I've shown you all this video before, but I simply have to post it on here. It makes me so happy every time I watch it. My boy has skillz and the fact that he's pwning Dani Alves...yeah, just about makes my day.
I hope he gets this on a regular basis. And maybe, possibly, could he pretty please get kicked hard at least once per game. The level of dislike I have for this man grows with every second. He's just the definition of ugh.
Ok, it's about time somebody did a post on all the good things about football. By 'good things' read 'hot players'. There's something out there for everyone, and even though I make a point of throwing a strop when people call me a fangirl (I DO know about the sport dammit!) I can have total fangirl moments. This is one such moment. Enjoy.
I want his babies. I really do.
I know his twin. Not his literal twin, but it's good enough for me. At least he speaks English...
Oh Canna, how we love you and your love of being shirtless.
I'm actually so jealous of his hair. Like, words cannot describe the envy.
He's the God of Spanish football. 'Nuff said.
Oh Niko. *sigh*
Charlie, you may have appaling taste in football teams, but you're still a cutie.
Cescy, the eternal goofball of pure cute.
*turns to mush* That. Smile.
Well hello Mr Bojan.
Xabiiiii :D
Lashes. Looks good no matter what. But shirtless always helps.
Dahveed. Like this one needs an explanation...
He played, he scored, he looked pretty. That's enough to keep me happy. Emery, please play him more often in La Liga, I miss him. 
I love how miserable/disgusted he looks after scoring. Poor love, it can't have been that bad. I'm honestly not THAT mad about you wearing base layers. Honest. As long as I can see thigh, it's all good.
There were two games to watch on my schedule for the evening. Sadly, neither one was on the telly, and I couldn't find a stream that didn't let me down, so this report is going to be kinda shitty today. I did however manage to catch the first half hour of the Valencia game, during which Mori and Vicente scored a goal each. Sadly, Vicente was wearing those evil long sleeved polo neck type undershirts, so he'd better hope that it was really cold out there, cos he never wears base layers! But my god, did he look good. The first half finished 2-0 to Valencia, which was nothing less than I expected really, they were playing a team so many divisions below them, it's not even funny.
They didn't get the memo though, and just a minute after coming out for the second half, Portugalete had pulled one back. Only minutes later, Mori restored Valencia's two goal cushion. The final score was a respectable 4-1 to Valencia, Zigic scoring the final goal for the current holders of the cup.
And because I didn't watch any of the Liverpool game, I'm relying on other reports to tell me how they did. Apparently, Portsmouth were the more attacking of the two teams, particularly during the first half. Having beaten Chelsea at the weekend, this game should have been easy enough for Liverpool, but they seemed to struggle. It wasn't until the 75th minute, when a Diop handball gave Liverpool a penalty kick that the break through was made. Steven Gerrard scoring the spot kick to giveh is team the lead against a very strong Portsmouth side who until this moment had held their own in defence and were difficult to break down. And that was how the game ended. Nothing breath taking, but a win, 3 points and top of the table a little while longer.
Sorry for the rubbishness of the reports this week, but online streams phail and I couldn't actually watch either game. I'm just going on live score updates and whatnot.
So here it is. The first post on a Liverpool player, and who better to start with than Steven Gerrard. Our Captain Fantastic. The man who gives 110% for his team every time and never says never. He's already making a name for himself as a Liverpool legend, and he still has so many years to come.
I could say that he was the reason I started supporting Liverpool, but I'd be lying. That honour goes to Michael Owen. However, he is the reason I have continued to support them and my love for the team has grown over the years. I love his dedication to the team, the way he leads from the front. The mark of a true captain. He is capable of leading without being overpowering, and I know that when the team are down and out, in desperate need of a lift, he'll be there to motivate them. The proof of this lies in many games over the years, but perhaps the two that stand out most in my mind are the CL final of 2005, when Liverpool came from 3-0 down at half time and won the whole thing. Yes, it was nerve wracking, and yes, they never do things the easy way, but my love for Stevie soared on that night.
The second game - the FA Cup final the following season. Seemingly, all was lost, West Ham were leading with just minutes remaining on the clock. Liverpool fans had their heads in their hands, they couldn't watch. And then...then the miracle happened. A goal out of nowhere, and it was that man again. Steven Gerrard. He had such an influence on the game, it was to become known as The Gerrard Final. An honour not many players have recieved in their lives, but very much a deserved one for the Liverpool midfielder.
Some may argue that he's still got a lot to learn, that there are better midfielders out there, and to them, I say pish. Considering his age, he is currently - in my eyes - already one of the best midfielders in the world. Certainly the best in England right now at any rate. There should be more footballers out there like him, fiercly loyal to their teams and not willing to leave at any cost.
Yes, he may have his off days sometimes in an England shirt, but for Liverpool, he has never let the fans down, and lets face it, that's what I really care about. There's none of this diva bullshit, and if he's injured, he lets his body heal. Unlike John 'the bionic man' Terry, who seems to think it's a sign of how hard he is playing with concussion and god knows what else wrong with him for Chelsea, but gives up thechance to captain his country because he has 'a sore back'. Stevie's not willing to risk his career for the sake of playing a few extra games, never lets club or country down if he can help it and he's alway ready to give everything to ensure his team wins. That there - signs of a footballer who's in it for the love of the game, not all the perks that come with it.
So you've all heard the story by now. There's this guy who gets on my train on Monday who is basically Mata's twin (but taller). Yeah, he's pretty much my hero right now. I never in my life thought I'd be so happy to see a total stanger getting on a train, but there you go. If you get chatted up by random pervy old men, any stranger getting on the train and coming to your rescue is pretty much welcome.
So, vampires. I could go into a whole big discussion about them and throw loads of random info at you, but I really can't be bothered to do that, so I'm going to do my blog post on Count Dracula because that's possibly the most famous vampire of all time. He's had many different representations in movies and books, but the general consensus is that he's an evil blood sucking killer.
Some of the basic facts you need to know about Dracula:
Vampires are generally seen as the "undead". They rise from their graves at night to seek fresh blood to drink, but they must return to the grave before dawn. They have recently become popularised in shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it's subsequent spin off series, Angel. Movies such as Van Helsing and the Blade Trilogy have also added to the hype of vampires, making it popular culture for many young people.
Here is a video of the trailer for the 1992 movie interpretation of Bram Stoker's Dracula:
It was vitally important for both Valencia and Liverpool to win their games in order to establish their lead at the top of their respective tables once more. Liverpool's task was arguably the more difficult of the two, away to Chelsea who haven't lost at home in 86 games AND without their star striker - Torres ruled out with a hamstring injury.
And so it began. Chelsea started the brighter of the two, an early slip from Alonso almost handing Anelka the perfect start, and it would have been 1-0 Chelsea had it not been for a vital interception from Daniel Agger. Liverpool didn't have long to wait until they took the lead, an Alonso shot on goal getting deflected off Bosingwa's backside to bamboozle Cech and they were 1-0 up on 10 minutes. It was a tense affair after that, with both teams attacking but neither managing to find that breakthrough. Steven Gerrard came really close to extending Liverpool's lead, only a fingertip save from Cech preventing him from doing so.
Chelsea were up to their usual cheating/diving/being general twats style tricks, Bosingwa writhing in apparent agony following a clean tackle from Gerrard in which he not only won the ball, but also made little contact with the player. The ref must have been seeing something else though, and out came the yellow card for the second time in the game. Liverpool held on to the lead going in at half time though, and Chelsea's unbeaten home run was under threat.
The second half carried on from where the first left off. Both teams continued to attack, but neither could get a foothold in the game. Just past the hour mark, Alonso crashed a shot off the post, and what a shot it was! Ashley Cole should have been sent off after 65 minutes, a foul on Babel worthy of a second booking being overlooked by the referee, who chose to book Mascher instead. Howard Webb, who is normally a good referee, has made some shocking decisions today. Pepe seems to have a habit of knocking his team mates out and he managed to clatter into Daniel Agger today, the Dane simply getting up after a few seconds and shaking the cobwebs out.
John Terry, ever the twat, fouled Reina then looked all innocent after, and I was starting to think that this game had been bought by Abramovic's millions. It was heading towards being Chelsea's first defeat at home in the Premiership for over 4 years. Chelsea were throwing everything at it, replacing defenders with strikers to try and get the equaliser. It was all in vain though, Liverpool walking away worthy winners and taking their place at the top of the table.
The Valencia game had a similar situation. Win, and they finish the weekend where they started. Top of the league. They came close to opening the scoring on many occasions, most notably when Joaquin just overhit a lob after a good pass from Veeyah. Renan was playing against the sun for the first half, making it difficult for him to see the ball when Recreativo were attacking. Veeyah wasted several good chances, sending the ball wide. It wasn't the most exciting of games to this point, the Recreativo players doing their best to make me happy and get Dahveed angry. It worked near the end of the first half, and as the whistle went to signal the end of the half, he walked towards the tunnel still arguing with the Recreativo players. Sadly, he got booked for his protesting. Some referees just don't know a fair tackle when it's right in front of them...
The second half needed to be better for them. A win would put them comfortably clear at the top. Unfortunately, they had a bad start to the second half, they were 1-0 down within 2 minutes of the restart. Had it not been for an interception from Alexis just minutes later, it could have been a lot worse. But it wasn't to last long. Yep, that man Veeyah scored again. Words cannot describe how much I love him. Even with 70% of the posession, they couldn't pull out the win, but they remain top of the table at least until the late games finish.
It's a sort of...obvious thing anyway, but Dahveed Veeyah is pretty much my rock. When other footballers/people let me down, he is always there. Sure, there have been times when I've been slightly annoyed with him for superficial things like his hair being too short or the pornstache being too obvious, but really, that's just me being picky. I can honestly say, when I need him, he never lets me down.
When I need someone to score a goal or lift the team, he's always there. For both Spain and Valencia. When other players are out injured, he's always there. Yes, there have been times he's been injured, but it's never serious and never for long. When other footballers whore themselves out to a team mate, he goes one better and whores himself out to the whole team. Even if he has no good reason to do so. When others go around flashing skin at every opportunity, he wears base layers. I whinge about them a lot, but then I stop and think - he's only doing it so I'm the only one that gets to see skin :P
Over the summer, when there was the whole saga about Valencia's financial problems and there was talk of him being sold, he never once said he wanted to leave. Despite everything that could possibly go wrong having gone wrong, he wanted to stay and help Valencia get back to the top where they belong. With his loyalty (and goals), the team are sitting pretty at the top of the La Liga table.
When I've had a bad day and I just want to shut myself in my room, curl up in a ball and sleep the day away, all I need to do is switch my laptop on to see a pic of him, and everything seems better. Whether its a pic of him on his own, with team mates or with Zaida, it's guaranteed to put a smile on my face.
And if he has a poor week and doesn't score, I always know he's given 110% and it just wasn't his lucky week. I can deal with that, because he's no superman, he can't score in every game he plays, no matter how much I want him to. But above all, I know that when the team are down and out, and they need to stand up and be counted, he'll be the one leading from the front. And that right there...that's the reason he's my rock. Through all the tough times, he has never once let me down.
It was the game many Liverpool fans had been looking to, as well as many Atletico fans. It was supposed to be Fernando Torres' grand homecoming, but an injury while on international duty with Spain ruled him out. He declined Atletico's offer to watch the game from a VIP seat in favour of continuing his recovery on Merseyside. Even without their star striker, Liverpool fielded more Spaniards than their Spanish league opposition. That's slightly embarassing for them, don't you think?
Anyway, to the football. The Atletico defence had some very shaky moments at the start, and had it not been for the uselessness of the Liverpool strike force, they could have got an early lead. The away kit is somewhat of a strange colour, it only looks good on certain people, and I spent the majority of the first half admiring the fact that Daniel Agger is one of these people. My god, I missed that boy and his tattoos. By the 15th minute, Liverpool had got their reward, Robbie Keane (yes, you did read that right) scoring the first of the game. The nerviest moment for Pepe Reina on the other hand was a poor header by Arbeloa, forcing the goalkeeper to spring into action and smother the ball before one of the incoming Atletico strikers put it in. After going 1-0 up, Liverpool seemed to stop playing for a while, sitting back on the ball rather than attacking. The referee wrongly booked Riera for diving late in the first half, it should have been a penalty kick.
The second half was pretty uneventful, Robbie Keane was withdrawn early on with a groin injury, and with the Chelsea game looming and Torres almost certainly out, Liverpool cannot afford to lose any more strikers. Atletico Madrid had a goal disallowed in the 55th minute, totally unfairly. Considering Liverpool's lead was from an offside position, it was not going well for the assistant referee in that side. They had more luck merely a minute later when Atletico crashed a shot against the post. Gerrard was substituted just before the hour mark with one eye on the clash with Chelsea this weekend. It was a very nervy second half, with Liverpool just needing to hang onto their lead in order to top the group. Unfortunately for them, they were unable to do so, and they can only take comfort in the fact that the referee's flag prevented them from losing all 3 points.
Ok, so we did talk about this a few days ago, and then Lucy did a blog post on it. I thought I'd do one too, because we all have this dilemma at some point in our lives really. It only really happens to me sometimes, because I have a loyalty to one team and one team alone. It doesn't matter who they're playing, how they're playing or where, I will ALWAYS want Liverpool to win every game they play. That includes European games (if it ever happens) against Valencia. While I love Valencia with all my heart, Liverpool were the first team I ever supported. The current promotion of the team says 'it's not a badge, it's a family crest' and I couldn't agree more. It doesn't matter if they're winning or losing, I am behind them 110%. I couldn't turn my back on them, just like I'd never turn my back on family.
International games though. They're trickier. The only one I have an actual reason for supporting is Bulgaria, they are my national team. However, I don't care much for them. Having lived in England since I was 2, this is my home. But that doesn't qualify England as my #1 team either. I know it should, and I do support England. No matter how much I whinge about them, when they lose, it hurts. I get so caught up in the excitement, I can't help it. The only thing I dislike about the England NT - the constant hype and media circus that follows them around. It should be about what they say ON the pitch, not what they say off it. Talk 'til you're blue in the face boys, if you're not putting out the performances where it matters, all your talk is useless. Well, that and the obscene amount of Chelsea and Man U players in the team. I don't like either Premiership team and I can't stand their players. They're overpaid, underperforming twats for the most part and it baffles me how Terry and Ferdinand can be named captain and vice captain. We're talking about a man who 'forgot' to turn up to a drugs test and a man who hurls abuse like no other on the pitch. I don't see either as a particularly inspiring leader, and think that the captaincy needs to be rethought in order for England to have a realistic chance of winning anything. Oh, and please bench either Lampard or Gerrard. They could not, cannot and will never be able to play together. Deal with it and change things around.
The Spain NT hold a place in my heart for several reasons. They're largely Liverpool based, and I've already explained the team loyalty thing. I know I should overlook the clubs when it comes to NT's, but I just can't. They play as a unit, not as individual players. Yes, you can have 11 world class players on the pitch, but unless they have an understanding and play well together, you're pretty much screwed. They're exciting to watch, they're #1 in the world right now, they have a whole lot of good looking guys to watch. The list goes on. And the final reason...they won me money when they won the Euros. Yeah, it's selfish, I know. But do I care? Do I hell.
I guess my real dilemma would be when Spain play England. The proud Brit in me wants England to win everything, to prove the critics wrong. But the football fan in me - that's all for Spain. I guess I'll know who to cheer for when the time comes. But at least I know know that no matter which team wins, I won't be disappointed.
It makes me so sad that Kimi has to give up his championship crown this year. And what makes it even worse is that he'll probably have to give it up to the piece of crap that is Lewis Hamilton. Words cannot express how much I hate that man. He's arrogant, rude, annoying, a cheater and really not as good as he thinks he is. Add that to the fact that the commentators in this country have their heads shoved so far up his ass, they just talk him up all the time, I am just about ready to give up on F1.
Last year, Hamilton lost the title on the last race of the season. I can only pray for a miracle and hope that the same thing happens to him this year. It's sort of looking good, I mean, it's in Brazil, and Massa (the other title contender) is Brazilian. Kimi should know what he has to do. If he qualifies near Hamilton, take him out. FFS, just crash into that git and end his race. It'll break my heart to see Kimi not finish yet another race, but it has to happen. I don't even WANT to think about the media circus that will no doubt occur if Hamilton actually manages to win.
I personally don't think he deserves to at all. Any man that can crash into a tyre barrier at god knows what kind of speeds is clearly not as good as he and the rest of the world think he is. Let's not even go into the race where Hamilton shunted into the back of Kimi when the latter was at the end of the pit lane waiting for them to be given the green light. How the FUCK can you not see a car - no, sorry, TWO cars - stopped in front of you, even if you don't see that the light is red?! In the real world, you'd get so badly punished for that. Any other F1 driver would have been seriously penalised for that. Lewis...he got a ten place penalty for the next race, while managing to ruin Raikkonen's race. I don't even know how Kimi refrained from bitch slapping that idiot into the middle of next week.
As you can probably tell, I am not at all a fan of Hamilton. And it has nothing to do with the fact I'm really not that patriotic. I like Jenson Button. I just think that Hamilton is the new Michael Schumacher - minus the being good part. Kimi is one of the best, if not the best and naturally most talented F1 drivers from the current group. He's down to earth, doesn't blame others when things go wrong for him and most of all, he doesn't go out with the intention of ruining other people's races.
I really hope that the sham F1 has become doesn't drive him out of the sport, I'd hate to see Lewis Hamilton win anything.
I am starting to seriously worry about myself. It all started with Alexis, and now it seems like it's spreading. I'm actually starting to care about footballers I am not in any way attracted to for reasons unknown to me. Well ok, with Alexis, I can say it's because he plays for Valencia. But Cazorla? Yeah, I can't explain that one.
I chose to watch Villareal last night (of all the games I could have picked, I settled for that) and it was a very good game, probably the best game in the CL. Having said that, I was flicking between 3 games and probably missed all the good stuff. It seemed like every time I changed the channel to see a goal in one game, there was a goal in the one I'd just changed over from :( There were goals, attacking play and it very much overshadowed the hype of 'the Battle of Britain' which was a boring affair, and apparently, two of Man U's 3 goals came from an offside position. Wow, what a shock that is...
Anyway, the reason I am worried is because during the game last night, I was more concerned about the fact that they weren't showing Santi Cazorla much. And you know...the fact the commentator kept mispronouncing his name. I was even upset that out of 6 goals scored by Villareal, not one of them was scored by him. Now, don't get me wrong, I think he's cute in the annoying little brother kind of way, but I'm not attracted to him. Which makes me think - why was I so concerned about how much camera time he was getting? Is it because he's Spanish, and I'm a little biased in their favour?
Ahoy there, me hearties! Welcome to me pirate ship. The price of this journey be a bottle of rum.
When I agreed to take part in these blog challenges, I ne'er actually thought I'd get pirates as my random topic. Ye may have to put up with a lot of waffle that has nothin' to do with anythin', because I don't know the first thing about pirates, but I'll try.
I guess that seein' as I be totally clueless on pirates, I'll cheat and write about POTC. Am I allowed to do that? Well ok, maybe not POTC exactly. But I did find this really cool avatar on a livejournal comm somewhere and it made me laugh lots, so I'll share:
Ok, I'll play along. Erm...pirates. Seein' as the extent of what I know is basically, they have a beard, a wooden leg, an eye patch and a parrot called Polly, I'm clueless, so I went on the internetz to research and I found a ton of uber cool stuff. Some of what I learnt includes the followin':
We also suffer lots of horrible ilnesses, bein' a pirate isn't all fun and games you know. Scurvy, dysentry, gangrene and yellow fever are all common among pirates, many of these eventually killin' those affected. Also, because of the close confinement, such disease spreads easily and quickly.
While researchin', I also decided that my favourite pirate be Blackbeard. This may or may not have somethin' to do with the fact that he be the only one I had heard of before I started my research.
He be a super famous pirate in the 16th century and has a bit of a reputation as a meanie. As perhaps the most famous pirate of all time, there have been many character adaptations in books, documentaries and movies. He doesn't sound like the kind of guy ye want to bump into on a dark night! Read more about him here: http://blackbeardthepirate.com/story.htm
Many pirates got caught eventually and met a horrible end. Those who did not die at sea were often caught once they made it back to dry land and often hung in front of huge crowds of people. Sometimes, they were even decapitated as a warning to other pirates. We be an unpopular group, the pirates.
Anyway, land ahoy! That's the end of yer journey, now get off me ship before I make ye walk the plank.
I've decided that from now on, I'm going to try and do a round up of Liverpool and Valencia games from the weekend. I don't know how successful this is going to be, because I start work in two weeks, and I'll most likely miss a lot of games, I'll be relying on many other websites to tell me what the games were like. No matter, while I'm here, you'll get reports.
The Liverpool game against Wigan followed an international break, from which the team had suffered several considerable blows. Nando out injured. Babel out injured. Keane not out injured. Mascher and Lucas coming back late and suffering from jetlag. Add to that the absence of Martin Skrtel, and it wasn't looking all that brilliant for Liverpool. They knew before Kick off that Chelsea had managed a 5-0 win against Middlesborough, meaning it was a game they HAD to win to stay joint top. I had faith that they could pull it out of the bag though, sure that after their performance against Man City, they'd be able to get themselves out of trouble should it be needed. And it was needed, as for the second weekend, Liverpool went behind to a team they were widely expected to beat comfortably. The similarities to the Man City game didn't end there though. Liverpool won the game 3-2, with Kuyt scoring the winner and the equalising goal coming after the opposition team had gone down to 10.
It was not the most convincing of Liverpool performances, Agger had a nightmare start, but gradually got into the game, not only providing the assist for Liverpool's first goal, but also making some very important challenges to keep Wigan at bay. It's not the first time this season Liverpool have been very lucky to win a game. In fact, other than the Merseyside derby, I don't remember Liverpool having a convincing win in the Premier League so far this season. As long as the three points keep coming though, it's not going to be much of a concern. Yes, winning ugly is a pet hate of mine, and the sooner Liverpool stop doing it, the better, but for now, I am more than happy to sit back and watch my boys get win after win.
Valencia started the weekend top of the La Liga table. They too have not always won in the most convincing manner, but 3 points are three points. Today was not one of these games though, they dominated from start to finish and although the game finished 4-0 , they could easily have scored more. Stupid stream issues prevented me from catching the first five minutes of the game...it would be the time Dahveed scored a goal, wouldn't it?! He scored again on 18 minutes, but the idiot referee disallowed it. That'll come back to haunt him, the fucker. Valencia were the more attacking of the two teams, Renan barely had a save to make for the first 45 minutes.
The second half was pretty much more of the same. Mata scored Valencia's second after 71 mins following a defensive error from a Veeyah pass. The referee and his assistants seemed hell bent on preventing Dahveed from scoring any more, flagging him for offside on several occasions when he was clearly onside. Valencia weren't to be stopped though, Vicente scoring the third with 7 minutes left, and Dahveed scored his second with just a minute left. A clean sheet and 4 goals scored put them securely back at the top of the table.
Ok, and this has nothing to do with either team, but I have to mention it cos it was the comedy moment of the weekend. Stoke got a PK, which took forever to be taken because the wind kept blowing the ball off the spot. It was serious lolz.
So I went into town today...and I got my tattoo. It hurt like hell actually, maybe because I hadn't had one for so long that I'd forgotten what it felt like. Anyway, my regular tattooist had left the place now, so I had to have someone else do it. I was kinda disappointed - until I walked in and saw him. He was a cutie pie, looked about mid to late 20's, had dark spiky hair and green eyes. And he was Australian. He asked me if my boyfriend had any tattoos, and I was like 'well, actually, I don't have one'. And I had my foot on his lap the ENTIRE time he was tattooing me...all one hour 10 mins of it. Here's a pic of it (bearing in mind it's like only a few hours since I got it done so it's still all sore and red):
I couldn't squeeze in the whole thing with the writing, but the roses are the most important part, I feel, so yeah. What do you think? Worth £100. I think so, especially if the tattooist is going to be a cutie. And that includes the second visit in two weeks to check it over and get it retouched if needs be.
As you may have read already, I couldn't get to Brighton yesterday because somebody got killed on the tracks just past Haywards Heath. Anyway, today when I was on the train, I had the weirdest feeling ever. As we drove past Haywards Heath, I suddenly got a chill down my spine, like an actual proper shiver. Considering I was wrapped up nice and warm and the sun was shining, I highly doubt it was because I was cold. It really creeped me out!
Anyway, I had the most boring seminar which only lasted about 35 mins, which annoyed me no end because seriously, I travelled 3 and a half hours for that? I just wanted to get home, put my feet up and start the weekend early. I was in a foul mood (which seems to be happening freakishly often lately) and got on the train back home in a huff. It was as though the gods had decided to smile down on me when there was the single cutest dog I've ever seen in London. I took some pics on my phone, but the stupid software won't let me upload them :(
It was so cute and playful, I spent the whole train ride laughing. Especially when a little toddler went up to pet the dog and this kid was seriously a third of the size. Every time the dog turned around to sniff at the kid, it would back away and start crying, but then as soon as the dog turned it's back, it got brave and tried to pet it again. It was hilarious and mean at the same time, I felt so cruel laughing at the poor thing. He looked so scared!
Oh Nando. How my heart breaks for you. I am actually on the verge of tears for more than one reason. The full list is:
Having looked back at the past few years, I've realised that I drink far too much coffee. I could quite happily get through a jar a week, and most of the time, I do. Considering that I'm back at uni now, and travelling a lot, coffee is often my saviour. It keeps me awake and alert. The only problem is, that carries on well into the night, and I'm starting to worry about the fact that I only get about 6 hours of sleep a night and end up dozing off in lectures.
This has prompted me to make a major life decision. I am going to TRY and cut down my caffeine intake. I don't know how well it'll succeed, I'm pretty sure I have some kind of addiction to it now. I'll need you girls to help me because I will be tempted to make a coffee every few hours. I'm limiting myself to one a day - in the mornings - and the rest of the day, I won't have any to see if that helps my sleeping pattern. If it doesn't, I guess I'll just go back to drinking 5 coffees a day. I can't help it if they make it so bloody good!
Ok, I've decided to keep a list of all the reasons Dahveed and I are totally MFEO. These are all true you know! I will keep adding to this as I think of new things, or new things come up.
1. We have the same injuries a lot. He broke his finger in the Euros celebrating a goal…I was celebrating too when I slipped and fell, breaking my pinky.
2. The stars say so. I’m an Aries and he’s a Sagittarius, those two star signs are perfect for each other, compatibility wise.
3. I am a Liverpool fan – he has said that he is a great admirer of Rafa B, who is Liverpool’s manager.
4. I am 5’9”. That’s the exact same height as him. It’s like the universe knew I hate wearing heels and made the perfect guy the same height as me.
5. Valencia are in group G in the UEFA Cup. That’s the 7th letter of the alphabet and the first letter of my name. Dahveed wears the #7 shirt for Spain and Valencia.
6. I was born in ‘88. Against Belgium, Dahveed scored the winner in the 88th minute.
7. Dahveed is a footballer and has certain diet regulations he has to follow during the season. I eat too many fattening things. He can help me burn off the calories.
8. Silva is a total cutie pie. Dahveed seems to think so too, as those two are always together. We’d get on with each other’s friends.
9. His fave movie is Braveheart. It’s also in my list of all time favourite movies ever.
10. He wears Paco Rabanne Ultraviolet. That has fast become one of my fave fragrances. (I do not in any way get high on it and it is in no way attached to my nose permanently).
11. He turned down the chance to play for Real Madrid because he wanted to repay Valencia for their faith in him. I turned down the chance to support Real Madrid because I wanted to stay loyal to Valencia.
12. He says he has never been drunk. I also tell people I have never been drunk while falling around the room unsteadily.
13. I am usually incredibly moody in the mornings and pull bitch faces at anyone who crosses me before I’ve had a coffee. Dahveed keeps this routine up for the whole day.
14. His favourite sports brand is adidas. I own a vast collection of football shirts manufactured by adidas.
15. He thinks Paz Vega is the sexiest woman in the world. She is a brunette. I am also a brunette. He just hasn’t met me yet ;)
16. He’s a bit of a man whore. I’m a total camera whore. We can be whore-ish together.
I am sick and tired of seeing my boys coming back from international duty injured. If it's not Dagger, it's Nando. He's one of our most important players, and I'm really starting to worry about the state of his hamstrings if they snap every few weeks. I really hope we don't have another Owen on our hands. God knows I love the man, but the injury problems are awful. Nando limped out of Spain's 2-1 win in the 16th minute. He was running for the ball and suddenly pulled up, not unlike the situation at Aston Villa. Unfortunately, this time we don't have an international break coming up. Oh no. We have Wigan, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea to look forward to without Nando. Can someone please ban hamstrings and metatarsals on footballers?
As if that wasn't bad enough, Ryan Babel was also subbed early in the Norway-Holland game following a bad tackle from Morten Gamst Pedersen. I'm starting to think that international games should be banned during the football season. Players cannot handle so many games in such a short period of time, and it never ends well. Failing that, Liverpool need to start pulling a ManUre/Chelsea. Ban their players from going away on international duty because they are 'injured'. The alternative is letting them go away and them have them missing vital games during the season.
The club v country debate is one that many people talk about, and for me personally, it's club before country every time. I don't care how damn proud it makes them to step out wearing their countries' colours, if they're coming back injured every time, then I'd rather they quit. I'm just selfish like that.
My train to Brighton got cancelled today, and at first I was really pissed off. It's the third or fourth time since I started uni I've had serious trouble with the trains, and I'm starting to think that maybe living in London and going to uni in Brighton isn't such a good idea.
That was until I found out there had been a fatality and that's why all the train services were delayed. I felt so bad that my first thought was 'why couldn't this have happened yesterday?' but then I actually thought about how bad that makes me sound. Anyway, not that the people this concerns will find their way onto this blog (and if they do, I'm sorry, I was just stressed out), but my sincerest condolences to them at this tough time.
After watching the England game last night, it only went to further cement my belief that Lampard and Gerrard simply cannot play in the same midfield. They are both world class footballers, but together, they just don't gel. They're too similar. In the Kazakhstan game, Lampard was the better of the two. In the Belarus game, he was anonymous, Gerrard taking the central role and making it his own. He scored one, and made an assist for the other, yet the debate rages on. Can they play together? I personally think not. The question then becomes, which one do you leave out?
Lampard is a player who likes to get forward, has many shots on goal, and has more England goals to his name. However, his defensive duties are lacking and he is not versatile enough to play out of position should it be required. Gerrard is Liverpool's saviour on many occasions, but he's not always able to reproduce his Liverpool form in an England shirt. Yet still, he remains my first choice for the England midfield. If you ignore the statistics and simply watch a game with your own eyes, you will realise for yourself that Lampard has been far from his best for England for many years now. The few games he missed through injury in which Barry partnered Stevie were a vast improvement, but once Lampard regained match fitness, he was back in the squad. It worries me that the managers have not yet been able to see what the fans see, and if this carries on, England will never be able to mount a serious challenge for any competition they play in.
Of course, my opinion on this is totally biased on the basis that I am a Liverpool fan and will always think Gerrard is the better player. His goals come from open play, rather than penalty kicks and deflections, he is better at defensive duties and is overall the better of the two in my opinion. I'll leave it down to you to decide which you'd rather have in your England midfield.
Belarus vs England:
This game started much better than the last England game against Kazakhstan. Within 11 minutes, they were 1-0 up courtesy of a great Gerrard strike. Words cannot express how much I love that man, serious. To me, he is one of the best midefielders in the world, and easily better than Frank Lampard. I'll do a post on that some other day though. Back to the report. After going ahead, England had a shaky 10 minutes or so, where Belarus had several attempts on goal, all of which came to nothing thankfully. The defence was very much makeshift though, with 2 out of 4 regulars out injured. The luck wasn't to last though. Just before the half hour mark, Belarus were level, some dazzling skill leaving the England defence for dead. England's troubles weren't to end there though. At half time, the scores level, they had a lot to do in the second half.
Shreky answered fans prayers just 5 minutes after the restart, putting England ahead again. On first glance, he looked slightly offside, but he was given the benefit of the doubt and the goal stood. With minutes to go, Rooney scored his second and England's third. From then on, England were happy to sit back and keep hold of the ball. Gerrard went close just minutes before the end, but his second goal was not meant to be, the shot hitting the post and rebounding out, but nobody was there to put it in. It didn't matter though, England were worthy winners, 3-1 on a cold night in Minsk. Ok, so it may not have been their most convincing performance, but it brought them another 3 points, so really, who cares? As long as the lions are roaring, the boo boys get drowned out.
Belgium vs Spain:
Having broken the record for the longest period of time without conceding a goal, Spain made a bad start to this game. They were a goal down inside 10 minutes, courtesy of a combination of bad defending and erm - bad defending. It was almost a competition of the ugly kits, which Belgium just edged out for me. Thankfully, matters on the pitch were not to be influenced by the kits, the game was free flowing and fast moving, with Spain playing their usual one touch passing football.
Amongst the bad news of ugly kits and going a goal down, there was a silver lining. Well, for me anyway. Dahveed's hair is looking much better now, and he played much better too. He was an attacking threat right from the off, making some good runs. Cesc's hair however...I'll refrain from comment. It just really is THAT bad. Not quite Iniesta bad, but then, that was for a lost bet, right? Anyway, no matter about that, I can overlook the hair if he carries on scoring goals like the one that got Spain level on 36 minutes. Cue Iker celebrations that would probably prompt you to lock up any regular person in the loony bin. He screamed and did that 'I'm so happy, I could cry' thing he does, it was good entertainment. Just minutes before that, The Ramos took a hit on the nose, prompting us all to go into a blind panic about what could happen, but he was ok.
Dahveed carried on being his brilliant self, having shot after shot, and it was only a matter of time until he found the back of the net, right? Well, of course. He never disappoints. He got booked for what I guess was an over enthusiastic celebration, but come on, he scored the winner!! In the 88th minute, which is the year I was born. See, totally MFEO. And Iker did the funny dance again. I'll have to see if I can get Ali to find a video because it was just THAT good.
The highlight of the game for me came on 75 mins. The frustration spilling over, there was a slight scuffle on the pitch between Dahveed and one of the Belgian players. I wanted to see him bitchslap someone, but seeing him getting all worked up over it was just as good. *sighs*
I'm one of those people who gets bored with the way they look practically every month. Sometimes I change, sometimes I don't. It usually depends on how lazy I'm feeling. Anyway, dying my hair...again...has been on the 'to do' list for a long time. I spent a stupidly long amount of time thinking about what colour I wanted it, and in the end, I settled for burgundy. It doesn't look that much different indoors, but outdoors, it is RED! I'm glad I went for a darker colour, because really, light hair colours make me look washed out.
In the end, I decided that I simply HAD to dye it, if only to try and erase the disappointment of not getting my tattoo today. I'm quite proud that I managed to not only dye it and get the colour I wanted, but also - you can't actually tell hair colouring has taken place in the bathroom. I usually manage to dye everything else in the room while attempting to do my hair, and considering my dad has just finished the bathroom renovation, I think it's safe to say he wouldn't have appreciated a pinkish tinge to the sink/bathtub/walls.
Anyway, in case you were interested in what my hair looks like:
You can't actually see the full extent of the colour change in that pic because for some reason, my camera has never liked taking proper pictures :(
I was meant to be meeting a friend in town today so I could get my tattoo. Well, yeah. Didn't happen, because she cancelled on me. Well, technically, we rescheduled for the weekend, but I'm pretty sure my tattooist won't be free then, and I really don't want to go to anyone else. It's times like this I really start thinking about who my real friends are. It's the ones I know will never let me down.
I mean, not to say that she isn't a real friend because she won't come with me to watch me biting my lip and trying not to crush the nearest object to me. Its just, whenever we arrange to meet up, something else always comes up. It's not like I'm trying to stop anyone having a life because I seemingly don't have one. I've always grown up thinking that if you make a promise, you should follow it through. If you think there's the slightest chance of you not being able to keep that promise, don't make it in the first place. I wouldn't mind it if was just once or twice, but it happens almost every time. I haven't seen her for almost 5 months, it would be nice to catch up but I'm starting to feel like it'll be another 5 months before I actually get to see her. It seems like a stupid thing to get annoyed about but it's pretty much one of my main stresses recently.
So last night, the Spain U21s won their game against the Switzerland U21s. Having not watched the game (stupid world conspiring and not letting me have a live stream!) I don't have a clue whether they played well or not. I was following the game on bet365 and I guess from that, I could probably say that they dominated the game. It was a stressful time though, and by no means an easy game. They went 1-0 down within 25 minutes, and that meant that as things stood, they were definately out of the 2009 Euros. However, they managed to turn it around. 2-1 before the final whistle meant that extra time and possibly penalties loomed. Our baby Spaniards did us proud, scoring the winner in extra time. A 4-3 aggregate put them through to the final group stages at the expense of the Swiss.
Most of you probably don't actually care much for this result, but for Blue, Steph and me, it was an important game because we all had players in the Spain squad we wanted to do well. Fingers crossed that they can follow in the senior squads' footsteps and win the competition in 2009.
Ok, this is the second Valencia player I've done a post on. I really should give the Liverpool boys some attention before they decide I don't love them. Anyway, I'd like to introduce you (sort of) to the guy that got me into Spanish football. Vicente.
He's 27, a left winger and plays for Valencia. I say plays for...he's been injured so much the past few years, he's only got a handful of games. Which is a damn shame, because aside from being quite the cutie, he is actually a really talented footballer. Well, he'd have to be for me to start watching a whole new league for him.
All of you have already been spammed with dozens of pics of him, and we've all come to a common conclusion. He has great thighs, always wears the tightest football shirts and looks uber hot with a black eye. Not that I want him to have a black eye all the time. He's got enough injury problems thanks.
I could (and probably should) do a separate post on his thighs alone, because they really are that great. He seems to appreciate the fact that base layers ruin lives, and doesn't wear them. Great news for me, because I can drool...er, I mean admire, to my hearts content.
I'm seriously hoping that he's finally over the worst of the injuries and that this season, he'll get back to top form. I'm looking forward to seeing him play again, it brings back memories of when I first started watching La Liga. It seems like a lifetime ago now. If all the injury worries are behind him, he can concentrate on moving forward with his career. You never know, maybe if he stays fit for long enough, a call up to the NT beckons. Lord knows he's good enough.Just to show us what we're missing:
*is not staring at all*
Nope, completely unaffected.
Can someone please make sure he never gets injured again so we can all enjoy scenes such as the above whenever we feel like it? Ktnxbai.
England vs Kazakhstan:
It wasn't the performance many fans expected, but the result was a welcome one. Playing a Kazakhstan team that they were widely expected to spank silly, the England boys did themselves no favours for a large part of the game. They dominated posession, but come half time, nothing to show for it. It wasn't until Rio Ferdinand nodded in the first on 52 minutes that England seemed to come alive. From that point on, it was a different England team. They seemed to believe, the fans got behind them and all was well. By the time the second went in - an own goal - Kazakhstan were showing signs of tiredness, and now was the time for England to seal the game. They conceded a goal merely 4 minutes after scoring their second, a terrible defensive error from Ashley Cole gifting the ball to Kukeyev who slotted the ball past a stationary David James. England soon restored their 2 goal lead though. With the game already beyond Kazakhstan, it was only a question of how many more England could score. The final score, 5-1. The fans happy, the team lifted. The lions roar.
It was always going to be a strange sort of game with three central midfielders starting. Lampard and Gerrard have never and will never be able to play together. As an England fan, I plead for them never to be on the pitch together at the same time again. No, I don't particularly care if one of them has to be benched. Their egos need to take a blow for the sake of their country. Matthew Upson had a quiet game. Ashley Cole was useless at best. Theo Walcott showed no sign of the match winning performance he put in against Croatia (sorry Venice). Emile Heskey - there's a reason he hasn't played for England for a while. He's just not good enough any more. But enough complaining, England are winning games, and that's all the fans really want to see. The pain of not qualifying for Euro 2008 seemingly fresh on their minds, the England boys are working hard to ensure that history does not repeat itself. They simply must qualify for the WC 2010, and today was a big step towards that.
Bulgaria vs Italy:
The Bulgaria-Italy game only made it onto my 'to watch' list because my dad wanted to watch them, what with it being our original NT and all. Even though I gave up on it halfway through. I'm clearly not all that patriotic. However, thanks to Steph, I can report that the final score was 0-0. Many Bulgaria fans had put 1000 levs on Dimitar Berbatov being first to score tonight. They were left disappointed as their captain failed to produce the goods when it mattered.
Because I'm such a rubbish and unpatriotic fan, I got Steph to write a short summary of the game for me, so here it is (thank you for doing my work for me Steph): This was a game that the Italian fans were assuming Italy would win. Everything was in their favour and it seemed a certainty. 0-0 was not the result either team hoped for, but it isn’t the worst either. Overall, both teams were decent. Italy were not at their best, but they played well enough and same for Bulgaria. Italy weren’t really as attacking as they should have been but retained most of the possession. The first half went by without any real threats. The closest was when Chiellini got booked and Bulgaria were given a free kick that went well over the goal. The start of the second half seemed like a continuation of the first. No real changes. Italy were holding and most of the game was played in the midfield and possession went back and forth. Italy became more attacking with the introduction of Guiseppe Rossi with his debut game for the Azzurri. About 5 minutes later Luca Toni was introduced on and the game picked up more. De Rossi had a pretty good chance, but missed. A few yellow cards were handed out, all to Italian players. Overall Italy dominated but couldn’t capitalize on their chances. Bulgaria played a good defensive game and only challenged Amelia once in the 88th minute. Italy should have won, but with their lack of offense and attacking a draw was fair.
Estonia vs Spain:
Spain were 3 -0 winners in Estonia. A Juanito header and Veeyah penalty put them 2-0 up at the break. Puyol scored in the second half to wrap the game up. Dahveed got subbed mid way through the second half. He's not been too fab in recent games, I dunno what's up with him. Maybe I'm just expecting too much. I'm still not entirely happy with him. The hair is just...ugh. I can't even bring myself to talk about it. He was wearing long sleeves and those bloody base layers he seems to worship. I despair sometimes. However, Xabi was looking uber sexyful with his stubble. It's a good look for him. And Nando's hair looks so much better right now. I mean, these things aren't the most important things in the world, but they're still important to me.
Anyway, back to the football. Spain were not planning on letting this game go, stretching their unbeaten run to 26 games. They were expected to win from the outset, and did not disappoint. Their status as the #1 team in the FIFA rankings seems secure enough for now, the wins coming easily enough. Iker was sporting his lovely polo neck, and had a couple of shaky moments in goal. I don't know quite what's going on with him lately, but as long as Spain keep winning games, I won't hold it against him. I suppose a clean sheet is a clean sheet, so yeah, I'm not going to dwell on it. It probably wasn't the strongest of performances, Veeyah in particular had a very quiet game today. I've gotten so used to seeing him run defences ragged, that when he doesn't, I feel like he's had a terrible game. They're all entitled to their off days though. Today was clearly his...must be all that free beer he's drinking right now. Here's to more results going Spain's way.
In other news, the Spain U21's lost 2-1 to Switzerland U21's. Sad days :(
I didn't watch the game though, so I can't give any more info on it.
Ugh, you know that feeling when you wake up that it's going to be a bad day? Yeah, I had that this morning. And trust good old public transport not to let me down. I really should learn to drive. Then I can complain about the ridiculously overpriced petrol instead, but at least I won't be stuck on stupid trains with a bunch of people complaining about being late for their show on the telly. Big fucking deal. I have the feeling I'm going to get sick of all this travelling by the end of the month, and then I won't want to go to uni. Way to ruin my education!
On the way to Brighton, there was a fire on the train before mine, meaning that we had to wait for ages for them to put the fire out and move the train so it wasn't in the way. That was a delay of at least half an hour. I barely made it into uni on time, and I thought that that was enough bad luck for the day. Thank god I usually get the earlier train. Otherwise, there would have been no point in me even turning up to my lecture today.
The trains had other ideas. The train back from Brighton was delayed - again, because of the fire on the train in the morning - and we spent a good 40 minutes in between stations waiting for the signals to let us move. It's beyond me why they couldn't have moved the effing broken train away from the tracks in the first place. Instead of getting it out of the way and avoiding delays, they left it on the tracks and then only let one train through in each direction on the remaining track. Aargh! A journey that should have taken me just over an hour took me 3 hours. And all this for 45 minutes worth of lectures. Is it really worth it?
It's the age old debate. Which do you prefer? The rough tackling in the Premiership, or the silky skillz in La Liga. I watch both, and I've been a fan for...well, a long time. I don't even remember when I first got into La Liga. I think it was the 2003/04 season I really started paying attention, but I'd watched the occasional game before that.
I'm a huge fan of the beautiful game, and I like watching football that lives up to that. Teams that hammer out 1-0 wins week in, week out hold no interest for me. It's boring and it's ugly. Yes, you win lots of points, but who wants to watch a team that defends all the time and plays to win on a quick counter attack?
I have two teams that I would say I'm a fan of. One's an English team. The most successful English team of all time. Liverpool FC. The other is a Spanish team. Valencia CF. Of course, when they come up against each other, there's always going to be one winner - Liverpool. They are my first and foremost team and my loyalty will always lie with them.
When the new season starts, I always find myself caught up in the excitement of the Premiership starting, but that usually only lasts until La Liga starts a few weeks later. I don't know what it is about La Liga. Yes, the good side of it is that they really do play the beautiful game. Even if a game ends 1-0 or 0-0, you can guarantee it will be entertaining. The bad side - the diving. It drives me mad. I've lost count of the number of times I've watched players writhe around in apparent agony, only to hop up and run the entire length of the pitch mere seconds later. It's a part of football that needs to be kicked out, and the sooner the better. Unfortunately, the vast amount of foreign players moving to the 'best league in the world' - The Premier League - means that this kind of behaviour is spreading fast.
The question is, does all the skill shown in La Liga overshadow the ugly side of the game? To me personally, it does. I get a lot more excited about the La Liga fixtures shown live than I do about the Prem ones. The only team I really care about in the Prem is Liverpool. I think it's to do with the fact that it's a mini Spain up there, and in my world, Spanish football is good football. In La Liga, I watch a lot more than just Valencia. Teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona make it onto my viewing list because they're Spanish. They play good football. The passing is accurate, the skillz are incredible and (not that this is important to me at all) they're a damn sight better looking than anything England have to offer...
By this point, you will have realised (as if you didn't know it already) that I love Dahveed Veeyah. He wins points for playing for Valencia, although I'm pretty sure I'd like him just as much if he didn't. After all, it's his skillz I love the most...
A list of things I love about him includes the following:
1. He's a great striker and he scores lots of important goals
2. He's a family man and he's loyal to his family and his teams
3. He's a total manwhore which brings many manlove moments
4. He's the devil in disguise and he’s totally badass on the outside but a softie on the inside
5. He's gorgeous, he has the most perfect hip dips and pulls great sex faces
6. He very nearly wasn't able to play pro football but he never gave up
7. He’s the exact same height as me so I don’t have to crane my neck to look into his eyes
8. He’s man enough to wear pink
9. He’s always conserving energy by not smiling – brooding is hot!
10. He sounds uber sexy speaking Spanish which made me finally get my ass into gear and start learning it.
See how I put the skillz at the top? Yeah, they're uber important. If you can't play football, I don't care how hot you are, you'll never make it on the list. No, I don't know which list exactly...but it's an important one.
Anyway, some pictoral evidence for the above points, just so I can prove I'm right. And you know, just because I feel like it.
The lip biting
The hip dips
Being all attentive daddy
Looking impossibly hot while drinking
There are three simple rules to keeping me happy:
Ok, well I'm pretty sure you all know me anyway. I'm the crazy one that has a huge pic collection of Veeyah because I clearly want a restraining order taken out against me...
