CWC Final: Boca Juniors--2-4-AC Milan

[lionel]

Boca will travel to Japan for the FIFA CWC: 7th December to 16th December.

Boca's First match will be on the 12th of December (sunday) against the winner of the match Pachuca-Etoile Sahel.

then in case of a win, in the 16th of December Boca will face the winner in the match AC Milan-(Waitakere United/Red Diamonds/Sepahan) in the final!

The competing teams are:
European champions AC Milan, South American kings Boca Juniors , CONCACAF Champions Cup holders Pachuca, OFC representatives Waitakere United, recent CAF Champions League winners Etoile Sahel, Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds and the team they beat in Wednesday's continental decider in Asia, Iran's Sepahan.


FIFA decided today not to let Riquelme play for Boca in this tournament. shame.

Boca take this tournament very seriously, for the south american terams the CWC is as important as the copa libertadores or even more.

if Boca don't win this cup, russo will be sacked almost for sure.

[Aladino]

Should be a great tournament, I hope it will be a Milan - Boca final but of course the result swining Milan's way. We need revenge from last time. BUt it shoudl be fun. A pity Riquelme isn't playing, would be great to come up against him.

[lionel]

I know european teams usually take this tournament lightly and don't play with thier best players... do you know who is ancelotti planning to play with?

last year when barca played in this tournament they played with many reserves in the semi finals and with most of the starters in the final...

[Aladino]

He will probably field our usual starting 11 except probably allowing Gourcuff to play more... but this is Carlo. The team wants this badly especially after last time. All the players have stated how hungry they are for it.

THere was a thing in today's la gazzetta dello sport saying that the Japanese and Boca are in a crisis of some sort. Boca loosig the title on the last day and all that jazz.

[lionel]

Originally Posted by Aladino

He will probably field our usual starting 11 except probably allowing Gourcuff to play more... but this is Carlo. The team wants this badly especially after last time. All the players have stated how hungry they are for it.

thats great!
do you know if pato can play in this cup? just wondering...

Originally Posted by Aladino

THere was a thing in today's la gazzetta dello sport saying that the Japanese and Boca are in a crisis of some sort. Boca loosig the title on the last day and all that jazz.

yeah boca didn't have a great season and they were looking very good toward the end but they lost the last 3 games and were out of the picture in the last MD. they are 3rd now but with the other team who are behind them having one match left.
not a crisis like milan's I would say. but not in a perfect mood. this cup is more important for them than the whole apertura.

[Aladino]

thats great!
do you know if pato can play in this cup? just wondering...

Pato can't play yet, he will only be able to start in January once the window opens. A pity really, it woudl have been great for him to play in this tourni.

yeah boca didn't have a great season and they were looking very good toward the end but they lost the last 3 games and were out of the picture in the last MD. they are 3rd now but with the other team who are behind them having one match left.
not a crisis like milan's I would say. but not in a perfect mood. this cup is more important for them than the whole apertura.

Well whatever happens, if Boca and Milan meet it shoudl be a great battle. Both teams want this so it should be interesting.

[lionel]

taken from FIFA.com - History points to Boca and Milan

Despite being debutants at the FIFA Club World Cup, the proud record of Boca Juniors and AC Milan at the tournament's forerunner, the Intercontinental (Toyota) Cup, means they have history on their side as they go in search in victory in club football's premier competition.

First staged in 1960, the tournament was contested by the respective European and South American champions for the next 43 years. Now, with just hours to go until Japan 2007 kicks off, FIFA.com whets your appetite with some of the most impressive stats the tournament has to offer...

Most wins
Boca Juniors and AC Milan have won three Intercontinental titles apiece, making them jointly the most successful sides alongside Real Madrid and Uruguay's big two: Penarol and Nacional. However, the Xeneizes and Rossoneri now have a chance to add a fourth title to their already glittering list of honours.

Argentina, land of champions
Boca Juniors will be hoping to improve on Albiceleste football's impressive record of nine wins to date, while AC Milan will aim to do Italian football proud as they go in search of their country's eighth triumph. The two powerhouses are also first and second in terms of overall appearance, with the South Americans having taken part 18 times to the Europeans' 12.

Under the shadow of Bianchi and Sacchi
Two surnames of Italian origin head the list of most successful coaches at the event. The Argentinian Carlos Bianchi, victorious with Velez Sarsfield (1994) and Boca Juniors (2000 and 2003), leads the way with three titles. Arrigo Sacchi is close behind with the two he picked up with AC Milan (1989, 1990), a feat also matched by the Brazilians 'Lula' (1962, 1963) and Tele Santana (1992, 1993), and another Argentinian, Helenio Herrera (1964, 1965).

AC Milan records
The Italian giants also hold the record for most appearances (seven), most goals scored (17) and boast the five players with the most appearances. Leading the way on five is none other than Alessandro Costacurta, who will be back in Japan this year as Carlo Ancelotti's assistant.

Brazilleaves its mark
Not wholly unexpectedly , O Rei Pele created his own bit of history at the competition: not only is he its top scorer with eight goals, but he remains the only player ever to have netted a hat ntrick (in Santos' win over Benfica in 1962). For their part, Sao Paulo are the only club to have won both the old and new version of the competition: the Intercontinental (Toyota) Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Tale of the tape for Japan 2007
Finally, what better way to finish than by casting our eye over the contenders at Japan 2007. AC Milan have in their ranks both the tournament's tallest player: Australian goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac (2.02m), and the event's oldest ever participant in Paolo Maldini (39 years and five months).

New Zealand outfit Waitakere United provide the joint heaviest player this year in Mikael Munday, he and Kalac both tipping the scales at 95kg. The pair weigh a whopping 38kg more than the lightest, Sepahan's Hossein Papi. In terms of height, Pachuca's Damian Alvarez will be the joint-shortest player taking part this year (1.65m) alongside Sepahan's Abolhassam Jafari, who will also be the youngest at 17 years and 5 months.

[lionel]

Etoile du Sahel 1 - Pachuca 0
Tunisia’s Etoile shocked Mexican side Pachuca to set up a semi-final meeting against Boca!

after Narry’s deflected shot from distance secured the victory five minutes from time. Pachuca looked the likelier side to win the game after sustained pressure saw Cacho crash his header against the crossbar, followed by Gimenez’s free-kick which shaved the bar, proceeded by Manzur’s disallowed goal for offside.

Watch the winner goal of Etoile du Sahel

haha, great. Pachuca are a tough team, good we escaped them. the tunisian team is not serious, we must beat them easily.

[Aladino]

lionel, love the FIFA Article, very intresting. I still can't get over the fact that A tunisia team will play Boca and AFrica is not showing it. It is Boca for crying out loud. oh well.

Boca, should do well against them. I don't think they will cause a lot of trouble for Boca

[lionel]

No les da pelota
Miguel Angel Russo who is probably leaving after this cup, says that he is not thinking about anything but how to win against the tunisian team in the semi-finals and doesn't want to be asked about the future.

I have mixed feeliing if you can call it like that.. I want russo to leave but I'm not so sure it will happen if we win the CWC... nah, its uncomparable, this cup is the most important thing!

[lionel]

some photosof the training today:

our loco giant striker - palermo:


the player who will drive milan's defense crazy with his magic - palacio:


the ball of this tournament is very cool:

[lionel]

the match is going to start in about 40 minutes.

here are some streams you can watch with:

MyP2P.eu :: Free Live Sports on your PC, Live Football, MLB, NBA, NHL and more...

check "your rating" to see which is the best stream for you and then download that software you need if you don't have it already (sopCast, TVAnts, PPMate, TVU,...)
open the streams some time befrore the match to make sure it is a good one.

I think I'll be watching on StarSport with spocast.

[lionel]

GOOOOOOAAAAL!!

1-0 BOCA!!!!

great goal of NERI CARDOOOZZZO! excellent assist of Palacio.

[lionel]

HT: Boca 1 - 0 Etoile
[37' Cardozo]

very disappointing half. the tunisian team deserved a goal at least... it was an even match. we had a sloppy defense, and the midfield was not good. fortunately, we had Ibarra and Caranta to save us, caranta is perfect so far, 3 class saves!
a fantastic goal gave us the lead and after the goal we were playing a bit better in attack. amazing assist of palacio!!

match facts...
posession: 56% boca
corners: 3 boca. 2 etoile.
shots on target: 1 boca. 3 etoile.
fouls: 11 both.
off-sides: 0 both.

our line-up:

caranta

ibarra - midana - paletta - morel r.

cardozo - banega - battaglia - vargas

palacio - palermo

I was watching on an arab(tunisian) channel, and I understand arabic... they are so excited and they keep shouting at the danish referee "Penalty Penalty!"

the support of the argentinian fans is amazing!

I'm sure the second half will be better.