AFF SUZUKI CUP SEMIS ON

All roads lead to Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia tonight as the first leg of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup between Group B topnotcher Thailand and Group A second placer Indonesia unfolds. kickoff time is 8 pm (Manila time).

The Thais are coming into the game heavily favored after sweeping the group stages and having the biggest goal difference in the tourney so far with a total goals for of 11 against nil for goals against. The Indons on the other hand, finished the group stages with a record of two-wins, no-draw and a loss with a goal difference of 7-2. Expect a lot of fireworks as a very physical match in the offing between the two of the most popular squads in the Southeast Asian region.

Thai coach Peter Reid is not discounting of an Indon upset and is wary of the capablities of the hosts to turn the tables around. “Indonesia have the quality and very good pace upfront. They were quick during attacks and their striker, Bambang, is dangerous”, Reid said. At the same time he believes the homecrowd will play a vital factor in the opener, “The Indonesian crowd have been fantastic. It will be a big game atmosphere. As a player I used to enjoy the big games and I am sure my players will too. That’s football is all about. But in these games, it’s important not to panic.”

Indonesian coach Benny Dolo thinks that his team needs to improve their offensive attack and ability to score goals to secure an upset. “It’s our problem. In previous matches we wasted many chances in front of goal. The strikers have to improve and be sharper or it will be very difficult against Thailand,” Benny said.

The second leg of the Thailand-Indonesia series is scheduled on Saturday in Bangkok, Thailand. The other semis pairing will pit Group A winner Singapore against Group B runner-ups Vietnam with the first leg up for grabs tomorrow night in Vietnam. All the games can be seen live over Starsports on cable tv.

AT THE CROSSROAD

After 17 games, Chelsea had finally surrendered the over-all leadership in the Barclay's Premier League Sunday night (Manila time).

The Blues were held to a shocking 1-1 draw by lowly West Ham United at Stamford Bridge. It could had been more tragic for Luis Felipe Scolari's wards if not for the second half goal of Nicolas Anelka, which save the day for the Stamford Bridge outfit. West Ham United veteran Craig Bellamy opened up the scoring with a short stab in the 33rd minute. Anelka's 50th minute goal is his 16th for the current season and his 100th over-all in the Premier League.

Former Chelsea star Giofranco Zola, now the boss of the Hammers, outwitted Chelsea counterpart Scolari, who out of desperation made a crucial substitution at the start of the second half as he sent in Didier Drogba to replace defender Michael Ballack. But the move hardly made any difference as West Ham dictated the tempo throughout the match.

In a post-match statement, a dejected Scolari said it all, "Our home is Stamford Bridge, not away, and we need to be scoring more goals here. We are not shooting from outside the area enough and I need to work more with the players. Didier Drogba is in good condition and may play more in the next game, but the other players must cooperate because when he came on we lost the midfield." Clearly, he was referring to Chelsea deadshots Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Deco, all of whom were not playing above par in the last few matches.

The disappointing draw elevated Liverpool to the top of the standings with 38 points while Chelsea fell to second spot with 37 points. The Blues had garnered only 11 points in their last 6 matches. Zola cited team play as the vital point in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea, "The performance is outstanding and the point was totally deserved. We are improving but we do not play with the same freedom at home as we do away from home and we will fix that". When pressed about the coming January transfer window, Zola further quipped "We will not be selling our best players, but who are not playing in the first team may go".

The Blues diehards are expecting a lot this season from Scolari, the well-respected and highly regarded football guru, after the team's failure to bag the BPL and UEFA Champions League titles last year and Scolari better explore changes come January 2009 or else he may follow the footsteps of the team's former gaffer, Jose Mourinho.

HOUDINI ACT

Mexican side Pachuca made a virtuoso display of rising from the grave as they dealt African titlists Al Ahly of Egypt a 4-2 extension time defeat to barge into the semis of the FIFA Club World Cup 2008 in Japan Saturday.

The death defying act pulled off by Pachuca saw them trailed 2-0 at halftime.

But timely adjustments in both offense and defense turned the tables in favor of the Central Americans in the second half. Luis Montes put the Mexicans in the scoring ladder in the 47th minutes before Christian Gimenez equalized it for Pachuca in the 73rd minute to send the game into a 30 minute extension period. From thereon, there is no stopping the Pachuca juggernaut in the extra period as they blasted in two more goals courtesy of Damian Alvarez in the 98th minute and Gimenez again in the 110th minute to make it 4-2. It was a sorry defeat for Manuel Jose's wards as they failed to stop the momentum of Pachuca in the second half as well as in the extension time.

With the win, Pachuca will now play Ecuadorian powerhouse Liga De Quito in the semi finals Wednesday evening.

*****

Adelaide United will be in for a rough night as they play homeside Gamba Osaka of Japan tonight for the right to meet Manchester United in the semi finals. The Aussies earlier defeated Waitakere United of New Zealand, 2-1.

It will be a grudge rematch between Adelaide and Gamba as both squads battled it out last month for the two-legged AFC Champions League finals. The Japanese side won by an aggregate score of 5-0. Now, the Aussies are looking for payback time but it will be very difficult considering the home advatage of Gamba. But in football anything can happen and that is the beauty in "The Beautiful Game".

FINALLY, A FIRST FOR ENGLAND?

The entire football galaxy of Great Britain are pinning its hope on Manchester United to finally win a first-ever FIFA World Club championship for England.

Teams from South America had dominated the tournament since its inception in 2000. Last year, Italian powerhouse AC Milan finally put a halt to the latinos domination as they whipped Boca Juniors of Argentina in the finals.

This year, seven clubs representing their respective continents will battle it out for supremacy from December 11-21, 2008, in Japan. Aside from the Red Devils, the other contenders are Al Ahly (Africa), Adelaide United (Asia), Gamba Osaka (Asia), Pachuca (North and Central America), Waitakere United (Oceania) and Liga De Quito (South America).

Actually, the tourney had already started yesterday with Adelaide United drawing first blood with an opening-day win over Waitakere United, 2-1. Manchester United and Liga De Quito are already seeded in the semis leaving the five other squads to battle it out in the knockout quarter-final matches. The championship match will be played on December 21.

Expect no less than a battle royale among the continental champions and the bragging rights for the best football club in the World.

PIZZARO MASTERPIECE

German side Werder Bremen slew a big fish in their final game in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League as they downed Italian powerhouse Internazionale Milano, 2-1, Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, Manila time) at home. The victory earned Bremen a place in the UEFA Cup (soon to be renamed as UEFA Europa Cup) next year.

So dominant were Bremen as they displayed an awesome offensive game and kept Jose Mourinho's boys at bay with their relentless defense throughout the match. But the man of the hour for Bremen is Claudio Pizzaro. The 30 year old Peruvian National played aggressively in the box and had several attacks that almost netted goals for Bremen in the first half. Pizzaro finally broke the ice in the 63rd minute with an amazing goal and capped his performance in the 72nd minute with a great cross pass which find teammate Rosenberg, who easily connected to make it 2-0 for Bremen. Inter Milan's ace forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic close out the scoring with a late goal for the final tally.

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But who is Claudio Pizzaro? The Peruvian striker is currently being loaned by English giant Chelsea to Werder Bremen at the start of the 2008-09 campaign. He currently leads the team in goal scoring in the Bundsliga with 10 goals in 13 outings so far.

Pizzaro started out his career in 1996 with Deportivo Pesquero in the Peruvian Division One, wherein he finished the season with 11 goals in 42 games. He transferred to Alianza Lima the following campaign, where he pumped in 22 goals in 44 outings. He made his European debut in 2001 with Werder Bremen and spent 3 seasons in his first stop with the green outfit. He moved to Bayern Munich in 2001 and played 6 seasons thereat. Last year, Pizzaro played 21 matches for Chelsea and scored 2 goals for the Blues.

Pizzaro had seen action in 56 games for the Peruvian National team and so far has scored 13 goals in international matches. It will not be too long before Chelsea takes him back to Stamford Bridge to help the Blues in their campaign in the Premier League.

*****

After suffering a serious injury in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, super striker Michael Owen is back in his old-scoring way for Newcastle United in the Barclay's Premier League. Owen's remarkable recovery is the only bright spot for the magpies, who are mired in the lower half of the table with only 16 points in 16 matches so far.

Owen had scored a total of eight goals in nine games so far for Newcastle United in League play (8 matches) and League Cup (1 game) so far. Owen likewise is back in harness with the Three Lions National squad, in which he had tallied 40 goals to date.

With their current precarious league standing, the diehards in St. James Park are hoping that Owen can help turn around the fortunes of Newcastle United later in the season and avoid possible relegation play next campaign.

*****

Thailand displayed a powerful attacking game in dimantling Malaysia, 3-0, last night and swept Group B competition in the on-going AFF Suzuki Cup before an over-flowing homecrowd in Phuket.

The Thais under new coach, the former Sunderland and Manchester City top guru Peter Reid, dominated the very physical game, which was marred by a near free for all brought about by a Malaysian punch in the 2nd half. With the win, Thailand qualified for the four team semi finals and will play Group B second placer Indonesia in a home-and-away semis series. Group A topnotcher Singapore meets Group B runner-ups Vietnam in the other semis series.

Thailand capped their group stage play with an incredible 11 total goals and did not allow any goals from the opposition in 3 outings. They blanked Vietnam, 2-0, massacred Laos, 6-0 and finally Malaysia, 3-0.

Both semi-final pairings for sure will be one heckuva of a series and is really worth watching for. Are we in for a titanic finale between Thailand and Singapore? Let us just wait and see.