Soccer, Nazi Style--Take Two

The hilarious Nazi-inspired video featured in my last post is no longer available due to a copyright claim, but's that OK. At English Soccer Talk, we don't take rejection very well, and I'm going to post two other funny scenes in response.

The first video you'll see portrays Hitler and his advisors as Tottenham fans, who are upset that their team lost to Arsenal again and seemingly can never beat their North London rivals.

In the second video, which uses a completely different movie clip, is based on the final day of the 2006-2007 Premiership season, on which Sheffield United got relegated despite finishing tied on points with Wigan. The result that really killed Neil Warnock's team that afternoon, though, was West Ham's 1-0 win at Old Trafford.

So here you go, enjoy. Hopefully these videos don't get removed also..

Who Needs Aliadière When You Have Paddy Kenny??

Obviously not Middlesbrough, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup yesterday thanks to an own-goal from Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny in extra-time.

It was a harsh ending for Kenny, who had played a very good game in net for the Blades.

FA Cup Quarterfinal Draw

The draw for the quarterfinal round of the world's oldest soccer competition was conducted today in Soho Square. From a record 731 teams that entered the 2007-2008 edition of the FA Cup, we're down to the last 8/9 and for a neutral fan like myself, this draw shaped up very nicely. All four ties will be played on the weekend of March 8.

Everyone's sentimental pick to win this tournament now has to be League One's Bristol Rovers, the lowest-placed team left standing. The newly-promoted Pirates will have every chance to advance to the semifinals as they'll host West Bromwich Albion, who just spanked fellow Coca-Cola Championship side Coventry City 5-0 on the road. Fortunately for Bristol Rovers, that game was a bit of an anomaly as W.B.A. have a losing record (6-2-8) this season away from home. With that said, Rovers' home record hasn't exactly been outstanding so far this year either (5-6-3) but there should be a sellout, raucous crowd at Memorial Stadium to give them an extra boost.

The other lower-profile, lower-league team who has reached this stage is Barnsley, and they are coming off a huge 2-1 upset victory at Anfield on Saturday. The Tykes drew a home game in this round so that works in their favor, but they'll have the distinct displeasure of hosting Chelsea, who are the defending FA Cup champions. Barnsley have been very good on home turf this season (9-5-2) and have obviously just proven that they are capable of beating a Premiership power. I don't particularly like their chances of knocking off Chelsea in this game, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to force a replay at Stamford Bridge either and take their chances there.

In the other two quarterfinal, or 6th Round as the FA likes to call it, ties, we'll see an all-Premiership battle as Manchester United will welcome road warriors Portsmouth to Old Trafford, and then the winner of the Middlesbrough-Sheffield United replay will host Cardiff City.

Complete Quarterfinal Draw:

Barnsley vs. Chelsea
Bristol Rovers vs. West Bromwich Albion
Middlesbrough/Sheffield United vs. West Bromwich Albion
Manchester United vs. Portsmouth

Note: Premiership teams are in bold

FA Cup 5th Round Recap

Seven out of the eight FA Cup 5th Round ties were settled this weekend, with only the Middlesbrough-Sheffield United pairing in need of a replay. That match will come at the Riverside on the 26th, but both teams will be in the hat for tomorrow's quarterfinal draw.

Two surprise teams will be joining the aforementioned sides and the other five winners in that draw.

Barnsley, currently sitting in 14th place out of 24 in the Coca-Cola Championship, shocked Liverpool at Anfield by coming away with a 2-1 victory, a match which I covered in my last post.

The lowest-placed team left in this tournament, Bristol Rovers, hosted Southampton and won 1-0 on an 84th minute free kick from Richard Lambert. The Pirates are in 13th place out of 24 in League One right now and were only promoted to England's third-tier league last May after defeating Shrewsbury Town 3-1 in the League Two Playoff. This is a team who has now defeated at least one team in every division of the Football League in this year's FA Cup. They're riding the wave of success and have become the sentimental favorites to win this competition.

Portsmouth were fortunate to escape Preston with a 1-0 win as it took a 93rd minute own-goal to save the South Coast side from a home replay. David James showed why he's been selected as England's number one goalkeeper with a PK save on the hour mark. The most compelling storyline of the game didn't even come to fruition; David Nugent wasn't fit enough to play for Pompey in what would have been a return against the club for which he starred before moving on last summer.

Manchester United sent a convicingly strong message to Arsenal in a 4-0 home victory for the Red Devils. Arsene Wenger played a nearly full-strength lineup so there can be no excuses about that, and United showed that they're a different team when Wayne Rooney is on the field. The title race is not over yet; Arsenal will have to go back to Old Trafford in April and this FA Cup match served them notice that they better come ready to play.

Elsewhere, Chelsea took care of business at home against Huddersfield Town (3-1), and Coventry City thumped West Bromwich Albion 5-0 on the road in a battle of two recent Premiership sides.

Complete FA Cup 5th Round Scores:

Bristol Rovers-1, Southampton-0
Barnsley-2, Liverpool-1
Cardiff City-2, Wolverhampton-0
West Bromwich Albion-5, Coventry City-0
Chelsea-3, Huddersfield Town-1
Manchester United-4, Arsenal-0
Sheffield United-0, Middlesbrough-0
Portsmouth-1, Preston North End-0

Note: Premiership teams are in bold

As I said earlier, the quarterfinal draw will be made tomorrow morning here on the East Coast. You can find full coverage and analysis of that on this site and at epltalk.com.

Adding Insult to Injury

ESPNsoccernet is reporting that a significant amount of money--believed to be in the region of $3,000-$4,000 US--was stolen right out of wallets from the Manchester City dressing room at some point during the afternoon today. City occupied the visitors' changing room as they were in Sheffield to take on Sheffield United in the 4th Round of the FA Cup, a game in which they surprisingly lost 2-1.

"A number of staff and players have had a quantity of cash stolen," City spokesman Paul Tyrrell told Sky Sports News.

"I am not aware that the dressing room was locked and the police are looking in it."

Wow. If this is the case, Sheffield United has to be at fault. There's no excuse for not locking the doors to the locker room and prohibiting access to everything inside.

Then again, what were City's players and staff doing with that much money?? They were the visiting team and probably were heading back to Manchester directly after the match; I'm not sure why they were carrying any considerable amount of money in the first place.

City aren't exactly setting the world alight right now with their recent form. This is a team that has won a grand total of three matches in their last thirteen played in all competitions. They're fading in the race for fourth place in the Premiership and with today's loss are now out of both domestic cup competitions. The last thing their players and staff are thinking about at the moment is the money in their wallets, especially when it's inside a place that should be safe and off-limits to anyone but team personnel, and somehow even that is now missing.

After a trip to Derby next week, City have the displeasure of playing Manchester United, Arsenal, and Everton in their three league games in February.

Could it get any worse?