Spanish League Preview Week 5

The Spanish La Liga teams face their third game in a week this weekend, with Real Madrid playing Tenerife at the Bernabeu on Saturday evening and third and fourth placed Seville and Bilbao fighting it out in San Mames at the same time.


Pepe and Xabi Alonso back for Madrid

Madrid boss Mauricio Pellegrini accepts that his team isn't playing brilliant football yet, but insists: “people thought we'd have a tougher start to the season, but we are keeping up with Barca and we've conceded fewer goals.”. Pellegrini should be able to welcome back Pepe, who has been banned since last season and Xabi Alonso who's been injured. Tenerife captain, the Catalan Marc Beltran, was adamant that his team were going to Madrid with a positive attitude, claiming:”we'll go out without fear and get right in their faces”. Bilbao lost their 100% record against Tenerife in midweek and this Saturday they face Seville, who have won their last three league matches and are ahead of them in third place on goal difference.

Valencia and Atletico both in need of a win

Laporta: "For me, the issue is closed"

President Joan Laporta has spoken for the first time since a story was published in "el Periódico de Catalunya" about a security audit commissioned by the club some months ago in relation to four vice presidents.


Before the dinner for the Malaga and FC Barcelona directors, the Barça president said he feels the matter of the security audit of vice presidents Joan Boix, Rafael Yuste, Joan Franquesa y Jaume Ferrer is a ‘closed case’.

Explanations to affected parties

The issue went public this week when an article was published in "el Periódico de Catalunya'. Said Joan Laporta “this happened five months ago. Certain events happened and when I found out about them, the corresponding explanations were given. These explanations were understood and accepted.” He added that “it was understood that the risk reports that were asked for were within the limits of legality and were to protect the affected parties and the club. Therefore, the page was turned and the case was closed.”

Ratification of Joan Oliver

The president of Barça also defended director general Joan Oliver. "In a season in which there was major social convulsion, and a world economic crisis, Joan Oliver has helped make Barça an admired institution, which is still generating a profit and has passed the biggest budgets in club history … I have no intention of losing the services of Joan Oliver. I want him to be with me".

"Used to living under pressure"

Joan Laporta also said that "we are better than we have ever been in our entire history, and now, because they want to destabilise us, people drag up issues like these. We will continue the same way. We are used to living under pressure and people trying to destabilise us … Barça is united and united we are unbeatable ".

Guardiola: “The team’s spirit comforts me”

Highly satisfied with the win at La Rosaleda, Josep Guardiola pointed out that Barça have never found it easy to win at grounds like these.


From the day Josep Guardiola took charge of the Barça first team, he has only shown respect for any team they have faced. He knew that Malaga would not be easy, and was glad his men got the job done. “The team’s spirit comforts me. That is what brings wins”.

The Barça coach said that “it was a very aggressive game and we had to work very hard.” As usual, Guardiola had no intention of speaking about the referee, but did admit that there were one or two ‘buts’.

Demanding Malaga

Guardiola observed that Malaga came out in the first few minutes “much stronger than we did. But after 15-20 minutes we started winning control”. Having studied Juan Ramon López Muñiz’s side, he knew “they deal with pressure well. They are very physical and very well organised. We found it hard, but it all worked out in the end”.

Qualifying squad named

UEFA European U19 Championship
First Qualifying Round
9-14 October 2009
Slovenia

England U19s Head Coach Noel Blake has named his squad for the first qualifying stage of the European Championship next month, just over a week after after seeing his team beat Russia in their first game of the new season.

Many of the players involved in that 2-1 victory are included again, as Blake readies the squad for matches against Slovenia, Finland and Slovakia in a bid to go one further than last season's U19 team, who went all the way to the Final where they were unfortunate to lose against Ukraine.

The likes of Nathan Delfouneso, Nile Ranger and Declan Rudd were part of that group, whilst players such as Nathan Baker and Dean Parrett also won U19 caps last season and they will provide experience in squad.

There are also a couple of new names in the squad, with Stoke City's Nathaniel Wedderburn, Spurs trio Ryan Mason, Steven Caulker and Adam Smith and West Ham's Frank Nouble all receiving their first call-ups

Ancelotti acknowledges bad performance

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged that his side under-achieved at Wigan Athletic, where their 100 per cent record came to an unexpected end. The home side chalked up their first victory against one of the top four at the 35th time of asking in a Premier League match.

Goals from Titus Bramble, Hugo Rodallega and Paul Scharner stunned Chelsea, who have been overtaken by Manchester United at the top of the table. Didier Drogba cancelled out Bramble's opener, but goalkeeper Petr Cech's red card, for tripping Rodallega which led to a spot-kick in the 53rd minute, changed the face of the game at the DW Stadium.

Ancelotti, however, refused to look for excuses after suffering his first defeat since taking the reins at Stamford Bridge. He said: "We did not play a good game; it was a bad performance. I do not know why we did not play well.

"But these things can happen after a lot of victories. We have to accept this loss and fix things for our next match. Wigan played better than us. They were well organised and played good football. I was surprised. This was the right result.

Five in five for Barça and Ibra

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gerard Pique came off the bench to inspire Barcelona to a fifth straight league win over a hard-working Malaga side. Ibrahimovic was left out of the starting line-up after picking up an ankle injury in Tuesday night's 4-1 win at Racing Santander. But the Sweden striker has been making good progress in his recovery and was called upon after Thierry Henry was forced off through injury just short of the half-hour mark.

And Ibrahimovic was on the scoresheet ten minutes later to bag his fifth goal in as many league games since joining from Inter Milan in the summer. But Pique took even less time to make an impact, bagging a second for the Catalans only three minutes after replacing Dmytro Chygrynskiy just short of an hour, before Malaga had Duda sent off late on.

Those two strikes gave Barcelona a fifth win in five league matches this season, but meant that the Catalans dropped to second place after rivals Real Madrid defeated Tenerife 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to go top of the table on goal difference.

Barça coach Pep Guardiola decided to leave Ibrahimovic on the bench and, with Bojan Krkic out injured, Henry moved into the centre of the side's three-pronged attack. Lionel Messi began on the left as Pedro came in for a rare start on the right.

Barça had won all four of their previous league matches and came into this match on top of the table. But the first chance of the night fell to Malaga. Nigerian striker Victor Obinna latched onto Duda's pass, but shot into the side netting from close range and the visitors survived.

Malaga began the season with an impressive 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at La Rosaleda, but the Andalusians have struggled since then and came into this match on the back of three straight defeats.

With Ibrahimovic out, Henry had the chance to impress. The former Arsenal striker has not scored this season for Barça and had a seemingly golden chance to shine. But the Frenchman was forced off though injury after 29 minutes and replaced by Ibrahimovic. And the Swede was on the scoresheet ten minutes later, when he latched onto Messi's through-ball and slotted home.

Barça were stroking the ball in customary fashion, but Malaga were working hard and restricting the Catalans to very few real attempts on goal. The second goal finally came just short of the hour mark.

Pique, who netted against Atletico earlier this season and in the famous 6-2 victory at the Bernabeu last term, replaced Chygrynskiy and poked past Gustavo Munua to put Barça two up three minutes after stepping off the bench.

Messi missed two good chances to make it three and return the Catalans to the top of the league, but in the end Guardiola's side had to be content with a two-goal victory which preserved their 100 per cent record after five rounds in the championship. They also finished the game a man up after Duda was dismissed for Malaga.

Jose in Press Conference: Gilberto is Back

In a press conference held yesterday following the end of the game with Sundowns in the qualifying round of the 16 of the African Champions League, which ended in victory for Ahly with two goals to nil, a question was asked to Jose about Gilberto and his injury status.


There was a question among the questions addressed to Jose by journalists. The question of Gilberto, when a journalist asked about the player and his return to Cairo and the completion of its therapeutic or rehabilitative. The veracity of the rumors about the player refusing to answer Ahly’s communications and so on.


Jose response was that he was on the phone with Gilberto at the end of last week. Gilberto assured him that he will fully finish the therapeutic program on Thursday evening. He will return to Cairo to El-Ahly Club


Jose added that upon the arrival of the player, according to medical reports carried with him from the Portuguese doctor treating him and after consultations with "Jose" and the qualification of the medical team, will develop a training program "exercises different ball" dedicated to the player for almost a month .. Until then, the player should be ready to participate in games normally.


Gilberto will participate in more than one game( unofficial exhibition ones or with the youth team) to check on his safety fully recovering from his injury and non-recurring to him again, and then a decision will be taken if the player is capable of joining the team’s list next season or will El-Ahly recruit another foreign player?

Jose states his Reasons for Departure

It was one of the worst days that El-Ahly fans have ever lived when the Portuguese magician Manuel Jose announced his decision to leave El-Ahly .Jose was not just a coach but a fan of El-Ahly that leads the team from the coach seat. Jose did not leave a chance for El-Ahly.com reporter to talk; it seemed as if he was waiting for this moment to talk to El-Ahly lovers directly. His words were from his heart and unusually his voice carries a lot of emotion.

The magician said "Leaving El-Ahly is the hardest decision of my life, I do not remember that I made a decision of such difficulty before and the reason is one thing ... El-Ahly fans"


Jose revealed for the first time the real reasons of his departure saying “My departure is purely for personal reasons. I am 63 years old and became no longer able to bear such great pressure. My father at the age of 94 and during the last year I saw him only once, also I've seen my son only twice in the last year which is very difficult for me. It seems I am no longer able to endure pressure at this age so the time has come to leave El-Ahly."

"Life in Angola will be easier for many factors; first, Portuguese is the official language of Angola because of the Portuguese occupation of Angola which lasts for 500 years. Coaching of Angola national team does not require staying in Angola, but I could stay in Portugal especially most Angolan professional players play in the Portuguese league and that will give me the opportunity to stay in Portugal and work from there.” Jose added.

Manuel Jose said, "I decided many times to leave El-Ahly for various reasons but I retracted this decision because of you .. you .. you (he repeated it more than once referring to El-Ahly fans)."


Jose talked about El-Ahly fans saying “El-Ahly fans are the secret behind Jose’s success. Since the announcement of my departure, Fans are calling me, sending letters and stop me on the street asking me to retract this decision that was very difficult for me."

Jose said "The Egyptian press attacked me so fiercely during my leadership of El-Ahly and I have fought against all in Egypt only for the sake of El-Ahly Fans. Egyptian press likened my departure to escape, but I do not care about such nonsense all I care about is fans of El-Ahly whom I believe the best Fans I met in my life."

Jose added "Although we lost the ACL and Cup of Egypt, even if we lost the Egyptian league, I know that Fans love me and will never forget the championships we have achieved together”

Jose concluded his speech to El-Ahly.com "I would like to convey this message to all of El-Ahly Fans, I love them and I would not forget them. I know they will not forget me, but this is the life!".

Should Barcelona Sign Robinho?

One day Robinho is on his way to Barcelona, the next day he is at Manchester City for life. One day he is seriously mooting flying to the Camp Nou, the next day he is inviting fellow South Americans to the Eastlands.

Amidst this uncertainty, what is certain is that Robinho will leave Manchester City. For all tall talks of the Brazilian joining the Premier League side not for money but to win silverware, no one doubts that he will move away. Maybe in January, maybe in the summer, maybe in 2011... but he will definitely leave the City of Manchester Stadium.

But will he leave for Barcelona, the club who are reportedly so keen on signing the former Real Madrid Galactico that they would launch a bid in January? And should Barca sign him at all?

There is no footballing reason why Barcelona should not sign the 25-year-old. Since his days at Santos, Robinho has been billed as the 'New Pele' and although he has yet to justify that tag, his talent is precarious and skills unconfined. Ever since his debut for Real Madrid against Cadiz in 2005 when Spanish sports daily, AS declared "And God created Robinho!" (and He also created Titus Bramble, Peter Crouch and Emmanuel Adebayor), the Brazilian international has been earmarked for success and has been considered a true gift of football.




The Old 'New Pele'

Last season Robinho was not at his scintillating best for Man City, yet he was one of the Top 50 players in the world. In his three years at the Bernabeu he had not been very consistent but there had been occasions like the run-in to Madrid's championship triumph in 2006-2007 and again in 2007-2008 when he looked perhaps as good as Lionel Messi and the common consensus is that he can only improve.

And at Barcelona he will certainly improve. If Robinho's footballing talent makes him impossible to resist even by a coach who can afford to get rid of the second best striker in Europe and still retain the best team on the planet, his playing style could see him waltz into Barcelona's 4-3-3 formation.

Robinho's most preferred position is just behind the striker but at Madrid he did play quite well out wide and shouldn't have much problem in starting in the left channel at Camp Nou and then drifting in. He is not a prolific goalscorer like Thierry Henry but his playmaking and linking-up qualities are perhaps more pronounced, and would perfectly compliment the unalloyed genius of Lionel Messi and the subtle technique of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a three-pronged attack. Henry, for all his galactic performance in 2008-2009, took one whole year to settle into that inside-left channel and although sensational last season, the Frenchman has got perhaps only one or two of his best years left in him.

It's not that Robinho is the only option on the left for Barcelona; it's that he is the most viable at the moment. As splendid and fascinating a player Juan Mata is, he is still young and a protege and although David Silva could prove to be more effective than the Brazilian and is certainly more versatile, him leaving Valencia anytime soon doesn't look very feasible.

So Dark The Con Of Robinho

But Robinho comes with strings attached. As tenacious and riveting his awkwardly mesmerizing talent is, the Brazilian has earned the reputation of being 'a party-animal'. He departed Real Madrid under a cloud of accusations: erstwhile president Ramon Calderon insisted that Robinho had been in tears to leave after he realised that he was being used as a cheap bargaining chip in the Cristiano Ronaldo deal and former sporting director Predrag Mijatovic frequently complained of the Brazilian smelling of booze at training.

Robinho's hunger for off-pitch parties rivals his appetite for on-pitch success and at Barcelona this cannot be ignored. Guardiola imposes fines for arriving late for training and for missing breakfast with the team, and given Robinho's track record he could lose half his weekly salary on fines alone.

Robinho held Santos to ransom to move to Real Madrid and forced himself out of Madrid for Man City; if he indeed joins Barcelona he would be forcing himself out of Eastlands, as City have no discernible reason to dispose of their most prized asset. It is clear that for one reason or the other the 25-year-old has left his old clubs on a bad note.

Yet Robinho retains the benefit of the doubt. Santos made it hard for him not to do anything other than force his way through, Madrid were more a circus and less a civilised institution during Calderon's last months in power and Manchester City were not his first choice - Chelsea were.

As Pele once said, "This boy needs some serious counselling." And perhaps Guardiola could be his counsellor.

Can you manage to win the Uefa Champions League without coaching a big club ?

Can you manage to win the Uefa Champions League without coaching a big club ?

Or can you be so smart that all reporters find it so difficult to prove you're wrong,well one man..1 man only can do that and he is…….JOSE MOURINHO



Jose Mourinho started his professional career as a translator for Barcelona manager at that time Sir Bobby Robson who has recently died of cancer then he moved back to his country Portugal to start his coaching career as FC Porto's manager,he managed to beat Manchester United in the quarter finals after Costinha nailed a goal in the 92 minute of the game to end the 2nd leg 1-1 after winning in Dragao stadium 2-1 to qualify after then to the final and beat AS Monaco 3-0 to be the youngest manager to win the UCL until Pepe Guardiola won it with Barcelona last year then he moved to England to replace the sacked Claudio Ranieri in coaching Chelsea and when he was asked why did he leave Porto after all the glory he achieved with the team he simply said "if I stayed there I would live a calm peace life and the fans will put me in the 2nd place after god and they will love me and thank me even if don’t win anything at all……but I want a new challenge and please don’t call me arrogant but I am a European champion and I think I am a special one "



Then in his first season 04/05 with Chelsea he brought back the Premier league Title to the club who never won it for 50 years he managed to reach the UCL knockout rounds but eventually he was eliminated by Liverpool.



At the beginning of season 07/08 after a series of loses and draws ending by UCL draw against Rosenburg in Stamford bridge,Jose mourinho was fired by the club owner the Russian billionaire Roman abramovic then Mourinho received offers from the English FA to coach England and lead them to World Cup 2010 he thought about it a little but eventually he refused …(last week Joan Laporta Barcelona president revealed that he wanted to sign Mourinho but there was a rule in his contract "to treat Spanish reporters and Spanish media with full respect " well that made Mourinho refuse so Guardiola came and won the Treble !!



After a while Intermilan President Massimo Moratti offered Jose a three-year contract making him the highest paid coach in Serie A …at the beginning Mourinho demanded to sign 3 players

1-Lampard from Chelsea

2-Mancini from AS Roma

3-Quaresma from Porto



Well Inter board succesfuly managed to sign 2 out of 3 missing lampard and replacing him with Sulley Muntari from Portsmouth .



Jose Mourinho at the beginning found it difficult to pick the suitable formation for Intermilan players but finally he choose 4-3-3 by putting Ibrahimovic ,Mancini and Quaresma as a deadly trio upfront but Quaresma lost his "Porto" Form while Mancini looked like he never played football before so Mourinho had to use Inter old tactics by playing 4-1-2-1-2,many people gave Mourinho credit for bringing Adriano and Maicon back to their form by watching Maicon the rightback scores a lot of goals while Adriano made a thriller tag with Ibra





Mourinho wasn’t threatened to lose the Serie A title in his first season cause AC Milan wasn’t in their form (as usual…. the team needs a new generation and Galliani happy by the unspent money in his pocket ) while Juventus were still building a team capable of winning throphies moving to AS Roma who were having financial problems Internazionale biggest test was in the Champions league season 08/09 at the knock-out rounds facing European champions Manchester United, 2 weeks before the 1st leg Sir Alex Hinted that he may retire in the next following years.Reports said that Jose Mourinho could be his replacement making Jose stating "I would consider going to Manchester United but United have to consider if they want me to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson. If they do, then of course" he lost 2-0 on aggregate drawing in Milano and losing in Manchester…before the match in Old Trafford,Mourino stated to United fans " I will beat you then I will coach you" ..well after all he lost the match 2-0 by 2 header goals from Vidic and Ronaldo





Itailian media didn’t consider Mourinho successful in his first season with Intermilan claiming that he won nothing more than Serie A who former successor Roberto Mancini did as Mourinho was supposed to win the UCL and that’s what he came to do !!



This season 2009/2010 Intermilan was involved in to be said one of the biggest deals in Football history by trading strikers with Inter signing Samuel Eto and letting Zlatan Ibrahimovic go the other way also by signing Lucio from Bayern Munich moving to Wesly sneijder from Real Madrid and Genoa's Diego Millito and Thiago Motta which made Mourinho very satisfied saying that he can now compete for the Champions league. ……





Well we will see what "The Special one" can do this season after Juventus improved their squad and after being dropped together with current European champions Barcelona in one group

German class undoes USA

Germany sent out an impressive statement of intent in their Egypt 2009 opener, racing to the top of Group C with an emphatic 3-0 win over USA in Suez. Thomas Rongen's side battled bravely and briefly threatened a comeback in the second half, but their opponents' superior finishing left the Americans facing an uphill struggle to qualify for the last 16.

The European champions gained a stranglehold from the outset and Richard Sukuta-Pasu twice went close during some one-sided early exchanges. Brian Ownby did test the reflexes of Ron-Robert Zieler at the other end, but it was no more than the Germans deserved when they earned a penalty just short of the half-hour mark.

Ownby was the player lured into a clumsy and clearly illegal challenge on Semih Aydilek, and the lively German striker dusted himself down to send the keeper the wrong way from the resultant spot kick. USA were rocking and, two minutes later, they suffered a knockout blow.

Germany captain Florian Jungwirth was the goalscorer on this occasion, pouncing on a half-cleared corner to smash in a fierce right-foot drive that Brian Perk could only help on its way into the net. The situation called for a strong American response and coach Thomas Rongen attempted to inject some more urgency to his side by bringing on Bryan Arguez at half-time.

The Germany-based midfielder certainly wasted no time in making an impact, sending a long-range shot flashing wide within two minutes of entering the fray. Arguez then turned creator, dribbling at the heart of the German defence before threading through Mikkel Diskerud for a shot that Zieler raced bravely from his line to block.

The European champions were hanging on at this stage and they came perilously close to conceding when Jared Jeffrey sent a right-foot shot crashing against the face of the crossbar from the edge of the box. That slice of bad luck should have told the US that this wasn't to be their day and, sure enough, Manuel Schaeffler removed any doubts over the outcome by firing home from close range with 18 minutes remaining.

Lions roar in Suez

Cameroon closed in on Germany at the top of Group C with a comfortable 2-0 win over Korea Republic in Suez. It was a powerful and assured performance from the Junior Lions, who were rarely threatened by Asian opponents plainly lacking a cutting edge.

Alain Wabo's side might have won by a more handsome margin, in fact, had it not been for some wasteful finishing, with Brice Owuna setting the tone early on by blazing over after springing the South Korean offside trap. Nevertheless, Cameroon were soon in front, although their 19th-minute opener owed much to a goalkeeping catastrophe.

Andre Akono Effa's speculative shot from near the right certainly packed plenty of punch, but still looked to be a routine catch for Lee Bum Young until he somehow allowed the ball to slip through his grasp and into the net. Even at this early stage, it was clear that Korea Republic were in real trouble, and they should have found themselves two goals down just six minutes later.

Owuna was again able to race clean through, but although he had two team-mates waiting to tap the ball into the unguarded net, he delayed too long and enabled the South Koreans to intercept and clear behind for a corner. One wondered at this stage if Cameroon might live to regret that miss and they were certainly grateful to their goalkeeper for pushing away a goal-bound effort from left-back Yun Suk-Young as half-time approached.

However, the Africans' defence was troubled all too infrequently and it was no real surprise when substitute Germain Tiko doubled their advantage after 64 minutes. Cameroon captain Olivier Boumale delivered an inviting free-kick from the right and Tiko, who plays his club football for Real Majorca, nipped in to glance the ball home.

The Junior Lions were cruising now and they continued to carve out the better chances, with Lee forced to partially atone for his earlier error in pulling off a fine save to prevent Boumale rubbing salt in Korean wounds as the clock ticked down.

Ghana do things the hard way

Ghana came from behind to defeat Uzbekistan 2-1 in Ismailia in Group D of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, with Ransford Osei and Dominic Adiyiah scoring the goals for the African champions. Although the Uzbeks took the lead shortly after the break, it was Ghana who caught the eye with some enterprising and attacking play.

With Akhmad Ubaydullaev opting to play a lone striker up front, Uzbekistan limited themselves in the number of chances they created during the first half, but also did a fine job in nullifying Ghana's attacking threat. On the rare occasions that the Black Satelites did manage to create chances, their finishes in the opening 45 minutes tended to end up high and wide of the target.

A few efforts did go close though. Shortly after the half hour mark, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu's long-range free-kick was deflected just past the post for a corner, while Opoku Agyemang fired into the side netting from an acute angle and David Addy also saw a low shot fly wide via a ricochet.

Yet, towards the end of the first half, the Asians showed their attacking capabilities with a quick counter-attack that almost caught Ghana unaware. Sellas Tetteh's side were let off the hook when a shot flashed across the face of goal, but they weren't so fortunate two minutes into the second half when Sherzodbek Karimov got on the end of Jasur Khasanov's cross to put the Uzbeks ahead.

However, the goal served only to re-energise the Africans, who poured forward in search of the equaliser. It came on the hour, when Addy put in a superb left-footed cross into the danger zone to find Osei. The star of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Korea 2007 took one touch, which threatened to run away from him, but he caught up with the ball, producing a typical poacher's finish.

Fifteen minutes later, Ghana scored the winner. A cross from the right from substitute Abeiku Quansah was flicked on into the path of Adiyiah, who fired the ball past Sanjar Kuvvatov to wrap up the three points for the Satelites.

Celeste stun England

An outstanding goal from Uruguay substitute Tabare Viudez in the 84th minute condemned England to a 1-0 defeat in Ismailia. The result continues the Three Lions' miserable run in the FIFA U-20 World Cup to seven matches without a goal and eight matches without a win.

From the outset, it was clear that this was a meeting between two of the best organised teams in the competition. England coach Brian Eastick and his Uruguayan counterpart Diego Aguirre had obviously done their homework on each other's teams before the game, which resulted in a first half of few chances.

A set piece seemed the likeliest route to a goal and as early as the third minute, Jonathan Urretaviscaya's corner was headed over the bar by Sebastian Coates. At the other end, a well-worked corner for England was turned towards goal by the outstretched boot of Liverpool defender Martin Kelly, but his effort crept narrowly wide. Uruguay's only shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes came from their captain Nicolas Lodeiro, whose snapshot forced Elliott Parish into a scrambling save.

The opening to the second half was extremely low key and Aguirre made a double substitution on the hour, bringing on Abel Hernandez and Viudez in order to inject some extra impetus into the proceedings. The move almost paid off seven minutes later when Viudez fired a goalbound effort from close range, which Kelly somehow turned away for a corner.

Uruguay's other substitute, Hernandez spurned a golden opportunity midway through the second half when one-on-one with Parish. In acres of space, and with just the keeper to beat, the leading scorer in the CONMEBOL qualifiers fired straight into his arms. Worse was to come for the South Americans, however, when Hernandez slipped through to Lodeiro, who fired wide from the edge of the six-yard box in another one-on-one situation.

Viudez made amends for his earlier miss six minutes from time when he connected with Urretaviscaya's cross with a stunning scissor-kick. Although he was given plenty of space by the England back four, the excellence of its execution makes it an early contender for the goal of the tournament

El Ahly achieves third win over the Army

In a thrilling game which featured 6 goals El Ahly managed to defeat the military army with four goals to two. Hany El Egeizy opened the score sheet in the second minute of injury time, the score was doubled by Francis Doe in the 9th minute of the second half then Sherif Abdel Fadil to scored his first goal with his new team and Moataz Eino finished it all with a brilliant goal. The end of the game witnessed the 2 red cards and 2 goals from the military which came through Salah Amin, It seemed that the 6 goals came through fatal defensive errors.



El Ahly started the game with Ahmed Adel in goalkeeping, Ahmed Ali, Wael Gomma, Sherif Abdel Fadil, Sayed moawad in defense

Mostafa Shbeita, Ahmed Hassan, Moataz Eino and Ahmed Fathi in midfield. Hany El Egeizy and Franciss in attack.



The game began quickly through Baba Arco who took advantage of a defensive error in the second minute and shot but Ahmed Adel stopped the ball marvelously, Then came a chance through Hany El Egeizy who showed some brilliant skill and shot but it was blocked by the keeper.

The game was open and the military managed to create some threats through using counter attacks by their star player baba arco who missed an incredible chance as the goal was empty but the shot went wide

Then came a shot through Ahmed Fathi but it just went near the right bar it was received by another shot through Mohsen Hendawi but Ahmed Adel excels. And in the last minute Hany El Egeizy managed to take good use of a defensive error and put it in the net to end the first half with a 1-0 lead to El Ahly.



El Ahly began the second half attacking and managed to create no space for the military defenses which lead to another goal through franciss exactly like the previous scenario of the first goal.

After the second goal the military seemed helpless as El Ahly controlled midfield and created chances which were oddly missed such as a chance for Hany El Egeizy who wanted to make a sidekick instead of easily putting the ball into the net.



El Ahly's first substitution was Hussien El Mohamedy instead of unlucky Egeizy, El Ahly dominated the pitch and achieved a third goal through Sherif Abdel Fadil who received a great pass from Sayed Moawad to place into the net.



El Ahly's second substitution was Abdulla Farouk instead of Mostafa Shbeita, After that El Ahly managed to get a beautiful goal through Moataz Eino after a marvelous scenario by Ahmed Hassan and Franciss.

After the fourth goal Hossam El Badry made his final substitution by replacing Franciss with the Algerian prodigy Amir Sayood, Oddly after the substitution Abdulla Farouk received a red card for an unknown reason to make El Ahly complete the match with ten players.



After the red card the military managed to get a goal after some skill from Ahmed Aslan to put the ball in the net, 3 minutes later Ahmed Aslan scored again after a poor coverage from Ahmed Ali to make the score 4-2, The final minutes of the game El Ahly players tried to kill time legally through foot to foot passes until the referee blows his whistle declaring El Ahly's win over the military by four goals to two

Brave Ten Men Ahly hold down a draw against Masry

As we are used to in the past few games between El Ahly and El Masry in Portsaid, El Ahly managed to achieve a hard draw with only ten men against El Masry after sending of Francis due to a reckless play much like a Zidane- matteratzi play with Ashour El Adham.



El Ahly started the match with Ahmed Adel in goalkeeping,

Ahmed Ali, Wael Gomaa, Sherif Abdel Fadil and Sayed Moawad in defense; Ahmed Fathi, Moataz Eino, Ahmed Hassan and Gilberto in midfield; Hany El Egeizy and Francis in attack.



The game started with excitement from El Masry taking advantage of playing at home in front of their fans through Wagih Abdel Azim who shot a powerful ball in the 2nd minute but Ahmed Adel manages to save it ,then the game witnessed a yellow card for Hany El Egeizy after a hard tackle against Ahmed Shedid who created after that a perfect cross which was converted wrongly as a first time volley and Ahmed Adel manged again to save it.



Shortly after that in the 16th minute Francis didn't convert a good cross correctly and the ball went wide, then Hany El Egeizy shot a nice ball but Ahmed El Shinawy El Masry's 18 year old keeper turns it away, then the excitement continues after sending off Francis due to hitting Ashour El Adham in the face with his head.



El Ahly didn't seem any less then before, on the other hand it was as if they woke up then Moataz Eino fired a ball next to the post.

The final minutes of the first half didn't witness anything new, El Ahly trying to take control of the game and El Masry trying to take advantage of the superior number.



The second half began with a substitution as Hany El Egeizy came off and Mohamed Barakat came in, El Ahly tried to take control of the game goalkeeper and put it in the net, then El Masry tried to get back in the game through Wagih Abdel Azim who made a header but but it went next to the post, and in an effort to control the game from midfield Hossam El Badry put Mostafa Shbeita instead of Sayed Moawad.



After that El Masry fired a shot but Ahmed Adel manages to save it and in the 30th minute and from a brilliant header after the ball passed Ahmed Adel and the defense, Ahmed Othman was able to put the equalizer for El Masry.



The next ten minutes witnessed total domination from El Masry trying to make it two while El Ahly were depending on counter attacks

Through Mohamed Barakat twice but Ahmed El Shinawi excels.



Then El Ahly made his last substitution by putting Hussien Yasser instead of Ahmed Fathi to try to get a goal in the last remaining minutes but he failed to convert a goal, the last remaining minutes witnessed a domination from El Masry whereas El Ahly were holding down to make the game end as a draw.

Antlers suffer third straight loss

J.League leaders Kashima Antlers' recent woes continued after they were defeated 4-1 by Nagoya Grampus at Kashima Soccer Stadium to suffer their third consecutive loss. Nagoya's Australian forward Josh Kennedy scored the opener and Montenegrin international Igor Burzanovic struck twice to highlight the visitors' victory.

Nagoya stunned the hosts after six minutes when Kennedy reacted quickest after Burzanovic's initial effort was blocked. Eight minutes later, it was Burzanovic's turn when he capitalised on Hitoshi Sogahata's error in the box. The former Red Star Belgrade midfielder pounced on the ball when the Kashima goalkeeper missed his kick, rounded Sogahata and tapped the ball into the empty net.

Nine minutes into the second-half, Nagoya further extended their lead when midfielder Keita Sugimoto latched onto a long ball and headed over Sogahata. Kashima managed to pull a goal back in the 75th minute when Marquinhos met Mitsuo Ogasawara's free-kick with a low diving header.

However, they then let the visitors in with another mistake as Japan defender Atsuto Uchida attempted to head Sogahata's ball to a team-mate, but it went straight to Burzanovic. The 24-year-old midfielder then blasted the ball past the stunned Kashima goalkeeper for his second goal.

"Our players were very motivated for this game and they did well defensively, too. I'm very satisfied today," Nagoya coach Dragan Stojkovic said.

Kashima coach Oswaldo Oliveira said: "We made various preparations for today's game, but suffered by giving an early goal away. We couldn't play our usual game at all and Grampus took full advantage of our mistakes."

Endo brace for Gamba
Gamba Osaka midfielder Yasuhito Endo struck twice in his side's 2-1 win over Kawasaki Frontale in a rematch of the Asian Champions League last 16 battle. The north Osaka side took a lead when Endo slotted home Takahiro Futagawa's pass in the 17th minute.

Frontale levelled three minutes before the break when Hiroyuki Taniguchi converted Kengo Nakamura's pass from the right, but Endo bagged the winner when he curled home a free-kick in the 76th minute as Gamba climbed to third, four points behind Kashima.

"This game was very important to us and we really wanted to win it by any means. The win came due to our team work," said Endo.

"We cannot afford to lose any more games. We just work hard, believing that we can win the league and will take it a game at a time."

Hiroshima failed to narrow the gap to Kashima after suffering a 2-1 home defeat to Albirex Niigata. Kisho Yano and Brazilian defender Gilton struck in the first half-for Niigata before Toshihiro Aoyama scored for Hiroshima early in the second period.

Elsewhere, FC Tokyo edged out Jubilo Iwata 3-2 thanks to a late goal from substitute forward Shingo Akamine at home. Tokyo midfielder Naohiro Ishikawa put his side in front with his 13th strike of the season in the 63rd minute, but Jubilo forward Ryoichi Maeda equalised two minutes later.

Jubilo's South Korea forward Lee Keun-ho put the visitors ahead in the 71st minute, but full-back Yuto Nagatomo levelled with eight minutes to go.

Substitute Tomotaka Kitamura scored midway through the second half to give Montedio Yamagata a crucial 2-1 win against JEF United Chiba, as both sides battle to survive in the top-flight. Bottom club Oita Trinita were held to a goalless draw by Kashiwa Reysol, while Omiya Ardija beat hosts Kyoto Sanga 3-1 with goals from Naoki Ishihara, Chikara Fujimoto and Brazilian forward Rafael.