Apoel Nicosia, refusing to follow the UEFA script

When Cypriot league champions Apoel Nicosia were paired with FC Porto, Shaktar Donetsk and Zenit St Petersburg (respective champions from Portugal, Ukraine & Russia) their odds to make the knock-out stages were 35/1... i.e. highly unfancied.

A win in their last group match on December 6th against a Shaktar Donetsk side with nothing to play for will ensure that, as group winners they will avoid European heavyweights such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich etc. in the knock-out stage.

The Apoel story is certainly the biggest Champions League footballing fairytale since Uefa started with the current format of the competition.
Over the past years the competition has lacked sparkle with the same teams classifying with a monotonous predictability and with the lesser seeded teams aiming for, at best a consolation spot in the Europa League.

The key to Apoel´s success is simple according to their Serbian coach Ivan Jovanovic. Tactical discipline, a mean defence and great team spirit are cited as the reasons for the teams progression in the Champions League despite having the smallest budget of all teams in the group stages (€17 million).

So whilst the final round of CL group stage games could potentially see the exit of footballing heavyweights such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Valencia, Manchester City...the Apoel story re-affirms that the game of football for all its business and marketing, brand presence etc. is a game of eleven sportsmen against eleven sportsmen and thankfully for its very own future, occasionally, very occasionally David does get to beat Goliath. 

 

The best goal of 2011?

Last week a new folk hero in Spanish football was created with one of the most remarkable goals we´ll see all season.

Senegalese Matar Diop Martins will never forget this, his first league goal for Real Oviedo.

The goal gave Oviedo a 2-0 over Coruxo in the Spanish 2B league.

Here it is in all its glory with a rather impassioned commentator from TPA (local Asturian TV network)

New Music Alert # 2 - High Highs

If the sounds of Fleet Foxes, Air, Damien Rice, Kings of Convenience do it for you, then look no further then new band, High Highs.

The Brooklyn, via Sydney trio of Jack Milas, Oli Chang, Zachary Lipkins have been generating massive critical acclaim in the US where they recently supported Jose Gonzalez.

The NME also recently included High Highs in their "Best New Bands of 2011" list...not sure if that is such a good thing ....

Anyhow, check out the fabulous scenery of New York City & Long Island in the video for the début single "Open Season" for 3 minutes and 49 seconds that are pure "sonic sunshine".

High Highs début release "High Highs EP" is out on November 21st.
For those in UK, the band play an intimate show at the Old Queens Head (N1) on November 24th.

 

More info - http://highhighs.com/


Video for "Open Season"

Panenka, a breath of fresh air in the wilderness that is Spanish sports journalism

Antonin Panenka was possibly the most famous Czech footballer of all time. It was he who, in extra time of the 1976 European Championship famously chipped Sepp Maier to win the title for Czechoslovakia.

Panenka, consequently later dubbed a "poet" by a famous French journalist was the style of nonchalant "chipping" style penalty (as epitomised by Zidane in the final of the World Cup v Italy in 2006) 

Now Panenka has also lent his name to Spain's latest football publication. With a nod to high calibre football & sports journalism prevalent in other European countries (England - "When Saturday Comes" & "The Blizzard", Germany - "11 Freunde" & France with "So Foot"), Panenka comes as a breath of fresh air in an area where the dominant football correspondence spends more time dealing with Cristiano Ronaldos new hair style or Messis new personalised boots.

Put together earlier this year in Barcelona by a group of journalists who realise that football in Spain and in the world does not simply mean just Real Madrid & Barça, after a successful launch with an issue 0, the publication has just launched the Issue 2. 

This second issue features an in-depth interview with the colourful manager of Sporting Gijon, Manuel Preciado, a feature on the Tibetan national team (a national team not recognised by FIFA), politics in football, and a feature of 2B team Mirandes and many other interesting well written and diverse articles dealing with the wide world of football.

With physical copies starting at €5 and PDF downloads as little as €1 this magazine is perfect for all football fans interested in all aspects of the beautiful game and even a fun way to learn Spanish.

More information at www.panenka.org/inicio

that famous penalty that started it all in 1976