Serie B Spectacular

My friend Robin sent me this goal from this weekend's action in the Italian Serie B, and what a beauty it is!

In the Siena vs. Novara match, Novara's Argentinean forward combo of Emmanuel Gigliotti and Pablo Gonzalez hooked up for an incredible effort that saw Gigliotti grab an equalizer in injury time. The game ended 1-1, and Novara will get credit for one of the best team goals of 2010.

YouTube Clip Of The Week

Borussia Dortmund's Jakub Blaszczykowski may have pulled off the most laughable miss of the year against SC Freiburg in the German Bundesliga. "Kuba," as he is known, somehow managed to shoot high AND wide of an open goal in the 85th minute of his team's 2-1 win this past weekend. Watch it below and see for yourself!

EPL Table -- 11.21.10

(from ESPNSoccernet.com)

Here's the latest English Premier League table after this weekend's action. Arsenal and Chelsea each dropped points with losses while both Manchester clubs garnered hard-fought wins. It's quite a logjam at the top this year, huh?

YouTube Clip Of The Week

Here's a painful (albeit hilarious) miss from Fahad Khalfan, an 18-year-old striker for the Qatar national team. Qatar ended up losing this Asian Games quarterfinal match to Uzbekistan, 1-0.

Oh Fahad...

MSU Men Make NCAAs

The Michigan State men’s soccer team received its bid yesterday to continue play this postseason in search of an NCAA championship.

The Spartans, who will host Oakland University on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. at DeMartin Stadium, will be participating in the national tournament for a fourth-straight season. MSU and Oakland last met in the NCAA Tournament in 2007, with the Golden Grizzlies claiming a 2-1 victory.

The Spartans (11-7-1) have faced a difficult schedule to get to this point. Out of its 19 opponents so far, nine are ranked in the RPI top 26. MSU itself is ranked No. 12 in this system, and is the second-highest in the Big Ten behind No. 8 Indiana.

After starting the season with crucial wins against Maryland and Notre Dame and racking up the wins early in Big Ten play, the team has slumped down the stretch, winless in its last five games. While the slump cannot be attributed to the amount of effort given, as injuries have taken a toll on the squad, the Spartans will hope to be hitting on all cylinders during Thursday’s first-round contest.

MSU will be relying on experienced seniors Avery Steinlage (GK), Colin Givens (D), Jake Fullerton (D), Nosa Iyoha (D/M) and Spencer Thompson (M) to lead the Spartans to postseason glory. Together, this senior class became the first class in Michigan State history to earn an NCAA Tournament bid in each of the four years of their playing careers.

Did you know? Michigan State is making its 14th NCAA Championship appearance and sixth since 2001. MSU is 17-10-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is hosting an NCAA game for the fourth consecutive year. The Spartans joined Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, and Indiana as the other Big Ten schools that received bids to the national tournament this season.

Wacky Thai Sport

What do you get when you combine soccer, volleyball and kung fu? This.

MSU Men's Soccer To Await Its Fate

Luck has not been on the side of the Michigan State men’s soccer team this season.

The Spartans, who boast an RPI of No. 12 in the nation (which takes into account schedule strength and wins), dropped a hard-fought 2-1 contest to the University of Michigan yesterday, Nov. 11, in the Big Ten Tournament held in State College, Penn. With the loss, the Spartans fall to 11-7-1 and will now be left to sit and sweat it out before learning their fate during Monday’s NCAA Tournament selections.

Junior forward Rubin Bega put the Green & White up in the 54th minute on an assist from junior midfielder Cyrus Saydee. The goal was Bega’s fifth of the year. Michigan answered a mere seven minutes later to tie it up but the goal was immediately followed by a red card for taunting the MSU bench during the goal celebration.

Even with the extra man, the Spartans could not mount another effective attack on goal and were gashed by a 77th minute winner by the Wolverines. For the first time in three years, MSU bowed out of the conference tournament in the first round.

The Spartans now need to lick their wounds and get healthy to mount a late-season push in the NCAAs. All seven of MSU’s losses this season came to teams in the current RPI top 26, so the prospects for postseason play still look very good for a team that is limping toward the conclusion of its season.

Note: the Men’s NCAA Selection Show will take place at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 15 live on ESPNU.

Penalty Kick Special

When it comes to taking penalty kicks, it can NEVER be said that you have seen it all. These two videos prove my point:





Thanks to Robin Blom for the video links.

Spartans Drop Home Finale, 1-0

On an overcast November afternoon in East Lansing, soccer fans gathered at DeMartin Stadium to watch the home finale for the No. 22 Michigan State men’s soccer team.

The Spartans welcomed the No. 2 Akron Zips to East Lansing in this non-conference contest, with the Green & White needing a win to stay in the hunt for an NCAA tournament bid. After 90 minutes of action, MSU came up short against the 2009 national finalists, 1-0.

MSU Men To Host No. 1 Akron

The Michigan State men’s soccer team will host the No. 1 team in the nation on Wednesday, as the Akron Zips travel to DeMartin Stadium to face-off at 3 p.m. against the No. 23 Spartans.

The Spartans (11-5-0 overall, 2-4-0 Big Ten), who dropped a 3-2 overtime heartbreaker against Michigan this past Saturday, are reeling from a recent string of injuries, the most notable being senior co-captain Jeff Ricondo. Against Akron, a team who previously beat the Wolverines this year 7-1, MSU will need to be in its best form possible if it wants to pull the upset.

The Zips (14-1-1) dropped their first game of the season this weekend, a 2-1 loss to Cleveland State. Last year, the Spartans lost away to Akron 2-1 off of a late penalty kick and will be looking for redemption against one of the nation’s best.

Nani's Bizarre Goal

As a young soccer player, you are taught to play until you hear the whistle. This is advice Tottenham's goalkeeper Gomes should have remembered during this past Saturday's match vs. Manchester United. The video of what I mean is below.

Red Devil winger Nani appears to be fouled in the box, and Gomes assumes there was a whistle, along with most of the other players on the field. But Nani runs up and pokes the ball in as there was NO foul called. Cue the chaos as the Tottenham players go absolutely berserk and Old Trafford erupts in celebration.