Playoffs News - Surprise Sting On Manu's Spurs

Oh boy are we going to have another long series again. After trailing by 11 points in the first half, the New Orleans Hornets won the first game by 19 beating Spurs 101-82. If there one thing that the Spurs could learn is that these Hornets really do mean business when they arrive here.

If there is one thing that I need to be surprise was Tim DUNCAN erratic game tonight, posting just 5 points. The likes of PARKER, BOWEN and FINLET step up their game but wasn't just enough.

Manu GINOBILI did everything he could to provide the much needed damage limitation with a team high performance, posting 19 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists & 1 steal. Fabricio OBERTO, also from the bench, just manages 1 point, 6 rebounds, 1 steal & 2 block shot.

With the home court advantage not on their side, Spurs will have to re-group for Game 2 before the series heads back to Texas.

A Goal From Carlitos, Kun & Ayala

If there is one thing that sometime people don't realize about Carlos TEVEZ is that he scores during special occasions. Yesterday was that different at all. Against the same club he help to save them from relegation, for the same club he actually scored against last season.

RONALDO might have been busy picking up awards here and there, but in this match anything he has done was overshadowed by TEVEZ 30 yard powerful strike. More importantly, the result will certainly put the pressure back on Chelsea who have to beat Newcastle to stay in contention for the Premiership crown.

In Spain, with Leo FRANCO, Maxi RODRIGUEZ and Kun AGUERO all starting, Atlético Madrid badly needed to win against Recreativo to tighten their grip for a place in next season Champions League.

Captain Maxi created the second goal with a powerful run down the right and his low pass into the six-yard box was slotted home by Kun, his 18th goal of the season. But the day belong to birthday boy Ingacio CAMACHO who scored two goals.

What has actually really happen to Real Zaragoza this season? Last season there were one of the front runners for a place in the Champions League and Diego MILITO was every La Liga defenders worst nightmare.

At the start of today match against Deportivo La Coruña, they are lying in the relegation spot. With Recreativo losing to Atlético, a win is a must to see them moving out of the bottom three.

For one moment it looked like it wasn't going to just happen for until Roberto AYALA scored a dramatic winner in the 94th minute. He even cried after scoring that goal.

Playoffs News - Jazz Ends Scola's Dreams

They did everything they could to force Game 7 but just couldn't muscle against a Jazz that is more than superior at home. Perhaps they key factor here was that two defeat the Rockets suffered at home.

So once again Tracy McGRADY will say goodbye to the post season in the first round. As Luis SCOLA he will look back at what has been in fantastic season in his NBA debut.

He started off as a bench player struggling for minutes and often getting into foul troubles. Slowly he was getting use to the pace and eventually became a core figure in Rick ADELMAN plans for the Rockets. Tonight was just one of his usual contribution, 15 points, 9 rebounds and 1 block shot.

I feel he will leave this season with plenty of highs as he is a proven gem in the NBA. And the Rockets must look forward to next season with plenty of optimism, especially when YAO Ming returns from injury.

Go gets some rest Luis, Beijing 2008 is waiting for you.

A great article about TEVEZ in The Telegraph

We at Mundo Albiceleste love Carlos TEVEZ and every player that represents Argentina in sports and so we take pride on every achievement he and other players (in football or other disciplines) reach.

But this time, it's not our biased view that graces an article about Carlos TEVEZ. This is a great piece that Jim White wrote for The Telegraph and I thought I'd share it with all of you.

It's an English expert view on TEVEZ tactical and emotional influence in Alex FERGUSON's Manchester United that is well worth a read.

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/04/30/sfnman130.xml

Apart from this very good article, I think you should take some time to read the comments below.

It looks like United supporters and English football fans are starting to appreciate what we, Argentina fans, have known for a long long time. Carlitos is one of the World's hardest workers and best clutch performers. Period.

A Hero In St. Petersburg

The time was 12.25am and though I had to wake up early for work but I wasn’t keen to doze off just yet as on TV it was the UEFA Cup semi-final action between FC Zenit St. Petersburg and Bayern Munich. There is no way I could afford to miss such a game.

As would you all have expected, my main focus is definitely on Bayern’s Martin DEMICHELIS and Jose Ernesto SOSA (provided if he comes in). Not to mention, Bayern’s reputation is much bigger for a competition like the UEFA Cup.

But you should never count Zenit out? They were the underdogs but there has to be something special about them since they have defeated the likes of Villareal, Marseille and Bayer Leverkusen to come this far.

Upon viewing the starting line up, I had one good reason to pay attention to them. A certain Albiceleste by the name of Alejandro DOMINGUEZ was playing for them.

In what turns to be historical day for the Russian side, DOMINGUEZ stole the show from his more illustrious countrymen on the opposite side. He was instrumental in setting up two goals in FC Zenit 4-0 win.

The first was a well-timed pass for Konstantin ZYRIANOV, which put Zenit 2-0 up.

The second one was even more fantastic. He breezed past Philip LAHM from the right before rolling a masterpiece grounder for Pavel POGREBNYAK, who fired the fourth goal of the game. There was huge ovation for him from the home fans when he was substitute in the 89th minute.

Both DEMICHELIS and SOSA (who came in the second half for the injured Miroslav KLOSE) played well. Especially Martin who was ever presents posing threats from set pieces situations. SOSA had a shot on goal. But it just wasn’t to be their day.

The other semi-final match was between the heavily favourite, Fiorentina against Glasgow Rangers. In what turns out to be another surprise, it wasn’t to be for Mario SANTANA & Co. as Rangers defeated them on penalties.

With that conclusion, we can now say that we will have a representative in both UEFA club competition finals. Just hope the outcome will better than it was last season.

Vamos Tuzos!!!

From the excitement of European Club Competition, we now take you to across the Atlantic Ocean to look at another intriguing club competition taking place in Mexico. Living in Malaysia, it's not that often you get live coverage from North America. So since today it is a public holiday here, I'm not going to miss this chance of watching my first CONCACAF Champions Cup Final.

Congratulation to both Christian GIMENEZ and Damian ALVAREZ, as they together with CF Pachuca of Mexico are the winner of the 2008 edition.

Goals by GIMENEZ and Luis Gabriel REY gave their side a 2-1 win over Costa Rican side CD Saprissa and its second consecutive Champions Cup title.
The Tuzoz as they are known, won the home and away series 3-2 on aggregate after playing to a 1-1 draw last week at Saprissa. Now, they will represent that region in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup to be held in Japan in December.

Once again, VAMOS TUZOS!!!

No ticket to Moscow for MASCHE

He fought the good fight but it simply wasn't enough. Javier MASCHERANO played for 120 minutes on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge but he couldn't help a Liverpool side that this time fell short and won't have the chance to meet the old rival, Manchester United, in what would have been a sensational Champions League final. Instead, it'll be Chelsea the team that will take on Carlitos and his friends on 21 May in Moscow.

Javier had a solid game (as usual) but Liverpool couldn't built on the momemtum they got after Fernando TORRES cancelled Didier DROGBA's opening goal.

With that 1-1 score the match went to extra time and after an early Liverpool charge, it was all blue in the first 15 minutes. Michael ESSIEN had a goal disallowed for offside on DROGBA but soon after that, HYYPIA downed BALLACK inside the box for Frank LAMPARD to convert from the spot in a very emotional time of his life as he's just lost his mother.

Liverpool were stunned and Rafa BENITEZ decided to replace his talismanic 30-goal striker Fernando TORRES with Ryan BABEL. I didn't quite understand that substitution but we don't know Rafa's reasons and El Niño can very well be injured or just wasn't ready to go a full 120 minutes.

In what looked like an offside position, Nicolas ANELKA sent a cross to DROGBA and the Ivory Coast international scored the 3-1 that look to be enough to send the blues to their first ever Champions League final.

HYYPIA got the ball in the Chelsea box and was clearly fouled by DROGBA, but the referee didn't award the penalty kick to Liverpool as the clock and the result were the Reds' worst enemies.

With only 4 minutes to go in the match, Ryan BABEL added a little extra drama with a rocket from 40 metres that was just too powerful for Petr CECH and Liverpool had a lifeline. But it wasn't to be.

MASCHE ran all night but the reward wasn't a trip to Moscow to face his friend Carlitos. He'll just have to wait.

Playoffs News - Cold Manu & Fiery Scola

San Antonio Spurs 92 Phoenix Suns 87

Finally we can all breath much easier. Just as I thought, this game is going to go down the wire. Both had their reasons to feel motivated; the Suns wanted to revive this series while the Spurs wanted to finish off. Well the Suns tried but it was the Spurs that achieved its goal.

Manu GINOBILI was cold all night, only managing to post 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Phoenix might have done a good job containing him for the entire game but not towards the end of it.


Among those points were crucial free throws that allowed the Spurs to gain a comfortable lead before winning this game. With 25 seconds left, the Spurs were leading 88-87. Manu was foul twice and sent to the line to take his free throws.

Despite of all the tension and pressure surrounding during the moment, he calmly manage to hit 3 out of 4 shots to give the Spurs a four point lead. It might sound easy to some people, but it takes someone with a lot of heart and courage to be able to execute those shots during the intense moments.

Fabricio OBERTO was not bad at all. He was 100% from all his shot posting 8 points including 3 rebounds. In a game as tight as this, every small contribution from him in my opinion is priceless.

With the conclusion of this series, awaiting Manu, Fabricio & the Spurs is the surprise package of the season, New Orleans Hornets.

Houston Rockets 95 Utah Jazz 69

The Rockets knew just what they had to do to stay alive in this series? The answer simple, win. Instead of just wining, they wont in style. That is huge statement to make, especially when you play against the Jazz.

It only makes sense as they were making their shots looks so easy just as they have been defending against the Jazz. How was this possible?

With his confidence growing in stature around the interior in both offense and defense, it allows Tracy McGRADY to do what he does best around the perimeter.

This has been another big playoff night for SCOLA, posting his third double-double in the series with 18 points, 12 rebounds plus 2 assists. Above that, his reputation as big man playing with the big boys in the big league is growing tremendously.

Perhaps the following link will help others to have a better understanding about that subject.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5741437.html

Now we will game 6, which will be played in Utah on Friday. The Jazz might record at home during the regular. However they should also know that the first and the last to defeat were the Rockets. Lets hope we get another cracking performance from the Rockets.

Tevez Will Go To Moscow

One year ago, he was playing for a struggling West Ham side that was fighting to avoid relegation. Eventually he did become their gracious savior in helping them to remain in the Premiership and instantly a legend at that club.

The call to play for one of the biggest club in the world alongside with some of the brightest star in the game was beckoning. One year on, he’s on the verge achieving among the highest accolades there is in club football.

With that said, it is now confirmed that Carlos TEVEZ will play in this year's Champions League Final to be held in Moscow.
I must admit that I use to be an anti-MU supporter a long time ago. But all that change when to learn to appreciate good football. I’m not going to say that I became of fan of them, just that I pay close attention whenever they play because the one that holds the No.32 jersey is one of OUR big names.

Sir Alex was heavily criticized for not bringing in TEVEZ in last weekend Premiership clash against Chelsea. But tonight he chooses to put all his faith into this little fellow.

No goal. No big deal. TEVEZ was all night long troubling Barca defense, linking up well RONALDO in unsettling them throughout the game on some occasions.

Well done Carlitos!!!!

As far for Lionel MESSI, I must say the boy did everything he could to help Barcelona win. I can assure you that if Barca had 10 more players like him, nothing could have stopped them.

That move he did, when he skipped past SCHOLES and then past Wes BROWN before forcing VAN DER SAAR to palm away his well directed shot from the outside the box, is just typical of Lionel. I’m glad to see him coming back to his best after the injury he suffered not so long ago. And I want to stay that way because we definitely need him for Beijing 2008.
The Nou Camp is expected to see some massive re-construction next season. For RIJKAARD (or whichever manager that is), the main objective is to build the team around this little mercurial genius.

Now how many are you with me, cheering on for Javier MASCHERANO when Liverpool take on Chelsea later?

Playoffs News - The End For Carlos & The Raps

So looks like the good times for Carlos DELFINO and the Raptors have come to an end. The Orlando Magic defeated the Raptors 102-92 to win the series 4-1.

In today’s game, the showed tremendous amount of fighting spirit to stay alive in this series. Both of their point guard, TJ and CALDERON played well, Chris BOSH showed plenty of determination and Carlos was the sixth man for them.

Tonight DELFINO posted 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists & 2 steals to finish of what turns out to be his best ever season in his NBA career.
Remember he had a lot of tough times in Detroit. There were plenty of uncertainties about his arrival to the Raps squad. But like Luis SCOLA, he has proven that he can play in the NBA.

On some occasion when others could not deliver, he provides the much needed sparks that the Raptors needed from the bench. He steps in for BOSH when the latter was out injured.

I will be looking forward to see how would the Raptors regroup for next season. Till then, I would like to give thanks to the numerous comments that we’ve received from the entire Raps blogging community.

VAMOS CARLOS!!! VAMOS RAPTORS!!!