Bleacher Report - Articles by arafat abdirahman

What A Classic If Rangers And Celtic Joins The Epl NEXT Season

arafat abdirahman — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:54:18 -0400

Sorry to all Scottish people but the reality and the fruit of what I'm about to write might change all your thoughts. Imagine the two most successful clubs in Scotland playing in the Epl? All the world will be watching and we will be treated to great football all season long.

Currently we have the big four but with Celtic and Rangers added, will it be the big six? If so, who will dominate the league and which team will not play in the CL? This is so obvious...Liverpool will miss out in numerous occasion because the fourth place is always reserved for them than any top four teams. Arsenal will survive a few times but might too face the knife at some stage in the year.

Man United and Chelsea might not be mentioned, but in the coming years, one if not two will somehow fall from grace to Celtic and the Rangers will range rover over them more often than not. This will absolutely give us a weekend to remember and cheerish than the El Classico this weekend.

Imagine this type of a weekend in the Epl. Rangers versus Arsenal, Chelsea vs. Liverpool and finally Man U. vs. Celtic. This would be absolutely awesome and even the El Classico die hards will not wanna miss this one. This is football at its best and nowhere in the world you will ever witness such a mouth watering contest i na single weekend not to mention a day.

The top spot will be very difficult to obtain because had Rangers and Celtic been in the League this season, I doubt if the gap between Liverpool and UTD would be technichally six points becausec the game in hand might have been against Celtic or Rangers in Scotland.

If this happens even the Scottish will realize they haven't seen football at its best because they only see two good matches every season.

This applies to Spain too (Madrid vs. Barca). Hopefully next season we will have a cracker and the CL place will be fought for more intensely not the way Aston Villa fought for it only to run out of steam in the later stages.

Hope you enjoyed people. Comment and say your hearts out Pals.

Mick "Mankind" Foley Elevated The Rock: Did The Rock Appreciate It?

arafat abdirahman — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:04:25 -0400

In 1999, one of the best and if not all time classic matches took place in the WWE then WWF.

The match was an "I Quit" match between Foley, the hardcore legend and the most decorated superstar in WWE/WWF, the ROCK for the WWF Championship.

What happened in this match shocked the entire wrestling fraternity and the Foley family, especially children found it unbearable to watch.

The Rock entered the ring first a midst cheering from the WWF fans. Foley followed suit and within blink of an eye the match was underway. Foley as Mankind dominated the early proceedings and beat the hell out of the Rock's candy ass.

Rock was very resilient and turned the tables on Foley.

As the match progressed some unusual things happened that got everybody on their feet that night...

First, The Rock hit Mankind with a jab that made him fall down and was almost electrocuted. Mankind survived the ordeal and continued with the match as if nothing had happened to him. I know most of you are now nodding their heads because you know Mick could never say "I QUIT."

Action went on in the ring and The Rock handcuffed Mankind. From this moment, I knew it was all over and the World was eager to see what it was going to take to make the hardcore legend utter the words "I QUIT."

Well it took several chair shots on the head from the Rock to make Foley go down, but he never uttered the words.

The shots were so hard that Foley's wife though she knew this was going to happen she could not bear to watch her husband being pummeled by the younger inexperienced wrestler.

It was planned for Rock to hit Foley with five shots, but the Rock hit Foley with 11 shots. That's why I said the inexperienced Rock by that time and moment.

Foley tried his best to absorb the headshots and he admitted in the documentary WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW that one shot could not always take him down, but that night he got more than he bargained for. It took a pre-recorded voice of Mankind utter the words "I QUIT" to end the match though Mankind himself did not Quit.

My questions are:

1. Why would The Rock hit FOLEY with 11 chair shots while they had agreed it would be five? Hope you will give me your taking on this.

2. Why didn't the Rock go to the locker room and check on FOLEY after the match?

3. Did the Rock really appreciate the fact that what Mick agreed to go through was to give hype to The Rock vs Stone Cold later?

According to Mick he said he did the match to portray The Rock as a hardcore superstar because the idea was to make him ROCK look more powerful than everybody in the WWE. By making Foley quit, The Rock received much exposure and most fans knew him better after that.

Foley admitted to being bitter with the Rock for giving him more shots than they had agreed.

Was The Rock right to hit Mick 11 times while he knew he was suppose to do it only five times?

Was The Rock right when he never went to see Mick after the match? Do you think the Rock appreciated what Mick gone through for him?

Foley himself said that what made him even bitter was that he never saw the Rock after the match and that he was the one who went to look for The Rock after the match. He also added that The Rock never looked concerned at all.

Foley regretted doing what he put his body through for someone who didn't deserve it because The PEOPLES CHAMP NEVER APPRECIATED. I'm not saying he didn't but at least as per what Mick felt.

FINALLY THE ROCK HAS COME BACK TO... IF YOU SMELL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING UUH UUH

Manchester United Are Just Getting Very Good

arafat abdirahman — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 09:59:54 -0500

A lot of Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal fans were not happy seeing our young and upcoming stars, especially Danny Welbeck and Simpson, doing what overrated Arsenal's Theo Walcot and Vela are just dreaming of.

Welbeck is probably the most talented young footballer at the moment. His goal against Stoke is already a contender for the best goal of the season and the boy still has a lot to offer in years to come.

We started the season pretty badly and we have not been in form ever since thrashing Stoke City at Old Trafford. Sunderland almost sneaked a draw, we walked past Man City (possession) not goals, Spurs gave us some headache, and Stoke City proved on boxing day to be a better team than LDU.

All these matches were just testing moments because now we have one of the best left wingers in the world and now Rooney won't have to spend most of his time running up and down to win 50/50 balls.

He will be sitting in front of goal in soon and you will start to see the trade mark Rooney shots that made him to be regarded as one of the best shooters in the world, especially from corner kick rebounds.

Berba will have more space to move because Ronaldo will be on the right wing and will not be flocking in front of goal as has he has been doing this season because he had to rotate from left to right wing and vice versa.

The midfield with Carrick and Anderson is surely going to be our strongest point and on the 11th, Chelsea will be in a better position to explain this.

The season is mid-way and if you are a football follower and know what depth in a team is then you will agree with me that Man U have the best bench. Only Barcelona, whom we will meet in the Champions League semis and surely we will beat them again, beat us in this regard.

Our defense has been leaking goals but I think our weakest point this season is our attack (the strikers). Look at the game against M'boro; we could have broken the Premier League record had the likes of Park been more accurate.

That match proved one thing, we have found our passing so all we need in the second part of the season is just Ronaldo, Rooney, and Berba to score then we shall be cruising towards the quadruple this season.

I am saying the quadruple because the Carling Cup is already won. The FA Cup I think is on the way, so only the League and Champions League where the "Special One"will be coming to the Theatre of Dreams and regardless of what happens at San Siro, he will be taught the meaning of being special.

My article can't be concluded without giving praise to the best left back to have ever graced the pitches of the Premier League, if not the planet Earth. Mr EVRA, this guy has been the best weapon for Fergie. There are rumours that Fergie will play him as a winger in the last few league matches if we win the league witha few games to spare as a sign of appreciation.

Rafael, the kid with superb control, is coming in very well for Brown and I think Wes has no chance when he recovers.

GOOO MAN GOOO AND SHOW THESE GOONERS THAT WE ARE STILL THE BEST IN THE WORLD!!

Where the Hell Does ESPNsoccernet Get Their Information? Senna Stays

arafat abdirahman — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:10:44 -0500

“I know nothing about everything that is being said and I have not spoken to anyone at Manchester City,” Senna said in Marca.

Well wow. That certainly gives off a sign of relief. To think that Man City could actually obtain Senna…*shudder*. Money doesn’t buy you everything, City, and your loss today proves it.

Senna is focused and staying at Villarreal until the contract is up, or maybe even later.

Real Madrid

If you haven’t read it already, Corey made quite the preview post on the match tomorrow. Seeing how he has most of my information on there, this will be a shorter post than usual (thanks, buddy).

I could just go on and write about music and stretch out my post (not much of a classic rock fan Corey, gotta stay with my Prog Rock) but I think I’ll let that one go.
As you could tell from the previous 3 games in La Liga, Villarreal has not been at its top form.

Both the defense and midfield are lacking in power. Was it due to the rotations, player changes, chemistry, or maybe just plain bad lack? I don’t really know.

All I know is that we have been slowly reaching our previous form. You know, the eight-game undefeated Villarreal...

Champions…League? Oh yeah that.
I guess I’ve missed the big post about our draw in the Champions League. I thought I posted this earlier but I guess not. Better late than never, I suppose.

We’ll be taking on Panathinaikos on Feb. 25. Quite some time away, but still close enough to get ready for. Panathinaikos are by no means “easy.” Not as in your girlfriend easy, but skill terms.

I’ve always had large amounts of respect to Jose Mourinho, whether it was his team or his puppet show (Yes I know he doesn’t actually do the voice). All the games I saw them play with Inter were interesting.

Italian football is a little more slower paced, but aggressive. Villarreal does play a fast type of football, but I don’t think we are up to par with Panathinaikos on that.

They’ve played fast football with the rushes going forward. I don’t think I’ve seen a rest for any of the players during the match, which is God impressive.

I think we do have the skill on them. A lot of their goals were quite simple, and due to a mistake in the defense for Inter’s sake. We need to get that D up, and I think we should be able to get by Round 16.

Why not, musics!
Mogwai and some Chemical Brothers for me :D.
Vamos Villarreal!

Repurposing Condoms as Soccer Socks in South Africa

arafat abdirahman — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 11:54:53 -0500

Every now and then I read an article that catches me off guard, and this is one such piece. It turns out that the big soccer fashion trend in Cape Town, South Africa these days, is to wear condoms on your feet to keep your socks up.

The need for such an innovative way of using these prophylactics is the result of a lack of proper soccer gear, such as socks with elastic to hold them in place. Since condoms are distributed free of charge in order to help curb the spread of HIV, it all makes sense.

Sivuyile Nqawe of the Lingelethu Football Association in Khayelitsha said it was to "ease matters for those who cannot afford expensive brands of football kit on their mission to sharpen their skills to become future soccer stars".

"It is just a creative method and it works to alleviate the situation. You just break a condom packet, grab and stretch it. Then you put it on your leg," Nqawe said.

"You will find that in most instances players bring a box of condoms to a match and share them among teammates for the same purpose."

Another example of necessity being the mother of invention.

Manchester United: 2008 Was Our Year

arafat abdirahman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:47:53 -0500

I am elated. Celebrated Wayne Rooney’s goal like a loon.

There has been a lot of cynicism towards the merits of the FIFA Club World Cup, mostly from bitter rivals who would secretly love to have the chance to be there, but disappointingly from Manchester United fans as well. I do not know whether it is just snobbery or an insular parochial view to football in general, but it is unjustified.

We can officially call ourselves the best team in the world, a feat no other English team have achieved. Sure, you can prove yourself to be the best in your country, and the best in Europe, but can you really call yourself the best in the world when you have not proved yourself against the rest of the world, especially the best teams from the hot-bed of football brilliance that is South America?

David Gill made a good point that in 10-to-15 years, this trophy could be massive (no, not relegation zone Man City massive). And we have got our name on it.

The dismissive attitude some English fans show to this trophy has parallels with English clubs and fans in the 1950’s who showed disdain for the European Cup when it started out. English clubs did not even contest the first couple—too much hassle, not prestigious enough, apparently.

Real Madrid were cleaning up back then, perhaps benefiting from other club’s indifference to the competition, and every one of their titles won back then counts the same as one won today in the Champions League.

I saw at least one Quito player in tears at the final whistle, which shows you how much this means to them. But that should not be a surprise to anyone who understands what this trophy means to the rest of the world, particularly South America.

I remember one of Tim Vickery’s columns, where he explained how highly the competition is regarded in South America—their big chance to shine against Europe’s clubs. After winning the Copa Libertadores, the winning team will have immediately put that behind them and will be thinking ahead to ‘Mission Tokyo’ (as Vickery called it), to win the World title.

By contrast, the European (but particularly English) snobbery to this competition is unfortunate and unsavoury. But I am hopeful things will change. Back when the European Cup was treated with similar cynicism, we were pioneers, being the first English club to both compete in and win the competition. Again, we are blazing the trail for the rest of England’s clubs on the world stage. Champions of the world, and we will get a badge from FIFA to put on our shirts to prove it.

Come on United, let’s make sure we are back there next year to defend our title.