A new season...

As the friendlies wrap-up in the pre-season, things are starting to feel like it's time for some action. Yesterday I made it down to the neighborhood pub to catch Celtic and Manchester City make a go of it for 90 minutes. While the ball stayed on the Celtic end of the pitch most of the time there were few shots on goal and things seemed rather balanced, albeit a bit flat, but nothing unusual for the pre-season, if you ask me.

Eventually, Man City punched in the first goal of the match well into the second half. And with Celtic frequently pinned in their half it wasn't looking good. But with a frenzy in the final 15-20 minutes, it was only a matter of time before the Hoops put one in the net. McGowan tapped one in from a cross and minutes later had a second chance only to have the shot hit the cross bar with high velocity and conviction. There were other chances to break the tie, but few, if any, were very serious. In the end, the final score was 1-1.

Afterwords, Manchester United played Juventus...I caught about 10-15 minutes of this match and was quickly reminded that a) I'm not a Man U. fan and b) I don't like Italian League teams all that much, so I left the pub and did some grocery shopping. With the season not even in full swing yet, there will be plenty more to see in the weeks to come.

Well...

I'm currently "watching" the Man U. v. Barcelona Champions League match (recording it at home, the first half sounds worthy of keeping for later viewing)...and just found a news article about the Olympic draw for both US National Teams.

Also, this evening will be the second round of the new season of my new >30s team at Warners. The team name, if I haven't mentioned it yet, is Independientes F.C, borrowed from an Argentine team with the name Independientes ("los diablos rojos"). We're in blue and white (once the uniforms arrive) and the unis are said to be loosely based on the other "red devils," yes, Man U....NOT happy about that, but I guess it's a step up from our previous unis which were loosely based on AC Milan's). Our defacto captain, Santi, listed the Argentine team, Independientes, as one of his favorites (he's also a La Liga follower like myself).

The season has not started well as we lost our first match against Barely Kicking, 4-1 (I think). But the attitude was better with our team and we had a lot more show up for the first match (3 subs is a good thing). I'm hopeful about this season and it seems others are as well. Tonight we play 1040s and our goal is to shut them out...focusing on defense. I hope it works.

A Truly Interesting FA Cup...

First, I can't believe I didn't watch the entire Chelsea v. Barnsley match. And, second, with Portsmouth beating Man. U. (must watch the replay on Tuesday), I think I'll have a new favorite team by the end of this thing!
As usual, That's On Point has something to say about all of this amazing madness, with mention of US players in the match between Blackburn and Fulham (another match that I only got to see the first half).
More "excitement and romance" to come:

Barnsley v Cardiff City


And


West Bromwich Albion v Portsmouth
(Portsmouth is the lone premier league team remaining)


Sidenote Edit: Sevilla beat Levante this weekend but it was not televised on GOL TV so I'm not going to write about that until a replay or until I get to read a bit more about it.