Argentina To Face Switzerland

In the penultimate match in the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup 2014, Argentina will be facing Switzerland on the upcoming Tuesday. The match will be played at Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo.

Argentina has a very strong team and thus, they were tipped for glory by a number of people coming into this tournament, but, they appeared to be a bit rusty at the start as in the first couple of matches against weaker opponents, they found it hard to dominate, but, in their last match against Nigeria, they lifted their game and looked absolutely lethal up front.

There were still some issues with Argentina’s defence and they conceded a couple of goals against the Super Eagles, but, the rhythm of their attacking line looked brilliant there.

In competitions like World Cup, sometimes, it’s good not to peak early. You need to peak at the right time and Argentina seems to be doing that only.

Lionel Messi’s form has been a huge factor behind Argentina winning all their matches in the tournament so far. The 27-year old who is arguably the best player in the world at the moment has played some sensational football in Brazil. He is known as a big game player too. So, Switzerland will have to be very, very careful of him.

Switzerland’s performance in the group round was a bit up and down. They won by 2-1 against Ecuador, but, suffered a 2-5 defeat against France in the next game to get into a tricky situation. They, however, picked themselves up from that defeat and crushed Honduras by 3-0 to reach the pre quarter finals.

Now, here is a big challenge for them. Defeating France is something that they can do only by playing out of their skins because the Les Blues look way better than them on paper.

The match will begin at 5 pm British Standard Time.

Giggs Hints At Managerial Position

Former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has hinted that he could become the future manager of the club. Giggs was the interim manager in the final four matches of last season, but he has just given way to Louis van Gaal. However, he will be remaining part of the coaching staff and will be looking to provide the continuity after a disastrous season. Van Gaal is expected to be a short-term appointment since at 62 years of age, he is unlikely to carry on managing for a decade. Giggs is seen as the future of Manchester United and the Welshman has accepted that a future managerial role at the club cannot be ruled out.

Giggs has stated that he enjoyed a spell in charge of the team for the last four matches and is looking forward to getting such a role in the future as well. He has also expressed his ambition to learn from van Gaal. United will be hoping to challenge for the title almost on an immediate basis since it is important for a club of this stature. The team finished seventh in the table last season. As a result, they will be without even Europa League football for the upcoming campaign.

“It’s been a whirlwind and I wouldn’t change it for the world. It was just a brilliant experience, one that I thoroughly enjoyed and will be all the better for next time it happens. I met Louis and the meeting went really well. I liked him instantly and I’m looking forward to working with him and learning from him. We got off the plane at Manchester Airport and I was saying goodbye to the players, thanking them. Potentially saying goodbye to a lot of players for the last time, a bit of the staff, and I’m not an emotional person. Well, I didn’t think I was,” said Giggs.

Poyet Believes Sunderland Can Learn

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has revealed that he wants his team to learn from the mistakes that were made this season and avoid repeating the same next season. Poyet managed to get to the club on to Premier league safety in the most incredible circumstances. The club went into the Christmas period bottom of the table. Hence, they were certainties to get relegated this season, as only one club have avoided relegation from this position in previous years. However, Sunderland became only the second club to avoid relegation from this position after a 2-0 win over West Brom guaranteed safety.

The club have taken three wins and a draw from the last four matches and this includes results against Chelsea and Manchester City away from home. Sunderland have managed four successive wins and the club’s previous record for the same was back in 2000. This impressive run of form has helped them stormed their way from the bottom of the table to ensure safety. Norwich city have been relegated with Cardiff and Fulham as a result of this miracle. Poyet says that he wants to avoid heartache next season. Hence, he wants the players to learn from the mistakes they have made this season.

“I want to have a season where I can relax and see my team playing football week in, week out. Are you going to win the league? No, but we need to make sure we don’t go another season like the last two or three because when you play with fire, in the end, you get burnt and we don’t want to do that. We don’t want to go down, so we need to make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes that we have been making for the last two or three years,” said Poyet.

Spain dominates Europe

It took 40 years for Atletico Madrid to return to the final of the Champions League and they will face their greatest rival.

The team led by Argentine manager Diego Simeone will be on their second final of their history and will try to win their first title, after they were beaten in 1974 by Bayern Munich (4-0) at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.

Meanwhile, the Merengues, who got their first road win against Bayern, will be looking for their tenth cup. The last time they played in a final was in 2002, when they defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at Hampden Park with goals from Raul and Zinedine Zidane. Continue reading “Spain dominates Europe”

REINA FUTURE UNSURE

The introduction of Simon Mignolet to Liverpool in June of 2013 forced Pepe Reina on seeing his way out of the Premier League club as the 26 years old Belgian goalkeeper arrived to take the place of Reina and he has already made over 30 appearances in England with his new club.

Pepe Reina was loaned out to Napoli and is playing as a consistent starter for Rafael Benitez but the Spanish goalkeeper wrote a goodbye letter to Liverpool and his fans as he revealed his intentions of not going back to Anfield.

The head coach of Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers revealed details of the letter that Reina wrote.

He wrote a goodbye letter didn’t he? Obviously Pepe made it very clear when he went to Napoli that he was looking to move because he penned a great big letter saying he was going to work with the best manager that he’d worked with which was Rafael Benitez and thanked him for his time for Liverpool.

“So, for me, it probably sounded like he’d made his decision there.” Rodgers announced.

Ever since Reina joined Napoli, he has established himself as the undisputed number 1 goalkeeper for the Italian club and the president of Napoli, Aurelio De Laurentilis has taken notice of his performances and has confirmed that he wants to sign the former Liverpool shot-stopper on a permanent basis.

He said: “After out victory against Juventus went down to the locker room and I promised the players a bonus if they can finish second. Then I talked to Reina and told him that he must remain with us. I want him confirmed for next season.  He was happy, for him it was a double reward’’. Laurentilis revealed.

Napoli are on their way of playing against some of the best clubs in Europe if they are able on maintaining and securing a top 3 spot in Serie A