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Week 6 (December 10th & 11th)
Every soccer fan knows this match-up of two
proud clubs is always worth the price of admission! Both sides came
out with a quiet intensity that told everyone this match-up was
going to be special. Liverpool, which has struggled for points thus
far in this year's campaign but has been steadily improving each
week, came out and showed some great ball movement. Mid-fielders
Erik Stanislav and Scott Jeub really got Liverpool's attack moving
forward with some excellent combinations; however, Chelsea's interior
defense anchored by Jacob Clatanoff and Sean Nakamura (who found
his way to the stadium on time this week much to the relief of the
Chelsea faithful) proved equal to the task and turned Liverpool
away scoreless in the first half. Jefferson Lu, who is recovering
from the flu (perhaps too many late nights at Liverpool's famous
Jade Garden establishment mingling with the city's movers &
shakers is to blame). Neverless, when "J Lu" takes to
the pitch he always gives maximum effort and this Friday night was
no exception. Chelsea's relentless attack managed only one score
the first half.
In the second half both offensives really opened up. Liverpool evened
the match at 1-1 on a brilliant pass from Bill Bovard to Ian Cameron
who made a difficult one touch shot into the far post. Moments later,
Bill (the Blaze) Bovard went solo and scored after showing some
fast and creative footwork to give Liverpool the lead. Chelsea responded
quickly with some outstanding give and go's by newly acquired Cody
and Nate to pull even and eventually go ahead. With both sides playing
well and Chelsea having scratched out a 2 goal lead, the crowd seemed
resigned to a Chelsea victory until Chelsea's Coach made an inexplicable
move to pull his talented goal keeper out and place rookie keeper
Sean Nakamura in. Liverpool sensing "fresh meat" stepped
up the attack and took some more chances offensively. The result
was some fast and furious action that lead to several promising
opportunities for Liverpool. After making the first stop, Sean gained
confidence and provided Chelsea with several more beautiful saves.
This was an excellent match with many highlights and both clubs
improving their play as this season approaches the tournament.
The Netherlands (UPI)
Inter strode into Philips stadium hoping to continue their march
through the Champions league. "Facing a Dutch squad filled
with youthful excellence can present many challenges" said
the Inter coach. Despite an artful display by the young Dutch masters,
the squad from the land of the Medici ruled the day. Strikers Jaeger
and Potter each found the back of the net on two occasions. Venturing
forward from the back to score were Weber twice and B Keller once.
The Italians now stand atop the leader board due to their amount
of goals scored.
Some might vote this the best match of the Champions League. Back
and forth the entire 40 minutes, it was the squad from Amsterdam
that eventually took home the victory. So excited were the Dutch
that they left all game statistics at the mall during their victory
induced shopping spree.
Bayern came into the match expecting to play the powerful German
squad of Hannover 96. Little did they know the men of Hannover elected
to attend the world famous Creighton Prep Dance instead of playing
futsal. The fans in Hannover have vowed that forgiveness will not
be easily given to their home team. Thus, the always ready team
from White Hart Lane was brought in to battle the mighty Germans.
A hard fought match by all - it was the Spurs who took home the
victory. Tottenham leads the Champions League in scoring with 65
goals.
AC Milan followed their cross-town rivals, Inter, into the Bernabau,
to face the young Galaticos of Real Madrid. The atmosphere of this
evening match was electric. The experience of Milan versus the youthful
promise of the talent rich Madrid side. On this day experience won
out. Fueled by Kourtney Shevchenko (pronounced Frank) and Margaret
Inzaghi (pronounced Powers), the Milanese side struck for eight
goals. Despite their youth, the lads of Madrid displayed a real
fighting spirit, and considerable on ball skills.
(Camp Nou, Barcelona Spain)
This evening the Barcelona soccer club took the field against a
very determined Rangers club. Barcelona and the Rangers were hoping
to salvage something from a season that has been up and down. Early
into the match the play was tight as neither team was willing to
open up the field of play. It looked as if both teams were waiting
for the other team to make a mistake. With the Rangers scoring the
first goal, this gave them a false sense of security and Barcelona
came roaring back with a goal off of a misplayed ball by the Rangers.
With the match knotted at one goal each the tension on the field
lifted like an early morning fog. The Rangers were short handed
as 3 of their players were overcome with food poisoning and just
too ill to play. The remaining players battled on and eventually
were able to secure a victory on Kirsten Carlsen's third goal of
the night making the score 4-2. This would prove to be the final
goal of the match. The Rangers once again received stellar play
from their newly discovered keeper Blair Archer. Ellie Davidson
had an unbelievable game pushing the offensive tempo of the game.
Lindsey Wilson finally showed why the Rangers were willing to trade
2 players for her in the fall. She demonstrated superior defensive
foot skills. Katie Winehauf and Lindsay Hoag both put in very gritty
performances themselves. After the game head coach Chris Wilson
just could not say enough about his teams play. "It is like
a light switch finally went on" he stated. "I am always
proud of these girls, but tonight I was especially proud as we were
short handed. They never gave up. Now they understand why I have
them do all of that extra cardiovascular training in the off season".
The Rangers had the biggest gain in the standings this week jumping
8 spots. Barcelona supporters were excited to see their team play
one of their best games all season. Their two scores doubled their
goals for the season and sends them with confidence into this week's
match against Feyenoord Rotterdam.
This South American show-down did not disappoint. Kevin Chesire
anchored the shut-out win for River Plate with his outstanding goal
keeping. Mark Wallace broke the scoreless match open with a goal
midway through the first half. Adam Fleming scored twice in the
second half to cement the win for the South Americans. River Plate
jumped 7 spots in the standings this week, second only to the Ranger's
8 spots.
(No report filed by Boca Jr.'s)
OLYMPIQUE LYON 1
SCHALKE 04 5
(Press Release from Schalke 04 manager Hick)
"A well played game that saw a lot of action. The game was
much closer this time compared to our last game with Lyons. Lindsay
scored first for Schalke 04 and then Courtney and Gigi added additional
goals."
(No report filed by Olympique Lyon)
INTER MILANHIGHBURY GUNNERS 1
(Taken from Inter Milan Website)
Returning to the friendly confines of the
San Siro, Inter forged ahead towards their goal of Champions league
glory. The young guns of Highbury led by the immortal James
Dean, took the pitch as rebels with a cause. With a giant effort,
the Gunners pressed the squad from Milan, trailing by two at the
intermission. Energized by their home fans Inter struck four times
in the second half. Berner provided two, with Potter, Jaeger, Weber
and Watts each scoring once. "Ever closer", remarked coach
Dean, "We are just a little east of eden". Coach Trenari
(Sicilan spelling) was heard to remark, "It was glorious game,
a beautiful day for football under the Tuscan sun."
London Times -
Both teams came into today's match riding winning streaks. The Highbury
Gunners were winners of their last four games while Inter Milan
has won all five of the games they have played. Inter Milan found
the back of the net twice in the first half and took that lead into
halftime. Inter added 4 more goals in the second half while the
Highbury Gunners only found the net once. Highbury's lone goal was
scored by Garrett Andrews (on loan from Old Trafford) when he took
the ball down the left side of the field and ripped a left foot
shot into the side netting. The Gunners were missing their two (PJ
Anderson & Marshall Anderson) leading scorers due to suspension
for breaking a team rule. An unknown source reported that the Anderson
twins broke the team curfew rule (12:00am) and were seen by journalist
dancing in a Milan night club with two Italian models until 3:30am.
The Gunner's will try to rebound next week when they face the other
team from Milan, AC Milan.
The fans from both sides were buzzing at the conclusion of this
glorious match. Red Devil's fans excited from the outcome, ecstatic
over the play of their keeper. Home fans of the San Siro wondering
aloud at the coaches decision to put one of teams leading scorers
in goal trailing by two at the break. Going down by two in the early
moments of the match, left the coaching staff obviously confused.
How else can one explain the halftime substitution. Early second
half the Reds made it 3-0, but Milan players refused to quit. A
furious rally at the end brought the crowd to its feet. Twice Milan
scored to narrow the gap to one, but the rally fell short. The brilliant
display by the Red Devil keeper had thwarted the Italian squad.
This reporter overheard a fan say, "If his wife wasn't Sicilian,
he'd be sleeping with the fishes". More to come on the fans
reaction to coach Carlo Ancelotti-Trenari puzzling decision.
Juventus fans partied into the morning as their home team brought
the faithful their first win of this Champions League. So joyful
were the fans that their celebrations brought down telephone polls,
satellite dishes, computer modems and some people were even seen
shooting passenger pigeons - the point is, we have no game statistics
from this game.
(No game reports submitted - or they went
down with the pigeons.)
With only two Crystal Palace players available for this match a
last minute trade was made sending Karl Ostrand, James Dean, and
Andy Staberg to the Crystal Palace side. With James Dean dominating
in the goal, the team from Selhurst Park took it to the mighty men
from Tottenham. The crowd at White Hart Lane gave their keeper "Alex
- I will use anything to block a shot" a standing ovation after
he stopped a blistering shot with the side of his face. Walking
of the pitch he was quoted "Hey, real men make big saves!!
Just give me some Gatorade, I'll be back".
PSV's manager Kruse said..."Hey, am I excited
about the big donut? No- but I'm always proud of my boys. We just
need to remember - donuts are for eating, not scoreboards.
(No game statistics available)
CHARLTON ATHLETIC
4 AS MONACO 0
The only match information submitted was that Ashley Frolio
scored 4 goals to spark the Charlton Athletic Squad. Charlton leads
the Champions League with only 9 goals scored against.
BOCA JUNIORS 4
FEYENOORD ROTTERDAM 2
(Taken from the Feyenoord Website)
Very good, competitive game. Elle scored our first goal and Phoebe
added a second later in the half. All our girls played hard and
gave the boys everything they wanted. Good goalie play by Lindsee,
Miranda, Phoebe and Elle. Lots of good footwork and passing by all
the girls including Taylor and Morgan.
(No Boca report submitted)
NEWCASTLE 3 CELTIC
0
No game report submitted for either team. A few fans leaving
the stadium said they couldn't remember the score but that Newcastle
had won. Have another? The Champions League rules committee decided
without enough information they would give Newcastle the victory
with the score 3-0. All the world awaits this weekends games as
both Celtic and Newcastle take on mighty Tottenham for the "revenge
match of the century". Tickets are said to be going for 1000
pounds for one seat.
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