Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sports World |
- FC Porto Justified Favourites to Win Europa League
- Jacob keeps Friend ride in Grand National
- Westwood making all the right noises
| FC Porto Justified Favourites to Win Europa League Posted: 22 Mar 2011 07:59 AM PDT With no British interest remaining in the Europa League, question marks perhaps should be raised about the real strength of the Premier league and SPL. This is particularly so when one realises that the last eight in Europe's secondary football competition comprises three teams from Portugal and two from Holland! Indeed as the quarter final draw has kept the Portuguese teams apart there is a very real possibility of three teams from that country making the semi final. The favourites to win the competition are FC Porto who were the last team from Portugal to win at European level when they took the Champions League in 2004 under the stewardship of the 'Special One' himself, Jose Mourinho and are the 2/1 favourite in the latest Europa League Odds with eight teams remaining. Porto in fact will be returning to Russia to play Spartak Moscow, having just knocking out CSKA Moscow in the last 16 and should certainly make it through to the semi final where they face the possibility of meeting second favourites, Villarreal of Spain or FC Twente of Holland. Meanwhile Benfica will play PSV also of Holland in what will be a repeat of the 1988 European Cup Final. Should they be successful then they face the prospect of meeting fellow countrymen FC Braga, conquerors of Liverpool in the last 16, but they will need to overcome the challenge of a tough looking tie against Dynamo Kiev, who of course put out Manchester City in the last round. The final of the Europa League will be held at the new 50,000 capacity Aviva Stadium in Dublin, but it is hard to calculate how many fans will actually make the trip to Ireland. Nonetheless, it is a great honour for Ireland who will be hosting their first ever European soccer final. Porto are certainly justified favourites after defeating CSKA in both legs of their last 16 tie, winning overall by 3 goals to 1. While Villarreal, who certainly know where the goal is hit five in their two legs against Bayer Leverkusen, winning on aggregate 5-3. In strikers Santi Cazoria and Giusseppe Rossi, the Spaniards have the top two goalscorers in the tournament so far, netting eight times each since the competition began for them last September. Benfica whose pedigree in European competition is well documented, made heavy weather of their last 16 match against PSG, but showed enough doggedness and determination to win through by 3-2 over the two legs. Meanwhile FC Braga surprised everyone by eliminating Liverpool with a 1-0 aggregate win, managing to hold out at Anfield for a 0-0 draw in the second leg. Liverpool were not the only 'scalps' taken by Braga who had earlier in the Champions League put out the likes of Celtic and Seville, results which seriously suggest they should be respected at all costs. FC Twente were also surprise last 16 winners, taking out Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg by a margin of 3-2 over the two legs. FC Twente of course recorded a 3-0 first leg win, which put the Russian team under huge pressure from the start. However, despite the dreadful news that the Zenit goalkeeper's wife had been killed in a car crash, the Russian team fought manfully to get back into the tie. They did manage to get two of the goals back but it was not enough as the Dutch team held on grimly to survive. It is a very hard tournament to predict the outcome of but one would be hard pushed to argue that FC Porto, who have the better draw and the more recent European pedigree, with appearances in the later stages of the Champions League, do not have a great chance of justifying the betting and win this competition for the first time since Mourinho guided them to glory in Seville (beating Celtic in the final) in 2003.  |
| Jacob keeps Friend ride in Grand National Posted: 22 Mar 2011 05:56 AM PDT Sir Alex Ferguson has always shown a loyalty to his players as manager of Manchester United, and it seems that he operates with the same set of rules as a racehorse owner. Ferguson owns a share in the Cheltenham Gold Cup fourth What A Friend, and with the horse having run a blinder at Cheltenham, his connections have now opted to take their chance in the Grand National 2011. The surprising factor is though that Daryl Jacob, the jockey who took the ride in the Gold Cup, will keep the ride instead of being replaced by Ruby Walsh. Walsh is the stable jockey of What A Friend's trainer Paul Nicholls, and the brilliant Irishman normally gets first call on all the runners trained at Ditcheat and those looking for Grand National tips may have been a little surprised by the move. The loyalty shown to Jacob will not lessen the gelding's chances by much if at all though, he is a very talented jockey in his own right and got his name on the scoresheet at the Cheltenham Festival when he rode Zarkandar to victory in the Triumph Hurdle. What A Friend is a talented horse, but he is also very quirky and it was interesting to note that Jacob got a lovely tune out of the eight-year-old at Cheltenham with that in mind it is hardly surprising that the choice has been made to go with the same again. The unique demands of the Grand National look as though they could be ideal for a quirky campaigner like What A Friend, and if he gets into a nice jumping rhythm early on in the race his class should ensure that he is there to fight out the finish. He will certainly gain a place on the shortlist of many respected judges. With Daryl Jacob riding What A Friend, it would tend to suggest that Ruby Walsh will be riding for his Irish boss Willie Mullins at Liverpool and at this stage with The Midnight Club looking his most likely mount.  |
| Westwood making all the right noises Posted: 22 Mar 2011 04:03 AM PDT Phil Mickelson has gone on the record to state that he sees Lee Westwood as his major rival when he defends his US Masters title at Augusta next month, something the Masters betting reflects. The tournament starts in less than two weeks, and the three-time winner spoke of the British golfer in glowing terms – while still making it clear he fears no one. Westwood, on the other hand – the man who came so close to beating the left-handed American at last year's tournament – is not making any predictions at this stage. Speaking last month, the Nottinghamshire-based golfer spoke only of wanting to play his best every time he enters a competition, but knows only too well having risen to the rank of world No. 1 (albeit briefly – he only held the title for seventeen weeks) despite never having won a Major, that it's consistency rather than blowing hot and cold which improves your standing in the game in the long term. "Obviously a goal this year would be to win a major but it's something that you can't control. You go into the week playing really well but, like I proved last year, someone plays that little bit better, pulls off the right shots at the right time, and you don't win. So the intention is just to peak for every time I play," he said. And Westy – as he's affectionately known on the golfing circuit – is absolutely on the money with that attitude. Obviously he will have been desperately disappointed not to have come away with the green jacket following his heroics last year, but rather than letting his head drop after finishing second despite going into the final day's play with a one-shot lead, he carried on working on his game, and just a few months later officially rose to his No. 1 ranking. Anyone looking to bet on US Masters action will have to bear him in mind. So what of his chances this year? He has certainly been in good form, and whilst the lack of a victory in a major on his CV will certainly be an irritant, it won't make his doubt his ability. He's good enough to win one, and last year at Augusta he so nearly showed it – this time out could well be his career-defining moment.  |
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