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WE’LL PLAY IN THE HAIL WE’LL PLAY IN THE HAAAAAAAIIIIILLLLL WE’RE MAN UNITED, WE’LL PLAY IN THE HAIL
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I think it's safe to say Spurs' problems are a lot deeper rooted than just the manager.
Going to be a loooong season.
Yeah, they did for the first 20 mins or so, but then it all went a bit flat.Levy probably thought they'd start boomin out of the gates from today...
They only do it for the cup competitions -been doing it for a few seasons now.Wait, when did Spurs change shirt sponsors?
Wow that Moroccan team stripped Ronaldinho off everything after the match... Dude even took Ronnie's boots right off of him like they were in a prison yard...
Wow that Moroccan team stripped Ronaldinho off everything after the match... Dude even took Ronnie's boots right off of him like they were in a prison yard...
Pope greets San Lorenzo players
December 18, 2013
By Associated Press
View media item 700424
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis celebrated his beloved San Lorenzo's victory in the Argentine soccer championship Wednesday, congratulating team members, reminiscing about going to the stadium as a child and hoisting up the team's trophy in St. Peter's Square for all to see.
Club members gave Francis the trophy and the glove goalie Sebastian Torrico used to block the ball in the final minute of Sunday's 0-0 draw with Velez Sarsfield, securing the title.
Referencing another big moment in Argentine soccer history -- Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal against England in the 1986 World Cup -- club vice president Marcelo Tinelli said Francis performed a "miracle" on Sunday: "For us, it was the hand of God, the hand of the pope," he joked.
Both the glove and trophy will remain at the Vatican, a belated birthday gift to Francis, who turned 77 this week.
The former Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a lifelong fan of the Saints of San Lorenzo, and has been a member (ID No. 88235) since 2008.
The team draws its name from a priest, Lorenzo Massa, who offered to let a group of youths use church grounds to play in instead of the streets of Buenos Aires in the early 1900s. Bergoglio grew up in the Flores neighborhood of the Argentine capital near the stadium and formed a bond with the team.
On Wednesday, he reminisced about going to the stadium with his father as a boy during a 30-minute meeting with the club at his Vatican hotel. Team members gave him a photo of his childhood hero, Rene Pontoni, who played for San Lorenzo when it won the national title in 1946.
The pope gave the team players and managers an image of the Madonna which they said they would keep in the stadium.
Originally Tinelli, the club vice president, had announced that the team would give Francis a replica of the championship trophy, but he and other officials said Wednesday that they gave him the original and that it would remain in Rome.
Later, at the end of Francis' Wednesday general audience, the delegation went up to the pope on the steps of St. Peter's and formally presented him with the trophy and a red and blue team jersey with "Francisco Campeon" -- Francis Champion -- written on the back. A clearly pleased Francis raised the trophy.
Wednesday was Francis' last general audience for 2013, and the Vatican took the opportunity to release statistics about his pontificate, revealing that the Vatican had issued twice as many tickets for his general audiences than it had for Pope Benedict XVI in the first year of his pontificate.
The Vatican said 1,548,500 tickets had been distributed over the course of the 30 general audiences Francis has held since his March 13 election. The actual number of people who attended is far higher, since anyone can go to an audience and the Vatican now shuts down the main boulevard leading to St. Peter's Square to accommodate the throngs each Wednesday.
Unlike his predecessors, Francis has chosen not to move his audiences indoors once the weather turned cold, to better accommodate the masses.
For comparison's sake, 810,000 tickets were distributed in Benedict XVI's first year in 2005, during which he held 32 audiences after his April 19 election. At the end of 2005, the Vatican said 2.85 million people had participated in Benedict's public events those first eight months of his pontificate, which included all his Masses, audiences, Sunday blessings and World Youth Day events in Cologne, Germany.
The Vatican didn't release such complete statistics on Wednesday for Francis. The Holy See is on record, though, as reporting that Francis drew 3.7 million people on a single day to his concluding World Youth Day Mass in Rio de Janeiro in July, though statisticians put the actual figure at less than half that.
Cheat sheet of MLS coaching comings and goings
Steve Davis Dec 18, 2013, 7:57 PM EST
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San Jose Earthquakes v Portland Timbers
Getty Images
This has certainly been a period of managerial transition like none other in Major League Soccer. Want an example of how much?
Guys that we didn’t even know have been fired (or dismissed, or having “parted ways” or been placed on freakin’ “gardening leave” or whatever) are now being replaced.
It happened today when Frank Klopas, recently dismissed a Chicago, was named to replace Marco Schallibaum. Which wouldn’t be such a big deal – except that Montreal had somehow managed to (mostly) slip it past everyone that Schallibaum would not be brought back.
In all, 9 of 19 MLS coaching seats changed hands this year (Chivas USA more than once, in fact.)
At any rate, here is the cheat sheet of MLS managerial comings and goings in 2013.
Out during the regular season:
Chivas USA’s José Luis Sánchez (May)
San Jose Frank Yallop (June)
Columbus Crew’s Robert Warzycha (September)
Out since the end of the season (or very close to it)
FC Dallas’ Schellas Hyndman
Vancouver’s Martin Rennie
Chivas USA’s José Luis Real
Chicago’s Frank Klopas
Real Salt Lake’s Jason Kreis
Montreal’s Marco Schallibaum
Replacements now in charge
Mark Watson in San Jose (promoted from interim in late October)
Gregg Berhalter at Columbus
Jason Kreis at New York City FC (begins play in MLS in 2015)
Frank Yallop (pictured above) at Chicago
Carl Robinson at Vancouver
Frank Klopas at Montreal
Jobs that remain vacant
Chivas USA
FC Dallas
Real Salt Lake
David Beckham MLS Team Has Narrowed Miami Stadium Choices, Says Source
Posted on December 18, 2013 by Kartik Krishnaiyer
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port of miami David Beckham MLS Team Has Narrowed Miami Stadium Choices, Says Source
This afternoon, I had a lengthy conversation with a well-placed source that indicated that following yesterday’s unanimous Miami-Dade County Commission vote, the ownership group of a potential Miami MLS franchise that is fronted by David Beckham could make an announcement before the end of December as to the group’s plans. This confirms the published reports we have seen elsewhere regarding the timeline for the announcement.
The group has narrowed its search for stadium locations to a few sites including:
Watson Island (Port of Miami),
Downtown Miami,
Midtown Miami,
Miami Beach and
possibly a location further west.
The Downtown location would be adjacent in some way to the American Airlines Arena. Several locations have been scouted in Midtown, an area which would be accessible via Interstate 95 to Miami Beach. Miami Beach, I am told is trickier but that a plot of land is potentially available close to the hot spots of South Beach.
What can be confirmed is that locations in southwest Miami-Dade and in Broward County have been eliminated. The speculation that a stadium would be built on the location of Tropical Park in Olympia Heights has no merit per my source. Stadium locations in Northeast Miami-Dade and Broward County will not be considered I am also advised.
Read more at http://worldsoccertalk.com/2013/12/...dium-choices-says-source/#ZOylf9JgvSmcDXA0.99