March 6 International Friendlies

In this post, I will be discussing some of the international friendlies that took place yesterday.

South Africa 0-5 Brazil
Goals: Oscar (9') Neymar (40', 45', 90') Fernandinho (78')

In Johannesburg, Bafana Bafana were thoroughly dismantled by A Seleção. The Brazilians showed why they are the favorites for the World Cup to be held at their home. They were lead by a hat-trick from Neymar, who looked to be in splendid form. Both teams put out first choice starting XI's, with the strength of Brazil proving too much to handle for South Africa.

Ukraine 2-0 USA
Goals: Yarmolenko (11') Dević (66')

This match was maybe more publicized for reasons other than football. The Ukraine is currently involved in an international conflict with Russia, centered over Crimea, so the match was moved to Cyprus for security reasons. Also, the referee of this match, Leontios Trattou, made headlines after his car was bombed on Friday, causing all matches in the Cypriot first division to be suspended. The Yanks pushed out a brand-new back four, and they looked like it. The group of Geoff Cameron, Oguchi Onyewu, John Brooks and Edgar Castillo were very poor, especially in marking runs made from the midfield. Jürgen Klinsmann's post match press conference can be seen here.

Spain 1-0 Italy
Goals: Pedro (62')

This main storyline behind this match was the Spain debut for Brazilian-born Diego Costa. Costa had a quiet game, and did not do much to cement a starting spot for himself ahead of the World Cup. He seemed very hesitant before making any move for the ball, and did not show himself as the strong, battling force that he has shown himself to be in La Liga. Good performanes were put in by Jordi Alba, Andrés Iniesta, David Silva and Pedro. Pedro's goal, which slipped under Gigi Buffon, was enough to give La Furia Roja the win over the Azzurri.

Germany 1-0 Chile
Goals: Götze (16')

Mario Götze's first half goal was enough to seal a victory for the German National Team, who are already one of the favorites for the World Cup, against a very strong and underrated Chile team, who will have their work cut out for them trying to make it out of their group of Spain, the Netherlands and Australia. The goal came on the back-end of some brilliant team play, and showed why Die Mannschaft is tipped to be the next football dynasty. The goal can be seen below.

What did you make of yesterday's results? Let me know in the comments section. And for breaking news and information, be sure to follow me on twitter right here.

English January 2014 Transfers

So it's been a while since I made a blog post. I just kind of fell away from it, but my Media Writing professor wants us to continuously make blog posts. I figured I will pick up right where I left off three years ago, listing some of the transfers from the January 2014 transfer window involving English clubs.


January 1: Stoke City have sent American winger Brek Shea on loan to Championship side Barnsley after Shea failed to make an impact since returning from a knee injury during Stoke's United States preseason tour.

January 3: Kazakh-born German youth international Alexander Merkel has joined Championship club Watford on loan for the rest of the season. The former AC Milan playmaker is currently under contract with Serie A club Udinese.

January 8: Former Manchester United Academy player Magnus Wolff Eikrem has joined Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee from Dutch side Heerenveen. The move will see the Danish midfielder reunited with Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who was his manager in the Manchester United Academy.

January 10: English international Jermain Defoe has moved to MLS team Toronto FC for a fee of £6 million. Defoe reportedly received phone calls from rapper and Toronto-native Drake during the trasnfer process. He was unveiled as a Toronto FC player three days later. His tweet regarding the unveiling can be seen here.

January 11: Irish winger Aidan McGeady has joined Everton for an undisclosed fee from Russian outfit Spartak Moscow.

January 11: American centre back Oguchi Onyewu has joined Championship club Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer from Queen Park Rangers.

January 13: Argentina international Jonás Gutiérrez has joined Norwich City on loan for the rest of the season from Newcastle United.

January 14: Manchester City striker John Guidetti has joined Stoke City on loan for the rest of the season. The Sweden international has yet to make an appearance for the Citizens, who have an embarrassment of riches at the striker position.

January 14: Wigan striker Grant Holt has joined Aston Villa on loan for the rest of the season.

January 14: Stoke City have made Stephen Ireland's loan move from Aston Villa permanent for an undisclosed fee. Ireland joined Stoke in the summer on a season-long loan.

January 15: Croatian striker Nikica Jelavić has joined Hull City Tigers for an undisclosed fee from Everton.

January 15: Chelsea have reacquired midfielder Nemanja Matić from Benfica for £21 million, almost exactly three years after selling him to the Portuguese side. He was sold with £23 million to Benfica for David Luiz. Matić was recently nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award for the best goal for the following strike.

January 15: Struggling Fulham have sent Costa Rican playmaker Bryan Ruiz on loan to PSV Eindhoven.

January 25: A desperate Manchester United have broken their transfer record to sign Juan Mata from Chelsea for £37.1 million. Mata found himself surplus to needs at Stamford Bridge, as José Mourinho preferred Oscar to Mata.

January 25: Italian international midfielder Antonio Nocerino has joined West Ham United on loan from AC Milan for the rest of the season.

January 25: West Ham also acquired the loan signing of Italian striker Marco Borriello from Roma.

January 28: Fábio has left his twin brother and Manchester United to join Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee, with Wilfried Zaha making the same move, but on loan.

January 31: Colombian defender Pablo Armero has joined West Ham United on loan from Napoli, as he tries to cement a place in the Colombian squad for the World Cup.

January 31: Fulham have signed in-form Greek striker Konstantinos Mitroglou from Olympiakos for an £11 million fee.

What do you think was the best bit of business this winter? Let me know in the comments below.
For more live soccer news, follow me on twitter here.

Transfers

The soccer summer transfer window is open, and there are some transfers that I would like to discuss.

May 9: Real Madrid have roared into this transfer window by purchasing German-born, Turkish star midfielder Nuri Şahin from German Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund for 10 millions euros. Şahin is both the youngest player to play in a Bundesliga match at 16 years and 334 days, and to score in a Bundesliga match the following week. He is currently 22 years-old.


May 9: Italian champions AC Milan have acquired 29 year-old French National Team centerback Philippe Mexès from AS Roma in a free transfer.

May 10: Manchester United have sold 20 year-old defender Joe Dudgeon to Hull City for an undisclosed amount of money. Dudgeon is a defender, and a Northern Ireland international.

May 12: Manchester United have also sold  20 year-old midfielder/centerback Corry Evans to English Championship club Hull City, also for and undisclosed amount. Evans came up through the United youth system, like his brother, current Manchester United defender Johnny Evans. Corry, also like his brother and Dudgeon, is a Northern Ireland international.

May 15: La Liga side Málaga have purchased 30 year-old Argentinean international centerback Martín Demichelis from Bundesliga club Bayern Munich for 3 million euros. This deal will reunite Demichelis with his former manager at Argentinean side River Plate, Manuel Pelligrini.


May 19: Real Madrid have acquired another German-born, Turkish superstar midfielder, this time 28 year-old Hamit Altintop. Madrid received Altintop in a free transfer from Bundesliga side Bayern Munich.


May 24: Italian side Juventus have acquired AC Milan and Italian legend Andrea Pirlo in a free transfer from Milan. Pirlo is 32, and will certainly bring experience to a Juventus side that is trying to restore itself to dominance over the Italian Serie A.


June 1: German powerhouse Bayern Munich have acquired the German National Team goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, from Schalke 04 for 18 million euros. Neuer is only 24 years of age, and has already proven himself to be one of the top goalkeepers in the world.


June 1: Málaga continue their big summer, acquiring Manchester United and Dutch legend Ruud van Nistelrooy from Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. Van Nistelrooy is 34 years-old.


June 8: Italian club Lazio have received Bayern Munich and German legend Miroslav Klose in a free transer from Bayern. Klose is 33, and is one goal shy of tying Brazilian legend Ronaldo for the most goals in World Cup Finals with 14 goals throughout the 2002, 2006, and 2010 World Cups.

June 9: Egyptian fullback Ahmed Elmohamady has successfully signed a contract with English Premier League side Sunderland. The 23 year-old was on loan last season to Sunderland from Egyptian side ENPPI, and has impressed in his time under Steve Bruce. His contract will keep him at The Stadium of Light until 2014.

June 13: Manchester United have signed Blackburn Rovers 19 year-old centerback Phil Jones. This was a great move to provide more depth at the centerback position, and gives United a player for the future. The terms of the move will be finalized after Jones returns from international duty with the English U-21 national team, currently in Denmark competing in the 2011 U-21 European Championship.

June 16: Málaga continue to bring in big names, this time signing 31 year-old Dutch international centerback Joris Mathijsen. Like van Nistelrooy, Mathijsen is coming from Hamburger, on a 1 million euro transfer deal.

June 16: Manchester United have loaned out Portugese winger Bébé to Turkish side Beşiktaş. This is a move that will give the 20 year-old some playing time, which he would not have at Old Trafford.

June 17: Málaga extend their long shopping list by signing 27 year-old French superstar midfielder Jérémy Toulalan from French powerhouse Olympique Lyonnais, more commonly none as Lyon.


June 21 (today): Italian side AS Roma have secured the purchase of Spanish international striker Bojan Krkić from Spanish and European champions Barcelona. Krkić is only 20 years-old, and has a chance to become a truly spectacular player (which he has shown signs of), learning from one of the all-time great strikers, Italian Francesco Totti.

Job Interview

So I had a job interview today at a restaurant called Glory Days. I'm still looking for my first official job. I worked as a bouncer at Karma Nightclub in Morgantown, West Virginia my freshman year of college. That job was completely under the table though. I didn't fill out any forms of any sort, and I got paid in cash on a weekly basis. I talked to two guys who seemed nice, and they invited me back for a second interview with the manager. My friend, who already works at Glory Days, told me that the manager is Arab, so I'm feeling pretty confident about my chances.
Also today, I found out that one of my best friends, basically my brother, made first-team all district in baseball. That means that he was the best at his position, relief pitcher, in a very competitive district. Now imagine how he would have done if he wasn't lazy, and actually played in the field like he used to. I'm kidding, I love that kid (no homo)
In other news, I saw two awesome season finales tonight. The How I Met Your Mother season finale and the Hawaii Five-O finale. I won't spoil any of them, but they both blew my mind. Since my mind has been blown twice tonight, I think it is time for me to go to sleep. Good night world.

Sincerely,
نادر حسين