Aston Villa qualified for the the semi-finals of the Peace Cup on Wednesday by coming back from a goal down to defeat CONCACAF Champions League winners Atlante 3-1 at the La Rosaleda stadium in Malaga.
Curtis Davies put Atlante up 1-0 with an own goal in the 20th minute. However, Villa tied the game with young substitute Marc Albrighton goal before big John Carew and Ashley young sealed the win for the English Premier League side.
Martin O’Neill’s men will Porto in tonight’s semi-final. The winner of the tie plays the winner of the Real Madrid-Juventus semi for the cup on Sunday.
Former England, Newcastle United and FC Barcelona manager Bobby Robson has died peacefully at age 76 after a long battle with cancer. He was truly one of the greatest football managers of all time.
In my 23 years working in England there is not a person I would put an inch above Bobby Robson. I mourn the passing of a great friend, a wonderful individual, a tremendous football man and somebody with passion and knowledge of the game that was unsurpassed.— Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
Sir Bobby Robson’s Career
Player:
1950-1956 Fulham
1956-1962 West Brom
1962-1967 Fulham
1958-1962 England (20 caps)
1967-1968 Vancouver Royals (player-manager)
Bobby Robson is one of those people who never die, not so much for what he did in his career, for one victory more or less, but for what he knew to give to those who had, like me, the good fortune to know him and walk by his side.— Jose Mourinho, Robson’s assistant at Barcelona.
Manager:
1965-1966 Oxford University
1968 Fulham
1969-1982 Ipswich
1982-1990 England
1990-1992 PSV Eindhoven
1992-1993 Sporting Lisbon
1994-1996 FC Porto
1996-1998 Barcelona
1998-1999 PSV Eindhoven
1999-2004 Newcastle
As a football manager he is one of the greatest of all time. He didn’t just taste success here in Britain, he won trophies right across Europe. Quite simply, his record was phenomenal.—Scotland manager George Burley for Robson at Ipswich.
Trophies won:
1973 Texaco Cup (Ipswich)
1978 FA Cup (Ipswich)
1981 Uefa Cup (Ipswich)
1991 & 1992 Dutch league (PSV)
1994 Portuguese Cup (Porto)
1995 & 1996 Portuguese league (Porto)
1997 European Cup Winners’ Cup (Barcelona)
1997 Spanish Cup (Barcelona)
Barcelona is in mourning. During his period with the club, Robson won the affection of all Cules (Barca supporters). He is a true legend of world football.—FC Barcelona
I cannot think of anybody in the game who was held in higher esteem…it was an absolute privilege and honour to work with him.—England under-21 manager Stuart Pearce who played under Robson.
Here’s this week’s installment of MLS club Chivas USA’s Chatting with the ChivaGirls series. It features a different ChivaGirl (one of the team’s cheerleaders) each week. The series delves into the ChivaGirls’ interests, hobbies, favorite celebrities and much more. This week’s Chatting with the ChivaGirls installment features ChivaGirl Kelly.
If you like this stuff then you may as well check out our Babes section for more soccer-related eye candy.
We’re not sure if they’re interested in showing off their 2009/10 Umbro away kit or their new signings – Roque Santa Cruz, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure. Nevertheless, English Premier League billionaire club Manchester City has launched a preview of their 09/10 away kit on their website via a picture featuring these new Citizens. It’s the same away kit seem in June’s kit sneak peak.
Once again the leak was right. Perennial English Premier League contenders Chelsea FC have launched their Adidas 2009/10 third kit. According to the club:
The new adidas third kit is white with grey hoops and has incorporated the highest sporting technology and design standards into the shirt.
Engineered mesh in the fabric on the front of the shirt, coupled with the 3D Formotion cut allows complete freedom of movement. Waffled Climacool fabric and mesh panelling across major sweat zones will increase comfort and ensure players remain cool and dry.
Here are the first images of the new kit featuring expert modeling from Chelsea and England stalwarts Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and captain John Terry.
SANDY, Utah– Everton FC and the MLS All-Stars played to a 1-1 draw last night with Louis Saha scoring for the English side and Brad Davis for the hosts.
However, thanks to three saves in the ensuing penalty kick session from American international goalkeeper Tim Howard, Everton held on for a 4-3 shootout win.
Everton’s victory made them the first foreign club to win an MLS All-Star Game.
Everton FC (1-0-0) vs. MLS All-Stars (0-1-0)
July 29, 2009 — Rio Tinto Stadium
Scoring Summary:
EVE — Louis Saha 1 (unassisted) 12
MLS — Brad Davis 1 (Stuart Holden 1, Conor Casey 1) 26
Penalty-kick shootout:
EVE — James Vaughan (High)
MLS — Landon Donovan (Goal)
EVE — Jo (Saved)
MLS — Brad Davis (Saved)
EVE — Leighton Baines (Goal)
MLS — Davy Arnaud (Saved)
EVE — Phil Neville (Goal)
MLS — Will Johnson (Goal)
EVE — Joleon Lescott (Goal)
MLS — Conor Casey (Goal)
EVE — Jack Rodwell (Goal)
MLS — Freddie Ljungberg (Saved)
Everton FC — Tim Howard, Tony Hibbert, Joleon Lescott, Joseph Yobo, Leighton Baines, Tim Cahill (James Wallace 76), Marouane Fellaini (Jo 55), Phil Neville, Jack Rodwell, Leon Osman (James Vaughan 76), Louis Saha (Jose Baxter 76),
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina or La Viola, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence. After climbing back up the Italian football system in the early 2000s from Serie C, Fiorentina placed 4th in the 2008/09 Serie A and thus are into the final qualification round of the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League.
Last night, Fiorentina and kit provider Lotto have presented the club’s home, away and third strips for the 2009/10 season. The purple home strip was worn for the first time last night during the club ‘s 0-3 pre-season friendly loss to Paris-St. Germain.
Nottingham Forest F.C. is an English professional football club based at the City Ground in West Bridgford, a suburb of Nottingham. It is currently playing in the second tier of English league football, The Championship. The club was founded in 1865 and has an illustrious history which encompasses winning two consecutive European Cups, along with the domestic title, two FA Cups and four League Cups. Nottingham Forest were founding members of the Football Alliance in 1889 and the Premier League in 1992.
Forest finished the 2008/09 Championship season in 19th position.
Yesterday, Nottingham Forest unveiled its Umbro 2009/10 home kit. On hand for the occasion were Nottingham Forest legend Viv Anderson MBE and manager Billy Davies. The new strip was then worn by Forest for the first time during their 1-1 pre-season friendly with Stoke City.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Real Madrid during a 4-2 victory over Copa Libertadores 2008 and Copa Sudamericana 2009 winners Liga de Quito in the Peace Cup yesterday.
Ronaldo notched the goal via 48th-minute penalty after being fouled in the box by defender Norberto Araujo.
Madrid will now face Italian powerhouse Juventus in Sevilla on Friday in the semifinal round of the 12-team pre-season tournament
Real Madrid Line-up: Jerzy Dudek; Michel Salgado, Pepe, Kristof Metzelder, Marcelo; Fernando Gago, Guti (Drenthe), Cristiano Ronaldo (Lass Diarra), Arjen Robben (Esteban Granero); Gonzalo Higuaín (Raúl), Karim Benzema (Negredo). Manager: Manuel Pellegrini.
