Entries from July 2005 ↓
July 26th, 2005 — Arsenal FC
Last match in Austria before the Amsterdam Tournament, and the Gunners keep on keeping on….
Match report from Arsenal.com’s Richard Clarke in Bad Waltersdorf:
“Arsenal responded to the challenge of their strongest pre-season opposition to date by producing their best performance.
They swept aside Utrecht 3-0 at Bad Waltersdorf on Tuesday thanks to a twice-taken penalty by Robert Pires, Jose Antonio Reyes’s exquisite cross-shot and Henry’s simple third. But it was not the goals that stood out tonight it was more the fluency, the touch and the pace of their play. It suggests the team are starting to hit their stride.
Make no mistake, this game represented a significant step up from Arsenal’s previous pre-season opposition. With due respect, Barnet and two semi-pro Austrian outfits had offered little challenge up to this point but Utrecht were likely to be different.
They have been Uefa Cup regulars in recent seasons, albeit without ever threatening to win the Dutch title. In the past the club had produced internationals such as Jan Wouters and Hans van Breukelen while arguably the greatest player in their country’s history, Marco van Basten, was born in the town. They were certainly well-supported tonight in this tiny spa town east of Graz.”
July 25th, 2005 — Soccer
from US Soccer:
“The U.S. Men’s National Team won their third CONCACAF Gold Cup championship with a heart-stopping penalty shootout victory (3-1) against Panama after 120 minutes of scoreless action Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
The match was defined by the play of both goalkeepers as Kasey Keller and Jaime Penedo were fantastic in front of the net, coming up with key saves time and time again to force the game into overtime and, finally, penalty kicks. In the shootout, Keller continued his dominance by saving Panama’s first attempt by Luis Tejada, and then got some help from the crossbar and a clear miss over the frame. On the U.S. end, Santino Quaranta and Landon Donovan buried their attempts from the spot before Brad Davis secured the victory with a well-placed shot to the right corner.
The U.S. adds their third Gold Cup championship, having previously won the inaugural tournament in 1991 and again in 2002. Similar to this tournament, the U.S. won the 1991 championship via penalty kicks, defeating Honduras 4-3 from the spot. “
July 25th, 2005 — Arsenal FC
Taken from Richard Clarke’s match report on Arsenal.com:
“Arsenal maintained their 100 percent pre-season record with a 5-2 victory at SC Rizting on Sunday
Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry gave the visitors a two-goal cushion by the quarter-hour. Jose Antonio Reyes added a penalty in the 35th minute but Roman Pajer replied shortly afterwards to keep the home side in the game. Alfred Schiffer’s solo strike sparked some Austrian optimism 15 minutes from time, but Alexander Hleb and Sebastian Larsson had assured Arsenal’s superiority by the end.
This game was rarely a contest after that opening salvo but Arsène Wenger will be surely content with another solid workout for his squad. They will find tougher opposition in Amsterdam and Cardiff before the Premiership campaign starts in earnest but the side are doing everything that is expected of them against these lesser lights and looking sharp while they are doing it.
July 25th, 2005 — Adventure
“Beer, Beer, Beer, I’m going for a beer. Beer, beer, beer, I’m going for a beer. I like drinking beer. Lovely, lovely, beer.”
On Saturday afternoon, I got drunk as hell with Brian and Robert, all thanks to the City Of Newark’s 2nd Annual Food and Brew Festival.
All along Main St, different restraunts and bars were offering samples of various microbrews from around the country.
We went to Iron Hill, Home Grown, La Cucina di Napoli, and Cafe Gelato.
Iron Hill charged $8.00 for eight 6oz samples. The sampler included four of their beers, two from Ommegang and two from Victory.
At Home Grown, they had Magic Hat and Sierra Nevada. It was five bucks for three 8oz samples of Magic Hat. They had t-shirts, but the biggest size was “L”. I was able to get a pint glass instead, but the Magic Hat rep wouldn’t give me two (sorry Steve).
Third stop was La Cucina di Napoli, where they were giving out shot glass-sized samples of three Fordhams and three Penns. The three of us had one shot of each, and that only cost us a three dollar tip.
Finally, we went to Cafe Gelato, where they had Dogfish Head. I don’t even know how much the samples were, because Brian treated us to that. I can’t even remember what beers they had, just that there were three 8oz glasses, the beer was good, and the waitress was flirting with me.
All in all, a good time.
July 22nd, 2005 — Hockey and New York Rangers
July 22, 2005
Dear Friend of Hockey,
This is a letter I had hoped to be able to send you several months ago. I am certain it is one you had hoped to be able to read long before today, and I will never be able to express adequately my appreciation – along with that of the entire National Hockey League – for the patience you have shown through the most difficult period in our history.
While it may be said that the greatness of hockey, and the NHL, is best measured by the character and tenaciousness of its players, I would add that the greatness of our game is also reflected by the character and tenaciousness of you, our devoted fans. I thank you all for that passionate support and I apologize to all of you, on behalf of everyone involved, for testing that support as severely as we did.
The negotiation of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was an extremely complex undertaking and it took a painfully long time to complete. I promise you it did not take one second longer than absolutely necessary; and while it required a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice by a lot of people – including you – the result is that a great game will be even better upon our return.
As we move forward now in partnership with our players, we move equally, to a new era of exceptional entertainment, in partnership with you. We will come back with new rules, with a new spirit of cooperation and with a renewed sense of excitement as the best athletes in the world display their skills for the best fans in the world and strive to win the best trophy in the world, the Stanley Cup.
Over the past year, there has been entirely too much talk about the business of hockey and entirely too little talk about the joys of hockey. At last, it’s time, once again, to have fun – the kind of fun only hockey can offer. I cannot wait to get back to the rink and I very much look forward to seeing you there.
Let’s get ready to drop the puck!
Sincerely,
July 22nd, 2005 — Soccer
from US Soccer.com:
“The U.S. Men’s National Team pulled off a dramatic 2-1 victory over Honduras this evening at Giants Stadium as Oguchi Onyewu buried a diving header two minutes into extra time to send the U.S. to the Gold Cup final. The U.S. was behind for the majority of the match, but John O’Brien pulled them even in the 86th minute before Onyewu’s heroics put the U.S. in a record fifth Gold Cup championship match.
The U.S. will now face Panama in the tournament final on Sunday, July 24 at 3 p.m. ET live on Univision from Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Fans can also follow the match live on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics. The U.S. has won two previous Gold Cups, taking home the crown in 1991 and 2002.
If that wasn’t enough good news for US Soccer, the latest FIFA ranking s were released yesterday as well. The US Men are now ranked 6th in the world - the highest ranking ever by the Americans. As strange as it may sound, the US are currently ranked higher than France, England, Spain and Italy. Heady times indeed!
Here’s the top 20:
1 Brazil
1 Argentina
3 Netherlands
4 Czech Republic
5 Mexico
6 USA
7 France
8 England
8 Spain
10 Portugal
11 Germany
12 Turkey
13 Japan
14 Italy
15 Iran
15 Republic of Ireland
17 Sweden
18 Uruguay
19 Denmark
19 Greece
