Who will win the champions league final?

Inter Milan vs Bayern Munich. Italy vs Germany. Who will triumph?

Both of these team have an equal chance at winning the coveted trophy. But i predict that this year's final is going to be a boring one.

None of these teams play the beautiful passing game that everyone wants to see. They are not flashy teams but they are disciplined and well organised. Hence, do not expect many flashy passing from the final.

The favourites to win the title is Inter Milan. They are argubly the strongest team in Europe. They knocked out the current holders, Barcelona, whom everyone thought was unbeatable, easily. They have a solid defence and it takes patience to tear their defence apart. Their weak point is that their team lack pace, compared to Bayern Munich, who have the likes of Ribery and Robben who are extremely speedy. Inter Milan must not be as over confident as their manager, Jose Mourinho if they are to lift the trophy. As the saying goes, pride comes before a fall.

The underdogs Bayern Munich need to work on their defence. In the second leg of the quarter final against Manchester United, their defence was horrible. Man-marking was terrible. They were lucky to progress into the semi finals. If they are to have a solid back four on the final day, they may be the ones celebrating. They have two top class wingers, Ribery and Robben, but Ribery would not play in the final as he was suspended. But, Bayern can still win without him as they have the highflying dutch man-Arjen Robben to lead them to their first Champions league trophy in 9 years.

Both of these teams are aiming for a treble, but i would say that Inter Milan have the best chance to acheive it. My prediction, Inter Milan would win by 1-0. I hope my preidction would be spot on.

Will Singapore ever qualify for the world cup?

With the world cup approaching, i was thinking about the Singapore soccer team. Will they ever qualify for the world cup?

I think they have the quality to do it, but they lack something.

Singapore is not a country that is able to play flashy soccer. They need to play the boring but effective way. They need to be discipline at the back. They defence must not push up too much to join in the attack as if they want to join the attack, they must be fit enough to run up and down the field, and the Singapore players to not have that kind of fitness.

I think the ideal formation for Singapore is 4-4-2. We need to be solid at the back and centre. When we have a solid back, we can frustrate opponents by closing them down whenever they are in our half and not give them any chance to shoot or cross. I believe that Singapore is able to have a very solid defence. We have a very talented keeper, Hassan Sunny. We have four top defenders. Full backs Noh Raman and Shaiful Esah. Two big, strong and tough centre backs Daniel Bennett and Baihakki Khaizan. But i feel that Noh Raman should be replaced with Afiq Yunos as he is younger and has much more pace than Noh Raman. Singapore need full backs with pace in order to prevent the opponent's pacy wingers from unlocking our defence.

By having a solid midfield, we would controll the possession of the game. By controlling possession, we would controll the whole game. The opponents would keep chasing us for the ball, and this will tire them out fast. Singapore must learn how to keep possession whenever they have it and not kick an aimless ball into the opponents half and hope that the strikers would receive it. Singapore need to play with shorts passes. By using short passing instead of long balls, we would not lose possession so easily. It is also easier for the players to recieve it. Singapore should try to attack the opponents slowly from our own half. We must be patient in attacking. We have to keep passing it around to find the opening. By keeping possession when attacking, we would be irritating the opponents, and in order the gain possession, they may resort to wild challenges and give away free kicks in dangerous positions or maybe even a penalty. We have great free kick takers, Shi Jiayi, Shaiful Esah etc. Free kicks are one of the ways Singapore can score goals.

The frontline of the singapore soccer team is quite strong, so that is not a worry. We have talented players like Khairul Amri who can unlock the opponents team defence in a blink of an eye.

I think other than learning how to keep possession and how to attack patiently, the most important point is the players fitness. Singapore must desperately work on the players fitness. Most of the time, by the 70th minute, the whole Singapore team would have run out of steam. It is during this period that they let in the most goals. They need to train on their stamina so they can last for the whole game.

With the above points mentioned, if they are applied, i am confident that one day, the Singapore soccer team would be able to qualify for the world cup.

We have lost the title

In my opinion, Manchester United have just lost the English Premier league after they lost to Chelsea. This was the title decider. If Chelsea won it, they would have won the title, vice versa for Manchester United.

But sadly, United lost this crucial match. And you can put the blame on a few people.
First, John Terry's winner of the match was offside! And the refree allowed that goal! The refree had just handed the title to Chelsea. What an awful decision. What was the linesman doing? John Terry was almost more than a yard in front of the last man and still he was not able to see it? This is ridiculous.

The second reason was the whole Manchester United team. They played badly. They wasted chance after chance. Miss after miss. The whole United team is too reliant on Rooney. Without Rooney, Manchester United looked lost. They lacked something. They lacked someone. They lacked Rooney.

The third reason is that Chelsea were too good for Manchester United. They were a class above them. Manchester United did not deserve to win. Simple as that.

I can sadly say now that Chelsea are the English Premier League Champions even thougth the season has not end yet.

Manchester City has finally been defeated!

Last season, United lost both Manchester United derbies. But this season is a totally different case. United won both matches this season! What a improvement from last season! The first of the derby at Old Trafford was extremely thrilling. But this match was equally thrilling.

For the whole of the match, United dominated in every single aspect. They dominated possession. They had 15 shot at the goal, compared to City's 9. But the problem was, the Red Devils were unable to put the ball in to the back of the net of our city rivals. This was extremely disappointing. United would most of the time capitalise on our chances whenever we have one.

There were many close shaves in the game, and United were lucky not to concede any goals. Manchester City is the richest team in the world. And by winning two derbies in a row, we can prove that money cannot give you the best team in the world. Although United are one of the richest teams in the world, they do not splurge their money the way city does. We like to give young players or homegrown players a shot at trying to get their name on the first team's sheet. This is the correct way to build a great soccer team, and not take the easy way out by buying all the top players in the world.

This derby may be one of the most dramatic derbies in both clubs history. With just almost a minute left to play in the game, everyone thought that this derby was going to end in a draw. Then Paul Scholes popped out with a header to win the game. Of all people, Paul Scholes was the one to head the ball into the back of the net!

This match was crucial for United as they needed 3 points to continue their pursuit for the 19th premier league title and the fourth one in a row.

What a great derby!

Can Manchester United play without Rooney?

Manchester United crumbled to Bayern Munich's feet when Rooney was substituted out because of injury. Manchester United were leading 3-0. All of us thought the game was done and dusted, but Bayern managed to sneak 2 goals into the Red Devil's back of the net, hence resulting them to win the tie 4-4 on aggregate on away goals.

I found it ridiculous for Manchester United to let in two goals after they were leading 3-0. Usually, no matter how many goals the Red Devils are leading by, they would still work hard to score more goals. But they did not show they wanted more goals. They just wasted chance after chance. Missing all the shots that should have gone in.

I feel that Manchester United are over-reliant on Wayne Rooney. Sir Alex Ferguson must solve that during the summer transfer window by signing someone with Rooney's calibre. Manchester United desperately need these kind of players after losing Tevez and Ronaldo.

The squad need a major revamp is we are to continue winning titles.

United out of champions league.

After the first leg, everyone thought that Manchester United would overturn the first leg and proceed to the semi-finals and finals comfortably. But i had doubts.

After the first leg, Rooney limped of with a sprained ankle, and was the major doubt for second leg. To me, Manchester United without Rooney, is just some average club. Rooney is the heart and soul of Manchester United now. They are nothing without him. But just before the match, Rooney's named was in the starting lineup! I thought that the Red Devils still had a chance of reaching the semi-finals.

The Reds started vibrantly. They controlled possession. They made Bayern chase for the ball. That is the Manchester United I love to see. In the 3rd minute, Rafael did great work to get away from Ribery and played a lovely pass to Rooney. Rooney set the ball perfectly in Gibson's path. Gibson controlled the ball with his first touch and then shot from way outside the box. It was a well worked goal. Butt was stunned. He could not see Gibson shooting the ball. He only managed to see the ball when it was just right in front of him. But it was too late. Great play by United to take a very early lead.

Just four minutes later, United scored another goal. Valencia did great work just outside the box, stalling time for more Red shirts to get into the box. He spotted Nani's run into the 6 yard box and played an inch perfect cross into the box. The cross was met by Nani who cheekily back-heeled it into the back of the net. 2-0.

In the 41st minute, a quick throw in by united which was met by Valencia. He skillfully flicked it over Badstuber and spotted Rooney and Nani's run into the box. He cross it in low. Rooney missed the ball, but it rolled nicely into the path of Nani to finish it superbly. What a goal.

Just when everyone thought it was game over, Bayern Munich made an immediate reply. Just one minute later, Olic scored a brilliant goal from such a tight angle to close the gap between the two teams. Carrick did poorly, going down too easily and Olic was left with a one on one with Van Der Sar, and he finished it beautifully. But everyone still thought that they had no chance to score the all important second away goal.

In the 50th minute, everything changed. Rafael was sent off for a second yellow card. Being already on a yellow card, he should be more cautious before doing anything, I guess Rafael lacked inmaturity. The tides have changed.

Manchester United wasted chance after chance, unable to get the goal that would kill the game. In the 74th minute, Bayern Munich was given a corner. Great corner by Ribery who spotted Robben unmarked just outside the box. Robben half volleyed it in beautifully into the bottom left corner. If Rafael was here, this would not have happened as he would be standing at the left side of the goal.

The final whistle was blown, Bayern Munich advance into the semi finals on away goal rule. What a heartbreak for the Red Devils. They should not have been eliminated. What a waste.