So, what did FC Barcelona win again???

In case u have been living under a rock over the last few months, my club FC Barcelona just won the treble!! Spanish Cup, Spanish La Liga championship, & the UEFA Champions League.
You're once, twice, three time amazing!!!! All trophies were won with great style & entertaining football.

For those who wonder what those trophies look like, see the picture below. Just look at that - what a wonderful sight that is, the cups set against the backdrop that is the Nou Camp, Barcelona's stadium. It's fitting that the trophies now have a home in the greatest football stadium in Europe! Visca Barca!! Champions of Spain, & champions of Europe!

FC Barcelona conquers Europe & wins the treble!!

Uno - Spanish King's Cup (beating Athletic Bilbao 4-1 in the final).
Dos - Spanish La Liga.
Tres - UEFA Champions League.

There it is - uno, dos, tres, or 1, 2, 3 - a glorious & remarkable treble of domestic & European honours in season 2008/2009 by Barcelona, the first Spanish club side to win all 3 trophies in one season. The treble!! El triplete!! During the 2008/2009 season, FC Barcelona competed in 3 competitions, & won all 3. They won everything there was to win. The trifecta was completed this morning (Brisbane time) in classy fashion as Barcelona defeated Manchester Utd 2-0 in Rome in the Champions League final, & in the process dethroned defending European champions (Man Utd won the trophy last year). What a special season this has proved to be. Barcelona proved to be a class apart from their competitors, & swept all before them domestically & in Europe.

The Champions League final featured the champions of Spain versus champions of England, widely considered the best 2 teams in Europe & the world. Never mind the 2-0 scoreline to Barcelona, or the fact that the goals were well-taken. It was the brand of football Barcelona displayed for 80 minutes (they had a poor first 10 minutes) which showed why they are so widely admired. At times during the final, the gulf between the sides is as wide as the distance between the cities of Barcelona & Manchester, such was the Spanish champions' superiority. Barcelona bamboozled United with the same fluid, free-flowing carpet football as they have shown throughout this season. Actually, not just this season - FC Barcelona have always played this type of football for years. It is their football philosophy to play attacking, entertaining football. It's just that this season, they've been more devastating than they've ever been before, culminating in a clean sweep of trophies.

The win in the Champions League final was all the more impressive given that Barcelona's defence had been ravaged by injury (Marquez) & suspensions (Abidal, Daniel Alves). As for United, they were only missing Fletcher in midfield. It was this which had made me predict Barcelona to lose the final. Oh, me of little faith! Leading up to the final, my brother BT & friends Nigel & Mark Wang all tipped Barcelona to win. They had been more confident of a Barcelona victory than I was. Ivan C, on the other hand, had been confident of a Manchester Utd victory - he is a United supporter, though he said Barcelona are his second favourite team. Anyway, after seeing Barcelona's display in the Champions League final, I understand why BT, Nigel & Mark had been so confident with their predictions. It's because Barcelona managed to compensate for those 3 missing defenders by retaining possession very well - if you keep the ball & play in the opposition's half, it's very difficult for the opposition to hurt you. All in all, it turned out that United might have missed Fletcher more than Barcelona missed those 3 defenders.

United began the final strongly & looked threatening in the first 10 minutes, with Barcelona looking very tentative during that period. Then Barcelona's first attack in the 10th minute saw an exchange of passes before Iniesta strode from midfield & sprayed a pass to Cameroonian forward Eto'o. Now inside Utd's penalty box, Eto'o turned United's Serbian defender Vidic inside out & poked Barcelona into 1-0 ahead. I was pleasantly surprised & delighted, yet refused to get carried away. After all, I kept telling myself that United were more than capable of inflicting serious damage to Barcelona's depleted defence. The reality, though, was different - more smiles from me there! From the moment Eto'o scored, Barcelona gained confidence & the upper hand, & never looked back. Though United had their moments, Barcelona continued to look the better side with superior possession & movement, & they were well worth their 1-0 half-time lead.

The pattern from the first-half continued in the second, & Barcelona looking more impressive & coming close to scoring a second goal on several occasions. Henry & Eto'o had good chances after waves of incisive Barcelona attacks & Xavi's free-kick hit the post. Then, in the 70th minute, a Barcelona raid was cleared by the United defence, but Xaxi picked the ball on the right flank & clipped in a cross for Leo Messi to score with a looping header. It was now 2-0 to Barcelona. The stunned look on the United bench said it all - they knew they were well beaten. And so they were, for United only looked really dangerous during the first 10 minutes & rarely threatened Barcelona thereafter. The moment Messi scored goal number 2, I thought to myself: "Hey, we might actually go on & win it now!". And so they did!

With the final whistle, Barcelona clinched the treble & became champions of Europe. What an outstanding season the coach Josep Guardiola has had - it's only his first season in charge, & he has now come away with a treble!! His first move after taking over as head coach back in July 2008 was to get rid those deemed to be 'problem" players such as Ronaldinho, the extravagantly talented Brazilian, & Deco, the cultured but erratic Portuguese midfielder. A few other players have been sold, too. Some observers thought it unwise to have ditched the likes of Ronaldinho & Deco. But time & the treble success were to prove that Guardiola knew what he was doing. He kept a relatively low profile & brought in a few new players, mainly to reinforce the defence. None of the new players had the same high profile as Ronaldinho & Deco. That did not matter. Barcelona already had star players within the club. The Argentine wizard Leo Messi ensured that Ronaldinho would not be missed too much. The midfield quality of Xavi & Iniesta more than compensated for Deco's departure. Besides that, Guardiola managed to persuade Eto'o to stay for at least another season & French forward Henry showed a marked improvement in his form. The defence as a unit showed the sort of solidity & stability that was missing in previous season. On top of all that, Guardiola instilled a strong team ethic while keeping to the club's tradition for enterprising, attacking football. All of these were to prove key ingredients to the hugely successful season 2008/2009.

Visca Barca!!


PS: Seeing that Barcelona won the Champions League at Man United's expense, I'm really going to give Ivan C a good one the next time I meet him! Haha!!


Pics from the internet:

The venue for the 2009 Champions League final - Rome's Olympic Stadium.

Samuel Eto'o shoots FC Barcelona 1-0 in front.

The Barcelona players celebrate taking the lead.

Game, set, final - a header from Argentinian wizard Leo Messi makes it 2-0 to Barcelona. That would eventually be the full-time score.

FC Barcelona, champions of Europe!!

The Barcelona players wave & applaud their fans.

The players parade the Champions League trophy.

The celebrations continue (smiles & high fives & all).

Understandably jubilant Barcelona fans.

What a marvellous season this has been!

Newsflash - Ferris Bueller's Day Off house for sale

Just saw this newsflash on NineMSN minutes ago.

When I saw it, I had to smile - because I remember that wonderful 1980s movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". For me, one of the best movies from that decade.

The house is owned by the father of Cameron, the red-shirted geek friend of Ferris Bueller. It's going for $2.9 million - well, $2.3 million in USD. It doesn't include the Ferrari (damaged or otherwise). I won't mind buying the house, but I think I'm a few hundred dollars short. Hahaha!!

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Ferris Bueller house for sale
11:00 AEST Wed May 27 2009 (By Ninemsn staff)

It is the house where Ferris Bueller and his long-suffering friend send a prized Ferrari crashing through a wall and into a ravine.

Now the secluded Chicago-area home made famous in cult teen comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off is up for sale for $2.9 million.

"There's been a lot of interest in it already," estate agent Meladee Hughes, from Sudler Sotheby's International, said.

The 490sqm, steel-and-glass house sits on a platform on the edge of woodlands at Highland Park, just north of Chicago in the US state of Illinois.

But what viewers of the 1986 movie will remember most is the glass garage where Ferris (Matthew Broderick) and partner-in-crime Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck) try to turn back the odometer on a Ferrari so Cameron's father will not know they used his prized sports car.

The plan goes horribly wrong when the car crashes off the garage and into the ravine outside.

Ms Hughes said the four-bedroom, four-bathroom house still had a wall dedicated to the movie, including behind-the-scenes photographs of Ruck and Broderick.

The house where Bueller staged his sick day is in Long Beach, California.

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Pics from various sources on internet:

Shaktar Donetsk - 2009 UEFA Cup winners

Shaktar Donetsk won the 2009 UEFA Cup final, beating German side Werder Bremen 2-1 after extra-time. They became the first Ukrainian football club to win the UEFA Cup, & the second Ukranian club to win a European competition. (Shaktar's domestic rivals Dinamo Kiev won another European competition a couple of times, but that was quite a while ago).

The 2009 UEFA Cup final, held in Istanbul, was closely fought, as reflected by the fact that the match went into extra-time. In the end, the result was just about well-deserved, as Shaktar was probably slightly the better team in the final. Watching Shaktar play in their orange strips, they showed moments of enterprising football & at times I felt like I was watching the Netherlands (orange, that's why) on a good day! All the goals in the final were scored by Brazilians. Shaktar had quite a few of them. Shaktar's forward Luiz Adriano opened the scoring in the 25th minute, but Werder's defender Naldo equalised 10 minutes later via a free-kick. The half-time score was 1-1, & this remained the score at full-time as no goals were scored in the second-half. Shaktar grabbed the winner in extra-time through their midfielder Jadson. Cue celebrations at the final whistle. It looks like Werder Bremen may have missed their suspended Brazilian playmaking midfielder Diego, but that should not take anything away from Shaktar's achievement. Had Diego been available, the match would probably still be close, & Shaktar Donetsk would still have been difficult to break down.

This is a remarkable victory for Shaktar Donetsk. I believe Werder Bremen had been favourites to win the final, perhaps because they are one of Germany's strongest football clubs & the German league is rated considerably higher than the Ukrainian league. I myself tipped Bremen to win. But it's good to see Shaktar win the cup as no side from Ukraine have previously won this particular competition, while on the other hand, German club sides have won European competition far more numerously. Nothing against Bremen, though. They get to fight another day, as they play Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup final in just a few days time. I would support Leverkusen (as I would if they play any other German side), but would certainly not begrudge Werder Bremen if they win that one.

Meantime, congratulations to Shaktar Donetsk! Their win is a reward for the investment pumped into the club by its billionaire president & business man Rinat Akhmetov. In fact, there seems to be a trend lately of club sides from Russia & Ukraine gaining an injection of wealth from their owners/presidents, which has enabled them to sign quality players to compete well with their Western European counterparts. In Shaktar Donetsk's case, they have some quality foreign players on their payroll - a handful of Brazilian footballers, a Nigerian, & national team players from other parts of Eastern Europe such as Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Serbia & Romania. And of course, the club also has local Ukrainian players, some of whom are regulars members of the Ukraine national football squad. The mix of local & foreign players means that Shaktar Donetsk has a capable squad which can challenge the top club sides in Europe. And perhaps win a couple of trophies here & there, as Werder Bremen just found out. Their supporters would hope that the 2009 UEFA Cup is the start of many triumphs at the European club level.

This is the last season of the UEFA Cup in its current format. From next season, the competition will be known as the Europa League & the format will be a little different.

Eurovision Song Contest 2009

I saw Eurovision Song Contest 2009 last nite on SBS. It was hosted by Russia, thanks to their win in last year's contest. It was quite good to watch. Norway's youngster Alexander Rybak ended up winning Eurovision 2009 in a landslide. He got a whopping 387 points, the highest points score in Eurovision history, apparently. Iceland's teenage beauty Yohanna finished a distant second, on 218 points.

Rybak is of Belarussian descent - he was born in Minsk. His winning song, "Fairytale" was performed with the violin, & was inspired by Norwegian folk music. Rybak is certainly talented & I quite liked his song, but I wouldn't go as far as to give him first place. Top 5, yes - only just. I was most impressed by Turkey's performance (wonderful belly dancers, brilliant music), & would have picked them as winner on that basis. I would then have picked Iceland, Albania & Azerbaijan as the next best 3 performers, & then Norway in fifth place. I would rank UK, Israel & Greece alongside or just behind Norway. After that, I would give honourable mentions to performers from Russia, Romania & Sweden. But hey, that's me, it's just my opinion. I don't decide Eurovision. Televoters across Europe do, & just about every country voted Norway in their top 3. Of course, the exception is Norway as no country is allowed to vote for itself. When all is said & done, the final standings for Eurovision 2009 are:

1: Norway (387 points)
2: Iceland (218 points)
3: Azerbaijan (207 points)
4: Turkey (177 points)
5: UK (173 points)
6: Estonia (129 points)
7: Greece (120 points)
8: France (107 points)
9: Bosnia & Herzegovina (106 points)
10: Armenia (92 points)
11: Russia (91 points)
12: Ukraine (76 points)
13: Denmark (74 points)
14: Moldova (69 points)
15: Portugal (57 points)
16: Israel (53 points)
17: Albania (48 points)
18: Croatia (45 points)
19: Romania (40 points)
20: Germany (35 points)
21: Sweden (33 points)
22: Malta (31 points)
23 (joint): Lithuania (23 points)
23 (joint): Spain (23 points)
25: Finland (22 points)

Of course, no Eurovision contest is complete without the "bloc-voting". You get the former Soviet states, the Balkan nations & the Scandinavians giving top votes to each other. It's easy to guess which way certain countries would vote. Anyway, that aside, it's fun & quite fascinating to see the coming together of various European cultures in the name of music.

Just one other thing - please bring back the British commentator Terry Wogan! Don't tell me he has quit commentating on Eurovision?? Please no. We get SBS using their own commentators for Eurovision 2009. Huh, Eurovision commentated by Australians - goodness, that's even worse than Americans commentating soccer. Those SBS people are amateurs (ok, maybe I'm being a little harsh, but u get the idea). Come back Mr Wogan!!

Open position in Alaska

Position: Surveyor
Salary: $200 per hour (tax-free)
Qualification: Must be fast on your feet

Isn't it comforting to know that when you are about to become a bear's breakfast your buddy is standing there taking photos?

CM5 - Season 2024/2025 - Freiburg win treble again!

SC Freiburg won the treble again! This time, in season 2024/2025. They first won the treble in season 2023/2024. As if to show that achievement was no fluke, they won it the next season.

This time round, the German Division 1 had a much tighter finish than previous season - only 3 points separate SC Freiburg in first place from Bayern Munich in fourth place. SC Freiburg & Eintracht Frankfurt both finish equal on 69 points, but Freiburg had a much better goal difference (+54, compared to Frankfurt's +37) & so they are the German champions. Nurnberg finished third on 68 points, & Bayern Munich fourth on 66 points. Bayer Leverkusen finished fifth, on 63 points. You can't get much tighter than that!

Freiburg beat Nurnberg 3-0 on the last day of the league season, to clinch the Division 1 title. They then retained their European crown by beating Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna 4-0. SC Freiburg sealed the treble by beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 in the German Cup final.

So there - the treble again - German Division 1 league, German Cup & European Champions League. Roger Scherzinger is proving to be quite a coach. To cap off another wonderful season, he won the German Division 1 Manager of the Year award.

See pics below:

Barcelona into Champions League final

Barcelona just reached the UEFA Champions League final, after a thrilling 1-1 draw against Chelsea in London in the semi-final second leg. They qualify on the away goals rule, after the semi-final first leg in Barcelona finished 0-0.

I saw the match live, & thought Barcelona were lucky to go through. Chelsea, coached by Guus Hiddink (until the end of this season), took the lead inside the first 10 minutes thanks to a superb rocket from Ghanaian midfielder Essien. So Barcelona were trailing 1-0 for most of the match, & there were some unsuccessful penalty claims by Chelsea as well. Barca were down to 10 men, when French defender Abidal got sent off in the second half. With the clock ticking away & Barca on the verge of elimination, deep into injury time, in the 92nd or 93rd minute, Barca midfielder Iniesta equalised with a shot from outside the box. The score was now 1-1 & it was virtually the last kick of the match. The final whistle came, & just like that, thanks to the late goal, Barcelona were through to the final. Thrilling stuff.

I wasn't exactly celebrating, to be honest. I was disappointed with Barcelona's showing - the were below their usual best & never came close to scaling the heights they attained during the weekend's 6-2 mauling of Real Madrid. The fact that Iniesta's later-than-late goal was their only shot on target said it all about Barcelona's under-par performance, & it would add more to the feeling of injustice among many Chelsea fans. Barca didn't beat Chelsea outright. But then again, u could also argue that Chelsea didn't beat Barca outright either. They were undone by the away goals rule. It would have been hearbreaking for their supporters, & I do feel sorry for them (both club & supporters). But Chelsea chose to play defensively against Barca in the first leg to get the 0-0 draw, when they perhaps should have tried to score an away goal to take home to London. And in London, after scoring, they steadily turned into a defensive mode as the match wore on & chose to hang on to a 1-0 lead. You can't blame Barca for all that, can u?? And also, Barcelona should have got a penalty in the first leg. Had the penalty been awarded & converted, Barcelona might have had a 1-0 lead to take to London, & the second-leg may have taken a different complexion.

So anyway, when all is said & done, it is the Spanish side who are now through to the final, & in doing so, they have prevented a repeat of last year's all-English final between Chelsea & Manchester United. Barcelona take on United in this year's final in Rome. This is the final that many wanted & had expected to see. It promises to be a cracker!!

Feeling sore & tired - but so happy to help out

Pastor Ben & his lovely wife Faith just bought a new home in Indooroopilly. Since I got free time to spare (still no work at the moment, unfortunately), I've been helping them out over the past few days with some work at their new home & also with moving/relocating stuff from their rented home nearby.

The work at the new home all relates to the inside of the house - miscellaneous tasks such as preparing the walls & ceilings for painting, the painting itself & cleaning up. A few people from church turned up to help out, & I was very encouraged by their presence. Ben & Faith engaged the services of a couple of Christian painters, but got the help of some church people to help keep the labour costs to a manageable level. So I was more than happy to have the time (but maybe not the skill!!) to help out.

The stuff I did was mainly sealing gaps with some special gap-sealing stuff & also some painting of the walls & ceilings. There was a constant flow of food & drinks, & we all exchanged laughs & banters. And wow, all that work went on for a few days & it was very intensive. I got a workout from all that work like I've never had for ages! Now, I'm feeling sore & tired! My neck, arms, fingers, knees & thighs are all sore! But it was well worth it, to be able to play a small part in helping out a Christian brother & sister. I'm really happy for them, that they have been blessed with a lovely home (I could tell already that it would be lovely once it's ready). God bless them, their 2 little daughters & their home.

Stunning!! Real Madrid 2 FC Barcelona 6

Real Madrid 2 FC Barcelona 6

It's NOT a misprint. It really did happen. What an astonishing El Clasico result!!!

Real Madrid humiliated on their home ground, on a colossal scale, by their sworn enemy. That was one heck of a beating! This scoreline will be talked about for years & years, & one that Barcelona fans will savour.

This is so totally expected. To be honest, I didn't think Barcelona would win this match!! I would have been happy with a win by 1 goal margin. I would have even settled for a draw, which was what I had predicted. But 6-2!!! Wow!! They beat us 4-1 last year, so one could say this is payback with interest!

Barcelona really took Madrid to the cleaners. They could even afford to let Madrid score first, via Higuain's header. Never mind that, Barcelona just hit back with 3 goals. Henry equalised with a well-taken goal after being put through by a chipped pass. Barcelona's captain Puyol headed in a free kick to put his side in front. Barca then capitalised on a Madrid mistake & Argentine wizard Lionel Messi put them 3-1 in front. The Madrid home crowd were stunned.

And even when Madrid scored their second to make it 2-3, Barca went on to score number 4, 5 & then 6. Henry scored his second to made it 4-2 Barca, when he got on to Xavi's superb through pass & shot past the advancing keeper. It was then 5-2 when Messi got his own second, after playing a 1-2 with that midfield maestro Xavi. Barcelona were not finished yet - they made it 6 via young defender Gerard Pique. And the slaughter in the Bernabeu was complete.

It's not just the number of goals Barca scored, it's the manner that they outclassed Real Madrid & played them off the park that will really please all Barca afficionados. Surely the Spanish championship will now be heading Barcelona's way!!

Remember May 2, 2009 - Madrid 2 Barca 6.

Next up on the list - Chelsea!

Here are the goals (not sure if this is Portuguese or a Spanish dialect):




And for extended highlights (this one in German):

Change of name - Brisbane Roar

From this:

To this:

Old name: Queensland Roar
New name: Brisbane Roar

And with that change of name, Queensland's first A-League club will now be called Brisbane Roar.

Same club, different name - that is what the Roar general manager said. The club colours will remain the same. The "lion" logo will still be there. There were other major off-the-field changes behind the scenes, details of which I know little about.

But back to the name change. It came about in the wake of the A-League expanding to a 10 team competition, by adding 2 more teams for the season 2009/2010: Gold Coast United & North Queensland Fury. With 2 additional teams hailing from the state of Queensland, it makes sense for Queensland Roar to change its name to Brisbane Roar. In fact, I saw that name change coming the moment that Gold Coast & North Queensland confirmed their addition to the A-League.

Good to see Queensland having 3 teams in the A-League. Brisbane Roar can built some sort of rivalry with its cousins in Gold Coast & North Queensland. It is hoped that the local Queensland derbies will draw large crowds to the matches. A-League season 2009/2010 promises to be exciting. I can't wait!

Phenomenal picture - smile from heaven

A friend forwarded this pic to me a few months ago. Looks like a smile from heaven. Interesting.....though a part of me wonder if this pic is doctored in some way. Then again, what do I know about photography? Absolutely nothing! Nevertheless, at first glance, I thought this picture is quite nice. So I include it to start off this month's post.