Arsene Wenger Celebrates 4 Trophyless Years

In the last 1 year, Arsene Wenger has suffered a lot of criticism from almost everyone for not winning a single trophy in the last 4 seasons. Now, Wenger has replied his critics by stating that it was the best time for him. He said that because he had to work on a limited budget, he had to improve his team to ensure that Arsenal stays among the top clubs in England.

"The last four years have been the most challenging period of my career.

"But it is not linked with not winning a trophy.

"Moving into a new stadium and keeping the team at the top means, for me, my best period has been in the last four years.

"To move into a stadium with less resources, respect the fact we have still made some money every year without the team dropping down a level,” Arsene Wenger said to The Sun.

This season, Arsenal is out of the Carling Cup but is in the third position in English Premier League and could advance in the knockout of Champions League 2009-10. 

Portsmouth manager Avram Grant Upset with 2010 African Cup of Nations Timing

Avram Grant has expressed dissatisfaction with the timing of 2010 African Cup of Nations. This grand event of African football will take place on January and Portsmouth is going to miss some of their important players who would be engaged with this national teams. Aruna Dindane of Ivory Coast, Kanu of Nigeria, Nadir Belhadj and Hassan Yebda of Algeria- these 4 key players of Portsmouth are likely to be missed in January. Avram Grant has questioned the wisdom of FIFA officials for holding such an event during the mid season of European leagues.

"We pay a lot of money, especially the big teams, to players who are not with us for two months. I think Fifa need to think about this.

"Firstly, you have to change the team and secondly, it's not easy when they are back.

"They are coming from hot weather to the coldest days in England. It takes more than a few days to get them back to normal," said a very annoyed Avram Grant. Now, it is to be seen that how Avram Grant and his team can coup without these key players.  

10 Reasons: Not to become Passionate about Football

First of all, here, by football, I am indicating soccer not American football. I have been a keen admirer of football from my childhood. Still, I watch a lot of matches, especially of English Premier League (EPL) and UEFA Champions League. However, I think that most people should not become too much crazy for this game. There are some negative aspects and I am giving you some of them here.

1. Some people every year get injured and even killed from football related violence. Wikipedia has an entry about it: Football hooliganism and it wrote:

In 1964 in Peru, more than 300 football fans died and another 500 were injured in Lima, Peru in a riot during an Olympic qualifying match between Argentina and Peru in 24 May.

2. Many fans become too much addicted and crazy for their favorite teams. This addiction can become deadly. I live in Bangladesh and Argentina is in another part of the world. Still, thousands of people are crazy for Argentine football team and in World Cup 2008, some passionate fans died from heart attack after Argentine national football team suffered an exit from the quarter final stage.

3. World Cup Soccer has negative affects in the economies of many countries because for one month, millions of people are busy with only thing. The irony is that World Cup football affects the economies of some Asian countries more despite the fact that none of the Asian countries could ever win the trophy. But it happens because millions of people in Asia are passionate supporters of Argentine or Brazil.

4. Getting too much addicted to football can surely destroy your couple life. “Football widow” has become a popular expression to indicate those wives who suffer in the couple life because their husbands are too much addicted to football in television or in the stadium.

5. Have you ever played football? Then you should know that it is a dangerous game and at any moment, you can get physically injured.

6. Addiction to football can also cause a lot of harm to education.

7. In popular football matches, Sometimes 50 to 92,000 people can come to the stadium and it can cause a lot of traffic jam.

8. Too much money is spent for football and sponsorship and TV deals. I really wish that the money was spent in better things.

9. Children and teenagers often love to think celebrity footballers as their role models. However, many footballers are involved with things like gambling, going to prostitutes, alcohol abuse, partying whole night in night clubs etc. almost all of the top footballers are too much fond of luxury and I wonder if there is anything positive that the children can learn from these role models.

10. Football can destroy your friendship.

Final words: I like football too and I think it is the best form of entertainment in the world. So, learn to enjoy the entertainment side of football but do not get too much offices are crazy because then, it can destroy your life.

Japan vs Australia WC Qualifying: Live Score and Live Updates

Japan (0) vs Australia (0)

The match finished in a stalemate with both sides picking up a point each. Australia holds on to the top place of Group A with 10 points, while Japan remains in the second position with 8 points.

93 minutes: The match has ended in a goalless draw.

91 minutes: Bresiano goes out and Gerney comes in for Australia.

90 minutes: 3 minutes of added time announced.

89 minutes: Japan is attacking more at this moment. Kenedy failed to head the cross as Australia missed a chance.

87 minutes: WHAT a miss by Japan. It was perhaps the best chance Japan got in the second half.

85 minutes: Neither side is dominating at the moment.

82 minutes: Tanaka goes out and Okazaki comes on the field for Japan.

79 minutes: Japan had another excellent attack, but Tamada's head went just wide off the mark.

76 minutes: Corner for Japan.

72 minutes: Japan is on an all out attacking mood. Very unfortunate not to get any goal yet

69 minutes: Japan got a good chance but Australian defense again could hold on.

66 minutes: Some scary moments for Australia as Japan is in attacking mode.

64 minutes: Australia made their first change. Garcia comes in and Holman goes out. Japan got a corner.

62 minutes: Japan was in attack, but it was cleared in the end.

60 minutes: Two back-to-back corner for Japan, but nothing happened in the end.

58 minutes: Matsui goes out and Okuba comes in the field. Japan had a very good chance, but they missed it.

55 minutes: Neither side is dominating at this moment. Tanaka seems to be little injured now.

52 minutes: Good attack from Japan, but Australian defense was up to the mark.

49 minutes: Japan is attacking more at this moment.

46 minutes: Second half started just now.

45 minutes: It is now half time. The match is still goalless.

41 minutes: Australia got another excellent chance, but Japanese defense was up to the match.

38 minutes: Japan got a free kick, but nothing happened in the end.

34 minutes: Neither side is dominating at this moment.

32 minutes: There was a good attack from Japan in the right wing, but nothing happened in the end.

30 minutes: Australia is on attack now.

28 minutes: Japan is attacking more at this moment. Australian defense is facing strong challenge at this moment. There was a long range shot from Japan, but it went wide off the target.

26 minutes: Australia no. 8 was also shown yellow card.

24 minutes: Nakamura was tackled illegally and Japan was given another free kick.

22 minutes: Japan got a free kick just outside the penalty box and Australian no. 11 was shown yellow card. Australian goalkeeper successfully gripped it in the end.

20 minutes: Japan earned another corner.

18 minutes: Australia had a corner, but Japanese defense was excellent to block it.

16 minutes: Both sides are trying to dominate. Japan had two shots at target so far, while Australia had not any shot at target yet in the match.

14 minutes: Japan got a free kick from a dangerous area, but Australian defense was up to the mark.

12 minutes: Japan got a corner, but was poorly taken.

10 minutes: Australia is in attack now.

9 minutes: Australia had a good chance, but no Australian player could touch their head to the free kick.

7 minutes: Uchida was unmarked there, but he was later off side.

5 minutes: Japan got an excellent chance, but Tamada's little chip went off the target.

3 minutes: Japan seems to be in attacking mode.

1 minute: First attack of the match from Japan, but nothing happened in the end.

0 minute: The match has just started. Tim Cahill is in the first eleven of Australia.

Dear readers, the match will start very soon. Players are lining up in the field now. National anthem is being sung.

The match will kick off at 10:25 GMT on 11 February 2009 (Wednesday). We will try to give live score and updates of the match. So, come back to visit this blog that time.

Top Ten Footballers Who Never Won World Cup Football Championship

World Cup Football is the ultimate dream for any footballer. Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo are great footballers because they inspired their country to World Cup glory. However, there are some great footballers who could not win World Cup Champonship although they played in World cup. Sometimes, they were unlucky or sometimes they did not have enough good players in their team to take the team all the way. Here, I have made a list of 10 great players who never won any World Cup Championship.

Ferenc Puskás

This Hungarian footballer is another great footballer who could not touch the world cup. It is believed in the football world that The Hungarian football team in 1954 world cup was one of the best teams who could not win the cup. From the very beginning of the 1954 world cup Ferenc Puskás as well as his team was playing like the most favorite of the cup. However, they lost to West Germany by 3-2, whom they beat by 8-3 in the first round match.

Ferenc Puskás had a successful club football career mostly with Real Madrid, the famous Spanish club. He could score 155 goals appearing 179 matches for Real Madrid during his presence in the club from 1958 to 1967. Puskás also played for the Spain national team in 1961-62 but was not successful with Spain national team. He played 85 matches and scored 84 goals for Hungary national team.

Eusébio

This Portuguese football great is another unlucky footballer who could not win any world cup tournament in his career. Eusébio is considered as the most prolific Portuguese footballer and first great African striker. In his club football career, he played for Benfica, the most famous club of Portugal. Playing 301 matches, he could score 317 goals for the club.

Eusébio had a glorious international career with France national team. In 1966 world cup, he became the top goal scorer while his team got the third place. It was a tragedy for this famous footballer that showing a great performance, he could not lift the world cup. Eusébio became the European Footballer of The Year in 1965.

Johan Cruijff

Johan Cruijff (Cruyff) needs no introduction. He is often compared with Pele and Maradona. Cruyff was a highly gifted player and he became the European Footballer of the year for 3 consecutive times. He was more of an artist than a footballer. Cruyff made total football popular and he was the most famous name in total football. His golden moment came in World Cup Football 1974 in Germany. He took Netherlands to the final and Netherlands unfortunately lost to the host Germany in the final match. However, he was the best player in World Cup Football 1974.

Johan Cruijff refused to play in World Cup Football 1978 in Argentina as he protested against the military dictatorship in Argentina. Thus, he was an idealist too. Netherlands was in prime form at that time. Without Johan Cruijff, the Dutch team managed to become the runners-up again.

Alfredo Di Stéfano

There are many great footballers in the history who could not win the most prestigious world cup tournament. If you think that they were unlucky then it would be hard to define the fate of Alfredo Di Stéfano, an Argentine-born great footballer, as he could not even take part in any world cup tournament in his career.

This famous goal scorer is exception from another point of view. Di Stéfano played for three different nations in his career. Actually, he is well-known for his club success with one of the greatest Spanish club Real Madrid with whom he spent the most glorious time of his career. Di Stéfano still holds the record of the highest goal scorers of Real Madrid with 216 league goal in 262 matches. During his time in Real Madrid from 1953 to 1964, the Spanish club won 8 Spanish league championships and 5 European cups. In Real Madrid, Di Stéfano and Ferenc Puskás was a royal partner of the glorious days of the Spanish club.

In 150 and 1954 world cup tournament, his country Argentina did not take part so Alfredo Di Stéfano could not participate in those two world cup tournaments. Getting the Spanish citizenship in 1956, he hoped to take part in 1958 world cup but Spain did not qualify in that tournament. The last chance for Alfredo Di Stéfano was in 1962 world cup where Spain also qualified but a muscular injury did not let this famous footballer be a part of the history of world cup.

Zico

Zico was one of the famous Brazilian footballers in the history. His full name is Arthur Antunes Coimbra. He took part in the three world cup tournaments in his career for Brazil national team, but could never win the trophy. He is considered as one of the greatest footballers among the non-winners of world cup in the history. Zico spent his glorious club career with Flamengo, one of the best Brazilian football clubs. Zico could score 508 goals in 731 matches for Flamengo. Winning third place in 1978 was the best performance Zico got with Brazilian team.

Roberto Baggio

Roberto Baggio was the star of 1994 World Cup Football. He single handedly took Italy in the final and it was his penalty miss that destroyed Italy. So, he was both the hero and villain of Italy in World Cup Football 1994. He was a technically gifted football. Baggio first played in World Cup in 1990. He made a good impact and Italy lost to Argentina in the semi-final in penalty shootout. This is perhaps the most heart breaking moment for any footballer in the history of World Cup Football. Baggio also played in 1998 World Cup and he took Italy to quarter-finals in which Italy lost to the eventual winner France. Baggio surely deserves his name in the all time great of Football’s history. He scored in all the 3 World Cup events that he participated.

Michel Platini

Platini was surely very unlucky that he played in the same World Cup Football in 1986 with Diego Maradona. Platini played very well in that event but was completely overshadowed by Maradona. Platini was the cpatian of French Football Team and under his captaincy France became the number one team in Europe. Platini payed in 3 World Cup finals- 1978, 1982 and 1986. France reached the semi-finals and played against West Germany and France lost in penalty-shootout. In 1984, under his captaincy, France won European Championship. In 1986, Platini presented his best football and took France to the semi-finals. Again, France lost to West Germany. France became 3^rd in 1986 World Cup Football tournament. Platini was a magician of free kicks and he was superb in scoring goals from dead balls.

Socrates

Socrates was a great Brazilian footballer. He was a midfielder and he captained Brazlian football team in World Cup 1982 and 1986. In 1986, under his captaincy, Brazil was a mighty team and Socrates was the magician and main figure who tied the team. He was a very hard working midfielder and his blind heel pass was something to enjoy. Socrates had the ability to understand the game much better than most players of his time. He was not gifted like Maradona but he could inspire others much better than Maradona. In 1986 World Cup Football, Brazil lost to France in the quarter-finals in penalty shootout. If I am not wrong then Socrates missed a penalty in that match.

Michael Owen

Michael Owen is playing and he is one of the top players in World football today. He is very successful in both in the club and international level. Owen has played 3 World Cup so far- 1998, 2002 and 2006 and I think that he will play in 2010 World Cup Football too. Owen’s best performance came in 1998 World Cup. In that tournament, he looked solid and England was unlucky to lose to Argentina in the second round. He scored a memorable goal against Argentina in that match. Well, I feel that Owen is unlucky in the sense that England team did not have enough talented players to support him in the last 3 World Cup tournaments. He really deserves to be a World Cup winner. May be, he can do something in 2010.

Luis Figo

Luis Figo is another Portuguese great after Eusébio who could not win the world cup in his career. Like Eusébio, Luis Figo was the top most star of his country throughout his career and could show some tremendous performance to the world. However, unfortunately Figo failed to lift the world cup. In the last attempt in 2006 world cup, Figo led Portugal to achieve the fourth place of the tournament.

For club career, Figo played for Sporting C.P., Barcelona and Real Madrid. Dribbling is known as his best skill and he can do the skill efficiently from both the right and left wing. Currently he is playing in Italian league for Inter Milan.

Gabriel Batistuta

Gabriel Batistuta was not exactly a great player like Zico or Platini in the list but he was good at scoring goals. He was indeed the goal machine. He scored many goals in the club level in Italy but he was equally successful in international level. He helped Argentina to win Copa América in 1991 and 1993. In 1991 competition, he was the top scorer with 6 goals. He played in 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cup Football tournaments. He scored hat-tricks in 1994 and 1998 and he is perhaps the only player with this impressive record. Well, he was unlucky indeed that he did not have good team mates to back him up and win World Cup for Argentina.