 Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: David Walker  |
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| Article Title :: Premiership Betting Review - 8 May 2006 |
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| Manchester United confirmed a second-placed finish and automatic entry into next season’s Champions League with a crushing 4-0 victory over Charlton. Louis Saha broke then deadlock after 19 minutes and Cristiano Ronaldo doubled the lead four minutes later. Jason Euell scored an own goal 10 minutes before the break before Kieron Richardson wrapped up an easy afternoon for the 1/5 Reds on 58.Liverpool ended their season in third with a ninth successive league win at Fratton Park. Robbie Fowler opened the scoring for the Reds after 52 minutes and Peter Crocuh added a second on 84. Ognjen Koroman pulled a goal back for Portsmouth a minute later but substitute Djibril Cisse secured a (read full article) |
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| Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: David Walker |
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| Article Title :: World Cup 2006 Preview - Germany |
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| Outright Odds: 8/1
Group A Winners: 4/9Former national favourite and Tottenham Hotspur diving enthusiast Jurgen Klinsmann takes control over the next generation of German players who are keen to end 16 years of hurt and win the World Cup for a fourth time on their own soil.Klinsmann has thrown the traditional playing style manual out of the window. Gone is the patient, tight gameplay, his teams are sent out to play a "fast-paced, attacking and very aggressive" game which has significantly improved their goal tally. However, this strategy, along with a number of inexperienced defenders (none have played at a World Cup finals before) has seen a once resolute back line con (read full article) |
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| Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: David Walker |
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| Article Title :: World Cup Preview - Poland |
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| Outright Odds: 125/1
Group A Winners: 4/1Following a disastrous 2002 World Cup campaign in which coach Jerzy Engel talked up his side’s prospects only for them to be beaten 2-0 by South Korea and hammered 4-0 by Portugal, Poland will be keen to recreate their former World Cup glories.Under coach Pawel Janas, Poland made short work of their qualifying group, enjoying home and away victories against Austria, Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland and Wales. Two narrow 2-1 defeats to England prevented a clean sweep but eight wins out of 10 matches was more than enough to cement their place in the finals.In qualifying they proved their ability to beat average teams convincin (read full article) |
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| Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: Simon Ainsworth |
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| Article Title :: McLaren On a Wing and a Prayer |
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| Middlesbrough’s loss to Sevilla in the UEFA Cup final last night gave us all a better view of the new England manager, Steve McLaren.The FA giving McLaren the England post was like Schumacher tossing his Ferrari keys to a Formula 3 test driver. Brace yourselves England because this ride is heading for a smash.What has McLaren actually done? He has won one trophy, the League Cup. Don’t try and say he was the mastermind behind Manchester United’s treble or else you will have Sir Alex to answer to. McLaren guided Middlesbrough to this season’s UEFA Cup Final on a wing and a prayer. It was the stuff of fairytales with dramatic victories over FC Basle and Steau Bucharest (read full article) |
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| Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: Kristy Annely |
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| Article Title :: Soccer Trophies |
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| Football, or Soccer as it is known in America, is the most popular team sport played professionally and by amateurs worldwide. Soccer players are revered as icons and soccer teams sign millions of dollars as endorsement deals.Soccer is a game between two teams of 11 players, each trying to net the most goals in the opposite side’s goal post. Players are forbidden to use their hands, except for the goalkeeper, who can prevent a goal with his hands. So each team tries to prevent the other from scoring while trying to score itself. A standard match consists of two sessions of 45 minutes each, separated by a 15-minute break called half time. Extra time and penalty shootouts are allow (read full article) |
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| Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: David Walker |
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| Article Title :: World Cup 2006 Preview - Argentina |
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| Outright Odds: 9/1
Group C Winners: 5/4Following a dismal World Cup four years ago which saw first round elimination, Argentina will look to make a serious impact at this year’s finals. Again, they enter as one of the favourites to win the tournament but there are still doubts as to whether they can compete with great rivals Brazil when it really matters.Argentina were the first side to qualify from the pool of South American teams vying for a place in Germany, although a defeat to Uruguay in the final match saw them finish second on goal difference to Brazil. Argentina managed to beat Brazil 3-1 at home but lost by the same score earlier on in qualifying.Howev (read full article) |
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| Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: David Walker |
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| Article Title :: World Cup 2006 Preview - Holland |
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| Outright Odds: 12/1
Group C Winners: 13/8New coach Marco van Basten has proven to be a revelation off the pitch as much as he was on it since taking over the Dutch national team. Plucked from an obscure youth coaching role at Ajax where he kept his head down and had low responsibilities when Dick Advocaat quit after Euro 2004, van Basten has made this new-look Dutch team his own.Out with the old and in with the new seems to be van Basten’s philosophy so while former well known favourites such as Clarence Seedorf and Patrick Kluivert have been given the chop, some of the best players the Dutch Eredivisie has to offer have come in to replace them.Players such as (read full article) |
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| Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: David Walker |
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| Article Title :: World Cup 2006 Preview - Ivory Coast |
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| Outright Odds: 80/1
Group C Winners: 9/1The Ivory Coast topped their qualifying group but the margins between success and failure were so intense it came down to a single penalty kick with just four minutes of qualification remaining.In the penultimate qualifying match, the Ivorians needed a victory against Cameroon to ensure qualification, but they lost 3-2 in Abidjan. Their subsequent 3-1 away win at Sudan would be meaningless if World Cup mainstays Cameroon beat Egypt. The match was all square at 1-1 until Cameroon were awarded a penalty four minutes into injury time. A successful spot kick would send them through but Pierre Wome hit the outside of the post and the I (read full article) |
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| Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: David Walker |
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| Article Title :: World Cup 2006 Preview - Serbia & Montenegro |
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| Outright Odds: 100/1
Group C Winners: 9/1Serbia & Montenegro will start in Germany as undefeated in qualifying with one of the meanest defences in international football. They topped their qualifying group ahead of Spain, Belgium and Bosnia-Herzegovina and conceded just one goal in 10 matches – away at Spain in a 1-1 draw.The draw in Spain saw their defence breaches for the first time in eight matches, with the preceding seven successive clean sheets setting a new world record.An almost watertight defence is the key to Serbia & Montenegro’s success, with the backline superbly marshalled by Mladen Krstajic, who plays in Germany for Schalke 04. Such organisatio (read full article) |
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| Category :: Soccer Articles |
Author :: David Walker |
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| Article Title :: World Cup 2006 Preview - Portugal |
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| Outright Odds: 22/1
Group D Winners: 5/6After a disastrous 2002 World Cup, in which they finished bottom of their group following defeats by both the United States and South Korea, Portugal will be looking to finally live up to their potential on the international stage.Qualification was a breeze. They remained unbeaten in their group and finished seven points clear at the top. Portugal meant business in this group, putting 11 past Luxembourg across two legs and hammering second-favourites Russia 7-1 at home.The charismatic Luiz Felipe Scolari, or “Big Phil” to his friends, has built a new team to replace the ageing or retired underachievers such as Rui Costa (read full article) |
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