To start with, we have to congratulate Egypt for a convincing win over Algeria. It doesn't get clearer than 4-0, and the win is obviously well deserved. Having said that, this game is a living example of everything that is wrong with Arabic football, and this reflects the many flaws we have in other aspects of life.
Algeria is probably as good as Egypt, maybe a little better or a bit worse. 4-0 might lead observers to believe there is a huge technical gap between the two teams , but what it really reflects is how bad we are at losing, and how unequiped we are in defeat. 3 red cards for a team of professional footballers who've just celebrated a birth in the coming World Cup! One might be a result of an honest mistake, or a clumsy challenge, but 2 or 3 is just an indication of emotional immaturity! They gave up, were pissed off and decided to have a go at the players to vent and conceal their weakness! Let's be clear, what the Algerians did doesn't reflect dedication, patriotism or professionalism. It only indicates bankruptcy and desperation. We are emotionally defeated and immature. We give up and as a result we change the course of the fight and start our own objectives which no one cares about but ourselves. There should be a very big question mark over the maturity of those red carded, and their involvement in the team going for the World Cup should be re-evaluated.
As for Egypt. Well, a game of football can not be equated to October War. Sending the whole population on full alert and having actors, singers and all sorts of celebrities charging up the atmosphere is an indication of desperation and utter absurdity. You lost the game and Algeria deserved to go through to the world cup. Live with it. If they were aggressive in supporting their team, you were not exactly the most gracious of hosts! Algeria is not the enemy. Much bigger rivalries exist in the footballing world! Argentina and Brazil, Italy and Germany, Italy and France, Argentina and England who played each other few years after the Falkland War, and till now the players respect and show admiration of each other! Grow up and accept the fact that you always choke when it comes to the World Cup!
Egypt are likely to go home with the cup, and Algeria are likely to lose 3 games in the World Cup and go home. In both cases our media will hail the result as a success, and we will still talk about that game Algeria won against Germany back in 1982. Basking in old glories just as we do in any other field of life.
We need to be reasonable and consistent. We need to be mature and rise to the occasion. We need to stop choking when things matter and accept our failures and successes as our own doing.
To all those reasonable Egyptian fans, congratulations and good luck in the final. To all those reasonable Algerians fans, hard luck and better luck in the World cup. To all the rest, get a life!
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Egypt and Algeria or Algeria and Egypt
Egypt and Algeria or Algeria and Egypt, doesn’t really matter which comes first, because in my eyes both comes last, the last 2 countries I will have any respect for after what happened lately because of a stupid football game.
I kept silent about this idiotic act for long enough until I saw an ad on the TV for a stupid, low budget, cheap Egyptian movie, the ad said, soon on all cinemas in all the Arab countries except Algeria!!!! When I saw this I thought, this must be a joke.
I don’t know who started this or how it started in the first place, but if there is one thing I’m sure of it's that it’s all the fault of the media, one dumb reporter says something stupid, whether he meant bad or good it doesn’t matter, then all the TV channels pick that up and start to build stories on it, and the simple people just watch this and the blood boils in their veins, it’s the honour of their countries, someone is insulting their countries, they want to go to war!!! They want to go to war because of a football game!!!
One guy on TV was shouting (the TV host was crying, I swear to god he was crying with tears) “they have insulted us, they have burnt our flag, we have to defend our dignity and honour”, he wants his dignity back! What dignity are you talking about, dude we are Arabs, I thought that ship has sailed, it has sailed since we lost Palestine, it has sailed again and again and again many times after, and never came close to the Arab countries since then, we lost Iraq after Palestine, and we lost thousands of people in few days just a year ago, and you want to get back at the Algerians?! Is that how you get your dignity back?!
Now I just talked about the simple people here, didn’t mention anything about the “highly educated” public figures of both countries and I didn’t say anything about the governments too, and I won’t, for one single reason, we Arabs are a hopeless case, the only thing we are good at is to find artistic ways to bring shame to ourselves.
I kept silent about this idiotic act for long enough until I saw an ad on the TV for a stupid, low budget, cheap Egyptian movie, the ad said, soon on all cinemas in all the Arab countries except Algeria!!!! When I saw this I thought, this must be a joke.
I don’t know who started this or how it started in the first place, but if there is one thing I’m sure of it's that it’s all the fault of the media, one dumb reporter says something stupid, whether he meant bad or good it doesn’t matter, then all the TV channels pick that up and start to build stories on it, and the simple people just watch this and the blood boils in their veins, it’s the honour of their countries, someone is insulting their countries, they want to go to war!!! They want to go to war because of a football game!!!
One guy on TV was shouting (the TV host was crying, I swear to god he was crying with tears) “they have insulted us, they have burnt our flag, we have to defend our dignity and honour”, he wants his dignity back! What dignity are you talking about, dude we are Arabs, I thought that ship has sailed, it has sailed since we lost Palestine, it has sailed again and again and again many times after, and never came close to the Arab countries since then, we lost Iraq after Palestine, and we lost thousands of people in few days just a year ago, and you want to get back at the Algerians?! Is that how you get your dignity back?!
Now I just talked about the simple people here, didn’t mention anything about the “highly educated” public figures of both countries and I didn’t say anything about the governments too, and I won’t, for one single reason, we Arabs are a hopeless case, the only thing we are good at is to find artistic ways to bring shame to ourselves.
Bahrain Grand Prix - F1 - Race Facts
These are some facts from Bahrain Grand Prix;
Circuit information
Length - 5.412km
Race distance - 57 lap / 308.238km
Full throttle - 63%
Top speed - 309kph
Longest flat-out section - 14s / 1.05km
Right/left-hand turns - 9/6
Tyre wear - Medium
Brake wear - High
Downforce level - Medium
Gearshifts per lap - 58
2009 tyre compounds: medium, super-soft
2008 tyre compounds: medium, soft
Race results;
1. Jenson Button
2. Sebastian Vettel
3. Jarno Trulli
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. Rubens Barrichello
6. Kimi Raikkonen
7. Timo Glock
8. Fernando Alonso
9. Nico Rosberg
10. Nelson Piquet Jnr
11. Mark Webber
12. Heikki Kovalainen
13. Sebastien Bourdais
14. Felipe Massa
15. Giancarlo Fisichella
16. Adrian Sutil
17. Sebastien Buemi
18. Robert Kubica
19. Nick Heidfeld
Did not finish
Kazuki Nakajima (48 laps)
For more information and photos please visit
www.f1fanatic.co.uk
Formula 1 Experience
In the beginning I wasn’t sure I want to watch the race, I just bought the ticket because it’s happing in the country I’m living in so I thought why not, let’s go.
Everyone told me it’s boring in the circuit, you get to see only a small part of the whole race, cars’ engine are so loud that you ears will hurt for the next 3 days, buy the ear-plugs or die, it’s very hot so the time is better spent on the “beach”, ..., and more and more on these words, but I thought I will go anyway since it’s happening and I’m there.
The reality was completely different; the race was so exciting even though you see only part of it, ear-plugs? It’s the biggest mistake one can make when going to such an event, the cars were loud, I agree, but the engines’ sound is a vital part of the experience, and it’s the next day now, and you know what? My ears don’t hurt, we spent a couple of hours under the direct sunlight but it was totally worth it.
This is the most interesting and exciting sport event that I’ve ever been to, and I will be going every time it happens in this area, Abu Dhabi is coming on November, book your ticket now, it’s one of kind experience.
Sevilla Player Fined for Showing Solidarity with Palestine
Josep Guardiola, the Barcelona coach, has joined the growing list of people to criticise the recent fine handed out to Sevilla forward Frederic Kanouté.
Kanouté was fined €3,000 for revealing an undershirt in support of Palestine after scoring against Deportivo La Coruna in the Copa del Rey. Among those who consider the fine to be unjust is the current Barcelona coach.
Speaking to Sport, Guardiola said, "The fine is absolutely excessive. If they always banned these type of things, then journalists would not be able to write columns."
Pep finished by saying, "Every war is absurd, and too many innocent people have died for us to be fining people for things like this." The positive thing is that someone, albeit Muslim, had the guts to show solidarity with Palestine in Europe!! Moreover, A Spanish guy “Guardiola” Criticized the Football Association for fining him!
I wonder if someone would be fined for supporting Israel!!?
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Is This The Year Of The ‘Messiah’?
This is not about the religious figure. This is about one of the best young talents in the world of football. Lionel Messi. A fan myself, I decided I'll have a part of this blog following Lionel Messi's magic for the entire football season. I also hope, he will do enough to make me carry this tradition to the next year.
This is an article by Clark Whitney, a sport editor for the website Goal (http://www.goal.com/)
"It was a warm June afternoon in 2006. Having finished my classes for the day, I rushed to the nearest TV to tune in to the World Cup. Argentina were up against Serbia and Montenegro and the South American heavyweights were comfortably ahead 3-0. A foregone conclusion.
But there was good reason to keep watching. Shortly after tuning in, a substitution was made: Maxi Rodriguez was withdrawn for a young Lionel Messi, who was just six days shy of his 19th birthday.
Just four minutes into his entrance, the teenager was released down the left flank, creeping behind the defensive line. Having a nearly impossible angle wherefrom to shoot, he provided an inch-perfect pass across the face of goal. It evaded three defenders and the goalkeeper, but not Hernan Crespo, who tapped the ball into the net.
Then, in the 88th minute, Messi made a long run off the ball to receive a pass from Carlos Tevez just as he burst into the box. With just one defender to beat, Messi raced ahead and coolly knocked the ball past Dragoslav Jevric, capping a 6-0 rout. It was on this day that I became a Lionel Messi fan.
Lionel Messi’s talent is undeniable, although the extent of it is still heavily debated. Some hail him as the next Diego Maradona, while others think that he will never reach the heights of some of the great wide forwards, such as Maradona himself and, more recently, Cristiano Ronaldo. While I cannot compare Messi to the great Diego – I was just four years of age when Maradona left Napoli for Sevilla and entered the autumn of his career – I can compare Messi to Ronaldo.
I will be the first to admit that comparing players is generally a difficult and flawed process. After all, in spite of their having similar playing positions on the pitch, Messi and Ronaldo have different playing styles and talents.
Ronaldo is, marginally, the faster of the two, and is certainly stronger. He benefits greatly from the fast pace of the English game, as he is able to instantaneously transition from defence to lead a breakaway. However, he often wastes his strength and balance by falling when he could easily stay on his feet. As for his technical advantages, the Portuguese ace is far better in the air than Messi, and has a better shot. And yet, I have plenty of reason to believe that Argentine will emerge the better player at the end of this season.
To begin with, I doubt Ronaldo will be able to replicate last year’s success in the 2008-09 season. Missing the early stages of this season with injury has given him plenty of time to lose focus and brood over his failure to move to Real Madrid in the off-season. To add to this, he has received (and will continue to do so) every individual award imaginable for his performance last year. In addition, he also picked up winners’ medal for the Champions’ League and the Premiership with Manchester United. So, what else does he have to prove?
Plenty, if you ask me – he has never won anything with Portugal and his displays in important Premier League and Champions League matches have sometimes been far below his performance against low-level league teams. However, this knowledge will not weigh heavily on the mind of a self-assured, distracted, and discontented Ronaldo.
Messi, on the other hand, has everything to prove and, with Ronaldinho having left Barcelona, finally has his chance to do so. His dribbling is unmatched by anyone in the world and while he lacks Ronaldo’s flashiness, he is far more effective in one-on-one situations, and has the unique ability to take on several defenders at once. Moreover, his work rate exceeds that of Ronaldo’s by leaps and bounds.
The Argentine uses his diminutive stature to surprisingly good effect. Having a low centre of gravity, he is amazingly agile and has incredible balance. Unlike Ronaldo, Messi continues to play after contact with opposing defenders, using a combination of speed, balance, and ball control. Instead of trying to run behind a defensive line as Ronaldo does, the Argentine runs towards his opponents, cutting to the centre. In doing so, he puts himself in an ideal position for making plays. Instead of simply shooting (Ronaldo did manage 42 goals last year, but took 255 shots), the Barça winger creates openings and he does it with great efficiency.
While Ronaldo had only eight assists in 49 appearances, an injury-riddled Messi amassed 13 assists to complement his 16 goals in 38 appearances. He also initiated countless attacking moves that resulted in goals for his team but for which he was never credited with a direct assist.
Perhaps most importantly, Messi is a big-game player, whereas Ronaldo, as the argument goes, is not. Many are quick to hail the United ace for his 42 goals – a feat that is absolutely remarkable regardless of how they were scored – without considering the opponents against whom he scored. Ronaldo did indeed tally more strikes (eight) than any other in the Champions League, but, for example, he was surprisingly anonymous in both legs of the semi final against Barcelona, doing little more than missing an early penalty at the Camp Nou.
Against Chelsea, in perhaps the most important match of his life, the Portuguese again did little, but had a Gerd Mueller-like flash of brilliance and managed to score a great goal. Still, he could have cost his team the Champions’ League trophy with his missed penalty during the shoot-out if not for John Terry’s even less impressive effort moments later.
As for his outstanding total of 31 Premiership goals, 20 of them were scored against teams in the lower half of the table, and just three against the “big four”. Of course, the statistic of three goals in six matches is still very good, especially considering the fact that they were scored against top teams. However, we can’t say that Ronaldo truly led his team to any of their success last season. He helped very much, but in the important matches, he failed to perform to the best of his ability.
Messi, on the other hand, is a great leader and tends to play his best in important matches, although he still has much to prove. While Ronaldo failed to impress in either leg of the 2008 Champions League semifinals, the bullish Argentine was an omnipresent force at the Camp Nou and even put on a good showing at Old Trafford, although he could not save his team from a 1-0 defeat in the second leg.
Still, Messi has a record, albeit limited, of leadership and success. In 2005, he won the U-20 World Cup with Argentina, earning himself both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards. Last month, he led Argentina to the gold medal at the Olympics, providing a perfect assist to Angel Di Maria for the tournament winner. He also won the 2006 Champions League with Barcelona, although he only participated in 7 of the 13 matches during that competition. Ultimately, he still has much to prove for both club and country, which will provide plenty of motivation to the 21 year old.
Judging from his performances at the Olympics, it seems as though Messi is finally coming of age. That said, the young “Messiah” has plenty of room for growth and may not peak for another two to three, or even five years. And yet, barring injury, I still think he will win the 2009 Ballon D’Or."
Personally I think Lionel Messi is - at the moment - better than C.Ronaldo, but eh! I'm just one guy, he has to prove it to the rest of the world :)
This is an article by Clark Whitney, a sport editor for the website Goal (http://www.goal.com/)
"It was a warm June afternoon in 2006. Having finished my classes for the day, I rushed to the nearest TV to tune in to the World Cup. Argentina were up against Serbia and Montenegro and the South American heavyweights were comfortably ahead 3-0. A foregone conclusion.
But there was good reason to keep watching. Shortly after tuning in, a substitution was made: Maxi Rodriguez was withdrawn for a young Lionel Messi, who was just six days shy of his 19th birthday.
Just four minutes into his entrance, the teenager was released down the left flank, creeping behind the defensive line. Having a nearly impossible angle wherefrom to shoot, he provided an inch-perfect pass across the face of goal. It evaded three defenders and the goalkeeper, but not Hernan Crespo, who tapped the ball into the net.
Then, in the 88th minute, Messi made a long run off the ball to receive a pass from Carlos Tevez just as he burst into the box. With just one defender to beat, Messi raced ahead and coolly knocked the ball past Dragoslav Jevric, capping a 6-0 rout. It was on this day that I became a Lionel Messi fan.
Lionel Messi’s talent is undeniable, although the extent of it is still heavily debated. Some hail him as the next Diego Maradona, while others think that he will never reach the heights of some of the great wide forwards, such as Maradona himself and, more recently, Cristiano Ronaldo. While I cannot compare Messi to the great Diego – I was just four years of age when Maradona left Napoli for Sevilla and entered the autumn of his career – I can compare Messi to Ronaldo.
I will be the first to admit that comparing players is generally a difficult and flawed process. After all, in spite of their having similar playing positions on the pitch, Messi and Ronaldo have different playing styles and talents.
Ronaldo is, marginally, the faster of the two, and is certainly stronger. He benefits greatly from the fast pace of the English game, as he is able to instantaneously transition from defence to lead a breakaway. However, he often wastes his strength and balance by falling when he could easily stay on his feet. As for his technical advantages, the Portuguese ace is far better in the air than Messi, and has a better shot. And yet, I have plenty of reason to believe that Argentine will emerge the better player at the end of this season.
To begin with, I doubt Ronaldo will be able to replicate last year’s success in the 2008-09 season. Missing the early stages of this season with injury has given him plenty of time to lose focus and brood over his failure to move to Real Madrid in the off-season. To add to this, he has received (and will continue to do so) every individual award imaginable for his performance last year. In addition, he also picked up winners’ medal for the Champions’ League and the Premiership with Manchester United. So, what else does he have to prove?
Plenty, if you ask me – he has never won anything with Portugal and his displays in important Premier League and Champions League matches have sometimes been far below his performance against low-level league teams. However, this knowledge will not weigh heavily on the mind of a self-assured, distracted, and discontented Ronaldo.
Messi, on the other hand, has everything to prove and, with Ronaldinho having left Barcelona, finally has his chance to do so. His dribbling is unmatched by anyone in the world and while he lacks Ronaldo’s flashiness, he is far more effective in one-on-one situations, and has the unique ability to take on several defenders at once. Moreover, his work rate exceeds that of Ronaldo’s by leaps and bounds.
The Argentine uses his diminutive stature to surprisingly good effect. Having a low centre of gravity, he is amazingly agile and has incredible balance. Unlike Ronaldo, Messi continues to play after contact with opposing defenders, using a combination of speed, balance, and ball control. Instead of trying to run behind a defensive line as Ronaldo does, the Argentine runs towards his opponents, cutting to the centre. In doing so, he puts himself in an ideal position for making plays. Instead of simply shooting (Ronaldo did manage 42 goals last year, but took 255 shots), the Barça winger creates openings and he does it with great efficiency.
While Ronaldo had only eight assists in 49 appearances, an injury-riddled Messi amassed 13 assists to complement his 16 goals in 38 appearances. He also initiated countless attacking moves that resulted in goals for his team but for which he was never credited with a direct assist.
Perhaps most importantly, Messi is a big-game player, whereas Ronaldo, as the argument goes, is not. Many are quick to hail the United ace for his 42 goals – a feat that is absolutely remarkable regardless of how they were scored – without considering the opponents against whom he scored. Ronaldo did indeed tally more strikes (eight) than any other in the Champions League, but, for example, he was surprisingly anonymous in both legs of the semi final against Barcelona, doing little more than missing an early penalty at the Camp Nou.
Against Chelsea, in perhaps the most important match of his life, the Portuguese again did little, but had a Gerd Mueller-like flash of brilliance and managed to score a great goal. Still, he could have cost his team the Champions’ League trophy with his missed penalty during the shoot-out if not for John Terry’s even less impressive effort moments later.
As for his outstanding total of 31 Premiership goals, 20 of them were scored against teams in the lower half of the table, and just three against the “big four”. Of course, the statistic of three goals in six matches is still very good, especially considering the fact that they were scored against top teams. However, we can’t say that Ronaldo truly led his team to any of their success last season. He helped very much, but in the important matches, he failed to perform to the best of his ability.
Messi, on the other hand, is a great leader and tends to play his best in important matches, although he still has much to prove. While Ronaldo failed to impress in either leg of the 2008 Champions League semifinals, the bullish Argentine was an omnipresent force at the Camp Nou and even put on a good showing at Old Trafford, although he could not save his team from a 1-0 defeat in the second leg.
Still, Messi has a record, albeit limited, of leadership and success. In 2005, he won the U-20 World Cup with Argentina, earning himself both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards. Last month, he led Argentina to the gold medal at the Olympics, providing a perfect assist to Angel Di Maria for the tournament winner. He also won the 2006 Champions League with Barcelona, although he only participated in 7 of the 13 matches during that competition. Ultimately, he still has much to prove for both club and country, which will provide plenty of motivation to the 21 year old.
Judging from his performances at the Olympics, it seems as though Messi is finally coming of age. That said, the young “Messiah” has plenty of room for growth and may not peak for another two to three, or even five years. And yet, barring injury, I still think he will win the 2009 Ballon D’Or."
Personally I think Lionel Messi is - at the moment - better than C.Ronaldo, but eh! I'm just one guy, he has to prove it to the rest of the world :)
Messi
Messi plays today! it's the start of the Spanish league. This guy made me opsessed with football again! He'd better not screw up, because I'm really going to be pissed off!
Prediction:
Barcelona 3 - Numancia 1
Messi scores one goal and creates the other!
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