Best wishes for Spain in Euro08!
and a very lovely video clip of their journey in euro04 on youtube: ♥

It is a really tough season we went through, on pitch and off pitch. But it is not the end of world. All the sadness will only make us stronger. Come on liverpool boys, I am proud of you ♥

You'll never walk alone!

Moscow, here we are ♥



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a very well written article on anfieldroad.com, which basically summarized all the saga starting from October last year:


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source: http://www.anfieldroad.com/news/200801132773/owners-welcome-to-leave.html/

It is definitely not a great week so far. First of all, Reds had a disappointing performance in Porto; then, there are bad news that Xabi and Danny will have to be out up to six weeks for foot injuries; and meanwhile, the fiasco in London actually is not a good sign in my opinion.

I am quite glad that most Red fans did not simply blame Rafa or players for the last two draws, especially the forumers on RAWK site, most of whom always stay rational even after a worse game. But, unfortunately, I stop by BBC's 606 discussion board later. And I can't believe what I have read. For example, here is the worst one:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A27098580

comment by MyCousinKev
posted 3 Hours Ago

Actually I think losing Alonso is a blessing in disguise. He has been shockingly bad this year and I was secretly hoping he would pick up an injury as Benitez would never drop him.

Now we can play Masch and Gerrard as our central midfield pair, as it should be. Let's face it, Masch is far better defensively than Alonso and is not far away in his passing abilities so we really have no need of Alonso. (we should sell him for big bucks when we get the chance)


I knew that there are some Alonso-bashers, but I still can't believe that they are cursing him in this way. Are they really liverpool fans? I doubt it. Haven't they seen the hoof-ball playing in Porto when we missed Alonso in the midfield to organize and balance the whole team? It seems they totally forget what Alonso did for our team in the past three years, and how he was great in his first two seasons here.


So, it makes me think more after reading the news about José Mourinho leaving Chelsea. I don't like him at all. But it just sounds not right to sack a manager who brought you two league titles in 3 years. Too much people have short memories in current football world. You are not allowed to have a dip form for a while, because some guys will cry out sack you even only after losing 3 games...

From this point of view, I am very glad to be a Liverpool fan, because KOP sing all the time no matter of winning or losing a game. Keep it in mind if you are a liverpool fan, too:

"You Will Never Walk Alone"

Xabi Alonso: 'El objetivo está cumplido'

Xabi Alonso, centrocampista internacional del Liverpool, dijo al final del encuentro que se cumplió el objetivo de sumar seis puntos, establecido antes de salir de Las Rozas (Madrid) y ahora "la situación es mejor que hace tres meses".

"El inicio hoy fue bueno, creamos ocasiones, necesitábamos tranquilidad pero ha sido una lástima no marcar más goles. Ahora me voy de vacaciones, vuelvo a casa, a San Sebastián, voy a disfrutar de la playa, de los amigos de la familia, a desconectar. Antes de esta concentración el objetivo eran los seis puntos y lo hemos conseguido. Podíamos haber marcado más goles", comentó Xabi Alonso.

Sobre si tiene un favorito para ganar la Liga -Real Madrid o FC Barcelona-, Xabi se mostró diplomático. "Que gane el mejor la Liga", dijo Xabi, quien reconoció en Radio Marca que el año próximo seguirá jugando en Anfield.

Por su parte, Cesc Fábregas afirmó haberse "encontrado bien, llevo cuatro semanas parado tras el final de la Liga en Inglaterra, he disfrutado, tenía muchas ganas de jugar. Salgo contento del partido que he hecho y eso es lo importante".

"Ahora ya me voy de vacaciones. Hace tres o cuatro años que no tengo vacaciones, en mi pueblo tengo montaña y playa. Y estas cinco semanas me van a venir muy bien. Sólo pienso en disfrutar y en descansar. La temporada ha sido muy larga", apostilló Cesc.

dig out some old pics. BUT... don't blame me about the watermarks >__________<|||

The footprints of Xabi alonso: ♥

----------------season 2001/02, team: La Real-----------------------------------
young boy :)


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GO, Reds! We'll win the number SIX! :)

*crying~~~~~*

An interesting formation from beginning, and when I saw Stevie drifted inside so often while Zenden did not produce many crosses... we knew we were in trouble. This season, the most beautiful games of LFC were the games when we playing well in two flanks: two wingers, or wingers/wingbacks overlapping. But we did not showed it today.

Meanwhile our defense line looked shaky at first half, Daniel and Alvaro seemed pretty nervous, even Carra was not very steady at moments.

Anyway, this is only a half time of the semi-final, we will beat them at Anfield for sure :)

Boys, you'll never walk alone!


YNWA
When you walk through a storm,
Hold your head up high,
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm,
There's a golden sky,
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown..
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone...
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone...
You'll never walk alone.


FOAR
Outside the shakily gates
I heard a kopite calling:
Shakily they have taken u away
But u left a great eleven
Before u went to heaven
Now its glory around the fields of Anfield Road.
...
All around the field of Anfield Road
Where once we watched the king Kenny play
(an could he play)
We had Heighway on the wing
We have dreams an songs to sing
Of the glory around the field of Anfield Road
...
Outside the paisley gates
I heard a kopite calling:
Paisley they have taken u away
U led the great eleven
Back in Rome 77
And the red men there still playing the same way
...
All around the field of anfield road
Were once we watched the king Kenny play
(an could he play)
We had Heighway on the wing
We had dreams an songs to sing
Of the glory around the field of Anfield Road

First leg: Barca Vs. Liverpool: 1:2
Second leg: Liverpool Vs. Barca: 0:1
WE WON!

Couldn't cool down to write a review, so fangirl time first:

How adorable this guy is? ♥
( (screencaps from an interview before second leg) )
You'll never walk alone!

Three hours after the game, I still can not sit down quietly to work on my presentaion (due tomorrow) :P

got some exciting pictures from Google maps:

Do you know this place? ^_____^


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Scolari delighted with Portugal victory over Brazil
Wed Feb 7, 2007 7:06 AM IST
Printer Friendly


By Mike Collett

LONDON (Reuters) - Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said on Tuesday his team's 2-0 win over his compatriots from Brazil meant more in terms of preparation for their next European qualifier than personal satisfaction.

"Victory over a team that has been top of the world rankings and five-times world champion gives us more self-esteem and confidence before our next Euro qualifying match against Belgium," Scolari, who led Brazil to the fifth of those world titles in 2002, told a news conference.

Scolari has now been in charge of the last two matches Portugal has played against Brazil and Tuesday's win was the second time his Portuguese side had beaten his homeland.

"It was a very good game, and either side could have won," he said, "but we made the better use of our opportunities, although they had more opportunities than us.

"It was a good technical game and I think the English fans enjoyed it. It was very much from the South American school of football, but Portugal are part of the South American school.

"More importantly, I think they gained a lot of confidence from the victory. It was a good chance to see some new players and observe how they reacted."

Scolari also said that Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who was 22 on Monday, was made captain at the request of Carlos Silva, the vice-president of the Portuguese FA, who died on Sunday.

Scolari explained: "On Saturday, Mr Silva asked me to make him captain as a gesture. He thought the English fans would give him a difficult time and this was a response. He is too young to be captain, but Mr Silva asked me, and now he is no longer with us."

A period of silence was observed before kickoff to mark his death. Ronaldo also asked the Portuguese FA not to organise any birthday celebrations as a mark of respect for Silva's death.

************************************************************************
Pretty sad to know this kind of background story. Although I am not a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, I do like Portugal team and Scolari (thought he is quite cunning) :)

Xabi's new interview before this friendly, which is in spanish, so I simply translated it using on-line translation tool.

If you like to read the original article, click here: source :)



INTERVIEW: XABI ALONSO Centrocampista of Spain and the Liverpool
“Today we can gain self-esteem”

LUIS MARTIN - Liverpool - 07/02/2007

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EDIT:

Thank capricornina for the pics :=)


And the possible start-line from spanish media:

Estadio: Old Trafford (Manchester).
Inglaterra: Foster; Gary Neville, Woodgate, Ferdinand, P.Neville; Garrick, Gerard, Lampard; Ray Phillips, Dyer y Crouch.
España:Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Pablo, Puyol, Capdevila; Albelda, Xavi; Angulo, Silva; Villa y Morientes.




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Now we are 3rd in the table, 11 points behind Mancs. But there are still 13 games to go. Let's beat them, Reds! :)

When study our ranking table, I found it is quite interesting that we are the best defense team in the league as only conceded 17 goals, mind you, 14 of them in away games >___<;;; As for the attacking force, we are 4th now. Also, if you compare our home records (2nd place and 22 net goals) and away scores (4th place and 0 net goals), you'll have to agree there is a reason why Rafa play a 3-4-3 formation in Upton Park this week. And I believe we'll keep smashing opposite teams in the future :P

detail tables as shown bellow:
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Edit: as for the takeover saga, hope everything will turn out in a good way * pray with ♥ *

You'll never walk alone!

WestHam is always a tough team to beat, even though they are in the bottom three of the table. They played well against Mancs and Chelsea at home this season. So, 3 pints from Upton park was a great result for Reds today :)

nil to nil after first half, and there were no clear chance for Reds as well as Hammers. And even the ball possession of 'pool was less than hammers >___<;;; A highlight spot for the first half was the incident that Rafa tried to kick the ball but he slip on the floor :=) (nice try, Rafa ^+++^ )

A 10-15 minute period at the start of the 2nd half was brilliant!
Our first attacking effort right after kickoff : sweet long pass from Xabi to Peter, who passed the ball to Dirk; and then here we go, Dirk's amazing volley at 13 second of 2rd half ♥

Another goal followed at 53': tackle and cheeky pass from Xabi, and then there was Stevie's nice pass to Riise, who made cross to Peter; the last finishing from Peter, the birthday boy, was also fantastic. Two great goals, especially the second one, which was an outcome from great team work :=)

But once again, watching Liverpool's game is always a breathtaking work ^__^||| we didn't keep possession well enough after our goals; indeed, we were little shaky last quarter of the game. But anyway, a win's still a win ♥

Xabi was great on the pitch, as well as Pepe, who was so steady ♥ . Thought Xabi's foul on that twat Reo-Cocker was sort of tactical arrangement. He was one yellow card away from suspension, so when will be a better time than now that he can beat Everton this weekend and get rest in Newcastle's game, and come back with clean record for the next tough league games, including mancs, gunners, and etc. ^__^ it's quite funny to see he drag Reo-Coker's shirt ;P

You'll never walk alone ♥

Sad news:
-----------
Bayern Munich and Germany midfielder Sebastian Deisler announced his retirement from soccer at a news conference held by the Bundesliga club on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old, who missed last year's World Cup after undergoing knee surgery for the fifth time, rated the persistent knee injury as the reason of his retirement.

"(Due to the injury) I can no longer play with the right level of enjoyment and I don't do anything by halves," Deisler said.

Deisler first played for Germany in 2000 after making his Bundesliga debut as an 18-year-old with Borussia Moenchengladbach in 1998, but injury kept him out of the 2002 World Cup.

Then the midfielder was sidelined for five months in the 2003-04 season, but returned to help Germany reach the semifinals of the Confederations Cup in 2005.

He won 36 caps for Germany, having scored three goals, and played 135 league matches, scoring 18 goals and winning the league and Cup three times apiece with Bayern.

-------------
IMO, Deisler probably is the most talented one in current german footballers. Even knew he had 5 times heavy injuries on his knees, I still keep wondering "what will happen when he finally gets over the bad injuries and shows his amazing potential?" But it seems may not happen anymore :(

German League is also very physical as English Premiership. Players like to make tough tickles and do
not hesitate foul against opposite players to stop their attacking. Deisler began his career at a very young age, and I could not say his body was fit to cope with tough competitions. To make it even worse, he was known as a genius midfielder, so all defenders came after him and tried to stop him at first. That's why he had to get so many sideline time.

From Deisler, I got an image that playing in a first team at very young age (especially as a striker or an attacking midfielder) may not be a good choice for those genius players (or golden boys). Think about Micheal Owen, Raul, Del Piero, they all started their high level professional careers before 18, and got several times of heavy injuries before 25, and then were struggling with their off-form :=( The only one exception I knew is Paolo Maldini, who began play in Milan first team at 17 and keeps playing till now (his late thirty :) ). But, mind you, his position is defender (left-back or center-back).

Anyway, I wish Deisler all the best and hope he finds happiness ♥

When Milan lost their away derby to Inter with a hug scoresheet 3:4, I thought that was the worst game in this season. But now I have to change my mind. Three days, lost 2 cup-tie competitions, and conceded 9 goals...  Everything in my head became totally messy after watching today's match.

Whole match review from Eurosports is bellow:
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Edit: Worst of worst things is Luis and Speedy got heavy injuries o____O||| Luis have to put at least 6 months 'coz of cruciate ligaments!!! noooooo~~~~~ Hope he get well ♥



Who will play as our left-winger in the near future? That's a big problem, we'll meet Chelasea in Premier in this month, and Barca for the Champions League.

Edit 2: disappointed skipper:




Cheer up, guys! we'll fight back.




Anyway, You'll Never Walk Alone! ♥