Paul Scholes, he scores goals.

Paul Scholes hasn't scored many goals this season, but last night he scored what might have been the most important of his career. His 25 yard strike curled into the top corner of the net just 14 minutes into the match and ultimately put Manchester United into the Champions League final. This year's final is to be the first ever "all English" affair.

Scholes, who has been a vital cog in the United machine for roughly 15 years, has played in 101 Champions League matches but never a final. Yellow card accumulation banned him from the 1999 match in Barcelona, one of United's (and the world of football's) most famous/dramatic/nervewracking matches ever. Sir Alex Ferguson has already put his name in the starting lineup, and it's certainly deserved.

Well done Scholesy!

Lookalikes: Brazillian Tranny Edition

Poor Ronaldo. At 31, his career is likely over. Even if he ever sees the pitch again he'll never produce the same form that we saw in World Cup 98, 02, for Barca or Inter Milan. Whilst recovering from knee ligament surgery (again), he's finding comfort in the arms of Brazillian prostitutes. Granted, thats legal in Brazil, but he got a little more than he paid for. Has anyone seen "Crocodile Dundee"? Well, let's just say he found something he wasn't looking for.

The Times has the article.

Enough of the setup...on to the lookalike. Doesn't that tranny look a bit like a Barca player? One who has disappeared after a season ending leg injury? You be the judge.

Ronaldo's call girl.

Ronaldinho.

The New Chelsea Jersey.

Hmm. Well, it's clear what Chelsea and Adidas tried to do here. They wanted to combine some of the newer looks Chelsea have been sporting over the past couple of seasons and sprinkle in some retro flavor with the big, thick, white collar. I'm a fan of collars and didn't like the recent trend of removing them from tops altogether, but I'm not quite sure this works. It's kind of like putting a tiger's head onto a lion's body or something. Maybe it'll get better with time, but for now, I have to give it a C+. I don't like the little V under the neck. What's wrong with a continuous semi-circle?

All in all, not a huge step away from what they have now, but enough to make fans want to buy it.

Euro 2008: Every match predicted.

As the league season winds down, I thought I'd take a few moments to predict the outcome of every single match of Euro 2008. Why? Why not? No scores, just outcomes.

June 7:
Switz v. Czech > Czech win
Portugal v. Turkey > Portugal win

June 8:
Austria v. Croatia > Croatia win
Germany v. Poland > Germany win

June 9:
Romania v. France > Tie
Netherlands v. Italy > Italy win

June 10:
Spain v. Russia > Tie
Greece v. Sweden > Sweden win

June 11:
Czech v. Portugal > Tie
Switz v. Turkey > Turkey win

June 12:
Croatia v. Germany > Germany win
Austria v. Poland > Poland win

June 13:
Italy v. Romania > Italy win
Netherlands v. France > Tie

June 14:
Sweden v. Spain > Spain win
Greece v. Russia > Russia win

June 15:
Switz v. Portugal > Portugal win
Turkey v. Czech > Tie

June 16:
Poland v. Croatia > Croatia win
Austria v. Germany > Germany win

June 17:
Netherlands v. Romania > Netherlands win
France v. Italy > Tie

June 18:
Greece v. Spain > Spain win
Russia v. Sweden > Tie

Winner A: Portugal v. RU B: Croatia > Portugal win
Winner B: Germany v. RU A: Czech > Germany win
Winner C: Italy v. RU D: Russia > Italy win
Winner D: Spain v. RU C: Netherlands > Netherlands win

Portugal v. Germany > Germany win
Italy v. Netherlands > Italy win

Third Place: Portugal v. Netherlands > Portugal win

Final: Italy v. Germany > Germany win.

Stop the tournament. Germany will win. You heard it here first.

UEFA Champions League Semis

Ties all around in the Champions League this week, though some are better than others.

Liverpool and Chelsea end 1-1 at Anfield. Riise scores an injury time own goal which changes the momentum of the tie. Instead of 1-0 Liverpool, Chelsea now have a precious away goal going to the Bridge, where a draw (of 0-0 or 1-1) or a win will be good enough to see them get to the place Jose just couldn't take them...the Champions League Final.

United continue the streak of never winning in Spain, but they will feel hard done by as they could have wrapped it up in the second minute. Ronaldo's missed penalty could have been the difference but the game ends 0-0. United have the advantage going back to OT, knowing they kept Barca scoreless. However, a 0-0 scoreline is a very dangerous one. All it takes it one defensive mistake, one moment of brilliance from someone like Messi, Eto'o, Henry, Deco and Barca could be in the drivers seat.

Lookalikes

Dunder Mifflin Scranton announce the hiring of new HR manager Toby Flenderson.


Bolton Wanderers Football Club announce the signing of Gary Megson.

Lookalikes: Wes Brown

One plays defense for the EPL Champions Manchester United. The other is my friend Jeff.

Lookalikes: Roma Edition

Yes? No? Roma's Brazilian keeper and Canada's worst actor? I don't know. I just think of Ryan Reynolds every time I watch Roma. Too bad for Doni, though, as he's the one with any actual talent.

The Future of Avram Grant

Even non-Chelsea supporters will be able to applaud what the club has accomplished so far this season. When Jose was sacked early in the season and replaced with Grant, a no-name ex- Israeli National team coach, many supporters, including myself, thought the team was destined for a finish outside of the top 4. Arsenal were flying high at the time and already crowned champions by many. It should've been only a matter of time before Chelsea drifted off.

Grant's Chelsea stumbled out of the blocks with a predictable loss to Manchester United, but has since steadied the ship with a string of impressive, often gutsy performances (many during the African Cup). Chelsea now find themselves just three points adrift from United and through to the semis of the Champions League. They did lose to an ambitious Tottenham squad in the Carling Cup final and then to storybook Barnsley in the FA Cup, but not many thought that Grant could steer them even that far.

So what now for Grant? He was given one of the best rosters in the world and has done well. Many could argue that anyone with those resources could get to 2nd place in the EPL and the Champions League semi's, but I disagree. It's very hard to come into a new situation and deal with 23 huge egos and game plan against some of the fiercest competition in Europe at the same time. One of the reasons Jose was sacked was because he did not produce beautiful football. Well, Chelsea still play the same football as they did under Jose. And they're still almost as successful, but will Roman stand for it? And will Roman risk losing high quality players by keeping Grant on for next season? Drogba is surely gone, but others are sure to follow if Grant isn't relieved or proves that he is capable of coaching at a high level.

I feel that for Grant to keep his job, he has to win either the EPL or Champions League. If he does, Drogba still leaves, but victory will instill some confidence amongst the other players. If he doesn't (which this writer tends to believe), then Grant will probably be replaced in order to keep the likes of Essien, Lampard, Carvs, and Joe Cole on board. This is a results game and at Chelsea, there's only one result that matters these days.

Seattle Sounders FC

Champions League 1/4 Final Recap

Wednesday Matches:

Turkish Delight!! Half this site's bloggers are distraught that Chelsea gave the game away to Fenerbache this afternoon. The Turks win 2-1, thouth Chelsea's away goal will certainly help. A 1-0 win next week will still put them through, but they can't be happy about that performance.

Avram Grant is left looking for answers.

Bendtner's Blunder. The Arsenal substitute mistakenly? unknowingly? inadvertantly? clears Fabregas' goal bound shot off the line. Though in his defense the offside flag was incorrectly raised. Wegner will be disasspointed in not getting a penalty as Kuyt pulled down a player in the box but no penalty was given. Liverpool get an away goal and look to be in the driver's seat. 1-1.

Bendtner doing his best Carragher impression.

Tuesday:

The "Roos" power United past Roma (again). Ronaldo's flying header and Rooney's opportunistic goal put United up 2-0 going back to Old Trafford. Are we looking at a Man United Barca semifinal? Wow.

Ronaldo continues to amaze.

Barca beat Schalke 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen. Yawn.

Krkic scores the only goal, but where are the Schalke defenders?

MLS Seattle Update

Monday April 7, at the foot of the space needle, MLS Seattle will unveil the team's name, crest and colors.

http://www.mlsinseattle.com/