Don’t Believe the Hype (Barcelona vs Manchester United)

 

Sportige.com Michael Owen helps United avenge Champions League Final. What a joke. For some reason, people buy into this media hype of United and Barcelona really taking this friendly game in the United States, part of tours for both sides in which the main goal is to generate TONS of AMERICAN cash while giving players some playing time and a chance for new teammates to gel.

Michael Owen got to put his name on another irrelevant victory as one of the most promising careers for an English striker continues to march slowly towards a too early end. Besides that? A nice goal by Thiago, nearly 82,000 fans, and that’s it. This game won’t affect United, it won’t affect Barcelona. We didn’t see Lionel Messi, no Xavi, no Alexis Sanchez. United did play with something more similar to their strongest lineup, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t give anything close to 100%.

But it’s been over two months without club soccer for the global fans. The Copa America wasn’t even close to an appetaizer or filling desert, depends on how you look at it. These mega friendly matches between the two best clubs in Europe last season, the two teams who played each other in the Champions League final for the second time in three years, generate more and more interest (and money) each year. The American market is growing, and it’s nearly August. The body knows it should get real football real soon, and each hint of the coming season gets us more amped.

But please, don’t buy into the notion that the match at Fedex field yesterday was some sort of grudge match or revenge game or whatever. A friendly (unlike in other sports, where there is no such thing as a friendly), mostly to raise money. Nothing more.

Irfan Shines as Indonesia Wins

Finally, Indonesian football lovers have the chance to see Irfan Bachdim on AFF Suzuki Cup Group Qualification in Jakarta between 1 and 7 December 2010. The trust given by Coach Alfred Riedl for him to play as second striker for the main striker Christian Gonzales was really paid off. He scored two goals in three games and exploring the field from one side to another side of the pitch.

Indonesia Unggulan ke-24 di Pra Piala Dunia Brasil

TRIBUNNEWS.COM,JAKARTA - Timnas Indonesia dianggap  mempuni di mata Konfederasi Sepak Bola Asia (AFC). Buktinya, Indonesia telah ditetapkan sebagai unggulan ke-24 oleh AFC. Dan walhasil, Indonesia pun berhak langsung lolos ke putaran kedua zona Asia Pra Piala Dunia pada 2014 mendatang.

Kabar ini disiarkan situs resmi AFC, Kamis (24/3/2011) kemarin. Sebanyak 43 tim Asia akan berduel di ajang pra piala dunia 2014 ini.

Karena Persaingan Bisnis, Sekolah Musik Budjana Kemalingan?

JAKARTA,KOMPAS.com — Sekolah musik milik gitaris ternama I Gede Dewa Budjana, Music School of Indonesia (MSI), dikerjai maling pada Sabtu (30/7/2011) dini hari. Namun, pihak MSI mengaku belum bisa memastikan penyebab kejadian itu.

Disebut oleh pihak MSI, pelaku perampokan mengambil lebih banyak dokumen penting, seperti rekaman para artis dan data MSI, daripada alat-alat musik atau barang-barang berharga lain. Namun, Manager Operasional MSI Hosea Adrian mengaku belum bisa memprediksi penyebab perampokan. "Kalau dikatakan saingan bisnis, saya masih belum bisa mengira-ngira," ujar Hosea, Sabtu (30/7/2011), ketika dijumpai di lokasi perampokan di Jakarta.