Cup consolation for Real

First, a salute to Beckham who's decided his boots at the end of the year. Same year as SAF, Paul Scholes and Phil Neville, who have defined Man Utd for the past 20 years. Becks is simply the best crosser of the ball I have ever seen. No-one can bend it like Beckham. Also, Becks is the best free-kick taker in the 25-30 yard range I have ever seen. Zidane could have been the best below 25 yards but Becks had deadly aim at longer ranges. Although he's won in 4 different leagues, I'm pretty sure he would be as equally happy or more so playing all his career at Old Trafford, like Giggs and Scholes. The fact that he's really stayed a humble guys throughout his massive on and off-field successes say a lot about the man. A real rare true icon.

Tonight sees the Copa del Rey final between Real and Atletico Madrid. On one hand, there's a divided Real team whose manager Mourinho has burnt all of his bridges to the club and is on his way out. On the other, Atletico will try to use these apparent conflicts to finally secure a win over their city rivals. This final also pits 2 men who've never lost a final, I believe; Mourinho and Falcao have been in quite a few important ones and always found a way to win. Falcao always seems pumped for these kinds of occasions.

My verdict is that Real Madrid will prevail. The final being at their home Bernabeu gives them a massive advantage. It is a mountain to climb for Atletico. I don't give much credence to the theory that Real will be hampered by the stories of disarray in which the club seems to embroiled; that Mourinho has lost the locker room etc. He may have lost the players' esteem but they are still a strong force that can cause damage when playing in unison. They can still rely on CR7 to put them on the score sheet. Atletico's best chance will be for it to go to the lottery of penalties. I think Real will settle this game sooner than that.

Win Copa: Real Madrid

Football preview

Had a good round last week-end with 8 correct selections out of 10. As usual, I stayed away from the mid-week international friendlies which I believe are a waste of time punt-wise.  Zlatan Ibrahimovic's 4th goal against England was however, worth a look and is one for the ages.

The greatest goal I have seen (just my opinion) is Negrete's bicycle kick, outside the box, in World Cup 86 in the match between Mexico and Bulgaria. Zlatan's overhead kick was also outside the box, actually further from goal, at a full 30 yards. Whether he's a choker in big games or not, no one can doubt that the Swede can score wonder goals; recall the brushed side-heel one he scored against Italy in the 2004 European Championship.

Back to League football where Chelsea and Man City are huffing and puffing at the moment and Man Utd have seized the opportunity to comfortably shoot up at the top of the EPL in recent weeks. Here are my thoughts on this week-end's round of matches.

Arsenal v/s Tottenham. The hosts are beset by injuries and uneven form, so they might be upset here. Much of their chances will reside on whether Walcott can play or not. Tottenham will certainly be giving them all they can handle. This Derby looks set to result in a lot of goals, and I will go with a safe selection of Tottenham with a +1 goal handicap.

Liverpool v/s Wigan. Much depends on what type of Wigan shows up. They were disappointing in losing at home to WBA last week-end. Suarez is on fire for Liverpool but it remains to be seen how long more he can shoulder the goal scoring responsibilities for the club. The result of this match can go either way.

Man City v/s Villa. Got to go with the hosts here, even though they are struggling mightily. European Cup failure, I believe, is weighing heavily on the players' and manager's minds. I have changed my mind about this Villa team; under Lambert, they have become a decent and much better side than under the McLeish regime. Benteke can cause problems for the City defence. Still at the end, I cannot see the Villains taking the 3 points, and I see City as a safe draw-no-bet selection.

Newcastle v/s Swansea. Newcastle came up with a nugget at home to West Ham last week-end and it would be surprising if they suffered 2 successive home defeats, even though they will be missing some key players in Cabaye, Coloccini and potentially striker Cisse. I will trust them with a draw-no-bet against a Swansea team that have a few injury issues of their own. if fully-fit, Demba Ba could be set to end his goal drought of the past couple of games.

QPR v/s Southampton. QPR will not have as good an occasion to aim for 3 points here than against lowly Southampton. If they are to survive the relegation battle, this is a must win for them. They are getting a few key players back and should enjoy a better remaining part of the campaign. Southampton are struggling on the road and will be equally keen to capitalize on any chances Rangers will provide them. I give QPR home advantage here and have the hosts as a draw-no-bet.

Reading v/s Everton. This could very well be yet another win for Everton. They have been impressive since the start of the season, and are led by an inspiring Fellaini. Reading will have to come up with their A-game and their usually-flaky defence will be put to the test against the powerful Toffees. Everton is another draw-no-bet selection.

West Brom v/s Chelsea. The Baggies showed they were a good force to reckon with at home when they went toe-to-toe with Man City a few weeks ago, albeit with one extra man. Chelsea will have to be at their best to get the win. This match can go either way, so I'll sit on the fence on this one.

Norwich v/s Man Utd. Last year, the Red Devils were somewhat lucky to snatch victory with the game's last kick through the ever-green Ryan Giggs. I think they will re-iterate this year with another win. Van Persie, Chicharito are on fire and even though Rooney might miss the call, they are sufficiently potent in attack to make the difference. The visitors are a win selection.

Fulham v/s Sunderland. This is the game where Sunderland could spring a shock. They nearly did it at Goodison Park last week and it would not be a stretch to think that they can go and beat a Fulham team that is leaking goals in abundance in their last matches. Sunderland with a +1 handicap is the value bet of the week-end.

West Ham v/s Stoke. Stoke like parking the bus on the road; West Ham have good form at home. This could very well end up in a draw. I'll abstain on this one.

In the rest of Europe, I see wins for Inter, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Dortmund, Bayern and PSG.

Win: Man Utd, Inter, Real, Barcelona, Valencia, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, PSG
Draw-no-bet: Man City, Newcastle, QPR, Everton,
Handicap +1: Tottenham, Sunderland

Olympic moment

Maybe the greatest spectacle on earth, the Summer Olympics get underway in London. To me, only the World Cup of football garners better prestige and attention. As all Olympics, there will be drama, great stories that will unfold, unsung heroes will come to the fore, and inevitably drug-related scandals will surface. In the end, many moments will be there to be remembered for a lifetime.

The Olympics is not the forte of this blog, but there are some screaming certainties over the week-end that cannot be missed. In tennis, the quadruple of Ferrer/Federer/Djokovic/Del Potro should be winning their first matches and will do a good accumulator. In swimming, Lochte and Phelps should do a 1-2, in any order, in the 400m medley. In basketball, the US men's and women's team should make it a double against France and Croatia. In fact, US should go all the way to gold in both events.

The biggest value lay so far is the GB team in soccer. I don't see them winning gold. In fact, they'll be lucky to win a medal. If I am to border on the sarcastic, the only 3 good things in this team is Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs and Ryan Giggs. Okay, I'm sounding overly negative, but with Stuart Pearce at the helm and the horrible show they've portrayed in the last few games, including a drab 1-1 draw against Senegal, how can one not be despondent on their chances? This is not an event where Brits should have their spirits high on.

Besides the Olympics, it's racing in the US that takes the eye on Sunday with the running of the Haskell. It's gathered a small field of 6, but with 3 main pretenders in Paynter, Gemologist and Dullahan. I favour the first 2 here. Although Dullahan was a fast-finishing third in the Kentucky Derby, he is winless on the dirt and it looks that he looks better on synthetics. Gemologist hasn't been seen since his flop in the Derby but connections sound confident that he is back to form. Whenever Todd Pletcher gives an air of confidence, it's generally a positive thing regarding the expectations on the horse. Paynter looks a really good colt from the Baffert stable. He was just touched off by Union Rags in the Belmont Classic and he is the deserving favourite of the race. I see Gemologist and Paynter in the first 2 in any order, so an exacta is my confident punt here.

Exacta: Paynter-Gemologist.

Lay: GB soccer team to win gold

Parking the bus

Man City & Chelsea won, Newcastle drew, and Tottenham was thrashed against nemesis Arsenal despite taking a 2-goal lead.

Harry Redknapp is an excellent manager, possibly the best English one out there, but you get the feeling that sometimes his teams can play in a kamikaze way such that leading by two goals does not mean an automatic 3 points. He just does not park the bus in front of goal. Contrast this with Mourinho where his team will never lose whenever they have a 2-goal margin. Different managerial styles and different effectiveness as well. Hopefully whenever Redknapp gets the England job, he will ensure that the result is the only thing counting; spectacular football does not exist or count in international football!

Ryan Giggs is just an amazing footballer. Not counting his 900th EPL game, simply look at his winning goal for the Man Utd in the last second of their match at Norwich. Coolness personified. The guy's is rightly a legend among the Old Trafford faithful and at thirty-eight, he is still one of the best out there! He goes past youngsters as if he were in his twenties!

At the end of the week-end, Man City look as strong as ever. The return of Tevez will help them. Man Utd will keep the pressure and it will come down to how mentally good Mancini and his men are. The title is theirs to lose and they have got it all to prove. They definitely look good value from the recommendation on them months ago.

In horse racing in the US, the trials for the Kentucky Derby are coming fast and furious and this week-end saw the impressive return of Union Rags. He looks the part and although it's too early to have any type of punt on the race, he's the deserving front-runner at this point. The last few years have been such prominent types in the market being jinxed by injuries prior to the race etc, hopefully this colt will have a chance to prove his worth come the first week of May.

No way for Wales

A few races of note over the week-end as well as the European qualifiers, but nothing to really crow about in the world of racing or football.

So You Think won the Champion stakes race at Leopardstown beating the good filly Snow Fairy by half a length. After this race, it's hard to have a gauge of the real ability of SYT. If he had won by much more, as was expected, he would have possibly confirmed being the best in the world from the 10-12 furlong distance. The fact that he struggled to win more convincingly could be attributed to his 2 month lay-off, or that Snow Fairy was at the top of her game, which is not far from the truth after 2 conditional outings. Still, deep down, SYT connections and supporters, like myself, will no doubt have been disappointed with the manner of the win.

England is expected to beat Wales today for the Euro qualifiers and I certainly think they will. Wales is a sad sight in international football and I wish it was otherwise. Sad because over the years, they have produced world-class players of the likes of Neville Southall, Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale along with decent players like Hartson, Speed, Bellamy, but never been able to make them work as a team. The closest that they came to being competitive were a few years ago when Mark Hughes was at the helm. He produced wondrous results such as beating Italy but came just short at the end. Had he continued and not gone back to club football, maybe the success of the Welsh team would have continued. But I don't see much hope of them being a premier team for now or years to come. To become that, they would need a first-class manager, not a newcomer who's learning the ropes of management. But again, which first-rate manager would want to manage the team, one has to ask. It's too bad because a talent like Gareth Bale would benefit heaps playing European Championships and World Cups. England to win is the recommendation.

Win: England

Impressive Devils

This Man Utd team is good. Actually it is very good. That second half from the Red Devils was impressive in many ways. Tottenham were simply overwhelmed when they tried to keep up the pace with the young hosts.

This reminds me of the famous Fergie babes when the likes of Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Nevilles stormed European football with their skills and youthful drive. If it can have stability of the back, this team will be up to great things. The speed of its play is just phenomenal. Ashley Young adds the trickery to the left just like Nani does on the right. Danny Wellbeck looks to be developing as a first-rate striker and his physicality holds no fears for the demands of the Premiership. If Anderson stays healthy and continues to score, he will be a major force in midfield.

Carrick, Berbatov, Ferdinand, Gibson all look to be playing only a bit part, unless injuries start hampering this very impressive Utd team.Without getting too carried away by one match, it seems Fergie has just revealed another great team. No doubt he couldn't care less about Sneijder. On last night's display, on the basis of his wage demands alone, he would be surplus to requirements.

This is a long season indeed but the 2 Manchester teams have already shown that they will be major players for the Premiership title and in Europe.

Man Utd laughing at Chelsea again!

Man Utd just finished beating Chelsea to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League for a winning recommendation. The two Utd goals were again assists from the ever-green Giggs. The guy is just amazing; at 36, he's as, or even more decisive now than he was a few years ago! Stuff of legends, really. As for Chelsea, the season is over, and the critics already have their knives out; Torres, 50-million dollar man, no goal. The rebuilding process should be starting soon, I reckon. At least, Terry will stop his non-sense talk that Chelsea still have a successful season ahead of them, something he's been repeating after they've been out of contention from every competition!

Tomorrow, Real Madrid and Schalke should book the remaining spots of the semi-finals. More non-sense talk as some voices from Tottenham talk of possibility of advancing... I suppose, to be fair, they have to believe in something, or else what's the point of playing? But the chances of them advancing are really nil (unless Real get disqualified for some reason). They might win the match, they might beat some other team by 4 goals (e.g., Inter), but they won't beat a team coached by Mourinho by 4 goals. There is no manager better at managing a  result and parking the bus than the Portuguese. Even Barcelona with one extra man could only put 1 against Inter last year at the Nou Camp. So how can Spurs, whose coach has never beaten Mourinho in 6 tries, do it? No, Real will qualify and any odds on offer for this is really free money. As for the final result of the match, any of the 2 teams can win this game, so no recommendation on the outcome.

Chance for Arsenal to close the gap

Real Madrid came out of Lyon with an invaluable away goal which could prove decisive for the second leg. It looks Chelsea are certain to go through after winning at Copenhagen. On Wednesday, Man Utd travel to Marseille for a tricky encounter. The Red Devils are being hit with a sort of mini injury-crisis with the likes of Ferdinand and Giggs missing the trip, and Ji-Sung Park and Anderson potentially out for 3-4 weeks and more. They still have enough firepower to score away goals, and they will be relieved to hear that the French team will be missing a couple of key players as well. No recommendations on that one as you just cannot know what kind of team will show up with the injury toll.

For punting, I like Arsenal's chances against Stoke. The Gunners are in good form, and will be keen not to miss bagging 3 points at home and reduce the gap with Man Utd at the top. Van Persie will be favourite to be on-target again, but there are other Gunners that are doing well enough presently to be on the score sheet notably Arshavin. A draw-no-bet on Arsenal is recommended.

Draw-no-bet: Arsenal

Man Utd beware: Stoke are no push-overs

Real Madrid won as they edged a tight game against Getafe. The fact that I had that as draw-no-bet meant it was never a concern even should Getafe had managed to pull level at any point in the match. I really like that kind of unfolding.

Back to the Premier League on Tuesday, and I might be in the minority saying this, but I think that it won't be 3 easy points for Man Utd against Stoke. My concern with this Utd team is their lack of cover of wingers, after the unavailabilities of Park and Nani. Valencia is out for long, Giggs can't take on half-backs at his age, and Obertan doesn't inspire confidence after a horrible game against West Brom. This should be a worry for a team whose mainstay has been relying on the pace of wide men to open up defences. On the road, they can afford to play with 3 centre midfielders, but they aren't as efficient using that scheme at Old Trafford because the other team is just packing their midfield in front of their defence. On the other hand, Stoke are no push-overs by any means, and have some good late form behind them. Kenwyne Jones is bound to be a handful for Utd's defence as he's been in the past. Unless the hosts score early, I can see this game going goal-less for a long while until either team scores the decisive winner. As I write this, Rooney, Evra and Nani are doubtful, so that's another negative for Fergie's men. Utd could still edge this at the end of 90 minutes because they still have lots of quality, but I reckon one or two plays could decide this match. No recommendation from me on this one, but I just wanted to caution those that are freely laying Stoke in this encounter, that they could be in for a nail-biting afternoon, in my opinion.