World Cup Preview: Group A

Every week until the start of the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil, I am going to preview each group which entails talking about the teams in the group and giving my prediction as to who will advance and who will go home. The first game of the world cup will be played on June 12TH and by tradition the very first teams to play are from Group A which includes the host nation as one of those teams. The three teams that qualified for the group besides host nation Brazil are Croatia, Mexico, and Cameroon. Of course I will start with Brazil who hasn't been Brazil in the world cup since 2002. I know it's a bold statement to make considering they are one of the best soccer nations in the world, but it's true. This world cup is very important to the Brazilians because they have to prove that not only are they the football kings, but the samba kings as well. All eyes will definitely be on them in this world cup because they are expected to move on from the group. Neymar needs to continue to play at the level he has been at with the national team because he is lacking for his club team Barcelona. The rest of the team will have to step up like Oscar, David Luiz, etc for Brazil to have a chance to move forward in the second round.

Not only does Croatia have a new coach, but they have a new outlook as they return to the world's biggest stage after missing the world cup in 2010. Through the first half of qualifying it looked as if there was no stopping this Croatian side as they went in the halfway mark with five wins, no losses, and one draw which gave them 16 points. The second half of the qualifying round was a nightmare for the team who managed to salvage 1 point in the last four games. The team had to play a two leg playoff against Iceland in order to qualify and a 2 to 0 win was all they needed. The upside for this team is that their toughest match is against the host nation Brazil, from there I think it should be a breeze for them, but they need Draijo Srna and Ivica Olic to step up big time in the tournament.

Mexico to me is a team that is heading for disaster in this world cup to the point that I am a non-believer in this team. They started off strong with six wins, but it was after that they started to drop games or they couldn't find the back of the net. If it wasn't for the United States beating Panama in the last game, Mexico would not be in the world cup today. Can you imagine how the press in Mexico treated that scenario? All three forwards in Oribe Peralta, Jimenez, and Chicharito need to have big tournaments which means finding the back of the net if Mexico wants to have an inkling of a chance of advancing.
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Cameroon has not advanced out of the group stage since 1990 and I think they are about to add this one to the list. Cameroon qualified for the tournament finishing on top of their group with 13 points and some incredible olay from Alex Song and Stephane Mbia who seem to be there strongest links on the team. It would be nice to see Samuel Eto'o try to lead his team past the group stage, but not in their group they were dealt with. The team showed the world exactly what their weakness was when they were demolished by the Portuguese in an exhibition game earlier this year and that's their defense. Look below to see who I picked to win and how many points they would have.

Brazil 9 pts
Croatia 6 Pts
Cameroon 3 Pts
Mexico 0 Pts

Brazil will Play in the finals against Spain
Croatia gets bounced out in the first second round match by Spain

Mourinho Fails Again! Atletico Madrid Moves On To All Spanish Final

It was David Vs Goliath today at Stamford Bridge when Chelsea took on Atletico Madrid in the other Champions League Semifinal match. The winner would travel all the way to Lisbon, Portugal to take on Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho has been in this situation before with Chelsea and he has failed before so all eyes were on the chosen one and whether his Chelsea team could take out upstarts Atletico Madrid. The first meeting between the two teams ended in a scoreless draw so it was very important that Chelsea not allow Atletico to score due to the away goal factor that comes into play. Despite Fernando Torres scoring the first goal of the game against his former club, Atletico pressed on and began to outplay the blues on their own home turf. It almost started to resemble yesterdays game and it was all due to the inflating goal scored by Adrian Lopez who was in the right place and right time for the rebound. Both teams would go into halftime tied at one, but it seemed as if it was Atletico's game to win with the away goal advantage.

Going into the second half, it seemed as if there was no more urgency from Chelsea like they were defeated or at least it would seem that way right after second half substitute Samuel Eto'o conceded the penalty to Diego Costa. Of course Costa didn't miss his penalty shot and he put Chelsea in a very big hole, one that would prove to be there ultimate demise. Arda Turan would score the third and final goal of the game off of a identical play to their first goal of the game and that sealed Chelsea's fate making this the second time Mourinho and his team has made it to the semifinals and failed to win. It sets up what could be an interesting next couple of weeks in the La Liga picture. If Atletico is able to win their next two games they will secure the La Liga crown and they essentially have a shot at taking the Champions League crown in what will not only be an all Spanish final, but the next chapter in the Madrid Derby. Diego Simeone is close to becoming my 2013-14 season manager of the year. I am very impressed with what he has done with this Atletico Madrid team.

Real Madrid Opens Up A Can Of Whoop Ass In Germany

I've seen some amazing matches in my time when it comes to the UEFA Champions League that included some real hard nosed games, amazing comeback wins, but this game was a clinic and Real Madrid put it on for all the German fans to see first hand. I had an inkling of a thought that Real Madrid has a chance to win the game considering they won the first leg 1 to 0 at home, but I never thought they would come to Allianz Arena in Munich and destroy Bayern Munich the way they did. You had a feeling that Bayern was going to make this game, that they were going to make Real Madrid work for the win, but it was the other way around. Real Madrid simply outclassed Pep Guardiola and his possession style offense by having the numbers where it counted and placing the pressure on the team when the opportunities arose. Carlo Ancelotti entered the game with his team and he had a plan that absolutely worked where they played defense and they applied pressure with the counterattack. 

It all started for the team in the 16TH minute when a simple routine corner kick from Luka Modrić turned into a nightmare when it found the head of Sergio Ramos. Four minutes later, the team was awarded a free kick which was taken by Angel Di Maria and it found the head of Sergio Ramos for the second time as the team quickly took a 2 to 0 lead with a lot of time left. The game was getting very physical and ugly at this point as the frustration started to set with the Bayern players. 13 minutes later we would witness mastery at work when Frenchman Karim Benzema found Gareth Bale who was beating his defender, but he unselfishly found a wide open Cristiano Ronaldo who didn't miss for the third goal of the game. The rest of the game found Bayern barely attacking or looking as if there was no urgency in their game. They were a defeated team who no matter how many times they were in the Real half of the field couldn't muster a legit shot on goal. To add insult to injury, Ronaldo was awarded a free kick right in the 89TH minute in front of the box to which he was going to take. Sure enough, Ronaldo kept the ball low as it found it's way into the back of the net for his second goal of the game and the final dagger. Real Madrid left the game winners with a 4 to 0 final score and a 5 to 0 win on aggregates. As for Ronaldo, he notched his 15TH and 16TH goals of this Champions League campaign which makes him the record holder over rival Lionel Messi. Real Madrid will now have to wait to see who they will meet in Lisbon, Portugal when Atletico Madrid takes on Chelsea in the other semifinal match tomorrow. 

Barcelona Get The Undeserved Win

When Barcelona took to the pitch tonight at the El Madrigal in Villareal earlier today, they were fighting for much more than points. They were battling for the memory of their recently fallen former coach in Tito Vilanova who lost his battle with Cancer. Although I have to admit that this was a very undeserved win for the Blaugrana who snaked by Villareal 3 to 2 as they now sit only four points behind La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid. Barcelona by the way they played looked as if they were going to have every right to win as they were creating chances near the net, but Villareal's defense was just too much. The defense didn't allow Barca's main threats of Lionel Messi, Dani Alves, Alex Sanchez, etc to do anything. Villareal had a brilliant strategy as they were playing the counter attack and in the 45TH minute of the game it would pay off. Jonathan Pereira will drive the ball and he will carve up the defense and with great precision he will find Cani in front of the net for the first goal of the game.

Going into the second half, Barcelona were fighting for the ball with a little bit more of a sense of urgency as the La Liga title is the only thing they have to fight for. Unfortunately for them, on the counter attack Manu Trigueros will get the ball crossed to him and he heads it into the net to put Barcelona down two goals. Then the luck rolls to Barca's side right after this. What is worse than one own goal? Well, two own goals of course and that is what brought Barcelona back into it. The first one came in the 65TH minute when Dani Alves takes a shot towards the net that Gabriel will back heel it to the back of his own net. Fast forward to 13 minutes later and Dani Alves will once again cross a ball that Mateo Musacchio will head into the back of hos own net. Now the game is tied at two a piece and Barcelona has the momentum and Lionel Messi will receive a beautiful pass from Cesc Fàbregas to put the team ahead for good in the 82ND minute. The only reason I said it was a underserved win was that up to that point, Villareal's goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo was having one heck of a game stopping Lionel Messi and company so it was a shame to see him lose this game.

Liverpool Allows Chelsea Back In Race

It has been a whopping 24 years since Liverpool last claimed a British Premier League title so you would think with 80 points total that they would protect the five point lead they had over Chelsea. The team has won everything from Champions League titles to UEFA Cup titles in the last 14 years, but 24 years since a BPL title, the fans are ready to see them hoist the trophy. Jose Mourinho and his Chelsea team had plans of their own with the team coming off a 0-0 draw against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League. Mourinho decided to play some reserves over the starters in an attempt to rest the players he has left for this week's upcoming Champions League second leg and the for the fact he has already lost Petr Cech and captain John Terry. So, the question heading into this matchup was how were Chelsea going to compete with a team who last loss was against Chelsea back in December of 2013? The answer is very simple and as you will see it actually worked as well.

Defense was the name of the game for Chelsea and the idea of frustrating the attacking squad of Liverpool's Steven Gerard, Luis Suarez, and Raheem Sterling. Liverpool were constantly on the attack through out the whole entire game, but they could ever muster up a goal. One of the most dangerous players in the first half for a defensive minded Chelsea was reserve player and Senegal international Demba Ba who was always patiently waiting for an opportunity to score. His chance would come two minutes into stoppage time when the unthinkable would happen to the Liverpool faithful, their captain Steven Gerard would slip while playing the ball and Demba Ba would steal for a one on one breakaway where he wouldn't miss the back of the net for the first game of the game. With a one goal lead going into the second half, Liverpool tried everything to score, but reserve goalie Mark Schwarzer was always money making every save that came his way. While Liverpool kept pressing for a goal heading into stoppage time their backline forgot to cover Fernando Torres and Willan who were on a two on one breakaway that ended with a brilliant pass from Torres to Willan for the final nail in the coffin and a 2 to 0 win. This win puts Chelsea and Manchester City back in to the title hunt with Chelsea only two points behind the leaders. Liverpool needs to figure out how they can hold on to the titles since the season is coming to a close very soon.