Champions League Quarterfinals Preview--Part 1

The first legs of the Champions League quarterfinal round are right around the corner. We'll see two games on Tuesday and the other two on Wednesday, and if you're a fan of the Premiership, you have to be happy with the situation right now. Four teams out of the eight remaining hail from England and of those four, three could very well advance to the semifinals.

Today, we'll take a look at the ties scheduled to open on Tuesday. My pick to progress is highlighted in bold.

1. AS Roma vs. Manchester United: This is one of the "dream ties" I wanted to see and a rematch of last year's quarterfinal, won on aggregate 8-3 by United. These two teams are well acquainted with one another as they also were in the same group this season, a group won handily by United.

It's really rather simple for Roma. If Francesco Totti doesn't play, and he is a "major doubt" for Tuesday's game, the Italian side has very little chance at advancing. Totti isn't just the straw that stirs Roma's drink, he is the drink. This is a guy who is one of the two or three best players in Europe right now (behind Cristiano Ronaldo and possibly Fernando Torres) and without him, I'm not sure if Roma has the firepower to overcome a United side that is working on all cylinders at the moment. If Totti is healthy, it's a different ballgame altogether and Roma would have a puncher's chance.

Roma need to win at the Stadio Olimpico, where they are 12-2-1 in Serie A, on Tuesday because they're not going to win in Manchester. It's also important to not concede an away goal to United, who have scored 27 of those in the Premiership, good for the second-highest total in the league.

Prediction: Roma won't be able to keep United off the scoreboard at home, and will get tonked at Old Trafford. Totti at 80-90% is good enough to beat a lot of teams, but United isn't one of them. 1-1 in Rome, 3-1 in Manchester -- 4-2 aggregate

2. Schalke 04 vs. Barcelona: With no disrespect meant to Schalke, Barcelona got the easiest possible draw in this round. Schalke are in a dogfight just to finish in a Champions League spot in the Bundesliga and scoring goals is a problem for them.

Barcelona will be without the services of Lionel Messi, but I honestly don't think it'll matter too much in this tie. The Spanish giants score for fun (60 goals in 30 league games) and while their road form is a bit of a concern, they more than make up for that at the Camp Nou.

Kevin Kuranyi needs to come up with two all-world performances for Schalke to have much of a chance, and by that I mean 3 or 4 goals in these two games. The problem? In Schalke's last five Champions League games, they've scored a combined four goals. Ouch.

Prediction: Schalke will get something at home but won't be able to stop Barca from scoring. The return leg, however, won't be pretty for the German club. 1-1, 3-0 -- 4-1 aggregate

Check back tomorrow for a brief look at the ties set to commence on Wednesday, Arsenal-Liverpool and Fenerbahçe-Chelsea.

Update (Monday afternoon): Roma's talisman, Francesco Totti, has been officially ruled out of tomorrow's first leg against Manchester United due to injury. Mirko Vucinic will take his place.

Wazza Unveiled on "I'm on Setanta Sports"

There's only one Wayne Rooney, Wayne Rooney.

Here he is, it is fantastic.

2010 Champions League Final in Madrid, 2010 UEFA Cup Final in Hamburg

The 2010 Champions League final will be held at the Bernabéu, home to the team that has won Europe's top club competition on more occasions than anyone else, Real Madrid.

The Spanish stadium has hosted the final three times, most recently in 1980, and was battling for this honor with Wembley and the Olympiastadion in Berlin. It can hold just over 80,000 people and will surely be filled to capacity come May 2010.

Personally, I think this event should always be held at a neutral venue, at least as long as UEFA wants to keep the final a one-off affair instead of a two-legged tie. If Real Madrid were to reach the final in 2010, something not out of the realm of possibility given Real Madrid's perennial status as a world power, it would be a huge advantage and one that isn't fair in the least.

UEFA also announced that the 2010 UEFA Cup final will be held at Hamburg's HSH Nordbank Arena, formerly (and more commonly) known as the AOL Arena.

This stadium was also used in the 2006 World Cup and, with its UEFA 5-star rating, is eligible to host the Champions League final as well. It's new; construction took two years to complete and was finished in 2000, and Hamburg SV routinely plays to crowds of over 50,000.

In other UEFA-related news, the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Super Cup matches will be played at the Stade Louis II in Monaco, as has become the custom. The 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was awarded to France, and the same year's U17 event to Liechtenstein, while Nyon, Switzerland will stage the 2009 UEFA European Women's U17 Championship.

Cahill's Injury is a Massive Blow for Everton

Everton midfielder Tim Cahill will likely miss the rest of the season, manager David Moyes said today, after the Australian was diagnosed with a recurrence of a broken bone in his foot.

It's no secret that I think very highly of Cahill as a player; in December, I wrote a post illustrating and praising his proclivity to come up with clutch goals for his team time after time after time, for both Everton and Australia. This is a guy who plays in the center and can really spur attacks out of what is an otherwise fairly pedestrian Everton midfield. As I said, he scores big goals almost routinely and just has a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and that can't be underestimated in soccer.

Without him, it's just difficult to see how the Toffees could finish ahead of hated rivals Liverpool in the Premiership, hopes of which were fading anyway. They'd certainly need a result at Anfield in the second Merseyside derby of the year on Sunday, preferably a win, but who's going to score that clutch goal? Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel are more than capable of shutting the Yak down and if they do, who else for Everton will step up?

That's the question not only for this game, but for the rest of the season as well. It's feasible that Portsmouth and Aston Villa can catch Everton and turn what was a possible 4th place finish and Champions League berth into a 7th place finish and not even another crack at the UEFA Cup. I'm not saying that is what will happen, but I truly believe that losing Timmy Cahill will be a huge blow to this team.

Everton's record in all competitions when Cahill has played is an astounding 19-4-5. Sounds like a pretty valuable player to me.

Wayne Rooney Joins "I'm On Setanta Sports"

Stop the presses, stop the presses!!

In a move that likely will not pacify Dave from Newcastle, who was undoubtedly crushed when Shola Ameobi left Tyneside to join Stoke City on loan, Wayne Rooney has joined The Special One and Sven Goran-Eriksson on "I'm on Setanta Sports".

This is excellent, just fantastic. Like the other two gentlemen, English is not really Rooney's first language. Wazza is known for a lot of things but grammar and pronounciation are certainly not chief amongst them.

Unfortunately for Sven, who had fears about this on the most recent episode, it looks like he'll be involved in a bit of a rotation system with The Special One's new signing now onboard.

If Wazza could convince his fiancée, Coleen McLoughlin, to make a guest appearance or two, we'd really be in business.

"Ameobi-Like" Goes to Stoke City On Loan

Oh no!

Dave from Newcastle from "I'm on Setanta Sports" must be about to jump off a ledge. His favorite player, Shola Ameobi, left Newcastle to join Championship side Stoke City on loan for the rest of the season. Ameobi has only appeared eight times for the Magpies this year and is behind Mark Viduka, Obafemi Martins, and Michael Owen on the depth chart at striker.

This seems like an odd move as Stoke currently leads the Championship, albeit only by one point, and have scored the second-most goals in the 24-team league. Their 50 goals conceded is the highest total out of any team in the top 10 and the third worst in the top 15, so you would think they'd be looking to bring in an extra defender if possible. With that said, I honestly have no idea about their injury situation and it could very well be that Ameobi was needed up top, I'm not sure.

"Is it Ameobi-like?" Not anymore, Dave.

Premiership Players Involved in International Friendlies

Here's a quick list of some well-known Premiership players who contributed in the international friendlies yesterday. This list doesn't include, obviously, anyone in the England team as they all play in the Premiership anyway.

By country (club):

France: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
Scotland: Kenny Miller (Derby County)
Croatia: Niko Kranjčar (Portsmouth)
Northern Ireland: David Healy, Chris Baird, Aaron Hughes (Fulham)
Wales: Jason Koumas (Wigan), Simon Davies (Fulham)
Turkey: Tuncay Sanli (Middlesbrough)
Ukraine: Andriy Shevchenko (Chelsea)
Finland: Jari Litmanen (Fulham)
Israel: Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool)
Norway: John Carew (Aston Villa)
Denmark: Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)
Ghana: Michael Essien (Chelsea)
United States: Tim Howard (Everton), Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson, Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)

Your Opinion on Friendly Matches

A full slate of international friendlies interrupted domestic league seasons on Tuesday and Wednesday, and despite some entertaining, high-flying matches (4-3 victory for Holland over Austria, Mexico's 2-1 win over Ghana, etc.), club managers throughout the world are becoming increasingly unhappy with these fixtures.

Arsene Wenger, in fact, said yesterday that he believes these friendlies may not have a place in the future because fans just aren't that interested and they come at an inconvenient time of the year. Many managers say that the risk of injury far outweighs the reward for the players involved to wear their country's colors and that it's not fair to the clubs when players have to travel and miss training.

This is certainly understandable and managers have a right to voice their opinions concerning these games. However, if you polled the players, it seems like many of them are in favor of representing their nations. Many of them truly enjoy playing against another country and stepping out of that club atmosphere for a little bit.

I'm interested in your opinion as a fan. Do you like seeing your favorite players play in these friendlies, or would you rather them skip the games and stay with their respective clubs? This brings up the old club vs. country debate and it's one I want to have.

In England, fans of the Three Lions are generally also fans of lower-league teams and don't get to travel abroad with their team or get a chance to watch their team play big-name, Premiership opposition on a weekly basis. Fans of Premiership sides, especially those of the "Big Four", seem like they really couldn't give a toss about the national team and only care when the European Championship or the World Cup rolls around.

Because I'm not a fan of any one particular club side, I enjoy watching friendlies and any other international matches during the course of the year. They're not played too often and it's a nice break from watching the same teams in the same leagues go at it every week, and it's a chance to see the best players in the world compete for their homelands, something many of them are clearly honored to do.

As I said, I want to hear your thoughts about these games. Do you like them, do you hate them, do you want fewer of them, what? Leave a comment or send me an E-mail; my contact info is on the left side of the homepage.

Rio Tabbed as England Captain, Becks Will Get 100th Cap

England manager Fabio Capello has selected Manchester United center back Rio Ferdinand to lead out the side in the Three Lions' friendly in Paris tomorrow, which, given Capello's desire to rotate the captaincy until World Cup qualifiers begin in September, wasn't really a surprising choice to many people.

However, this is a guy who was suspended for eight months in 2003 for missing a drug test and isn't even the permanent captain at his club. This is a guy who, as United's captain around Christmastime, organized the infamous party that led to rape accusations being brought against Jonny Evans, who is now at Sunderland. This is a guy who has committed multiple driving offenses and has been banned from driving on four separate occasions. This is a guy who called a radio host a "faggot" live on the air in 2006.

This is the guy who will wear the captain's armband for England? Come on.

After the game John Terry had against Arsenal on Sunday and given the fact that he is Chelsea's captain and was England's captain under Steve McLaren, he seemingly was the obvious choice. Guys like Gareth Barry, Villa's captain, David James, Steven Gerrard, and even David Beckham, who has the fourth most games played as captain in England history, also should have been ahead of Ferdinand in the pecking order. I understand that Capello wants to rotate the captaincy and that's fine, but England-France is a significant game with a long history and choosing Ferdinand just seems to devalue it a little bit.

Capello also confirmed today that Beckham will get his 100th cap against France, a well-deserved honor. With David Bentley playing so well at the moment, it's unclear whether Beckham will start or be brought on as a substitute, but the latter wouldn't take away from the 100th cap at all.

Congratulations to Ferdinand and Beckham on their respective milestones, and good luck to England tomorrow.

Not-So-Bold Prediction: Arsenal Will Finish Trophyless

I think we can all agree that there is no way Arsenal is going to win the Premiership this year, which is something I said before Christmas, even when Arsenal were playing incredibly well and sat on top of the table. Going winless in five straight league games, particularly at this point in the season, like Arsenal has done can effectively end any team’s title hopes with the top-heavy structure of the Premiership.

The six point gap between the Gunners and defending champions Manchester United isn’t a huge problem in itself, but the fact that Chelsea is now sandwiched between the two teams complicates things and so does the fact that Arsenal has to visit Old Trafford on April 13, where United has lost only once all season. If Arsenal was to win that game, then we could talk, but I just don’t see it happening. Even if they did win, they’d still need to make up another three points on United, and with opponents like Middlesbrough, Blackburn, West Ham, and Wigan still remaining for the Red Devils, that’s not likely. United also has a far superior goal differential than Arsenal, and although it’s the silliest, most ridiculous tiebreaker I’ve ever heard of, it still is the tiebreaker.

Ok, so as I said, it’s highly unlikely that Arsenal will win the Premiership. As the Gunners have crashed out of both the FA Cup and Carling Cup, that leaves the Champions League as their last chance at silverware this season.

Their opponent in the quarterfinal round is Liverpool, who, despite all of their flaws in the Premiership, are EXTREMELY difficult to beat in the Champions League and will give Arsenal fits. In fact, I believe Liverpool will knock Arsenal out but to be fair, I’ve been wrong on numerous occasions before.

Arsene Wenger has never won a Champions League or a UEFA Cup as a manager, although he has a runner-up finish in both competitions. Rafa Benitez is well-known as a master tactician in Europe and has both a Champions League title and a UEFA Cup title to his name, the latter of which came at Valencia.

As a team, Liverpool has more Champions League experience (by far) than Arsenal with Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Jose Reina, Xabi Alonso, Steve Finnan, and others on the roster. Unlike AC Milan, another team with plenty of experience in Europe’s biggest club competition, Liverpool isn’t full of players in their 30’s who just can’t match Arsenal’s pace and quickness.

Oh, and don’t for a second underestimate the advantage of Anfield on a European night. The Scousers will be rocking and singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” until the cows come home, and I’m not sure if Arsenal will be able to overcome the emotion of the crowd when the two teams meet.

No, I just don’t think Arsenal will progress past Liverpool. If they do, well done, jolly good and all that, but then they’d have to deal with Chelsea, and we saw what happened when those two teams met on Sunday. Avram Grant looks as if he’s starting to understand this whole managerial thing and he’s picking the best lineup to give his team a chance to win, something he hasn’t always done.

Arsenal will finish the year trophyless. Ordinarily, that would be OK; you wouldn’t even need a full hand to count how many teams actually win something in Europe’s top three domestic leagues, the Champions League, and the UEFA Cup and not winning doesn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, mean you had a bad season. However, with the way Arsenal started the year, you would have to say it would be a disappointing season if Arsenal were to not win any silverware.

No, the Emirates Cup doesn’t count, nice try.

New ''I'm on Setanta Sports"--José Gives Sven a "Special" Costume

This is fantastic. Sure, it doesn't have anything to do with soccer, but who cares??

Good For You, Steve Bennett

I don't want to hear Liverpool fans criticize referee Steve Bennett for dismissing Javier Mascherano late in the first half today. I just don't want to hear it, simple as that.

It's about time that a referee stood up for himself and didn't take any BS. I've complained all year long about the referees and how they're too weak and inconsistent to punish players for dissent. In midweek, I sat there and watched Ashley Cole, who was fortunate to not be sent off for his horrific challenge on Alan Hutton, turn his back on Mike Riley as if to say "Hey, do you know who I am?". Cole gave Riley an earful, didn't come over to receive the original yellow card, and still didn't get the second yellow for dissent.

Javier Mascherano must be an idiot. Has he not been watching the news or reading the paper at all this week? Did he not see that the FA just came out with a "respect the referees" initiative? Did he not remember that he already had a yellow card and was walking on thin ice? Did he not see that his teammate, Fernando Torres, had been booked for dissent just a second earlier?

I guess not. Sorry, this guy is a moron. He had basically been begging for a second yellow card ever since he got the first one. He'd committed two or three additional fouls since being cautioned early and took every opportunity to give Steve Bennett a piece of his mind. He then went out of his way to question an innocent play right before the half ended. Bennett gave him a chance to be quiet and motioned for him to walk away, and Mascherano didn't. He kept going, Bennett reached inside his pocket, boom, see you later.

Where was the captain, Steven Gerrard, in all of this? One would think he would've gotten in there and separated Mascherano right away, or tried to calm him down a little bit and then speak to Bennett himself.

Nope.

Sure, after Mascherano had been dragged to the sideline by his teammates (where he proceded to rant and rave like a lunatic), Gerrard went to the Argentine and spoke to him, but that doesn't exactly do much good.

Good for you, Steve Bennett. I applaud you for having the stones to do what Mike Riley and others haven't done all season.

Capello Announces 23-Man Squad for France Friendly

To no one’s surprise, David Beckham was retained by England manager Fabio Capello in the final 23-man squad for the Three Lions’ friendly in Paris next week. Beckham is one cap short of 100 in his England career and if he doesn’t get it against France, and it appears that he will based on this roster, he’ll very likely get it at Wembley against the US on May 28. I’ve said that Beckham deserves this honor and that it would be just a question of when, not if, and all signs point to him becoming only the fifth player in England’s history to reach the century milestone.

Spurs keeper Paul Robinson won back his place in the England setup, although he was included because of an injury to Scott Carson. Robinson has played fairly well in goal lately and in the end, I think the only other option was Robert Green, but West Ham was torched 4-0 in three consecutive games recently and that couldn’t have impressed Capello. Either way, it’s not really going to matter. David James is going to start in goal and he fully deserves the nod.

Robinson was the only player not amongst the 30-man provisional squad to be part of this group of 23, and I have to admit that there are a couple absentees on this roster that surprise me.

The two most glaring question marks that I have are the exclusions of Villa winger Ashley Young and Portsmouth striker Jermain Defoe, both of whom were part of the original 30-man roster. Defoe has scored six goals in six league games since moving to the South Coast in January and Ashley Young leads the Premiership in assists this season.

Young can play on either flank, though he plays on the left for Villa, and is simply a better player than Middlesbrough’s Stewart Downing. I would guess that Joe Cole will start on that left side anyway, but the only reason I can come up with for taking Downing over Young is that Downing is left-footed, which is obviously traditional for left-wingers. No other midfielder picked in this team is left-footed, so that worked in Downing’s favor as well. Even so, Young is quicker than Downing, has better skills on the ball, and can serve balls in more accurately and dangerously than the Boro midfielder.

Opting to keep Michael Owen, Theo Walcott, and Peter Crouch ahead of Jermain Defoe is stunning. Keeping Crouch is more understandable because he’s a tall target man, something England doesn’t have, and can be brought on late in a game and have a big impact. With that said, Crouch has played a combined 29 minutes in Liverpool’s last six games. Michael Owen has two goals in Newcastle’s last five games, a cheap little toe-poke off a rebound from seven yards out against Birmingham earlier in the week and his tally today against Fulham. Walcott hasn’t even been used as a striker by Arsenal lately; he’s playing wide right where he can use his pace to beat defenders to the byline and get inside the area.

Sorry, if you’re picking a team based on current form (six in six for Defoe, two goals, two assists in seven games for Young, a winger), there’s no way those two players don’t make this squad, there’s just no way.

I have no problem with the other exclusions — David Wheater, Gabby Agbonlahor, Matthew Upson (injured), and Shaun Wright-Phillips — and was happy to see that Glen Johnson and Jonathan Woodgate kept their places in the side.

It’s curious that Capello chose to name this roster tonight, even though the majority of players on it (12 out of 23) are playing tomorrow and it’s possible that one, if not more, of those guys could get injured in the physical contests we’re likely to see. On top of that, it’s possible that one, if not more, of those guys just has an awful game and may not deserve to even be in the England squad.

Full 23-Man Roster (club):

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Paul Robinson (Tottenham), Chris Kirkland (Wigan Athletic)

Defenders: Wayne Bridge, John Terry, and Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham)

Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Joe Cole and Frank Lampard (Chelsea), David Bentley (Blackburn), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)

Forwards: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Michael Owen (Newcastle)

Based on this team, here’s who I’d pick as my starting XI (4-2-3-1):

GK: David James
LB: Joleon Lescott
RB: Glen Johnson
CB: Rio Ferdinand
CB: Jonathan Woodgate
DMF: Owen Hargreaves
DMF: Gareth Barry
CMF: Steven Gerrard
LMF: Joe Cole
RMF: Theo Walcott
ST: Wayne Rooney

Captain: Steven Gerrard

Update (Sunday-2:23 PM): West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green was added to the squad to replace the injured Chris Kirkland.

Everton Misses Chance to Solidify 5th Place

I've been harping on the race for the UEFA Cup spots all season, especially lately since it looks like only two (one through league finish, one possibly through the Intertoto Cup) and possibly three (depending on UEFA Fair Play table results) teams will qualify for Europe's second-tier club competition. Results in the Carling Cup and FA Cup haven't really helped teams from 5th-10th place this season but have created a battle to finish in 5th and 6th.

Everton squandered an opportunity to really put a stranglehold on 5th today after their 1-1 draw with West Ham. Portsmouth, in 6th place, and Aston Villa, in 7th, both lost to lower-placed teams earlier in the day and with a win, Everton could've gone nine points clear of Pompey and ten of Villa, Blackburn, and Manchester City, which effectively would've ended the chances of those last three teams to finish 5th. Instead, Dean Ashton's equalizer for the Hammers (which Tim Howard should've saved) earned the East London club a share of the spoils and left the door open for the four teams I just mentioned.

There's a big difference between a 7-8 point and 9-10 point deficit, especially with so few games remaining in the season to bridge that gap. I'm not saying that Everton isn't in the driver's seat, but they had the opportunity to slam the door on three of the teams nipping at their heels and couldn't get the job done. The Toffees should've beaten West Ham, a team that has been awful lately and has nothing to play for, soundly at home today but they didn't.

Now, Portsmouth and Aston Villa have a decent chance to catch Everton because Liverpool’s second-most famous club has a difficult schedule to close out the season, one that includes a critical game against Villa and games against Chelsea, city rivals Liverpool, and Arsenal.

Portsmouth, by comparison, gets to play Wigan, Newcastle, Fulham, and Middlesbrough down the stretch, and their “toughest” game could very well be at West Ham, which is certainly winnable. Of course, Portsmouth could also qualify for the UEFA Cup by winning the FA Cup, which they would do if they beat Coca-Cola Championship side West Bromwich Albion at Wembley on April 5 and then either Barnsley or Cardiff City in the final on May 17.

Villa, as previously mentioned, have a chance to gain three points back against Everton when the two teams meet on April 27, and they also play Bolton, Derby, and Wigan. Their most difficult game is at Old Trafford next week, but Manchester United is their only remaining opponent outside of Everton in the top 9 in the standings.

Everton could’ve gone a long way towards sealing 5th place today. They didn’t. Will they regret it? It’s possible.

US National Team to Play England

It was first announced a couple days ago, and the US men's national team will play a friendly against England at Wembley on May 28.

It's good to see that USSF and coach Bob Bradley are scheduling big-name opposition for the US. Playing against some of the world's better teams is something that the US doesn't get to do in CONCACAF and in the long run, especially for World Cup 2010 and beyond, it is important to face countries like England, even if it is just in exhibitions.

Playing smaller countries inside CONCACAF, especially on US soil, and other relative lightweights like the US had done previously under former coaches Bruce Arena and Steve Sampson, doesn't help the US develop as a soccer nation. It's easy to beat Cuba or Guatemala and Canada; those are teams that the US isn't going to see in the World Cup and ultimately, that should be the focus in this country, not smaller tournaments like the Gold Cup and Confederations Cup.

You have to play tough opponents to prepare for the World Cup and the US has done that recently. In the past six months, the US has played games in Switzerland (1-0 victory), South Africa (1-0 victory), against Sweden (2-2), and against Mexico in a pro-Mexican environment (2-2), and will play in Poland, in England, in Spain, and possibly against Argentina in the near future. These are the type of games in which the US can improve and allow their players to get some much-needed significant international experience.

Playing England will be a good test for the Americans, competing in front of a huge crowd in a country with little respect for soccer in the States. I think England will benefit as well; surely the US is a step above the likes of Andorra, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, three of England's competitors in World Cup 2010 qualifying.

Wild Weather at White Hart Lane

If you're watching the Tottenham-Portsmouth game at White Hart Lane right now, you have to be amazed at the weather you've seen throughout the course of the match.

First of all, it's March 22 and spring is here. Apparently they didn't get the memo in England and it was snowing before the start of the game this morning. The wind was whipping and yet most players were wearing short-sleeves. Right before kickoff, Setanta showed referee Phil Dowd with snowflakes in his hair.

Fast forward to about the 30th minute, and the scene was completely different. White Hart Lane was bathed in sunlight and it looked like a very nice spring day in North London. There were no signs of the wintry weather seen half an hour earlier.

OK, fast forward another 20-25 minutes and it was snowing again. The wind had picked up and the snow was swirling and sticking to the field. The ball clearly wasn't traveling as quickly on the ground and at times, low passes seemingly took an hour to reach their destination.

As I type this, we're in the 64th minute and the snow has stopped. It sort of looks like the sun wants to come out again.

The weather has been crazy today and the game itself hasn't been too bad. Should be a great last half hour.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, that's right.

Yours truly turns 19 today, at 5:10 PM to be exact.

I'll take all of your presents and love in the comments section, and hey, I'll take your hate there as well.

Only two more years until that magical 21st birthday. Only 11 more years until I hit 30, at which point I'm over the hill and as good as finished. Oh well.

I was fortunate enough to be born during the best time of the year. Spring is almost here, it's March Madness, and the NHL playoffs are about to begin. Oh yeah, the Premiership title and relegation races are shaping up pretty nicely this season also.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

Capello Announces 30-Man Provisional Squad for France Friendly

David Beckham is one step closer to winning his 100th England cap after the LA Galaxy midfielder was named by Fabio Capello to the 30-man provisional squad for the Three Lions' friendly against France in Paris next week.

Capello sent his second-in-command, Franco Baldini, to Dallas last week to watch Beckham in the Galaxy's pre-season friendly against FC Dallas, a game in which he wasn't too impressive by most accounts. Baldini must've seen something positive to report back to Capello to include him in this squad, and Capello also knows exactly what Becks can do from their time together at Real Madrid.

Even so, Beckham faces some stiff competition for his wide right midfield spot in the form of David Bentley and Shaun Wright-Phillips, and both Joe Cole and Ashley Young are capable of playing on the right as well. Based on current form, you would have to say that Cole and Young will earn starts next week but obviously nothing is set in stone yet.

Capello will trim the squad down to 23 players on Saturday afternoon, and it will be interesting to see who he keeps and who he leaves out. There are only a few players -- Steven Gerrard, David James, Jermain Defoe, and Joe Cole -- who should be locks to make the 23-man roster.

I was pleased to see Defoe rewarded with a call-up because he's been playing so well recently for Portsmouth, and David James has looked great in goal all season.

It will also be interesting to see who Capello names as captain. Gerrard led the side out against Switzerland at Wembley last month, but Capello has said that he'd rotate the captaincy until World Cup 2010 qualifiers begin this fall. If I had to guess, John Terry would wear the armband next week, but I could see Rio Ferdinand or David James having the honor as well.

Provisional 30-man roster (club):

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Scott Carson (Aston Villa), Chris Kirkland (Wigan)

Defense: Wayne Bridge, Ashley Cole, and John Terry (Chelsea), Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham), David Wheater (Middlesbrough), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Joleon Lescott (Everton)

Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Gareth Barry and Ashley Young (Aston Villa), David Bentley (Blackburn), Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, and Shaun Wright-Phillips (Chelsea), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham)

Forwards: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth)

Another 4-4 Draw for Chelsea, Tottenham

What a remarkable game.

This 4-4 draw was the second of its kind for both Spurs and Chelsea this season; remarkably, Aston Villa was the opponent for both London clubs in their other 4-4 game. Spurs also drew 3-3 with Fulham and beat Reading 6-4 earlier in the year, showing their knack for high-scoring contests.

Tottenham very nearly won the game today in second half injury-time, but Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini denied Dimitar Berbatov from close range. It was a chance on which I would've bet my house on the Bulgarian striker scoring, so luckily I couldn't make it to Vegas to place a wager.

I thought that Ashley Cole should've been sent off for that horrible challenge on Alan Hutton right before the first half ended, and somehow he walked away with only a yellow card. I'm sorry, but if you're going to give a red card to Jason Koumas for his tackle last weekend, which was a joke in itself (the red card, not the tackle), then surely Cole should've been dismissed as well, no question about it. Did I miss something, or was Hutton's shin almost snapped in half? Come on.

Not only that, but John Terry, Frank Lampard, and Didier Drogba all should've been booked for dissent after they followed referee Mike Riley for nearly 20 yards after Riley kept backing away and calling for Cole. I don't care that John Terry is the captain; you can't show up the referee like that. Lampard and Drogba certainly had no business getting in Riley's face either. All of this after the FA came out today with a "respect the referees initiative". Please!

Oh, and then Robbie Keane gets a yellow card for opening his mouth a little bit just after that? It's a joke! Keane gets a yellow card for saying something 10 yards away, and the three Chelsea players get away scot-free. Mr. Riley, take yourself and your big nose right off the soccer field and don't come back, thanks. He has no business being a Premiership referee if he's going to be as inconsistent as he was today.

With the way the game went, I think both teams will gladly take the point and live to fight another day. Chelsea really squandered an opportunity to make it a three-team title race and will now have to beat Arsenal this Sunday to get back in contention, but a point is better than nothing and that is very nearly what Chelsea got out of this match.

Manchester United took care of business against Bolton with a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford, putting the Red Devils three points up on Arsenal with eight games to go. I'll tell you right now, as long as United don't get beat by Arsenal at Old Trafford on April 13, the Premiership trophy will be heading to Manchester for the second year in a row.

Sven Goes to Afghanistan in Newest Episode of "I'm On Setanta Sports"

Yes, it is unusual. Get it?

It is also fantastic.