Recently in For the love of the game Category

I was about to hit the sack but was jolted by the news that Chelsea just sacked Scolari.

There are numerous academic journals that discuss the efficacy of sacking football managers on the basis of improving performance. Some look for a correlation between sackings and performance with inconclusive results while others report that stability is best. There is an interesting study that calculates exactly when clubs should sack managers. And of course there’s BLeong’s own study on firing and maximum efficiency. My thoughts are not as scientifically derived, but here goes:

Typically you would hear of clubs scraping the bottom of the barrel resorting to sacking managers. Certainly if you’re desperate and it’s likely that the manager of a bottom-ranked club may not be very good, then it’s worth trying. However, sacking also occurs within the upper echelons of football, usually when a team fails to win a certain title (e.g. Champions League), or a certain number of titles. They become victims of their own sucess, and in English football it is Chelsea that has become a case study of such practices.

I was surprised that Scolari was sacked so soon. However, looking at Chelsea’s recent track record, it shouldn’t be too much of a shock. I still think Jose Mourinho made the best impact on the team as a coach, and if that wasn’t good enough than it would be very difficult to please their billionaire owner, even with a new coach who’s won the World Cup.

Money can buy good players, but it alone does not create a good team. Kaka has also proven that money cannot buy a good player when he plays football not just for the money. Money also cannot keep a good player if he wants to fly back to Brazil. Man City, which aspires to be the new Chelsea, has been learning these lessons.

Money can also buy you good managers. But if you interfere in decisions and buy expensive players who add little value to your team, you frustrate your managers and defeat the purpose of hiring them in the first place. We learn in business school that you should not appraise people on factors that are out of their control. That was exactly what happened with Mourinho.

Also, the other top clubs have had managers for a while. Liverpool has showed great promise under Benitez, and this season particularly with the Premier League. Man U have had Fergie for so long, that even as a non-fan I’d feel strange when someone replaces him (after retirement, of course). Wenger is a bargain hunter and developer of youth talent. His slowness to acquire outside talent has compromised Arsenal’s short-term competitiveness but I hope to see things getting better from now on.

Back to Chelsea. I’m quite opposed to constant sacking of coaches with great track records, especially if they haven’t had time to prove themselves. Especially if there’s a history of sackings without much improvement. It implies that other things could be wrong, not necessarily the coaches. It also encourages short-term behaviours and places tremendous pressure on the new manager.

On the other hand, Chelsea can’t bite the hand that feeds it. Without Abramovich’s riches it would arguably not have had such a good run in recent years. However, as discussed above, riches only take you up to a certain point. The billionaire owner seems to believe that money can buy you everything, and that people are like replaceable components. That isn’t necessarily the case.

In an environment as competitive as the Premier League, nobody can be number one all the time in everything. When you start considering all other options as failure, you will never be happy. Might as well spend your billions on something else with a much higher return on happiness.

But wait, maybe that can’t be bought just with money.

Day 3 began nicely. I arrived at the club early enough to catch captains Annika Sorenstam and Se Ri Pak tee off at the first hole. Before that I was videoing and photographing all the players at the driving range, so by the time I arrived at the hole there was a sizeable crowd in front of me. I could just about see the 2 players, in between heads and hats.

Sorenstam was clearly determined to beat Pak, who is also lesser-ranked. This is Sorenstam’s second last chance to win anything before retiring. By the first two holes she was 3-up as Pak overshot and missed the green, losing strokes. The mostly Asian crowd was rooting for Pak, cheering for her when she did well and groaning when she didn’t, and some looked disappointed when they saw Sorenstam winning. Pak made amends and by the 9th hole Sorenstam was just 1 up.

I was quietly rooting for Sorenstam. Later on I heard a Caucasian lady shouting her support in Swedish, but she and her lady friends were in the minority. I wondered if one day we would support players regardless of whether we shared the same race or nationality.

I followed Sorenstam and Pak all the way to the 9th hole and stopped to grab lunch. Then it was announced that play was suspended due to rain. I chatted with a nice couple I met the day before, and checked out the other hospitality tent that I was entitled to visit. I watched the TV coverage of the event and saw Taiwanese world no. 3 Yani Tseng make a beautiful chip off the green which rolled straight into the hole. We applauded appreciatively. By that time the drizzle had ended and I started to make my way back to my car.

Just outside the tent, I noticed a large crowd gathering around the players, who were coming out to resume their matches. Sorenstam was driven out on a buggy as with most of the remaining players. Then I noticed Natalie Gulbis waiting for her buggy. One girl came forward to get her autograph. Then others had the same idea. At first, being shy I thought maybe I’d just take a photograph of her (which I did):

Then I thought, go for it! There was a photograph of her in the programme, which she could autograph. I even brought a marker pen for this purpose. So I went forward and Gulbis signed my programme immediately. I said hi and thanked her. It happened so fast, then Gulbis was on her buggy and out of sight.

Woo hoo! I got Natalie Gulbis’ autograph!!!

It would have been perfect if I had gotten Sorenstam’s too, but better than nothing.

Overall, it was a great day, not as hot as yesterday and I took more photos and many more videos.

Read on only if you want to hear my rants about the etiquette of the audience… otherwise have a good Sunday!

The action

The Lexus Cup is back in Singapore, and finally it’s come to my club, so I no longer am a second-class member of the audience who has to arrive by shuttle, wait in line to pay for food and sweat in the sun while watching people in VIP tents sip beer in air-conditioned comfort.

This time, I was in the tent! Bwahahar. Well, actually most of the time I was following two of the teams. I arrived late to catch Natalie Gulbis, Angela Sanford (USA/Team International) versus Candie King (Taiwan) and Mayumi Shimomura (Japan). The Asian girls were doing much better.

Gulbis in swinging fashion.

Halfway through I decided to join a larger group of followers at another hole, because I figured they had to be following someone more famous. Sure enough, I found my favourite, Annika Sorenstam (Sweden). This is her second last tournament before she retires, so you won’t be able to see her again.

Annika and the other players

Finally I took a break at the tent, had nice mushroom quiche, fried chicken, free flow of Tiger beer and Coke, fruits and scones! We had a good view of the 18th hole so I caught Paula Creamer in action as well.

Paula chips

My impressions of Western versus Asian golfers

Team Asia and Team International were 3-3 even yesterday, and when I left today it looked like Team Asia were winning. However, I have to say that while I could recognise players from Team International, I had difficulty identifying the Asian players unless I looked at their caddy’s jackets. Obviously I am not a hardcore golf fan or else I would probably know ALL of them. I speak as an occasional golf watcher who would only know the best or the most unusual players.

Firstly, we Asians are smaller-built, so beside the taller Westerners we don’t grab people’s attention. And some Asian players may not speak English well, so they are relatively quiet. They also don’t seem to have any distinguishing techniques or personal styles. In contrast, Annika was the former world no. 1 so everyone knows her. Another good player, Paula Creamer, is legendary for always wearing pink. I even heard random Singaporeans say, “Tomorrow’s the last day - she’ll be using her pink ball”. Then there’s Natalie Gulbis, the pinup girl of golf. The men were perking up when she arrived at the 18th hole.

So, somehow, I didn’t feel the same excitement for individual Asian players even though some were trouncing the International players. They’re already good, so as the next step they could market themselves better.

The only unusual player of Asian origin was Christina Kim, who has an intimidating figure and yet is also known for having cute pigtails. But she was playing for Team International, as she’s a US citizen. If Michelle Wie was here she’d probably be categorised as ‘International’ as well and playing against the Asians. That would look a bit strange, but I’ve noticed that people of Asian origin but born in the West, tend to have much weaker ties to Asia.

Which brings up another point - some good Asian sportspersons will migrate to the West (or other countries more affluent than theirs) but how often do good Western sportspersons migrate to Asia? There is obviously an imbalance and outflow of talent. Beyond golf, look at how many table tennis teams were originally from China. Even if a European country had won, we’d shrug it off as we know the players were originally from China.

So, considering all these factors and being pitted against the top talents from the rest of the world, I take my golf cap off to Team Asia for doing well so far.

More rants…

It’s an exciting time for a spectator like me, as the Euro 2008 football finals loom and tennis stars battle their way to the top at Wimbledon.

My favourite for Wimbledon ladies - Jelena Jankovic (blog). Because she’s the only top 3 seed left, after Ana “Girl next door” Ivanovic and Maria “The Screamer” Sharapova have been knocked out by relative unknowns. But more than that, I like her because she has a great sense of humour, and made many of us wonder if she and Jamie Murray were an item, off the court! But look out for the Williams sisters, who usually do well at Wimbledon. Of the two, Venus is my favourite, because she is more graceful on court, and articulate in interviews.

Wimbledon men - Most likely Roger Federer, but I’ve never felt really emotional when seeing him win, because his game is well-controlled and clinical. The last time I was really rooting for a guy was in 2001 when wild card Goran Ivanisevic beat Pat Rafter to win Wimbledon. What touched me was how he played tennis to earn money to help his sister who had Hodgkin’s Disease, and he had asked God for one last chance. But I digress. Overall, Rafael Nadal excites me more with his fist-pumping, even if he has to scratch his backside each time before he serves. Marat Safin is on a roll; when he’s good he’s very very good, but he’s been too erratic to be a favourite of mine.

My favourite for Euro 2008 - Spain. After years of hearing them being labelled as underachievers I braced myself not to expect them in any finals, despite a huge pool of talent in every area. The battle between Spain and Germany will likely be the midfield, with young Cesc Fabregas versus the experienced Michael Ballack. Between goalkeepers I regard Iker Casillas much more highly than Jens Lehmann, partly because Lehmann is on his way out but also because he has a really annoying attitude towards anyone who doesn’t think he is as great as he thinks he is. However, like in the last World Cup, Lehmann might have some tips tucked away inside his sock …

I’m fine with Maria Sharapova as a tennis player, apart from the shrieking. Now I’m more ingrigued to learn that Maria has now turned to her fans for advice online, since this smells of Web 2.0 spirit.

According to the Beeb, she’s protesting against a WTA ruling that she and other stars must do a publicity shoot possibly a day before the matches.

Her official website announcements are generally written in the third person. However, Maria’s personal tone of voice comes through in this message, which seems to be written by her (or someone on her behalf):

This links to the online poll, where you can also vote.

You can also view the results. Right now most of the 4,000 odd fans have voted for her to refuse to do the photo shoot.

Personally, I think she should just do the photo shoot but insist that the WTA refrain from such requests in future. To kick up a big fuss is not very sportsmanlike, and besides, other big tennis stars also have to do the same. It is usually easier to convince the authorities to chance a policy when you aren’t giving them bad PR in the first place.

Football fans will know that David Beckham himself will be training at Arsenal, possibly with the first team or reserves. Arsene Wenger has good things to say about Beckham:

"I admire how strong Beckham has been mentally through his career because he went through some tough times... I respect the fact that he has always loved football and he has always shown respect for his managers even when he was dropped. He didn't come out in a silly way, a spoilt way."

Did you hear that, Jens Lehmann?

And how the tables have turned! Arsenal and Manchester United have switched places again and we Gooners will have a Happy New Year indeed.

I was hoping against hope that West Ham would give Man U a run for their money, and they actually did! However my ultimate wish was for ex-Gunner Freddie Ljungberg to score against Man U. [Afterthought: And then, to see Freddie rip off his shirt and give us a glimpse of his CK underwear. OK, I just made this part up while typing.] Anyway, a win is a win. Good for the Hammers.

What looked unbelievable was how Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty kick totally. It was just as shocking as seeing David Beckham slip on a muddy pitch in Turkey. Also, I thought Carlos Tevez was doing fine and didn't need to be substituted by Anderson. It looked as if Man U didn't want to win after the first half.

On to the Everton-Arsenal match. I thought at best we'd have a draw because Everton's been in form while Arsenal has been off colour against mid-tier teams. Indeed in the first half it was a scrappy, halting match - precisely the style that Arsenal aren't comfortable with. And the Gunners were unhappy and started showing their temper. That is one psychological aspect of the game that many of them have yet to master, particularly the younger players. It's good to have passion but not to get so carried away that you get yellow-carded. Twice.

Those who watched the match will know exactly who I'm referring to. Nicklas Bendtner should remain a sub for some time until he matures. His winner against Spurs was great, but the lad must learn that consistency is key. Despite his tall figure, Bendtner was slow and awkward, unable to dominate the ball on many occasions. Adebayor, on the other hand, has matured greatly and was calm in front of goal.

And 'calm' can barely describe Eduardo de Silva's two goals. They were clinical, cool flicks that showed the ineptitude of the Everton defence. Everton fell apart in the second half. My theory is that mid and bottom-tier teams usually hold up well in the first half, but when things go wrong they lose concentration and allow better teams to prevail.

Arsenal did better this season against Everton, and this may indicate their championship quality. Resilience and the ability to perform despite being a man down are certainly worthy attributes.

Update: Everton boss David Moyes is reportedly furious at Fabregas' reaction to being elbowed in the face. He adds:

"We cannot hide that we made mistakes for the goals, but I will take some convincing that Arsenal were better than us."

It seems like the 4-1 scoreline wasn't enough for him.

This was apparently considered a lucky omen for Croatia as they beat England in the Euro qualifiers:

Croatia rose to the occasion in their crucial Euro 2008 defeat of England - after an apparent X-rated gaffe by an English opera singer at Wembley.

Tony Henry belted out a version of the Croat anthem before the 80,000 crowd, but made a blunder at the end.

He should have sung ‘Mila kuda si planina’ (which roughly means ‘You know my dear how we love your mountains’).

But he instead sang ‘Mila kura si planina’ which can be interpreted as ‘My dear, my penis is a mountain’.

What a match! What an atmosphere! What fighting spirit from both teams! What a sore throat I'm going to get from all that shouting!

The match began with Arsenal energy and Man U trying to contain them. After some missed shots from both sides, Wayne Rooney drew first blood towards half time. I felt Manuel Almunia could have done a better job to save it - he looked unprepared. I could imagine Jens Lehmann smirking in his reserves seat, preparing his next snide comment. Fortunately, Almunia made some decent saves in the second half that might keep his position secure for a few more games at least.

So Man U were up by a goal during half time. I pictured Arsene Wenger giving the lads a pep talk. Could Arsenal be the comeback kings again? They were! Within a couple of minutes, Cesc Fabregas found himself unguarded in front of the Man U goal and calmly tapped the ball in. Roawwr!!

Things got more exciting in the second half but neither side made progress. Shots were either off target or saved. It looked like it was going to become a draw. Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger made changes. Wenger brought on Walcott - it's about time! Walcott made some impact by shooting at range and on target - but Van Der Sar caught it. Then Walcott appeared on the other side to prevent Wayne Rooney from keeping the ball.

Then Ronaldo scored! I thought, oh noo, there's not much time left! Just that we weren't sure who exactly scored the goal because the Gunners looked like they were giving a 21-gun salute to Edwin van der Sar. Walcott was the last to attempt a shot. The video playback revealed it was none other than ex-Chelsea defender William Gallas - who has now scored against Man U three times in three different teams! Good for the linesman to have spotted the ball; that would have made a 2 point difference!

What was heartening to see, apart from Arsenal's resilience, was the sportsmanship and respect that was lacking in previous matches between both sides. How can we forget the pizza thrown at Alex Ferguson in the tunnel and the shoves at Ruud van Nistelrooy? But this time Wayne Rooney shook Kolo Toure's hand - no hard feelings. Rooney has controlled his emotions better this season and he will come out a stronger player for it. Tevez didn't make much impact though and Ronaldo was a bit quiet in the first half, getting clipped off by Clichy, but later on he nearly won the game for Man U.

One of the last fleeting moments captured on TV was Fabregas and Ronaldo shaking hands. They are both rather handsome, young, and despite being pretty good at what they do, have potential to become even better. Fabregas has a good chance of becoming player of the year, but I hope the glory won't go to his head. The young Gunners should stay hungry and the world could be in their hands.

After having many friends on Facebook who are also football-crazy, it was inevitable that over the weekend, my Status Updates bar would end up looking like this:

Just cleared my snail mail after being away for a week. I am happy to announce that I am now officially on the waiting list for an Arsenal season ticket. By the time I do get it, hopefully I will be in a position to watch a few matches in London at my own leisure.

So, after slapping a post-Mourinho Chelsea in the face with a 2-0 win in the Premiership, Manchester United get sent to Coventry, literally, with a 2-0 loss to the Championship team. Watch the video replay on Youtube.

The thing about Man U is that they can be so magnificent, as winning the Treble has proven, yet they can be cocky right after a triumph to the point where you expect them to come crashing to the ground, which just happened again. Never fear, they will pick themselves up again, but Coventry fans certainly had a night to remember. Meanwhile, Chelsea at least got back on the scoreboards with a 4-0 win.

Is Alex Ferguson's decision to field younger players in the Carling Cup to blame? After all, Arsene Wenger did the same thing and beat a Premiership team, Newcastle, also by 2-0. He did field 'seniors' who featured more regularly from the first team, such as the 24-year old Emmanuel Eboue.

However, Man U still want the last laugh as they're opposing the dispensation offered to new Chelsea coach Avram Grant, so that he can no longer coach Chelsea.

Is old man Ferguson thinking properly? Why not LEAVE Avram Grant there so that Chelsea is stuck with a mediocre coach. With his defensive tactics, fans will be bored and players will be disillusioned and leave. So kip yer muth shuut, let 'em haf 'im.

Oh well. If Man U do have their way, maybe Grant can join Spurs. Bwahahahar. Over at Liverpool, Rafa Benitez can continue NOT fielding Fernando Torres regularly, we don't know for the love of football why. Maybe it's just a phase some managers go through. At least Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp is jealous of Arsene Wenger.

A final word from dear Cesc Fabregas on Thierry Henry:

"Henry intimidated us, ... He is a great player but it was not easy to play alongside him... We were a bit inhibited by him - dependent on everything he wanted to do and his demands. Now it is different."

No player is bigger than the team, not even Henry. He has yet to get into the swing of things at Barcelona.

I'm not a Chelsea fan, as regular readers may know. However, I did respect Jose Mourinho as a coach, even though he stepped on many toes. It is a shame that he is no longer the Chelsea manager.

But ever since Chelsea was bought over by Roman Abramovich, its managers have been under increased pressure to perform. Claudio Ranieri learnt that coming in second in the league - the best results before Mourinho arrived - was still not good enough. Now we've learnt that 5 trophies in 3 years is still not good enough, because Chelsea is not playing 'exciting' enough football or fielding Abramovich's favourite players, even if they were underperforming.

Of course, Abramovich is one of the richest men in the world, and I am just a puny little public servant. All his critics combined may not be as astute as he is in business, or as wealthy. But look at it another way - Abramovich is not a football player or a coach. He should stick to what he does best and leave the managing to his coach. Similarly, good CEOs do not micromanage. My CEO knows what I'm doing but doesn't tell me what colour my websites should be, or how I should blog.

The decisions made at Chelsea so far seem to imply that you can be the best at your job and still lose it - if you displease the ultimate boss. That is not very reassuring. A football manager in one of the top clubs of the world is already under a tremendous amount of pressure. He should not have to worry about more things like a meddlesome owner who undermines his better judgment. Look at the more successful clubs over the last couple of decades. Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson have been around for a long time. They have experienced lulls in the last few seasons due to a rising Chelsea, but they have longer-term strategies that will ultimately strengthen their clubs. Liverpool's Rafael Benitez looks like he's settling down fine, with a Champion's League title tucked under his belt.

Another disturbing thing is how Chelsea captain John Terry himself may have been responsible for ousting Mourinho. Things are unclear, but whatever happened, Mourinho has left behind a legacy and a hard act to follow.

Now all Chelsea has is a second-rate coach with limited Champions League experience and even less fashion sense. Meanwhile, Man United are a goal up thanks to Carlos Tevez, against a 10-man Chelsea team. Things are not looking good for Chelsea. Abramovich and his entourage are watching. Maybe the Russian is thinking of new tactics for Grant to 'parrot' to the team. Woe to them.

[Update: A Louis Saha penalty makes it 2-0. Chelsea had better start looking for a new coach soon.]

[Update 2: John Terry is furious at the allegations that he played a major role in Mourinho's ousting. ]

Just read that Formula One champ Fernando Alonso has been showing his ugly side again. If he wants to prove he's still number one, he should show it through his superior driving skills and not by doing nasty things like spreading conspiracy theories that his British constructor (McLaren) is biased in favour of a British team-mate, Lewis Hamilton. The latest tactic? Holding up Hamilton by 10 seconds so that he lost his lead at the Hungarian qualifiers.

It seems that McLaren was also to blame for holding things up for the first 20 seconds, though they can appeal their points deduction. Alonso does not have this luxury. He stalled for an additional 10 seconds which just makes his actions more suspect. His excuse? He was asking if his car had the right tires on.

Now, I know he is Spanish but I'm sure his English has been decent enough for the past few years or else he'd have had a lot more problems at the pit stop.

I mean, how on earth can you take 10 seconds to ask if you've got the right tires on?

How's this for time:

Alonso: Is my front right tire correct?
McLaren team: Yes.
Alonso: Is my front left tire correct?
McLaren team: Yes.
Alonso: Is my rear right tire correct?
McLaren team: Yes.
Alonso: Is my rear left tire correct?
McLaren team: Yes.
Alonso: I guess I can start now...

What an a***hole.

But maybe it was a blessing in disguise. With the cheats punished, Hamilton started in pole position. And the sweetest revenge (should the lad even have been contemplating that thought) is to win, which he incidentally did. Keep it up, young man. Talent wins fans, not cheating.

McLaren isn't even happy about Hamilton winning. To quote a CNN report [my comments in brackets]:

Hamilton said his team mate had not spoken to him since Saturday's controversy... [Hello? The guy who played him out doesn't want to talk to him? No big loss.] McLaren team chief Ron Dennis was far from happy after Hamilton's triumph... "Both drivers have to take some responsibility for this." [It seems McLaren knows something extra about Hamilton that we don't, perhaps?]

Moral of the story: Don't go pole-dancing. You might get stripped.

This has to be the one of the funniest BBC sports reports I've ever read. I didn't catch the match but the moment I heard that Venus trounced Maria, I had to find out how it happened. Turns out the two ladies were shrieking away and driving the audience bonkers:

I'll try to give you a sample of the aural battering we're experiencing here: "EUUUR! Eeee. EUUUR! Eeee. EUUUR! Eeee. EUUUR! Eeee." If I hadn't eaten my lunchtime sandwiches at 11.30am, I'd be stuffing them in my ears.

Disaster for Shriekapova - she slumps to 0-40 as a Venus backhand clout clips the tape and skips over her outstretched racquet, and then balloons a forehand miles out to concede the break. Now she really has got something to scream about.

And finally ...

Shara's screaming has now officially got my goat. Every time she hits the ball, no matter how much effort goes into it, she screeches like a demented seagull.

Masterfully irreverent.

With Thierry Henry having left for Barcelona, and Arsene Wenger's long-term future at the club uncertain, I had a good think about what made me decide to support Arsenal in the first place, and where I would go from here.

Firstly, I'm not watching the game. My health is again deteriorating and I need more sleep.

Secondly, I think AC Milan will win this time, provided they don't reach penalty shootouts.

We'll see how it goes. I've got the BBC page refreshing on my laptop and when I wake up, I will know the score.

[Update: 2-1 to AC Milan, and their website is currently down! Haha. I also made over £500,000 from BBC Sportdaq after buying shares in lots of Liverpool players. ]

So pleased to hear that Liverpool smashed penalties into Chel$ki's faces and showed Moan-rinho that he can put down Rafa Benitez all he wants... Football speaks louder than words.

I'm wondering if a Man U-Liverpool final is possible... If not, it will be AC Milan v Liverpool all over again! Without wobbly-knees Dudek.

I haven't sounded very supportive of my favourite team, have I? Well, this evening's match began with a very exciting goal from Julio Baptista, who then went on to miss a few other good chances that surely our top strikers would not have. The only problem is that two of our top strikers aren't around, which is why Baptista is.

In the second half, Jens Lehmann got more itchy-fingered and started moving out of his goal more often. Most of his decisions to do so were fine. However, he once ran out when he didn't really need to and that resulted in a ball being lobbed over his head, far behind him, landing in goal. Ugh. I'm so glad I sold off all my BBC Sportdaq shares on him. I'm not terribly excited to hear that the aging goalkeeper is staying on for another year. He should be in the reserves at this stage, if only Arsene Wenger could find a new keeper in time.

On the other hand, maybe we should thank Lehmann for rousing Arsenal into action, as the second half looked like potentially goalless before that. As usual, the Gunners were playing beautiful football that didn't really result in many solid chances. I thought they were a bit cocky in not trying hard to make the scoreline 2-0. When the going got tough, Baptista was replaced by Denilson. However, the young Brazilian hardly made an impact.

Emmanuel Adebayor, who had injured himself slightly, rose to the occasion and scored a lovely goal. His speed caused some havoc in the Fulham defense, although Arsenal's own defence started looking more shaky as well.

Despite Arsenal's complacency, Fulham themselves made a tactical mistake by being too greedy. They could have played safe by settling for a draw, but soon after scoring their equaliser, made it clear that they were out for a winner. This opened them up for more attack. And when a weaker team does that with a stronger team, that's asking for trouble.

If Arsenal had its Lehmann moment, the same could be said for Fulham. Moritz Volz, who came on as a substitute for the injured Rosenior, committed a foul in the penalty box, right in front of the referee. Shortly after Captain Gilberto scored, Volz proceeded to commit another foul. That was Arsenal's third and final goal.

For the most part it was an average game. Arsenal was playing at a 6/10 level while Fulham were at about 5/10. I had expected a 2-0 scoreline. However, 20% of ESPN voters expected 3-1, so maybe I haven't been watching enough football lately and have lost my touch!

Whatever the case, Arsenal have won and they are breathing down Liverpool's necks. The Gunners need all the points they can get, because they're playing Chelsea next. Oh, both teams are, actually.

To avoid relegation, Fulham will need to score points desperately in their next match - against Liverpool. If Liverpool do turn the tables on Chelsea and proceed to the next round of the Champions League, I wonder if they would be willing to risk losing their third position to Arsenal by preserving their best players once again.

I haven't written much about football lately.

That's because there hasn't been much for me to shout about, has there?

Well, I hope the Gunners stay in 4th position and maybe try for 3rd, though it makes little difference. It's simply not their time. I'm not even sure if it's going to be their time next year. We can only hope things get better.

I'll be watching the match against Fulham tonight, and hope we can come off with 3 points.

I was helping out at a youth health event today. Little did I realise that this was not just a typical sports award ceremony for fleet-footed youngsters, but a world record-breaking one.

As reported on Channel News Asia, 14 year-old Rachael Baby Yue, clad in a skintight red costume, skipped 157 times in just 30 seconds to beat the previous world record of 152 times, set by a Japanese.

[Update: After a re-count, we learnt she did NOT break the world record of 152 skips. But she did break the Singapore record with her 149 skips. Great attempt!]

It was a pity I didn't bring my camera with me to video the whole episode. But I wonder, even with my 30 frames per second capture speed, whether you would have been able to see the rope at all. She was like a turbine engine. It was so fast that the people in charge of certifying whether she broke the record or not, had to replay her act in slow motion.

Rachael took a break before making a second attempt, but I think her first attempt was better. Anyway, we cheered and applauded her both times. It must have been quite pressurising because so many eyes were on her. I also felt that even if she did not break the world record, she should still be encouraged.

After that, Rachael and her younger sister entertained us with a series of skipping rope sequences, criss-crossing each other and even switching ropes. It was a treat.

Well done, young lady, we're proud of you.

It was a dream start, with 17 year-old Theo Walcott scoring his first senior goal for Arsenal. He put the ball past Petr Cech in his trademark clinical fashion, indicating that this is the start of many good things to come.

However, soon after that Didier Drogba put one back, past Manuel Almunia. In the second half, John Terry was accidentally kicked in the head by Abou Diaby, as both tried to reach the ball near Arsenal's goalmouth. It was touching to see the whole stadium - both Chelsea and Arsenal fans alike - rising to applaud the unconscious Chelsea captain as he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.

It was not so nice to see missiles being thrown at Cesc Fabregas as he tried to take a corner. He managed to laugh it off then... but towards the end, after Drogba scored the second goal, Fabregas and Frank Lampard had a heated exchange which had a domino effect on some other teammates as well. Sadly, the match ended with three red cards.

The commentators noted that Chelsea had been exploiting the weakest chink in young Arsenal's armour - Armand Traore. This became more obvious when Arjen Robben came in as a substitute and terrorised that flank. Traore slowly gained confidence, winning some good balls, but had to be substituted in the end.

I was not too surprised when Jeremy Aliadiere was substituted as well, by Emmanuel Adebayor. He had some good runs which ended with nothing. At one point he was almost one-on-one with Cech but hesitated and could not convert his opportunity into a goal. It is grossly unfair to say this, but if it had happened to Thierry Henry it could have ended differently. Aliadiere has yet to reach his full potential.

It was young Arsenal's night and while they all looked disappointed at coming in second best, they should remember that they are the 'B' team and most of them would have come on as substitutes in other situations. In fact they should be proud that they held their own against the A-list names in the Chelsea team, with only a 1 goal difference. Chelsea had Ricardo Carvalho and Cech to thank for many good saves and blocks, in fact.

Generally, the young Gunners have to control their tempers and mentally brace themselves for setbacks. Every argument leads to wasted time, which is not good for a team which is losing and needs to score an equaliser. Every fight leads to cards and sending-offs, which will result in a weakened team. They succumbed both times.

Fabregas was eager to score but was off-target. His corners and free kicks tended to find their way into Cech's safe hands. Overall, the young Gunners also need to improve their physical stamina, because they began brilliantly in the first and second halves, then ran out of steam. Chelsea's experience held out in the end.

But surely the young Gunners have also gained tremendous amounts of experience in this final. How often can a reserve youth team beat other top-flight clubs including trouncing Liverpool 6-3? How often can a 17 year-old score against one of the most expensive teams in the world?

Wenger is preparing this young team for greatness in the future, even if glory is elusive at the moment.

Some buildup before the Chelsea-Arsenal Carling Cup final in a few hours' time. It's been dubbed The Kids (Arsenal) versus The Cash (Chelsea) with bookies betting on a Chelsea win. Come on, young Guns, show the world that football is more than just about spending lots of money.

Arsenal's Adebayor and Henry in a lighthearted interview on future dance moves and who is the worst dancer in the team, among others

Jose Mourinho says Arsene Wenger is (not) a great manager, and feels Chelsea's youth policy (never heard of it before) is better than Arsenal's. How, then, has Arsenal made it to the finals with their youth team?

Arsene Wenger says you can either have a great national team or a great league. To a certain extent I agree. Not all the best players in the world are English. If clubs want the best players for their teams, they should not be forced to choose only English players if they really are not the best. If all the good English players are very expensive, it is harder for (relatively) poorer clubs to attract them.

Reading the BBC Forum on this match has made me note a few points.

• There seem to be more Arsenal fans worldwide, than for Chelsea.
• Overall, logic says Chelsea will win but some hope that the Young Guns will spring a surprise.
• The Man U fans all want Arsenal to win :)

[Update: Another pre-match blog post from SG Gooner]

What glorious news - my favourite football team will be meeting the Queen. Funny that she will be meeting more Frenchmen than Englishmen, though :)

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "The Queen was disappointed about not being able to officially open the new Arsenal stadium due to her back strain, especially as so much effort had been put in by so many people behind the scenes. "Her Majesty therefore decided to host a tea at Buckingham Palace to thank those involved in the project for all their hard work and to have a chance to meet some of those she would have seen on the day."

In just as fabulous news, we beat Bolton 1-3. Which shows that we can overcome the physical game as well as keep on scoring late winners. Well done, Gunners!

I have a confession to make.

For the last 1-2 months, my parents and I have been drinking Gunners at various clubs and pubs around town. We do that on the night of an Arsenal match, before the game takes place.

I can proudly say that after downing 3 gunners, on almost every occasion Arsenal have won with three goals (be it 3-0 or 3-1). That includes the recent match where we beat Tottering Hotspur 3-1.

However, after that miraculous run of form, our momentum was broken by drinking gunners while watching the Singapore-Thailand match. While Singapore won, Arsenal drew 1-1 away at Middlesborough. Ever since then, our cocktail combination has become a bit less 'molotov' against our opponents. However, as long as Arsenal keep on winning, I'm happy.

And we'll continue drinking to the Gunners!

Now for a bit of match analysis of the Arsenal-Wigan match before I go to sleep. I missed most of the first half as I was too engrossed tweaking the code on this blog (hover above my yellow masthead to see what I did to improve accessibility). However, the BBC blow-by-blow account indicated that the match was not going swimmingly well for Arsenal despite their superior possession. Walcott sadly did not seem to be making the impact he used to make. He and Hoyte, the two Englishmen (is Arsene Wenger preparing himself for a change in the regulations?) were replaced by Frenchmen Flamini and the ever-improving Aliadiere (whom I think is quite cute, actually). Walcott looked pretty disappointed when he walked off the pitch. But things moved along after that.

Finally, the equaliser and winners were scored - in the last 10 minutes, what else. It's almost as though Arsenal have a built-in alarm clock. I'm pleased that the edgy Rosicky finally scored his first Premiership goal. We all know how hard he's been trying to do that.

And did we actually have 4 strikers playing at the same time? Henry, Adebayor, Baptista and Aliadiere... at the rate things were going, Wenger might even have thrown in Van Persie if he hadn't injured himself in a wild post-goal celebration. Speaking of which, Rosicky got booked for his own first goal celebration - what a shame. Goalkeeper Lehmann was booked for time-wasting after the 2 Arsenal goals were scored, whereas his Wigan counterpart was not, earlier on in the match. I feel no player should be indulging in time-wasting, even if they think they're winning. Man U tried doing that with Arsenal when they were 0-1 up, and then Arsenal scored 2. Deja vu with Wigan today, eh?

Overall, it was not a pretty game, with too many fouls and bookings especially from the Arsenal side. I'm not feeling very high about this match, but at least we won.

Technorati Tags: Arsenal

It was the time of the year again, that the old titans of the English Premier League clashed. Though somehow I think yesterday's Liverpool v Chelsea match was talked about more.

Arsenal had already beaten Man United this season at Old Trafford. Both sides were in good form. The jury was out on the final score.

It was a classic match, though it certainly didn't start like one. Play was choppy and tempers were provoked. Emmanuel Eboue was annoying but Wayne Rooney managed to control his temper. Cristiano Ronaldo was spirited but less influential than in other recent games. Play kept on getting halted as the referee blew the whistle at every foul. However, he did not award a penalty to Arsenal when Thierry Henry was felled inside the box. Overall, it looked like it was going to be a draw.

Finally when Wayne Rooney scored after half-time with an excellent header, I thought it would be impossible for Arsenal to win the game. It was Jens Lehmann who seemed to be making more saves, not Edwin van der Sar. I felt Alexander Hleb was giving the ball away too often, and Tomas Rosicky frequently tried to score but kept going wide. I wished both of them had been substituted, and earlier on. But eventually the Gunners picked up the pace and took control of the possession.

Finally, Robin van Persie, whom I thought might not be playing as he wasn't fully recovered from his injury yet, came in as a substitute and he made all the difference. He sped towards the goal and gave a powerful upwards kick that sent the ball flying in a difficult angle, which van der Sar could not reach in time.

Man United looked disillusioned at that stage. They probably thought they had the game wrapped up, 1-0, tit for tat, even stevens with Arsenal. The biggest problem with Man United is not their lack of skill - far from it - but their complacency when they think they're already winners. A rejuvenated Arsenal pressed forward and in a manner reminiscent of their previous clash, scored a late winner with a surprising header from Thierry Henry.

At this point, Henry and Adebayor did their little reggae-like dance just off the pitch. I think it looks more graceful than Peter Crouch's imitation of a robot. Whatever the case. They scored. Against Man United. Narrowed the gap. Woohoo!

This is good for the Premier League, and good for the fans. It would be so boring otherwise.

Man of the match: Thierry Henry. He's being interviewed now as I type. He said he could've done better with his first header attempt - but hey we forgive him because he didn't screw up the next one.

Manager Arsene Wenger's the next to be interviewed. He mentions the team's quality and resilience which helped them come from behind and win the match. I agree - the young Gunners looked a bit overwhelmed at first but fought back. It's not easy to come back from a goal down especially against Man United. The young Gunners look very promising.

Technorati Tags: Arsenal, Manchester United, EPL

"I was on the phone to him (Cruise) for about an hour last night (Thursday) and an hour the night before," said Beckham.

"Obviously I asked him for his advice because he is a very wise man and a very good friend of mine. It's going to be a big help for us to have friends when we arrive in LA."

Wise or not, it's certainly a good decision for David Beckham considering he's been sidelined and hasn't won a trophy at Real. Especially with so much money being offered. A masterful move.

I like how Kevin Nolan (Bolton captain) puts it:

Beckham has taken a lot of stick from people all around the world but he has just hit back at them with a huge wad of cash.

Update: The Guardian Sports blog has good quotes, too. In a post titled, "Nuggets"

...California was always favourite and there is a degree of logic in a galáctico from Real joining a galaxy at Los Angeles.

Ha, ha! It gets more evil:

Given his friendship with Tom Cruise a film career might beckon once his playing days are over - but only if silent movies make a comeback.

Beckham doesn't need to care what people say because he will continue to laugh his way to the bank.

Congratulations to Theo Walcott for winning the BBC Young Sports Personality Award.

Even better - Arsene Wenger says that the young man will be making more appearances in future games for Arsenal.

(ps. Am I glad I bought more Theo Walcott shares in Sportdaq recently.)

Technorati Tags: Arsenal, Theo Walcott, Arsene Wenger

I was supposed to take a nap before watching the Chelsea v Arsenal match yesterday night. Instead, I slept through the match and woke up at 4+am! Bah. On the bright side, it's done wonders for my cough which I hope to fully recover from by this week.

In the end I settled for reading news reports on how Arsenal nearly won it if not for Michael Essien's late goal. Not too bad considering Arsenal were away - then again, their away record isn't bad compared to the fact that they still seem unable to settle down at their new home.

Anyway, if you read about the spoof Ashley Cole bank notes that got photographed in the Straits Times today, there is a higher-res version courtesy of Arseblog, in PDF format! It can still be used for the reverse match next year.

Also, someone found my blog via a Yahoo! search on the combined terms "Van Persie" and "gay". Curious, I did a search myself and found that somehow my main address is among the top 10 of Yahoo!'s search results. I found a news report stating thatDutch gay men do like Van Persie and Freddie Ljungberg. Why am I not surprised?

Technorati Tags: Arsenal, Chelsea, Ashley Cole, Robin van Persie, Freddie Ljungberg

After a hectic start, Arsenal started showing their mettle. It was not very nice to see Thierry Henry getting knocked about - how often does that happen?! - but that could have fired the team and fans up.

There were red herrings aplenty in this game: Robin Van Persie's handball (or was it more like a fingerball?) which earned him a yellow card, an offside goal by Peter Crouch, and one more by his substitute Craig Bellamy.

But perhaps the biggest surprise of all was the Gunners who scored. Flamini? Toure? Gallas? Who would have put money on them! The 'Pool defenders were too busy knocking Thierry Henry about (one more time), tripping up Toure and Flamini, and finally Stephen Gerrard and John Arne Riise were spotted quarreling with each other.

The commentator noted that Liverpool had more shots off-target than any other Premiership team.

In the second half, Liverpool brought on Jermaine Pennant who was apparently a short-lived Gunner, and if I recall properly he still has a grudge against them for it. He commented that his youth team didn't last at Arsenal. Well look at the young team that beat them today.

The funniest thing that happened was when the referee jerked his body back to avoid being hit by the ball. Firstly, that didn't help because the ball hit him anyway. Secondly, he cramped up and ended up on the floor. Thierry Henry tried to give him a massage. The medic looked amused. Everyone did, actually, including the fans. The ref could have been substituted! Minus points for lack of match fitness, eh.

Credit to the other Gunners who set up the goals - Fabregas and Van Persie. Captain Henry was in many places on the field, not just sitting around near the goal. Hleb was everywhere and Clichy held up well.

The Gunners move up to third spot with a game in hand. Yeah.

Caught most of the West Ham v Arsenal match this evening, and my premonition was right: I could have done better things with my time. As much as I wanted to see the Gunners climb to the no. 3 spot in the Premier League table, they looked a pale shade of their usual selves. Thierry Henry has not been performing up to par. When Teddy Sheringham came on, I felt a sense of dread and seeing them score the last-gasp goal was bad enough.

At that point, we didn't need to have the two managers scuffling. Earlier on, Referee Rob Stiles should have awarded Arsenal a penalty after Alexander Hleb was fouled inside the box. That would have changed the game. And who threw that coin at Robin van Persie's head? Certainly not a penny for his thoughts.

It was a scrappy game, full of injuries, yellow cards and poor behaviour from the fans. I hope Arsenal shake this off and go back to their winning ways soon.

Technorati Tags: Arsenal, football, EPL, West Ham, Thierry Henry, Teddy Sheringham, Robin van Persie

I'm now an Arsenal Red! Yeah.

My family is planning to watch an Arsenal home match, at the Emirates Stadium itself. Hopefully we can get tickets for the big, final derby against Chelsea in May. I know a few of you out there have gone to watch the live action, so do you have any tips for us?

Scalper's rates are 300 quid for each ticket, apparently. Surely there's a more affordable way of getting a few seats?

Technorati Tags: Arsenal

My comments on three Premiership games played over the weekend.

My namesake does Arsenal proud

OK, cheap thrill. I'm referring to Robin VAN Persie and his amazing flying kick which scored a goal. And that was his second for the match. I was out with the girls that night and came home learning that Arsenal had won away at Charlton. Yay!

Famed Arsenal blog, Arseblog, titles its post "Supervan". I like that name too. You can also watch a multi-angle video replay of Van Persie's flying volley on that page.

BBC's feature on Arsene Wenger's 10 years is pretty riveting. Le Professeur definitely looks better now than when he first arrived!

Ole ole - the return of Super Sub!

Disclaimer: I am NOT a Manchester United fan. There are already enough of you in Singapore to make it boring. But I do admire individual players from many different teams.

One of them is Ole Gunnar Solskjær. I was glad to see him return to form, after being sidelined by injury for 2-3 years. Of course, I hope he never gets to turn his guns on the REAL Gunners.

Something's up with Wayne Rooney. He's never been so off-form for such a long period. I'm suspicious. Ronaldo on the other hand is trying his best, though he's missing something but I don't know what. Well, he's definitely not missing the goalpost! :-P

Korean scores for Reading in 90 seconds, winning match

The Sunday Times ran a feature on three Koreans playing in the Premiership and how Koreans generally are faring better than the Japanese. I noticed that too, after initial media interest over players like Nakata, Ono and Inamoto a few years ago.

With the article fresh in my mind, the news flashed that one of these Koreans just scored a goal against West Ham. I missed the powerful long-shot goal by Seol Ki-Hyeon but I'm sure Koreans will be reading and watching it on the news for the next few days.

Reading however ran out of steam and resorted to time-wasting tactics, which makes me not like them as much as I liked the more fiesty Wigan last season.

Phew! Arsenal made the most of their last 30 minutes and stifled the attacking spirit of Sheffield United for their first home win this season.

William Gallas was an all-rounded performer who scored a goal deservedly. Freddie Ljungberg looked livelier today. Thierry Henry finally provided an 'assist' to a Sheffield player's own goal and scored one as well. He's still not looking at his best, but it's much better than before.

Arsenal finally scoring and winning in their own stadium is like ... not having constipation anymore. Imagine if you could do it in a Man United loo but not the brand new loo in your own home. That would be a sick feeling indeed.

Being primarily an Arsenal supporter, I've never been a big follower of Bolton Wanderers and most other teams. But I am enjoying reading Kevin Nolan's weekly columns on the BBC website. This last post, for instance, struck a note with me.

He's lost his mobile phones more times than I have. Heh. He shares cabs with normal folk. That's nice; you'd expect football captains to be speeding off with skimpy models in sports cars. We learn he wasn't as disappointed as some thought, when Sven-Goran didn't pick him for the England team. From his first post, I learnt that his favourite food is Chinese, his favourite colour is red, and he likes the Godfather series too.

Suddenly, in the space of one evening, I've become more interested in looking out for Kevin Nolan the next time they televise a Bolton match. Because I now feel like I can relate to him better than most other footballers (especially those who only seem to get mentioned in the tabloids).

Last season I also liked reading Jason Robert's columns. It gave me a strange feeling, that this man whose posts I was reading, was scoring goals for Wigan real time, and I was watching him on the telly. Wigan were something of a phenomenon for the first half of the season until the big boys knocked them down to the middle of the table. They earned my respect, and knowing that they're a bunch of guys who still bought 20 quid presents for each other and did crazy things, gave a more human touch to my world of football.

Technorati Tags: Bolton, soccer, BBC, Kevin Nolan, Jason Roberts

I nearly couldn't bear to watch this game. But I did, and am glad for it.

After watching Chelsea beat Liverpool I felt it was lost ... Manchester United would obviously be the favourites to beat Arsenal at Old Trafford and the title race would almost be sealed. Arsenal haven't been doing too well against their nemesis in the last few seasons, and under former captain Patrick Vieira the encounters were rather physical, too.

However, apart from tattle-tale Wayne Rooney getting Jens Lehmann yellow-carded at the beginning, the foul that led to a penalty kick for Arsenal, and Lehmann getting smacked in the face by Cristiano Ronaldo's ball at close range, there wasn't anything really adversarial or violent about the game. Which was good.

Arsenal once again were playing lovely passes but as with other recent EPL matches I feared they couldn't finish. Especially with Thierry Henry injured and off-form. The crowded shouted "Theo! Theo!" many times but young Walcott didn't come on. Emmanuel Adebayor annoyed me with his misses at fairly close range. I see him as a B-grade striker. Lehmann's aggressive mannerisms also largely unnecessary - why put himself at risk of getting a second consecutive yellow card?

However, in the end all was forgiven as Adebayor tapped in the ball for a goal, and Lehmann made great saves as Man United frantically stepped up their efforts to score an equaliser in the dying minutes of the game. In vain :-B

Other player ratings:

Tomas Rosicky, Alexander Hleb and William Gallas were lively and contributed to the flow of the Gunner's game. I liked how Gallas roared with pride at the end of the match and got the crowd clapping. I can nearly forget about Ashley ... Ashley who?

Fredrik Ljungberg is not as good as he used to be, and can be outrun by opponents. Substitute Cesar Julio Baptista was not too bad. His shots were near misses and it should only be a matter of time before he finds the back of the net for Arsenal.

Gilberto Silva's penalty shot was not powerful and Thierry Henry is missed in this area. However Gilberto did act like a captain, giving the thumbs up in acknowledgment of a good attempt.

I was also happy to hear that Newcastle won. There is life after Alan Shearer, much as I've admired him.

So overall, it was a satisfying night in the end.

Technorati Tags: Arsenal, Manchester United, soccer

I was disappointed with the 1-1 scoreline, but at least Arsenal equalised. The bonus was finally watching Theo Walcott come on for Freddie Ljungberg. He immediately shook up the Villa defence and provided a valuable assist for Gilberto to equalise. Good lad!

Arsenal is definitely in need of more experienced players if they want to seriously contend for titles. I can't wait to see how our youngsters of today blossom into top-rate players in a few years' time. For now, however, the Premiership title will have to wait.

Last year, Chelsea beat Arsenal. Tonight I hope Liverpool draws first blood in the new season's challenge for trophies.

Go, Reds! Beat them black and Blue.

[Update: Yess! 2-1 to the Reds. Amazing run by Riise.]

I decided to check out other people's photographs, tagged with 'Arsenal'. Not bad! At least there's a different perspective - as if we were one of the fans, looking at the whole pitch rather than close up.

Then I discovered Flickr's Arsenal clusters - which lets me zoom in on particular matches like Bergkamp's testimonial and the new Emirates Stadium. Cool!

Update: I found an Arsenal Flickr pool.

I was sad that France lost. In fact I thought Italy would have a better chance of winning the World Cup, so I didn't bother staying up to watch the finals.

It is a shame that the world is now fixated on Zinedine Zidane's head-butt when we should be looking at his entire career. What's so bad about being second best, when you're second best in the world? A lot of people would be happier if they saw things this way. They can't change the past now, so why look back and fret.

Another lesson we can learn from the World Cup is never to react physically to verbal taunts. Wayne Rooney, well known for his outbursts, reacted predictably to Cristiano Ronaldo but who would have expected someone of the maturity and calibre of Zidane to react - even more violently? And in a World Cup finals where much depended on his playmaking ability.

[sggooner notes that Materazzi might have pinched Zidane's nipple. What a tit! I mean, twat! View the video.]

This was not the best World Cup I've watched. I preferred 2002. This World Cup also marks the end of a dynastic era. Many old talents will retire, making way for a new generation. Will there be even more play-acting and red cards? We'll have a sneak preview in the yearly Champions League and Euro 2008.

It's a big day for tennis and football. Amelie Mauresmo has surpassed all expectations (mine included) and beaten Justine Henin-Hardenne.

I thought I wouldn't mind if either player won, but at the end I realised I still supported Justine more, as I didn't jump for joy. Somehow she lost momentum in the second set and never quite regained control.

Aside: I had no idea Amelie was lesbian until I read in the Straits Times today. Didn't realise that previous lesbian players were stigmatised when they came out, losing sponsorship deals.

As for the men's singles, I expect a Swiss victory over Spain :-P Then again, things have been unpredictable in the World Cup and Wimbledon ladies' singles finals, so you never know.

This is a belated discovery, considering that:

1. I decided to support Arsenal before they went on their unbeaten streak (ie, a few years ago)
2. I have already made many friends online, through other interests such as web standards and blogging
3. It did occur to me on several occasions that there might be an Arsenal fan club in Singapore, somewhere. But I never got round to looking for it until someone posted a comment on Blinkymummy's blog.

Now I'm looking forward to meeting fellow Gooners!

It has been challenging finding other people with the same interests. An ex-colleague was the first Arsenal fan I ever knew. Then I discovered that an old friend's fiance was an Arsenal fan. That was really it! As far as I know, there are no Arsenal fans in my current workplace. However, if you went anywhere in Singapore and threw a stone at a group of people, you'd most probably hit a Man U fan.

And throwing the stone would be worth it. Heh heh heh...

Since Jose Mourinho arrived as Chelsea manager, more people I know have emerged as Blues fans. However all have claimed to be Blues fans *before* Chelsea won their first Premiership title. However I don't doubt Liverpool fans' faith - the true fans held on for years and were finally rewarded with the Champions League win. Yeah, I don't really have much against Liverpool, just that I find Arsenal more exciting to watch.

There must be something special, to make Thierry Henry sign on for 4 more years...

Technorati Tags: arsenal, football

England are, once again, out of the World Cup. This is the team that outgoing coach Sven-Goran Eriksson proclaimed was the best ever. If that is still true, I'd be very worried for England.

Surely if Wayne Rooney had paid attention while watching the 1998 World Cup on TV, he would have realised that childish attacks on opponents in front of the referee can warrant a red card. Sheer foolishness. I hope that Ricardo Carvalho will still be able to father children, after Rooney stepped on his balls.

Before that happened, David Beckham injured his ankle, retreated to a seat and cried. This time it wasn't his fault that he exited the competition so early. Aaron Lennon, fortunately, put on what was possibly the best performance in the whole England team.

Rooney's exit meant that some reshuffling was needed. Joe Cole, who was quite a lively contributor to the game, was substituted by Peter Crouch who took over Rooney's role. However Crouch was less of a threat than Rooney - more leg but less pace.

England held on bravely, and played as if they still had eleven men. But they really should have scored a goal earlier, knowing their poor record with penalty kicks. At this point Steve McClaren behaved like he was the coach as Sven took the back seat.

After extra time, the teams prepared for the shootout. Portugal had the psychological advantage, having knocked England out on penalties during the Euro 2004. I felt Ricardo would be better with penalty kicks, and he proved me right.

While Paul Robinson is definitely better than David James (who isn't?), he has never come across to me as being exceptional with penalties. Even Lehmann, as I wrote yesterday, has had more experience in high-level shootouts.

Frank Lampard confirmed that he still isn't ready to score on the world stage, compared with what he's done with Chelsea. Ashley Cole proved Arsene Wenger right by putting in another commendable performance. John Terry was a little erratic and had leg cramp, but managed to pick himself up and continue the show. I was glad that Sol Campbell did not replace him, because Sol is slow and not at his former best.

Stephen Gerrard played like he would have for Liverpool, showing more passion and leadership than many others on the pitch. However, he and Lampard could not score penalties when England needed them most. Surely former captain Alan Shearer would still be able to do that.

Jamie Carragher was impertinent. Surely a professional player would know that the referee needed to blow his whistle first? His first kick went into the net, but that was disallowed. His second didn't make it.

England: Go back to your mansions and your villas. Go back and collect your 100,000 pound-a-week salary. Go back and gamble your earnings away. Go back to your celebrity parties.

My prediction for the next game: Brazil to beat France this time, perhaps by a 2 goal margin. Portugal will not make it to the final. It will be a Germany - Brazil final instead.

[Update: Wrong already. I was delighted to hear that France had beaten Brazil yet another time. Particularly because it was Henry who scored!]

Soon after the loss to Germany, Argentina's coach announced his resignation. This is the man who previously led the under-20 team to three championships. How unnecessary.

If we had to resign everytime we lost an important pitch, the job market would be perpetually flooded. Only one team will win the World Cup. If Germany do win it, Argentina could argue they could have been second best (though Brazil would surely be a strong contender as well).

Argentina have already done much better this World Cup than in the previous one. Still a far cry from the Maradona days but surely the coach should be respected for what he has done for the nation. Argentina's young players are full of promise and they will bounce back even harder in the next World Cup.

I was sad to see Argentina lose on penalties. They were doing pretty well considering the Germans were on home ground, having lost their first goalkeeper through a potentially damaged spleen.

The turning point of the match was when the Argentinan coach decided to take off playmaker Riquelme and striker Hernan Crespo in favour of a holding midfielder and lesser-known striker. It was a little early to be presumptious and Germany took advantage of the change in strategy.

Even as an Arsenal fan I do not like Jehns Lehmann. However I did feel he would prove slightly superior in penalties, judging from his performances in high-pressure finals like the 2005 FA Cup (which his team won) and the recent Champions League. I was less confident of Michael Ballack, who seemed to have a bad case of cramp.

Touchingly, rival Oliver Kahn went up to Lehmann during the break, and held his hand in encouragement. Team spirit overtook any personal rivalries and Lehmann soon proved his worth by saving two penalties. He dived the right way every time whereas the reserve Argentinan goalkeeper was less telepathic.

So Germany move a step "Klose" to the finals. Will it be a repeat of the last World Cup?

Technorati Tags: football, soccer, world cup, 2005, germany, argentina

Weekends (Fri/Sat) are great for watching the World Cup, because I don't have to go to work the next day. I'm blogging as Switzerland are playing Korea.

Park Chu-Yong received a yellow card and I told myself, "Switzerland look slightly better". A minute later, Philip Senderos headed in a goal. However he collided with Choi Jin-Chul and both ended up with bloody faces. Both sides are currently making credible attacks, but the Swiss defence seems tighter.

The teams in this group are the closest in points so far (discounting poor Togo). If Switzerland win and France draw, then Switzerland and Korea will make it to the next stage. If Switzerland win and France win, Korea is out. If France fail to beat Togo, they don't deserve to progress to the next stage anyway. They have more established players than any of the other three teams in their group. Excuses like "They're getting old" and "Djibril broke his leg" will not be good enough.

Olé indeed! Spain simply outclassed the Ukraine 4-0.

The most famous strikers on both teams, ironically, failed to impress. Shevchenko was so quiet that I thought he wasn't even in the team! His few attempts at goal were blocked by a responsive and resilient Spanish defence. To be fair, Raul was called in as a substitute, but only when Spain were already up 3-0. It was an indication that he was not yet ready to start in a match. His team-mates were more than able to cope with his absence.

Goalkeeper Casillas was definitely not as busy as his counterpart Shovkovskyi, who was sabotaged unwittingly by a free-kick deflection from his own defense wall. If not for the Ukranian goalkeeper, more goals would have been let in as his defence was almost nonexistent at times.

Spain was playing free-flowing football - very much like Arsenal on a rampage - and while they were very good, it was also partly because the Ukranian midfield and defense allowed them to run riot.

The ineffectiveness of both star strikers, however, brings up a big question. Does a famous player deserve to be in the team even though he's out of form, or recovering from injury? Because it appears that reputation alone is not enough to win a World Cup match.

I'm thinking of Rooney, of course, and wondering if he can do any better if he plays tomorrow. Because if he can't, can England count on the somewhat out-of-form Owen? Perhaps Crouch and Walcott should play instead...

Wasted two hours of potential sleep by watching the France-Switzerland match. To be fair, neither team was particularly bad. However neither team was exceptionally good, either. So it was very much a deadlock.

The refereeing was inconsistent, said the commentator. There was some confusion in the Swiss camp when Thierry Henry left the pitch for treatment after falling down near the goalpost. One Swiss player was booked for not putting the ball out of play. In fact, several players were booked today.

It would be a waste to have so many yellow cards and not a single goal. Their other group rivals would be happy with this result, actually - because players with yellow cards have to be more cautious. Also, they only take a point each.

France will definitely not make it to the last four of the World Cup at the rate they're going. They seem to miss top scorer Djibril Cisse (who has a broken leg), as their other strikers were ineffective today.

I will not be watching the Brazil match, but I do expect a victory. It may not be by a huge margin as they aren't playing against minnows. It should be an exciting match.

South Korea did a great job against Togo, coming from behind. Ahn Jung-Hwan may once again rouse his country and team for another great World Cup finish.

The best match I watched yesterday/two days ago would be Australia v Japan, where the Socceroos came from behind to score two goals. It was a tight match, lively to the end.

As part of an assignment I have to look for football (that's soccer to Americans) jokes. Do you have any links to contribute?

While at Borders in the Bullring, Birmingham, I spotted a football joke book with a really good one on David Beckham attempting to ride a horse. Harrods also had a collection of football joke books which were pretty good.

On Googling around, I've found more football jokes here - they're uncannily similar to the stuff I found in the books. Now which came first, the joke websites or the joke books?

Technorati Tags: football jokes

Since our subscription to the World Cup channel on cable TV hasn't been activated yet, we watched the French Open and saw Justine Henin-Hardenne beat Svetlana Kuznetsova in a nervy final.

I've generally supported Henin when it comes to women's tennis. However, her hunger to win has proven on a few occasions that she's willing to keep quiet when the umpire mistakenly calls her opponent's shot out.

This time round it was Kuznetsova, who (despite being down a set) honestly conceded a point by correcting the umpire, who had pointed to the wrong spot on the clay. This provoked sounds of outrage from the audience, as the umpire was quite a bit off his mark, and prompted more support for Kuznetsova, for being so sporting.

The commentators noted as well that Kuznetsova is known to be an honest player, whereas Henin never gives her opponents any points (even if they actually deserved it). These little anecdotes usually doesn't get reported in the news, which is why I'm saying it here.

When veteran ladies' champ Martina Navratilova arrived to award Henin the trophy, I wasn't surprised if she had hoped that her doubles partner Kuznetsova would win instead. In terms of ability, Henin was slightly better, but in terms of heart I think Kuznetsova won it with the audience.

Technorati Tags: tennis, French Open, 2006, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Svetlana Kuznetsova, sportsmanship

Step aside, Wayne Rooney. All eyes are now on Theo Walcott to save the day*. My online finds so far:

• Video on Theo Walcott - that boy is fast! He is faster than Thierry Henry and isn't afraid to confront multiple defenders... like Ronaldhino.
• More videos!
• Blog on Theo Walcott - frequently updated.
• There's even a Wikipedia entry on Theo Walcott!

And I just wrote in to BBC Sportdaq, asking them to add Theo Walcott to the list of players whose shares we can buy:

Dear BBC Sportdaq,

Now would be a great time to add Theo Walcott to the list of players!

Cheers,
Vanessa.

[Update: BBC Sportdaq replied to me, saying Theo has been added! He officially IPO'd today (10/5/06). Hurrah! *buy shares*]

*England has to rely on goalscoring midfielders like Stephen Gerrard and Frank Lampard because I don't think the remaining striker Peter Crouch has the edge and tenacity to constantly find the back of the net. Who knows - the inclusion of a brand new player that opposing teams don't know much about, could work out for England in the end.

Well.

It appears that we have no choice now but to win the Champions League.

I have nothing against Middlesborough but I like seeing the Gunners fire on all cylinders - though it should have been 8-0 as Pires was wrongly ruled offside. Oh well. Two 7-0 scores in two seasons, ain't too bad.

Congrats to Henry's record-breaking hat-trick, and to Hleb for finally scoring a goal, after giving all those great passes to his team-mates for so long! Poor Ljungberg looked like he wanted a goal but tried too hard, and didn't get any in the end.

Congrats also to Liverpool's Kewell and to Man City for winning the derby. Now, if only someone could beat Chelsea a few times ...

The big match begins in two minutes.

Go, Arsenal!

Half-time update: Someone please knock some sense into the linesman and referee Rob Styles- Van Persie was onside. Also, could someone knock out Essien's two front teeth? A tooth for a tooth, considering what he did to Lauren. Essien is a brute - I'm sure Liverpool would agree. Some ex-Chelsea player commented before the match that Arsenal have never lost while this referee was in charge. That's an insinuation which could be reversed now.

Van Persie did not commit a foul while chesting the ball - but, he also should not have lost his temper which got him a yellow card.

Just out of sheer revenge, I hope Arsenal score two more back after half-time. I may not bother to watch on - I have a day job and need to sleep. I'll give the young Gunners a few more years with the new stadium before they make it back to No. 1 spot again in the Premier League.

So the draw has been made, and England are exuberant. It's still too early to start placing bets, because a lot of things can happen to a team's form in one year. Players will get injured while playing for their clubs. Other players who may not seem significant now, may rise to the occasion next year.

I was scanning through some country profiles on the BBC website. This paragraph on Japan was amusing, but knowing the civic-mindedness of the people in general, I was not very surprised:

Did you know: During France 1998, the stadium authorities were astonished to find the Japan fans' seating area cleaner after a game than before. On the final whistle, the supporters had picked up all the rubbish they could find before depositing it in the bins by the exit.

Well done, Japan. Teach them yobs a lesson!

I'm going to the Lexus Cup.
Come on, ladies! Step it up.
A birdie, an eagle -
Oh what shall I see?
Annika or Grace:
Who will it be...

[Update: View my photos for Day 1]

I was a little disappointed to hear that Turkey did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup. They were beaten by Switzerland on aggregate.

Just three years ago, I roared them on all the way to their last match against South Korea, where they won third place. The day of their first World Cup match against Brazil, I was in Istanbul, sitting in the Atatürk International Airport lounge, watching a fierce-looking player called Hasan Sas nonchalantly fire in a goal, drawing first blood against the world champions. Sas would become my hero, but after rumours of possible transfers to big-name clubs, he faded out of the news.

Nevertheless, watching the Turkish and Korean players joining hands and saluting the audience was one of the best post-match celebrations in my memory - true sportsmanship. They also broke the record for the fastest goal ever scored - was it 8 seconds? - by veteran Hakan Sukur.

And what a glorious welcome the team received back in Turkey. What joyous celebrations in Taksim Square, where I had visited just weeks before! I could picture the scene.

There was talk of even stronger fan support when Turkey (note the certainty of that tone) played in Germany, as they had many countrymen working there. I couldn't wait!

Then, two years ago, I relished Turkey's presence in Euro 2004 and was excited to hear they were leading in the tables initially - only to learn that they did not qualify in the end. On TV, I watched dashing striker Ilhan Mansiz gesturing in frustration as he left the changing room. I thought they would learn their lesson and regain their place in the world arena.

But now, it seems that Turkish football's glorious period is over - almost as quickly as it began.

This evening I watched two different matches at the same time: Man United versus Tottenham Hotspurs and Arsenal versus Man City.

Man United looked good in the first half. Smithy put up a spirited show, though I and my boy-cousins weren't too sure what Scholes was up to. Things looked topsy-turvy when a defender scored, and Rooney dropped back in defence! However, Spurs started more strongly in the second half [at this point, I changed over to the Arsenal-Man City match] and equalised. One point each.

I've already accepted the fact that Arsenal may not win any honours this season or even the next, because their squad is lacking in depth and attitude. After watching the Pires penalty, I thought, OK, they need to score another goal to secure themselves. And what do they do? Screw up the next penalty. Of all people, Pires botched it up by tapping the ball instead of firing into the net. What a frickin' waste. I'm not sure if that got Bergkamp annoyed (I would be, if I saw my team-mate squander a penalty that I earned). I'd love to hear the locker-room talk.

Elsewhere, it looked like 2-0 was the magic number - Fulham beat Liverpool, Wigan beat Aston Villa, and Blackburn beat Birmingham. I quite admire little Wigan and like reading their striker Jason Robert's columns. This one is funny.

Tomorrow, the slaughter begins (Chelsea versus Everton).

I watched Goal, the first in a trilogy about a poor illegal Mexican immigrant, Santiago, who plays football in Los Angeles for fun. An ex-Newcastle player spots him, and the rest is history.

Sub-plots: 1)The hardworking father who has never watched his son play football, and does not think he should bother flying to Newcastle for try-outs. Thank God for grandmothers (reminded me of my own).

2) The playboy agent who's always too busy to watch Santiago play while in LA. However, when Santi makes it big, he's suddenly interested and wants to oust the ex-Newcastle player as his agent.

3) The girl. Now this part was hard to believe. Never in my three years in England have I seen pretty nurses! And meeting her again while clubbing is another big coincidence - is Newcastle that small? However, I think the dilemma that Santiago faces (faithful girlfriend versus bevies of scantily-clad babes whose names you won't remember when you wake up in the morning) is quite real for many young footballers.

But that's it. If you're a footie fan, you have to watch this show. It brought tears to my eyes. It reminds you that there was a time, not too long ago, when boys played football for the love of the game, not for money or fame. (It also helps if you like Newcastle FC, which I do)

For those who don't ever plan to watch this show / want to know the spoilers, read on.

Not a convincing win for England. Even if I were an England fan, I wouldn't be happy with this win. England fizzled out in the second half, and anyway Austria didn't have anything to lose. Their goalkeeper was very good. Without Wayne Rooney, there was no finishing, with many good passes ending up as missed opportunities.

Refereeing was erratic. Though I'm not a fan, David Beckham should not have been sent off. Austrian no. 4 was a troublemaker who didn't get booked. A second penalty should have been awarded as the foul was worst than the first (which did get awarded).

It's decent news, at least to me anyway. Liverpool drew with Man U, and Newcastle have finally won! On an away match! And the Shearer-Owen strike partnership seems to be finally taking shape. I'm happy for the Magpies.

And I'm appalled that top-notch goalkeeper Casillas of Real Madrid is only getting 7,000 quid a week. I mean, he's playing with Galacticos who make that much in a day. It's ridiculous. Join Arsenal. Come on, Wenger, we only bought Hleb and we sold Vieira, so we need at least another big name signing. Boot out the erratic Lehmann and patch up our defence! We've got lots of catching up to do with Chelsea, who have the most impregnable defence in the Premier League.

Remember that old joke about the world going topsy-turvy? When the best golfer in the world was black (Tiger Woods). When the best rapper in the world was white (Eminem). When the best female tennis players in the world, were black (Williams sisters).

Well, the football world is definitely upside down because the USA is now four whopping places ahead of England in the rankings. The US dropped from 6th place to 7th, but England dropped from 7th to 11th after their dismal showing against Northern Ireland. The Transatlantic gap is widening, so to speak.

Considering that England have at least in recent times won at rugby and now in cricket, you'd think they'd try to do something about their tennis and football. It seems you can still beat the English at their own games - at least, some of the time.

As anticipated, Newcastle have made a big swoop, by signing Michael Owen.

Graeme Souness will be granted some reprieve, but now he has no excuse should the Magpies continue not to win or score any goals.

Captain Alan Shearer will surely be relieved as Owen will be deemed a worthy replacement for the retiring striker. Shearer has been one of my all-time favourites. I still deeply respect him for his loyalty and devotion to his club, and his will power to forge ahead while outperforming some players half his age.

There is talk that the two didn't have a particularly brilliant partnership playing for England, but only time will tell if they can bond better at club level. Time, and patience, is running out for Newcastle.

What a crying shame! After 92 minutes of glorious Premier League football, Wigan lost concentration and let Hernan Crespo unleash a massive projectile into the top corner of the net.

The last two matches (Arsenal v Newcastle and this one) showed some similarities. The underdog teams knew what they were up against, and began with fervour, attacking constantly. The usually sharp Arjen Robben missed the net, and Damien Duff also seemed out of sorts. Didier Drogba, the Man of the Match against Arsenal in the Community Shield a week ago, seemed a pale shade of his former self. Wigan's striker Henri Camara looked dangerous.

However, in both matches quality and class emerged in time, and as the underdogs ran out of steam, the superior teams took control of the game. While Arsenal and Chelsea seemed overwhelmed initially by their respective opponents, after the second half things slowly crept back to normal and they re-imposed their dominance. Chelsea did take a longer time to wake up, though.

Another mark of a great team is the ability of its players to score in numerous different situations, under great pressure. Chelsea could finish (eventually). Arsenal could finish. Wigan's Johansson skied two frighteningly good chances in the dying minutes of the game. A top-class poacher like Ruud van Nistelrooy would have scored in tight situations like that. That's what's lacking in the weaker teams.

But still, I can't help but say, poor Wigan. And poor Newcastle. Try, try again.

[Update: Jose Mourinho himself just said that Wigan didn't deserve to lose, and that his midfield and attack didn't perform. He's hinted at making changes in the lineup, showing no mercy. Things will get interesting for the champions. ]

What a nailbiting match! Newcastle started as if they were on fire, and Arsenal were doing all they could to douse the flames that were popping up everywhere. As if the pace of the typical English game wasn't fast enough! It looked like Graeme Souness had a good chance of keeping his job - at least, this week.

And then the Geordies' enthusiasm received a slap in the face, when Jermaine Jenas, ironically an Arsenal target for the transfer market, kicked Gilberto Silva from behind, in full view of the referee. It looked bad but most people were surprised when the referee flashed red. Even le captain Thierry Henry seemed to think it was harsh, exchanging words with Souness, of all people. Henry makes friends wherever he goes.

Still, Newcastle being a man down didn't seem to dampen their spirits, and their fans roared with approval. The Arsenal fans seemed relatively subdied. My heart started to pound as the minutes ticked by, past the hour mark. Couldn't Arsenal score a goal? Even one measely goal would be good enough at the rate things were going.

Eventually, a foul on the vivacious Freddie Ljungberg, who was pulled down in the penalty box, resulted in a Thierry Henry free kick. You had to feel sorry for goalie Shay Given (although his name sounds ominously like a 'sheer given'), because he actually made many good saves. I feel he was actually better than his counterpart Jenns Lehmann, except that the latter was seldom challenged especially in the second half. Newcastle were quickly running out of steam now.

Finally - finally! They took out the misfiring Dennis Bergkamp as well as Robert Pires - the greying members of Arsenal's squad, as well as Newcastle captain Alan Shearer, who had a goal offside. In came Aleksander Hleb and Robin van Persie. What took Arsene Wenger so long? We only had 20 minutes left to seal a victory with a second goal!

But the second goal did come - an excellent assist from Ljungberg at a very narrow angle, finished by van Persie who fired between the goalpost and Shay Given's left arm and leg. Given must be feeling rotten about it but apart from that he had a good game.

So it ended - and my heart has stopped pounding.

It's now on to David versus Goliath (Wigan v Chelsea), except that in this case, I don't think that 'David' even has a sling. We'll hope the scoreline stays in the single digits, and that Wigan will pull a few surprises.

Bleah. It's half-time, Arsenal are down by a goal and Chelsea look like they aren't letting any in.

I think Arsenal fans need to hang in there for a few more years, until the Emirates Stadium is built and they can actually start spending more money on players. £357 million was raised for the construction alone.

Of course, at the way things are going, hardly anyone can beat Chel$ki, and face it - they really have the best defence in the League.

Come on, Wenger, bring on Hleb for the second half!

[Update: I braced myself to lose so it didn't feel so bad. Chelsea were better overall*, though Arsenal moved up a gear in the second half and pulled one goal back. Hleb looks good. Henry looks creative but a little stifled. And anyway, the last 8 Shield winners never won the Premiership afterwards. The competition will surely be stiffer this season. ]

[*Update 2: According to the stats, Arsenal had more possession, more attempts on goal, more shots on target, and less fouls and cautions than Chelsea. Of course, at the end of the day, it's still all about who scored more goals.]

Congratulations to London. I thought Paris was going to win, and even wore my favourite Agnes B top while watching the news. The bookmakers must be happy. And so must Tony Blair.

Imagine there's a local lad who's made good in the village. He was born and bred in the village, went to school in the village, and finally started work as a paper boy. He soon rose to manage the local newsagent's, which grew and grew. His talent and enterprising nature made him rich and famous (by national standards) while the village expanded to become a town with his help. His business won awards and international acclaim.

Then he decided, after negotiations with the mayor and his landlord, that it would be commercially more viable to take his business out of town. Perhaps the rent was cheaper, the taxes were lower and the market was larger elsewhere.

Riots and protests ensue. Those who once called him a local hero, now call him a traitor despite the fact that he gave everything when he WAS working in the town. Despite the fact that other good businesses had also established themselves in the community by then.

Back to reality. If Stephen Gerrard wants to leave, let him leave. It's his life. Being born in Liverpool, and having been at the Kop for more than half his life doesn't mean he has to stay there forever.

If you wanted to leave your job for something you feel is better (even if others disagree), would you like being mobbed, panned, and slammed about it?

It's hard to leave, as Captain of the team that won the Champion's League. People thought there was a Part 2 to the Fairy Tale with a happy ending. Sometimes there isn't.

You may notice that whatever reactions Wayne Rooney brought out in Everton fans, can now be seen in Liverpool fans ("Show them no Mersey!!!") So look on the bright side. Maybe the rest of the team will become more united (bad pun). Maybe better players can now be bought. When one door closes, a few more open. Has anyone seen it that way?

[Update: So an exciting twist of events has occurred since I last drafted this post. I'm happy that Stevie's finally made up his mind to stay. Now let's hope he doesn't change it too often.

ps. How could he ever think Liverpool didn't want him? Silly boy. But that will teach whoever's preparing the contract, to be a little more efficient next time. He's a sensitive lad, eh!]

I'm watching Wimbledon live, hence this late post. Was lukewarm to seeing Tim Henman make it past the first round. I felt his Finnish opponent put up a good fight but ran out of steam, which is kind of funny seeing how Tim is 7 years older than him.

It was disappointing to see one of my favourites, Justine Henin, get knocked out so early. Perhaps it is the 'curse' of the French Open - Rafael Nadal got knocked out of his first grass competition after his win, and Justine followed suit at Wimbledon.

I'm now watching Angela Haynes, small black girl, put up a big fight with powerful Amazon, Serena Williams. I quite like babyfaced Angela, even though I've never seen her before. She's feisty, but I fear Serena's experience and power will eventually prevail. It's been an hour into the game and they're still fighting for the first set!

Update @ 1.53am: Angela won the first set! What a match! I'm so psyched up I can't sleep.

Update @ 2.00am: It looks like Serena's back to her normal self. I'm going to sleep.

Congratulations for the amazing comeback. Surely when you were 3 goals down, you'd think there was no more hope. Even Maradona didn't think so. Then it was time for the other captain to score, and the tables started to turn. Then your goalkeeper did the dance of his predecessor, confounding the penalty takers, and history was made.

I didn't manage to stay awake at 2am, and when I woke up I told myself to take it easy when I did hear the news on the radio. However I didn't hear anything about the results on the way to work, but a quick visit to the BBC website showed me that wild dreams do come true.

And this is coming from an Arsenal fan. Congratulations again, Liverpool!

Now the focus will be on whether they will be allowed to defend their title. Emotions aside, surely Everton would feel hard done by if they were bypassed for next year's Champion's League.

The only thing on my mind, actually, is the Champion's League final.

I was already pretty chuffed to hear that Arsenal picked up the FA Cup. My Shanghai hotel's Star Sports channel hung for days and nobody bothered to fix it, so I had to reply on SMS reports. Any mishap that happened to me when I was China, was swiftly erased in my mind whenever I told myself, "It's all right. Arsenal won the FA Cup."

I got back to Singapore and watched the replay. Man U were definitely the better players. But for once I have nothing bad to say about Jens Lehmann, who probably played the best game in his life. If he keeps it up like this, Oliver Kahn had better watch out!

I've decided to spend my birthday evening at Alpha. After all, God is my maker and why not spend time with Him and those who want to learn more about Him! [Of course, a lot of participants might actually decide to stay at home and watch the American Idol finals instead. Wednesday is gonna be a biiiiig day]

And to be in Istanbul again ... one of my favourite cities! It will be an electrifying match.

And this time, my heart will be with Liverpool. It's strange because I support Arsenal with my head, and I've always respected AC Milan, but somehow the Merseysiders have a sort of romantic history to them, that whenever they appear as underdogs I tend to support them.

Well, we shall see...

Wow, Liverpool really did it. Now they just have to do it again.

AC Milan or PS Eindhoven? I bet most people are expecting Milan to follow through with their 2-goal lead.

Chelsea, from what I read of the player reviews, was behaving like they had a celebration hangover after winning the Premier League title. From the TV replays it looks like the ball did cross the line, albeit a couple feet up in the air. Anyway, if Chelsea really were the better team in that game, they would have scored the equaliser and perhaps a winner as well, no?

Don't get me wrong. I'm neither a Chelsea or Liverpool supporter although I respect both clubs. In fact I was hoping Chelsea would clinch the Champions League title as well, because I'm curious to see how big Jose Mourinho's head can get, and how the Blues will react in future seasons after realising that they can't always win 3 titles every year (look at Man U now).

For Italian teams, I like the flair of Juve players, and when I was younger, I was far more familiar with the Inter Milan players. However AC Milan has some household names as well.

South Korea will doubtlessly be hoping for a PSV shock win, preferably with Korean players involved in the goal-making. Guus Hiddink still has his fans, I'm sure.

It will be boring if AC Milan win the Champions League as they've won it recently. It will be a dream if Liverpool win it this year, but a crying shame if they don't qualify next year. Years, decades from now, films or documentaries will be made about the title they could not defend.

Of course, I really want Arsenal to win the FA Cup. So that when it comes to the tally, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool will all be cup-winners except U-know-who. Am I evil? Have I pissed off a lot of readers (particularly Singaporean ones)? Mwahahahar.

Congratulations to John Terry, I do not doubt he deserves the PFA Award.

A few hours from now, we'll see if Chelsea win the title, or win it a bit later. Sounds like a win-win situation doesn't it.

I'm listening to the American newsreader on CNN and he pronounces it as "pree-MEER-ship" which sounds weird because I'm used to hearing the more British "PREH-meer-ship". Then again, many Singaporeans don't know how to say my name properly ("Ver-NEE-Sah" seems to be the most common), so what am I grumbling about.

I was awfully disappointed that Newcastle didn't maintain their lead against Manchester United, but at least Graeme Souness can rest assured that when his men start behaving like boys, at least he can replace them with boys who behave like men.

One of English football's modern mysteries: How Liverpool can get so far in the Champions' League, yet lose to one of the bottom teams in the Premiership today.

Maybe it's Everton's turn to shine next season in Europe - they certainly got a kick out of beating Wayne Rooney's current team. Ironically, his leaving them for 'greener pastures' has done their team spirit a lot of good.

A recent TV interview with Alan Shearer, my all-time favourite English striker, has cemented my respect for him. He's shown that age isn't a barrier when you have passion, and he's stuck with Newcastle even though he could've gone to any of the bigger clubs for greater glory and titles. He cited Thierry Henry as another striker he respected - certainly, the Arsenal player is also dedicated to his club and clearly loves the game.

Why do English commentators keep on saying 'Jo-say' when talking about Chelsea's manager? Isn't the 'J' supposed to be silent, or take on a 'H'?

Even as a Gunner fan, I think Chelsea fully deserve to win the title. Every player is committed and talented and a good number of them can score goals in any situation. Arsenal will have to wait a while to catch up with them in terms of funding. Things will get more exciting after their Emirates Stadium is built and they have more money to buy better players. They must also figure out how to stop Man U from cramping their free-flowing style of play, which has resulted in too many defeats by them. It would be a shame to finish second in the Premier League and have the teams above and below them, winning other Cups while they remain empty-handed.

It's been said in the papers before, but I'll say it this time: Manchester United, former treble-cup champions, are going down. How they lost to Norwich (by two goals) is baffling - and their behaviour in the Everton game surprised even me. It is not the mindset of a winning team. As an English tabloid reported, it has cost Man U 3.5 million pounds per goal for each of their 4 strikers. To be fair, a couple of them were injured for a while, and Smithy wasn't in the starting lineup after the first few months.

Somehow, now that Smithy's playing for Man U, I've totally lost interest in him. I'd much rather wear a Leeds 17 shirt any time, thank you very much.

But even though I don't support Man United (Singapore has too many fans already - let's balance things out a little!) I am also disturbed at Malcom Glazer's takeover plans. Ugh. He may not be to Man U, what Abramovich is to Chelsea.

Kudos to the teams in the relegation zone for fighting so hard. Certainly, with Chelsea's imminent victory, and Everton's likely qualification to the Champions' League, the real excitement lies at the bottom of the table. I particularly like Norwich and Crystal Palace's attitude. Well done.

I never thought Southampton would face relegation, but it looks like it might just happen. What a shame. And Sunderland will be back in the top tier soon.

Well done, Lions! I'm glad I was there at the stadium with you, taking part in the Kallang Roar in the sea of red. Some points worthy of mention...

Gracious Indonesian behaviour: A placard, discarded post-match, thanking Singaporeans in general for sending aid to Aceh. That was sweet.

Not so gracious Indonesian behaviour: Boycotting the Kallang wave by standing up and showing their backsides when it was their turn to stand up.

Not so gracious Singaporean behaviour: Booing the Indonesian players and fans. When the Indonesian trumpets blared (boort boort, boort-boort-boort, boort boort boort boort ...) the Singaporeans shouted 'Butok!' (please correct my spelling). I understand that means 'scrotum' in Malay.

Most exciting thing that nearly happened: Riot. Yeah, only a few fans were led away by police, and some parts of the audience cheered them as they walked past.

Not very clever Indonesian player: One who tripped a Singaporean player, then writhed to the ground in pain himself. Bodoh!

Not very good idea: Getting Jai to sing at the opening ceremony. He was boring and slightly out of tune. Inappropriate choice of songs (slow, draggy and not particularly rousing) such as GNR's "Knocking on Heaven's Door".

Not very good acoustics: All I could hear on the PA system was 'mua mua mua mua, mua mua muah LIONEL LEWIS! muah muah muah... MYANMAR!" etc.

Most popular phrase (from where I was sitting): Referee Kayu!!! (implying the referee was biased - against Singapore of course)

Overall, it was a momentus occasion. What's next, World Cup? Maybe in a decade or three.

The big match is on right now but I can't watch it on TV because we only have one SCV point, and everyone in that room has fallen asleep. If, in the first minute, I had jumped up and shouted GOAL!!!! I don't think anyone would be cheering with me. But well done, Henry.

Oh well. There's always the BBC (live updates) and the human imagination.

My running commentary, in chronological order:

Arsenal's unbeaten run has been broken by arch-nemesis Manchester United. Can't say I'm too pleased with that, although it had to come sooner or later, and quite frankly Arsenal weren't playing up to par.

I cannot imagine that their goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann, thinks he can actually replace Oliver Kahn in the German national team. He doesn't deserve it and that is an understatement. Of course where penalties are concerned, it's a guessing game, and once he leaped the wrong way, he was committed.

It was a rough match, more of a scuffle than free-flowing football which Arsenal are used to. There were some tackles on Reyes that were brutal and unpunished. But ultimately what was dreadful was Sol Campbell's tripping of Wayne Rooney in the penalty box. Subsequent tacklings by Arsenal were mostly clumsy and late, no thanks to the rain.

And as for the second goal, which was a brilliant 1-2 between the young hopes of England - Alan Smith and Wayne Rooney - Arsenal were defenceless. The defence was practically nonexistent - chasing behind the Man United attack. Perhaps Sol was still smarting over his blunder and wanted to play safe. Well, he can smart some more, since he needs more of that.

The Manchester United defence, however, was immaculate (and this is coming from an Arsenal supporter). Rio Ferdinand was good as usual. He is still much better than any of the other England defenders. Once Thierry Henry and other attacking players like Reyes and Bergkamp were shackled, it was only a matter of time before the superior Manchester United passing resulted in a goal. Sure, Arsenal had some good runs too - with shots on goal, above the goal... and too many passes that ended up nowhere.

In the end Arsenal were up against van Nistel-Roon-aldo. The only good thing is, they still have a good lead in the Premiership. The bad thing is, do you remember the last time Arsenal lost to Rooney's old team, Everton? Arsenal eventually lost the title that season, too.

May the best team win the title this year - whoever it may be.

In between my work and music, I finally got to watch some football tonight. Specifically, Manchester United v Middlesborough. At least I caught the first half.

Now I have nothing, absolutely nothing, against Middlesborough. I like to say they're a team that's lived up to their name, often staying somewhere in the middle of the League table (but that doesn't say much for Leeds does it). In fact I do admire Gaizka Mendieta, whom I've been watching for quite a while, before the last World Cup in fact. He hasn't disappointed in this match. His team has been defending pretty well in this match.

However, expectations at Manchester United must certainly be sky-high. They're playing on home ground, fresh from a Champions League trouncing with a Wayne Rooney hat-trick... and no goals from the Wunderkind in this match yet!

Judging from his behaviour after Man United went a goal down, where he tripped a Middlesborough player from behind, I'd say he's still a big boy but not yet a man. The black player fell to the ground, clutching his leg, and to top it off, Rooney bent over and whacked his head. Come on! The guy's already down, and it was largely your fault. Is this how you behave when your team goes a goal down? All the talent in the world can't stop you from losing your temper.

[At this point in writing, we're 77 minutes into the game. I'm watching the BBC's live text commentary. No other goals yet. Nyeah!]

In short: despite his amazing skills and tenacity, the kid has far to go. Oh, the next match I really want to catch is when Everton play Man U. Will they take sweet revenge, or will Rooney score against his old team and have Blues fans burning effigies of him?

[Oh! A goal by Alan Smith in the 80th minute! While watching the first half, I was wondering when they were going to put Smithy in. Smithy's gorgeous. He's going to steal the limelight from Rooney today. I so know it. BTW, you do know I'm celebrating because I'm a fan of Smithy and not Man U, do you?]

[Final time. So it's a 1-1 draw. I'm glad at least another youngster, Stewart Downing, made his mark on goal. Rooney will have other days to call his own.]

Mixed happiness is watching the ever-so-hot Alan Smith score a spectacular goal... for Manchester United.

But frankly, despite all he's done for Leeds, he does deserve better than playing for a relegated team with a glorious past.

And with usual first picks Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha out of the action, now's the time for Smithy to shine.

ps. I hadn't checked out the Guardian in ages and look what I found - football funnies!

Visitors to Google today may notice this rather delightful tribute to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Muddy patches? Bad refereeing? I'll throw another conspiracy theory into the works: David Beckham may not realise it, but his teams' (England, Real Madrid) recent poor performances could be for more personal reasons than you think.

You see, back in Manchester United, he was still with a woman called Victoria. That's why they kept on winning.

Then when he left for Spain, he ended up with a woman called Loos.

And as for the slips on pitch? Well, he is the skipper after all...

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, who suffered heavy vote losses, now alleges election fraud.

The Italian football team, trailing in their Euro 2004 group, allege a Nordic conspiracy.

I am officially withdrawing my support for Italy (the football team). They're a bunch of spoilt brats who have been underperforming and blaming everyone but themselves.

However, there is one Italian I still like. The referee Pierluigi Collina. The English are even giving him an honorary doctorate.

I was a little confused when I read this BBC report on the France v Croatia (2-2) match.

The summary/highlights section says: "23 mins: Zidane's free-kick is deflected into his own net by Tudor".

That sounded like another goal for the Croatians, when actually the full match report says: "Igor Tudor deflected a Zinedine Zidane free-kick into his own net." (To the totally uninitiated, Tudor is from Croatia; Zidane from France.)

Here ends my little nit-picking episode.

Update: I wrote a note to BBC Interactive and they actually replied, fixing the error!

BBCi's reply

Thank you for your message and interest in BBC Sport Interactive.

I have forwarded your message to the subbing desk for this to be looked into.

The phrase now reads: "Zidane swings in a free-kick from the left and the ball deflects off Croatia defender Tudor and into the net."

There. Zizou has been vindicated :-P

What a bad day it was for England. First, they lost 36-3 to the Allblacks in rugby. Then their football team lost 2-1 to France in the last three minutes. Even in the lift today, I heard some Englishmen still talking about it.

Believe it or not, while I was studying in England I was not a big football fan. The closest I got to it was learning, in a Tort case, of the tragic accident at Hillsborough stadium where many Liverpool fans were crushed and killed. Bless their souls.

However, I didn't waste all three years being ignorant in the country which invented the game. The first big soccer match I recall seeing was during the 1998 World Cup one fine summer day. I watched it in a pub in Bath with two friends and the atmosphere was tremendous. The place was packed; we scampered from pub to pub looking for ample butt-room.

Eventually we found one that actually had a square metre of sitting space. I think we had some beer, I really can't remember (which probably means we did have some beer).

In full football revelry, every stranger was a friend, and all around us were painted faces shouting, ENG-ER-LAND! ENG-ER-LAND!! The lads beat Tunisia 2-0.

The next England match I watched back in Bristol, methinks, and that was the one against Argentina. I won't harp on history any further, since some of you England fans are probably still smarting from the mark of Zizou.

Based on my predictions for all Euro 2004 matches (using the BBC's Flash-based match predictor), there is a good chance that France and England, assuming they beat Switzerland and Croatia, may play each other again in the finals. Sounds like the old Brazil-Turkey World Cup 2002 showdown, eh?

Last snippet of news: Mikael Silvestre, French defender, reveals exactly how goalkeeper Fabien Barthez saved David Beckham's penalty kick:

"We had a look at all the penalties he took and he was always taking them this way," said Silvestre after France's last-gasp 2-1 win.

"So Fabien did a good job. He went to his right and it was a great save."

Yaawn. How boringly predictable ...

Update: Sweden v Bulgaria coming up. I favour a certain CK model with piercing blue eyes ;-)

Update 2: Wow! Sweden 5, Bulgaria 0. What a thrashing! Freddie scored first... And at the rate Italy is going, there is no way they are going to make it to the finals. I wasted 90 minutes of sleep watching them draw 0-0 with Denmark.

I will be very quiet for the next few weeks. Shh!

Because I've been hit with Euro fever! Not the Parliamentary elections. Not currency trading. And most certainly not Eurotrash. I'm talking about football, baby.

Check out this really cool 3D match replay from the BBC. Shockwave required. However, be warned. It caused Firefox to crash. I had to view it in Internet Explorer (sob).

My favourite teams? I shall be predictably mainstream (but honest) and say this time it's France (since Turkey didn't qualify). However I suspect the French to draw with England in a few hours' time because both teams are very evenly matched. My next favourite team is Italy. But football being football, you can expect to be surprised by a dark horse...

Portugal were disappointingly mediocre. If Cristiano Ronaldo hadn't joined in, the scoreline would've been 0-1 not 1-2. Prior to the competition, I had honestly never heard of any of the Greek players but they did an amazing job defending their goal. If they keep at it, I will not be surprised to see Greece make it to the second round, together with Spain.

For fellow sleep-deprived Singaporeans, here's the full programme schedule.

Nap time!!!

Many people didn't expect the unseeded Gaston Gaudio to clinch the French Open title. I said they should look back to Wimbledon 2001, when another guy I was rooting for, Goran Ivanisevic, decided not to become second best again. Ah, if I were a betting woman...

Now, who would've thought red-hot favourite Guillermo Coria would have a leg cramp? Fortunately there wasn't any fighting in the locker room this time, although he did thrash his countryman 6-0 in the first set. But deja vu it wasn't in the end.

Gaudio's facial expressions remind me of Arsenal football player Antonio Reyes'. They have this smiling grimace that makes them a little more likeable than moodier-looking opponents such as Coria. The crowd was behind Gaudio after he went two sets down, but support evened out after his opponent limped off for treatment.

Obviously if not for Coria's cramps, Gaudio would not have won. He was definitely more erratic and committed many errors that made me want to jump up and take over the game for him (and I suck at tennis!).

For one, I didn't see the point of channeling so much of his energy into power serves at the expense of accuracy. If I were Sampras / Roddick / Philippoussis on a hard court, that might be a different story, but this is a clay court and you have a limping opponent. Get real.

However the older man started to improve his technique and became a trickier opponent towards the end.

And to be fair, you cannot fault him for fitness, nor for his desire to play at Roland Garros - the commentators noted that he had to rely on financial support from family and friends to send him to France, because he was an unseeded player. Perhaps he's given the Argentinan government (and many others) something to think about. Nothing is impossible.

And speaking of commentators: Despite the topsy-turvy form of both players, the most irritating person was actually the sports commentator who kept on mixing up Coria with Gaudio - even until the end of the match. It was embarassing and very disturbing that such morons were allowed to speak live on international broadcasts. His fellow commentator(s) kept on correcting him but it didn't really help.

So it was a gruelling, drawn-out affair in every sense of the word. I can imagine Coria will be back next year with a vengeance. But this is Gaudio's day.

The headlines everywhere are going: Well done, Arsenal! I suppose everyone's had their say about it... But after reading this article I thought something was funny. The men won one Cup this year and everyone's ga-ga over them - but what about the Arsenal Women's team?

...After the men it was the turn of Arsenal Ladies, who showed off their Women's Premier League crown and FA Cup trophy too.

Surely the lasses deserve more than one measely sentence in recognition of their Cup double? I suppose the movie Bend It Like Beckham did have a point.

If you have quality and ability it doesn't matter - unless you have desire and commitment and go out and express yourself, you won't get anywhere.

- Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, after scoring 4 goals against Leeds.

After doing the usual household chores, I settled down to watch Galatasaray beat Juventus. Juve are in the last 16 anyway, so it doesn't matter. It's been ages since I watched my World Cup favourite Hasan Sas play.

As expected, fouls were committed, the usual tempers erupted, and numerous awards for 'best soap opera' should have been dished out, along with the yellow cards. Looking at the sea of yellow, red and white, I thought the match was played in Turkey, despite security problems, then learnt it was in Germany. 60,000 of the 65,000 members of the audience were Turkish!

Anyway, ESPN made a boo-boo in post-match analysis. They tried to be clever and looked up the meaning of 'Hakan', the first name of the veteran striker who scored both goals in this match, and also scored the world's fastest goal in the final match against South Korea last year.

So now we know 'Hakan' means strong and fiery in Turkish. But the commentator just had to add that when you have TWO Hakans on your side, that's really something. The second Hakan, was apparently 'Hakan Sas'. This is not the first time that commentators have got his name wrong.

In other news, my favourite Leeds striker, Alan Smith, might be sold to Newcastle if a certain Sheikh doesn't pump in enough money to keep it from going into Administration mode. If you sold Smithy, it would be like sawing one of their legs off. Newcastle would turn into a Leeds alumni, what with Lee Bowyer (hissss) and Jonathan Woodgate already there. Just keep those plastic bottles off the pitch.

As long-time readers would know, I am a huge fan of Turkish football, which has long been underrated until last year's World Cup. England is also one of my favourite teams, so this isn't easy for me. (I have a feeling that France will be the ultimate winners of Euro 2004, but that's a story for another day.)

You might have heard of the English Premier League footballers who allegedly raped a 17 year old girl, and have yet to be named. I resisted for days but succumbed to Google, and found a few football forums with enough conspiracy theories and suspects to indict almost the entire league.

Fortunately, none of my really favourite players were named. And Villa seems to be in the clear, since they went home after the match, so my friend Aaron (a loyal stadium supporter) will be pleased about that. That's probably all I can say, just in case a lawyer decides to sue me for libel.

And it definitely can't be David Beckham - besides, he's having enough problems with the missus to keep himself occupied. But it was coming. That's what you get when the wife spends less than a month in Madrid with a husband whom many women still find attractive. If the worst happens (I hope not), Victoria and Nicole can form an Old Wives' club. Can't trust those Spanish beauties.

Back home, we have the case of the Brazilian-imported soccer player who was photographed in the changing room, towel wrapped around his waist, with an unfortunate member of his body hanging out. Can't believe they'd publish it in the press. I'm sure all back issues of Berita Harian, our Malay newspaper, were sold out.

I fell asleep halfway into the Middlesborough v Everton match, but caught the goal that wasn't (how unfair to the home team). I awoke at midnight, with the Man U v Arsenal match near completion. Kicking myself, I witnessed van Nistelrooy scuff the last penalty kick - one of a few such opportunities he wasted, I hear - and then saw him get knocked around by jubilant Arsenal players after the final whistle. That was also unnecessary.

On the other hand, there was probably too much diving and theatrics going on to make this match something to remember. Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira was sent off in a tussle with the Dutch striker (second yellow card = red). In a post-match interview, Roy Keane wryly refused to comment on the incident, which was reminiscent of Beckham's 1998 World Cup episode - where he lashed out with his foot at an Argentinian player who had downed him. I was still in England when that incident happened, and the next day one of the tabloids screamed, "Ten Brave Men and One Foolish Boy". But of course, the lad's managed to turn his life around and he's doing well at the Bernabéu, so we'll leave it at that :-)

From this latest episode, we see that even the more experienced players are still susceptible to a 'tit-for-tat' mentality. It was a huge match, and expectations were understandably high. While the scoreline was disappointing, Arsenal have certainly improved since the 3-0 drubbing by Inter Milan. We'll see how it goes with Newcastle on 26 September, UK time.

[Intriguingly, the Gender Genie has rated this post as 'male'. How appropriate.]

My golf game this morning with Dad didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, on my part. I knew I had it coming - no gym for the last three weeks as I've been working and attending classes at night. And my last session at the driving range over the weekend, was dismal.

To think that, just a couple months ago, my drives were long and straight and I had broken the 160 metre barrier with my driver. Shows how quickly your standards can deteriorate with neglect.

But I had fun. Well, it being my first time playing a game at my club, I was what Singaporeans commonly refer to as 'blur'. Meaning, absolutely clueless. It didn't help that the golf instructor my Dad hired, was an old man who spoke mostly Hokkien and Mandarin, with a smattering of English.

When we made our way to the green, the only way I could tell that he was talking about me, was when he said, 'char boh' meaning girl in Hokkien. Soon he came to realise that my knowledge of dialect was nearly nonexistent, and we ended up conversing in a mix of Mandarin and English.

It was only nine holes, but twice my ball ended up in a gutter or stream of some sorts. Which reminds me a lot of my more recent attempts at bowling (another of those used-to-be-good but not anymore stories).

My drives were still pretty powerful - if only they went in the direction I wanted. Once, my ball shot off, nice and straight at first, then veered increasingly to the left, and hit a big tree right in the middle with a loud THWACK. Lots of leaves and twigs were shaken out, followed by a dazed-looking bird which fell a couple of metres, picked itself up in mid-flight, and fluttered frantically out of my way.

"I'm SO, so sorry!" I called out, not knowing if I was speaking to my dad, the golf pro, the tree, the bird or to Mother Nature in general. I crossed a few OB markers, which would've cost me mucho points in a real game, especially as my errant balls hit the trunks of other trees.

Now, at the driving range, the ground is level, and the artificial grass mats are hard. At times, I swing hard enough into the mat to shave off a layer of green plastic which gets stuck on my clubheads.

But on the course, I was afraid of digging up the turf. So when I swung I sometimes subconsciously lifted myself away from the ball. I also apologised to the grass I had displaced, and spent too much time patting the earth back into a hole I had created. Hurry! The others warned. Don't slow down the play. I scurried back into the buggy.

Once, at the putting green, Dad was about to make his shot. The instructor said to me, "Pick up the pin!"

Baffled, I looked around. A pin? Surely he meant a tee? Did we leave a tee behind just now?

I started to walk back to the spot where we teed off. No, no, said the old man, and gesticulated at an object near me, embedded in the hole.

"Oh, you mean, the FLAG," I said. I felt so confused. I lifted it up so my dad could putt his ball in.

My best shot happened to be a fluke. On one of the last holes, I was on the fairway after one of my less dangerous drives, trying to land on the green. Trouble is, I was at the base of a slope and couldn't for the life of me, see the flag.

"There," said the pro. "Where??" asked the 'blur char boh'. He told me, it's in between the trees. I thought I saw it, and aimed my shot to the right.

Being a tense player, my shot once again hooked to the left. And landed, just feet away from the putting green. Which wasn't too bad at all! I had aimed at the wrong target, but had unwittingly landed my ball in the right area.

My best shot was soon followed by my worst, on the last hole.

I was once again, at the border of the putting green. Dad checked my half-swing to make sure I didn't overshoot for the umpteenth time. It looked good.

I swung. By the time I realised I had suddenly lapsed into my full-powered 'driving range' mode, the ball had shot out of the course, and into the adjacent car park! And that, folks, was just my 9 iron.

Fortunately, no vehicles, passers-by, or any more birds were injured in this incident.

I might be arranging for more lessons on the green in future, and will work on restoring my accuracy. When I do improve, would anyone be interested in a game? :-)

I just watched a replay of the Henin-Capriati match. What a marathon! I like both players, which made it difficult to decide who to side with. I resisted the urge to check usopen.org for the final results, and decided that since most of the audience was screaming for Jennifer, I would do the opposite and root for Justine, who was going down fast in the third set.

Jenny has always been a fiesty player, and I loved her sense of humour throughout the match. So it was heartwrenching to see her lose her concentration and consequently her lead in that final set. But it was worth seeing her biggest fan Matthew Perry (who plays Chandler in Friends) cheering crazily for her everytime she hit a big winner.

But Justine's grit was also admirable. She was in great pain, her usual leg cramps giving her trouble in crucial moments of the game. Lesser players might have given up, like in the men's singles. But she is one of, if not the most, hungry players I have ever seen. A little too hungry at the French Open, as I have noted, but in this case, it was a deserved win.

Points to ponder:

1. Why did the commentators keep on calling Henin-Hardenne a Frenchwoman?! Notably, they don't make this slip with fellow Belgian, Kim Clijsters. Maybe the No. 1 seed has a less 'Frenchy' sounding name.
2. One commentator was obviously afraid to pronounce Justine's last name, because she'd refer to both players as "Capriati and ... and ... Justine". Chortle.
3. Will Kim Clijsters finally win her first Grand Slam? Or will Justine Henin-Hardenne's nerves of steel, prevail again? Without the Williams sisters to contend with, the plot thickens. Ironically, it will be an all-Belgian final at this US Open.

Oh, lookie here. Kim has a blog. Sort of. I like her, too. I think she's a nice person. I'm sure Lleyton would agree ;-)

May the best player win!

Yeah!! A four-nil score from Arsenal, away at Middlesborough. Poor Juninho. The Brazilian national tried his best, but was outrun by taller, faster Gunners and never quite made it to goal. As for the rest of the team, well, they could very well not have played, it wouldn't have mattered. They weren't crass, but they were simply outclassed by last season's runners-up.

I can't possibly stay up for the Man U and Wolverhampton match. But I expect an even bigger trouncing from the home team. Didn't see much of the Liverpool v Aston Villa match. It was b-o-r-i-n-g ... you can look at a team and don't feel they're going anywhere, anymore.

Star Sports, our only cable channel showing Wimbledon, has been oscillating between a replay of the Popp-Philippoussis match and a live telecast of the Henman-Grosjean match because of the darned English weather.

From the way it looks, the Scud's being Popped. Or, he's Philippoussizzling with a Popp. The Aussie looks scary, visually. Like a slimmer version of Andre the Giant, with a dark brooding stare and a goatee. The German guy is really tall. And good. I don't really care who wins this match, though.

But I am partial to Sebastien, with the large darling eyes. He's been well behaved so far, which is more than I can say for his opponent. [Update: Grosjean was born on 29 May 1978, making him four days younger than me!]

Together with Greg Rusedski, Tim Henman has demonstrated that Englishmen can be rude too. Telling the umpire you're not listening to what he has to say, then stalking off, is not good form. Statistically anyhow, in terms of winners, first serves, aces, previous matches played and seeding, Grosjean is the superior player. Henman bears the weight of all expectations from his countrymen, though.

Every time I look at Grosjean, I can almost picture him in a Musketeer's uniform, whipping a sword instead of a tennis racquet. He's been awfully quiet and subdued this match, but I'd say it's a crafty plan to conserve his energy. I'd like him to win, much as it would disappoint the host country - especially having to lose to a Frenchman.

When is it going to stop raining?! Some people have to sleep, y'know. I'm keeping myself awake by packing stuff and going through empty diskettes and CD-ROMS of dubious (written? blank? faulty?) status.

A ridiculously huge ant (3cm long) was crawling around the room just now. It was substantial enough to make a thud sound when it landed on one of our boxes. Finally, dad found it and clobbered it. Even then, lying mangled, it was still moving its legs about. I flung it into the toilet bowl. This paragraph is pointless. I'm bored. I have to stay awake. Good night.

Update: Grosjean has won, fair and square. He was in tears during his post-match interview. Aww.

I was watching the last two sets of the Serena Williams v Justine Henin-Hardenne match. Now, while Justine is one of my most favourite players, I didn't expect the crowd at Roland Garros to cheer (or jeer?) madly whenever her opponent made an error. Especially towards the end of the match.

For crying out loud, literally - cheer when the player you support, fires a stunning winner. Cheer when you see a fine display of sportsmanship from either player. But as the match progressed, it was obvious that Serena was losing her edge. Most of the audience were unabashedly supporting the Belgian instead.

Poor Serena. She was nearly penalised for taking too long to serve, despite seeing her opponent raise her hand. She had to point out to the umpire that Justine had asked her to wait. She lost a match that she could easily have won. While true champions would arguably not bow to pressure, I'd say the audience took her confidence level down a notch or two. Perhaps she didn't feel it was worth winning anyway, if the people didn't want you to.

Anyway, I finally had the (dubious) pleasure of seeing my favourite player triumph over the powerful No. 1 seed. No surprise, then, that the handshake between the two was purely ceremonial and brief. No surprise, either, that Serena vacated the court so quickly.

I predict that fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters will take the title, having had an easier match against a relative unknown, Petrova, and being statistically the better seed.

Speaking of tennis... this evening, I'll be playing a game at the club with my very old friend, Lisa. I expect a trouncing; I'd be lucky to be able to serve the ball over the net. More news later.

[ Update: Erm ... We both need more practice. Heh. ]

England versus Turkey. Old world meets New. It depends on how you look at it. On one hand Turkey has never scored a goal against England before, being whipped as badly as 8-0 in the last several years.

On the other hand, Turkey came out third in the most recent FIFA World Cup, the only team to defeat both hosts, South Korea and Japan. Both England and Turkey were beaten by Brazil, the eventual winner, with respectable 1-goal margins (2-1s and a 1-0).

Turkey has played more convincingly than England in this current series, trouncing Liechtenstein 5-0 compared to England's paltry 2-0. It will field international players such as Emre Belozoglu (Inter Milan, lethal and very cute), Tugay Kerimoglu (Blackburn Rovers) and experienced goalkeep, Rüstü Reçber. Alpay Ozalan, better known for warming the bench at Aston Villa, now has a chance to prove himself, as he says, to England.

Playboy striker Ilhan Mansiz, the fiery Hasan Sas (still my favourite) and veteran Hakan Sükür may yet surprise us with another performance reminiscent of the World Cup, despite their relatively poor current form.

The Turkish team is now ranked 7th in the world while England is 9th. However, the betting odds are still in favour of an England win. Earlier this week, the under-21 teams played to a draw in Newcastle.

Turkey is already at the top of the table, and nothing much may happen to Turkish coach Senol Gunes if they lose or draw. But Sven Goran Eriksson's job is on the line if England don't win this match convincingly. They've already lost to the Aussies, traditionally more famous for cricket than soccer, and drawn 2-2 with Macedonia, which Turkey have beaten.

Security will be stepped up this evening at Sunderland. Previous Turkey-England clashes have resulted in violence.

Els (right, in light green shirt) looks on as Zhang (left, in red) celebrates, just seconds after his final putt. The Chinese national scored a total of 10 under par to win the title, to the South African's 9 under.

This morning after sending my sister off and going to church, I watched Martina Navratilova shoot her winning return at the mixed doubles finals. Then I rushed off with dad to the Caltex Masters, and followed Ernie Els and his two closest rivals around the course, in the sweltering heat. We caught them at the final hole in a good position, so I took some photos of the two gridlocked players.

Now we're home, freshening up before going to our own club's driving range, newly inspired by Ernie's Easy Swing (tm?).

Woohoo! It's a Newcastle :) win, and Arsenal :) have drawn with Liverpool :) A good day for all my favourite Premier League teams tonight. I've been listening to the games go on as I'm working on the website, and have missed almost all the goals because my back's turned to the TV set.

Thank goodness for instant replays.

Ronaldinho rocks.

He completely fooled Marseilles' defenders by looking one way, then kicking in the opposite direction - accurately to a team-mate.

He shot a winner through the legs of at least five men who were scrambling in front of the goal. And he scored a penalty. Total: two goals in the first half.

However, the Marseilles fans who hurled smoky missiles down at him while he was taking a corner, did NOT rock. Hissss.

Oh, a warning: www.ronaldinho.com is actually a porn site. And www.ronaldinho.com.br goes to Ronaldo's site instead. This is really strange.

And I should go to bed.