The Unseen Game

What a finish from the Kasabian guitarist over (aptly) David Seaman in the Socceraid charity match today. 

Proper place to do it too as the Socceraid match raised awareness regarding the health effects of contaminated water and raised money to go around the third world in order to provide clean water for washing and drinking. 

If you wish to contribute to this amazing charity either:

call 0330 123 1966

or text DONATE to 70422 (if you are in the UK)

or go to https://secure.unicef.org.uk/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 to donate online

(Pizzorno has displayed some impressive skills before mind you, here he is on soccerAM)

An excellent look at how emotionally taxing the semi-final second leg was for Chelsea supporters and the massive party upon Torres’s strike. 

When Sergio Aguero smashed the ball past Paddy Kenny it was one of the truly unbridled moments of joy that I have experienced through football, the strike also marked the beginning of the end of the footballing calendar. The long premier league season has come to a close and I am left contemplating what the forlorn days leading up to mid August will bring. F. Scott Fitzgerald once described the feeling as having “that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer”. The cyclical nature of sunny months devoid of the round ball games that I love is as exciting as it is vacuous. Being in New York, working on this blog, and interning with the Department of Parks and Recreation will be lovely, but it is the new faces and places that I will enjoy the most. Time off from football sounds good, but do I really want it? Signs point to no.

Euro 2012 promises an exciting summer fling. Will Italy return to greatness? Can Trapattoni continue to make something out of nothing with Ireland? Will a battered Spain still find a way to win? How will England perform? these story lines (and many more) will keep me going, but are ultimately a diversion. It is the premier league that I truly love and will always return to. This final day of the season provided a counterpoint to all the heretics with a finale that was more theatre than football and is unmatched by the annals of history. I could not have wished or prayed for a greater end, but all goodbyes are cruel.

So here’s to a great final week of the season, raise your glasses high: Blackpool, Bayern, Chelsea, and West Ham have it all on the line, the finest Clicquot is ready to be poured in coronation of the minnows in Montpellier if they can take anything off Auxerre, Juventus’s final skirmish against Napoli can provide the domestic double and a true undefeated season, and the Spanish Cup next friday will be cathartic for Barcelona or Atheltic Bilbao, who have come so close to greatness. A brilliant swan song of fixtures.  

I wish you a pleasant summer and a swift return. My love; football. 

I am generally not for the removal of controversial players and even in favor of a rash challenge or two, everyone from Di Canio, Zidane, and Cantona have had moments that have colored their reputation Luis Suarez, however, is quickly getting out of hand with his nefarious activities on the pitch. The whole negrito debate and being a bit thick is one thing, but Luis Suarez has shown a desire to repeatedly hurt and offend other players (even after an 8 game suspension) to a point that his presence on the pitch is starting to become a recurring headache.

Yesterday at Chelsea, Suarez showed the good in forcing an own goal from Michael Essien, but the bad with two stupid and malicious challenges that have been symptomatic of his actions this season.

(Ivanovic diving a bit, but can you blame him?)

Curiously, these are almost a carbon copy of two incidents against Scott Parker in his first game back from the “negrito” suspension against Spurs.

Some other incidents worth noting:

(Ear bite from when he was at Ajax)

Ironically, Luis Saurez is also one of the biggest footballing stars in England and has scored some ridiculous goals this season. The question is: Is the talent worth the headache? The Uruguayan has come to represent the best and worst in the game today, but, unfortunately, his bad side has been out of control lately and his behavior as an impish churl has really been damaging the quality of the events he plays in. 

Jonjo Shelvey with the thunderbolt

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