Redstate Sports

Posted at 12:12am on May 22, 2008 In Which Pejman Goes Over To The Dark Side Of The Force

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I hate Manchester United.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:57pm on May 11, 2008 &%%$%$#!!!!!!!!

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Have I mentioned recently just how much I despise Manchester United?

No? Well, let me mention that I hate, despise, abhor and detest Manchester United with the white hot fury of a million supernovae.

I am looking forward to this fervently now. Chelsea will face Man. U. in the Finals and will have the chance it wants to take its revenge. I just might have to find my way to a sports bar to see if it happens.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:59pm on Apr. 30, 2008 It Really Is A Beautiful Game

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I have been tremendously neglectful in covering the various happenings in the English Premier League and the Champions League as well. But let it be noted that despite a tumultuous season--one that has seen the departure of a legendary club skipper and threats of players departing for other clubs--Chelsea will be playing in the Champions League final.

Wonderful news. Won't it be sweet beyond measure to beat Manchester United in the final now that Liverpool has been disposed of?

Posted in Soccer — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:53pm on Dec. 21, 2007 We interrupt - for a brief metric football interlude.

By docj

Champions League draw is out. Some of the must-see pairings...

Arsenal v. AC Milan
Roma v. Real Madrid
Inter Milan v. Liverpool

No easy pairings in this first knock-out round of course, but Man U looks likely to advance over Lyon without too much effort. Chelsea will likely cruise as will Porto. Look for Celtic to be surprisingly tough against Barcelona.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (7) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:56pm on Nov. 21, 2007 Heads. Will. Roll.

By docj

Look, I'm guessing that I'm all alone here at RSS with my soft-spot for metric football - but I don't think you even have to follow the sport very closely at all to know that this is going to be, well, news.

England's so-called golden generation sat dejected on the muddy field of Wembley Stadium, trying to drown out the celebratory cheers of Croatian fans.

That's right: needing only to draw Croatia - Croatia! - at home - in order to get out of the qualifying stages of the Euro 2008 tournament...

... they lost, 3-2.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:58pm on Sep. 19, 2007 A Change At Stamford Bridge

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Wow:

Jose Mourinho quit as manager of Chelsea late Wednesday, one day after the team was held to a 1-1 tie by Rosenborg in its European Champions League opener.

"Chelsea Football Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part company today by mutual consent," the English team said early Thursday on its Web site.

Chelsea is fifth in the English Premier League at 3-1-2 and plays at Manchester United on Sunday.

A tribute to Mourinho can be found here. It is correct in stating that his successor will have a tough act to follow and I have to believe that in the short term, at least, Chelsea will suffer as it seeks to acclimate itself to the change in leadership that is needed thanks to Mourinho's departure.

Whatever the circumstances leading to his resignation, Mourinho deserves massive amounts of credit for what he was able to achieve on Chelsea's behalf. He will be deeply missed.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:55pm on Sep. 17, 2007 Another Reason To Like Soccer

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

It does a body good.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:54pm on Aug. 12, 2007 In Which We Rejoice

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The English Premier League soccer season has begun. And Chelsea has gotten off on the right . . . oh, I won't say it. But here's the story, which hopefully bodes well for a recapture of the EPL Championship and should win Chelsea kudos for the record that it has set.

Let us not forget Chelsea's main rival, Manchester United. Today they tied. I imagine that Man. U. will work to get its act in order quickly, especially now that they are comforted in knowing that Wayne Rooney is not, in fact, injured.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:00pm on Aug. 5, 2007 A Harbinger?

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Manchester United's victory over Chelsea for the Community Shield had all of the hallmarks of Manchester United's win in the English Premier League race last year. Man. U. remained healthy and strong enough to win while Chelsea was racked with injuries anew. History, they say, repeats itself, first as a tragedy and then as a farce. If this is the case in the soccer world, then Chelsea fans are right to fear that in this coming season, the farce may be with them.

And needless to say, that's not quite what Chelsea fans had in mind.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:29pm on Jun. 26, 2007 All Hail The American Soccer Team

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Victory is theirs:

On any day in any setting against any opponent, U.S. national team midfielder Benny Feilhaber's goal would have been hailed for its brilliance -- a volley from 22 yards that blazed into the left side of the net in a blink of an eye. "Maybe it's one-in-a-thousand that you score that goal," teammate Landon Donovan calculated.

But when you consider the opponent (Mexico) and the environment (a sellout crowd of mostly Mexican fans at Soldier Field), the stakes (a regional championship known as Gold Cup) and the reward (a berth in a global event), Feilhaber's hefty swing of his right foot that produced a 2-1 victory will perhaps take on mythical status in this ever intensifying rivalry.

U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra called it "a special goal for a special game."

Special indeed. Congratulations to the American team. And let's hope that it enjoys more such successes--the better to place soccer on the map for Americans and to place American soccer on the map for the rest of the world.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:38pm on Jun. 24, 2007 The Whining Goes To Spain

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Thierry Henry has left Arsenal for Barcelona.

Henry is insufferable. I feel sorry for the Spaniards.

That is all.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:37pm on Jun. 24, 2007 Gooooooaaaaaalllllll!!!!!!!

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

USA! USA! USA!

But not without controversy

The United States men's national team remained on course Thursday to retain the Concacaf Gold Cup with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Canada in their semifinal at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Americans will meet archrival Mexico on Sunday afternoon.

A fine strike by Frankie Hejduk in the 39th minute and yet another Landon Donovan penalty on the stroke of halftime capped a commanding opening half for Bob Bradley's team, and the Americans seemed on course to cruise through the remainder of the match against a subdued Canada. But when substitute Iain Hume pulled a goal back for the visitor in the 76th minute, and United States midfielder Michael Bradley was sent off in the 88th minute with a straight red card, and then the Canadians had a legitimate goal by Atiba Hutchinson disallowed for offside by Mexican referee Benito Archundia in the dying seconds, you might be forgiven for thinking this was just another ride on the Concacaf rollercoaster for the United States.

If any controversy does end up following the United States into the final match, it would be a great pity. The U.S. has played brilliantly in the Gold Cup tournament and it certainly deserved to make its appearance in the finals free of any lingering doubt that it belongs there.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:31pm on Jun. 15, 2007 In Which I Could Be The Next Roman Abramovich

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I read this and registered here. I do not quite know, however, if I could handle the internal conflict if Chelsea were not chosen as the takeover team.

Also, there really should be an individual profit motive attached to this. I mean, come on.

Posted in Soccer — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:33am on Jun. 14, 2007 Did You Know That There Is A Gold Cup Tournament Going On In Soccer Right Now?

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Well, if you didn't, you do now. And the United States is doing very well in it--with very salutary results for the American team:

The United States men's soccer team, fresh off three straight first-round shutout victories in the Concacaf Gold Cup, is riding an eight-game unbeaten streak under the team's new coach, Bob Bradley.

Though the Americans have not faced the same international competition they did last summer at the World Cup, FIFA has taken notice. The United States moved up 13 places to No. 16 in the monthly ranking of the world's soccer teams.

The U.S. team, on the heels of its first-round elimination from last summer's World Cup in Germany, had plummeted to No. 31 in the FIFA rankings last November after rising to an eye-popping No. 4 in April 2006, only two months before the start of the World Cup. Bruce Arena, the United States national team coach at the time, scoffed at the lofty status bestowed on his team by FIFA, but was concerned that it artificially raised expectations before the World Cup.

Let's not artificially raise expectations again, but this is good news for the American team and hopefully will turn more people on to American soccer.

Meanwhile: Go USA! Bring back that Gold Cup!

Posted in Soccer — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:51pm on May 23, 2007 There Are Two Groups Of Broken-Hearted Sports Fans

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The first group of fans are those whose teams are beaten in a playoff-like atmosphere and then, as a consequence, root for the team that vanquished their favorite team to win the championship match in question. The thinking goes like this: "Sure, I'm upset that Team X beat my favorite team, but if they go on to be champions, I won't feel as bad because I can just say that my team lost to the eventual champions."

The second group of fans are those whose teams are beaten in a playoff-like atmosphere and then, as a consequence, hope that the team that broke the hearts of those fans get vanquished in turn. This allows the broken-hearted fans to enjoy (extremely) vicarious revenge.

Read on . . .

Posted in Soccer — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Read More »