Ibrahimovic strikes El Clasico winner for Barca

Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off the bench to score a superb volley to give Barcelona a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the latest El Clasico.

The match was a battle of Spain's 2 biggest clubs & most bitter rivals. On this occasion, it was also a battle of Spain's best side (Barcelona, treble winners previous season) against the most expensively assembled side in club football (Real Madrid, who has splashed €300 million on new players in the wake of Barcelona's treble success). Hence the build up & the hype in the lead up to the match was absolutely enormous. It was Spanish football's glamour match & apparently, it was the first time that cinemas all over Spain would be showing the match live.

The list of players on parade for the match reads like a "who's who" of world football: Messi, Iniesta, Xavi & Henry for Barcelona; Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Xabi Alonso & Benzema for Real Madrid. The match was end to end stuff, with Barcelona the home team trying to show who is boss & Real Madrid having something to prove, especially after last season's epic 6-2 drubbing by Barcelona at their home ground. Barca didn't play to their best level, yet were good enough to get the narrow win. They, as always, showed enterprise but never really carved Madrid apart, as Madrid defended well. Real Madrid had a couple of good chances in the first half to open the scoring, but missed them.

Barcelona were even down to 10 men just shortly after Ibrahimovic's goal, so they had to battle hard to earn the win. Interestingly, they were more convincing when playing with a men less. Meanwhile, the jury is still out on Ibrahimovic. Notorious for no-showing in big matches, he scored when Barcelona needed a goal. To be honest, a draw would probably have been a fair result - Real Madrid showed plenty of enterprise & must be commended for that. But hey, I am happy with the result. No repeat of the 6-2 scoreline, but 1-0 will do here, especially considering that Barcelona did not produce their greatest performance, while Real Madrid did play very well. At the end of the day, the win meant that Barca draws first blood in this season's Spanish title race, but there is still a long way to go. There were patches during the match where Barcelona were hesitant & inattentive, which allowed Madrid to have shots at Barca's goal. They need to cut down on those moments. And, I hope Barcelona will be able to use this win to spur them on to greater things.

See through tyres

This was emailed to me a few months ago. Interesting concept, but the types don't look great & it will most probably be very expensive.


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Radical new tyre design by Michelin. The next generation of tyres. They had a pair at the Philadelphia car show.


These tyres are airless and are scheduled to be out on the market very soon.. The bad news for law enforcement is that spike strips will not work on these tyres..

This is what great R& D will do, and just think of the impact on existing technology:

A. no more air valves...
B. no more air compressors at gas stations...
C. no more repair kits...
D. no more flats...

SCAN DOWN & SEE

These are actual pictures taken in the South Carolina plant of Michelin.

Football Manager 2005 - Feyenoord 5 Ajax 1 (season 2028/2029)

In real life, Ajax recently thumped Feyenoord 5-1 in a Dutch league, a painful result for fans of the Rotterdam club.

On Football Manager 2005, the complete opposite happened. We are in season 2028/2029. Look at the scoreline from the most recent Klassiker (see attached pic) - Feyenoord 5 Ajax 1. So there's no doubt who's the boss in the Netherlands. What's remarkable about this win was that Feyenoord were without a number of injured key players.

Coached by Roger Kronendijk (the greatest football manager of all time!), Feyenoord are the best club in the Netherlands & Europe. This season, everything's going well so far. In the Dutch league, they are neck & neck with PSV Eindhoven. In the Dutch Cup, Feyenoord beat Ajax before Christmas (this time, 1-0 in Amsterdam) to set up a February quarter-final against PSV Eindhoven. In Europe, Feyenoord won all 6 of their Champions League group matches against Panathinaikos (Greece), Ferencvaros (Hungary) & Banik Ostrava (Czech Rep). Feyenoord are well on course to regaining the Champions League title which they lost last season after being eliminated by Lyon in the quarter-finals. They will play Arsenal in the round of 16.

If all players are fit & available, surely no one can stop Feyenoord from sweeping all before them & winning the treble this season!!!!!!

Bedlam in Africa, & THAT handball - what a week in football

Phhheewwww.......what a week it's been in football.

Firstly, there was bedlam & turmoil in North Africa, courtesy of the qualifiers between Egypt & Algeria. The 2 nations have a deep history of animosity & mutual loathing, so the qualifier in Cairo on 14/11/2009 was filled with tension. To add further fuel to the fire, Algeria's team bus in Cairo was attacked, & there were allegations that Egyptian security had disappeared to allow the home fans to stone the visiting team bus.

Going into the Cairo match, Egypt were 3 points behind Algeria & needed to win by a 3 goal margin to overtake Algeria & go straight to the World Cup. Algeria would go through if they win, draw or lose by no more than 1 goal margin. A 2 goal win by Egypt would mean playoff in a neutral venue. Algeria was losing 1-0 & looked set to book their tickets to South Africa, when Egypt dramatically scored the vital second goal deep into stoppage time. That sealed a 2-0 win to Egypt, which meant both teams are level on points, goal difference & goals scored. A playoff in neutral venue was needed to decide who goes to the World Cup. So near & yet so far for Algeria.

So the tension continued into the playoff on 18/11/2009. Algeria preferred Tunisia as the neutral venue, believing that the Tunisian public would side for them against Egypt. Egypt preferred nearby Sudan & got their wish. The momentum looked to be in Egypt's favour. But Algeria stunned their more fancied arch-rivals with a 1-0 win, & so seal a place in the World Cup finals for the first time since 1986.

And then, there is the handball by Thierry Henry in the lead up to France's decisive equalising goal in Paris against Ireland which allowed them to qualify for the World Cup. The French finished second in their World Cup qualifying group European zone, & so enter a two-legged playoff against Ireland (who also finished second in their group) for a spot in the World Cup.

France won the first 1-0 in Dublin. In the second leg, Ireland was leading 1-0 after the normal 90 minutes. So the game went to extra-time, & just 7 minutes from the end, Henry controlled the ball with his hand before setting up France's equaliser. That goal proved to be decisive, for the match finished 1-1 & allowed France to qualify 2-1 on aggregate. It was claimed that any professional in Henry's position (with so much at stake) would have done the same thing as Henry did. It was also claimed that it was up to the match officials to spot the handball & disallow the goal. They didn't, so the goal stood, & therefore denied Ireland the chance to take the match to a penalty shoot-out - which would have happened had France's equaliser been disallowed & had Ireland retained their 1 goal lead to the end of extra-time.

Henry's handball controversy created massive headlines in the Irish & British press (who were quick to sympathise with Ireland), with headlines like "The Hand of Henry", "Le Hand of God" & "Le Hand of Fraud" flashing out prominently. Most French fans were embarrassed by Henry's actions. But at the end of the day, France are going to the World Cup, despite some ordinary performance in the qualifying matches.

Someone once said a week is a long time in football. Well, this has been one hell of a football week!

Amazing pictures - hippos kill crocodile

Amazing pictures captured by the Czech photographer - great job.

Moral of the story: Don't mess with hippos. Not even if u are a giant crocodile.

Crocodiles are normally fearsome & would probably be considered the most feared reptile. But this particular crocodile in the pictures looked like a puny lizard compared to those hippos & seemed so helpless especially after getting bitten. You got to feel sorry it. Why did it not stay well clear of the hippos?

Article from Daily Mail:


Oops, they weren't logs after all: The moment a crocodile was killed after taking a foolish shortcut across a herd of hippos

Their bone-crushing jaws, 24 razor-sharp teeth and armour-plated skin are enough to ensure most animals keep their distance. But, as our incredible pictures show, even crocodiles are no match for a herd of angry hippos.

This young reptilian predator paid the price for swimming too close to a mother and her calves while they bathed.

As 50 hippos gathered into a defensive circle around them, the crocodile panicked and raced over their backs in a bid to escape.

It was the last mistake he ever made. The beast's defences were no match for the maze of angry mammals, who proved their bite is every bit as lethal as his.

The spectacularly rare battle of the beasts was captured by Czech wildlife photographer Vaclav Silha.

He had set up his camera on the banks of the River Mara in the Serengeti national park, Tanzania, when the unbelievable scene unfolded before him.

But the 45-year-old got more than he bargained for when a colossal fight broke out between the group and a sneaky crocodile he had spotted earlier.

‘Mutual respect between these animals means fights occur very rarely,’ he said. ‘One of the only reasons you might see a conflict is if the hippos have young and they think the little ones are under threat. That’s exactly what happened here.

‘The incautious croc got too close to a female who had calves and the whole group gathered into a defensive circle around them. It was a strong message for the crook to clear off.

‘I have absolutely no idea why but the crocodile suddenly raced across the backs of the hippos. I think it might have panicked and thought it was a possible escape route. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

‘It was the worst choice the reptile could ever have made and it was definitely its last.

‘The island of hippos suddenly erupted with teeth and all I could see was the crocodile being repeatedly crushed in their huge mouths.’

Described as one of the most aggressive creatures in the animal kingdom, an adult hippo can apply several tons of pressure in a single bite.

‘Even the toughest crocodile could not have withstood being repeatedly bitten like that,’ said Mr Silha, from Prague.

‘There was no way for him to escape. I few seconds later his lifeless body slipped below the water and I didn’t see him again.’

One of these pictures was originally published in the November issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Bold move: The crocodile races across the backs of the hippos in a bid to escape after trying to snare a mother and her calves

Making a splash: The crocodile writhes and wriggles but cannot escape the clutches of his angry opponents

In the jaws of death: The crocodile is defeated by a maze of angry hippos after trying to kill one of their young

Make it snappy: The raging hippos take revenge by biting back while feeding at the River Mara in Tanzania

Finish him, boys: The crocodile writhes in its final movements before being finished off by his mammal opponents

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1228242/Oops-werent-logs-The-moment-crocodile-killed-taking-foolish-shortcut-herd-hippos.html

Workplace dares‏

ONE-POINT DARES (BEGINNERS...)
1. Ignore the first five people who say 'good morning' to you.
2. To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears
3. Leave your fly open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say,"Sorry,I really prefer it this way".
4. Walk sideways to the photocopier.
5. While riding in an lift, gasp dramatically every time the doors open.
6. When in the lift with one other person, tap them on the shoulder and pretend it wasn't you.
7. Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy...
8. Don't use any punctuation.
9. Interrupt your conversation with someone by giving a huge dejected sigh.
10. Use your highlighter pen on the computer screen.

THREE-POINT DARES (NOT BAD)
1. Say to your boss, "I like your style", wink, and shoot him with double-barrelled fingers.
2. Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle.
3. Shout random numbers while someone is counting.
4. Every time you get an email, shout ''email''.
5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has got over his or her caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
6. Keep hole punching your finger. Each time you do, shout,"dagnamit, it's happened again!". Then do it again.
7. Introduce yourself to a new colleague as "the office bicycle". Then wink and pout.
8. Call I.T. helpdesk and tell them that you can't seem to access any pornography web sites.

FIVE-POINT DARES (GO FOR IT!)
1. At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem (extra points if you actually launch into it yourself). 2. Walk into a very busy person's office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
3. For an hour, refer to everyone you speak to as "Dave".
4. Announce to everyone in a meeting that you "really have to go do a number two". 5. When you've picked up a call, before speaking finish off some fake conversation with the words, ''she can abort it for all I care''.
6. After every sentence, say 'Mon' in a really bad Jamaican accent. As in: "The report's on your desk, Mon." Keep this up for one hour.
7. In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, "Shut up, damn it, all of you just shut up!"
8. At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce, "As God is my witness, I'll never go hungry again!"
9. Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: "Do you hear that?" "What?" "Never mind, it's gone now."
10. Present meeting attendees with a cup of coffee and biscuit; smash each biscuit with your fist.
11. During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
12. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
13. Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.
14. While a colleague is writing, grab their pen and throw it out of the nearest open window.

Spain v Argentina - should be great

vs

Spain are hosting Argentina in a friendly match soon. On paper at least, this promises to be a cracker. Just look at the amount of attacking talent each side can call upon. For Spain, they got the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, David Silva, Jesus Navas, Fernando Torres & David Villa. The Argentinians can pick from Messi, Di Maria, Pastore (if he is picked), Banega, Perrotti, Aguero, Higuain & Tevez. A lot of of the Argentina footballers ply their trade in Spain, so both teams will be very familiar with each other.

Yeah, both sides do have quality in their ranks. But if u look deeper, u can see why Spain are more likely to win the match. Their defence is stronger than Argentina's. Also, the team cohesion is considerably greater than what Argentina possess at the moment - Spain has a settled line-up, whereas Argentina coach Maradona is still searching for an ideal starting XI for Argentina. Remember, they struggled through the South American qualifiers & only made sure of World Cup qualification in their very last game away to Uruguay. On the other hand, Spain are the best team in Europe & have the Euro 2008 trophy to reflect this. For these reasons, it will be difficult to see Argentina win the match. A draw would be a good result for them.

Those who like the short-passing attacking game, with lots of thrills & combination moves, would absolutely love the prospect of Spain v Argentina. Maradona's inadequacies taken into consideration, this promises to be a great game.

Congratulations NZ, commiserations Bahrain

New Zealand qualifies for the World Cup for the first time since 1982. They did so after beating Bahrain 1-0 in the World Cup qualifying second leg playoff in New Zealand. The first leg in Bahrain was 0-0.

Congratulations to New Zealand for the qualification, & hopefully this will spark a football boom in the country. As for Bahrain, u got to feel sorry for them. They narrowly missed out on the 2006 World Cup after being narrowly edged out by Trinidad & Tobago. Now, NZ has done what Trinidad & Tobago did 4 years ago.

So NZ will be going to South Africa next year. Based on their ordinary showing at the 2009 Confederations Cup earlier this year (they got hammered by Spain), NZ might be seen as the weakest team at the World Cup & many teams will want to be drawn with NZ. I hope NZ will improve between now & the tournament next year, so that they can give a decent showing at the tournament. Best of luck NZ. Better luck next time Bahrain.

What is generation Y?

What is generation Y?

Hhhmmmm, I've always wondered this myself....Now I know.

The Silent generation, people born before 1946.

The Baby Boomers, people born between 1946 and 1959.

Generation X, people born between 1960 and 1979.

Generation Y, people born between 1980 and 2009.

Why do we call the last one generation Y? I did not know, but a cartoonist explains it eloquently below...Learned something new today!

FAT players get free burgers in Thai sponsorship deal

FAT as in Football Association of Thailand.
Wow....these footballers free Big Macs & Fillet o Fish. Imagine if they eat that everyday. If Thailand do make it to the World Cup (& I wish them the best of luck), the goalkeeper by then might be fat enough to cover his goalmouth. Then no one can score against them (every shot bounces off the goalkeeper's body), & Thailand wins the World Cup. Hahaha.....


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Reuters, Wednesday November 4 2009

BANGKOK, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Thailand's top soccer players will feast on free burgers as part of a three-year sponsorship deal with American fast food giant McDonald's worth almost $900,000, the country's soccer president said on Wednesday. McDonald's will provide 25 million baht ($747,000) for the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) and will offer five million baht in products in exchange for shirt sponsorship for the next three years, starting this month. "This will be a great help towards our efforts to reach the 2014 World Cup finals," FAT president Worawi Makudi told Reuters. "This funding will help develop our game, especially youth football, and all the players, junior and senior, will get to enjoy the food too," he added. Thailand's national team, which is currently 110th in the FIFA rankings, signed a five-year kit sponsorship deal with U.S. sports giant Nike in 2007 for an undisclosed figure. The team has never qualified for the World Cup finals and is now being coached by former England and Manchester United captain Bryan Robson.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/feedarticle/8789806

Banks - got to "love" em

It's interesting, isn't it, to observe bank's reaction time to RBA's raising of interest rates.

When RBA jacks up interest rates, banks are so quick to do the same for their lending products.....sometimes in a matter of hours after RBA ups the rates. It seems like a race at times - a race between the banks to see who is fastest to bring up their interest rates after RBA's announcement. But the banks are nowhere near as quick to raise interest rates for their deposits.

On the other hand, when RBA cuts interest rates, banks are ohhhh soooooooo slow to act. Sometimes, they wait for weeks before bringing their rates down on their loans.

Yes, I know the reasons why banks display such self-serving behaviour, but the sheer contrast in the banks' "reaction time" between RBA increasing & decreasing interest rates is just so great, that their actions may portray them as money-grabbing institutions. Who could blame customers for thinking that banks are just looking out for their own best interests instead of the best interests of customers?

Banks - u just got to "love" them.