in this competition; Fabianski is a liability for his club that his teammates in whom his teammates cannot have tremendous confidence.

Backs - Advantage Barcelona

The major tipping point for the Blaugrana in this category is at center back.  True, Dani Alves is the best right back in the world right now, but there is not a huge gulf in class between Alves/Maxwell and Sagna/Clichy.

There is, however, an enormous gulf in class between Barça's central defenders and those  playing for Arsene Wenger.  Tarzan Puyol will be absent this afternoon because of a knee.  Expect Abidal or Milito to play alongside young veteran and current member of FIFA's World XI, Gerard Pique.

Arsenal's youthful pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou will have their hands full with the likes of David Villa and Messi all evening.  You can rest assured Barcelona's passing moves will try and draw the inexperienced center backs out of position.  Djourou is young but not a newcomer to the Champions League while Koscielny is making his first appearance in the knockout stages of the tournament.  Perhaps Wenger will look to Sebastien Squillaci for veteran leadership in the backline; the former Sevilla man played in the Champions League final in 2004 with Monaco.

Midfield - Advantage Barcelona

The quality of the midfield players for both teams is tremendous.  Fabregas, Wilshire and Song have their work cut out for them against World Cup trio Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets.  If Arsenal have a weakness, it is in the youthful exuberance of the 19 year old Jack Wilshire.  The recently capped England international can be overzealous at times in the tackle.  Watch for him to loose his mind and his temper when Barça's mesmerizing possession wear his patience thin.  A lesser blogger might even call Wilshire a punk.

An often overlooked but crucial player for Barcelona is Sergio Busquets.  He might be labeled as a "defensive midfielder", but within Johan Cruyff's Total Futbol system, he is the essential "fulcrum".  In possession, Busquets always (always) provides an option for Xavi and Iniesta while allowing fullbacks Alves and Abidal to maraud down the wings as he tucks in alongside Pique and Puyol.  If Barcelona loose the ball, he is there to win it back smoothly and quickly distribute to one of the playmakers.  If Xavi is the motor, Busquets is the fuel.  Just look at Spain's victory in South Africa.  Busquets started every match for La Furia while Fabregas was on the bench.  Today, FCB's # 16 will be responsible for stopping counter-attacks from the man he replaced on the national team squad.

"No es un pivote; es un quitanieves."

Strikers - Advantage Barcelona

Two words.  Mucho Messi.  Leo has 6 goals in the competition this season and is looking to pad his stats against an Arsenal side that conceded 4 to the Argentine last year at the Camp Nou.  This year, with the prolific David Villa and the hard-working Pedro at his side, Barcelona have an untouchable trident.  What makes this group so hard to defend, besides their skills with the ball at their feet and great combination play, is that they do not have positional tendencies.  Messi does like to start weaving through defenders from the right wing, but he is a left-footed player who readily interchanges with Villa and Pedro.  Villa is comfortable playing as a lone striker and Pedro's work rate makes him a threat on either wing.  Good luck Arsenal.

The Barcelona defense have no easy task themselves.  The return of Samir Nasri will give a boost to Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott.  Of the three, Van Persie will occupy the center (instead of that ogre Chamakh) and await service from right-winger Walcott and Nasri, who likes to cut into the middle much like Messi.  For me, Walcott is the man who can cause the most damage.  He has Bolt-like speed and wreaked havoc as a substitute in this fixture last season.  One way Barcelona will attempt to nullify his ability is to play Maxwell or Abidal high up the pitch and force Walcott to defend.

I am quite pumped for this match.  As I mentioned before, I'm seriously sipping the Barça Kool-Aid, so it should come as no shock that I have favored them in just about every category.  I fully expect them to give Arsenal another real footballing lesson and embarrass the Gunners enough to coax Fabregas back to his rightful club.

Força Barça!!!

Barcelona. Mes que mi club.

So by now you've probably surmised that I am a Cule.  Firstly, its pronounced like Kool-Aid, minus the D and secondly, I am seriously sipping the Barcelona Kool-Aid.  Ever since my amigo Nile (what's good homie?) and I embarked on a journey to the Camp Nou on a rainy night February in 2006, I have been hooked.  Actually, it began shortly before then...

I decided to spend the Spring semester of my junior year of college abroad, "studying" in Barcelona.  I use the term studying loosely because I spent most of my time in a bacchanalian stupor.  When I wasn't smoking cigarettes and drinking Guiness in a Catalan-Irish Pub, I was bouncing from bar to bar in an endless chase for free chupitos.

I guess you can say I stumbled upon Barcelona.  As a Hispanic Studies major at Trinity, I had planned on studying Spanish literature.  My advisor suggested I take a course titled "Barcelona" in order to gain a better understanding of Spanish history.

"What was there to know about Spanish history?", I asked myself.  Ferdinand married Isabella, Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and Spain benefitted from his discovery.  After that, some guy named Franco took over and somehow Spain has a king again.  Ok, so I was a little foggy.  What I did not know was that my futbol life would be changed forever.

Without getting into the riveting details, I learned that Barcelona is the capital of a region named Catalunya.  This region, prior to the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand, was one of the most prosperous empires in all of Europe.  Complete with their own culture and language separate from that of traditional Spain, the Catalans are proud of a past relatively untainted by the invasion Moors (see Charles Martel).

Following the marriage, Catalunya was suppressed over the years - for having opposing languages and cultures was seen as a problem within Spain, a country whose identity was in serious crisis following 700 years of Moorish rule.  This suppression and even, at times, oppression continued on and off throughout Spain's history.  It continued following the civil war, when Francisco Franco prohibited the languages of the Basques, Galicians and Catalans to be spoken.

And what did the Catalans turn to in these moments of despair?  Their beloved Futbol Club Barcelona, of course.  In lieu of waving the yellow flag with four bars, Catalans waved the blau and grana of their regions most important cultural icon.  When FCB played Franco's favorite team, (you guessed) Real Madrid, the mostly Catalan roster used it as an opportunity to give the dictator the old "up yours".  When you watch the Classico at the Camp Nou today, the mosaic made up of Barcelona's spectators pulsates while they belt out the Catalan lyrics to the club's anthem "Tot el camp".  It is a passionate reminder to the rest of Spain that the Catalans aren't going anywhere.

"One flag unites us all"

The stories I heard about the shrewd Catalans and their ability to persevere moved me.  I wanted to visit this mythical land where they didn't speak Spanish in Spain.  I won't tell you the lobbying I had to do in order to convince my Colombian father that his son was going to Spain but not to a city where Spanish is spoken (which is not true, but that's another story).

In the end, I got my wish and was permitted to study in Barcelona.  Very soon I was about to be introduced to Carles Puyol (and his hair), Ronaldinho (at the bar) and Leo Messi (just a baby).  That story will have to continue tomorrow, along with the preview of the game I said I was going to write.

Adeu.  Fins dema.

CHAMPIONS!

Christmas in February!  Champions League knockout stage.  The fixtures are:

Tottenham @ Milan (Today)
Schalke 04 @ Valencia (Today)

Shaktar Donetsk @ Roma (Wednesday)
FC Barcelona @ Arsenal

Spurs-Milan will start in about 15 minutes.  I am firmly plopped on the couch.  Sorry UCL, no Heineken today, Amstel will be doing the job this afternoon.  Today's post, which will come later, takes a look at tomorrow's epic, and I mean EPIC, matchup between Arselona and Barcenal.  Until then, here's what I think about today's games.

Take a look at the Champions League winners in the past few years.  Not only has each team won the European competition, they have also had tremendous domestic form.  That said, Milan has to be the team in this one with Ibra and Robinho ready to lead the charge.  Harry Redknapp's men have been playing well in the EPL but they are lacking experience.

The Royal Blues travel to the Mestalla in Valencia as this match will be billed as the homecoming of the legendary Raul.  The Spanish striker will not receive a particularly warm welcome as he scored against Valencia for Real Madrid in the 2000 UCL final.  The Spanish side are undefeated in La Liga since a 2-0 defeat to Real on December 4.  Schalke's German international keeper Manuel Neuer has 6 clean sheets in his last 8 matches.  He will need to replicate his 2008 performance in order for his team to progress.