Match report: Italy 3 - Ukraine 0 (Quarterfinal 2006 World Cup)

• Goals scored: Zambrotta 6', Toni 59', Toni 69'
• What happened: Italy defeated Ukraine in the quarterfinals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. They advanced to the semifinals against Germany.
• Players who appeared in the match and who had played at AC Milan during the previous season: Gattuso, Pirlo, Shevchenko
• Players who appeared in the match and who would later play for AC Milan: Zambrotta, Oddo
• Players who were on the bench for this match and who had played at AC Milan during the previous season: Inzaghi, Gilardino, Nesta
• Players who were on the bench for this match and who would later play for AC Milan: None
• Players who played in the match and who I wish played for Milan: Fabio Cannavaro
• Players whose brothers played in this match and who I wish played for Milan: Paolo Cannavaro
• Questions raised by this match: Was this Gianluca Zambrotta's greatest career moment?
• Who did I root for the first time I saw this match? Ukraine
• Things the ESPN announcers did that were annoying: Mispronounce many names ( "Zambratto," "Purrlo," "Cam-rone-a-nay-see," probably almost all of the Ukraine players' names)
• Injured former players/Juventus staff members whose recent scandal-related suicide attempts were frequently mentioned during the broadcast: Gianluca Pessotto
• Relatively amusing injuries to Italy players: Gattuso 14' (kneed in back), Gattuso 26' (wrist stomped on), Cannavaro 47' (hit in groin by ball after Ukraine player missed header), Buffon 50' (bumped head on goalpost making save)
• Words to describe most of the Ukraine players' hair: long, blond, stringy, Owen Wilson-like
• What this match teaches us: Why AC Milan insisted on acquiring Zambrotta (pictured at top) from Barcelona

Below: Ukraine captain and former Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko

Video highlights are below:

A semi-mysterious video

There many things I am not sure about these days. Here are some of them:

• I am not exactly sure who wrote or performed the music/poem. Is it even a poem or just some guy talking?
• I am also not exactly sure about the relationship between the soundtrack and the video. The video appears to be about the 1950 World Cup final between Uruguay and Brazil. Did the same people make both?
• I'm not even totally certain what language this is, although I think it's Italian.

Champions League final tickets

Brazilian soccer match delayed due to swarm of bees

According to a source that I can no longer locate-- "The 2-2 draw in the Campeonato Goiano was held up for 20 minutes in the first half whilst the fire department killed off the swarm of bees with diesel oil and fire extinguishers."

Also, there apparently was a brawl at the end of the match involving players from both sides and then later a shooting which left one unfortunate fan dead.

Picture of the day

Italian newspaper coverage of Robinho

Match report: Milan 1 - Bologna 0

• Goals Scored: Flamini 8' (See photo above-- the ball is visible just over Flamini's shoulder)
• What happened: Milan scored early and held on to win. They are in first place-- eight points ahead of Inter and nine ahead of Napoli with three matches left.
• What it was like to watch this match: Milan are good; Bologna are not. Milan had a reason try hard; Bologna did not. Milan scored early; Bologna did not. Milan had many other chances to score; Bologna did not. Therefore, watching this match was nothing less than pure torture-- for eighty-two+ minutes Milan were one stupid/flukey/extraordinary play away from disaster.
• Number of wide open headers Bologna missed during the second half: 2 (Like I said-- pure torture)
• Bologna player sent off undeservedly with a straight red card late in the second half: Della Rocca
• Evidence that there is a conspiracy to give Milan the Scudetto this season: Della Rocca's sending off, which completely ended Bologna's attacking threat. A penalty awarded to Milan against Napoli on February 28th for a debatable handball.
• Evidence that there is a conspiracy to prevent Milan from winning the Scudetto this season: The three game suspension given to Ibrahimovic for talking disrespectfully to the linesman at the end of Milan's 3-0 victory over Sampdoria.
• Milan players who made their debut today: Giacomo Beretta
• Milan players whose wives/girlfriends have apparently had babies recently: Antonio Cassano, Robinho, Thiago Silva, Urby Emanuelson
• What this match teaches us: Milan will win the Scudetto this season.

Below: Before the match, a video of Pope John Paul II was shown at the San Siro.

Below: Flamini doesn't score many goals, and certainly none as important as this one.

World soccer update

Leaving aside Serie A for a moment, there was a lot of soccer played this weekend. The major matches include:

Chelsea 2 - Tottenham 1 (see photo above-- a goal was awarded to Chelsea despite the fact that the ball didn't cross the line)

Arsenal 1 - Manchester United 0-- The Premier League title race is not quite over yet.

Real Madrid lost to Real Zargoza, but then Barcelona lost to Real Sociedad.

Corinthians 1 - Palmeiras 1 (6-5 on penalties)-- Corinthians move on to face Santos in the finals of the Campeonato Paulista.

Video below

AEK defeated PAOK in the Greek Cup finals 3-0. The match ended a few minutes early due to rioting fans (see videos below)

Below are actual match highlights