90' (+3): C'mon fatso... blow the whistle... call the game... it's over

90' (+2): Nice play by Lampard with Ashley Cole... Corner for Chelsea

90' (+1): And they still can't finish!!! 3 points for Chelsea... Actually let me correct that.... 3 very deserved points for Chelsea!

90': Now Man City is trying to get the match back? Toooooo late!!

86': Look at that frat referee... He's talking ... He wants to shine more than the players

85': Sturridge came in for who?

84': Oooppsss... Drogba showed his lack of rhythm ...

81': Look at the crappy finishing by Ireland... God, it's hard to support Man City... Poor Robinho...

80': Ashley Cole might take it easy now... He felt something on his hamstring but he needs to hang on cause there are no more subs

76': Alex is in... Anelka is out... just like i said... hehehe... But that was obvious right? Why am I bragging?

76': Big Phil will have to take Anelka off and bring in another defender

75': Can Man City chaghe the story of this match in 15 minutes?

75': Terry didn't have to do it... Carvalho was on the cover....

74': oooohhh... .That is a red... for sure...

72': Sorry... I missed the last two minutes... I was playing with my 3 month old son... I was telling him that no matter how much money one has they still might not be able to succeed...

71': Chelsea more comfortable than ever ... Let's cut the crap... This match is alrwady decided

71': I missed the substitutions... Oh, I see it now... my friend Billy wrote it there in the chat box... Malouda and J. Cole are out... Beletti and Drogba are in

70': What a ball by Joe Cole... he finds Anelka inside the box and the French striker did what he does best. Calmly placed the ball past Hart to give Chelsea a two-goal lead...

70': GOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL ... Anelka!!!! Anelka!!! Anelka!!!!

69': Bogus call on Robinho now. Bosingwa pulled the Brazilian's shirt and the referee called it in Chelsea's favor...

68': Belletti is coming in too

68': Here comes Drogba...

66': Chelsea playing much, much, much better.... Man City still shows the same problems from last season. The team cannot finish.

65': Deco is the master of midfield. It only makes me more certain that the problems he was having at Barça had nothing to do with his quality (the same goes for Ronaldinho and Henry)

63': Ireland... gets the ball all open inside the box and takes 5 days to take the shot... Carvalho comes sliding from one corner to the other of the box and deflects it... Great defending by Carvalho

62': Zabaleta is a tough defender (most of the times TOO tough) but he should never, ever, ever, try another shot if he's going to do this kind of sh*t

61': What's wrong with the refs.... What does it take to have a pk called. Anelka was clearly pushed

58': Malouda called off-side but he wasn't this time....

57': Ole... Ole... Deco humiliate two opponents tapping the ball over their heads... niiiiice

56': Now that Chelsea is ahead of the score they might start playing their controlling game

53': He started the play and he finished it with perfection!!!

53': GGGGOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLL .... Frank Lampard!!!! Great shot from the left top of the box!!!!

52': Zabaleta pushed an opponent and complained with the ref saying he did nothing... what's the news?

50': Lampard picks up a lose ball in the box and shots a volley... over the bar

48': The good thing about Robinho playing for Man City is that one can already notice that Wright-Phillips, Ireland and Jo will feel more inspiredto take risks and explore their potential. Or maybe not...

46': Chelsea started the second half attacking but Wright-Phillips got the counter and passed to Robinho. The defence cleared it.

Half Time: Ok... we're back

45' (+1): End of first half... I need to go to the crapper... I'll be back

44': Elano is the M.I.A. (missing in action) player of the day. The announcers haven't mentioned his name not even once the whole match... Wow... What a shot by Ashley Cole.

42': If people are still wondering I am cheering for my countrymen Robinho but as he already scored a goal and is playing quite well now I want Chelsea to win because I have two Chelsea players in my Fantasy Football team. And if Deco scores a goal that's even better.

40': What a pass by Zabaleta... straight to Anelka's foot. Oh wait... Zabaleta plays for City right? Somebody please tell him... Anyway, Anelka's shot was totally SH*T

39': A French combination for Chelsea. Anelka crosses and Malouda heads it wide.

38': Malouda attempts the cross and Zabaleta knocks the ball out of bounds and Malouda down to the ground

37': Malouda off-side again.

35': Another foul by Zabaleta... oh wait, yes he's Argentinian and he's a defender. The referee might as well just blow everytime he goes for the tackle. I guarantee that 90% of the time it will be a foul

33': Good combination for Man City. Jo takes a curvy shot and the ball is deflected by Carvalho. Corner for City that results in nothing

30': Now the flag went up for Malouda. For one moment I thought that linesman on the right had his arm in a cast and couldn't raise his flag...

29': Long ball to Malouda on the far left... Actually TOO long TOO far

29': Chelsea showing much more depth now. And Robinho was forced to step back and help defend for a while.

27': Malouda headed a ball from the 6 yard box ALLLLLL BYYYY HHHIMMMSELFFF and he MISSED!!! He seemed off-side but ...

26': forget about Formula 1. The match went back to a normal speed now... 

23': That the Brazilian touch... A little heel flick pass from Jo to Ireland and the shot goes over the bar. Great play for City

22': Great cross from Bosingwa (is that correct... oh fuck it) and Anelka heads the ball over the bar...

19': Richards aimed a clearance for Malouda's balls but he missed and still got the goal kick... But here comes the Blues I mean Blacks again

18': The match geared up a notch uh? It's like Formula 1 at this moment.

17': C'mon Malouda... He jumped into Zabaleta's body and asked for a foul... yeah, right... get up frenchi

16': Frank Lampard took the corner. The ball bounces on Joe Cole and Ricardo Carvalho redems himself from the free kick with a incredibly powerful shot from inside the box... Fast and efficient response for Chelsea

15': Chelsea comes to attack now. Corner for the blacks... GGGGGOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL

13': What was that Malouda tried to do??? He took the indirect free fick to himself??? Hahahahahaha

12': He said he would do it!!!! Robinho Robinho Robinho Robinho!!!! He's the man... That's exactly what he wanted to show Chelsea... And he gets the HERO'S Welcome from Man City's fans

12': GGGGGOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!

10': Dangerous free kick for Man City. Carvalho got Jo's legs. Elano, Robinho, even Jo are on the ball... But it's going to be Robinho

10': Lampard got his first shot but if he is going to shoot like that City can relax... That was almost like passing the ball back to Hart

7': I want a Robinho shirt and a Chelsea black shirt.

5': Chelsea is playing their traditional game: attract the opponent and the like a mischievous snake they'll counter attack. But it's Man City who got a first corner

4': Robinho gets lucky and the ball bounces back to him. Step over, step over, step over... pass to Kompany and the shot is awful!!!

2': Robinho touches the ball and the corwd already celebrated. This is the spirit for this match. Joe cole is trying to impress by wearing a bandage on his head. He wants to show that he's giving blood from the start. Does't it look ridiculous when players play with those bandages on their heads. There just a small bunch of hair coming off the middle... ridiculous

1': Hold on to your pants.... Grab your pint because the money match has just started!!!! Man City in their traditional light blue uniform and Chelsea with the beautiful black away kit

Before Kick Off:

 Available players for each team:

Manchester City: Hart, Schmeichel, Richards, Kompany, Zabaleta, Dunne, Onuoha, Ben Haim, Ball, Garrido, Fernandes, Hamann, Ireland, Johnson, Elano, Evans, Sturridge, Caicedo, Jo, Benjani, Robinho.

*Injured: Benjani, Vassel, Bojinov, Petrov

Chelsea: Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Bosingwa, Terry, Carvalho, A Cole, Belletti, Obi, Lampard, Deco, Anelka, Drogba, J Cole, Bridge, Alex, Ferreira, Kalou, Malouda, Di Santo, Ivanovic.

*Injured: Ballack, Essien

Before Kick Off: Live coverage of Manchester City x Chelsea here at OleOle. Got comments? Let's discuss at the chat box. Robinho is ready to show Chelsea they should have out more effort into getting him.

>Here we are folks!

Today is the day...

X

On my PREVIOUS POST I promise I would be here reporting my impressions on the match as it happens... So here I am...

Just waiting for the Kick Off...

******************

FORMATIONS

CHELSEA FC (4-5-1)	MANCHESTER UNITED (4-3-3)
1- Cech	1- Van der Sar
5- Essien	6- Brown
6- Ricardo Carvalho	15- Vidic
26- Terry	5- Ferdinand
3- A. Cole	3- Evra
10- J. Cole	16- Carrick
8- Lampard	18- Scholes
4- Makelele	4- Hargreaves
13- Ballack	7- C. Ronaldo
15- Malouda	10- Rooney
11- Drogba	32- Tevez
SUBS.: 23 Cudiccini, 20 Paulo Ferreira, 18 Bridge, 12 Mikel, 21 Kalou, 7 Shevchenko, 39 Anelka	SUBS.: 29 Kuszczak, 22 ÒShea, 27 Silvestre, 8 Anderson, ..Nani , 11 Giggs, 9 Saha

******

FIRST HALF:

7min - Drogba offside: Chelsea marking firmly and blocking all the spaces. ManU tried a cross that was cleared by Chelsea's defense

15min - Ronaldo moves: The portuguese star leaves Essien in the dust and crosses in the box. The ball goes too high and Chelsea's defense clears it. ManU looking more confortable on the pitch now.

19min - Corner for ManU: nobody heads it in and the ball goes all the way to the left. ManU still attacking

21min - Bad Ref: In a ball dispute in the air Scholes and Makelele bump and the referee gives the french a yellow card for apparently no reason.

23min - Corner for Chelsea: after Vidic heads the ball out of bounds Lampard takes the corner. The ref calls an offensive foul. Nothing else.

26min - GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL: Manchester has been dominating possession and after a perfect crossing from Brown, Cristiano Ronaldo heads the ball also perfectly away from Cech. Great goal for the man who can make all the difference in this match. ManU 1-0 Chelsea!

Chelsea will have to play a little bit more aggressive if they want to get back in this game. ManU scored the goal and still controls the match. Drogba is playing too isolated up front. Chelsea midfielders are playing too far behind. Ballack and Lampard need to get into the game.

33-35min: Almost - twice: It all happened while I was typing Chelsea moves up a little more and Van der Sar saves a almost certain goal them ManU instantly pays back. A great move by Rooney ends with a header and a shot that forced Cech to save the Blues twice.

40min: Chelsea moves their players up a little trying to balance the game. Ashley Cole falls near the box but the referee doesn't give him the foul.

44min: Great opportunity: Ballack takes a free kick near the box but the ball flies over the crossbar.

45min: GGGGOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL: Chelsea ties things up. After moving their player up Chelsea finally get what they've been looking for. Lampard picks up a ball in the box and kicks it in after Van de Sar slips. ManU 1-1 Chelsea

END OF FIRST HALF:

Manchester United dominated the first 30 minutes of the game. They got their goal and seemed much more aggressive. But something finally clicked inside Chelsea's players and the Blues responded little by little by occupying more space in midfield and even Essien came up.

The Blues got their equalizer in the very last minute of the with the captain Frank Lampard. Exactly in the first real moment Essien participated in the attack.

I'm hoping for a great second half.

********************

SECOND HALF

Teams back on the pitch. Chelsea's goal in the very end may have given the Blues a good psychological advantage.

None of the teams are very happy with the referee's performance. Neither is this reporter. The man in black made some really bogus calls

52min: More bad Ref - The referee Lubos Michel doesn't give Chelsea a clear corner kick. The match is much more balanced in second half.

55min: Essien moving up - The Ghanese is dangerous in long range shots. He forces Ronaldo to step back following him, wins in the physical contact and shoots with the left. The ball flies over the bar.

57min: Chelsea time - The Blues are playing better the the Red Devils now. With more control of the midfield and a closer marking.

59min: Too much contact - Makelele elbows Hargreaves under the eyes of the linesman. Foul given but no yellow card. (it would have been his second)

65min: Chelsea being much more aggressive now. No clear chances to score but the Blues are looking more and more dangerous.

67min: Oh cramp! - Ferninand goes down in his own box feeling cramps. Lampard is also down on the sideline receiving treatment for cramps...

76min: Referee oh referee - Malouda falls inside ManU's box. He had his right foot touched by Ferdinand. Not too obvious but certainly a foul. And fouls inside the box means what? PENALTY. The referee didn't think so

78min: Drogba is alive - Isolated for most part of the striker finally has a moment. A beautiful blaster hits Van der Sar's left post

80min: Where's Tevez - The Argentine is not having a good game. Sir Alex Ferguson should consider replacing him if he wants his offense to put pressure on Chelsea's defense.

86min: 759 for Giggs - The record of Sir Bobby Charlton is broken as Ryan Giggs replaces Scholes to make his 759th appearance for Manchester United. A landmark, a moment to remember. Can he also become a hero for his team now?

Chelsea completely shut ManU's offense down in the second half. Rooney, Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo disappeared but after a good suffocating first 20 minutes the match became quite controlled by both teams' defenses. Chelsea could not break through even tough I believe the referee should have awarded the Blues a penalty in the 76th minute.

Now we go to extra-time and stamina will be fundamental. Lampard and Ferdinand already felt cramps in the second half.

*****

EXTRA TIME - 1st HALF

After 5 minutes to rest and some players from Chelsea having received muscle massages Manchester United and Chelsea kicks off in extra time.

92min: Rooney is alive: Rooney attempts a one-two play with Tevez that is intercepted by J. terry inside Chelsea's penalty area.

94min: Saved by the crossbar - Oh my Goodness!!! What a great passing play for Chelsea. Ends up with a great lefty by Lampard that hits Van der Sar left top corner crossbar. So close!!! I bet ManU fans almost held their breath on this one

97min: A rarity in this match. Chelsea created a fast counter-attack butr Essien took too long too and the ball was knocked out of bounds

98min: Sub for Chelsea: Anelka replaces Joe Cole. Chelsea is going forward.

100min: Almost glory for Giggs: Terry heads out a shot from Giggs, after a great play from Evra on the left side, that had a certain address.

101min: Sub for ManU: Nani comes in for Rooney who didn't really play well. Actually who didn't even seen to be on the pitch at all

Manchester United re-balanced the action in the match. Anelka still didn't have a chance to touch the ball for Chelsea and Nani is playin open on the right side of the attack. The first half of extra time ends with both teams still fighting to find the winning goal and the rain making the pitch heavier, the ball harder to control and the players legs more and more tired.

EXTRA TIME - 2nd HALF

110min: Anelka's on the run - On his first good opportunity the French striker is stopped by Vidic with a hard slide tackle. Yellow card for the defender and a good chance for Chelsea.

111min: Drogba canon - Didier Drogba takes the free kick. A powerful shot but off the left post.

113min: ManU pressure - After almost ten minutes of inactivity, Tevez runs back to misfield to recover the ball and pull the Red Devils forward. Good play to remind Chelsea that ManU is still alive.

114min: Losing their heads - Lubos Michel shows a red card to Drogba after he slapped Vidic in the face. The match gets tense. Ballack also got a yellow.

117min: Yellow card for Essien

119min: Giggs receives a pass behind Chelsea's defense but the flag is up. He was offside.

120min + 4min:Subs for Chelsea and ManU- Belleti comes in to replace Makelele and Anderson takes Brown's place.

120min +5min: The referee blows the whistle.

A very good match. A true title deserving performance for both sides. Chances for both sides and an amazing defensive work from both sides and what I have to admire and admit: no slide tackles, no violent plays, just clean and efficient defense.

But it's all comes to the penalty shootout. Some say it all depends on luck. I say it's state of mind and competence maybe with a 5% of luck . And it's about to start... here are the shooters for each team:

Manchester United

* TEVEZ - GOOOOAAAALLLL

* CARRICK - GOOOOAAAALLL

* C. RONALDO - SAVED BY CECH!!! AWFUL PENALTY!!! Why does he do all that fancy stuff? to take a penalty??

* HARGREAVES - GOOOOAAAALLL

* NANI - GOOOOOAAAALLL

* ANDERSON - GOOOOAAAALLLL

* GIGGS - GOOOOAAAALLLL

**************

Chelsea

* BALLACK - GOOOOAAAALLL

* BELETTI - GOOOOOAAALLL

* LAMPARD - GOOOOAAALLL

* A. COLEY - GOOOOOAAALLL

* TERRY - MISSED. He slipped and the ball hits the post and went out...

* KALOU - GOOOOAAALLLL

* ANELKA - SAVED BY VAN DER SAR!!! Amazing save by Van der Sar...

*******************

MANCHESTER UNITED CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS!!!

GLORY GLORY GLORY FOR THE RED DEVILS!!!!!

Post your comments...

Celebrate, discuss!!!

Congratulations to the RED DEVILS!!!!

The stage in Moscow is ready to host the Champions League final match and by now so are the main attractions - Chelsea and Manchester United.

The first two British teams meet in the final. The same two teams that fought for the Premier League title this season and definitely two of the most "international"squads in the world today.

*************************

Chelsea's squad brings together players from 14 different nationalities and with a Russian owner The Blues might as well add a 15^th fan nation to support them. The ruski.

On their list of main foreign players Chelsea has:

• Peter Cech (Czech Republic)
• Makelele, Malouda and Anelka (France)
• Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal)
• Drogba and Kalou (Ivory Coast)
• Essien (Ghana)
• Ballack (Germany)
• Beletti and Alex (Brazil)
• Schevchenko (Ukraine)

**************************

Manchester United's list of "internationals" is not too far behind. The Red Devils have 13 different nationalities on their squad and with the success in this season's EPL, ManU arrives in Moscow with the "favourites" badge.

Besides that the team has probably the most popular European footballer at this moment. Cristiano Ronaldo is at the top of his game and filled with desire to crown his amazing season with the most important club title of the continent.

Ryan Giggs is another player on the ManU squad that has an extra reason to celebrate in case his team wins the Champions League. It will be his 759^th appearance wearing the red shirt of United. He will then beat Sir Bobby Charlton record.

Along with the Portuguese star, Ronaldo, and the Wales born Ryan Giggs, other international players are crucial for ManU's title ambitions.

• Van der Saar (Holland)
• Saha and Silvestre (France)
• Anderson (Brazil)
• Fletcher (Scotland)
• Tevez (Argentina)
• Park (South Korea)

It's a Champions League Final with World Cup level players.

Who will be the ultimate star of the match in your opinion?

On Wednesday I'll be following and reporting my impressions live here on Samba Soccer Club.

Stay tuned!!!

So once again Mr. Sepp Blatter wants to control the number of foreign players in the european teams.

Great idea but very much improbable that will be approved by the UEFA members. And that's about it.

But I decided to write (and read your opinions) about it.

Mr. Blatter's idea is not just bullocks. It does have a good intention behind it. He claims (and he's right) that the way the big clubs are right now make it impossible for a smaller team to fight for a league title. And that is very bad for football, very bad for the national teams but very good for global business for those big clubs.

When we see a team like Arsenal for example. 25 foreign players and only 12 Brittish on the 2007-2008 squad.  With Internazionale  Milan from Italy it's even worse. Out of the 29 players on the regular first team only 4 are Italian. It's not rare to see Inter playing with a starting XI that features only Marco Materazzi as an italian born player (well and then he gets a red card and Inter ends up with 10 foreign footballers on the pitch).

It is a pleasure for the fans to see their team win titles and sweep their rivals off the map for one season but when it happens like in France where Olympique Lyon (10 foreigners) is about to win the French League for the 7th time in a row, I start to understand (and partially agree) with the FIFA President.

The main difference between me and SOME other people that write here at OleOle is that I'm absolutely NEUTRAL.

I love good football and I know some of you will say "if you love good football you should love the foreign presence because they give quality to the Brittish teams". 

They do. The English sides of Manchester United and Chelsea fought for the league this season and going to play for the continental title thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo, Tevez, Vidic, Anderson, Ballack, Drogba, Cech, Essien, etc... 

Of course there is also Lampard, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Wayne Rooney BUT neither of the two teams could rely on an all-Brittish squad to get this far in the tournaments. WE KNOW THAT!

And as the powerful clubs become richer, more international and consequently more powerful we see the National Teams becoming weaker and weaker. England out of the Euro ... hmmm... that might say something... 

So, (try to) leave your passion aside just for little bit and think how much more exciting would be if we had other teams besides Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and ManU in England, Real Madrid and Barcelona (and sometimes Valencia) in Spain, Juventus, Inter and AC Milan in Italy, Olympique Lyon in France. 

What's your opinion on this? 

According to the Spanish Website MARCA.COM, Ronaldinho's brother Roberto de Assis had a meeting with Manchester City's representatives to promote the brazilian midfielder. But he also talked to Internazionale and AC Milan (that already offered 20 million Euros to Barcelona). Chelsea was the first club that showed interest in adding Ronaldinho to their squad back when the problems appeared between the player and his present club.

      --> Ronaldinho wants to know what his next team will be.

Thierry Henry is also target by AC Milan. The Rossonero sees the French striker as a perfect replacement for Ronaldo and along with Pato and Kaká (and maybe Ronaldinho) they would form a great offensive line. Besides the Milanese team some English teams are also targeting Henry: Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham and Newcastle. But the most surprising proposal came from the recently built MLS franchise Seattle Sounders FC.

 

     --> Where will the French striker go next? He's waiting for a definition