SportsKenya: Champions League Final -Athens 2007

Wednesday, 23 May 2007

Champions League Final -Athens 2007

AC Milan vs Liverpool: Yes, it's not 2005 but 2007 ! But will history repeat itself ? I don't think so !
Let's do some quick facts on this;
Milan have 8 ( Eight of AC Milan's starting eleven that night - Dida, Cafu, Maldini, Nesta, Kaka, Pirlo, Gattuso and Seedorf - are still with the club, as is second half substitute Serginho) .of their players who played in the 2005 FInal at Instanbul, while Liverpool have 9-Dudek, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Riise, Alonso, Luis Garcia, Gerrard and Kewell - are still at the club. Milan have the highest goal-scorer this Champs league in Kaka ( 10 goals ), while for Liverpool they have Peter Crouch leading with 6 goals.
Maldini if he starts will be the oldest player as captain at 38 years. Costacurta will also make history as the oldest player on the bench of any Finalist of the Champs League at 42 years. Another player who's bound to make history is Clarence Seedorf ( if Milan wins) will be the first player to win 4 Champs League titles with different teams. Carlo Ancelotti will also make history as one of the few to win the Champs League as a player and coach, both with AC Milan.
As for Liverpool, Benitez he will be looking out for his 3rd Final in any major European Cup having led Valencia to the UEFA Cup Final 2003-4, Liverpool in 2004-5. Liverpool will be looking for their 5th win of the Champions League, while AC Milan will be looking for their 7th win.

AC Milan's supporting cast
The battle is surely to be won at the midfield with Milan having two tenacious midfielders in Ambrosini with Gino Gattuso-the man who seems to have run the most miles on the pitch this Champs league campaign. They will look to hold and get the ball for Pirlo and Seedorf as they look for when ,where and how to get it to Kaka. At the front will be Inzaghi or Gilardino. At Liverpool, Gerrard will as usual marshall the mid-field with the support of Dirk Kuyt ,Alonso,Bellamy, Kewell or Zenden. Upfront will most likely be Peter Crouch.

Kaka vs Gerrard

But I'll be about to bet my money on this being a 90 min game no more no less. It might be decided by a margin of one goal or two at most.
Keep it here for the analysis tomorrow as we close the season on the most prestigious League in the world !

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Oh ye of little faith!

STEVEN GERRARD will not spend any time on Kaka that will be left to JAVIER MASCHERANO! Haven't you heard? To stop a Brazilian you use an Argentinean.

Walk on.; 23 May 2007 at 12:37
Anonymous said...: Mascherano you call him ? One Milan midfielder that 'he's at the height of his career'! Need I say more? Let's watch tonight and compare notes tomorrow !; 23 May 2007 at 15:55

Profile of a Kenyan Sports Personality

This is a look at a Kenyan personality who may have influenced and continues to affect sports in Kenya and inspires all and sundry in sports. It is our hope that you shall reflect on this, take a moment to appreciate the sacrifices and efforts these heroes made. We do take a bow and wave our hats as we cheer true Kenyan patriots in sport!

This one takes a different twist. Having seen individuals grace this column, we have sought to recognize a team of individuals who did some exemplary work and set what has been an unbeatable national and indeed continental effort.

Kenya has never been a major power in shorter races 400m downwards. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, this was a different script especially with the more exciting relay races. It is in 1968 when Kenya’s dominance came into play and with it a retinue of athletes who would become legends of their era.

The 4x400m races are usually the climax in the athletics calendar of events and in Mexico ’68, Kenya’s team including Charles Asati, Naftali Bon, Munyoro Nyamau and Daniel Rudisha ( the latter being the father to David Rudisha - current World and African champion in 800m) had other ideas coming 2^nd to USA.

In 1972, the 4 x 400m team was tweaked a bit and the final race was run by Charles Asati, Munyoro Nyamau, Robert Ouko and Julius Sang blazing the track to come up with the only other Gold medal from the Munich Games. But for this unprecedented move and none that has been done before by any other African nation, we salute our compatriots making them the Kenyan sprint legends!

Know your Sport

Swimming

Recently at some social setting we were engaged in a club quiz and one of the questions was about swimming. This sought to know which stroke was not among the competitive ones till 1956. One of our team-mates (we were 6 said that it was back-stroke while I argued it was butterfly, and the majority thought the former ….guess we should have stuck with my answer though!)

All the same, this sport has become one of the most competitive sports in any major sporting extravaganza in the form of the All-Africa Games, Commonwealth or indeed the Olympic Games. Kenya has lately featured in this very involving and energy-sapping sport. Thanks to the exploits of the Dunford brothers who have shone the spotlight on the country away from traditional sports in athletics, football, boxing and rugby. But what do you understand from the sport? Here’s a brief of it from different sources;

According to Wikipedia, swimming is based on the human act of swimming, that is, locomotion in water by self propulsion, with the goal of completing a given distance in the shortest amount of time. Swimming is distinguished from other aquatic sports (such as diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo) that involve swimming but the goal is neither speed nor endurance.

Competitive swimming consists of four strokes: butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle (or front crawl), and backstroke. When all four strokes are done during a race, it is called medley swimming (otherwise known as the individual medley, or I.M.). It is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA).

The goal of competitive swimming is usually to have the fastest time to complete a given distance. Competitive swimming became popular in the nineteenth century. Swimming is an event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 13 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50 meter pool (long course).

There are 36 officially recognized individual swimming events – 18 male events and 18 female events; however the International Olympic Committee only recognizes 34 of them – 17 male and 17 female. Most swimming sport events are held in special competition swimming pools, which are either long course pools such as those used in the Olympic Games (50 m) or short course pools such as those used in the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) (25 yards or 25 m). Competition pools have starting blocks from which the competitor can dive in, and possibly also touch-sensitive pads to electronically record the swimming time of each competitor.

In most competitions, the competitors are required to wear swimwear/swimsuits to adequately cover their bodies for the dip. However some suits have created controversies which have seen FINA coming up with standards to adhere to ensure competitors do not have undue advantage over each other.

The sport can also be pursued for personal fitness and is considered by fitness enthusiasts as one of the few that does an all-round job body of keeping the body in shape. It also requires healthy diets and rehydration (yes even if your body’s dipped in water)! Famous names in the sport include Mark Spitz – 7-gold medals winner 1972 Olympics and Michael Phelps – 8 gold medals - Beijing 2008.
For more info, check www.fina.org

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Wednesday, 23 May 2007

Champions League Final -Athens 2007

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