Thoughts on the Champions League

The Champions League Round of 16 draw

NOTE: Due to a technical snafu, this post wasn't published yesterday morning (despite my scheduling it).  The post below was written on Sunday, prior to any of the Champions League games.  I must say, I hope I predict the outcomes of today's (Wednesday's) games as well as I did Tuesday's.


Embarrassing.  It has to be the first word that comes to the mind of any Arsenal fan or player after the Gunners' poor showing against Milan.

Impressive.  The only word that can describe Barcelona's run of dominance in Europe's most prestigious club competition.  Winning 3-1 on the road against an opponent (Bayer Leverkusen) from one of the top 5 leagues proves the Catalans' pedigree.

Hope. APOEL and Benfica have it despite narrow losses away from home.  The Cypriot side is down just 1-0 to perennial French powerhouse, Lyon, heading back to Nicosia. The Portuguese leaders may be in the driver's seat despite a narrow 3-2 loss to Zenit in St. Petersburg.  With two away goals in their pocket, much will be expected of the Eagles when the teams face off in Lisbon on March 6.

Looking ahead, there are 4 games on tap this week: CSKA Moscow hosting Real Madrid and Chelsea at Napoli on Tuesday; Basel at home against Bayern Munich and Inter travelling to Marseille on Wednesday.

The FA Cup Explained

The FA Cup trophy

A near constant in my conversations with casual soccer fans and non-fans alike is the confusion cup competitions cause when trying to understand international soccer.  To most American sports fans, a cup competition is an alien concept.  Most sports (baseball, football, basketball and ice hockey) in America compete against teams in their league for the league title and that's it.  Other than during the preseason, when was the last time the Red Sox played the Yankees with anything other than a trip to the World Series on the line?  Matches like the recent clash between Manchester United and Liverpool (check out the highlights here), or Arsenal'sstunning comeback against Aston Villa just wouldn't happen outside of the league in US sports.

In an effort to help the uninitiated begin to understand the craziness that is the soccer fixture list in other parts of the world (and America's domestic soccer scene for that matter), here's a brief history/explanation of the FA Cup:

Kick Off

Hey everbody, welcome to my new blog, FC Blacklabel.  I'm rejoining forces with my buddy over at Blacklabel Tennis to create what I will modestly call a sports network.  He focuses on tennis, I focus on all things soccer (football, fútbol, calcio or whatever you call it in your part of the world).

For quick thoughts, follow me on Twitter at @fcblacklabel.  If you enjoy the writing, join our Facebook fan page.  Ideally, this blog will focus on informing fans and non-fans about the beautiful game.  There will opinions presented, history discussed, predictions made, information shared and hopefully some surprises along the way.

To lay the groundwork for the launch, I've imported my old soccer posts from my former blog, The Rally Cap.  Check them out; I'd like to think I wrote some interesting pieces.  If you have any thoughts or comments feel free to post them here or send an email to fcblacklabel@gmail.com.

Get read for kick off.

Interview with Carli Lloyd

Funny things happen when you travel. Sometimes you board the plane and sit on the tarmac for hours. Sometimes you see the plane you are supposed to be on taxiing away from the gate just as you land. Sometimes through sheer serendipity, you encounter Carli Lloyd in the Philadelphia International Airport.

On a sweltering Wednesday afternoon in the City of Brotherly Love, that's just what happened. Carli, on her way back to Atlanta to continue the WPS season with the Atlanta Beat, was kind enough to speak with me for several minutes and agreed to a follow-up interview. Check out what the star of the United State's Women's National Team had to say:

Women's World Cup: French Fried

Stop me if you've heard this story before - The United States Women's National Team jumps to an early lead in a World Cup match, their opponent equalizes early in the second half, Abby Wambach saves the day.  In a match that, through the 78th minute, eerily mirrored Sunday's instant classic (minus the referee miscues), the USWNT was able to alter the script and book their place in the Women's World Cup final (their first since 1999).

Women's World Cup: A Comeback for the Ages

Abby Wambach celebrates the game tying goal.

Highs and lows came at a gut-wrenching pace, but an emotional roller coaster doesn't even begin to capture the Women’s World Cup quarterfinal match between the Samba Queens of Brazil and United States Women's National Team was no exception.  Fans of the USWNT were ecstatic when Daiane put the ball into her own net off a cross by Shannon Boxx, then livid when Rachel Buehler was sent off in the 65' for a foul in the box on Marta. Emotions swung more quickly than a pendulum in the opposite direction as Hope Solo saved the resulting penalty, only to have her save of Cristiane's penalty nullified by a questionable call by referee,  Jacqui Melksham.  Marta, the five-time defending player of the year, then slotted home the equalizer.

Gold Cup 2011: The Final - Mexico vs. USMNT

This is the final that everyone expected, and virtually everyone wanted to see.  While the road to the Rose Bowl hasn't been simple for either team (see the US loss to Panama in the group stage, or Mexico's narrow extra-time victory over Honduras in the semifinal); was their really any doubt that the continent's two juggernauts would be vying for the regional title?  Since the Gold Cup began in 1991, either the US (4 wins, 3 runner-up finishes) or Mexico (5 wins, 1 runner-up) has won all but one of the titles - Canada won in 2000.

With the region's two premier teams playing for the title, the game has gotten a lot of attention in the national media.  This morning, ESPN had Alexi Lalas on SportsCenter discussing the match.  The Worldwide Leader couldn't resist mentioning that the US has lost just once to Mexico on US soil since 2000, though that one loss was a 5-0 drilling in the 2009 Gold Cup final, though this blog post by Scott French of ESPN Los Angeles should make some USMNT fans feel better.  According to French, the US has outscored El Tri 21-8 in matches outside of Estadio Azteca since 2000.  Throw the 5-0 beating out, and the difference jumps to 21-3 in 12 matches!