Midweek round up

Liverpool are once again made of win. They won 1-0 last night, booking their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League in doing so. They were playing a Marseille side who had beaten them in the competition last season, but there was to be no repeats of last season. The Liverpool team was arguably the strongest starting 11 available to Rafa B, and their class showed through.

The first half was a much better performance from them, Steven Gerrard scoring from a Xabi Alonso cross to put them 1-0 up. It was his 5th goal in the competition so far, equalling Leo Messi's tally. It also helped settle Liverpool's nerves, that goal essentially putting them through to the knockout stages. There were other chances, and Pepe Reina was rarely called into action.

The second half proved a bit more of a contest, Marseille coming back into the game a little more and enjoying more of the possession. The win was later overshadowed by news of injuries to Fernando Torres and Fabio Aurelio, both players set to be on the sidelines for at least 2 weeks. Not only this, but Liverpool's job is still not done. If they want to have a more realistic prospect of progressing further into the competition, they need to finish first in the group to avoid the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Much of the build up to the Valencia game was centered around comments published on the Rosenborg official site (see below post for evidence) and the team would have been even more motivated than usual to prove a point and walk away with a win. They'd already stated that they were not playing for revenge, they just wanted to get the three points.

They were 1-0 up midway through the first half, and basically controlling the game. Rosenborg clearly don't know how to play football, because they were kicking Valencia players, but not the ball. Renan got kicked in the head, but he was ok. Seriously, who let these animals near the beautiful game? Anyway, the first half finished 1-0, and aside from the goal, other things that made me happy were seeing Dahveed all wrapped up on the bench and Mata's bum. Things that made me sad included a perfectly good goal being disallowed for offside. Again. Poor Mata.

Not to be denied though, Pablo scored an absolute stunner of a goal to put Valencia 2-0 up, and after that, goals from Baraja and Joaquin completed the rout, 4-0 the final score. So maybe Rosenborg regret what they did, but you can bet it's because it only seemed to motivate Valencia to play better. They're back to the convincing displays from the start of the season, scoring goals for fun. They did themselves and the fans proud.

At the end of the game, the Rosenborg players had the cheek to ask the Valencia boys for their shirts. It that was me, I'd be ashamed to face them, never mind ask for their shirts. If I was a Valencia player, I would tell them to go fuck themselves. Still, it was a comprehensive win, and a well deserved one at that, they dominated play from start to finish.Eat shit Rosenborg, step down and let the big boys show you how it's done. Not bad for a bunch of 'coward fags' huh?

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Sons of bitches

Ok, so somebody (or a whole lot of somebodies) clearly wants a kneecapping. I'm sure you've heard all about this already. Who the fuck do Rosenborg think they are? Saying the following about Valencia players does not make them funny, entertaining or cool. Just makes me want to rip them limb from limb. "los delanteros maricones del Valencia." Yeah, come up here and say that to my face, you won't live to see the sun rise the next day. Fucking idiots. Just grow a pair and quit whining.

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Yes, I win at life.

Well, my day so far has been totally brilliant. I finished my dissertation proposal (go me!) and did most of my other work for uni, and I finally sorted out my photobucket as well. I never thought that organising a bunch of pictures would take me longer than writing 2000 words for a dissertation proposal, but apparently, it does.

So, thanks to that fabby bit of news, I am super uber happy today, despite my cold. I hope my good mood carries on after the football tonight, Liverpool need to win and put me out of my misery when it comes to watching their games recently. Thankfully, Man U were unable to beat a 10 man Villareal last night (10 man thanks to Ronaldo and his fucking cheating. He wants to wait until I kick him across the shins, then he'll know what a foul is!)

Only bad thing that happened to me today was that I woke up at 8, but that gave me more time to finish all my work, so I can't complain.

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Blog challenge #6: Pretty women

This week, our blog challenge was to list the women we think are beautiful/pretty. Now, I had a pretty tough time narrowing this down (should I be worried about that btw?) because there's a lot of women I think are pretty. Apart from all my lovely blogger friends (whose pics I won't put up in case they don't want you to know what they look like - aura of mystery and all that), the special ones that made the list are as follows:

Halle Berry - Can you believe this woman is over 40? *wants to look like that too aged 40*


Salma Hayek - well, yeah, self explanatory. You'd have to be mad not to think she's pretty.


Catherine Zeta-Jones - she's one of those rare women that still look good without make up. I'm jealous.


Penelope Cruz - erm...are you noticing a pattern here yet?


Angelina Jolie - even after having 3 kids, she looks amazing. Shame she's hooked up with Brad Pitt though. Ugh.

So apparently, I not only have a 'type' when it comes to guys, I have a type when it comes to girls too. I'm pretty sure that there's loads of others I could put into the list (someone that isn't an actress for a start) but I watch a lot of movies, so yeah...

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New layout

Yeah, so I have spent the past 2 days trying to change my blog layout but somehow keep all of the sidebar stuff I had before. I finally managed it, I think. I thought I was good with computers, but apparently when it comes to html coding, I am totally computer illiterate. Anyway, knowing how often I change my mind/get bored of stuff, this layout won't be around for long. At least now I know how to do it, it won't take me anywhere near as long next time!

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Weekend round up

Liverpool phail. That is basically all I can say. I didn't see the game, I have no wish to see the game. 0-0 against Fulham is simply not good enough. Sort it out boys. Pretty please? I know that your Captain Fantastic wasn't there, and he's the one you turn to when the shit hits the fan, but please find another superhero for when he can't pull your sorry asses out of the ground. It's getting rather annoying being called a one man team, and they can't help but prove it's true occassionally.


Valencia played a Sevilla side level on points with them before this weekend's games. The task was simple. Beat them and stay 3rd at the very least. The Thigh was ruled out of the game, but that just meant that Mata played on the left wing. He was keen to prove a point to Del Bosque, who called him up to the Spain squad but did not make use of him. Damn fool. Alexis was also back in defence - right after I sold him from my FFT might I add! It was a pretty open first half, with both teams going close to opening the scoring on several occassions. Renan made a brilliant save to deny Luis Fabiano, and thanks to the great goalkeeping on display, the first half finished 0-0.

The second half needed to bring goals if either team was to overtake Villareal and Real Madrid to go second behind Barca. It was a scrappy second half, with some poor tackles, runs and decisions. Valencia were by far the more attacking of the two teams, Palop called into action very rarely, but still more often than Renan. It was a game of many bookings though, with Sevilla playing dirty and committing foul after foul. Unfortunately for me, Valencia weren't able to get the goal that would put them second, but that's alright. It's a long season. And at least they didn't lose. Besides, 0-0 suggests a boring game, but it was far from boring.

And to sum up - 0-0 was the score of the day. Could they not have given me one goal to keep me happy? Ugh.

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I'm a performer, yes?

Ok, so seeing as all the other bloggers did one of these, I figured I would too. This is what I got:

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

Seems like we're all performers really. Well, ok, not all. But still, I'm not the only one. Though the avoidingconflict business...yeah, not so great at that.

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Aaargh!!

Today, I had some lectures and shizz. My first train was late. My second train was delayed. My third train was cancelled. My fourth train was cancelled, because somebody died at Burgess Hill. My fifth train was late. My sixth train was late. Now, what I'd like to know is, does anybody else ever have this trouble, or do the trains reserve this special kind of hate for me?

Also, as if the weekend hadn't got off to a bad enough start already, I then found out that I have to work 9.30-18.45 on Saturday, and 10.00-18.00 on Sunday. Roll on Monday.

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Helloooo new visitors :D

If you're new to the blog, just dropping by or a regular visitor, don't feel intimidated, I don't bite :D

Comments are always nice. *is not very good at the subtle hint business lol*

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International round up

The England-Germany game, I'm not even going to bother doing a detailed report on. It was basically the England reserves, because all the first teamers were 'injured' so I couldn't be bothered to watch really. Not that I would have done anyway. England bore me lately, and I don't like their attitude. Who the hell would say 'nah, sorry, I can't play for my country, I'm injured'?? Fair enough, it's only a friendly, and I am club over country every time, but have a bit of national pride FFS. If you're deemed good enough to play, then effing well play unless there's a legit reason you can't. I wouldn't care so much if it was a friendly against Kazakhstan or Andorra or someone equally 'not good' but it's Germany, you should be falling over yourselves to play. Overpaid twats. I'm sorry if that offends England fans (and technically, I am one) but the press is just too obsessed with them and how they perform, and it's just too much pressure. Please get them back to the glory of '66 soon, before I lose faith in them completely. Oh and they finished 2-1 to England. Oh yay, oh yay.

Spain were playing against Chile, and they went in at half time 1-0 up. I don't even need to tell you who scored, do I? Yeah, that's right, Dahveed again. Riera got fouled (see, it was my boys that made that goal, how proud am I? Though considering that almost half of the Spain squad is made up of my boys, it's not really that difficult to have them involved in some way.) The first half wasn't the best I've ever seen Spain play, and Nando was on the bench as he recovers from the injury he picked the last time he was on international duty.

Pepe played the second half and kept a clean sheet because he is awesome like that. Nando came on for Dahveed, and then scored Spain's second of the night. And then to top off a great evening, Santi scored the third to put the game well beyond Chile's reach. The only thing that was bad about today...baby Mata didn't get a chance to play. At least, I don't think he did, my stream cut off 5 mins before the end, and I don't think he'd come on yet. Poor kid, so near...

But all in all, a good evening for football. *is purposely ignoring the Serbia-Bulgaria result*

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Uni is a health and safety hazard. Fact.

Do I have a sign on my head that says 'hit me please, I can't make it through the day without an injury' because I swear to god, my clumsiness is one thing, but when other people start abusing me, I start to question what exactly it is about me that means accidents follow me around. What made me think that, you ask?

Well today, I'm sat in my lecture, minding my own business and all of a sudden, I feel this pain in my foot. And when I say pain, I mean excrutiating pain, I actually yelped. The guy in front of me had pulled the chair down and sat on it without looking, and caught my foot between the two metal frames. I now have two severely bruised toes, and him apologising profusely didn't change the fact that I actually barely walked to the train station, I was so scared I'd get mugged. Ah well, I guess I'm ok with having bruised toes as long as all my boys make it through the internationals unscathed.

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Blog Challenge #5: The hot list

I am going to attempt to narrow this down, because I'm sure we all have better things to do with our lives than read through a list of men I find hot, so here's my top 10 in no particular order.

Kimi Raikkonen. Those. Eyes. Kill. Me.


Jay Hernandez. He's a cutie and I sat through Hostel for him. Never. Again.

Johnny Depp. Don't tell me you wouldn't.

Keanu Reeves. Just hot. End of.

Alexandre Despatie. Like he needs a reason, have you seen what he does for a living?!

Frank Iero. I love him so much, I named my hamster after him.

James Franco. Oh dear god, yes please.

Adam Garcia. He is not at all the reason I have watched Coyote Ugly more times than I care to remember. Nope, not at all...

I was going to try and not include any footballers in the top 10, because you all know which ballers I like. However, these two are just too good not to include, and they're probably my fave people in the world right now.

Dahveed Veeyah. Is an explanation for this one really necessary?

Vicente. Also known as The Thigh. He also does not need a reason, he just is.

Honourable mentions go to David Silva, Raul Albiol, Alexis, Mata, Josh Lewsey, Nicky Byrne, Jason Statham, Orlando Bloom, Dave Grohl and Ian Watkins (the Lostprophets one, not the Steps one!)

There was plenty more I wanted to include, but I told myself I'd narrow it down. And you know, I have to leave in like an hour, I doubt I'd have time to put them all in.

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Weekend round up

This is going to be a pile of crap this weekend, I apologise in advance. I didn't see the Liverpool game, so I can't report on that. The score for those who didn't know was 2-0 to Liverpool, and the Stevie/Nando love-in is back. Dagger lost a tooth...some sites say he knocked it out himself, but I'm going to blame Kevin Davies cos he's a bit of a shit sometimes.

Valencia lost 3-2. That is all. Well ok, not quite all. Dahveed scored his 100th La Liga goal (against the team he started his career at *pauses to wipe a tear away*) and Mata also scored to cap off a great week for him after he got his first call up to the SNT. But they still lost. And Emery only played Vicente for 45 mins. Boooo.

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Happy Friday!

So the weekend is here. And that's pretty sucky because it's the end of my holiday and I have to work tomorrow and Sunday. However, that picture made it all better. Thank god it's not any bigger. I think it would actually kill me. THOSE. THIGHS. Yep, that's all I have to say. The Thigh is living up to his nickname. Now, excuse me while I go and scream into a pillow or something.

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Blog Challenge #4: 5 favourite words

Ok, so this week our blog challenge was to pick our favourite 5 words, and give reasons for them. Most of my favourite words are made up, so I had to think really hard about this one, but the final list is as follows and yes, I did put real words in here:

5 - Banshee: Does there really have to be a reason for liking the words? Because I don't think I have one for this. It just rolls off the tongue easily.
4 - Cappuccino: well, this one's pretty self explanatory. I'm addicted to coffee, therefore one of my fave words was bound to be something to do with it.
3 - Gargantuan: This one just makes me laugh basically. Who the hell would take the time to say this instead of saying huge?
2 - Strudel: And it has to be said with a slight German accent. It's just a cool word, I have no other reason for liking this one really.
And finally, we come to my favourite word of all time.
1 - Aubergine: I don't care how many times I hear this, it makes me laugh every time. I honest to god cannot say it without bursting into giggles.

Words I like that didn't quite make it into the list include oaf, foetus, conk, mush, squish, anemone and coconut. These are mostly for the comedy value, I seemingly have an obsession with words that make me laugh when I hear them/say them, and all of these fit the bill. No, I don't quite know why either, though coconut makes me think of that song. "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts" and that's what makes me laugh, I guess.

Also, some words that I absolutely hate are antidisestablishmentarianism (seriously, you think I care that it's the longest word in the dictionary, it's too long to effing remember!), diet (just the thought of one of these makes me break out into a cold sweat) and butter - that last one is just because I have a common accent and never say the t's so it comes out sounding like 'buh-uh'.

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Silva's back :D

He's back in training.Well, technically, he has been for a week or so now, but I just kind of didn't post about it earlier. God only knows why, I love him to bits and Valencia have sort of missed him. He's all strapped up because his ankle's still not strong enough, but seriously, look at the muscle!

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Erm...

This picture disturbed me slightly when I first saw it. Now we all know about my teeny crush on Xavi. And this may not look that out of the ordinary to you, but look closer. He has my initials on his top. It's like I branded him or something. It seriously shocked me. Also, the licking lips thing...yeah, that's taking it too far Grouchy.

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Back to reality

My week off is almost over. I so don't want to go back to uni, I love being online all day, sleeping in, stuffing my face with whatever I can find in the fridge etc etc. I've been so unbelievably lazy this week, I haven't even THOUGHT about making a start on my dissertation, which is rather annoying. Well ok, I've thought about it and made some notes. But I don't have anything concrete down yet, which is kind of annoying, because the proposal is due in 15 days. I have serious work to do.

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<3 Nando

Nando. Well, what can I say about him other than just total ♥ for the boy. His debut season in the Premier League was just phenomenal, and defenders just did not know what to do with themselves when he was running at them with the ball at his feet. TBH, other than shit their pants, I don't think there's much they can do. He's a brilliant striker for a lot more reasons than just scoring loads of goals. He holds the ball up well, he's all over the pitch and isn't scared to help out in defence. Aside from that, he's not selfish. If there's a player in a better position to score, he will pass the ball. Just look at the first Spain-Russia game from the Euros for evidence of that.

He's so much of a threat to teams, he's constantly getting fouled, and this makes me sad. I know it's a part of football, but come on, pick on someone else once in a while huh? Sadly, he's been suffering a lot with hamstring injuries lately, and it breaks my heart every time I see him limp off the pitch near tears. Nando, we still love you and don't ever rush back, please take the time to heal properly.


Also, can I just say how good Liverpool red looks on him. I know he's spent most of his professional career at Atleti, but seriously, it's like he was made for Liverpool. I hope he stays for many years to come, we could win big things with him in the team.

As well as being adorably cute and a good footballer, he's also a popular member of the team, and you always want someone who gets on with everyone playing for your team. I just can't get over how quickly he settled in, and I'm pretty sure that he's going to remain one of the most successful debutants in the PL for many years to come.

There's so much more I want to write about, but I honestly don't know where to begin. He's one of those footballers I admire for their skills more than for their looks. That's not to say I don't find him attractive, because he is a good looking guy. Its just, when he's on the pitch with a ball at his feet and he's scoring goal after goal, I don't even notice the looks. I'm just blown away by how good this boy is. Bearing in mind he's only 24, he's already one of the first names on the teamsheet for both club and country when he's fit and I'm sure we haven't seen the best of Fernando Torres just yet.

Also, he has one of the coolest songs I have ever heard sung at a stadium. Just in case you don't know it already, here:

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Midweek round up

As per usual, I had to try and somehow keep up with two games while paying enough attention to both to write match reports. It sort of worked out ok for me, thankfully Liverpool were on the telly so I didn't have to worry about streams dying on me or any of that crap. Now, Spurs were the first team to beat Liverpool in the Prem this season (and so far the only team) so the boys in red had revenge on their minds. Gerrard and Keane were given a rest, while Torres played from the start in a bid to regain match fitness following his injury. Other than that, it was mostly the reserves playing for Liverpool, as their priorities for the season lie with the Premier League title and the Champions League. Tottenham made no such changes to the team, the majority of the starters tonight are first team regulars.

The game started brightly, with both teams attacking but there were no clear opportunities on goal to speak of. Agger made a brilliant block to deny Spurs a shooting chance. Things weren't going to stay that way for long though. Pavluchenko scored the first, Campbell getting the next 2 to put Spurs 3-0 up at half time. They were fighting to make every ball theirs, Liverpool looked a shadow of the team that had gone so many games unbeaten at the start of the season. Torres was unusually quiet. It was a trainwreck in the worst sense. And to really rub salt into the wound, the referee was Mike fricking Riley, Man U fan extroadinaire.

After half time, Liverpool got a goal back and for a few minutes, it looked like they might possibly live up to their reputation as the comeback kings. Sadly, Spurs restored their 3 goal lead not long after, and it looked like it was going to be one of those nights for Liverpool. This was a game of goals, and just past the hour mark, Sami Hyypia got a goal to reduce the defecit to 2 goals again. Gomes was stretchered off after what looked like a nasty kick to the head but the good news was that he was ok, and did not require a hospital visit. Unfortunately, Liverpool could not capitalise on this to score any more goals, the final score 4-2. At least they can now focus on the more important competitions.

The Valencia game was also a chance for the reserves to play and try to prove to Unai Emery that they deserve a place in the regular team. They did a much better job than Liverpool, and went in at half time a goal up thanks to an Angulo goal. I didn't get to watch the game because there were no good live stream, so I'm relying on my limited Spanish knowledge to get info from the Valencia site.

The second half was basically wrapping up the game completely. They'd been expected to win comfortably even without their stars and that's exactly that they did. Michel got the second goal, Pablo the third and Vicente also missed several good opportunities to score. Valencia were doing themselves proud with this performance and they certainly gave Emery something to think about for the coming games. The game finished 3-0 so I suppose I can be proud of the fact that at least one of my teams won tonight.

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Just because

It makes me lol.

That is all.

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Vicente's skillz

I promised you a while ago that I'd do a post on Vicente's skillz, so here it is. Now, it took me a while to find a video, because I didn't want to put a 20 minute one in here. This is the best short one I could find.

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Manpiling

We all know by now that nobody does manpiles like the Spanish. I'm sure we can still remember the goal celebrations from Euro 2008. Well, the Valencia boys have pretty good manpiles themselves. Obviously, there's a lot of love in that team, what with all the pairings. The Davids, Silva/Alexis, Veeyah/Mata, Veeyah/Vicente, Silva/Albiol. Basically, the Davids are something like the team whores. Anyway, who really cares about all of that. They beat Getafe 3-0 at the weekend, and the manpile that followed the second goal basically involved the entire team. It was good to watch.

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Poodle perm FTW!

So, I left my hair to dry naturally today. This is what it resulted in:

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<3 Candy Corn

Thank you Steph for introducing me to the wonderful world of candy corn. I just wish they sold it here. I would totally become one of those people that overdoses on it and ends up feeling so sick, I never want to see it again. Not that it would stop me. I have a terrible short term memory and a very sweet tooth. Bad combo, huh?

It's seriously good, and if you've never tasted it, why the hell not? You don't know what you're missing out on! Lucy and I came to the conclusion that it tastes like a mixture of fudge and those candy sticks they sell here. You know the ones, the pretend cigarettes. You remember, right?

Anyway, yeah, I guess this was just my 'expressing appreciation of candy corn' post, it's out of my system now. I'm off to find some sweets.

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Tattoo update

So my tattoo is now all healed, the scab fell off, and this is basically what it looks like. I'm really happy with it, its better than I could have hoped for. So that now takes the full tally of tattoos to 6, and the piercings tally is also at 6. If I could be bothered/had the money/had the space to get more, I would. My work is pretty lenient about stuff like that. Having said that, they don't know I have tattoos.

I will at some point take pics of my other tattoos to show you, I just don't think they're as interesting as this one. Or as pretty. On a slightly different note, the next tattoo I wanted was a bat between my shoulder blades. Yeah, that's not happening any more. I might get it done somewhere else though. Like maybe around my other ankle. I dunno, these things need thought. I don't want to get it done and regret it a few weeks later, because I'm pretty much stuck with it.

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Down with base layers

Now, we all know Dahveed is a fan of base layers. It's not a new thing, and I suppose I'm at that stage of my life where it pisses me off, but I accept it because I have to. I'm ok with it now. Sort of. What I am not ok with is the fact that the base layer trend seems to be spreading. I don't care how cold it is in Spain, there is never an excuse for this:


The long sleeves are just a no go. The fact that he is The Thigh does not excuse him. His arms are just as nice, they must be appreciated. I know at least one person that will agree with me on this. However, the fact that he scored does redeem him slightly. And then this just redeems him all the way and then some.

Mop and bucket please? Those shorts...I just can't even form a coherent enough sentence or find the words to express how insanely happy this guy makes me with his love of tight clothes. At least he isn't succumbing to the evil that is base layer shorts. If he ever does that, I will cry. Honestly, my world will end.

I get that base layers have a 'reason' and that players wear them because it helps them cool down and not be all sweaty but really, could they not invent a better way of sorting that out? Base layers are ruining my life!

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<3

This pic made me happy in so many ways. See the contrast in the shorts? But yeah, that's not the reason for the pic. They are training together a lot lately. And being all pally. Which makes me insanely happy. They are totally BFFs now, I swear. They're always together. It makes me feel kinda bad for Silva though...he's allowed to join in when he's back right? Because as much as I love Alexis (you've seen the 'kiss' right?), it's the Davids. I refuse to have them split up ever, it's already been too long without guy love.

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Miserable weather

I really hate the British weather, it's sucky beyond belief. All it ever seems to do is rain. Even as I'm typing this, Ican hear the rain pattering away at my window, and quite frankly, it's too early in the morning to deal with this. I wish I lived somewhere exotic where it rains when it's supposed to, only for a little while, then stops and the sun comes out. It's not even winter yet, but we've already had the first snowfall (see here for evidence) and the miserable weather with the long cold night and the short cold days. Please make it stop soon, I hate the idea of shivering my butt off every time I step foot outside the door.

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Weekend round up

This is going to be a short report, due to the fact that I actually missed the Liverpool game at the weekend because I was working. I got home just in time to see Setanta sports inform me that they had won 3-0. Yay for my FFT, and yay for the boys who were top of the table again, even if it was only for 24 hours until Chelsea won. Keane finally scored two goals (yes, you did read that right, I said two) though he's still not convincing me he's worth £20mil. Maybe I'm expecting too much of him, what with Nando being the golden boy. The thing that pleased me most was that Liverpool actually won a game convincingly. None of this last minute winner bullshit they've been inflicting on my lately. They outclassed their opposition and actually got the result to match.

Valencia couldn't go top of La Liga no matter what their result, but they could overtake Real Madrid on goal difference and go third with a 2-0 win. Thankfully, they were in a winning mood, and they had a large chunk of the possession despite being the away team. By the end of the first half they were a goal and a man up thanks to a headbutt from Soldado on Marchena. The referee was having a shocker, he was a bit too card happy for my liking, handing out cards left, right and center, but the sending off was the right decision. So were the 500001 offsides he gave against Dahveed. Even though I was pissed off at the time.

The second half was a bit more open, with Getafe having chances as well as Valencia. A poor tackle of Veeyah should have led to a second red for Getafe, but the referee let it go with just a yellow. That guy wants to thank his lucky stars Dahveed got up and carried on. Valencia again had a goal disallowed for offside totally unfairly, I don't know what the referees have got against them but it needs to stop. Like now. Joaquin wasn't to be denied though, he scored after 68 minutes to give Valencia the 2 goal lead they needed to go 3rd in the table. Vicente made it 3-0 on 80 minutes, putting the game totally beyond Getafe's reach.

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Week off!

I am free for a week! A whole week of just lazing about, drinking, sleeping all day and generally being a slob. Well, ok, probably that without the drinking part, I'm totally poor right now, but sleep is good. And that also means I have time free to sort out Xmas stuff and post out. Yay!

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Referees phail at life

It was their first group game in this years' competition and they should have won relatively easily. The first half was a relatively slow affair, with not many notable chances. The one moment of the half that stood out for me (other than pretty much any time the camera zoomed on Vicente) was a poor tackle from a Copenhagen player on Renan, who was thankfully able to continue the game.

My stream cut out at the start of the second half so I have no idea what happened or how for about 15 minutes of the game. Mata came on very early in the second half in an attempt to boost Valencia's attack. This seemed to pay off, Morientes getting the opening goal just five minutes later. It would be just my luck that I missed the goal, but got my stream back about 10 minutes later. Ugh.

Anyway, besides drooling over Vicente and willing him to score, I didn't really pay too much attention to the game. *feels like a very bad fan* Baraja was replaced with Fernandes, another attacking change by Unai Emery. The final substitution was my favourite of the night. Veeyah on for Mori. This came just seconds after Valencia had a second goal disallowed for offside. With this strike force, another goal seemed inevitable. Sadly for Valencia, the next goal in the game did not come from one of their players. They will feel hard done by as they had a good goal disallowed for offside, and the Copenhagen goal came from a foul throw.

Sometimes, football is unfair, and Valencia will feel they should have got more than a point from this game, but they should have been well ahead long before the equaliser went in. They only have themselves to blame. Let's just hope they'll be back to winning ways at the weekend.

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Blog Challenge #3: Why we support the teams we do

So you may by now know I support 2 teams. I don't even know why I support them, I just do. Well ok, there's probably more to it than that. Flash back to when I was 11 years old and I first discovered football. It was the World Cup 1998, England vs Argentina. Anybody remember this?

Well, that goal was basically the reason I really started paying attention to football. Michael Owen became my first ever football love, and while it makes me feel bad that I started supporting Liverpool because of one footballer, that does generally tend to be how I get into football teams, as you will find out. After that goal, I started watching Liverpool games just for the chance to see this boy wonder play and show off his mad skillz. As time went by, my love for the team grew and grew and it wasn't long before I found myself cheering them on in every game, even the ones that may have seemed insignificant at the time. It helped that my dad was a Liverpool fan too, so he'd tell me all these stories about the Liverpool team of the 80's. It didn't seem like the current squad was having any such success, and that only made me like them even more. I've never been a fan of teams who win all the time, give me the underdog any day. It gets boring seeing the same teams win over and over again, that's not a competition to me.

Anyway, I think it was during a Champions League game in 2002 that I first noticed Valencia. By that point, I'd been watching football, but I'd never really seen anything beyond national teams and the Premier League. I was in absolute awe, this was a team I'd never heard of and yet they were beating a Liverpool team that was firmly embedded in the top four in their domestic league. And beating them comfortably at that. I'd love to say that it was down to their obvious skill that I started watching Valencia play, but it really wasn't. Well, it was, but not the skill of the whole team. I've already explained how Vicente was the reason I got into Spanish football, so I won't go into that again.

From that game on, I tried to watch as many games as possible in La Liga, which was difficult because they didn't always show them. I didn't give up though, and that's how I've got to the stage I'm at today. Even though I say I support both teams, Liverpool were my first team, and I will always cheer for them. It would feel wrong willing them to lose or draw, no matter who they were playing. I just have to hope they never play Valencia again in a game that matters.

Of course, Rafa B was the manager of Valencia at the time, and then he moved to Liverpool. It made me happy in a way, because I knew he was a great manager and that he could help Liverpool win loads of stuff. At the same time, part of me was sad that Valencia was losing a great manager, and I wasn't all that sure how well the new one would settle in. This manager change only went to further cement my support of both teams and basically, the Valencia link with Liverpool just made me love them even more.

Besides Liverpool and Valencia, I do have a soft spot for many teams in both leagues. Well, ok, more in La Liga than the Prem. I watch Arsenal games and usually get upset if they don't win...unless they're playing Liverpool, or are too close for comfort that is. And in La Liga. Erm, this season its *takes a deep breath* Villareal, Sevilla, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Sporting Gijon and occasionally Barca. i.e. when my dad is home and he wants to watch them. Yeah that's a lot of teams, but I don't necessarily want them to win or do well. I just like watching them. I'm a total football whore it seems.

And that is the story of the teams I support and how I started supporting them.

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Liverpool phail sometimes.

There are times when being a Liverpool fan is incredibly stressful. Like tonight. Nando again didn't get a chance to play against his former team, ruling himself out in favour of recovering 100% and helping Liverpool advance in the Premier League.

The game wasn't all that eventful for the most part. I don't even really want to say too much about it because it was a disappointment. Liverpool had many shots on goal, far more than their opposition, most of which came from Daniel Agger, but none led to a goal. Instead, it was Atletico Madrid who took the lead, Maxi scoring late in the first half.

The second half was more of the same. Liverpool continued dominating possession, but could not find the goal. It was their defenders that were proving the more attacking force, Daniel Agger missing several more good chances. Liverpool were also denied a penalty when the ball hit Perea's arm inside the box, appeals waved away by the referee. They were lucky not to concede a penalty later in the half, the referee having a nightmare evening. He made very few right decisions all night, and the most controversial of the night was when Steven Gerrard was felled in the penalty area and he showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot. The captain made no mistake, slotting the ball in deep into extra time to even up the scores and ensure that both teams still have a chance of topping the group over the coming weeks.

Poor Dagger had an awful time, dislocating his finger during the second half, but the Dane simply went to get it popped back in and carried on playing like nothing had happened. ♥ for the boy.

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Just because

Oh. My. God. This is why I love the internetz. It brings me pictures like these:

Er...I think I need a moment. *makes her excuses and leaves*

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F1 season = epic phail

So Sunday was the final race of the F1 season and it was in Brazil. Lewis Hamilton had to go and spoil the party, didn't he? Arrogant shit. I didn't even want to go out today because I just knew every single paper would have page after page about how bloody fantastic he is and how he's the youngest ever British world champion yadda yadda. I just want to smack that smug grin off his stupid face.

Felipe was driving from pole on his home turf, and thankfully, he won, but it wasn't enough to win him the championship. All he needed was one point. One lousy point. It had to be a German of all people that helped stupid Lewis win the title, didn't it? Just argh! And I didn't even get to see the race, but I heard that it was basically the final lap of the race that made Lewis champion. If it had finished one lap earlier...

Anyway, it's too late for what ifs. Next year will be Ferrari's year, and I'll never have to hear about how bloody fantastic Lewis Hamilton is ever again. He's really not that good. If he was anything other than British, the press would not love him anywhere near as much. At least Ferrari won the constructors' championship this year.

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Monday morning blues

Ok, so technically, it's not morning anymore, but still...I was kind of hoping that after the shittiest weekend in the history of the world, Monday would bring many happy things. Sadly, it didn't :(

Firstly, I overslept this morning. I missed the early train to Brighton and we all know what that means. Sad days for needing sleep, huh? Then, I got to uni only for my friend to text me and tell me she won't make it in on time so I had to sit through a seminar all on my own. Add to that the gaping hole I have in my heel from a popped blister, the fact that I could barely drag my feet, let alone lift them off the ground and the fact that I had to leave uni early cos I wasn't feeling well, it's shaping up to be another one of those weeks. Bring on the holiday, I say.

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Weekend round up

The weekend began with both Liverpool and Valencia at the top of their respective tables. Both again had to win to remain there.

The Liverpool game was the late kick off in the Premier League, and it was top meets bottom. With Chelsea having won yet again, there was only one thing for them to do. They had to beat a Tottenham side who were slowly gaining confidence. This fixture has proved somewhat difficult for Liverpool over the years, but a third minute goal today suggested this may be about to change. From that point, Liverpool's nerves seemed to settle, and they had another good chance just minutes later. Tottenham were determined not to be down and out of the game this early on though, and they gradully gained confidence, keeping possession well and even having several shots on goal themselves.

Before the game, it was announced that Robbie Keane had never gone a game without scoring against his old team. As the game wore on, it was starting to look like today would be that day. So far, I am not at all impressed with him, 2 goals (neither of which is in the Prem) is simply not good enough for a £20mil striker. We need more from you please Mr Keane. If you're not prepared to give it, or are just too crap to, please go rot with Spurs, yes?

Steven Gerrard hit the post just after the 50th minute, and luckily for Tottenham, there was nobody there to put in the rebound. This happened again just minutes later, followed almost instantly by a miss from Dirk Kuyt, whose 3rd minute goal was keeping Liverpool in the lead. It was clear which team was the hungrier in the second half, and for at least 15 minutes, the play was almost entirely in front of the Tottenham goal. All their possession still hadn't led to a second goal however, and the game was finely poised leading into the final hour. Keane was replaced by Babel after 65 minutes, having been largely...well, useless, for want of a better word, for the entire time he was on.

The goal was on the cards for Tottenham. Unfortunately, it was Jamie Carragher putting the ball into the back of his own net that gifted Spurs an undeserved equaliser. Minutes before the final whistle, Spurs scored what was to be the winning goal. Pieces of shit. There's some rule that'll penalise them for poaching another teams' manager right?

When the shit hits the fan, I can usually count on Valencia to cheer me up. Even if they don't play well/win, I'll have caught a glimpse of Dahveed, and that makes everything better. Vicente started the game, clearly eager to prove a point to Unai Emery, and from the offset, he was picking out passes and making those runs I remember him for back in 2003. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to do Valencia much good. They went behind midway through the first half, but it didn't last for too long. A clumsy tackle of Joaquin gave the home side a penalty, which Veeyah promptly put away. As he does. The first half finished 1-1, but the mere fact that Racing Santander are one of their more difficult fixtures seemed to affect them.

The second half was just as bad for Valencia fans, they went down just five minutes after the restart and it was looking like one of those days for them. They never gave up hope though and neither did I. On 70 minutes, Joaquin smashed the ball home after a Mata corner. 2-2 with 20 minutes to go. I don't even want to talk about the rest of the game. Lets just say, the shit hit the fan big time and Valencia didn't cheer me up.

It seems pretty harsh to have both teams robbed of their unbeaten record and be demoted from the top of the table in the same weekend, but I have faith in them. They can overcome this minor blip and get back to the top soon enough,and even if they don't, they can still count on the fact that I will still be cheering like mad every time they step out onto the pitch.

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