Manila's Momentary Lapse of Reason

Norway

2006-10-23T11:39:00.000+08:00

Managed to get ashore here in Bergen, Norway and see the Liverpool man u Game, Gutted.

Having paid 12 US a pint I should find something better to do while we are here alongside.

Bury 2 - 0 Sunderland

2006-08-23T15:48:00.000+08:00

Bury! Sorry Col had to show these

Q: Whats the difference between a toothpick and Sunderland?
A: A toothpick has more points.

Q: How does a Mackem change a light bulb?
A: He asks the prison guard.

Q. What have the Mackems and a nappy got in common
A. P*** upfront and crap at the back.

Q: What's the difference between a Mackem Lass and a Kit Kat?
A: You can only get 4 fingers in a Kit Kat.

Q. What do you call a Mackem girl's cleavage?
A. Silicon Valley!

Sunderland have just signed a top chinese international for 5 million pounds: WY ME

England manager Sven Goran Eriksson told Mackem "super" striker Kevin Phillips that he was thinking about playing him in the next england friendly but may pull him at half time. "Fantastic" said Kevin I usually only get an orange!
Monkey Heed was worried about his team not showing signs of improvement, so he decided to ask Bobby Robson why Newcastle were so good. "That's easy" replies Robson. "We practice everyday against 11 dustbins".
"Oh" replied Monkey Heed.
Two weeks later, Bobby saw Monkey Man in the street and asked him whether the plan had worked. 'Oh no' replied Reid, 'we had to abandon that idea, the Dustbins won 5-0'!

Q: What's the difference between the Stadium of S***e and a hedgehog?
A: A hedgehog has pricks on the outside.

Q: How does a Mackem lass turn the light on after sex?
A: She opens the car door!

Bobby Robson, Steve McClarren and Peter Reid visited the Angel of the North. They all decided to ask it questions about their clubs.
Bobby says "When will Newcastle United next win a major trophy?" the Angel replied " I guarantee they will finally win the F.A cup next season." "Great!" replies Bobby.
Steve steps up and asks "Will Boro ever win anything?" "Well..." says the Angel "I can't guarantee they will win anything when your around man." "Bloody hell, nout gans my way!" Screamed Steve.
Finally Peter steps up and confidently and asks the same question, the Angel whispers in to peters ear, "Come back tomorrow on your own and I'll give you a hint on what's wrong."
So the next day peter Reid pulls up in his new top of the range Skoda and the Angel says, "Well I'll get to the point first of all you've got Thomas Sorensen in goal (5 minutes later) and finally you've got Kevin Phillips partnering Niall Quinn up front. Basically you've got a team full of Retarded Mackems. Oh, Yes... and if you want to be at a winning club, I heard there's a position as a Janitor at Old Trafford!"

Monkey's heed walks into the dressing room before the mackems bigest game of the season and there's a massive crap in the middle of the floor! "Who's shit on the floor!?!" he says. Quinny stands up and says "Me Gaffer! But I'm not bad in the air!"

Q: What do you throw a Mackem when he's drowning?
A: His wife and kids!

Q. What do you say to a makem in a suit?
A. 'Will the defendant please rise.'

Q: The Sunderland team are on a boat to their end of season tour. Then the ship begins to sink for some reason. Who gets saved?
A: The nation.

more...

Fantasy Premier League

2006-08-21T20:59:00.000+08:00

Im off to a flyer

Shame I had to Use Chelsea scum to get my points but that will change by the end of the season for sure. Buy Liverpool its a sure bet.

Mamelodi sundowns

2006-08-16T19:47:00.000+08:00

With a trip to South Africa imminent I thought I might be able to go see a game of footy in Pretoria. Mamelodi sundowns are the local team and by all accounts not bad (for SA domestic footy). The only worrying part is that not too many white folk go to watch footy in South Africa and a prominently black support can be daunting. I did go to a friendly game in Durban many years ago Arsenal against a local team who’s name evades me with age. The game was good even though Arsenal won and the locals were very friendly towards me and made me feel very welcome
Hopefully Ill be able to find me a scout who will look after me and show me around the H. M. Pitjie Stadium as it is called (I think). I don’t have a great head for heights so ill be staying down at pitch level. Can’t wait.

Sundowns Supporters

Quality Not Quantity

2006-08-14T12:57:00.000+08:00

Once again I find myself onboard the ship while Liverpool plays in another final of sorts for yet more silverware. Fortunately the ship was heading East so our satellite reception was good for the most part. However it did crap out once during the first half to my frustration, the picture was frozen on Mourinho for 5 mins. Not the best mug to be looking at for 5 mins so I was to say for want of a better word fuming.
This did not spoil the thrill of watching a team not for the first time and I’m sure not for last dominating the so called giants of English football. Liverpool was by far the dominating team and the score line of 2-1 did not really do Liverpool justice they really did outplay Chelsea in every area of the field. A sign of things to come no doubt.

Mourinho Quote: "Liverpool had more intensity and pace, qualities that make a team better. They had that and we didn't.

Team Mates

2006-07-03T00:20:00.000+08:00

Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo has denied asking Argentinian referee Horacio Elizondo to take action against Wayne Rooney during the World Cup quarter-final. Ronaldo, who winked at the Portugal bench following the dismissal.

" Iknow that people will say that the referee sent off Rooney because I spoke to him," said Ronaldo. "I only said to the referee that it was a foul, only that.

This is after the ref had blown his whistle and was allready pointing in the direction of the England half indicating free kick to Portugal. What does he think were stupid? More

Devastation

2006-07-03T00:09:00.000+08:00

Jamie Carragher has spoken of a scene of devastation and disappointment in the dressing room after England were knocked out of the World Cup by Portugal on penalties.
For reasons only Sven-Goran Eriksson will ever be able to explain, Carragher was thrown on as a substitute with just seconds of extra-time remaining to ensure the Liverpool defender could be one of the five penalty takers. He scored with his first attempt, but it was ordered to be re-taken and Ricardo deflected his second effort on to the woodwork.
Read More

Thanks Horacio Elizondo

2006-07-02T02:27:00.000+08:00

Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo, who was urged on by Portugal players Sent Rooney off for nothing and sent England home. Nothing new to this world cup. Most of the games have been decided on incorrect Refereeing Decisions. The teams have gone home When we all know it should be the Refs sent home. Im not bitter im Angry and very very proud of our boys.

Gutted

2006-07-02T00:34:00.000+08:00

No Footy

2006-06-29T19:04:00.000+08:00

No footy today (bummer) so I took the other half to Manila's IMAX Theater.

The theater, named, San Miguel Coca-Cola IMAX Theater has the largest screen in the Philippines at 22 x 30 meters, similar to the height of an eight-story building. Never thought I would actually enjoy it I only went to keep her happy as we have not spent any time together since the world cup began. It was great huge screen and in 3D which was actually cool. The last 3D and the only 3D I have ever seen before was around 15 years ago and it was JAWS 3D which was crap. I guess the 3D thing has come along in leaps and bounds as I was amazed at how cool it was, we watched Superman (shite movie) and with the 3D was cool. Well worth the 350 (7US) pesos to go.The screen was hugh I did spent a little time thinking what would the England vs Portugal game look like on such a big screen. Hopefully this will be my last post for a while on anything other than footy as it all starts again tomorow thank Feck.

Withdrawal symptoms

2006-06-29T18:08:00.000+08:00

With these couple of days without live football I can actually communicate with my other half. As the games here are at 11 pm and 3am I have been up all night and sleeping during the day. As you can imagine this has put a little stress on my relationship with not only my other half but everybody I know. As Football (soccer) is not widely followed here in the Philippines I am struggling to justified to those around me why my nocturnal habit has become an obsession. Now that there has not been a live game for while now im going cold turkey. Its driving me nuts, now I have to concentrate on the household bills, groceries etc. instead of Football. Fortunately tonight is the last night footy free then we are back into it big time. Whets going to happen when it’s over? How will I cope? Well I will be heading back to work for six weeks on the 11 June so with work as a distraction I should cope just.

Its Rooney Time

2006-06-25T16:47:00.000+08:00

This is it, Last 16 England against Equador. Gerrard speaks for himself he will do well if given the chance to run free and do what he is best at. Rooney must be gagging at the bit to shine in this world cup and tonight will be his night (if he can hold his temper). Ballack yesterday for Germany was trying to hard to get a goal and he was shooting from anywhere just as Mr Lampard has been doing for England with no results. These guys can try all they want they are not up against fulham, sunderland or birmingham .(no offence to Birm,sund or bir fans, well maybe a little) this is the world cup and anyone in the last 16 can beat anybody. Gerrard can do the buisness we have seen that time and time again Lampard just can't hit the net and Rooney has not had the chance as yet, thats why I think tonight is the night if there ever will be a time this is it for Rooney (if Gerrard doesnt steel the limelight that is).

Crouch is ready

2006-06-25T16:42:00.000+08:00

Peter Crouch is confident his partnership with Wayne Rooney can flourish during the World Cup and compensate for the loss of Michael Owen. Crouch was expected to operate mainly as a substitute in Germany to supplement Sven-Goran Eriksson's first choice pairing of Owen and Rooney. More

Another Blunder

2006-06-25T04:01:00.000+08:00

Argentine Roberto Abbodanzieri plays a goal-kick to Gabriel Heinze. The Manchester United man is caught on his heels, mis-controls and gifts the ball to Francisco Fonseca (Mexico) before hacking down the striker. It is only a yellow card, with referee Massimo Busacca pointing at Roberto Ayala as being the last defender (30 yrds away). A lucky escape and doesn't Ricardo La Volpe know it. Should have been a straight Red no doubt terrible tackle and a sure goal otherwise

Who said boring?.

2006-06-25T02:19:00.000+08:00

Well I was wrong again Germany was far from boring in there game against Sweden. Hosts Germany booked their place in the World Cup quarter-finals as two early goals from Lukas Podolski helped secure victory over 10-man Sweden.
Germany were the better team - but this abysmal refereeing has to stop.

It is ruining the World Cup! Sweden's Teddy Lucic was sent off for a second booking on 35 minutes and their miserable day was complete when Henrik Larsson missed a second-half penalty striking the ball over the crossbar.. The Ref made a blunder Lucic should never have been sent off. whats going on here? And to cap Lucic's misery the Ref was almost laughing at him when he showed him the red card. (if he did that shit agaianst Rooney he would have head butted the Ref as would have I)The world cup refereeing is shite to say the least. Something drastic has to be done before it effects an ENGLAND game (against our favour) I could't imagine what it feels like going out on a stupid ref call (not forgetting Maradona).

Its 230am here now in the Philippines and im looking foward to the biggest shock in this world cup when Mexico knock out the Argies. That is if the Ref dont send everyone off or give em all 3-4 yellow cards each.

Sweden vs Germany

2006-06-24T21:53:00.000+08:00

Good luck Sweden im confident they will win. A lot more entertaining than the Germans boring football. come on Sweden.

USA down and out

2006-06-24T16:59:00.000+08:00

The USA coach Bruce Arena blamed the referee's decision to award Ghana a dubious penalty on the stroke of half-time for their 2-1 defeat an ultimate alimination from the 2006 World cup.
Even though they played better footy than Ghana however I did think that Ghana was more entertaining. They lost the ball sometimes stupidly and made some careless blunders, overall I still thought they were more entetaininmg than the US. The penalty did however change the whole outcome of the game and it should not have been awarded in my book.

Why is there so many blunders right now with officials? Their are 4 per game which is a lot by footy standards and I see they even have little mic's now what for I dont know they dont seem to help any. Graham Poll the English ref (im ashamed) during the Ausie vs Croatia game produced 3 yellow cards for one croatian player before sending him off, the Ausies should have had atleast another two penalties awarded to them. What are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th officals doing? Poll Said he incorrectly noted down the name of the Australia No. 3 Craig Moore when booking Simunic for the second time and failed to realise his error.

They should have told MR Poll of his error (through his little head set).I hope that these errors dont continue. For the sake of the US who went out and the Ausies who scrapped through thier shopuld be something done about these heart breaking decisions.

Tea Leaf

2006-06-22T18:55:00.000+08:00

Thieves stole Jerzy Dudek's Champions League medal and football memorabilia during a burglary at the goalkeeper's home
.

Terrible news for Dudek. I hope the Bizees can do thier job

Liverpool vs Sheffield United

2006-06-22T18:31:00.000+08:00

19th Aug, Liverpool will take on Premiership newcomers Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on the first day of the new season. Just 58 days to go.

Gerrard 2 - 0 Lampard

2006-06-22T16:43:00.000+08:00

What can I say, Drop Lampard and let Gerrard do the work for England. He is proving it time and time again, am I the only one who can see this. Sven is a fekkibg dummy. Its so frustrating come on please. 6 shots on goal and scored two of them the stats dont lie. He is are biggest asset right now so why dont we use him to his best potential?

Brazil vs Australia

2006-06-18T17:35:00.000+08:00

This is by far Australias biggest game of footy in there short history.

The Socceroos (what kind of name is that) come face to face with world champions Brazil in the Allianz Arena in a game that will decide their World Cup fate. Bet fairs 17/1 odds are a little short considering they probly will get battered 4,5 or 6 goals to none. Thats why I put 28 quid on them Duh. After waching Angola, Ghana and Australias first games I now believe anything is possible in this world cup.

Gerrard vs Lampard

2006-06-18T16:33:00.000+08:00

Gerrard 1 - 0 Lampard
Gerrard is one of England's great assets and all the evidence suggests he is at his best when pushed much further forward. However, if you play Wayne Rooney alongside Owen or Crouch, and use a holding midfielder - (Carrick) then Eriksson has to drop a major name: David Beckham, Joe Cole or Lampard. If he wants to get the best out of Gerrard, and maybe transform the quality of England's performances, Eriksson has to do without either the best deliverer of a ball in his team, his most exciting midfielder for the past 18 month.
Lets Hope Sven sees the light and drops Lampard so Steve G can show the world just what a footy God he realy is.

Ghana 2 - 0 Czech

2006-06-18T13:22:00.000+08:00

GHANA WOW WHAT A GAME

Truly magical could well have been 6 - 0

World Cup in Manila

2006-06-18T13:04:00.000+08:00

Struggling to find a good place other than the comfort of my home to wach the world cup here in Manila . Sid's in Makati great bar for footy coverage. LA Cafe Ermita to many distractions (girls) for this to be any good.

Found this bar on Mabini street, Ermita, Manila (the Duck inn)
I stayed for one game but as I was the only one really interested in waching the game, I bailed.
Amazonia bar on the same street was a lot more promising. Banners and flags and expats who are actually genuinely interested in the games. San Migs in Alabang is also good. However as the games are late here in the Philippines they only show the 9pm game after that they close at 12 when the second game begins.

What Trophy?

2006-06-18T13:03:00.000+08:00

This year's winner of the World cup will only receive a replica of the World Cup Trophy regardless of how many times they have won it.

World Cup Law

2006-06-18T12:56:00.000+08:00

WHAT IF TWO TEAMS FINISH LEVEL IN THE GROUP STAGE?
If two or more teams finish level on points at the end of the first round stage, a series of criteria determines their finishing order in the group table.
The first is who has the superior goal difference over the group games.
Should the teams still be level, whichever team has scored the highest number of goals will advance, or if that fails, it will come down to which team took most points when they played each other.
As a final resort, if none of these factors can separate the teams, the World Cup organizing committee will draw lots.
Draw lots? Now they are having a laugh, Imagine getting to the world cup and being nocked out like this. I hope it will never happen to any team (with maybe the exception of the US)

George in the Philippines

2006-06-17T15:35:00.000+08:00

San Pedro, Philippines
England supporters all over the world

US work Visa Philippines

2006-06-17T14:11:00.000+08:00

Obtaining a US work visa here in the Philippines is a pain in the arse. I spent 3-4 hours today in line. First to hand in my paper work second for finger printing (scan) and finally for an interview this without any sleep all night. I had to be at the US embassy here in Manila (Roxas boulevard) at 0530 for an Interview at 0700.

As Sweden vs Paraguay game finished at 0445am their was no time for sleep. I was slightly hung over, standing in line for an hour and half in the humidity before I got in is no fun. However the fact that England had won there second straight game made it a little more bearable. Im guessing that around 300 others were also obtaining work visa's and out of those, 299 were Filipinos so I was kinda out of place to say the least. The Interviewer was kinda taken aback by my application. All that is required is passport pick up once my visa has been inserted into my passport so im free for the next 3 weeks to concentrate on everything related to the World cup on my new Dream satellite TV system. Installation was fairly quick from the time I called to the time it was up and running was only 4 days. For the Philippines that's swift. Their are 52 channels ranging from HBO,BBC to Discovery channel. But the pesta resistance is Solar sports channel plus. All world cup games are live. 9pm is always the first game here and the last starts here in the Philippines at 3am kinda late or early depending on how you look at it.

Twister

2006-06-16T18:14:00.000+08:00

1966 England wins the world cup
1966 The game of Twister was first played

Coincidental? I don't think so

Brace for the lads

2006-06-16T12:43:00.000+08:00

What would England do without our Liverpool Players?
Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard spared England's blushes with late goals against Trinidad & Tobago. Always relying on Liverpool players to come up with goods Gerrards left footed screemer was truly unstopable. Crouch just towers over everyone and his powerfull header was a peach.

Leaving it late again. Its starting to look familiar for me watching games were we nick it at the the gasp. And this was another. Nail nibbling till the end. Its not good for the blood pressure but well worth the wait. Nice one England.

Your Comments:

"Lampard must be dropped to benefit Gerrard.Simple as.Gerrard roams the pitch better, has better and more intelligent short and long passing, more dangerous dribbling with the ball, and is far far quicker with greater technique.Gerrard supports every attacking position when given license to roam like he does with Liverpool, the reason the ball wont stick up front is simple, lampard cant support the attack.At liverpool gerrard plays on the point of a triangle and is given the sole responsibility of supporting the striker and left and right wingers, he makes runs and finds space to benefit the man on the ball always.Lampard at chelsea makes one run like he does for england, from the centre circle straight at the box. at chelsea essien will do the scrub work and the effort is exerted from the ghanian to allow lampard to find space to shoot with that one run.Lampard can do one thing better than gerrard. shoot from a stationary position, nothing more.And england are suffering as a result, rooney makes up for this of course, but just imagine Gerrard and rooney both being allowed to play as they do for their clubs for england.Lampard is a hinderance in our england side, and dont talk to me about goals because gerrard has always played defensively for england because lampard is incapable of reading the game and tackling, and distributing quickly"

Great comment. Lampard couldn't hit a barn door at 10 paces today. Gerrard had two shots on goal. One out of two ant bad.

Fantasy League

2006-06-14T23:21:00.000+08:00

The first stage of my Fantasy league is over and I didn't do too bad (3rd). Can you believe their is an Ausie on top of my league, how embarrassing

Im glad the two Americans in my league are not above me, that would be bad. One of them a closet (wardrobe) Liverpool supporter even though he want admit it won our Premiership Fantasy league last season.

I pick my team with my heart instead of using my brains. I have too many England players to get to the top of my League. And after England's performance against Paraguay I will be making some serious transfers this week.

Alonso cracker

2006-06-14T22:56:00.000+08:00

Finally got my satellite dish up today so I had the luxury of watching the world cup from home.

Xabi alonso started the goal run after 13 mins and the Spanish never looked back. Plenty of ball control and they passed and finished well. Shevchenko spent 90 mins getting caught offside and never came into it (keep it up at Chelski). If Spain can keep this form up they will surely get somewhere this time around, great game to watch. The Ref had a piss poor performance (never a penalty) as did the spainish keeper the little work he had.

Having a flutter on the game did make it even sweeter to watch.

Toothpick

2006-06-13T12:06:00.000+08:00

Stevie G looking cool

Peter Crouch Merked

2006-06-13T01:33:00.000+08:00

this.is.anfield: Peter Crouch -

Manila Restoration

2006-06-13T00:06:00.000+08:00

They can restore everything here in Manila at a price.

Life and death

2006-06-12T22:47:00.000+08:00

Somalia, Hardline Islamic courts shut cinema halls and barred residents from watching the World Cup

prompting scores of civilians to protest the ban in which two people were killed. The Information Minister said anybody who violates the curfew -- which runs from 9:00 PM (1800 GMT) to 5:00 am (0200 GMT), shall be sentenced to one to three months in jail with a fine of between 1,500,000 Somali shillings (1,080 dollars) and 3,000,000 shillings (2,160 dollars). More

No Coverage

2006-06-12T21:18:00.000+08:00

Im sitting in front of my PC watching live text commentry! What the feck is up with that Ii might as well be at work offshore. live text what a pile of shite. Ausies against the Japs and I dont have it on my cable. As the only bars that are showing the world cup games live are halfway round the other side of Manla and I have had a drink allready I cant drive there. So live text commentary it is.

"10 mins: Another Japanese counter attack leads to a corner on the right, taken by Shunsuke Nakamura. Although it leads to an Australian free-kick, the game is off to a fast and entertaining start"

Look at this pillock

I have been waiting so long for this and its doing my head in not being able to watch.

Half a billion people are watching. Not me

Philippines needs to get its act together as far as sport. I know they are into Basketball but please.

Easy Money

2006-06-12T13:47:00.000+08:00

Not so England

2006-06-11T19:46:00.000+08:00

What can I say I have been waiting for four years for this moment. Headed out early to get a good spot in the pub to watch the game. SID's bar Makiti great Spot for expats in Manila to relax and talk England. Must have been 150 English supporters, 1 argentine and 1 French supporter in the bar waiting for Kick off.
And what a start we had, Beckham put a blinder into the box and Paraguay under pressure put the ball into there own net 1 - 0 after 4 mins yaheeeeee. The Pub errupted into cheers of joy. The Fhilipinos who had come to watch were in ore of the response from the England fans.

I spent the next 86 mins thinking when are we going to play as a team? Whats going on with our guys is this realy the Gerrards, Lampards and Owens of the premiership? What a load of Pish we played. I am so disapointed. Ok it was hot is that the reason? Im praying for snow in our next game. Still we won but just. Trinadad played better than England and they only got a draw!

This time when I got home there was no brown out but to my horror I could not find the Argentinia vs Ivory coast game anywhere on my cable TV all 78 channels of it. After searching the TV times for my Cable tv provider i have found in horror that not all games will be shown live.
Dream satelite TV here in the Philippines will install a dish and decoder for no less than 130000 pesos (300us).

WORLD CUP PAY-PER-VIEW RATES (Effective May 17, 2006)
RESIDENTIAL SUBSCRIBERS
Full Season Game (all 64 Matches) Php 2,500.00
One Day Game (Please refer to the game schedule for date & time of day matches.)
Php 500.00 *Day Event is available from First Round (Match 1 to 48).
Round of 16 to Final Round (match 49 to 64) Php 2,000.00
Quarter-Finals to Final Round (match 57 to 64) Php 1,500.00
Semi-finals & Final Round (match 61 to 64) Php 1,000.00
Final Round(match 64) Php 800.00
All booked events include replays of the matches booked. Replays will be aired right after the LIVE event.
Payment Option - Prepaid Card

I have no option and as its Philippine Independence day here on Monday it may take longer to get installed.

I cant believe I did not check with my cable provider long before the world cup began.

Now I will have to go down the pub for everygame untill my satalite has been installed. My girlfriend will not be amused.

Where to go in Manila

2006-06-10T14:02:00.000+08:00

Spent the opening game of the 2006 World cup at the Heckle and Jeckle bar in Makati. Fairly quite I thought, for a world cup game but maybe because Costa Rica does not realy have a large community here in the Philippines. I was certainly the number one Costa Rica supporter in the bar and when Wanchope equalized after 12 mins I thought this could be possible.

Alas Germany did look by far the better team but still anything is possile. Even though Germany won the game I thought Costa Rica played well, far better than was expected.

Highlights Video

Match Photos
Got home around 230am after a 25 minute drive that during the day takes 2 hours. I was just in time to watch the 2nd game Equ - Pol however their had been a Brown out here during the first game, the power was back but the cable was still out. Someone had put the kiss of death on my plans. I was hoping to watch every game live but I missed the second game already and it turned out to be a cracker.
England plays today(9pm Philippine time) Im taking no chances and heading out again the power problems seem to be less of an issue in Makati but still no gaurantees.
side's is more of an English bar also in Makiti and the owner an Englishman says he should have a full house tonight for the game so "bring your England Shirt" he says.

England vs Philippines

2006-06-09T15:44:00.000+08:00

With the World cup starting today I thought it was time to bring out my St Georges cross (thanks Dad). The flag is kinda big but patriotism encourages me to do so. I have not seen any other flags or banners out with the exception of the Philippine flag, infact their are rather a lot of Philippine flags around at the moment and they are not even in the world cup, nobody here seems to even know the world cup is kicking off any minute now. Why so many flags around then? I ask a friend and yep I fecked up again its Philippine independence day here on June the 12th. And every one is doing their bit by flying their flag. So hanging my England flag high may be seen as a spit in the eye to the locals.
So with 8 hours to kick off I got to get out and get myself a Philippine Flag and hang it next to mine (bummer). Of course it will have to be smaller than the St George cross I have but that goes without saying.
I wish the Philippines and all its people a great Independence day and I wish England an even bigger world up. Come on England / Costa Rica

Seventeen To One

2006-06-07T17:22:00.000+08:00

Costa Rica 17/1
You Never Know
Bet Fair

Come on Costa

2006-06-05T22:18:00.000+08:00

Costa Rica has the opener in the 2006 world cup finals against the Hosts and one of the top seeds Germany. Beating Germany is highly unlikly but I can still dream. I have no links to Costa Rica but it would give me great pleasure to see them come out on top over Germany.
Alexandre Guimaraes, the Brazil-born manager of Costa Rica's national soccer team,
"We want to reach the second round, but we are going to face super-tough rivals; so we have our feet on the ground," he said. "We have given the country World Cup joy twice and we are going to do all we can to extend the pleasure beyond three games," he said.

In its third World Cup outing, after the Italy in 1990 and South Korea-Japan in 2002, Costa Rica is in Group A alongside Germany, Ecuador and Poland.

Costa Rica

Coach: Alexandre Guimaraes
WC Winners: 0
WC Participants: 1 (1990 and 2002)
Titbits: They made it through to their first qualifying round in their first ever World Cup Finals (1990). Their best result came in 1946, when they beat Panama 12-0. Costa Rica have won 11 Central American titles.

Key Player: Paulo Wanchope, who has played for Derby, West Ham and Man City in the Prem and also at Malaga in Spain. He has scored 43 goals in 69 games for the Costa Ricans who he also represented in 1993 in the Cental American Basketball tournament!

Crouch does the Trick

2006-06-03T23:19:00.000+08:00

Hat-trick hero Peter Crouch gave England and their fans a winning send-off before heading for the World Cup finals as they crushed Jamaica 6-0
Crouch celebrated two of three goals against Jamaica with his now famous robot dance routine.
The lanky Liverpool striker is giving us a taste of things to come. His football skills that is. I just hope he will be doing the Robot all the way to the Final.

With players like Crouch, Stevie G and Carragher, Egland has never looked so good.

Nice One Crouch. I hope your reading this Jon. Come on England

Fan Quotes:

"Crouch is on form, has confidence and is scoring more goals than Owen. If you are going to play one upfront, then it has to be Crouch with Gerrard playing off him"

"I don't care how daft Crouch's robot dance is, I just hope I see the silly dance another six or seven times in the next month - so go on Peter, dance away, and we'll all join you if you score in the final"

"If anybody still doubts whether Peter Crouch is good enough, it might be time to emigrate? An absolutely quality player (I'm a Spurs fan, so no bias) "

One Year On

2006-05-28T17:29:00.000+08:00

On what will go down as THE most incredible night in this club's illustrious history Liverpool reclaimed their crown as Kings of Europe after miraculously overcoming a 3-0 half-time deficit to defeat AC Milan at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul.

It was the Reds first appearance in a European Cup Final for 20 years and, despite defeating Juventus and Chelsea during a memorable run to the final, they went into the game as overwhelming underdogs against the formidable Rossoneri.

An estimated 40,000 Liverpudlians followed their heroes to Istanbul but when Milan raced into a 3-0 interval lead it looked as though their trip had been vain. Cue an inspirational half-time team talk from the boss, a passionate rallying cry from the fans and the most amazing comeback of all time. Jamie Carragher: "It was one of the greatest finals of all-time.

People will be talking about it in 20 or 30 years time. I don't think it can ever be bettered. Obviously this club can win the European Cup again but I think it's the way we won it that made it so special."

The Reds were hit with a sucker punch after just 53-seconds when veteran Milan captain Paolo Maldini fired the Italians ahead. It was to get worse. Harry Kewell limped off injured in the 23rd minute and before the interval striker Hernan Crespo, on loan from Chelsea, had added another two. Liverpool's Champions League dream looked all but over and the half-time whistle couldn't come quickly enough.

Steven Gerrard: "Milan had played the ball so quickly and so fluently and cleverly that we were lucky to be 3-0 down at half time. It took a lot out of us chasing their shadows because we could not get near them."

Jamie Carragher: "They were a good side. Kaka was causing us all sorts of problems. We were deflated when we went in at half-time and I didn't think we could turn it around."

Rafael Benitez: "It was very difficult to go into that dressing room and see the players with their heads down. We talked about different things. We had worked very hard for ten days and we needed to fight to the end. You have to keep believing in yourself. We had fought hard to be in the final. I was thinking about what to say and what to change. I needed to change the system and we needed to be more aggressive. I had to give confidence to the players."

Steven Gerrard: "The manager came in at half time and he calmed us down basically. He drew some things on his board, he made a few changes and he said that we should just try to score early. He said if we scored early, it would change the game. I couldn't concentrate. I don't know what was going through my head. It was weird. I was sitting there and my head was in my hands. I thought it was over."

Rafael Benitez: "At half-time we needed to do something and decided to make some changes. There is no way we could have went back out and lost by four or five goals in front of our wonderful fans. Once we started thinking and believing we could do it, anything was possible."

Pako Ayesteran: "We couldn't change things in the first half because of the problems with Harry's injury but he (Benitez) came up with a great solution at half time. Didi started winning the second ball and that became a great help."

Djimi Traore: "When we were back in the dressing room the Milan players were outside already celebrating that they were champions, celebrating the victory. That really got to us and gave us the hunger to come back at them."

Rafael Benitez: "I was last in the dressing room. I didn't hear Milan celebrate but Alex Miller did. He told the players they were celebrating winning the cup. That was a good thing for us."

As well as Rafa's inspirational half-time pep talk the Liverpool players were also lifted by the sound of the club's phenomenal followers.

Luis Garcia: "We were sitting in the dressing room and we could clearly hear thousands of fans singing You'll Never Walk Alone. Can you imagine how that felt? We were 3-0 down in the Champions League final and all we could hear were 45,000 people letting us know they still believed in us. We knew they had endured a long journey and made so many sacrifices to be there. It was at that point we started to believe too."

The comeback of all comebacks began in the 54th minute. Riise crossed from the left and Gerrard glanced a header past Dida to lift Liverpool's flagging spirits.

Jamie Carragher: "The best thing the manager did on the night was bringing on The Kaiser (Didi Hamann). What a performance from Didi. When he wasn't there in the first half Kaka caused us all the problems. We couldn't control him when he just kept breaking at our defence but Didi did. When we got the goal Milan just seemed to go."

Djimi Traore: "Once we scored the first one they were scared, and they fell back. When we brought Didi on it gave us a lot of experience in midfield and it really disrupted them."

Rick Parry: "At half time we knew it would be an uphill struggle but then you think of Basel and you think of Olympiacos and you say to yourself it is possible. But then you say you're playing AC Milan and they don't concede three goals. The early goal got us going and from then on we thought we could do it. It was just an amazing night."

Liverpool's first goal may, at the time, have seemed nothing but a mere consolation but when Vladimir Smicer, on as a substitute for the injured Harry Kewell, added a second hope sprang eternal.

With the Milan defence visibly rocking Liverpool continued to lay siege to their goal and the all-important equaliser duly came when Xabi Alonso converted on the rebound after Dida had saved his spot-kick.

The tension inside the stadium was now at fever pitch but there was to be no further goals in open play thanks mainly to the brilliance of Jerzy Dudek.
Steven Gerrard: "When Jerzy made that double save from Shevchenko, just before he hit it, I thought 'goal', and I knew that would be the end of it but then when it went over the bar, I thought maybe it was going to be our day."

Jamie Carragher: "When Jerzy made that save from Shevchenko I thought we would go on to win it because Shevchenko is a top striker and he put in a top performance. There was no way he was going to miss that chance. I was just waiting for the ball to hit the back of the net. When it stayed out, you begin to think these things happen for a reason - Stevie Gerrard scoring in the last minute against Olympiacos, coming back from being 3-0 down in a final."

Jerzy Dudek: "My brother phoned me the morning after the game and asked me had I seen the match again? I said no and he said 'you need to see it because your save from Shevchenko was the hand of the God'. I told him I didn't know how I did it."

The tension heightened as the penalty shoot-out commenced but just like in Rome 21 years before the Reds held their nerve to triumph.

Djimi Traore: "We had so many injuries at the end of normal time and in extra time. We were well prepared and physically ready for the game, but the tension and the mental fatigue were too much. It was a question of praying for penalties and we were desperately hanging on. We showed grit, determination and bravery. We were strong mentally."

Jerzy Dudek: "We had studied the Milan penalty takers on video and knew which way they kicked the ball but when it came to it, I dived the other way to the way I'd been instructed. Carra came up to me after extra time and said 'Remember Grobbelaar and the rubbery legs of 84 - and do the same. Dance, do anything, put them off'."

Djimi Traore: "We didn't decide before the game who was going to take the penalties as we never expected it to get that far. Rafa asked all the players if they wanted to take on but I said 'No thank you'."

Dudek's final save from Shevchenko sparked delirious scenes on and off the pitch. Liverpool were Kings of Europe once again and the celebrations commenced.

Jamie Carragher: "At the end I just took off towards our fans. I couldn't believe it. There were probably 40,000 Liverpool supporters in the stadium and yet the exact place I ran to was where all my family and friends were celebrating. It was unbelievable because I honestly hadn't a clue where they were in the stadium. I went so mad that I must have had a bit of a blackout. I just crashed to the floor somewhere and I can't remember a single thing that was going on around me for a few moments. What I do remember as I was lying on the floor was starting to cramp up again!"

Jerzy Dudek: "To be honest when I saved the penalty from Shevchenko I didn't know that was it but when I saw all the guys running towards me it was just a great feeling. You honestly can't describe the feeling as it is just special. We celebrated into the night and it was magnificent. We had a few drinks, well maybe a bit more than a few!"

Steven Gerrard: "I didn't sleep with the cup but I had it in my room! It was just special and I just had to have the cup with me, lifting the cup as Liverpool captain was just the best moment of my life."

Vladimir Smicer: "I celebrated with the largest cigar you have ever seen. I went with the fans to dance in the streets. It was incredible to be with the fans. I just wanted to share with them what I felt. It was the greatest night of our lives. I didn't go to bed at all. There is no need for sleep after a night like this. I just wanted to go out on a high." Rafael Benitez: "This was without doubt my biggest night in football. I was so proud of my players."

Down to earth

2006-05-28T17:22:00.000+08:00

Its 1030pm and I’m sitting on my bed watching TV my girlfriend is reading a book next to me. She starts shaking the bed not much but enough for me to notice. Very funny I think. I look at her and she looks at me. “Stop shaking the bed” she says. Something’s not right. The walls are almost moving. My god it’s an earthquake. Under most circumstances this is a harrowing experience but my apartment is on the 26th floor of an apartment block in Manila (Philippine constructed) so harrowing is an understatement Petrified for want of a better word would be closer to the truth.

I jumped up off the bed and headed out to the balcony overlooking Manila Bay. Great im outside, DUH im still 26 floors up what am I thinking? get it together. Get the Fek out of the building. “Go” I shout to my girlfriend as I head for the door leading to the hall. As I step outside I see that most of the other tenants are standing under the doorframes of there apartments. Not a bad Idea but, for me I have to get out. I’m calmer now, now that the shacking has stopped but who’s to say it want start again any second and the whole building could turn into a pile of rubble. Where is she? “Lets go” but my bag? “fek your bag “go” as we head out people are everywhere in the hall some are waiting for the lift not me I know better “the stairs it’s safer” Off we go. On the stairs people are everywhere some carrying bags some babies it’s a slow crawl down the stairs. After 5 floors I have had enough so we diverted to the lift and after what seemed like 3 hours in the lift we made it to the lobby. Buy now there are people everywhere (how can so many people live in one building) most are casual but some still frightened (like me). Finally we are on the street it’s over I’m safe. A great excuse for spending the rest of the night in the bar (worried about after shocks) I didn’t want to go near the place ever again. I now live in a bungalow just outside the city and feel safer for it.

Yaheeeeeeee

2006-05-26T22:35:00.000+08:00

Stan?

2006-05-26T22:17:00.000+08:00

Two Score

2006-05-26T19:03:00.000+08:00

With the world cup looming just two weeks to go. I decided, as there are a number of different nationalities within the expat community in the Philippines that I did not want to be mistaken for anything other than English. Patriotism is also another factor why I decided to purchase an original England shirt for the occasion. I could quite easily pick up a replica here in Asia for 5-10 US but that’s just not supporting my team. So with mouse in hand I went to the web to purchase my Shirt. WOW blinking 30 quid that’s almost 2600 pesos and for an addition 10 quid they’ll stick Gerrard on the back. I know I had been out of the UK for a while but 30 quid. Who would spend so much money on a shirt maybe those who have money to burn, Fair enough if you can afford it yes. But those who don’t have money coming out of their ears why would they buy it? It seams that UMBRO and others must be raking it in when big tournaments like the world cup roll around. How can they justify these prices? Who in there right state of mind would fork out 40 quid for a Gerrard England Shirt?
My shirt has been dispatched and should be with me any day now. COME ON ENGLAND

Pusan, South Korea

2006-05-20T21:10:00.000+08:00

What a Life

2006-05-18T19:24:00.000+08:00

Mad Dogs and I

2006-05-16T21:15:00.000+08:00

The average midday temperature in the Philippines at times feels like its around 1000-1500 Celsius (41.11c - The Temperature At Which The Brain Begins To Die) Which is why I drag myself around some of there most attractive golf courses that they have to offer!
What possess me to do this I don’t know. The heat can be at times, for me originating from a cold climate unbearable yet I put myself through it for the pleasure of that one or two great shots. My golfing partner an Ausie by origin and weighing less than the average Pitching Wedge thinks the temp is just right, and after 18 holes still has a dry shirt. Not me, I have lost enough fluid to fill an Olympic size swimming pool.
I wish I could say that I could hold my own at golf but that would be a load of bollocks. My game is almost comical yet I persist and the courses on offer in PI are great. A good golf instructor is hard to find in PI or at least I have never found one so improving my game is difficult.
Never having the luxury or courage to show off my golfing skills anywhere else other than here in the Philippines. A friend from back home once asked me “when you reach the green and clean your ball how close to the ball do you put your ball marker?” I have never cleaned my ball as my Caddie does it for me. “Caddie? These Angels of mercy are mandatory on all courses in P.I. and for the meager some of a couple of pints (10USD) they will lug your bag around in the sweltering heat for 3-4 hours look for lost balls and hand you your fluid lifeline when they think you are about to pass out with heat stoke.
Competitiveness is one of the reasons for sure why I put myself through this punishment. Although I have as much chance of winning a game of golf as Australia has of winning the world cup. With persistence I hope that some day soon Ill be able to post a blog that will contain all my exploits as a first time winner. Im not holding my breath though.

We allready know

2006-05-15T20:15:00.000+08:00

Diego Maradona: "The English club proved that miracles really do exist. I've now made Liverpool my English team. They showed that football is the most beautiful sport of all. You knew they could defend but the team showed they could play too and wrote a page in the history books.
The match will last forever.
The Liverpool supporters didn't let me go to sleep the night before. There were 10 of them to every three Milan supporters. They showed their unconditional support at half-time when they were losing 3-0 and still they didn't stop singing."

Poor Larry

2006-05-15T18:37:00.000+08:00

With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it
is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which almost
went unnoticed last week. Larry La Prise, the man who wrote "The Hokey
kokey", died peacefully at age 93. The most traumatic part for his
family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in, and then the trouble started.

Blog Infection

2006-05-15T17:17:00.000+08:00

I’m a BLOGGER! Yes a BLOGGER what is a BLOGGER don’t ask me. I didn’t know what a BLOG was until 3 months ago. A fellow crewmember came to me and told me he had a BLOGSPOT. I immediately took pity on him and pointed him in the direction of the ships medic keeping my fingers crossed hoping we would not have a medivac on our hands. And I thought the poor guy might have a pus-infected growth (Pilonadal cinus) edging its way closer and closer to his bowels (not a great deal of fun believe me). I couldn’t have been further from the truth. Turns out my 6 months incarceration a year onboard a seismic vessel has left me a little naive to say the least towards the wonders of the web.
So here it is MyBlog

Enough Said

2006-05-15T16:17:00.000+08:00

2006-05-01T20:02:00.000+08:00