Star act stalls on centre stage

In the end Internazionale coach Jose Mourinho was left to vent his anger at referee Luis Medina Cantalejo.

The Portuguese coach went as far as suggesting the match official had favoured the holders, saying: "When we go there [to Old Trafford] we will not have the same referee.

"If we have another referee it gives so much protection to the away team, then it will be us who go to the quarter-finals. Hopefully in the next game the referee will be on our side."

Cynics may view Mourinho's veiled swipe was a clever ploy to deflect attention away from his side's failure to deliver on his promise of upsetting Sir Alex Ferguson's side in the bearpit that is the San Siro.

And perhaps the biggest disappointment was Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who Mourinho had dared to suggest should have been the recipient of the World Player of the Year award - not Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Swedish man mountain provided only fleeting glimpses of his undisputed gifts but was, in the main, well shackled by patched-up centre-back Jonny Evans and the imperious Rio Ferdinand.

Young Irishman Evans had only been able to take part in a full training session the night before but did not look hindered in arguably the biggest game of his fledgling career. John O'Shea also coped well to shrug off a heel problem and made Sulley Muntari look like a square peg in a round hole.

For all the bluff that comes with Mourinho he was gracious enough to accept that Inter will have to show a marked improvement at Old Trafford in the return leg to defy the latest football betting and progress to the quarter-finals of Europe's elite club competition.

United will have key defender Nemanja Vidic back from suspension on March 11 and can extend their proud unbeaten Champions League run to 21 games if they do what the latest match bets suggest and send the runaway Serie A leaders packing.

Nick Walsh writes features and betting previews for Betfair.

La Liga:Real Madrid - Real Betis goals

Real Madrid took 3 more points of Barcelona's lead and moved within seven points of the Catalans with a six goal thumping of Real Betis at the Bernebeu. Raul,Higuain, Huntelaar and Sergio Ramos had their names on the scoring sheet and the whites had a perfect preparation for their Champions League tie against Liverpool this weekend.

Click here for the goals

1-0 - Higuain - Watch

2-0 - K.J. Huntelaar - Watch

3-0 - K.J. Huntelaar - Watch

3-1 - R.Olivera - Watch

4-1 - Raul - Watch

5-1 - Raul - Watch

6-1 - S.Ramos - Watch

Goals in downloadable format to be posted later..........

EPL:Manutd - Fulham goals

Manchester United beat Fulham at Old Trafford and it was Paul Scholes, who masterminded the victory with quite a remarkable performance in the midfield in addition to his sweet volley. And the wonderful night for United was capped off by a goal for Rooney, who made his appearance of a month lay off.

Click here for the goals

1-0 - Scholes - Watch

2-0 - Berbatov - Watch

3-0 - Rooney - Watch

Goals in downloadable format to be posted later.....

IPL 2009:Mumbai to host Finals, semifinals in Chennai

The IPL fever has started to set in and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who is also president of Rajasthan Cricket Association, is finding himself in the news for all wrong reasons. He has been charged of funds misappropriation, something that is strongly denied by Modi saying the charges were politically motivated. And Modi has also gone on to say that matches of "Rajasthan Royals" might be moved away from Jaipur if the government did not co-operate. It must be recalled that Shane Warne had earlier said that he would not play if the matches were moved away from Jaipur. Meanwhile defending champions Rajasthan Royals who had the right to host the finals of this year's IPL have opted to host them in Mumbai. Runners up Chennai Super Kings had the rights to host the semifinals and they have opted to host both the games in Chennai. The finals may either be held in Brabourne Stadium(first choice for Royals) or D.Y.Patil Stadium.

FA Cup Round 5:Derby County - Manutd goals

Manchester United gave a masterful performance and marched into the last 8 of the FA cup with a win over Derby County at Pride Park. Nani and Gibson scored in the first half and Ronaldo added a third in the second. Ronaldo, earlier in the first half had a goal disallowed which should have stood.

Click here for the goals
0-1 - Nani - Watch
0-2 - Gibson - Watch
0-3 - Ronaldo - Watch
1-3 - Addison - Watch
1-4 - Wellback - Watch

Goals in downloadable format to be posted later

La Liga:Sporting Gijon - Real Madrid goals

The day belonged to Raul as he went pass the great Alfredo di Stefano as they leading scorer for Real Madrid. Huntelaar and Marcelo got their first Real goals in what was a fruitful match for the champions who have now closed the gap on Barca to 10 points.

Click here for the goals
0-1 - Raul - Watch
0-2 - Huntelaar - Watch
0-3 - Marcelo - Watch
0-4 - Raul - Watch

Global Economic meltdown: IPL V/s Recession

Well.....If you had been thinking that the global economic meltdown had hit sports and cricket in particular, you are wrong. If you are to go by the way the second players auction of IPL went, you would be wondering is it really a period of Recession. And as the IPL commissioner Mr. Lalit Modi claims, "IPL is Recession Proof". $13.5 million was available to the teams before the players came under the hammer. And after the auction was over, 17 players had been picked up for around $8.7 million. Roughly $500,000 per player, thats lot of money considering that fact that the economic slowdown has started to hit everyone and some say that Recession is yet to come. But if you had been wondering how so much money is there in Cricket the answer is simple, Advertisement. The corporates pump money into cricket as its the easiest way to reach a common man in India. And that money means, it also goes to the players who get paid these exorbitant sums for 2 months work. If you take the case of Mortaza whose base price was $50,000, he was sold at a whopping $600,000 after some fierce bidding. That money is 4 times more than what he would earn in a year playing for Bangladesh. Players like Flintoff and Pietersen had a field day getting auctioned for $1.55 million each. So if you ever thought Recession would hit IPL, please change your thought. IPL has just hit Recession for a massive six.

La Liga:Real Betis - Barcelona goals

Real Betis brought an end to the amazing winning streak of Barcelona as they held on to a 2-2 draw. Betis took a 2-0 lead after 25 min but Eto'o pulled one back just at the stroke of half time. And when the second half resumed, it was one way traffic with Barca applying all the pressure but Betis did look strong on the counter. Eto'o then grabbed the equaliser on 88th min and Betis hung on for a point. Real Madrid can cut Barca's lead to 10 points if they win against Sporting Gijon on Sunday.

Click here for the goals
1-0 - A. Melli - Watch
2-0 - Gonzalez - Watch
2-1 - Eto'o - Watch
2-2 - Eto'o - Watch

Goals in downloadable format to be posted later........

FA Cup:Watford - Chelsea goals

Chelsea, playing their first match since the sacking of Scolari had to work hard to overcome a spirited Watford. And in the end it was the magical hatrick of Nicolas Anelka that helped Chelsea see off Watford, who had taken the lead after 69 min. Anelka came on scored his three goals in a space of 15 minutes and sealed the game. Club owner Roman Abrahimovich was in the stands along with the newly appointed coach Guus Hiddink.

Click here for the goals
1-0(69') - Priskin - Watch
1-1(75') - Anelka - Watch
1-2(77') - Anelka - Watch
1-3(90') - Anelka - Watch

Goals in downloadable format to be posted later......

Friendly:Brazil - Italy goals

Manchester City duo of Robinho and Elano did the scoring for the men in yellow as they ended Marcelo Lippi's unbeaten run of 32 games as the national coach of Italy. Robinho was at his magical best at the Emirates Stadium, setting up the first goal and did some neat work to score the second goal. Italy had some close shaves with goals being disallowed but there was never doubting which team wanted to win. This gives Dunga some breathing space as the coach of Brazil national football team.

Final Score : Brazil 2 - 0 Italy

Click here for the goals
1-0 Elano - Download | Watch
2-0 Robinho - Download | Watch

Extras
Ronaldinho Skill
Robinho Skill

EPL:West Ham - Manchester United goals

Ryan Giggs, the undisputed wizard of Manchester United provided a moment of sheer magic and helped Manchester United regain the top spot in EPL table against a confident West Ham.

Click here for the goals
0-1 - Giggs - Link1 - Link2 ( Watchable format)
Mediafire - Rapidshare ( Download format)

Highlights
RAPIDSHARE
MEDIAFIRE

EPL:Best league in the World?????

I've seen and heard most people saying that English Premier League is the best in the world. But is really the best??? I certainly have my doubts. EPL, without any doubt is the most glamorous and most popular league in the world, thanks to marketing of the game across the globe and the popularity the clubs command in the Asian countries. Nearly 5% of the world's population are Manchester United fans. And clubs like Chelsea,Liverpool & Arsenal are not far behind in the popularity charts. But when it comes to competitiveness of the league, I would say the teams in EPL are not as good as those in Spain or Italy. The point I would like to state here is you don't see the lower teams for eg. West Brom or Stoke are expected to take points off the bigger teams like Manutd or Chelsea. But in Spain, even the teams in the lower half will get results in matches against the bigger teams like Real Madrid or Barcelona - "The Unpredictability", which has made La Liga so popular . This doest not mean that bigger teams in Spain are not that strong as those in England. Real Madrid and Barcelona have the maximum trophies than any other club in Europe. All I hope is the quality of the teams(apart from biggies) improves in the English Premier League, so that all the matches can be viewed with interest. And by looking at the way the things are going in the current season, the monopoly of "Big Four" seems to be broken by the young Aston Villa side. Lets see if others can also do the same in the coming seasons.

West Indies v England, 1st Test

Jerome Taylor produced a spell of his life time and condemned England to a humiliating defeat by an innings and 23 runs at Sabina Park,Jamaica. England's second innings lasted just 33.2 overs and spanned little more than two hours. Flintoff was the only batsman to cross the double figures. England started they day brightly as they bowled out Windies for 392 but their misery started when they began batting for the second time, they were 11 for 2 before lunch and after that they crumbled. A simply astonishing end to a test match that had its share of controversies regarding the "Referral of decisions". In the end, its fair to say West Indies had the measure of England and emerged deserving winners.

Brief Scores:
West Indies 392 (Sarwan 107, Gayle 104, Broad 5-85) beat England 318 and 51 (Taylor 5-11) by an innings and 23 runs.

La Liga:Real Madrid - Racing Santander goals

Real Madrid continues their winning run under Juande Ramos as they overcame Racing Santander at the Bernabeu and cut the lead of Barcelona, who play on Sunday to 9 points.

Click here for the goals
1-0 - Higuain - Watch - Download

Highlights

enjoy.......

Ronaldo,Messi,Kaka,Robinho skill videos

Enjoy some of the magical skills possessed by these magical footballers.

Cristiano Ronaldo Skills
Part 1 - Download
Part 2 - Download
Part 3 - Download

Kaka Skills
Part 1 - Download
Part 2 - Download

Messi Skills
Part1 - Download
Part2 - Download

Robinho Skills
Part 1 - Download
Part 2 - Download
Part 3 - Download

Football:Zinedine Zidane Special videos

Zidane Zidane ruled the footballing world with his mesmerizing football. He won all possible trophies he could. Though he has retired, his legacy continues to live on. Enjoy some magical moments of Zizou.

Click here for the videos
Zidane vs Bayer Leverkusen 2002 - Download
Zinedine Zidane vs China 2006 - Download
Zidane vs Switzerland WC 2006 - Download
Zidane's Champions League History - Download

Enjoy......

EPL:Portsmouth - Liverpool goals

Fernando Torres came off the bench and scored the winner in stoppage time and helped Liverpool to move to the top of the table. They are now a point ahead of Manchester United, who have 2 games in hand as of now.

Click here for the goals
1-0 - Nugent - Watch
1-1 - Aurelio - Watch
2-1 - Hreidarsson - Watch
2-2 - Kuyt - Watch
2-3 - Torres - Watch

Goals in downloadable format to be posted later.......

FIFA:World Player of year 2008 gala videos

Cristiano Ronaldo won the FIFA player of the year award for 2008 while Brazilian Marta took home the women's player of the year. Get the videos of the grand gala, which was attended many footballing greats including Pele

Click here for the videos
Part1 , Part2 , Part3 , Part4 ,
Part5 , Part6 , Part7 , Part8 ,
Part9 , Part10 , Part11 , Part12

Enjoy......

Munich air disaster:Busby Babes videos

Feb 6th 1958 - without doubt is the darkest moment in the history of Manchester United Football Club. 23 people - including eight players and three members of the club's staff - suffered fatal injuries in the Munich air crash. But the great Sir Matt Busby built a team that won the European cup 10 years later. Get some videos of these roses who will remain in the heart of all United fans forever or even all Football fans

Click here for the videos
Watch
Watch

WEST HAM V MANCHESTER UNITED

Wayne Rooney should end a five-match absence when Manchester United travel for a tough-looking assignment against in-form West Ham at bogey ground Upton Park on Sunday.

The England striker has not played since limping out of the 1-0 win over Wigan at Old Trafford on January 14 with a hamstring injury but has made significant progress to put himself in the frame for the trip to east London.

Sir Alex Ferguson insisted last week he will not rush the 23-year-old back from his career-first hamstring complaint and clearly he will be short of match fitness.

United have scored 13 goals in all competitions in Rooney's absence but he will be a welcome out-patient from the Old Trafford treatment room.

Three points at a venue where United have lost twice in succession is by no means a formality for Sir Alex Ferguson's Premier League leaders.

United last triumphed at the Boleyn in November 2005 when goals from Rooney and John O'Shea cancelled out an effort from Marlon Harewood after just two minutes.

Since then they have collected two domestic crowns on the spin and recently have put together a run of 12 Premier League games without conceding a goal to suggest they are in good shape to justify their short football odds and win a title hat-trick.

Patrice Evra is also expected to finally shake off an ankle injury suffered against Chelsea a month ago to mark his return after six games.

O'Shea has performed admirably in the France left-back's absence but Ferguson may gamble on Evra to give natural balance to an already watertight defence.

Ferguson has warned his players to expect a "kick in the teeth" if they start reading their own publicity and accepts the race to the winning post is far from over.

"We have a difficult game away against West Ham and there are a lot of difficult games in the run-in and teams will drop points," he said after the 1-0 win over Everton last weekend.

West Ham are unbeaten in six top-flight matches and could be the value football bet as they chase a fourth successive home league victory, but the return of Rooney, Evra and, possibly, Nani should secure United capital gains.

IPL Auction:List of players sold

Seventeen slots were filled in over two hours of the 2009 IPL auction in Goa. Here is a list of the players who have been bought at the auction (base price in brackets; all numbers in US$):

Pool A
Shaun Tait to Rajasthan Royals 375,000 (250,000)
JP Duminy to Mumbai Indians 950,000 (300,000)
Andrew Flintoff to Chennai Super Kings 1.55 million (950,000)
Kevin Pietersen to Bangalore Royal Challengers 1.55 million (1.35 million)

Pool B
Fidel Edwards to Deccan Chargers 150,000 (150,000)
Owais Shah to Delhi Daredevils 275,000 (150,000)
Paul Collingwood to Delhi 275,000 (250,000)

Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin and Chamara Kapugedara were unsold.

Pool C
Tyron Henderson to Rajasthan 650,000 (100,000)
Ravi Bopara to Kings XI Punjab 450,000 (150,000)
Thilan Thushara to Chennai 140,000 (100,000)
Jesse Ryder to Bangalore 160,000 (100,000)
Kyle Mills to Mumbai 150,000 (150,000).

Ashwell Prince, Phil Jaques, Andre Nel, Luke Wright and Nuwan Kulasekara were unsold.

Pool D
Dwayne Smith to Deccan Chargers 100,000 (100,000)
Jerome Taylor to Punjab 150,000 (150,000)
Mohammad Ashraful to Mumbai 75,000 (75,000)

Samit Patel, Shakib Al Hasan, Morne van Wyk, Steven Smith, Ashley Noffke, Gulam Bodi and Daren Powell were unsold.

Pool E
Tamim Iqbal, Jon Moss, Bryce McGain, James Franklin, Aiden Blizzard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Michael Klinger, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Prasanna Jayawardene and Dominic Thornley were unsold.

Pool F
Mashrafe Mortaza to Kolkata Knight Riders 600,000 (50,000)
George Bailey to Chennai 50,000 (50,000)

Yusuf Abdulla, Daniel Harris, Kemar Roach, Aaron Bird, Michael Dighton, Michael Hill and Brett Geeves were unsold.

IPL:Second Auction, Chennai get Flintoff, KP lands in Bangalore

Even before the second auction of the IPL began, there was lot of talks that Kevin Pietersen was in talks with Bangalore and had met owner Vijay Mallya regarding the same. And rumours floated that Chennai was in talks with Flintoff, when he came to the city for the first test against India. And these talks were vindicated when both these players headed in the mentioned directions. Chennai got Flintoff for a whopping $1.55million and that made him the most expensive player in the IPL and he was joined by Kevin Pietersen who was purchased by Bangalore for the same price and they both have become the most expensive players in the IPL surpassing M.S.Dhoni's tag of $1.5million. There were little doubt concerning the buying of they both unlike Michael Clarke, who pulled out fearing that he may be not be bought. And when Flintoff came under the hammer, Chennai who had the full $2 million purse went all out and got their man. Though there wasn't much talk about Flintoff's destination, Chennai team later revealed that they had targeted Flintoff long back. I cannot wait to see Flintoff teeing off for my Chennai side!!!!!!!!!!!!