CZECHO’S SOCCER CORNER
Maradona-Mascherano
The new Argentina coach Diego Maradona ended his European trip with naming Javier Mascherano the new captain of the Argentine national team. He will take over the captaincy from Javier Zanetti. Maradona was also trying to make Barcelona release Lionel Messi for upcoming international matches but without success. Because of an agreement between Barcelona and the Argentine soccer federation, Messi won’t be available till the World Cup qualifiers at Venezuela in March. Maradona was named the coach of Argentina’s national team last week after the team suffered several defeats under coach Alfio Basile.
Juventus Turin-Gianluigi Bufffon
Juventus’ goalie Gianluigi Buffon’s comeback will have to be delayed till after the New Year. He suffered a leg muscle problem on October 5 and was expected to return to action in Serie A this month. Juve is doing surprisingly well without him, winning their last four matches. “The last few games have shown I’m not indispensable,” Buffon said. Buffon joined Juventus in 2001 and appeared in 228 matches for the club.
Bayern Munich-Landon Donovan
LA Galaxy star Landon Donovan was given a chance to stay in shape by practicing with Bayern Munich for 10 days. He played in Germany for Bayer Leverkusen, but without much success. Donovan is not hiding the desire to stay with Bayern if they should show an interest. “The unfortunate part about the soccer world in that sense is that it isn’t up to me. There are a lot of issues with the league and with Galaxy also,” he said. That is bad news for Galaxy who may also lose David Beckham to AC Milan if the rumors are right.
MLS Playoffs-NY Red Bulls
Two time defending champion Houston Dynamo is out of the playoffs after losing 3-0 to NY Red Bulls on Sunday. Dynamo was one of the favorites to win this year’s MLS Cup, while NY was not supposed to survive the first round. Next for the Red Bulls is Real Salt Lake who is another underdog. They overcame Chivas USA on aggregate score of 3-2. In the other match-up we have Chicago Fire against Columbus Crew. Both matches will be televised: Chicago vs Columbus on ESPN2, Deportes on Thursday, Nov 13 at 7:30 pm EST. NY Red Bulls vs Real Salt Lake will be on Fox Soccer Channel on Saturday, Nov 15 at 9:30 pm EST.
Bolivia-Players vs Police
Two of the Bolivian Soccer championship matches suffered from clashes between players and police in the past few days . Bolivian champions Aurora players attacked police while they were trying to hurry one of Aurora’s players off the field. Police used pepper spray to control the situation. Leaders of the club issued a public apology for their players behavior. The match between the Oriente Petrolero-Blooming also witness a brawl, this time not only involving players and police but also the officials.
Barack Obama-2008 World Cup
We witnessed a history on November 4 when Barack Obama became the first African-American president elect. One of the many good things people are expecting will come with his administration is to have successful bid for the right to host the 2018 World Cup. Obama is an extremely popular choice among many people around the world and that could only help in landing the 2018 World Cup. Obama himself is not a stranger to soccer. He is a fan of Premier League club West Ham and his older daughter Malia plays soccer. There is also very real chance he may travel to the openings of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
