Posted by Joelseah on May 7, 2009
Barcelona knocked Chelsea out of the European Champions league on away goals yesterday despite having only one shot on target for the whole match, and that shot came in the 92nd minute. Unbelievable!
As much as I don’t really like Chelsea, you have to feel sorry for them. Over the two legs, they played a superb controlling game (Aka boring game), and made Barcelona look ordinary. In fact, I took a nap for 30mins of the second half, simply because I was so confident Barcelona will not be able to score.
Those of you who watched the game will know what I mean. Barcelona had plenty of possession, but their passes were all going sideways and backwards instead of forward. Chelsea packed their whole defence till there was almost no gap for all those creative Barcelona players to pick a pass. So much for the pretty football (Maybe the Wimbledon style football could have been more effective)
Anyway, for the record. Chelsea went ahead as early as the 9th minute through a stunning 20 yard volley from Essien. As mentioned, Barcelona had plenty of possession, but it was Chelsea who always looked likelier to score. In fact, they had a couple of penalty appeals turned down (that’s gonna lead to a different discussion altogether).
Barcelona had Abidal sent off for bringing down Anelka as the last defender. Just when we all thought that Chelsea had done enough to secure a win, they momentarily allowed Iniesta room to shoot from outside the penalty box and he made it count with their only shot on target.
That wasn’t the end of the drama though. Chelsea then sent everyone forward (probably regretting all those time wasting they did) and Ballack had a shot right at the death which hit the arm of a Barca player. Again, no penalty was given and it’s understandable that the Chelsea players were furious. After the game, many of them confronted the referee (who had to be escorted), including Drogba, who is probably gonna be in trouble for ranting at the TV camera in front of world TV.
So it’ll be Barcelona against Manchester United in the final in Rome on 27th May. For the purists, I think this is a much better fixture than an all English match which can be seen all the time on BPL.
Posted by Joelseah on May 6, 2009
Manchester United has successfully edged out Arsenal to book a place in the Final of this year’s European Champions League. Actually, looking at their performance over the two legs, it was clear they were the stronger team. Which is kinda surprising because Arsenal definitely played below their usual standards over the two matches.
In fact, I think Man Utd had a tougher time against Porto in the quarter finals, though that could also be due to their dip in form during that period. Anyway, for the record, Arsenal started very strongly and managed to put Man Utd under some pressure initially, but a slip by young defender Kieran Gibbs in the 8th minute let Park through and he clipped the ball over the keeper. Man Utd lead 1-0 (2-0 on aggregate)
Just when Arsenal thought their night is gonna be a lot harder, Ronaldo practically ended it for them 3 minutes later when he smashed home a free kick from almost 40 yards. 2-0 on the night (3-0 on aggregate).
By then, it was practically game over. After the restart, Arsenal throwed everyone forward and Man Utd scored with a typical counter attack involving Park, Rooney and Ronaldo and it was 3-0 on the night. Arsenal did eventually manage to score, through Van Persie from the penalty spot after Fletcher was sent off for bringing down Fabregas as the last man (kinda harsh cos replays showed he got the ball as well, but referees got no replays to help them).
So the final score on the night was 3-1, though the contest was really over after the first 11minutes. Man Utd now await the winner of tonight’s over semi finals, but it’s back to the Premier League with Manchester City this sunday.
Posted by Joelseah on May 3, 2009
Read in the papers about the Metropark Hotel in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Apparently, there was a Mexican guest staying in the hotel who happened to be Asia’s first confirmed H1N1 case (The Swine flu has since been renamed as Influenza A, the virus is known as the H1N1 virus).
So the police have sealed off the hotel, and ordered approximately 200 guests and 100 staff to stay in the hotel for the next seven days. Guests who were out of the hotel when the lockdown began were told that if they re-entered the hotel, they would not be allowed to leave. So many of them are kinda stranded outside the hotel since their luggages and passports are inside the hotel.
Kinda interesting that the Hong Kong authorities are taking such actions. What’s gonna happen to those who were in the same flight or public transport as the Mexican tourist? Considering that Influenza A is most infectious at the beginning, will they hunt down all those who could have been in contact and quarantine them too? *ponder*
Here’s another interesting sidenote: You might remember the Sars outbreak in 2003? According to the papers, the scene of the Sars outbreak took place at another Metropark hotel. That time, a doctor from Guangzhou who treated Sars patient in China had travelled to Hong Kong and stayed at the Metropole in Kowloon. Needless to say, he infected a number of people there, including three woman from Singapore. That hotel has since been renamed as Metropark Hotel Kowloon.
Posted by Joelseah on April 30, 2009
The biggest news in the papers today is all about the swine flu. Apparently, this new virus is even more dangerous than Sars because it attacks silently.
According to the papers, one in three victims does not even show any flu symptoms like sneezing or high temperature. And because this virus is at its most contagious 24 hours before any signs surface, it is likely we could be passing it on before we even realise we’ve got it.
We’re better prepared for this as compared to Sars though. So expect temperature checks at places like polyclinics, hospitals, airports, schools, army camps. Which means if you have any appointments, be sure to allow extra time for queuing up.
Anyway, here are some additional stuff about the Swine flu from the papers:
- Don’t take Tamiflu unless you have the flu. Tamiflu is said to be effective against Swine flu, however, it is not a vaccine. Some studies have shown that you may end up lowering your resistance instead of protecting yourself against the virus.
- Even if you are infected, you should recover within 48 hours if treated with antiviral drugs. That is of course, if you can detect that you’re infected.
- Practice good hygiene and visit the doctor when you have any symptoms of flu. Even if it may seem like a normal flu, it’s not worth taking the risk.
- Like all flu epidemics, the Swine flu could come in waves. So even if this first wave dies, there is no clue when the second will hit. Bottom line is, maintain personal hygiene and take every flu symptom seriously.
