TORRES WON MAN-OF-THE-MATCH

Spain's Fernando Torres took home the Man-of-the-match award for his display in tonight's 1-0 final victory over Germany at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna.

TORRES LEADS SPAIN TO EURO FINAL VICTORY!

Spain are champions of Europe for the first time in 44 years after a 1-0 defeat of Germany in Vienna. A solitary goal from Fernando Torres in the 33rd minute was enough to hold off a German side who rarely looked like scoring as Spain had the majority of the chances in the second half in a game in which they were deserved winners.

Spain won their only previous piece of silverware in this competition in 1964 and had not been beyond the quarter-finals of any competition in 24 years, yet Luis Aragonés's men have chosen to use that history as an inspiration rather than a burden. After a strong start from Germany, seeking a fourth title themselves, Spain were the more dangerous side throughout an entertaining final at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion although it took just one goal – in the 33rd minute, courtesy of Torres's pace, perseverance and an unerring finish – to end their long wait.

SPAIN IN THE FINAL!!!

Spain
	Xavi (50)
	Daniel Güiza (73)
	David Silva (82)

Superb Spain stormed into their first final in 24 years by rolling over in-form Russia at Euro 2008 in Vienna.

On another wet night in Austria, Luis Aragones' men attacked throughout and scored second-half goals through Xavi, substitute Daniel Guiza and David Silva to claim their fifth win in as many games and set up a title showdown with Germany on Sunday.

The outcome prevented the Russians, who lost 4-1 to Spain in their opening game, from making their first appearance in the final since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Spain will meet Germany in the sunday's final.

SENIOR'S TESTIMONIAL MATCH 2008

Friday
20TH JUNE 2008
5.28pm

Last friday, PMC football club organised a testimonial match dedicated to our seniors. They had just recently finished their final 5th year exam. this is probably their last football game as PMC students ever. the turn out was better than expected, as around 30+ people attended this farewell match. everybody on the pitch looked lively and enthusiastic. the juniors won 3-1.


here's the link to the full pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/izmail84/PMCTESTIMONIALFOOTBALLMATCH02

New committee member of PMC football club 2008/09

PMC, 17th June 2008 - Official Football Club AGM was done at seminar room 2 , at 4pm last Tuesday. Club advisor, Prof Rajeswari attended the AGM, along with the new committee members. The last year's president, Mr Amir Izmail (yours truly), emceed the AGM.

the AGM reviewed the past year activities, current financial status & club inventories.
Proposed new plans of 2008/09 were also discussed. Few proposals were brought up including:
- get a football coach for PMC team
- buy small goal posts for football practise
- create a new blog for PMC football club
- create a bulletin board for football club

i would like to wish the new committee good luck for their respective posts. I hope, the club will be more successful this year.






the new members:
- back (left to right) : Kudut, Zaim, Korez, Che'Eh
- front (left to right): Fazrin, Mujed, Prof Rajes, Jere'
- behind camera: me!

PMC FOOTBALL JERSEY LAYOUT

well... i gotta admit...im really really lousy at drawing.. here's the rough layout of how the jersey will look after we add the small number n PMC logo at 'front', with PMC writings n big number at the 'back'..

New PMC football jerseys! ORANGE!!!!

at last..after a couple of weeks of football jersey hunting, i finally found the best offer.. one complete set of jersey costing only RM48 !!! this include jersey shirt, short, socks, small number n logo at front, plus PMC writing and big number at the back..

this year, we're going orange!!
orange shirt n short with black socks.. i always like orange all this while.. both the colour and the fruit! since we had red jersey last year, n the senior had blue 2 years ago, i suggested that why not we go ORANGE this year?

"orange? isnt that kinda girly?" one wud say..
i wud respond," this isnt so.. in fact, orange is COOL!"
just look at Kadet Pertahanan Awam! they r wearing orange n how awesome they look, while giving rescue.. hehe.. no la..the reason i chose orange becoz of one thing only....
the Dutch football team.

actually, i was about to choose fluorescent green (u noe,with all the fuss about 'going green', im kinda supporting this noble cause, although this is not what they really mean) but after watching (too much) Euro2008, i was mesmerized by how the Dutch played.. their slick passing, fluid movement and dribbling and swift counter-attacking... they are simply marvelous..

call me over-ambitious, but i kinda hope that our PMC team can play good football..since we probably will never be like the Dutch, why not atleast try to LOOK like them..hehe..smart eh?

last year's jersey 'manyak suwey' punye.. lost in futsal tournament n was 4th in inter-college football..we lost in 3rd-4th placing. no medal..

so im hoping the orange jersey wud bring us luck.. =)

EURO2008 WIDGET

Spain 2-1 Sweden: Villa last-gasp goal sinks Swedes

INNSBRUCK, June 14 (Reuters) - A stoppage time goal from David Villa gave Spain a 2-1 victory over Sweden in Group D at Euro 2008 on Saturday to put them firmly on course for the quarter-finals.

Spain took the lead in the 15th minute when Fernando Torres stabbed home a David Silva cross with the sole of his boot but Sweden came back in the 34th when Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted from close range.

Villa struck deep into stoppage time for his fourth goal of the tournament.

My football manager 2008 story

this is my first time talking about FM 08 in this blog.. FM what u say? FM stands for Football manager 2008, which is the BEST FOOTBALL MANAGING GAME in the world!! every hardcore football knows about this game, n u r NOT officially a 'football fan' until u play this game.

to the uninitiated, FM is a pc game where r u a manager of a club, n well.. u manage the club. u control the tactics, training, players to buy, players to sell, etc. if i cud describe this game in one word, it is ADDICTIVE.. u cud practically sit on the chair in front of pc, playing the game from 8am until the midnite! seriously!! i remembered doing it 4 years ago while playing CM04 (the game then change its name to FM), then i become sick for a few days... u cud say, i had a CM dependent disorder. huhu..

back to present, i started playing FM08 again this year, after stopping last year. well, as expected, i become obsessed with it instantly! i began by selecting atletico madrid in the spanish La Liga. 1st season, i managed to steer my team into 4th place! an achievement indeed, given that the game developer had increased the difficulty level. i had aguero, who is arguably the best attacking midfielder in the world, n few others like reyes,maxi, n forlan to help me score! end of 1st season, i sell reyes,maxi n forlan. then, i bought Elano, who is at that time, one of the best playmaker in the game. i shud be elated but instead, i began to have problem. u see, Elano plays the same position as aguero. since i consider elano is better at playmaking, i decided to shift aguero to full-time striker. he scored handful of goals but not as much as in 1st season. Elano comes into prominence. but come midseason, my team began to crack. i think i lost like 5 league games in a row! n ive been using the same tactic since early season! thats when i realized that the game's AI has become smarter n they as if have analized my games for a while n konws my pattern of play. i finished the season at 4th place again but barely.

3rd season started convincingly, but come January, my team (again) began to crumble, like cheap Tesco cheese-flavored biscuits.. i juz dont understand it. now, im at 10th place. exactly in mid-table.

FM08 has really affected me this past 3 weeks. i kept thinking of FM,over n over again, confused n perplexed by how FM works. i become obsessed to the point where i dont think at all about psychiatry n began to abandon my daily responsibility!! (it is that serius!).

thus, on this day, 14th June 2008, i decided to hang my FM boots, n take a hiatus from the game for a while n start doing my responsibility n taking my psychiatry posting seriously... huhu...

** byk nye baju tak basuh lagi nih!!! dem.....

Sweden vs spain - preview

• Referee: Pieter Vink

• Sweden

  Manager: Lars Lagerback

  On the Field

  • Isaksson
  • Stoor
  • Mellberg
  • Hansson
  • Nilsson
  • Andersson
  • Svensson
  • Ljungberg
  • Larsson
  • Larsson
  • Ibrahimovic

  Player to watch

  

  Zlatan Ibrahimovic

  The Internazionale man finally lived up to his billing against Greece. Let's hope that is not it for the tournament.

  Subs

  • Allbäck
  • Elmander
  • Källström
  • Shaaban
  • Dorsin
  • Rosenberg
  • Majstorovic
  • Granqvist
  • Wiland
  • Linderoth

  Injured

  • Alexandersson
  • Wilhelmsson

  Suspended

  None

• Spain

  Manager: Luis Aragonés

  On the Field

  • Casillas
  • Ramos
  • Puyol
  • Marchena
  • Capdevila
  • Xavi
  • Senna
  • Iniesta
  • Silva
  • Torres
  • Villa
  
  

  Player to watch

  

  Fernando Torres

  Reports of a bust-up with coach Luis Aragones will not deflect the Liverpool striker's focus away from opening his account for the tournament.

  Subs

• 13. Palop
• 23. Reina
• 14. Alonso
• 3. Navarro
• 20. Juanito
• 17. Guiza
• 10. Fabregas
• 16. García
• 2. Albiol
• 12. Cazorla
• 18. Arbeloa
• 22. De la Red

Injured

None

Suspended

None

** im predicting a 3-1 victory to Spain!

Amir Torres

9.13pm, 14th June

Torres: No rift with Aragones over subbing

INNSBRUCK, June 13 (Reuters) - Spain striker Fernando Torres has denied that he was angry with coach Luis Aragones for taking him off in the team's 4-1 win against Russia in their opening game at Euro 2008.

Torres walked past Aragones when he was replaced by Cesc Fabregas early in the second half of Tuesday's match and did not acknowledge the coach's outstretched hand.

'I was angry with myself and it isn't true that I refused to shake the coach's hand,' Torres told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser on Friday.


'Luis was six metres away from me, we weren't that close and I would never show any disrespect to a coach.

'I know that I can't get angry for more than 30 seconds when I've got team mates next to me who didn't play (in the game) at all.'

Torres is almost certain to be in the starting line-up when Spain play Sweden in their second match in Group D on Saturday.

Spain striker Villa fractured his finger

NEUSTIFT, June 11 (Reuters) - Spain striker David Villa, the first player to score a hat-trick at Euro 2008, sustained a hairline fracture to his finger while celebrating his first goal in the 4-1 win over Russia.

The 26-year-old, who trained with a bandage on the index finger of his right hand on Wednesday, was hurt when he ran over to hug team mate Fernando Torres who had set him up to score in Tuesday's Group D match in Innsbruck.

'I got my finger caught in Fernando's shirt when we were celebrating the goal and bent it back,' Villa said. 'It hurts quite a bit but it is nothing important.'



** i wonder what Villa did in fernando's shirt? hmmm... suspicious... haha

Czech Republic 1-3 Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo's sweet second-half strike all but put Portugal into the Euro 2008 quarter-finals today as Luiz Felipe Scolari's team beat Czech Republic at the Stade de Geneve.

AP

Portugal winger Ronaldo shoots through the Czech Republic defence to score.

The Manchester United star coolly slotted home after being teed up by Deco shortly after the hour to put the Portuguese in the lead for a second time, Libor Sionko having cancelled out Deco's opener.

Substitute Ricardo Quaresma put matters absolutely beyond doubt in stoppage-time when he tapped home from Ronaldo's pass.

The victory takes Portugal onto six points in Group A following their opening-day win over Turkey, while the Czechs - who beat co-hosts Switzerland 1-0 in the curtain-raiser - will look to clinch a last-eight spot on Sunday when they face Fatih Terim's Turks.

Preview - Portugal vs Czech

Spain's neighbor, Portugal will take on Czech tonite at 12midnite (malaysian time). Portugal are aiming for their second win to ensure they finish top of the group, to avoid Germany in the quarter final.


top left: Moutinho
top right: Simao
bottom: Deco

probable starting line-up:

Ricardo(GK)
Pepe(DC)
Carvalho(DC)
Ferreira(DL)
Bosingwa(DR)
Petit (DM)
Deco (MC)
Moutinho (MC)
Simao (MR)
C.Ronaldo (ML)
Gomes (ST)

with influential central defenders, Carvalho & Pepe, protected by Petit just at front of back 4, Portugal looks solid at the back. Portugal will be hoping to gain advantage in the middle of field with 2 playmakers, Deco & Moutinho, working in synergy together, flanked by Ronaldo n Simao at the wings. Lone striker, Gomes will be poaching goals from crosses and thru-balls. they looked dangerous especially in counter-attacking, relying on fast wingers, Ronaldo n Simao.

i predict a 2-0 win for portugal. =)

Amir Torres
6.37pm, Wednesday

Villa paid tribute to Torres

Spain hat-trick hero David Villa paid tribute to strike partner Fernando Torres following Tuesday's 4-1 drubbing of Russia, even though the Liverpool man again failed to get on the scoresheet for his country.

Immediately after slotting the ball past Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev to complete his treble 15 minutes from time, Villa raced to the Spain bench to embrace Torres, who had been substituted after 54 minutes and replaced by Cesc Fabregas.

That was the third Spain match in just over a week where Torres has been taken off early, with coach Luis Aragones substituting the Liverpool striker at half-time in both friendly matches against the United States and Peru.

Torres has now failed to score in each of those three matches - albeit whilst not always at peak fitness - and although he has been prolific during his first season at Liverpool, he has notched just once for his country since 2006.

All that has led to speculation about the striker's ability to perform for Spain the way he does for Liverpool, but Villa was keen to show Torres he is fully behind the former Atletico Madrid man.

"The first two goals were with the help of Torres," said Villa.

"You saw what happened with the first one and with the second he opened the space so (Andres) Iniesta could make the pass to me," Villa added.

Spain v Russia

spain 4 russia 1

the match ended 4-1 in favor of spain.. Villa scored a hattrick, plus last-minute strike from Fabregas ensured the spanish armada into comfortable win in their first game of the tournament. villa played magnificently tonite, showing a lot of composure and great eyes for goals. To my dismay, Torres was taken off early in the 2nd half becoz apparently Aragones wanted to protect the 2-0 lead they had in the 1st half. but obviously, all goals from spain can be summed up into these 3 words... efficient counter attacking! with silva, iniesta and xavi in the attacking roles in the middle of park, protected by Senna, just front of back 4, Spain swiftly and efficiently passed the ball, which is very evident especially when counter attacking. Villa especially played very well tonite assisted by the industrious Xavi, and the skillful pair of iniesta and silva. i was expecting a hattrick tonite from Torres but Villa got it instead. nevermind that, whats importang is spain got what they aimed for.


inset:
David Villa
(man of the match)

Late for spain game

damn.... i woke up late again for a football match... 30th minute of spain v russia match...
well.. i guess better late than not watching at all.. the score ended 2-0 in first half, thanks to both David Villa goals.. first goal was precipitated by fine solo from Torres before passing to Villa to finish it off.. 2nd goals was a classic. Iniesta defence-splitting pass, to Villa who coolly slotted the ball into the net. hoping for a much better performance after the break.





top left: iniesta
top right: David Silva
bottom: Xavi

in the meantime, tonite's spanish line-up

casillas (1)
marchena
puyol
ramos
capdevilla
iniesta (16)
xavi (8)
silva (21)
senna
villa (7)
torres (9)

Tertido during football match

huhu.. yesterday, i decided to sleep early, thinking that i wud get up to watch Italy vs Holland. instead, insomnia kicks in early n i spent few restless hours rolling in bed.. i cudnt take it, n decided to wake up n watched the first game, (france vs romania) which i intended NOT to watch.. well, i had to pick one since it is weekdays... after watching the 1st half, i decided to sleep for few hours and woke up in 2nd half of the 2nd game.. i did woke up at 4pm but realized that the game was almost over...ODD... i didnt noe the match kicked off early dat nite...hmm.i reluctantly went back to sleep again... THAT was what i thought until the today, the guys said this morning that the game did start at 2.45am and ended at 4.30am..!! what happened was i mistakenly saw on the TV, assuming the time was at the 93rd minute while in fact it was 63rd minute!!!!!!!! arrrrrrrgggghhhhhhh.. damnnn....... i probably miss one of the best match of Euro 2008 so far!

the match ended 3-0 , in favor of Holland... im gonna watch the highlite at 750pm later.. Sneijder scored a terrific volley during the match.. this loss is soo uncharacteristic of Italy, who claimed to have the meanest defence in the World.. (italian league famous for their defensive-mindedness)..

the france v romania ended in bore 0-0 draw.. Italy will probably be doomed already unless they can pick themselves up n win all their remaining games..

653pm, tuesday

Torres: Euro success can end Red pain

NEUSTIFT, July 6 (Euro 2008) - Spain striker Fernando Torres is eyeing Euro 2008 glory to help him get over his Champions League semi-final heartbreak with Liverpool.

Torres came within touching distance of capping a memorable first season at Anfield with a Champions League final appearance, but agonisingly missed out after a 4-3 aggregate loss to Chelsea in the last four.

That meant Torres, despite netting 33 competitive goals following his big-money move from Atletico Madrid, ended his maiden campaign at Liverpool without any major honours.

'I have a lot of confidence following this season, and with a lot of desire to be able to finish the season with a title,' he said.

'It will be what I have always dreamed of - a great season and a great end.'

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/euro2008/team?id=164&cc=3888

Spain's starting line-up for the up-coming game against Russian

NEUSTIFT, Austria, June 8 (Reuters) - Midfielder Marcos Senna is closing in on a place in Spain's starting lineup for their opening Euro 2008 match against Russia on Tuesday.

The Brazilian-born player appears to have been given the nod over Xabi Alonso for the holding role to provide defensive cover for the talented trio of Andres Iniesta, Xavi and David Silva.

Senna, who played a key part in helping steer Villarreal to runners-up spot in the Primera Liga behind Real Madrid this season, has been in the theoretical starting lineup in recent training sessions at the team's base in Neustift.

Coach Luis Aragones is also thought to be mulling over using Getafe midfielder Ruben de la Red in the holding role, although the former Real Madrid youth team player's inexperience could count against him.

Senna told a news conference on Sunday: 'Luis Aragones hasn't confirmed yet if I will be in the starting lineup but I want to make sure I'm in top form so I'm ready when I'm needed,'

'I can play a little bit more forward or a little bit further back, wherever I'm needed and I'm comfortable in both positions. But there is huge competition for places. All of us feel like we're in the starting lineup.'

Iniesta confirmed he was recovering well after missing Spain's final warm-up match because of a stomach bug.

'I lost a little bit of weight because of it and I don't have much to lose so I've tried to make sure I eat well,' said the Barcelona player. 'But I feel better now and will do all I can to ensure I'm in top shape for the game.'

The squad took a break from the training pitch on Sunday morning, spending time in the hotel gym and pool instead.

'We're just trying to kill time anyway we can,' said Iniesta. 'We just want things to get started. Once the first game is over it all goes a bit quicker and things become more intense.'

Dilemma of football games

Romania v France @ 17.00 UK | Holland v Italy @ 19.45 UK


im still undecided which game i want to watch.. i cudnt possibly watch both since this week psychiatry posting is a bit full and also becoz of end of the week mid-posting mcq.. well.. i wud think about it in my sleep... zzzzz

Torres to shine in Euro 2008

Go Torres!!! hope u score tomorrow against the Russian..



http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/index.html

Spain, hope u shine in EURO2008

Spain national team players from left to right up:
Iker Casillas, Carlos Lopez Marchena, Sergio Ramos, Joan Capdevila, Marcos Antonio Senna Da Silva, Fernando Torres. From left to right bottom: Xavi Hernandez, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta, David Jimenez Silva and Carles Puyol

Im supporting spain for this euro 2008!
well, some say i support them becoz of torres alone.. but i beg to differ.. u see, spain have a constellation of star players! tho individual brilliance is far superior than a team, that is besides the point.. just look at the players!

for the keeper, casillas is the best keeper in spain, playing for Real Madrid. if he is injured, they still hav Pepe Reina, who is arguably one of the best in europe at the moment, thanks to Liverpool's dominance in Champs league this past few years.

for defenders, they hav ramos n puyol, probably two most influential defenders in the game.. both played in real n barca respectively.

for midfield.. spain is blessed with sooo many fantastic players.. xavi, alonso, fabregas, iniesta, silva, reyes... they r having constant headache who to field since only 4 players will fill these positions..

for the striker, Torres n Villa will become the meanest striking pair in history of Euro tournament! Torres scored 33 goals last season n is hoping to emulate this achievement in Euro! hope he will score a lot n help spain progress all the way to final..n most importantly... not getting injured! Liverpool need u badly next season dude!

gud luck to spain!!!

EURO 2008 has kicked start!!! oh yeah!!

Euro 2008 officially kicked off yesterday morning 12am, sunday... i was really looking forward to this tournament! i almost miss the first games, no thanks to astro!apparently, they are in the process of upgrading their service by changing the old astro card with the new one. since my mum paid my astro bills (well, she did insists on installing astro n paying for it..hehe), they sent the card to Klang instead of Penang! i realized this on tuesday! so, i quickly asked mum to send my via Post Laju. she only did it on thurday, so i managed to get on Friday.. thanks to the Mr Post Laju ( who called me during my Friday prayer, and curiously asked me why i am not at home? ahahaha... kantoi skipping solat dude!) . Luckily i didnt hav a class that evening, so i cud juz rush back home to get it...

so.. back to the story..on saturday nite, i invited a couple of friends home to play Pro Evo 2008 for a couple of hours prior to kick-off.. after few hours of enthusiastic pro-evo-ing (but mostly shouting to each others since we played 5 people at one go thru the technology of multi-tap!! hehe), the first game started. it was swiss vs czech

overall, the game was ok-ok.. not really the best of match since not many stars were in both teams.. rosicky (probably the only star in czech team, besides than Petr Cech) missed the match.. for the swiss, so much are expected of them but catastrophe strucked them in the form of injury to their most-influential player...alexander frei...he was knocked down in the first half.. he ruptured a ligament which wud rule him out of the tornament entirely... so sad for the swiss... but never underestimate the power of host team.. they might bounce back thru sheer teamwork.. like what greece and south korea did... the game ended in favor of czech.. 1-0..

the second game between portugal n turkey was more entertaining... but i missed this game, due to strong urge to sleep... haha... my friends was watching the match while i was fast dozing off... huhu...


so many games for the coming weeks..i cudnt possibly watch all of them u noe... but i will watch spain definitely... Torres my man... hope u score dude... go spain!

My first ever blog entry

Hi there blog people!

this is my first ever blog entry. im not entirely sure why i made this blog. but i can point out a couple of reasons. 1) bcoz of peer pressure (everybdy seems to have a blog. not having one wud mean im soo not up-to-date.. 2) i want to report about my college's football activities eg. friendly matches, trainings, etc. 3) i wanna share my stories about football in my life 4) ive got plenty of time.. err.. cancel that last one.. basically, i just want to try something new.. like what i did last week, signing up for facebook , which was one of the regrettable things i did this year.. so much to do in facebook!! i barely have time to juggle my friendster! too much work load for me.. huhu... anyways, i wil give it a try (1 year trial) , see how i can cope..


Amir Torres
9.58pm, Sunday June 2008